Summary
gm, Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 amid optimism surrounding U.S.-China trade talks and a potential U.S.-U.K. trade deal. Ethereum's Pectra upgrade went live, enhancing its functionality and driving a 20% price increase. Coinbase announced a major acquisition of Deribit for $2.9 billion, signaling a strategic move into the derivatives market. Meanwhile, regulatory discussions continued as the U.S. Senate voted against advancing a stablecoin bill, highlighting ongoing challenges in crypto legislation.

News Headlines
💳 Stripe Unveils Stablecoin Payment Accounts in Over 100 Countries

  • Stripe launched stablecoin financial accounts across 101 countries, allowing businesses to hold and transact with dollar-backed stablecoins.
  • The company introduced an AI model trained on billions of transactions to improve fraud detection and payment authorization rates.

🌐 Meta Exploring Stablecoin Integration for Payouts

  • Meta is considering integrating stablecoin payments into its platforms after a three-year absence from the cryptocurrency sector.
  • The company may adopt a multi-token strategy, supporting various stablecoins like Tether's USDt and Circle's USD Coin.

🔓 60K BTC Addresses Leaked as LockBit Ransomware Gang Gets Hacked

  • Nearly 60,000 Bitcoin addresses linked to the LockBit ransomware group were leaked following a breach of their dark web affiliate panel.
  • The leaked data included crucial information that could enable blockchain analysts to trace the group's illicit financial activities.

🍔 Steak 'N Shake to Roll Out US Bitcoin Payments Nationwide

  • Steak 'n Shake will start accepting Bitcoin at all U.S. locations from May 16, allowing its 100+ million customers to pay with cryptocurrency.
  • This move is significant as few fast-food chains have adopted such payment options on a large scale.

💼 Trump's Crypto Advisor David Bailey Raises $300M for Bitcoin Investment Firm

  • David Bailey, advisor to former US President Donald Trump, raised $300 million to launch a Bitcoin investment firm named Nakamoto.
  • The firm plans to go public through a merger with a Nasdaq-listed company, targeting a summer debut.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Sonic (Strategic, $10M) - EVM Layer-1 blockchain
2. GoQuant (Seed, $4M) - Digital asset trading infrastructure
3. Lynqswap (Pre Seed, $500K) - Reward-driven social campaigns platform for Web3 projects

Regulatory
⚖️ Former Celsius CEO Sentenced to 12 Years

  • Alex Mashinsky, former CEO of Celsius Network, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for misappropriating customer funds and manipulating the CEL token price.
  • The sentence came after Mashinsky pled guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud charges in December 2024.

💼 SEC and Ripple Reach $50 Million Settlement

  • The SEC has settled its lawsuit against Ripple Labs over XRP sales for $50 million.
  • This settlement concludes a case that began in December 2020, with the SEC initially claiming Ripple sold $1.3 billion in unregistered securities.

🔒 EU to Enhance Crypto Transfer Tracking

  • The European Union plans to enhance tracking of cryptocurrency transfers under new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR).
  • By July 1, 2027, crypto service providers will be prohibited from interacting with anonymous wallets and privacy coins.

🏛️ Texas House Committee Passes Bitcoin Reserve Bill for Full Floor Vote

  • A Texas House Committee advanced a Republican-backed bill to create a Bitcoin reserve, moving it to a full floor vote.
  • The bill aims to establish the 'Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,' overseen by the state's comptroller.

📊 Coinbase Q1 Revenue Falls 10%, Misses Estimates

  • Coinbase's total revenue in Q1 dropped 10% quarter-over-quarter to $2 billion, falling short of industry estimates.
  • Transaction revenue decreased 18.9% to $1.26 billion, with trading volumes also declining by 10.5% to $393 billion.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - Bitcoin shows strong development within a rising trend channel in the short term. This signals increasing optimism among investors and indicates continued rise. There is no resistance in the price chart and further rise is indicated. In case of a negative reaction, the currency has support at approximately 93000 points. Positive volume balance strengthens the currency in the short term. The short term momentum of the currency is strongly positive, with RSI above 70. This indicates increasing optimism among investors and further price increase for Bitcoin. However, particularly for big stocks, high RSI may be a sign that the stock is overbought and that there is a chance of a reaction downwards. The currency is overall assessed as technically positive for the short term.

Ethereum - Ethereum has broken the rising trend up in the short term. This signals an even stronger rate of growth, but the positive development may result in corrections down in the short term. The currency has support at points 2060 and resistance at points 2770. The volume balance is positive and strengthens the currency in the short term. The short term momentum of the currency is strongly positive, with RSI above 70. This indicates increasing optimism among investors and further price increase for Ethereum. However, particularly for big stocks, high RSI may be a sign that the stock is overbought and that there is a chance of a reaction downwards. The currency is overall assessed as technically positive for the short term.