Latest Crypto News & Market Updates

BIS tokenization moves to real value payments

BIS tokenization work has cleared its atomic settlement prototype phase and will graduate to real-value cross-border payment trials.Project Agora demonstrated tokenised cross-border settlement across seven central banks and more than 40 financial institutions.The Bank of Canada joined Wednesday, with real-value transactions set as the next testing milestone.The prototype preserves correspondent banking, sanctions screening, and SWIFT compatibility rather than replacing them.　　BIS tokenization work has cleared its atomic settlement prototype phase and will graduate to real-value cross-border payment trials. The Bank for International Settlements confirmed the move Wednesday.　　Project Agora, a public-private collaboration with seven central banks and more than 40 financial institutions, showed that tokenised commercial bank deposits can settle against tokenised central bank reserves on a shared platform with finality across jurisdictions.　　Why the BIS tokenization prototype matters for global banks　　The prototype demonstrated atomic settlement, where every leg of a cross-border transaction clears at the same instant or not at all. Banks involved said the design compresses correspondent flows that currently take days into seconds.　　“Once you know you have everything to run the transaction, you settle it in one go,” BIS Deputy General Manager Andrea Maechler said in remarks accompanying the release. The Bank of Canada also joined the project on Wednesday.　　Project

05-28Industry

Singapore charges former Hodlnaut CEO Zhu Juntao over Terra collapse claims

Singapore authorities have charged the former CEO of collapsed crypto lender Hodlnaut Zhu Juntao with fraud, nearly four years after the firm froze withdrawals during the collapse of the TerraUSD ecosystem.　　The Singapore Police Force said that Zhu faces six charges of fraud by false representation in an announcement on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege Zhu directed employees in 2022 to publish false statements on Hodlnaut‘s Telegram channels and in customer emails claiming the company had no direct exposure to TerraUSD’s collapse, and had not suffered losses as a result.　　Authorities also alleged Zhu repeated similar claims on his personal X account, then known as Twitter, in three posts in June 2022. If convicted, Zhu could face up to 20 years in prison, fines, or both on each charge under Singapore law.　　Zhu disputed all six charges in court and was given a pre-trial conference date in June 2026, according to local media reports.　　Hodlnaut was one of several crypto lenders that failed after the implosion of Terraform Labs algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem in May 2022. The collapse erased about $40 billion from the crypto market and contributed to failures at firms including Three Arrows Capital, Celsius and Voyager.　　Reports filed during Hodlnaut‘s restructuring proceedings indicated the company

05-28Industry

Market Movers: Memory Chip Giants Hit $1 Trillion as Goldman Sees S&P 500 Reaching 8,000

Micron Technology jumped 19.3% to $895.88 following a UBS price target increase to $1,625, elevating its valuation beyond $1 trillionSK Hynix achieved a $1 trillion market capitalization milestone as memory chip valuations doubled during Q1Marvell Technology climbed more than 5% before its earnings release, benefiting from its AI networking and custom chip exposureAbercrombie & Fitch exceeded profit forecasts with $1.47 EPS while revenue came in marginally below expectationsGoldman Sachs elevated its S&P 500 year-end projection to 8,000, citing AI sector earnings as a primary catalyst for roughly 50% of anticipated gains　　May 26 brought significant market action across Micron Technology, SK Hynix, Marvell Technology, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Goldman Sachs. The trading session featured notable movements in AI memory manufacturers, retail sector updates, and optimistic market forecasts.　　Below is a comprehensive analysis of each major development.　　Micron Technology Rallies 19% on UBS Upgrade　　Micron Technology delivered an exceptional trading performance with one of its strongest single-day gains. Following UBSs dramatic price target revision from $535 to $1,625, shares climbed 19.3% to close at $895.88.　　This substantial rally propelled Microns valuation past the $1 trillion threshold for the first time in company history. UBS analysts pointed to extended customer contracts, constrained memory supply, and escalating artificial

05-28Industry

XRP Perp Activity on Binance Signals Rising Speculative Momentum

Leverage Is Back. Price Has Not Caught Up Yet　　That divergence between derivatives activity and spot price is the part worth unpacking. Traders were adding short-term leveraged positions in size, yet XRP was not moving with the same energy. The imbalance between perp volume and spot volume tells you where the conviction actually lives.　　A volume imbalance value of 0.54 does not arrive quietly. It indicates perpetual contract volumes running considerably higher than spot, a sign that traders are positioning for moves rather than simply holding or accumulating.　　Per the CryptoQuant quicktake, the closer the Z-Score gets to or past 1, the more pronounced the momentum signal becomes. It was sitting at 0.95. Close enough.　　What the Chart Does Not Say Outright　　The indicator does not make a directional call. It tracks intensity, not intent. Traders piling into perps on Binance could be going long, short, or both, and the data does not sort that out cleanly. What it does show is that the quiet period is likely over.　　Recent reporting on XRPs Binance liquidity conditions noted the 30-day liquidity index had collapsed to multi-year lows, around 0.043, a reading not seen since early 2020. Shallow order books plus rising perp activity is a combination that

05-28Industry

Bankless Co-Founder David Hoffman Sells All His ETH Holdings

David Hoffman, co-founder of the crypto media outlet Bankless and a prominent Ethereum advocate, has revealed that he sold his entire Ether (ETH) position. Hoffman announced the decision via an X post on May 21, citing a belief that the window for ETH to achieve a significant market repricing has closed.　　“Ethereum got the ETH price it deserves, and I don‘t see ETH being rerated as an asset, higher or lower,” Hoffman wrote. While remaining optimistic about Ethereum’s future as a blockchain, he no longer sees its native token, ETH, as a primary beneficiary of that success.　　ETH is currently trading at $2,073.32 as of May 27, 2026, down nearly 60% from its all-time high of just under $5,000 reached in late 2021. The tokens price has been rangebound for years, underperforming other major cryptocurrencies during the most recent market cycles.　　“ETH Is Money” Thesis Falls Flat　　Hoffman‘s decision marks a symbolic shift, given his long-standing advocacy for the “ETH is Money” narrative. This thesis posits that Ethereum’s native token functions as a superior store of value due to its decentralized nature and inflation-resistant mechanisms introduced after the London hard fork in 2021.　　However, Hoffman now argues that this narrative has “played out” and that

05-28Ethereum

BIS tokenization moves to real value payments

BIS tokenization work has cleared its atomic settlement prototype phase and will graduate to real-value cross-border payment trials.Project Agora demonstrated tokenised cross-border settlement across seven central banks and more than 40 financial institutions.The Bank of Canada joined Wednesday, with real-value transactions set as the next testing milestone.The prototype preserves correspondent banking, sanctions screening, and SWIFT compatibility rather than replacing them.　　BIS tokenization work has cleared its atomic settlement prototype phase and will graduate to real-value cross-border payment trials. The Bank for International Settlements confirmed the move Wednesday.　　Project Agora, a public-private collaboration with seven central banks and more than 40 financial institutions, showed that tokenised commercial bank deposits can settle against tokenised central bank reserves on a shared platform with finality across jurisdictions.　　Why the BIS tokenization prototype matters for global banks　　The prototype demonstrated atomic settlement, where every leg of a cross-border transaction clears at the same instant or not at all. Banks involved said the design compresses correspondent flows that currently take days into seconds.　　“Once you know you have everything to run the transaction, you settle it in one go,” BIS Deputy General Manager Andrea Maechler said in remarks accompanying the release. The Bank of Canada also joined the project on Wednesday.　　Project

05-28Industry

Singapore charges former Hodlnaut CEO Zhu Juntao over Terra collapse claims

Singapore authorities have charged the former CEO of collapsed crypto lender Hodlnaut Zhu Juntao with fraud, nearly four years after the firm froze withdrawals during the collapse of the TerraUSD ecosystem.　　The Singapore Police Force said that Zhu faces six charges of fraud by false representation in an announcement on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege Zhu directed employees in 2022 to publish false statements on Hodlnaut‘s Telegram channels and in customer emails claiming the company had no direct exposure to TerraUSD’s collapse, and had not suffered losses as a result.　　Authorities also alleged Zhu repeated similar claims on his personal X account, then known as Twitter, in three posts in June 2022. If convicted, Zhu could face up to 20 years in prison, fines, or both on each charge under Singapore law.　　Zhu disputed all six charges in court and was given a pre-trial conference date in June 2026, according to local media reports.　　Hodlnaut was one of several crypto lenders that failed after the implosion of Terraform Labs algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem in May 2022. The collapse erased about $40 billion from the crypto market and contributed to failures at firms including Three Arrows Capital, Celsius and Voyager.　　Reports filed during Hodlnaut‘s restructuring proceedings indicated the company

05-28Industry

Anchorage Digital Launches fUSD as SoFi Enters Stablecoins

Falcon Finance has launched a dollar-backed stablecoin, fUSD, through Anchorage Digital Banks federally regulated issuance platform, according to a Wednesday announcement.　　The companies said the stablecoin is backed by short-dated US Treasurys, cash and Treasury-backed repurchase agreements.　　The new stablecoin is designed for institutional trading, collateral and treasury workflows and will initially be used as collateral through Ceffu‘s MirrorRSV system. According to the announcement, the stablecoin extends Falcon Finance’s existing USDf synthetic dollar product into federally regulated issuance.　　The companies said fUSDs reserve structure was designed to align with standards proposed under the GENIUS Act, which would establish federal rules for dollar-backed stablecoins in the United States.　　Falcon Finance Chief RWA Officer Artem Tolkachev told Cointelegraph that the stablecoins structure separates token issuance from reward payments in an effort to comply with proposed restrictions on yield-bearing stablecoins under the bill.　　“Anchorage issues fUSD and pays no yield on the token itself,” Tolkachev said. “Falcon pays rewards to qualifying institutional holders through separate contracts.”　　Anchorage Digital said the stablecoin is being issued through its federally regulated banking platform, which includes AML and KYC requirements tied to US banking rules. The company is the parent of Anchorage Digital Bank, which received a national trust bank charter from the

05-28Industry

Hyperliquid Enters Top 10 Crypto With New ATH, But How High Will It Be If It Overtakes Ethereum?

Scott Matherson is a prominent crypto writer at NewsBTC with a knack for capturing the pulse of the market, covering pivotal shifts, technological advancements, and regulatory changes with precision. Having witnessed the evolving landscape of the crypto world firsthand, Scott is able to dissect complex crypto topics and present them in an accessible and engaging manner. Scotts dedication to clarity and accuracy has made him an indispensable asset, helping to demystify the complex world of cryptocurrency for countless readers.　　Scott‘s experience spans a number of industries outside of crypto including banking and investment. He has brought his vast experience from these industries into crypto, which allows him to understand even the most complex topics and break them down in a way that is easy for readers from all works of life to understand. Scott’s pieces have helped to break down cryptocurrency processes and how they work, as well as the underlying groundbreaking technology that makes them so important to everyday life.　　With years of experience in the crypto market, Scott began to focus on his true passion: writing. During this time, Scott has been able to author countless influential pieces that have drawn in millions of readers and have shaped public opinion

05-28Industry

New Zealand’s Budget Release: Forecasts 2.3% GDP growth in 2026/27

New Zealand‘s Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered the government’s Budget 2026 on Thursday with the details below.　　Key quotes　　NZ sees 2025/26 operating balance before gains, losses NZ$-15.06 bln (hyefu NZ$-16.93bln).　　NZ sees 2026/27 OBEGAL balance NZ$-14.09 bln (hyefu NZ$-12.99bln).　　NZ 2025/26 cash balance NZ$-9.31 bln (hyefu NZ$-14.80).　　NZ sees 2026/27 GDP +2.3% (hyefu +3.4%).　　NZ sees 2025/26 net debt 42.4% of GDP (hyefu 43.3%).　　NZ Fin Min says will introduce prudential levy on banks, non-bank deposity takers, insurers and other financial market participants.　　NZ Fin Min says new prudential levy to recover around NZ$209 million over next four years.　　NZ govt expects to returning operating balance before gains, losses surplus in 2029/2030.　　NZ treasury sees inflation peaking at 4.0% in Q2 2026.　　NZ DMO plans to issue nz$34 billion worth of bonds in 2026/27, unchanged with December forecast.　　NZ DMO planned gross bond issuance for four years to June 30 2030 is NZ$124 bln down from NZ$130 bln forecast in December.　　Market reaction　　At the time of writing, the NZD/USD pair is trading around 0.5900, up 0.02% on the day.　　New Zealand Dollar FAQs　　The New Zealand Dollar (NZD), also known as the Kiwi, is a well-known traded currency among investors. Its value is broadly determined by the health of the New Zealand economy and

05-28Industry