Category: Cryptocurrency News

Cetus is offering a $6 million white hat bounty in an effort to recover $220 million in stolen digital assets, while emergency responses from the Sui Network have raised concerns about decentralization.Sui-native decentralized exchange (DEX) Cetus was exploited for over $220 million worth of cryptocurrency on May 22. However, Cetus managed to freeze $162 million of the stolen funds shortly after.Cetus has since offered a white hat bounty of up to $6 million for the exploiter for returning the stolen 20,920 Ether (ETH), worth over $55 million, along with the rest of the stolen funds currently frozen on the Sui blockchain.“In exchange, you can keep 2,324 ETH ($6M) as a bounty, and we will consider the matter closed and will not pursue any further legal, intelligence, or public action,” Cetus wrote in a message embedded in a blockchain transaction on May 22.A bounty offer to the hacker. Source: SuivisionHowever, Cetus will “escalate with full legal and intelligence resources” if these assets are off-ramped or sent to cryptocurrency mixers and not returned promptly.A white hat bounty is offered to ethical hackers who seek protocol vulnerabilities to prevent future exploits.Related: Exponential currency debasement: ‘You don’t own enough crypto, NFTs’Cryptocurrency hacks soared to $90 million across 15 incidents in April, a 124% increase from March when hackers stole $41 million worth of digital assets.Crypto stole in April 2025. Source: ImmunefiMeanwhile, the industry is still recovering from the largest crypto hack, which saw Bybit exchange lose over $1.4 billion on Feb. 21, 2025.Related: Bitcoin hits new all-time high of $109K as trade war tensions easeSUI considers emergency white list function to override transactionsMeanwhile, GitHub activity shows the Sui team has considered implementing an emergency whitelist function that would allow certain transactions to bypass security checks, potentially to recover funds linked to the hack. Mysten, Sui, white list function. Source: GitHub“It appears that the Sui team asked every validator to deploy patched code so they could take away @CetusProtocol hacker’s $160 million via an unsigned tx,” said Chaofan Shou, a software engineer at Solayer Labs.However, an unnamed Sui engineer told Shou that “validators held off deploying this and currently they are only denying tx that involves hacker’s objects,” he said in a May 22 X post.The move has sparked criticism among decentralization advocates, who argue that the ability to override transactions contradicts the principles of a decentralized permissionless network. Despite widespread criticism in the crypto community, some saw the rapid response as a sign of progress, not centralization.“This is what real world decentralization looks like. Not just powerless, but responsive and aligned with the community,” said pseudonymous crypto sleuth Matteo, adding that decentralization “isn’t about standing by while people get hurt, it’s about the power to act together, without needing permission.”Magazine: Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins ‘powerful rally’ looms: Hodler’s Digest, May 11 – 17

Bitcoin has surpassed its previous all-time high again, registering a new peak above $111,000 amid continued bullish momentum across the crypto market. As of the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $111,226, reflecting a 2.2% increase in the past 24 hours. This upward movement has pushed the asset beyond the psychological threshold of $110,000, reinforcing optimism in its medium-term trajectory. However, analysts are monitoring underlying market data that may signal emerging risks beneath the surface of the rally. Related Reading: Binance Bitcoin Outflows and MVRV Ratio Point to Sustained Bullish Setup, Analyst Reveals Bitcoin Exchange Inflows and Leverage Ratios Reflect Growing Caution CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha recently published a detailed analysis highlighting key metrics from Binance, including net flows, open interest, and leverage levels. These metrics, when taken together, reveal a familiar setup reminiscent of December 2024, a period that preceded short-term corrections. While Bitcoin’s price action has remained positive, the presence of high exchange inflows and speculative positioning could indicate that some investors are preparing for profit-taking. According to Taha, Binance has observed a notable increase in inflows, with approximately 3,000 BTC and 60,000 ETH entering the exchange as Bitcoin broke its all-time high. This shift from net outflows to inflows suggests that investors may be transferring assets to trading platforms with the intent to sell or adjust their positions. Historically, large net inflows during price peaks have been linked to increased selling activity, particularly when market participants aim to secure gains after extended uptrends. Taha also noted that open interest (OI) on Binance has climbed back above $12 billion levels last seen in December 2024. Open interest refers to the total value of outstanding futures contracts and is often viewed as an indicator of speculative engagement in the market. While rising OI can support upward continuation during bullish phases, it may also increase the risk of volatility if not supported by fresh spot market demand. Compounding this, Binance’s estimated leverage ratio has returned to 0.20, mirroring previous highs and suggesting that many traders are utilizing significant leverage. Elevated leverage levels tend to heighten sensitivity to price fluctuations and can amplify liquidations during abrupt corrections. Related Reading: Bitcoin Shows Elevated Unrealized Profits Without Signs Of Panic Selling – New ATH Soon? Are Market Conditions Echoing December’s Setup? Taha concluded his analysis, revealing that while none of these indicators are inherently bearish on their own, their simultaneous occurrence around a new all-time high could point toward short-term instability. In previous cycles, such combinations of high leverage, rising OI, and exchange inflows have been associated with increased profit-taking and localized pullbacks. Taha wrote: These are not inherently bearish signals in isolation. However, when combined, they historically correlate with profit-taking behavior and often precede volatility spikes or corrections. Traders and investors should remain alert: these same conditions marked the beginning of localized tops in late 2024, especially after periods of aggressive upside. Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView

Key Takeaways: Over $103 million was spent on Travala bookings in 2024 — 80% of which used cryptocurrency. Crypto travelers spend 2.5x more per trip, stay longer, and book closer to departure than fiat users. Binance Pay leads crypto payment adoption in global tourism, powering real-world travel and shopping. In 2025, crypto isn’t just a…
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R3 announced a strategic collaboration with the Solana Foundation aimed at merging public and private blockchain networks to enhance institutional access to digital capital markets. This partnership will leverage R3’s enterprise-grade private blockchain technology alongside solana’s high-performance public mainnet, facilitating the integration of regulated financial institutions with tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). The initiative is expected […]

Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange operating on its own layer-1 blockchain, has submitted formal comments on 24/7 derivatives trading to the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).In a May 23 X post, Hyperliquid Labs announced that it has “submitted two comment letters to the [CFTC] in response to its recent Requests for Comment on perpetual derivatives and 24/7 trading.” The team behind the decentralized exchange (DEX) added:“We commend the CFTC for its proactive engagement on these topics, understanding of which is fundamental to the evolution of global markets.”Hyperliquid stated that it is committed to the advancement of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The team also claimed that its implementation “exemplifies how core DeFi principles can be put into practice to enhance market efficiency, market integrity, and user protection.”Source: HyperliquidRelated: CFTC exodus: Fourth commissioner to depart ‘later this year’CFTC’s 24/7 derivatives plansHyperliquid’s remarks follow CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger recently saying that crypto perpetual futures contracts could receive regulatory approval in the US “very soon.” Perpetual crypto futures “can come to market now,” she said.“We’re seeing some applications, and I believe we’ll see some of those products trading live very soon,” Mersinger said. She also added that it would be “great to get that trading back onshore in the United States.” Perpetual futures contracts are a type of derivative that allows traders to speculate on the price of a crypto asset without owning it, similar to traditional futures, but with no expiration date. Such contracts remain open indefinitely and are kept in line with the spot market price using a funding rate mechanism, where payments are exchanged between long and short positions at regular intervals.Related: CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEOCrypto derivatives are a busy areaThe crypto derivatives market has recently been swarming with announcements of product launches, acquisitions and regulatory developments. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently said the exchange will continue to look for merger and acquisition opportunities after acquiring crypto derivatives platform Deribit.Armstrong’s remarks followed Coinbase’s agreement to acquire Deribit, one of the world’s biggest crypto derivatives trading platforms. Europe is seeing just as much hustle in the crypto derivatives industry as the Americas are.Major crypto exchange Gemini has also recently received regulatory approval to expand crypto derivatives trading across Europe. Elsewhere, DeFi platform Synthetix will also venture further into crypto derivatives, with plans to re-acquire the crypto options platform Derive.Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story

Key Takeaways: Justin Sun received a Trump Golden Tourbillon watch at a private U.S. event, stirring massive buzz in the crypto world. TRX trading volume soared 8.5% to $320 million within two hours post-announcement. Sun’s proximity to political elites may signal deeper crypto–policy alignments in the U.S. TRON founder Justin Sun has once again captured…
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Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms have a major cost advantage over traditional banks when it comes to onboarding new users, according to Anton Bukov, co-founder of decentralized exchange (DEX) 1inch.Speaking at a panel during Dutch Blockchain Week on May 22 in Amsterdam, Bukov said traditional banks spend between $100 and $300 per user to verify documents and set up accounts. Online banks, he said, spend about $20 to $30. In contrast, DeFi requires almost nothing beyond a smartphone and internet access.“Onboarding to DeFi literally costs zero,” Bukov said. “You don’t need brick-and-mortar infrastructure or lengthy verification processes. Just connect and transact.” Bukov said that this gives DeFi an edge over traditional financial institutions in reaching the 1.4 billion unbanked people who remain excluded from traditional finance due to high onboarding expenses.1inch Network co-founder Anton Bukov at the Dutch Blockchain Week. Source: CointelegraphReaching 1.4 billion unbanked users“That’s why we have 1.4 billion people on the planet who are unbanked. No one’s going to invest those hundreds or tens of dollars into them because they will never return to them,” Bukov added. Unlike traditional finance, which has high barriers to entry, Bukov said DeFi allows the unbanked to become a part of the global economy and engage in real-life transactions using stablecoins like Tether’s USDt (USDT). With lower barriers to entry, DeFi becomes a tool for financial inclusion. Bukov said DeFi will continue to reach users who never had access to traditional banking as internet access expands globally. “You can just get a phone, access to the internet, and you can exchange your chicken for USDT,” Bukov said, highlighting how easily DeFi enables participation in the global economy. Related: Animoca’s Yat Siu says student loans can supercharge DeFi growthDeFi allows access to global liquidity Apart from financial inclusion, Bukov said that the real value of crypto lies in how it gives access to global liquidity. The 1inch co-founder said crypto is evolving into an independent economic zone, where hundreds of billions flow through decentralized protocols. “Crypto isn’t just about adopting stablecoins or building national digital currencies,” Bukov said. “It’s a growing global liquidity hub.”He said that this liquidity is dynamic and allows financial experimentation, yield strategies and cross-border capital movement. Bukov added that countries that align their regulations to enable easier access to this global liquidity can tap into economic opportunities and cooperation. “The more countries trade with each other, the more they succeed. Crypto works the same way,” he said. Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story 

Key points:Bitcoin buyer interest remains strong at all-time highs, contrasting with the first touch of $100,000 in 2024.The BTC price uptrend “may continue” as a result, CryptoQuant analysis concludes.Bitcoin short-term holders are firmly in the black in a further potential bull market boost.Bitcoin (BTC) buyers remain dominant on exchanges as all-time highs are met with unusual optimism.Data from onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant shows a 90-day cumulative volume delta (CVD) favoring Bitcoin bulls.CryptoQuant: BTC price uptrend “may continue”BTC price all-time highs continue to find support among traders, with buyers staying dominant despite the market surging 50% in under two months.Analyzing 90-day CVD, CryptoQuant contributor Ibrahim Cosar reveals the extent to which sellers have ceded control during that period.“In short: Buy orders (taker buy) have become dominant again. In other words, more buy orders are being placed in the market than sell orders,” he summarizes. “This generally signals that the uptrend may continue.”Bitcoin spot taker CVD. Source: CryptoQuantCVD measures the difference between buy and sell volume over a three-month period. Until mid-March, sell-side pressure dominated the order book, with BTC/USD hitting multimonth lows under $75,000 in early April.Neutral conditions then prevailed until buyer dominance reentered in May.“The summary of the situation: As the price tests above $110K and reaches a new all-time high (ATH), buyers have not backed down. This could be setting the stage for another wave of upward movement,” Cosar concludes.Bitcoin hodlers hold off on salesAs Cointelegraph reported, hodlers have broadly refrained from distributing coins to the market at current levels.Related: Bitcoin ‘looks exhausted’ as next bear market yields $69K targetDaily profit-taking is half of what it was when Bitcoin first reached $100,000 in December 2024, research shows, while the price is 10% higher.“Older coins were much less active this time, signaling stronger holding behavior,” onchain analytics firm Glassnode added in an X thread on the topic.Coin age distribution shows the shift:🔺 76.9% (May 2025)🔻 44.6% (Dec 2024) >6m-old coins:🔻 13.4% (May 2025)🔺 24.7% (Dec 2024)Older coins were much less active this time, signaling stronger holding behavior. pic.twitter.com/8PZq8p3ZX7— glassnode (@glassnode) May 22, 2025CryptoQuant notes that price momentum increased after reclaiming the average cost basis for Bitcoin’s short-term holder (STH) cohort at just under $100,000 — entities buying within the last six months.“Bitcoin is rallying after reclaiming the Short-Term Holder Average Cost basis — a key level that often serves as a strong buy-the-dip indicator during bull markets,” it told X followers.Bitcoin STH cost basis data. Source: CryptoQuantThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Dogecoin’s latest market structure is “significantly better than in prior bull markets,” according to Kevin, the crypto technician known on X and YouTube as @Kev_Capital_TA. In a video released Friday, the analyst mapped Dogecoin’s three historical cycles, concluding that the memecoin’s current breakout-and-retest pattern places a long-term Fibonacci extension at $3.80–$3.90 squarely “on the table”—provided one key condition holds: Bitcoin must keep grinding higher. “Two cycles in a row, Dogecoin has tagged the 1.618 fib extension,” Kevin reminded viewers. “Here we are in the third cycle… we have evidence to suggest it has happened 100% of the time. It’s only two data points, though, so that could easily not happen this time.” Why $3.80 Per Dogecoin Is Possible This Cycle On a log-scale weekly chart, Kevin traced Dogecoin’s first super-cycle—consolidation, breakout, mid-cycle pullback, blow-off top—culminating at the 1.618 extension. The second cycle repeated the pattern, but “Elon Musk’s Saturday Night Live hype” punched price far beyond the fib target into euphoric territory. Today’s third cycle, he argued, looks healthier: successive breakouts and back-tests of the bear-market range have carved a rising channel of higher highs and higher lows anchored by the 200-week EMA/SMA cluster. “This structure looks really good to me… break out, back-test the 200s, make a higher low—it’s textbook.” On the monthly chart, the Relative Strength Index is “just strength—constant higher lows,” still far beneath the 80-to-90 zone that capped prior cycle tops. Kevin also flagged a V-shaped curl in the monthly Stoch RSI—a signal that “should provide the momentum we need to really get a durable run higher” once it crosses the 20 line. Related Reading: Dogecoin To $1 Is ‘Absolutely’ On The Table This Cycle, Says Analyst The two-week Market Cipher readout shows three years of progressively stronger momentum waves and money-flow inflows. “This is big-time stuff,” he said, circling each expansion. “Momentum is compressing and building to a point where it’s like, okay, now it’s time to release it.” A fresh two-week Stoch RSI cross historically precedes “bang, big move higher,” he added, implying that the post-halving phase could usher in Dogecoin’s next parabolic leg. For traders fixated on nearer horizons, Kevin highlighted a macro golden pocket stretching from $0.26 to $0.285, reinforced by the daily 200-SMA at $0.27. That zone caps a developing bull-flag whose measured move targets $0.32–0.33. The pattern sprang out of an inverse head-and-shoulders accumulation at $0.15, a level he “accumulated heavily,” now up roughly 60%. “Treat resistance as resistance until it isn’t,” he cautioned, noting that Bitcoin dominance near 64% still siphons liquidity from altcoins. Yet he sees “serious signs” that dominance has printed a local top at 65.45%, opening room for a rotation into majors like Ethereum and, by proxy, Dogecoin. This Needs To Happen If Bitcoin stability endures and macro conditions—softening inflation, steady labor data, potential Fed easing—remain supportive, Kevin’s next “main price target” is the 2021 all-time high just under $1.00. A decisive break there would turn eyes to the cycle’s 1.618 extension near $3.80. Related Reading: Dogecoin Bollinger Squeeze Signals ‘Huge Move’ Ahead, Analyst Warns “I’d be shocked at this point if we don’t go to that level,” he said, while stressing disciplined profit-taking: “There’s nothing worse than riding a move all the way up and not taking profits.” Kevin rebuffed the wilder six-and-seven-dollar predictions circulating on social media but insisted that a $3-plus Dogecoin is “absolutely possible” if Bitcoin pushes toward $200,000, quantitative tightening ends, and a full-blown altcoin season erupts. Dogecoin remains “one of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the planet,” the analyst observed. “When retail comes piling back in, they’re always piling back into Dogecoin.” That psychological feedback loop, combined with a structurally bullish chart and improving momentum gauges, underpins his conviction that the memecoin could reprise its role as the spearhead of a broader altcoin surge. Whether the market delivers the necessary macro tailwinds is the wildcard. But Kevin’s message was unambiguous: for now, Dogecoin’s technical canvas paints a credible route to $1, and the elusive $3.80 marker “is possible—if Bitcoin holds ground and the macro stays peachy.” At press time, DOGE traded at $0.243. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Braza Group, one of the largest financial groups in Brazil, unveiled USDB, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued on top of the XRP Ledger. Currently available to its institutional customers, the token will be available for regular customers through the group’s app starting in May. Braza Group Targets Growing Market With New XRP Ledger-Issued Dollar Stablecoin Stablecoins […]