A Manhattan judge modified a restraining notice to let Arbitrum DAO move $71 million in frozen Ether to Aave, while preserving terrorism victims’ legal claim on the funds.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs have logged six consecutive weeks of net inflows, the longest such streak since a seven-week run that drew in $7.57 billion in the summer of 2025.

The whale's actions could destabilize Ethereum markets, prompting broader crypto volatility and influencing investor sentiment across assets.

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AI-powered crypto wallets could revolutionize asset management and trading, but security vulnerabilities and control issues pose significant risks.

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Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has reacted to Flare founder Hugo Philion’s comments, in which Philion highlighted his network’s growth relative to Cardano. Notably, Flare has achieved this growth as one of the largest DeFi providers in the XRP ecosystem. 

Cardano Founder Reacts To Flare Founder’s Comments

In an X post, the Cardano founder remarked that attacking his network to get attention and media coverage is an old marketing tactic. He urged the Flare founder to update his marketing strategy and possibly try “TikTok reaction videos.” Hoskinson was reacting to an X post, in which Philion highlighted his network’s growth while criticizing Cardano. 

The Flare founder cited DeFiLlama data showing that the Cardano network has $132 million in total value locked in DeFi, while Flare has $159 million. Philion noted that the network launched in 2017, while Flare launched six years later. He added that ever since they launched, Cardano has been trying and “miserably failing” to copy their strategy. 

Philion further mentioned that the network has far lower statistics across the board in DeFi than Flare does, despite having a massive head start and a vast treasury at one point. With his network ahead now, the Flare founder declared that ADA will not win BTC. Instead, he believes that his network will win by creating a unified DeFi layer for FXRP, FBTC, FXLM, RWAs, and stables. 

The Flare network has notably gained ground in the XRP ecosystem, with Philion recently describing his network as the largest DeFi provider. CoinGecko data shows that FXRP currently has a market cap of just over $220 million, with 155 million tokens in circulation. 

Not An Attack On The Network

In another X post, the Flare founder said that he wasn’t attacking Cardano and was just simply stating numbers from DeFiLlama. However, he questioned how nothing has materially changed for ADA despite the attacks against the network in 2022. He teased the founder by asking if he would like an advance copy of Flare’s 2027 strategy, so that he could try to implement it. 

However, the Cardano founder indicated that he didn’t have time to go back and forth with the Flare founder. It is worth noting that, like Flare, Cardano aims to be the DeFi layer for Bitcoin. Hoskinson had previously said they wanted to make BTC programmable in ADA’s smart contracts. That way, market participants will be able to earn BTC yield on the network. 

The founder highlighted how this could be huge for his network, given that the U.S. government and top organizations currently hold BTC. By becoming the DeFi layer for Bitcoin, Cardano could enable companies such as BlackRock to deploy their holdings to generate yields. 

At the time of writing, the ADA price is trading at around $0.27, up over 5% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, disclosed on Friday that it has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) seeking approval for a National Trust Company charter. 

A national trust company charter would allow Payward to set up a federally regulated custody business under OCC oversight. The company said the purpose is to broaden access for institutional clients that require a federally regulated qualified custodian. 

What It Means For Kraken

In its release, Payward explained that if approved, the application would establish Payward National Trust Company (PNTC). Kraken’s parent company said it expects to serve both institutional clients and individual customers looking for regulated, trust-based custody and related services for digital assets. 

The company also stated that it plans to build on Payward’s existing infrastructure, along with its risk management, compliance programs, and regulated affiliates, positioning PNTC to deliver custody services in a secure and compliant manner.

Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said the company’s long-standing view is that digital assets need robust and transparent regulation to grow responsibly. 

The executive described the national trust company model as the kind of certainty institutions look for and said the charter would help create the infrastructure required for “the next generation of custody.” 

Sethi emphasized that the effort is not about “being first,” but about getting the framework right so markets can scale with clarity, interoperability, and long-term expectations from clients as the technology matures.

Kraken’s co-CEO also linked the charter effort to Payward’s broader banking strategy. He described Kraken Financial and the work with the OCC as complementary parts of an initiative aimed at advancing a more “digitally native” financial system that is efficient and accessible. 

He pointed to Payward’s Wyoming SPDI and its Federal Reserve master account as the foundation for the company’s approach, and he said adding a national trust company would expand what Payward can offer clients.

Critics Question The OCC’s Crypto Approach

As previously reported by Bitcoinist, the OCC has conditionally approved national trust bank charters for six crypto firms: Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. 

The last of those approvals came earlier last month, when Coinbase received conditional approval from the OCC to establish Coinbase National Trust Company. Still, the OCC’s approvals have faced criticism.

Since last year, banking lobbyist groups have pushed back against the OCC’s decision to approve crypto-related charters, arguing that the OCC is stretching the definition and historical purpose of the national trust bank charter. 

Rebeca Romero Rainey, president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said the conditional approvals could endanger consumers and result in institutions that the OCC may not be able to manage effectively. 

She also argued that the new framework could allow stablecoin operators to access the federal banking system without the same level of capital and regulatory requirements that traditional banks must meet.

Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

The Senate Banking Committee plans to mark up the CLARITY Act on May 14, giving the stalled crypto-market-structure bill its clearest path this year toward a committee vote.

The hearing would move one of Congress’s most closely watched digital-asset bills from private negotiations into a public amendment process, where lawmakers are expected to test whether a fragile compromise on stablecoin incentives can survive pressure from banks, crypto firms, and Democrats seeking stricter ethics language.

The committee step is significant because Banking controls a central piece of the Senate’s market-structure package. Any text approved by the panel would still need to be reconciled with the Senate Agriculture Committee's work before the legislation could move toward the Senate floor.

The bill has been one of the crypto industry’s top priorities in Washington because it would establish a broader federal framework for digital-asset markets, including how tokens are classified, which agencies oversee trading activity, and how intermediaries operate under federal law.

The latest calendar move suggests Senate negotiators have made enough progress to bring the bill into the open, even as major points of friction remain unresolved.

Banks mount eleventh-hour lobby against CLARITY Act

The immediate test centers on the compromise language negotiated by Sens. Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks to resolve a dispute over stablecoin-linked incentives.

The proposal would restrict yield-like payments on passive stablecoin reserve holdings while preserving room for rewards tied to active use.

Crypto firms have argued that a distinction is necessary to protect ordinary customer rewards and transaction-based incentives. Banking groups say the language could still allow digital-asset companies to offer products that function too much like interest-bearing accounts.

The compromise helped revive negotiations after months of uncertainty over the bill’s direction. Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said in January that the exchange was withdrawing support due to concerns about stablecoin yield restrictions and other provisions.

Since then, the yield fight has become a proxy for a broader dispute over how much room crypto firms should have to compete with banks for customer balances.

Banking groups have urged lawmakers to tighten the language before the markup, warning that stablecoin rewards could draw deposits away from federally insured institutions and reduce the funding base used for mortgages, small-business loans, and agricultural credit.

In a May 8 letter, a coalition led by the American Bankers Association argued that Congress should close what it describes as an interest loophole.

The groups have pressed senators to prevent crypto firms from using transaction rewards, loyalty programs, or other incentives to replicate yield products through different wording.

Lorrie Trogden, president and chief executive officer of the Arkansas Bankers Association, said stablecoins lack the protections and community-lending function of bank deposits.

Considering this, the banking groups are urging the public to ask senators to tighten the CLARITY Act before it advances.

Crypto firms push back against banks

Crypto executives have countered that the banks are trying to block competition, even though lawmakers have already moved to restrict stablecoin yield.

Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase, has criticized the banking lobby’s position, arguing that banks first objected to products resembling interest-bearing accounts and are now targeting ordinary customer incentives.

However, other industry figures have urged lawmakers to move the bill forward rather than reopen the compromise.

Kristin Smith, president of the Solana Institute, described the markup as a foundational moment for US digital-asset policy, saying the country has the developers, capital markets, and institutions needed to lead if Congress creates workable rules.

Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer at Ripple, has also described the hearing as a hard-earned milestone, while warning that Washington has a limited window to establish a viable framework before more digital-asset activity shifts overseas.

The industry’s argument is that the compromise already separates passive yield from active rewards and gives lawmakers a way to address bank concerns without turning the bill into a ban on customer incentives.

The banks’ argument is that any reward tied to stablecoin balances could become economically indistinguishable from interest, especially if large exchanges or payment platforms use incentives to attract customer funds at scale.

Ethics fight adds another hurdle

As the clock ticks down to May 14, the situation remains fluid. The committee had not released the finalized, fully updated text of the CLARITY Act to the public as of press time, leaving market analysts speculating on the exact wording of the stablecoin provisions.

Furthermore, some Democratic lawmakers are seeking ethics provisions that would restrict senior government officials and regulators from personally profiting from the digital-asset industry while overseeing it.

Supporters of that language argue that market-structure legislation should address conflicts of interest as crypto becomes more closely tied to politics and public policy.

However, Republicans and industry supporters have focused more heavily on advancing the core market-structure framework, arguing that prolonged delays would leave companies operating under enforcement-driven rules and fragmented agency oversight.

The May 14 markup will show whether Senate negotiators can convert months of private bargaining into a bill capable of surviving committee scrutiny.

A successful vote would not end the fight, but it would mark the strongest sign yet that Congress may be prepared to move the CLARITY Act beyond negotiation and into the formal legislative process.

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Bitcoin’s brief drop below $80,000 during the last 24 hours has exposed a more fragile market after weeks of gains, but options traders are not yet treating the pullback as the start of a deeper breakdown.

According to CryptoSlate data, the retreat erased part of a rally that had carried Bitcoin about 37% higher since early April, when traders began rebuilding exposure after a bruising first quarter. BTC has recovered to $80,360 as of press time.

Yet, a deep dive into options pricing, volatility metrics, and on-chain behavior reveals a market that is consolidating rather than capitulating.

Unlike the brutal drawdowns of the past, which were often catalyzed by macroeconomic headwinds, this week’s decline appears to be a mechanical byproduct of the cryptocurrency’s internal market structure.

With traditional equities like the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite lingering near record highs, Bitcoin’s localized weakness points to a combination of exhaustion, profit-taking, and the unwinding of over-leveraged long positions.

How Bitcoin’s market structure drove the break below $80,000

Bitcoin’s brief fall below $80,000 was driven less by a shift in macro sentiment than by pressure inside the crypto market itself.

The first source of stress came from profit-taking. After rallying about 37% from its April lows, Bitcoin pushed a large group of recent buyers back into profit, giving traders who had spent months underwater a reason to reduce exposure.

CryptoQuant data show investors realized profits on 14,600 Bitcoin on May 4, the largest one-day profit-taking event since December 2025. The Short-Term Holder Spent Output Profit Ratio, which tracks whether recent buyers are selling coins at a profit or loss, rose to 1.016 and has remained above 1 since mid-April.

That shift is significant because it shows that newer holders are no longer selling due to distress. Instead, they were selling into the market strength.

The behavior reflects the damage left by the first-quarter drawdown.

During February and March, many short-term traders held unrealized losses of 20% to 30%. April’s rebound repaired much of that damage, creating a natural exit point for investors who had been waiting to get back to breakeven or lock in a modest gain.

Meanwhile, the same pattern is visible in unrealized profits. Bitcoin traders are now sitting on an aggregate profit margin of about 18%, the highest since June 2025.

CryptoQuant said similar levels have historically coincided with heavier distribution, as traders use relief rallies to take money off the table.

Still, the selling has not yet developed into broadholder distribution. Exchange inflows remain muted, suggesting large holders are not aggressively moving coins onto centralized platforms. That limits the bearish signal from the latest profit-taking and points instead to a market digesting gains after a sharp rebound.

At the same time, the second source of pressure came from the derivatives market as Bitcoin’s early-May rally was powered by a rapid return of leverage to perpetual futures markets.

CryptoQuant data show BTC's open interest, or the total value of outstanding derivatives contracts, recorded its largest increase of 2026. The expansion was even larger than the build-up seen around Bitcoin’s 2025 all-time high.

Binance remained the center of that activity, accounting for roughly 34% of the market, with average monthly open interest reaching $2.5 billion. Gate.io and Bybit also saw elevated activity, reflecting a broader return of risk appetite across major trading venues.

That leverage helped drive the rally, but it also made the move more fragile.

CryptoQuant analyst IT Tech noted that BTC funding rates fell to -0.031% per hour between May 2 and 4, their lowest level since the post-COVID market stress in 2020. The deeply negative funding showed that traders had crowded into short positions just as liquidity was building above the market.

When Bitcoin broke through $78,600, those shorts were forced to unwind. From May 4 to May 6, about $535 million in short positions were liquidated, accelerating the move toward the $82,000 to $83,000 range.

Open interest surged from $26.5 billion to $29.1 billion during the squeeze, showing how much of the advance was driven by derivatives positioning rather than steady spot demand.

The move below $80,000 was the other side of that process.

As the squeeze faded, open interest cooled back to about $26.7 billion. That decline washed out part of the speculative buildup that had carried Bitcoin higher and reduced some of the immediate leverage risk.

Options traders shrug off the pullback

While spot markets digest the selling pressure, the options market was telling a decidedly more optimistic story. Volatility, which had been compressed to its lowest levels since October 2025, is violently repricing higher.

According to Glassnode data, this volatility surge is entirely driven by the front end of the curve. One-week implied volatility has jumped significantly from recent lows, indicating a renewed appetite for short-term optionality.

At the same time, the 25-delta skew, a metric that measures the cost difference between bullish call options and bearish put options, is aggressively normalizing. After briefly flashing a 5% premium for puts, the front-end skew is compressing back toward neutral.

The broader skew index, which evaluates the entirety of the options curve, paints an even clearer picture: downside hedges are being actively unwound, and demand for upside exposure is steadily building.

The market is effectively signaling that while traders are maintaining some baseline protection, they viewed the brief dip below $80,000 as a temporary deviation rather than a structural breakdown.

Further complicating the price action is a massive cluster of short gamma positioned near the $82,000 strike. With a total of nearly $2 billion, this concentration forces options dealers to hedge their books dynamically.

In practice, this means dealers are compelled to buy into market strength and sell into market weakness, a mechanical reflex that naturally amplifies price swings in this specific trading range.

Trading volumes support the thesis of renewed engagement. Blockscholes data shows that daily derivatives volumes, which had been languishing between $800 million and $1.2 billion, exploded to well over $4 billion during the push toward $83,000.

Despite the subsequent price drop, Blockscholes’ internal risk appetite index remains exceptionally strong, registering a +1.1720 reading.

The path to $88,000

Considering the above, the prevailing market question is whether this entire sequence marks the genesis of a sustained macroeconomic bull run or merely the final, euphoric gasp of a prolonged bear-market rally.

The answer likely lies in the behavior of cost-basis clusters.

Data from CryptoQuant shows that the age of unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) provides a map of where different cohorts of buyers acquired their coins.

Currently, a highly bullish divergence is forming. The cost basis for the one-to-four-week holder cohort has surged from $67,000 to $76,000, recently surpassing the one-to-three-month cohort at $68,000.

In technical terms, this is a structural golden cross for on-chain sentiment. Short-term holders are the undisputed engine of market momentum.

When their aggregate position falls underwater, they generate relentless selling pressure. However, when their positions align in profit from the bottom up, they form the bedrock of a sustainable uptrend.

This foundational alignment is currently locking into place, setting the stage for the next major psychological and technical battleground: $88,000. This level represents the cost basis of the three-to-six-month holder cohort and stands as the ultimate resistance barrier.

If derivatives demand continues to absorb spot profit-taking and Bitcoin can successfully reclaim and hold $88,000, it would push every single short-term cohort into profit simultaneously.

Historically, that specific trigger has been the undeniable catalyst for a true trend reversal, turning cautious optimism into widespread retail euphoria.

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The US-Iran war has shaken global markets, with safe-haven gold facing headwinds while oil stocks, crypto, and rallied. Yet one commodity has outpaced every major asset class by more than 40 times.

Potato contracts for difference (CFDs) surged roughly 705% in under a month, dwarfing every major asset class.

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Potatoes Just Outperformed Bitcoin This Month

The 705% jump came during a green month for risk assets. Bitcoin (BTC) gained 13.1% over the past month. Ethereum (ETH) added 6.2%, while the broader crypto market rose 10.8%.

US equities also rallied. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 15%, the S&P 500 added 9.07%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.95%.

Commodity gains were mixed. According to data from Trading Economics, Brent crude rose 5.86%, gasoline jumped 16.1%, and silver added 8.37%. Gold slipped 0.25%, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 2.08%.

Even the strongest performers fell short of the 705% potato CFD move by more than 40 times.

Why Potato Derivatives Are Surging

It’s important to note that the pump reflects financial markets reacting to volatility in the Iran war, not any actual scarcity in physical potato inventories. Euro News reported that the price per 100 kilograms has climbed from roughly €2.11 on April 21 to €18.50 since April 21. 

“As potatoes are a nutrient-intensive crop, the sudden lack of affordable fertiliser has direct implications for future yields and current market valuations. To make matters worse, the regional instability has made primary shipping lanes increasingly hazardous, complicating the logistics of agricultural trade,” the outlet wrote.

Even at that level, potato prices remain well below where the market traded over the past two years, as European producers work through a substantial supply glut. Thus, traders are repricing futures based on risks and the broader effects of the Iran conflict.

“Traders are seemingly repricing futures contracts and no longer prioritising the current reality of oversupply. While for European consumers, this does not presently translate to a massive increase in the cost of a basic dietary staple, the move in potato CFDs highlights an anxious market attempting to price the several and encompassing economic effects of the Iran war,” the report read.

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Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded six straight weeks of net inflows through Friday, drawing $3.4 billion combined. 

The run marks the longest positive streak since a seven-week stretch ended in July 2025, according to SoSoValue data.

Bitcoin ETFs Extend Inflow Streak to 6 Weeks

The week ending April 17 anchored the streak with $996.38 million in net inflows. That marked the largest weekly haul since mid-January.

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Notably, Bitcoin products outperformed other crypto ETFs over the same window. Ethereum (ETH) ETFs slipped to an $82.47 million outflow in the week ending May 1. They rebounded to $70.49 million the following week.

XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) funds also could not match Bitcoin’s straight run. Both recorded weekly outflows in the week ending May 1, breaking their inflow trend.

Six-Week Streak Faces Test as Buyers Step Back

The current run is close to last summer’s streak in length but trails it sharply in scale. Weekly inflows since April 2 have averaged $568 million. By comparison, the seven-week run ending July 25, 2025, averaged $1.51 billion per week and totaled $10.58 billion.

Moreover, daily flows suggest a cooling of momentum. Bitcoin ETFs posted back-to-back outflows on May 7 and May 8. That broke a five-session green run for the funds.

The funds shed $277.50 million on May 7 and another $145.65 million on May 8. Until then, daily inflows had been strong from April 30 through May 6. Net inflows on May 1 alone reached $629.73 million.

Whether the weekly streak extends to a seventh week now hinges on flows in the days ahead. The next sessions will show whether buyers return or the run ends at six.

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The pioneer cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) retraced from its weekly high of $82,833 amid the renewed uncertainty in the middle east war. The pullback gained additional momentum as BTC’s futures logged their 67th straight day of negative funding rates— a move that highlights sellers’ conviction for a prolonged correction in its price. However, the historical data identifies this setup sets the stage for a potential recovery in the market. Here are key levels to watch in Bitcoin price in May 2026.

Why Bitcoin Price Reverted From $83,000 Barrier

Bitcoin price is up 0.18% on Saturday to trade at $80,344. This shallow uptick follows the re-escalating geopolitical tension as U.S. airstrikes against Iranian military facilities, Following attacks on American naval destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump has called this strike a “Love tap” in an ABC interview, while adding that the ceasefire with Iran is still intact but harder action is possible if Tehran refuses a deal. The move triggered notable volatility in oil market prices as benchmark index Brent Crude rose 2.9% to approximately $103 per barrel.

Thus, the broader crypto market witnessed a quick pullback, dragging BTC to $80,000 level.

What Are Funding Rates, and Why Do They Matter Now?

Perpetual futures contracts are those that are not bound to expire ever, and that track the Bitcoin spot price, in which exchanges implement a periodic payment scheme called funding rate, to ensure that the price of the perpetual market remains grounded. When the majority of traders are bullish and long positions dominate, long holders pay short sellers. The opposite is when bearish sentiment gains the upper hand and shorts stack up – the shorts pay the longs.

If the funding rate is negative, it indicates an imbalance in the market, favoring wagers against the market. Short sellers are paying a continuous, compounding cost to maintain their positions. 

According to K33 Research, the Bitcoin futures funding rates have been negative for straight 67 days, projecting its longest streak in a decade. Such a long period highlights short sellers’ determination to pay premium to long holders and hold their position against Bitcoin even during a recovery momentum.

“I care about this regime for one simple reason: timing,” said Vetle Lunde, Head of Research at K33. “Lasting negative funding rates have a very strong track record of flagging where you should buy with conviction.”

History Says Bitcoin Often Rallies After Extended Negative Funding

When K33’s data is compared with on-chain analytics providers such as Glassnode and CoinGlass, it shows a similar trend in every case of long periods of negative funding.

The COVID Crash Bottom occurred in March 2020: The world markets froze and Bitcoin lost control and dropped to $3,800. Traders started to bet further price drops, leading to funding rates going sharply negative. Rather, the bottom was created and Bitcoin entered a record run that saw it surpass $60,000 within a year.

June – August 2021 – China Mining Ban: Bitcoin’s future was suddenly placed under a cloud of fear following Beijing’s sudden ban on crypto mining. The price slipped back to $30,000 and funding rates turned negative for 49 days. The market calmed, the shorts started to give way and Bitcoin rallied to a new all-time high later that year.

November 2022 – The FTX Collapse: FTX, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, has collapsed, leaving a shudder in the crypto industry. Funding turned into a negative and open interest increased on the short side as traders took on more contagion bets and the price of Bitcoin settled around $15,500. It had reached $23,000 when the short side had essentially all capitulated by the end of January 2023.

2023 — Silicon Valley Bank Crisis: Negative funding coincided with a brief fall in Bitcoin price to under the $20,000 mark during the banking crisis.The negative funding coincided with a slight drop in Bitcoin’s price to under $20,000 during the banking stress. Within a few weeks, a recovery occurred.

In each of these instances, the theme is the same: short sellers have been piling on for a long time and they go wrong — and when they begin to cover the squeeze makes the rally even bigger.

The Short-Squeeze Coiling Beneath the Surface

The current situation is very volatile, especially because of the structure of open interest. On major exchanges, open interest is also going up but funding continues to be in negative territory, where new short trades are being made and not unwinding. The combination of rising open interest and negative funding is a classic “loaded spring” set-up: With fuel increasing for a short squeeze, waiting for a catalyst to set it off.

This week, FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich highlighted that Bitcoin surged to $82.8K on Wednesday and failing to breach 200-day moving average, is “not a sign of buyer exhaustion,” and a few analysts have pointed to $83,200 as the technical threshold that if breached could lead to a forced short cover and ascent to $93,000.

K33 also pointed out that Bitcoin activity on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has remained quiet even as the cryptocurrency has regained ground, as overall institutional positioning is far from the high of 2024 and 2025. Participation is still resuming, but with a certain hesitation.

Bitcoin Price at a Crossroad as Channel Breakout May Fail

Over the past week, the Bitcoin price showed a notable rally from $74,912 to a weekly high of $82,833. Amid this recovery, the coin buyers gave a decisive breakout from the resistance trendline of a rising channel pattern in daily charts.

While the breakout was expected to further fuel the bullish momentum, the escalated geopolitical tension pushed Bitcoin BTC0.93% within the channel range again to trade $80,388. This could be a retesting period for Bitcoin price to reattempt channel breakout and bolstering its position for a continued recovery.

The post-breakout rally could challenge immediate resistance of $84,330, followed by a leap to $98,000.

On the contrary, if sellers continue to defend the channel resistance at $81,300 mark, the Bitcoin price could witness renewed selling pressure and potential retest of $73,500 support.

ETH, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum ecosystem, rose 0.95% during Friday’s U.S. market hours to trade at $2,312. The buying pressure gained its current momentum following the traditional U.S. stock market as indices like S&P500 and NasDaq hit new high. The coin price gained additional momentum from the steady buying pressure from treasury firms like BitMine. After relentless buying the company is close to its self claimed target of owning 5% of all Ethereum in existence. Once achieved, will BitMine go silent in accumulation of more ETH and how it may impact Ethereum price.

Origin of the Strategy

BitMine’s Ethereum obsession began on a high note. The company has closed a $250 million private placement that it used to instantly invest in ETH, doubling its stake within days of closing. Thomas “Tom” Lee, a founder of the Fundstrat, is the architect behind this and has been chairman of BitMine, the public face of the Ethereum believers. 

Lee’s thesis was simple yet brave: copy the MicroStrategy Bitcoin, but this time with Ethereum. MicroStrategy’s continuous Bitcoin buying fueled its growth into what analysts described as a “sovereign put”: If a nation-state wanted to buy 5% of the Bitcoin network, it would find it easiest to purchase MSTR. 

Lee said that the same could happen for ETH as it did for Bitcoin, which he called the “Wall Street put.” For any institutional level exposure to Ethereum that could be meaningful, you would eventually have to go through BitMine.

The 5% Target and the Buying Machine

The number “5%” has never been a random figure. It was the tipping point that Lee and BitMine had determined their investments would become strategically significant enough for sovereign wealth funds, Wall Street institutions and nation-states to care about. Today, BitMine holds more than 4.29% of the total Ethereum circulating supply of 120.7 million tokens, and says it is 82% the way to the milestone.

The pace of buying has been staggering. The company alone has purchased 71,524 ETH during the past week, the highest single-week purchase since December 2025. At this rate, the 5% finish line isn’t far away. It’s just a matter of weeks.

BitMine Is Becoming Ethereum’s MicroStrategy

Markets are based on supply and demand and BitMine has been an amazing, reliable demand. The firm has been coming into the market week after week with hundreds of millions of dollars in buy orders, making it what traders call a “persistent bid,” or a known, recurring buyer that sets a floor under the price. 

This is no hypothetical scenario. The purchase of Bitcoin by MicroStrategy was largely responsible for setting a psychological and structural support level for BTC, during an accumulation period. For ETH, BitMine has done the same. In addition to the raw buying BitMine also debuted MAVAN, the Made in American Validator Network, an institutional-grade staking platform. 

Much of its ETH is already locked up, taken out of circulation and not available to be sold. Staking on this scale not only keeps price up, it actually constricts supply.

Ethereum’s Biggest Buyer Is About to Exit

Here is where the story gets complicated. When BitMine reaches 5% it will switch from accumulation to stewardship as per its mandate. The buying machine switches off. This presents a new challenge for the ETH market as its biggest recurring customer vanished suddenly. 

Such a pattern exists in financial markets and there’s no fun in any of the examples. The end of quantitative easing programs by central banks is almost always followed by volatility. Large rebalancing events in major index funds are correlated with stocks reverting a portion of their gains. 

The mechanism is the same here. ETH’s price has somewhat factored into BitMine’s buying schedule. Once that pace slows down, the market will have to work hard to fill the demand shortfall, and it is not certain they will be willing to pay the same price.

BitMine May Stop Buying — But Not Sell

The bear case theory is that when people stop purchasing, they start selling. However, that’s what BitMine has indicated. The firm’s claim is that it will keep and stake — and with 5% of the supply, staking rewards are a strong financial engine. 

At the current Ethereum network rates, 5% of the locked ETH will generate the passive income of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. That yield can be reinvested in the system, can be used to finance system operations, or can be returned to shareholders – all without the sale of any token. 

Further, the ownership of 5% could itself become a price catalyst. According to BitMine’s thesis, once this milestone is achieved, it will become the “Wall Street put”, meaning that institutional and sovereign buyers will likely buy the BMNR stock as the best way to gain exposure to ETH, increasing demand for BMNR shares and indirectly for ETH.

BitMine’s ETH Empire Carries Systemic Risk

However, Optimism must be tempered as it hasn’t been easy for BitMine. At one point during Ethereum’s 40% correction from its August 2025 peak, the company was sitting on roughly $4 billion in unrealized losses — a sobering reminder that holding 5% of an asset does not protect you from that asset’s volatility. 

The hold strategy could be overcome by the pressure from the shareholders to sell the shares if the share price dips far below the NAV of BitMine’s ETH position. This is exactly what has occurred with other crypto asset treasury firms as their stock fell below NAV and their only option was to repurpose funds from crypto sales for share repurchases. 

This is not going to be a soft landing for a forced BitMine, it’s a supply shock.

Ethereum Price Drives Steady Recovery Within Channel Pattern

Since early February 2026, the Ethereum price has witnessed a steady recovery within two parallel trendlines, indicating the formation of a rising channel pattern. These two trendlines act as dynamic resistance and support for traders, driving a series of higher high and higher low in daily chart.

Currently, the Ethereum price seeks stability above the $2,250 support and 50-day exponential moving average. If the support holds, the buyers could push a 10% surge to challenge the channel resistance at $2,573. A potential breakout from this barrier would further intensify the buying pressure and target $2,721 and $3,045 resistance.

Alternatively, if the sellers continue to defend the overhead trendline, the Ethereum price may revert for another pullback and seeks support at $2,150.

The cryptocurrency market has seen increased commentary about the imminence of an altcoin season over the past week, with the Chainlink price performance a major contributor to the conversation. The LINK token, which has had a rough ride this year, seems to have roared back to life over the last few days.

Despite facing rejection around the $10 mark earlier in the week, the Chainlink price appears to have finally broken the psychological resistance after strong action on Friday, May 8th. A prominent crypto analytics firm has pinpointed potential catalysts behind LINK’s recent price resurgence.

LINK Exchange Supply Drops By 10% Since Early April: Santiment

In a recent post on the social media platform X, Santiment identified the drivers for Chainlink’s price to reach $10.48, its highest market value since January. According to the market intelligence firm, the price jump in the past day has pushed the LINK token into the top 15 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Santiment revealed that a spike in Chainlink mentions in social media discussions over the past week might have played a role in the altcoin’s price resurgence. The analytics firm noted that Chainlink’s social volume reached a three-month high during the week.

Indeed, an increase in social media comments and volume can signal improving investor sentiment for a cryptocurrency. However, investors might want to watch for extreme levels of social commentary, which could signal a local top, as the market tends to move in the opposite direction of the crowd.

Furthermore, Santiment highlighted the recent decline in the Chainlink supply on centralized exchanges as another catalyst for its price breakout. According to the latest on-chain data, approximately 13.5 million LINK tokens have flowed out of cryptocurrency exchanges in the past five weeks, bringing down the exchange supply by more than 10.5% since early April.

Typically, increased outflows from cryptocurrency exchanges are considered a bullish indicator, which could signal fresh accumulation or a shift in investor holding strategy (as investors with long-term horizons often hold their assets in non-custodial wallets). Hence, the Chainlink price could return to higher levels if the exchange outflow trend continues.

Chainlink Price Overview

As of this writing, the price of LINK stands at around $10.38, reflecting a more than 5% surge in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the altcoin has been one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies in the past week. Data from CoinGecko shows that the Chainlink price is up by nearly 14% on the weekly timeframe.

Cardano is testing a key long-term support at $0.25 once again, a level that has repeatedly sparked strong upside reversals in past cycles. With historical reactions from this zone leading to major rallies, the current reaction could mark the early stages of another structural move higher if support continues to hold.  

$0.25 Emerges As Cardano’s Most Critical Support Level

According to analysis by Ali Charts, the $0.25 price point has emerged as the most critical support level for ADA. By examining the monthly chart, the analyst highlights that this specific price floor has historically functioned as a powerful launchpad for major market reversals. Whenever ADA tests this boundary, it tends to signal the end of a bearish phase and the beginning of a significant upward trend.

The historical evidence cited by Ali Charts begins with the price action in January 2023. During this period, Cardano successfully defended the $0.25 level, which triggered a robust 88.27% rally over the subsequent weeks, demonstrating the high density of buy orders and institutional interest concentrated at this psychological and technical floor.

A second, even more dramatic confirmation occurred in September 2023. Ali Charts pointed out that the level held firm once again, providing the necessary liquidity for a massive 243% surge. At present, Ali Charts observes that Cardano is once again interacting with this pivotal $0.25 support. The analyst suggests that this current bounce could be the early stage of a major structural rally. 

As long as the price remains above this floor, the technical outlook remains bullish, with initial price targets set at $0.36 and a more ambitious macro target identified at $0.53. However, Ali Charts maintains that a failure to hold the $0.25 support would signal a fundamental regime change in the market.

Bullish Bias Holds As Long As Green Box Support Remains Intact

In a recent ADA market update, Yusuf|Noon stated that Cardano still appears to be leaning toward further upside as long as price continues to hold above the highlighted green box support area. At the same time, the analyst noted that several intermediate resistance levels could create short-term obstacles for the ongoing move higher. 

Although ADA is currently pulling back to retest an important technical level, there is not yet a clean structure to justify entering the trade. Rather than chasing price action, the preference is to remain patient and wait for a stronger confirmation setup to develop.

Yusuf|Noon also explained that a pullback into the thin green box region could provide a more attractive entry opportunity if the price reacts positively from that area. In addition, the lower green box is being monitored closely as a potential sniper entry zone in the event of a sudden or extreme market dump.