News

Saudi Arabia's Gulf International Bank (UK), owned by the Saudi government, has increased its holdings in the Bitcoin treasury company, MicroStrategy (MSTR). According to Odaily, the bank's total shares in MicroStrategy have risen to 20,207, valued at $3.76 million.

SoftBank Group has announced that its cumulative paper gains from investments in OpenAI have reached $45 billion as of the end of March. According to Odaily, this figure reflects the significant appreciation in value of its stake in the artificial intelligence company.

JPMorgan is reportedly developing a tokenized money market fund based on Ethereum. According to NS3.AI, Kinexys Digital Assets will manage the fund, which will include U.S. Treasury bonds and ultra-short-term repurchase agreements. The fund is intended to serve as collateral for stablecoin reserves under the GENIUS Act.

Charles Schwab has announced that its Schwab Crypto accounts are now being gradually opened to retail clients. According to PANews, starting today, the initial group of clients can trade Bitcoin and Ethereum alongside other investment products through Schwab.

Cathie Wood announced on the X platform that ARK Invest has participated in Kalshi's latest funding round. According to Odaily, Wood believes that prediction markets are becoming a new layer of financial infrastructure, enabling real-time price discovery around events, probabilities, and the evolving state of the world. Kalshi is at the forefront of this innovation, and ARK supports the team's efforts to expand the boundaries of information aggregation and expression through markets.

Polygon has announced the completion of a privacy feature upgrade for its Polygon CDK, according to Foresight News. The upgrade introduces a Validium configuration based on the Succinct SP1 Hypercube zero-knowledge proof system. This allows institutions to retain raw transaction data within their own infrastructure while submitting encrypted commitments and zero-knowledge proofs to Ethereum, achieving 'private data, public verification.' The upgrade also maintains liquidity interoperability with Ethereum and other chains through AggLayer.

The upgrade offers five combinable privacy levels, including permissioned access, confidential chains (Validium), trusted execution environments (TEE), fully homomorphic encryption tokens (FHE), and client-side zero-knowledge private transactions. It supports integration with enterprise identity systems such as Okta and Azure AD. The enhancements are primarily aimed at traditional financial institutions like banks, payment companies, and asset management firms planning to transition to blockchain technology.

Japan's international balance of payments data released on Wednesday revealed that Japanese investors sold a net total of 4.67 trillion yen, equivalent to $29.6 billion, in U.S. Treasury, agency, and municipal bonds in the three months ending March 31. According to Odaily, this marks the highest level since the second quarter of 2022. In February, the overnight index swap market indicated that traders initially expected the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates twice this year. However, following tensions between the U.S. and Israel impacting the situation in Iran, crude oil prices surged by approximately 50%, leading to increased inflation expectations and a shift in rate pricing towards a Federal Reserve rate hike.

According to the announcement from Binance, the platform has unveiled new offerings in its Yield Arena, providing users with opportunities to earn rewards through various products. The latest additions include Simple Earn, ETH Staking, SOL Staking, and Dual Investment, among others. These offerings are designed to cater to different investment preferences, allowing users to earn rewards without compromising their initial investments.

**Earn Spotlight Limited-Time Offers**

Eligible users holding at least 0.01 USDe for 24 hours can enjoy a 3.5% APR from 2026-05-08 00:00 (UTC) to 2026-05-14 23:59 (UTC). Additionally, from 2026-05-04 00:00:00 (UTC) to 2026-05-25 23:59:59 (UTC), ETH holders making new subscriptions to ETH Flexible Products can share in 40 million SOPH rewards. Dual Investment subscribers participating in the May Monthly Challenge from 2026-05-04 02:00 (UTC) to 2026-05-31 23:59 (UTC) can earn up to $8,888 in rewards.

**Product Offerings**

Flexible Products include USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, and SHELL, each with varying APRs and subscription limits. Locked Products feature NXPC, TON, NEAR, ETH, BNB, and SOL, with durations ranging from 60 to 120 days and APRs up to 8.9%. ETH and SOL Staking offer dynamic APRs, while Dual Investment provides high-yield opportunities with multiple settlement dates.

Binance emphasizes that APRs are subject to change without notice and offers are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Users can view their assets under the Earn section and may choose early redemption for Simple Earn Locked Products. Rewards from ongoing Launchpools are automatically distributed to users holding BNB Flexible and Locked Products. Additionally, BNB Simple Earn subscribers can receive airdropped tokens via HODLer Airdrops.

UBS Global Wealth Management has adjusted its forecast for the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts. According to Jin10, the firm now expects the Fed to reduce rates by 25 basis points in December 2026 and March 2027. This revision comes after an earlier prediction that rate cuts would occur in September and December of this year.

Sei Labs announced that Sei Network has officially disabled the IBC asset transfer function following a community proposal. According to Foresight News, users holding IBC assets on the Sei Network are advised to transfer their assets cross-chain promptly, as the network plans to further disable IBC asset withdrawal in the future. Sei Labs noted that the Sei v6.4 upgrade in April included a mechanism to disable IBC asset transfers. Wallets holding these assets have previously received airdrop notifications, urging users to complete bridging or exchange operations before Sei fully transitions to an EVM-only architecture. This move indicates Sei's gradual shift away from the original Cosmos IBC ecosystem compatibility towards an EVM chain focus.

On May 13, 2026, 02:24 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, BNB has crossed the 680 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 680.5 USDT, with a narrowed 2.55% increase in 24 hours.

SoftBank Group announced that it withdrew a total of $20 billion in loans in April, primarily for investment in OpenAI. According to Jin10, $2.5 billion of this amount was repaid within the same month.

The yield on the U.S. 30-year Treasury bond has reached 5.03%, according to Odaily. This level is just 8 basis points shy of a 19-year high, as reported by Bianco Research.

Upexi, a financial company associated with Solana, experienced an 8.16% drop in its stock price on Tuesday following the announcement of a widened net loss of $109 million for the third fiscal quarter. According to Odaily, the loss was primarily attributed to a decline in the value of its cryptocurrency holdings. The company's filings on Tuesday revealed an unrealized loss of $92.3 million in digital assets.

Despite a 46% increase in total revenue to $4.6 million compared to the same period last year, driven by cryptocurrency staking income, the company still reported a loss. As of March 31, Upexi held 2.5 million Solana tokens, valued at over $238 million, making it the second-largest corporate treasury holder of Solana tokens after Forward Industries, which holds over 7 million tokens.

The US dollar's share of global reserves has dropped below 45%, marking a decline of over 15 percentage points since the beginning of this decade, according to Bloomberg. This shift highlights a significant change in the composition of global reserves. According to NS3.AI, central banks have increased their gold holdings, surpassing the value-adjusted reserves of the US dollar. Data from the World Gold Council indicates robust demand for gold by central banks in the first quarter of this year.

According to the announcement from Binance, the platform is enhancing the utility of U token by integrating it with the Binance Card, allowing users to leverage their crypto assets for everyday payments. This initiative underscores Binance's ongoing commitment to improving payment solutions and delivering increased value to its users. The integration of U token with Binance Card offers users greater flexibility and a seamless spending experience, featuring exclusive benefits such as zero conversion fees, no foreign exchange charges, base cashback eligibility, and an additional 15% cashback in U tokens.

The availability of U token on Binance Card may vary based on user eligibility and regional restrictions. Cashback rewards and promotional benefits are subject to applicable terms and conditions. Notably, the zero fees and foreign exchange charges on U token spending will be extended until June 15, 2026, beyond the campaign period. The additional 15% cashback campaign is scheduled from May 13, 2026, to May 31, 2026, and is available to users who have completed account verification, meet Binance Card issuance requirements, and complete eligible purchase transactions with U during the campaign period. The base cashback applies in U token for up to 3%, while the additional 15% cashback is capped at $5 per user, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, with rewards distributed upon transaction verification by June 30, 2026.

Terms and conditions govern participation in this activity, including Binance's Terms and Conditions for Prize Promotions, Terms of Use, Cardholder Terms, and Privacy Notice. Only users from qualified regions who complete account verification are eligible for rewards. Binance reserves the right to disqualify users involved in dishonest behavior or tampering with program code. The reward is non-transferable and non-exchangeable, and distributed tokens may be subject to price volatility and other risks. In the event of a refund, rewards will be reversed or adjusted on a pro-rata basis. Binance retains the discretion to amend or vary the activity terms without prior notice.

A trader identified as 0x049b has opened new 20x leveraged long positions involving 17,410 ETH and 493.43 BTC, with a total value of approximately $80.08 million. According to ChainCatcher, the ETH position is valued at around $40.07 million with a liquidation price of $2,227.81, while the BTC position is valued at approximately $40.01 million with a liquidation price of $78,009.69. Previously, this address has accumulated profits of $7.83 million through similar high-leverage trades in BTC and ETH.

KLP has increased its investment in Strategy, acquiring a total of 104,700 shares valued at $20.5 million. According to NS3.AI, this information was revealed by BitcoinTreasuries.NET on the platform X.

According to PANews, a strike involving 50,000 workers has entered its 18th day, raising concerns about potential disruptions to the global chip supply. The ongoing labor action has sparked fears that the prolonged halt in production could lead to shortages in the semiconductor industry, which is already grappling with supply chain challenges. Industry experts are closely monitoring the situation as negotiations continue in an effort to resolve the dispute and resume operations.

Solana's ASTEROID token experienced a significant rise in value, reaching a market cap peak of $18 million, currently standing at $15 million. According to BlockBeats On-chain Detection, this increase contrasts with the Ethereum-based ASTEROID token, which saw a 38% weekly decline, though its market cap remains high at $120 million.

The surge in Solana's ASTEROID has sparked debate on social media, focusing on the Ethereum chain's early small donations and subsequent cash-outs after significant token appreciation, without providing substantial help to the intended beneficiaries. Critics question whether this charitable narrative justifies the over $100 million market cap.

In 2024, the Ethereum community received about 0.5% of the token supply, approximately 2.1 billion tokens. Before the beneficiary's death in January 2026, the token's value was low, with holdings worth only about $100, resulting in minimal donations.

Recently, the ASTEROID token's value surged due to the combined influence of Elon Musk and the SpaceX mascot concept. Early tokens were sold for $676,000, with proceeds donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Critics argue that while this aligns with the beneficiary's wishes, it did not provide substantial help during her lifetime.

Currently, the Solana community continues to donate transaction fees directly to the beneficiary's mother, totaling $270,222. The Ethereum community has yet to introduce new substantial charitable initiatives. Solana's ongoing actions are gradually diminishing the uniqueness of Ethereum's charitable narrative. Meanwhile, the high market cap of Ethereum's ASTEROID remains anchored by Musk's influence and the SpaceX mascot endorsement.

BlockBeats advises users that meme coin trading is highly volatile, often driven by market sentiment and speculative concepts, lacking intrinsic value or use cases. Investors should be aware of the risks involved.

The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April, adjusted for seasonal variations, decreased to 0.6%, marking the lowest level since February this year. According to Jin10, this figure aligns with market expectations.

Norway's largest pension fund, KLP, has increased its holdings in Bitcoin treasury company Strategy to 104,700 shares, valued at $20.5 million. According to Odaily, this move reflects KLP's growing interest in the cryptocurrency sector.

x402 developer jnix.base.eth announced the launch of a Batch Settlement feature. According to Foresight News, this function allows AI agents to manage funds in a single transaction using off-chain credentials for payments. Sellers can consolidate multiple requests into one on-chain transaction, resulting in minimal transaction delays and costs of just a fraction of a cent. The feature currently supports TypeScript and Go, with a Python version forthcoming.

Each payment in the batch settlement can have a different amount, and transaction limits can be set to accommodate variable cost scenarios such as inference and computation. Sellers are not required to manage funds themselves, as deposits, batch settlements, and refunds are handled by intermediaries. The protocol supports any ERC-20 token, not limited to stablecoins.

On May 13, according to BlockBeats On-chain Detection, the HYPE token has seen a decline over the past week, dropping 10.7% from its peak as BTC remained relatively stable. The token's value has now fallen to around $40. The largest short position holder on Hyperliquid, known as 'Loracle,' has benefited from this downturn, with unrealized gains reaching $2.07 million and daily profits amounting to $1.28 million.

'Loracle' has shorted 1.2432 million HYPE tokens using 5x leverage, valued at approximately $49.92 million, with an average price of $41.8. This position was fully established after increasing their holdings on May 10.

Meanwhile, the largest long position holder, previously speculated to be a 'HYPE listing insider' whale, continues to hold a long position in HYPE. This entity has leveraged 5x to go long on 1.38 million tokens, valued at approximately $55.4 million, with an average price of $38.67 and a liquidation price of $36.29.

Addresses involved in these transactions are 0x8def9f50456c6c4e37fa5d3d57f108ed23992dae and 0x082e843a431aef031264dc232693dd710aedca88.

On May 13, U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly invited Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to board Air Force One. According to BlockBeats On-chain Detection, the announcement led to a short-term surge in Nvidia's stock price during the U.S. night trading session, currently up by 1.3%. Hyperinsight monitoring indicates that the NVDA contract price on Hyperliquid is reported at $224.2, reflecting a 24-hour increase of 2.66%, with a daily open interest reaching $99.3 million and a trading volume of approximately $49.7 million.

Additionally, a whale investor, identified by the address 0x4b5, who has been long on NVDA since the beginning of the month, has recorded a 206% return. The investor is currently leveraging 20 times on 5,521 long contracts, amounting to $1.23 million.

A Hong Kong High Court has approved a request from the Department of Justice to issue a restraining order against Chen Zhi, founder of Prince Group, and 42 individuals and companies allegedly involved in operating a scam park in Cambodia. According to Odaily, the order freezes assets totaling 8.938 billion Hong Kong dollars, including bank and securities account deposits, stocks, and properties.

Chen Zhi's personal assets in Hong Kong exceed 6.36 billion Hong Kong dollars. Zhou Yun, who assists in managing these assets, has a total asset value of over 2 billion Hong Kong dollars, with personal accounts holding the equivalent of 15.92 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong dollars, euros, and Bitcoin. Additionally, Prince Group affiliates Hu Xiaowei and Li Tian have approximately 400 million Hong Kong dollars and 172 million Hong Kong dollars in assets frozen, respectively. The court is scheduled to reconvene on August 3 to decide whether to extend the restraining order.

Gold prices rebounded this week after experiencing a pullback, driven by renewed buying interest. According to Jin10, stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data and stalled U.S.-Iran negotiations have cast a shadow over market prospects. Mitsubishi UFJ analyst Soojin Kim noted that the market has already priced in a more than 40% probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike by the end of the year, which has increased U.S. Treasury yields and pressured gold. She added that despite the pressure from potential rate hikes and high inflation triggered by soaring energy prices, gold prices have shown relative resilience due to strong demand from central banks.

Sweden's Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Bunge, stated that the Swedish economy is beginning from a favorable position. According to Jin10, Bunge highlighted that inflation is low and there is ample idle capacity within the economy.

The Swedish Central Bank has released a statement from its recent meeting minutes, highlighting the significant uncertainty posed by the ongoing war and its potential impact on the economy. According to Jin10, the bank indicated that monetary policy might need to be adjusted to ensure future inflation targets are met. The statement underscores the challenges faced by central banks in navigating economic stability amid geopolitical tensions.

Swedish Central Bank Deputy Governor Bongie stated that the overall assessment indicates that the observed effects of the war so far are likely to lead to higher inflation than previously anticipated. According to Jin10, this assessment reflects the ongoing economic challenges posed by the conflict, which may have significant implications for monetary policy and economic stability.

Swedish Central Bank Governor Teden stated that a potential outcome could be an economic slowdown coupled with rising inflation. According to Jin10, Teden noted that it is currently challenging to quantify these effects.

Federal prosecutors have revealed that a romance fraud scheme linked to Nigerian national Habeeb Anibaba resulted in the City of Norfolk losing more than $1.3 million. According to NS3.AI, the scheme involved over 900 unauthorized ACH transfers. Court documents referenced by 13News Now indicate that the fraudulent activities spanned nearly a year. The funds were funneled through individuals who were deceived into thinking they were assisting romantic partners they had met online.

A TrustedVolumes exploiter has laundered $278,000 out of the $6.7 million stolen from the liquidity provider, according to NS3.AI. PeckShield reported that the attacker transferred 10.2 ETH to Tornado Cash and routed 110 ETH through THORChain to BTC. QuillAudits identified a flaw in TrustedVolumes' custom order-settlement system, which allowed the attacker to drain funds in a single transaction.

Morgan Stanley has increased its Q2 2027 targets for four major Chinese stock indexes, setting the Hang Seng Index at 28,400 and the CSI 300 Index at 5,400. According to NS3.AI, Laura Wang and her team anticipate a moderate rally in the Chinese market by the second quarter of 2027. This optimism is attributed to improved corporate earnings, stronger upstream supply chain positioning, and a more robust Renminbi. Morgan Stanley expresses a preference for A-shares over offshore markets and emphasizes thematic stock picking, while cautioning that short-term volatility may continue.

Michael Terpin has announced that he is shorting Bitcoin, anticipating a potential decline in its value. According to NS3.AI, Terpin estimates a 2-to-1 likelihood that Bitcoin's price will decrease in the near future. He projects that Bitcoin could drop to a range of $48,000 to $57,000 by October of this year. Despite this short-term outlook, Terpin maintains a long-term target for Bitcoin to reach $1 million by 2033.

PANews posted on X (formerly Twitter). Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has joined U.S. President Donald Trump's delegation to China, boarding Air Force One during a stopover in Alaska, according to reports from White House journalist Emily Goodin and Bloomberg. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also part of the delegation. Previously, foreign media reported that Huang would not be part of the trip, indicating a recent change in the itinerary.

As the market space and liquidity for centralized exchanges (CEX) expand, the development and competitive dynamics within the crypto industry are evolving. According to PANews, compliance is transitioning from a bonus to an essential entry requirement, gradually becoming a key differentiator in the industry.

PANews posted on X (formerly Twitter). As discussions around mass production of robots continue, astute investors are shifting their focus to deeper aspects of the supply chain. The real potential lies in two main areas: the brain layer, which includes software and computing such as foundational models, data analysis, and simulation vision, and the body layer, which encompasses hardware and industrial systems like actuators, sensors, power semiconductors, connectors, and manufacturing equipment. While the market has already priced in chips, the true opportunities now lie in actuators, sensors, connectors, and power semiconductors.

Siemens CEO has stated that the inflationary effects resulting from the ongoing tensions in the Middle East are still uncertain. According to Jin10, the CEO mentioned that there has not yet been any direct impact observed from the situation. The statement highlights the company's cautious approach in assessing the potential economic repercussions of geopolitical developments in the region.