Sentiment around Bitcoin’s near-term price direction has picked up as momentum builds behind the US CLARITY Act, which aims to provide the crypto industry with greater regulatory clarity, according to crypto sentiment platform Santiment.“Bitcoin has seen a major spike of euphoria across social media following news that the Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act in a 15–9 bipartisan vote,” Santiment said in an X post on Friday.“This bringsBTC and crypto one step closer to being ultimately passed,” Santiment said.Crypto analysts are staying optimisticBitcoin often sees increased optimism around major industry and macro catalysts, and the US CLARITY Act has attracted significant speculation since its introduction in July 2025 about what its potential passage could mean for the broader crypto industry. In a Thursday session of the US Senate Banking Committee, all 13 Republican members and two Democrats voted to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY), with nine Democrats also voting no on the bill.Source: Cynthia LummisMeanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $79,084 at the time of publication, up 3.15% since May 1, according to CoinMarketCap. Santiment reported that there are currently 1.55 bullish social media comments on Bitcoin for every bearish comment, suggesting this sentiment skew may be flashing warning signs. “We advise caution. Markets typically move opposite to the crowd’s expectations at all times,” Santiment said.However, crypto analysts are staying optimistic that the trend will continue. MN Trading Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said in an X post on Friday that the legislation is “the biggest, and historical, bill for the entire industry and can be a strong trigger for the upcoming bull market.”White House crypto chief warns it isn’t a done deal yetWhite House crypto advisor Patrick Witt said in an X post on Friday that while the CLARITY Act vote was “a major step forward,” it is not yet finalized.“As Senators on both sides of the dais noted, there’s more work to be done before this legislation is ready for prime time. We’ll keep working in good faith to build the support needed to pass the bill on the Senate floor,” Witt said.Santiment said any movement towards the CLARITY Act’s passage “can and should be considered bullish for crypto (in the long run) because it could finally give the industry clearer rules in the United States.”Related: Bitcoin Depot filing casts doubt on company’s future amid lawsuits“If the CLARITY Act passes, more institutional money and powerful players would be expected to enter (or re-enter) the markets,” Santiment said.However, the sentiment platform warned that the largest cryptocurrencies could be “baked in” before the CLARITY Act is officially passed.Other metrics suggest market participants are becoming more cautious about the broader crypto market. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall crypto market sentiment, posted a “Fear” score of 31 on Saturday.Magazine: ETH stalls at $2.4K five times, SOL to rally to $120: Market Moves

The Republican chair and Democratic ranking member of the US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture have called on President Donald Trump to fully staff the leadership at a key financial regulator, citing the potential impact of a crypto market structure bill.In a Friday letter to Trump, House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson and ranking member Angie Craig asked the president to “nominate a full panel” of bipartisan leaders for the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The representatives cited “urgent regulatory issues” facing the US regulator in addition to a “significant rulemaking process” required if the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY) becomes law.“Ensuring the Commission is well-equipped as the leading derivatives markets regulator in the world is a bipartisan priority for the members of our Committee,” said Thompson and Craig. “A complete commission will allow the agency to best fulfill its mandate of promoting integrity, resilience, and vibrancy of US derivatives markets and will advance US leadership.”Source: US House Agriculture CommitteeMichael Selig is currently the sole commissioner at the CFTC, taking over after the resignation of acting chair Caroline Pham in December 2025. Under Selig, the commission has taken many positions aligning with the administration’s policies, including claiming “exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets.Related: CFTC no-action letter eases event contract reporting rulesIn an April hearing with the House Agriculture Committee, Selig said he had no intention of “slow[ing] down” on rulemaking, despite the lack of four other commissioners. The CFTC chair signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in March to coordinate oversight of markets, including digital assets.The CFTC under the CLARITY ActOn Thursday, lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the CLARITY Act, setting the bill up for a potential floor vote in the chamber. The bill, expected to give the CFTC more authority in overseeing and regulating digital asset markets, would have significant implications for crypto users and companies.Although the Senate had not scheduled a vote for the bill as of Friday, the dearth of leadership at the CFTC hasn’t gone unnoticed by lawmakers considering crypto market structure. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, proposed an amendment to the bill in January requiring that it not take effect “until at least four [CFTC] commissioners” were nominated and confirmed.As of Friday, Trump had not publicly announced any picks for CFTC commissioners. Any nominations would likely need weeks or months to move through the Senate for consideration and potential votes.Magazine: ETH stalls at $2.4K five times, SOL to rally to $120: Market Moves

Cryptocurrency ATM company Bitcoin Depot reported “substantial doubts” about the company’s ability to continue operating amid ongoing litigation and a challenging regulatory environment.In a Form 10-Q filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, Bitcoin Depot chief financial officer David Gray reported that the company had accrued more than $20 million in legal judgments in the fourth quarter of 2025 and “ongoing litigation matters.” The company also reported “substantial year-over-year declines in revenue” amid US states and municipalities passing laws and regulations banning or restricting crypto ATMs.“As a result of these factors, management has concluded that substantial doubt exists about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” said the report.Source: SECThe litigation affecting Bitcoin Depot included $1.9 million paid to Maine’s Consumer Credit Protection Bureau in January, with the company facing additional lawsuits from Massachusetts, Iowa and other state-level authorities. Individual municipalities have also been passing ordinances or laws restricting crypto kiosks and ATMs amid concerns that residents may be victims of scams.Related: Crypto ATM losses surge 33% in 2025 as AI superpowers scams: CertiKAccording to its SEC filing, Bitcoin Depot reported that its revenue decreased by $80.7 million for the three months ending March 31 compared to that in the first quarter of 2025, “primarily due to a decrease in transaction volume driven by a combination of regulatory impacts and enhanced compliance controls.” The company also reported a net loss of $9.5 million over the same period.In March, Bitcoin Depot appointed Alex Holmes as CEO, replacing Scott Buchanan, who served in the position for three months. Holmes was the CEO of MoneyGram from 2016 until 2024, where, according to Bitcoin Depot, he had a reputation for “global regulatory compliance.”Shares of Bitcoin Depot on the Nasdaq under the ticker BTM declined by more than 40% in the previous five days, from $5.01 to $2.93.Canada weighing countrywide crypto ATM banIn April, the Canadian government released its Spring Economic Update for 2026, which said policymakers “propose to ban crypto ATMs” in response to scammers and criminals using the machines for money laundering. Under the proposal, Canadians would still be allowed to buy digital assets from brick-and-mortar money services businesses.Bitcoin Depot reported to have about 220 machines deployed across Canada at the time of publication.Magazine: ETH stalls at $2.4K five times, SOL to rally to $120: Market Moves

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the two biggest exchanges for energy-linked commodities, are pressuring US regulators to clamp down on the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange’s expansion into commodity markets.Executives from both companies say that Hyperliquid’s energy-linked onchain derivatives create insider trading and price manipulation risks, according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the ongoing talks with US regulators.ICE and CME cited the “anonymous” and “unregulated” nature of Hyperliquid as major risks to critical energy markets, like oil and gas, which could be used by state actors to circumvent sanctions, the report added.Daily trading volume for HIP-3 perpetual futures markets. Source: DeFiLlamaHyperliquid introduced HIP-3, also known as “Builder-Deployed Perpetuals,” in January 2025, which allows anyone who stakes 500,000 HYPE tokens, the platform’s native cryptocurrency, to build perpetual futures markets for any electronically traded asset class.The deployment of HIP-3 represents a broader trend of traditional financial markets coming onchain, as the line between blockchain-based infrastructure and traditional market architecture continues to erode. Related: Why is Hyperliquid’s HYPE token price up 23% in one day?Hyperliquid’s token price surges following the introduction of HIP-3 The price of HYPE jumped by over 58% within three days of the launch of HIP-3. The token rose from a low of about $20 to over $38, and is trading at about $44 at the time of publication.In March, market analyst and crypto investor Arthur Hayes forecast that HYPE could hit $150 per token by August, driven by demand for commodities-linked onchain derivatives instruments.The HYPE token’s price action. Source: CoinMarketCap“Hyperliquid, the dominant perp DEX, is the largest revenue-generating project that isn’t a stablecoin,” he said.The exchange also dedicates 97% of trading fee revenue to HYPE token buybacks, which boosts demand and raises the token’s price over time, according to Hayes.“If the market believes that HYPE can continue siphoning volumes away from centralized exchanges and add new features to accelerate revenue growth, then HYPE can pump in absolute terms,” he added. Open interest for HIP-3 markets has continued to rise since their inception, climbing to over $2.5 billion in May, according to data from DeFiLlama.Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026

Layer-1 blockchain developer Solayer launched a Visa-compatible payment card that allows users to spend USDC balances through in-store, online and contactless transactions.The card supports ATM withdrawals in supported regions and can be ordered through the Solayer Pay app, according to the announcement. Existing users can request the card for free, while new users pay a $20 annual activation fee.Source: Solayer PaySolayer Pay launched in April 2025 under the name Emerald Card and initially rolled out to 40,000 users across more than 100 countries, according to the company. Solayer said the new physical card expands the existing Solayer Pay platform, which supports storing, transferring and spending digital assets through Visa-linked payment infrastructure. The company said the card enables users to spend USDC (USDC) balances globally through Visa payment infrastructure directly from their Solayer Pay accounts. Solayer develops infiniSVM, a layer-1 network compatible with the Solana Virtual Machine that is designed for high-throughput onchain applications using Solana (SOL) for gas fees.Related: Dartmouth endowment invests in Solana ETF, holds $14M in crypto exposureStablecoin payment cards expandThe launch from Solayer comes as rypto and payments companies have increasingly launched stablecoin-linked payment cards tied to traditional card networks including Visa and Mastercard.In January, crypto exchange OKX launched a Mastercard-linked payment card for European users through regulated issuer Monavate, allowing verified customers to spend stablecoins, including USDC and Paxos’ Global Dollar (USDG).The following month, MetaMask expanded its Mastercard-linked crypto payment card across the United States, including New York for the first time, allowing users to spend digital assets directly from self-custodial wallets.In March, Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge expanded their stablecoin-linked card program to 18 countries and said they planned to roll out the product across more than 100 countries by the end of 2026. The companies also began testing stablecoin settlement through Visa’s pilot program.The same month, Mastercard agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion. BVNK provides infrastructure for businesses to send and receive stablecoin payments across blockchain networks in more than 130 countries.Data from DefiLlama shows the stablecoin market has grown from about $243.3 billion in May 2025 to around $322.5 billion today, an increase of about $79 billion.Tether remains the dominant stablecoin issuer, with its USDt (USDT) commanding a market capitalization of about $189.7 billion, representing around 58.8% of the total stablecoin market, while Circle’s USDC ranks second with a market capitalization of about $76.7 billion.Source: DefiLlamaMagazine: eToro founder timed Bitcoin top perfectly due to belief in 4 year cycles

Law firm Gerstein Harrow LLP filed a new motion on Thursday in a miscellaneous enforcement lawsuit, asking the court to compel stablecoin company Tether to hand over more than $344 million in frozen USDt linked to Iranian entities.The motion claims that the plaintiffs are owed more than $532 million in compensatory damages and more than $1.8 billion in punitive damages from acts of “terrorism committed or sponsored by Iran,” stretching back more than 25 years. The latest filing is part of a broader lawsuit against North Korea (DPRK) and Iran, attempting to claim and redistribute digital assets as compensation for victims of various and unrelated judgments tied to state-sponsored violence, drawing criticism from the crypto community.The motion to claim $344 million in frozen stablecoins linked to Iranian entities. Source: PACERIn May, the law firm filed a restraining notice against the Kelp decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which manages the liquid staking platform, attempting to block the transfer of frozen Ether ( ETH) tied to the $293 million Kelp exploit in April.The law firm’s tactics have drawn condemnation from the crypto community, with critics arguing that distributing funds owed to hack victims to satisfy unrelated judgments stretching back decades delays repayment for hack victims, who have a greater claim to the funds.Related: Coinbase faces lawsuit over frozen funds from $55M crypto theftZachXBT slams Gerstein Harrow for crypto targeting strategy Gerstein Harrow LLP has a long history of filing similar claims against cryptocurrency companies and platforms following hacks and cybersecurity exploits, including the Harmony protocol, the Bybit cryptocurrency exchange, and others, according to onchain sleuth ZachXBT. “This is a predatory US law firm with a strategy that is pure evil,” he said in an X post from May 1, adding that the law firm used his cybersecurity research of various crypto hacking incidents to justify the claims.“Whenever there’s a new Lazarus Group victim after an exploit and crypto assets get frozen, these clowns come in and say they have a claim for an alleged DPRK victim from 26 years ago that has zero relation to crypto or exploits/hacks,” he added.Source: ZachXBTIn April, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ordered Tether to freeze $344 million in stablecoins tied to Iranian entities.The asset freeze also drew mixed reactions from the crypto community over the ethics of wallet freezes and the role of centralized crypto issuers in enforcing law enforcement requests. Magazine: Are DeFi devs liable for the illegal activity of others on their platforms?