Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Bybit Expands Institutional Options Access with Orbit Markets RFQ Integration

Bybit has taken another step toward strengthening its institutional trading stack, announcing an integration with Orbit Markets through its request-for-quote, or RFQ, platform. The move brings one of the better-known institutional liquidity providers in digital asset options directly into Bybits execution flow, giving professional traders more access to depth, tighter pricing and smoother large-order execution.　　For options traders, especially institutional desks, the quality of execution often matters just as much as the price itself. Large trades can be difficult to place efficiently, and customized structures usually require more than a standard order book. That is where RFQ systems come in. Instead of relying only on open market liquidity, traders can request quotes directly from liquidity providers and compare executable pricing before committing to a trade.　　By adding Orbit Markets into that process, Bybit is making its RFQ platform more attractive to sophisticated market participants who want faster, cleaner execution without having to bounce between venues. The integration allows Bybit users to tap Orbit Markets‘ liquidity directly inside the platform’s RFQ workflow.　　In practical terms, that means traders can request quotes for large notional trades and tailored options structures, then receive competitive pricing without leaving the Bybit interface. The aim is to cut down

05-15Industry

Nvidia commits over $40B to AI equity deals in 2026, raising dot-com era comparisons

Tech　　Nvidia commits over $40B to AI equity deals in 2026, raising dot-com era comparisons　　Nvidia has poured more than $40 billion into AI and technology companies so far in 2026, a figure that already surpasses its total investment activity from all of 2025. The GPU giant isn‘t just selling shovels during the gold rush anymore. It’s buying stakes in the mines, too.　　The centerpiece of this spending spree is an approximately $30 billion investment in OpenAI, the largest single equity deal in Nvidias history. The remaining billions are spread across a portfolio of AI infrastructure plays, including a notable deal with IREN, a company that used to mine Bitcoin before pivoting to AI compute.　　Financing your own demand　　Here‘s the thing about Nvidia’s investment strategy: the companies its backing are also its biggest customers. OpenAI runs massive GPU clusters to train and serve its models. IREN is building out AI compute infrastructure. These entities need Nvidia hardware, and lots of it.　　In English: Nvidia is writing checks to companies that will turn around and spend a significant chunk of that money buying Nvidia chips.　　The IREN deal illustrates the pattern clearly. The arrangement includes a $2.1 billion equity warrant alongside a $3.4 billion AI compute infrastructure

05-15Industry

Wispr seeks funding that would value AI voice startup at $2B

Tech　　Wispr seeks funding that would value AI voice startup at $2B　　Wispr, the AI startup behind the voice dictation tool Wispr Flow, is reportedly in discussions to raise $260 million at a valuation of $2 billion. The funding round, described as a Series B, hasnt been publicly confirmed by the company, but the reported terms would place Wispr squarely in the upper tier of AI startups that have captured investor imagination over the past two years.　　Wispr Flow is a voice dictation application designed to let users control their computers and compose text using natural speech. The product sits at the intersection of two powerful trends: large language models have made natural language processing dramatically more accurate and context-aware, and the broader AI productivity wave has convinced both consumers and enterprise buyers that the old keyboard-and-mouse paradigm is ripe for disruption.　　The discussions are reportedly still in early stages, which means the final terms could shift. The competitive landscape is worth noting. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI all have voice capabilities baked into their ecosystems. Building a standalone voice product means competing with companies that can bundle similar functionality into existing platforms at zero marginal cost.　　Wisprs fundraise has no direct crypto angle. There

05-15Industry

Examining whether Ondo’s rejection at $0.47 opens door to $0.26

Tech　　Examining whether Ondos rejection at $0.47 opens door to $0.26　　Ondo [ONDO] witnessed an 8.93% drop in Open Interest in the past 24 hours, and its price was down 4.78%. The altcoin has some upward momentum still – it has rallied 12% over the past week.　　This Open Interest depression signaled that speculators were likely in the process of exiting the market, awaiting the next strong trend. It must be noted that the altcoin challenged the $0.47 local high on Saturday, the 9th of May.　　Source: ONDO/USDT on TradingView　　In a recent report, AMBCrypto had warned that the 1-day structure remained bearish. A rally up to the 78.6% retracement level at $0.413 was anticipated, with a small chance of $0.47 being tested before a bearish continuation.　　News that a team-linked wallet moved Ondo tokens worth $63.9 million to Coinbase had already warned of potential sell pressure. Though momentum was strong recently, the bearish outlook appeared to have held so far.　　The bearish ONDO setup following the recent rejectionSource: X　　In a post on X, influencer Cryptorphic laid out a short setup that lined up with the 1-day ONDO chart posted earlier. If the price breached the descending trendline and went above $0.42, it would invalidate the bearish

05-15Industry

Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF to start trading Friday as HYPE rallies on Coinbase USDC deal

Tech　　Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF to start trading Friday as HYPE rallies on Coinbase USDC deal　　Bitwise will launch its Hyperliquid ETF on Friday, giving investors direct exposure to spot HYPE as institutional demand for Hyperliquid-linked products accelerates.　　Introducing the Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF $BHYP—offering 100% direct exposure to spot HYPE. And the first to use in-house staking, rather than a third-party staking provider.　　Starts trading tomorrow.　　Why Hyperliquid？　　We believe Hyperliquid is one of the most important onchain… pic.twitter.com/Of55iF1AMW　　— Bitwise (@Bitwise) May 14, 2026　　The Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF will trade under the ticker BHYP and offer 100% direct exposure to HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid. The fund is also the first HYPE ETF to use Bitwises in-house staking infrastructure rather than relying on a third-party staking provider, according to the firm.　　The ETFs prospectus shows that the fund is expected to list on NYSE Arca under the ticker BHYP, with a primary objective of tracking the value of HYPE held by the trust and a secondary objective of generating additional HYPE through staking. The fund carries a 0.34% sponsor fee, which Bitwise will waive for one month on the first $500 million in assets.　　Bitwise said the fund is designed to give investors a low-cost way to participate in

05-15Industry

GregoAI earns $250,000 bounty through autonomous exploit discovery

Tech　　GregoAI earns $250,000 bounty through autonomous exploit discovery　　A security-focused AI just earned a quarter-million dollars for finding a bug that human auditors missed. No human designed the exploit. No human guided the analysis. The machine did it alone.　　Grego AI, a startup founded in 2024, announced that its multi-agent system autonomously identified a critical vulnerability in a major blockchain protocol. The flaw could have enabled a $27.7M theft. The affected project responded by awarding a $250,000 bug bounty, which Grego AI says is the largest ever paid for a vulnerability discovered solely by artificial intelligence without human intervention in exploit design.　　How the system actually works　　Grego AI calls its approach “Deep Invariant Analysis.” The system ingests a protocols complete codebase, builds dependency maps across the entire architecture, then deploys sandboxed agents that synthesize and test potential exploits. The agents analyze more than seven layers of dependencies, hunting for attack paths that traditional auditing methods might overlook.　　The sandbox element is critical. Rather than probing live protocols and risking actual damage, the system creates isolated environments where it can attempt exploits safely. When an agent finds something promising, it generates a proof-of-concept exploit to verify the vulnerability is real and quantifiable.　　A track record of

05-15Industry

US stock market loses over $250B at open as liquidity squeeze rattles risk assets

Tech　　US stock market loses over $250B at open as liquidity squeeze rattles risk assets　　The US stock market shed more than $250 billion in value at the open, adding to a brutal stretch for risk assets that has spilled across equities, crypto, and derivatives markets in rapid succession.　　What happened across markets　　The equity sell-off at the open mirrored a severe downturn already underway in digital assets. Total crypto market capitalization dropped from roughly $3 trillion to approximately $2.66 trillion, a decline of around $250 billion in its own right.　　Bitcoin fell from around $84,000 to approximately $76,000. Ether fared worse, dropping to about $2,243, which puts it more than 50% below its all-time high.　　Open interest in digital-asset derivatives fell to $24.2 billion, the lowest level in nine months. Thats a textbook deleveraging event: traders closing positions, reducing exposure, and pulling capital off the table all at once.　　The dollar liquidity thesis　　Macro analyst Raoul Pal has pointed to something important: this drawdown isn‘t about crypto fundamentals breaking down or equities suddenly becoming overvalued overnight. It’s about US dollar liquidity drying up across the board.　　Pal attributes the liquidity shortfall to a combination of economic pressures rather than any structural failure in crypto markets specifically. US government

05-15Industry

Zcash drops 10% – Yet THIS ZEC support range still matters most

Tech　　Zcash drops 10% – Yet THIS ZEC support range still matters most　　After a week of strong upside momentum, Zcash [ZEC] entered a correction phase. The token dropped more than 10% over the past 24 hours following its recent breakout rally.　　Even so, the decline still appeared more like a market reset than a full structural breakdown.　　At press time, ZEC moved toward a key imbalance zone between $505 and $439. That range may shape the next major move.　　Why did ZEC momentum weaken？　　The correction gained strength as long liquidations accelerated across the derivatives market. Over $7.84 million in long positions were wiped out in the past 24 hours.　　Source: CoinGlass　　Forced selling after strong rallies often intensifies downside pressure, especially when leverage becomes overcrowded. At the same time, Open Interest dropped sharply.　　ZEC Open Interest fell by more than $500 million over the last five days, showing traders closed positions instead of adding exposure.　　That shift pointed to cooling market participation rather than aggressive bearish expansion.　　Source: CoinGlass　　The combination of falling Open Interest and rising liquidations often reflects a momentum reset instead of fresh bearish conviction.　　Are bearish traders fully in control？　　Roughly 57% of positions turned short during the correction phase.　　However, bearish positioning did not arrive alongside stronger market

05-15Industry

Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF to start trading Friday as HYPE rallies on Coinbase USDC deal

Tech　　Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF to start trading Friday as HYPE rallies on Coinbase USDC deal　　Bitwise will launch its Hyperliquid ETF on Friday, giving investors direct exposure to spot HYPE as institutional demand for Hyperliquid-linked products accelerates.　　Introducing the Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF $BHYP—offering 100% direct exposure to spot HYPE. And the first to use in-house staking, rather than a third-party staking provider.　　Starts trading tomorrow.　　Why Hyperliquid？　　We believe Hyperliquid is one of the most important onchain… pic.twitter.com/Of55iF1AMW　　— Bitwise (@Bitwise) May 14, 2026　　The Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF will trade under the ticker BHYP and offer 100% direct exposure to HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid. The fund is also the first HYPE ETF to use Bitwises in-house staking infrastructure rather than relying on a third-party staking provider, according to the firm.　　The ETFs prospectus shows that the fund is expected to list on NYSE Arca under the ticker BHYP, with a primary objective of tracking the value of HYPE held by the trust and a secondary objective of generating additional HYPE through staking. The fund carries a 0.34% sponsor fee, which Bitwise will waive for one month on the first $500 million in assets.　　Bitwise said the fund is designed to give investors a low-cost way to participate in

05-15Industry

Ex-Celsius Exec Sentenced to Time Served after Guilty Plea

Tech　　Ex-Celsius Exec Sentenced to Time Served after Guilty Plea　　A US federal judge has sentenced the former chief revenue officer of defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius to time served after almost three years following his arrest on fraud and conspiracy charges.　　In a sentencing hearing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, Judge John Koeltl ordered that Roni Cohen-Pavon be sentenced to time served and one year of supervised release for his role in manipulating the price of Celsiuss CEL token and fraud on the platform.　　The former chief revenue officer initially pleaded not guilty to four charges following his arrest in September 2023, changing his plea to guilty about a week later.　　Cohen-Pavon was indicted along with former CEO Alex Mashinsky in July 2023 after the 2022 collapse of Celsius, which led to billions of dollars worth of investor and user losses.　　Cohen-Pavon, an Israeli citizen and resident, was outside the US when prosecutors filed the indictment, but later reentered the country for his arraignment. He posted a $500,000 bond in September 2023 and has been free to travel with some restrictions.　　With the sentencing of Cohen-Pavon and Mashinsky, who is already serving 12 years following his guilty

05-15Industry