In a recent development, former FTX executive Ryan Salame faces a potential prison sentence of five to seven years due to his involvement in the crypto exchange's multibillion-dollar collapse. Federal prosecutors have emphasized the severity of Salame's offenses, which include one of the largest campaign finance offenses in U.S history and the exchange of over $1 billion without proper supervision.

Salame's defense team, however, argues for a lighter sentence of no more than 18 months, citing his role in exposing the fraud and his cooperation with authorities. Salame was reportedly the first FTX insider to alert regulators to the impending crisis.

As part of his plea deal, Salame will forfeit $6 million worth of assets. His sentencing is scheduled for May 28, making him the first member of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle to face justice for his role in the exchange's downfall. Bankman-Fried himself is currently appealing a 25-year prison sentence.

During his tenure at FTX, Salame facilitated customer deposits through a U.S. bank account without the necessary licenses and served as a straw donor for Bankman-Fried, channeling millions in political donations to crypto-friendly candidates.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), a bill that provides legal clarity on the classification, registration, and custody of crypto assets. The legislation, which received broad bipartisan support, is seen as a significant step towards clear rules for digital asset trading and registration.

The bill includes an interim oversight process for digital asset firms, allowing them to file a 'notice of intent to register' with federal regulators as the industry's regulatory responsibilities are finalized. It also clarifies which digital assets should be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) versus the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Despite criticism from some Democrats and SEC chairman Gary Gensler, a significant number of Democrats supported the bill, arguing it is a good step towards keeping pace with rivals on crypto regulation and progress. The Biden administration, while initially opposing FIT21, has indicated it will work with Congress on a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets and has not signaled intent to veto the bill.

This development is a positive sign for the crypto industry, including DeFi and BRC 20, as it provides much-needed regulatory clarity, fostering a more conducive environment for growth and innovation.

Uniswap Labs, the firm behind decentralized exchange Uniswap, has responded to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Wells Notice, criticizing its legal basis as "weak". The SEC's notice, based on the assumption that all tokens are securities, was challenged by Uniswap's Chief Legal Officer, Marvin Ammori. He argued that tokens are a value file format, not securities, and criticized the SEC's attempt to redefine terms like "exchange", "broker", and "investment contract" to include Uniswap's operations.

Uniswap has expressed readiness to engage in legal action, with its lawyers having successfully represented cases like Grayscale and Ripple. They warned that a case against Uniswap could push American crypto investors towards foreign trading protocols and discourage future innovation in financial and commercial markets.

This response comes as the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to vote on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, which could reshape the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission's regulatory roles regarding crypto. Uniswap believes that if enacted, the SEC's case may become irrelevant, with the CFTC gaining enforcement authority in certain areas. Uniswap's native token, UNI, has surged 2.0% over the last 24 hours and 37% over the week.

Bitcoin has surged past $71,000 this week, spurred by strong demand through ETFs, which saw net inflows of approximately $1.2 billion over the past week. CryptoQuant's analysis indicates that this influx of capital into Bitcoin ETFs has significantly boosted the cryptocurrency's price after a period of stagnation.

The recent price increase has put short-term investors back in a profitable position, reducing the risk of a shift in investor sentiment from bullish to bearish. Despite some consolidation expected in the $60,000 to $70,000 range, there are emerging signs that the next major rally could begin sooner than anticipated.

The market is already experiencing a resurgence due to speculation around the approval of spot Ether ETF, pushing the collective market cap above $2.55 trillion. If Bitcoin can break through the $70,180 to $70,600 price range, the path of least resistance points higher. However, if selling pressure stalls the rally in this range, it could cap the upside temporarily.

Ripple's XRP has been experiencing a prolonged period of sideways trading and market uncertainty, with prices oscillating between a key resistance at $0.55 and a major support level at $0.47. Despite a recent increase in demand and bullish momentum pushing the price towards the upper boundary of this range, XRP is facing a significant resistance zone. This zone includes the range's upper limit, the 200-day moving average, and a multi-month ascending trendline.

If buyers can break through this critical area, a sustained bullish trend could emerge. However, ongoing uncertainty suggests that Ripple might continue to trade sideways until a breakout occurs. On the 4-hour chart, a bullish bounce near the lower boundary of an ascending wedge around the $0.50 mark is pushing the price towards a critical resistance area.

If buyers surpass this resistance, a fresh bullish rally could aim for the wedge's upper boundary at $0.58. Conversely, a bearish rejection might trigger a decline towards the wedge's lower boundary. If this key threshold is broken, a prolonged bearish trend targeting the $0.48 level in the short term could be triggered. Despite a minor uptick in Ripple's price, significant resistance levels could dictate its next move. Traders should watch for either a breakout or continued consolidation within the current range.

Today marks the 14th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, a significant event in cryptocurrency history. In 2010, early Bitcoin adopter, Laszlo Hanyecz, made the first documented purchase using Bitcoin, trading 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. At that time, 1 BTC was worth $0.0041, making the purchase amount $41. Bitcoin's value has since soared, currently exceeding $70,000.

Hanyecz's transaction, while seemingly extravagant in retrospect, holds a special place in Bitcoin history as it demonstrated the cryptocurrency's practical use as a medium of exchange. This act underscored the importance of active participation and real-world applications for the success and adoption of the network.

Bitcoin's growth has been remarkable, particularly in light of significant events this year, including the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US and the halving event, both of which have solidified Bitcoin's position as a widely adopted asset. However, the past year has also seen malicious entities exploiting the hype around meme coins to defraud investors. Despite this, the current year has been relatively calm on the scammer front.

In a significant development for the DeFi sector, five potential Ethereum ETF issuers, including Fidelity, VanEck, Invesco Galaxy, Ark 21Shares, and Franklin, have submitted their amended 19b-4s to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. The flurry of activity follows an SEC advisory to submit revised 19b-4 forms, a requirement for introducing new products such as spot Ethereum ETPs. However, Seyffart cautioned that SEC approval and subsequent ETF launches could take weeks or even months.

The major amendments involved removing any references to Ethereum staking from the ETF filings, which the SEC has vetoed. Despite this, Seyffart maintains a 75% approval odds, reflecting an optimistic outlook on the market. Meanwhile, Ethereum prices have surged, topping $3,800 as anticipation for the ETFs heats up. This development underscores the growing acceptance and integration of DeFi and BRC 20 tokens in mainstream financial markets.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has secured a record $2 billion settlement with bankrupt cryptocurrency firm Genesis Global, following allegations of investor fraud. This landmark settlement, the largest against a crypto company in New York history, aims to compensate investors who were allegedly misled by Genesis.

The settlement includes the creation of a Victims’ Fund to aid investors who were defrauded. The fund will benefit the 29,000 New Yorkers who invested over $1.1 billion through the Gemini Earn investment program. If the creditors are not fully compensated based on the current values of digital assets, the fund will receive up to $2 billion from Genesis’ remaining assets.

This settlement continues Attorney General James’ efforts to increase oversight and regulation in the cryptocurrency industry. In October 2023, James sued Gemini, GenesisTrading, and DCGco, accusing them of defrauding 230,000 investors of over $1 billion. This action underscores the need for increased regulation and oversight in the crypto industry to protect investors and maintain market integrity.

Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Research, has suggested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may differentiate between Ethereum (ETH) and staked Ether, potentially classifying the latter as a security. This distinction could pave the way for regulatory approval of spot Ethereum ETFs. Thorn believes that the SEC might prohibit ETFs from staking their held ETH, maintaining a strict regulatory framework around staked assets and other altcoins.

Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart have increased their predicted likelihood of a spot Ether ETF approval from 25% to 75%. This follows discussions implying that the SEC might adopt a more favorable stance towards these applications. The SEC's decision on the VanEck spot Ether ETF is expected on May 23.

The potential SEC approval has positively impacted Ethereum's value, which has surged by over 20% following the news. This optimistic market response contradicts the earlier consensus that approval was unlikely, indicating a positive shift in market sentiment.

Bitwise CEO, Hunter Horsley, in a recent interview, revealed that significant financial entities are secretly investing in Bitcoin (BTC), including a sovereign wealth fund of an undisclosed nation and a large tech firm. The latter has invested a substantial part of its balance sheet into the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, which currently manages $2.3 billion in assets. Horsley suggested that the public's realization of these investments could be a catalyst for Bitcoin's bull market. He also predicted that by next year, a tech giant like Meta could add Bitcoin to its balance sheet, facilitated by the ETFs. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan also expressed bullish sentiments on Bitcoin ETFs, noting that the latest wave of 13F filings indicates room for increased allocations.

Former BitMEX CEO, Arthur Hayes, predicts that the weakening Japanese yen could potentially drive up the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. His argument is based on the rapid depreciation of the yen against the US dollar due to a significant interest rate differential, which negatively impacts Japan's export competitiveness against China.

Hayes suggests that to avoid a yuan devaluation that would adversely affect US manufacturing, the US could pressure Japan to strengthen the yen. This could be achieved through the Federal Reserve engaging in unlimited dollar-yen currency swaps with the Bank of Japan, thereby increasing the global supply of dollars, weakening the dollar, and stimulating China's economy without devaluing the yuan.

This scenario would likely drive up the prices of dollar-denominated assets, including US stocks and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Hayes sees this as a more palatable solution than the Bank of Japan raising rates or the Federal Reserve overtly enacting yield curve control.

The potential for this situation to unfold around the US election could be very bullish for Bitcoin, positioning it as a hedge against rising global liquidity. Bitcoin has already seen significant growth this year, largely driven by ETF hype and demand, and experts suggest that a real rally could start once global superpowers like the US begin reducing interest rates.

In a recent development, Peter Schiff, a well-known critic of Bitcoin, has warned that the potential approval of Ethereum ETFs by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could be detrimental to Bitcoin. Schiff believes that funds for new Ethereum ETFs would likely be drawn from existing Bitcoin ETFs, thereby negatively impacting Bitcoin's market strength.

However, it's worth noting that Schiff's past predictions regarding Bitcoin have often been off the mark. For instance, he recently predicted a significant drop in Bitcoin's value if it fell below $60,000. Contrary to his forecast, Bitcoin briefly dipped below $60,000 but quickly rebounded and is currently trading above $70,000.

Despite Schiff's pessimistic outlook, the market remains optimistic. The recent surge in Bitcoin's price to a 6-week peak of around $72,000, alongside Ethereum's 20% jump to over $3,800, underscores the robust momentum in the cryptocurrency market. The potential approval of Ethereum ETFs could further diversify the crypto investment landscape, potentially attracting more investors to the sector.

Web3 infrastructure firm COTI has launched a developer network for its upcoming privacy-focused Ethereum-based layer-2 network, COTI V2. The network introduces a new level of confidentiality and advanced garbled protocols to the blockchain. It will allow market participants to explore various web3 use cases, including confidential decentralized finance (DeFi), on-chain sensitive data management, and confidential transactions for payments, stablecoins, and real-world assets.

The COTI V2 devnet provides several tools for development teams, including a Python SDK, a NodeJS SDK, server access, extensive documentation, and an explorer for on-chain analytics. COTI claims developers can use the network to build one of the best techniques within multi-party computation for securing private information.

To encourage developers to build on the devnet, the COTI Foundation has launched a $52 million grant program. The foundation has allocated 400 million COTI, from the token’s existing supply, to incentivize groups to explore new use cases and the opportunities a privacy-centric web3 ecosystem can provide. The program invites applications from innovative builders, developers, and researchers interested in testing the limits of the COTI ecosystem’s capacity.

ETH prices soared to a high of $3,700 in early Asian trading on Tuesday, May 21, marking the highest point since early April. This 20% surge is driven by renewed optimism that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve the first spot ETH ETF from VanEck on May 23. This significant move has also boosted the entire crypto market, with the total market cap increasing 8.6% to $2.74 trillion.

Bitcoin pioneer Anthony Pompliano expressed his optimism, stating that the approval of the Ethereum ETF would signify the approval of the entire industry. Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have also increased their approval odds from 25% to 75%.

In a related development, Prometheum, a crypto asset trading and custody firm, has launched a controversial Ethereum custody service. This move is seen by some as a preparation for a potential SEC denial of ETH ETFs on the grounds that it also considers the asset a security. However, the recent positive sentiment suggests that the opposite may occur this week.

Digital asset investment products have seen a surge for the second week in a row, reaching a total of $932 million. Despite the increase in inflows, the trading volume for the week was significantly lower than the $40 billion recorded in March, standing at only $10.5 billion.

The influx of funds was largely prompted by the unexpected CPI report released on Wednesday. CoinShares’ Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report indicates that 89% of the total flows occurred during the last three trading days of the week, suggesting that BTC prices have recoupled to interest rate expectations.

Bitcoin investors were not actively betting on a decline in its price, indicating a bullish outlook among market participants. Bitcoin experienced weekly inflows of $942 million. Altcoins such as Solana, Chainlink, and Cardano also received inflows, while Ethereum faced outflows of $23 million over the past week due to concerns about the SEC’s approval of a spot-based ETF.

The US led the way with $1.002 billion in inflows last week, boosted by Grayscale, which saw its first positive inflows of $18 million. Switzerland and Germany also recorded modest inflows, while Hong Kong, Canada, and Sweden experienced outflows.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane has approved Genesis Global's Chapter 11 liquidation plan, allowing the insolvent cryptocurrency lender to return around $3 billion in cash and crypto to its creditors. The ruling means that parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), will not recover anything from the bankruptcy proceedings. Despite DCG's objections, Judge Lane sided with Genesis, stating that the company would still be obligated to pay other creditors even if customer claims were capped at lower prices. Genesis filed for bankruptcy in January 2023 and has been liquidating $1.6 billion in assets since. The company's bankruptcy plan, which estimates that creditors could recover up to 77% of their loans, has been widely supported by creditors.

Cardano's founder, Charles Hoskinson, has weighed in on the upcoming US presidential elections, endorsing independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his pro-crypto stance. Hoskinson criticized both Trump and Biden for their impact on the US economy, but suggested that the crypto community should vote against Biden. He stated, "Under the Trump administration, we founded and built Cardano. Under the Biden administration, the entire industry is at war with the US government."

Hoskinson believes that the crypto vote could play a significant role in the election outcome, with an estimated 53 million Americans being pro-crypto. Despite Trump's previous criticism of the crypto industry, he has recently softened his stance, stating that he can "live with" Bitcoin and that he is the right choice for pro-crypto voters. This stance contrasts with Biden's administration, which Hoskinson claims is against the industry.

In the past 30 days, Litecoin whales have accumulated over 2.75 million LTC, as revealed by data from crypto market intelligence platform, IntoTheBlock. This is the largest daily inflow since February, with over 900,000 LTC, worth approximately $74.7 million, moved into their wallets on May 10. Despite this, LTC's price has remained relatively stable, fluctuating between $80 and $86.

This activity follows Coinbase's launch of a cash-settled futures contract product for Litecoin in early March. Since Litecoin's halving event ten months ago, the network has seen an increase in transaction count and active addresses, indicating growing confidence in the cryptocurrency.

Furthermore, Litecoin has seen significant development with the launch of the LTC-20 token standard, built on top of the network’s Ordinals Protocol. This development is a positive indicator for the market, demonstrating the ongoing innovation and growth within the blockchain industry.

Ether (ETH) witnessed a 10% surge on Monday, following strong rumors of a potential spot ETF in the US. The price of ETH jumped from $3150 to $3450 within 25 minutes, following a tweet from Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, suggesting a 75% chance of ETH approval this month.

This comes after the US House and Senate passed H.J.Res.109, a resolution to repeal an anti-crypto banking rule established by the SEC, with bipartisan support. This indicates a shift in the political stance towards crypto, despite President Joe Biden's promise to veto the act.

The news also positively impacted Bitcoin, which rose 5% to $69,850 on Monday. The crypto market has seen $226 million in liquidations within the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass. The potential approval of an ETH ETF could further catalyze the DeFi and BRC 20 markets, indicating a promising future for the blockchain industry.

Shiba Inu's burn rate has surged by 579% in the past 24 hours, resulting in nearly 10 million tokens being destroyed. This strategic approach aims to manage SHIB's supply and stimulate potential value appreciation through scarcity. Over 40% of the maximum supply of 999,982,363,413,352 tokens have already been sent to a null address. The burning process involves both automatic and manual burns.

Shiba Inu's price is slightly down daily but shows a positive trend on a weekly scale, trading at approximately $0.00002401, a 9% increase compared to last Monday.

Shiba Inu is not the only crypto project using a burning mechanism. Binance Coin (BNB) and Floki Inu (FLOKI) are notable examples. BNB conducts quarterly burns to reduce the total supply to 100 million BNB. The latest action resulted in 1,944,452.51 tokens being burned. Floki DAO recently decided to destroy over 15 billion assets, coinciding with a significant price increase for the meme coin. FLOKI's market capitalization is nearing the $2 billion mark.