News

Metaplanet, a Japanese Bitcoin treasury company, has announced its financial results for the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year. According to Foresight News, the company reported a revenue of 30.8 billion yen, marking a 251.1% increase compared to the previous year. Operating profit reached 22.67 billion yen, up by 282.5%. However, the company faced a recurring loss of 114.928 billion yen, primarily due to accounting impairments from the decline in Bitcoin prices.

As of March 31, 2026, Metaplanet held 40,177 BTC, with a fully diluted per-share BTC holding increasing by 2.8% from the end of 2025. The company stated that as of May 12, 2026, the market value of its BTC holdings was approximately 514 billion yen, representing about 87% of the total BTC holdings among Japanese listed companies.

Metaplanet has maintained its full-year guidance for the 2026 fiscal year, projecting annual revenue of 160 billion yen, a 79.7% increase year-on-year, and an annual operating profit of 114 billion yen, reflecting an 81.3% growth.

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.

Michael Saylor has projected that Bitcoin could experience an average annual growth of 30% over the next 20 years. According to NS3.AI, Saylor also revealed plans to introduce a Bitcoin capital gains fund. Additionally, he mentioned that Strategy intends to purchase 10 to 20 more BTC for every 1 BTC sold.

Circle, Canton, and Tempo, three prominent blockchain networks, have recently secured significant funding from major industry players such as BlackRock, a16z, and Stripe. According to PANews, these investments highlight a growing interest in the stablecoin and asset tokenization sectors. Additionally, the clarification of regulatory frameworks is creating new opportunities for privacy-focused blockchain networks.

Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Finance announced that the country is considering the official launch of its crypto asset market in the third quarter of 2026. According to NS3.AI, this move is part of Vietnam's broader strategy to integrate digital assets into its financial system. The initiative aims to provide a regulated environment for cryptocurrency trading and investment, aligning with global trends in digital finance. The government is expected to outline specific regulations and guidelines to ensure market stability and investor protection.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a total net outflow of $233 million on May 12. According to NS3.AI, US spot Ethereum ETFs also saw a net outflow, totaling $131 million. Fidelity's FBTC was the leading Bitcoin ETF in terms of outflows, with $86.13 million, while BlackRock's ETHA led the Ethereum ETF outflows at $102 million.

Chainlink has managed $3 billion in liquidity within a week following a significant attack on Kelp DAO, according to PANews. The incident has led to a substantial migration of assets on the blockchain. In the aftermath, LayerZero faced a trust crisis, prompting the organization to issue an apology and implement corrective measures.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 Eurozone is set to release key economic data shortly, including the March industrial production month-on-month rate, the revised annual GDP growth rate for the first quarter, and the preliminary quarterly employment figures. According to Jin10, these figures are expected to provide insights into the region's economic performance and labor market conditions.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange announced on May 13 that the price limit for the silver AG2705 contract will be set at 17% from the time of listing. According to Jin10, the margin requirement for hedging positions will be 18%, while the general trading margin requirement will be 19%.

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.

Turkey's foreign reserves experienced a record monthly decline in March, driven by the Iran war, which has led to global selloffs in emerging market assets and put pressure on the lira. Bloomberg posted on X, highlighting the significant impact of the conflict on Turkey's financial stability. The geopolitical tensions have exacerbated existing economic challenges, causing investors to retreat from riskier markets. This development underscores the vulnerability of emerging economies to international conflicts and their potential ripple effects on global financial markets.

Nomura Securities analysts have indicated that following the recent increase in tariffs on gold and silver, the Indian government is likely to take additional steps to reduce precious metal imports. According to Jin10, this tariff hike aligns with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's previous call for citizens to conserve foreign exchange and avoid purchasing gold and jewelry. Given India's current balance of payments deficit exceeding $70 billion, Nomura Securities believes the tariff increase aims to reduce precious metal imports and narrow the current account deficit. Nomura estimates that imports of precious metals, including platinum, have surged significantly, now accounting for 2.7% of India's GDP. Prime Minister Modi's appeal suggests that the government is unwilling to tolerate further deterioration of the 'twin deficit' situation at the policy level. Potential upcoming measures by the Indian government may include policy tools to curb imports of non-essential items like electronics, issuing 'diaspora bonds' to raise foreign exchange deposits, or increasing fuel prices to alleviate fiscal pressure.

US memory chip stocks experienced an uptick in pre-market trading. According to NS3.AI, Micron Technology saw a rise of 5.2%, while SanDisk increased by 3.5%. Western Digital also climbed 3.5%, and Seagate Technology gained 2.9%.

PANews posted on X (formerly Twitter). In a recent interview, Arthur Hayes expressed his preference for Zcash over Bitcoin when it comes to privacy. Hayes highlighted that while Bitcoin is the most significant cryptocurrency, it lacks true anonymity. The transparency of on-chain transactions means that once an address is linked to an identity, the flow of funds can be traced. In contrast, Zcash was designed with privacy as a core feature from the outset, making it more suitable for those seeking financial privacy.

The Chief Financial Officer of Germany's major energy company, RWE, has indicated that the normalization of the situation in the Middle East is expected to take longer than anticipated. According to Jin10, this delay is likely to lead to an increase in natural gas prices.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has significantly reduced the size of his motorcade to conserve fuel, according to a government source on Wednesday. This decision follows Modi's recent call for the nation to tighten its belt amid soaring energy prices triggered by the Iran conflict. According to Jin10, Modi urged citizens to adopt austerity measures, such as avoiding unnecessary international travel, using public transportation more frequently, reducing gold purchases, and cutting down on edible oil consumption, as the surge in global energy prices is straining the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Following Modi's appeal, some critics on social media questioned the large motorcades of senior Indian officials, Modi's domestic air travel, and his upcoming special flight to Europe. The source stated that the number of vehicles in Modi's motorcade has been reduced without compromising necessary security arrangements, in line with the security protocols set by the Special Protection Group responsible for the Prime Minister's security. However, the source did not disclose the specific size of the reduced motorcade.

PANews posted on X (formerly Twitter). The recent attack on Kelp DAO has sparked a heated debate over cross-chain security. LayerZero, a key player in the cross-chain ecosystem, faced criticism for its handling of the incident. Initially, LayerZero attempted to deflect blame, which led to backlash from the community. The company has since issued an apology and announced plans to implement corrective measures.

In contrast, Chainlink has quietly absorbed $3 billion in liquidity migration over the past week, highlighting its growing role in the cross-chain space. The incident has underscored the importance of robust security measures in cross-chain operations, as the industry continues to grapple with vulnerabilities and risks associated with decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.

Ethereum liquid restaking platform Kelp and decentralized lending protocol Aave have taken significant steps to restore the backing of rsETH, including the burning of the exploiter’s rsETH tokens. According to Cointelegraph, Kelp DAO outlined a recovery plan for its liquid staking token rsETH, confirming that the hacker’s tokens were burned on the layer-2 Arbitrum network. The 117,132 rsETH, valued at approximately $278 million, will be replenished over two weeks from Aave Recovery Guardian, a multisignature wallet managed by the DeFi United recovery group and Kelp’s recovery safe, into the LayerZero OFT adapter. This smart contract facilitates the locking, minting, burning, and releasing of rsETH during cross-chain transfers. Kelp DAO assured that rsETH on mainnet and layer-2 networks, with a market capitalization of $1.5 billion, remains fully backed. This recovery effort aims to assist users affected by one of the largest DeFi exploits this year.

Kelp experienced a hack in April, attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, which exploited its rsETH adapter bridge contract, draining approximately $293 million. Blockchain security firm OpenZeppelin noted that no smart contract bug was publicly identified, highlighting an operational failure, a risk often underestimated in the DeFi industry. Kelp announced that withdrawals would resume "tentatively within 24 hours" after the first tranche is returned to the smart contract. All rsETH operations, including deposits, redemptions, bridging, and claims, will continue as usual once the contracts are reactivated. The protocol has completed a "security hardening pass," with bridging security now requiring four independent attestors and 64 block confirmations, while some layer-2 routes have been deprecated. Kelp is also migrating to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) for enhanced cross-chain bridging security.

Kelp, a notable liquid restaking protocol on Ethereum, is primarily built on EigenLayer, allowing users to deposit ETH or other supported liquid staking tokens for additional yields. The protocol’s total value locked reached an all-time high of just over $2 billion in September 2025 but has since decreased by about 26% to $1.55 billion, as reported by DeFiLlama. Cointelegraph noted that ETH derivatives traders remain steady and have not turned bearish despite recent DeFi exploits. However, spot prices have declined by around 1% on the day, with Ether dropping to a 12-day low of $2,260 in late trading on Tuesday.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has indicated that ongoing supply disruptions stemming from the conflict in Iran could potentially decrease global oil supply by approximately 3.9 million barrels per day by 2026. According to NS3.AI, this reduction could result in supply falling below demand levels. The IEA also reported that oil supply losses in the Middle East have already surpassed 1 billion barrels. Additionally, the agency has revised its expectations for oil demand, predicting a decline of 420,000 barrels per day this year, as elevated oil prices continue to exert pressure on consumption and economic growth.