Autor Cointelegraph By Helen Partz

Republicans in the US House of Representatives are moving to add prediction market restrictions to a stalled congressional stock trading ban, as lawmakers scrutinize whether members of Congress should be allowed to wager on elections or public policy.House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil plans to attach prediction market provisions to H.R. 7008, the House’s stalled stock trading ban bill, before it reaches the floor, Bloomberg Government reported Thursday.Steil said he expects House leaders to schedule a vote on the measure, which would combine stock trading limits with new restrictions on lawmakers’ use of prediction markets.The push comes amid growing scrutiny of prediction markets and renewed efforts to tighten rules on lawmakers’ financial trading.No full ban on lawmakers’ prediction market use in Steil proposalSteil’s proposal does not seek to ban prediction markets outright for members of Congress, but would restrict certain types of contracts lawmakers could trade. He said bets tied to sports or entertainment outcomes, such as the Super Bowl, would remain allowed, while contracts tied to elections or public policy would be limited.Steil said the House still lacks clear rules for how members should engage with prediction markets.“I don’t think this is a critique of the underlying product one way or the other,” Steil said.Related: Polymarket users cry foul after Strategy sale market resolves to ‘no’Politico says influencers promoted Polymarket after paymentsAccording to a Friday report by Politico, influencers promoted Polymarket after receiving payments linked to the company’s chief marketing officer.PayPal transaction records reviewed by Politico show at least $350,000 in payments routed through a personal account tied to CMO Matthew Modabber, alongside a broader flow of more than $2.5 million to hundreds of recipients over 14 months.At least 20 creators later posted about Polymarket on X, often without disclosing financial ties, including figures such as Brian Krassenstein and Riley Gaines.Cointelegraph reached out to Polymarket for comment on the promotions but had not received a response by publication.Source: Brian KrassensteinPolymarket attracted attention in 2024 after users successfully bet on Donald Trump’s election victory, reinforcing claims that prediction markets can reflect political outcomes in real time.Prediction markets have also faced regulatory pushback in multiple jurisdictions over election-related contracts, gambling concerns and alleged insider-style trading.Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?

Apex Group is providing fund management services for a tokenized real estate fund whose shares are being issued on Goldman Sachs’ Digital Asset Platform, GS DAP.The fund was developed with Goldman Sachs, digital asset exchange Archax, real estate investment manager LRC Group and interoperability provider Ownera, Apex said Thursday.“Tokenization at institutional scale depends on trusted, regulated infrastructure,” Apex Group’s global head of digital assets, Agnes Mazurek, said, adding that its participation reflects growing demand from managers and investors for blockchain-native solutions.The project reflects a growing push by banks, fund administrators and regulated digital asset companies to move real-world asset funds onchain while preserving familiar governance, investor servicing and regulatory oversight.Tokenized units issued via GS DAPThe fund’s shares are issued as digital tokens using Goldman Sachs’ Digital Asset Platform (GS DAP), a blockchain-based platform facilitating the issuance, settlement, custody and transfer of digital assets.Launched in 2022, GS DAP is built on top of the privacy-focused Canton Network and Digital Asset’s smart contract language DAML.“Issuing blockchain native fund units on GS DAP enables investment in real estate assets with precision while unlocking more seamless transferability in the future,” said Mathew McDermott, Goldman Sachs’ global head of digital assets and a board member at Digital Asset.Source: Apex GroupAs part of the collaboration, LRC Group, a pan-European real estate investment company, manages the fund, while RWA-focused Archax exchange acts as custodian and the initial distribution partner.Ownera, a connectivity network for tokenized assets, provides the interoperability layer that connects issuers, custodians and distribution channels.Cointelegraph reached out to Apex Group for additional details on the fund but had not received a response by publication.Related: RWA market hits $51B as tokenized private credits surges: BernsteinThe project adds real estate to a growing list of institutional tokenization efforts, including tokenized money-market funds, private funds and collateral networks.Apex Group previously collaborated with US crypto exchange Coinbase to launch a tokenized Bitcoin (BTC) yield fund on the Base blockchain in March.Other investment banks such as JPMorgan have also expanded tokenization infrastructure through Kinexys, which focuses on payments, collateral and asset tokenization.Magazine: 5 tech predictions the mainstream media got horribly wrong

Retail investors will soon be able to participate in US initial public offerings (IPOs) at the offering price through a new tokenized equities program from Payward Services, a Kraken-affiliated company.In a Wednesday announcement, Payward Services said customers of Kraken and select members of its xStocks Alliance will be able to express interest in US-listed IPOs before companies go public and receive allocations of tokenized shares on listing day.According to the company, the shares will be issued at the IPO offering price and backed 1:1 by the underlying stock held in custody by a regulated entity, allowing eligible retail investors to access allocations that are typically reserved for institutional clients.The launch marks one of the latest efforts to use blockchain infrastructure to broaden access to traditional financial products amid a global push for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.Bringing IPO allocations onchainUnder the proposed process, participating exchanges will open an indication-of-interest window in the weeks before an IPO, allowing customers to submit non-binding requests to purchase shares within the expected pricing range.Payward will aggregate demand from participating platforms and work with an underwriting syndicate before allocations are finalized on the company’s public listing day.Source: Payward ServicesThe resulting shares will be tokenized and distributed through partner exchanges, enabling investors to receive exposure to newly listed companies without opening accounts with traditional brokerage providers.First availability expected in coming weeksThe first tokenized IPO offerings are expected to become available to customers of Kraken and other xStocks Alliance members in the coming weeks, with Payward planning to add more launch partners and markets over time.“Going public should mean public to everyone,” said Mark Greenberg, global head of Payward Services, adding that getting in at the IPO price has been a “privilege of geography and net worth” for decades.“Now a retail investor in Medellín, Madrid, or Malaysia can have similar access to a US-listed IPO, and Payward Services’ xStocks infrastructure is finally making that possible for the masses,” the executive added.Related: Binance launches SpaceX-linked perpetual futures ahead of IPOThe announcement comes as interest in tokenized RWAs continues to grow, with Bernstein Research estimating the RWA market has reached $51 billion after expanding 42% this year.Payward Services said xStocks processed more than $30 billion in transaction volume during its first year, including over $6 billion settled onchain, across more than 125,000 holders globally. Kraken acquired xStocks operator Backed Finance in late 2025.Magazine: Kraken’s $600M stablecoin firm, Huione scandal deepens: Asia Express

[Update 1:57 P.M. UTC, June 1 — Updates third paragraph with share price decline in Monday morning trading.]Strategy sold 32 BTC last week, its first reported Bitcoin sale since a 2022 tax-loss transaction, as the company moved to fund preferred stock distributions.Strategy sold 32 Bitcoin (BTC) for $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135 per BTC, reducing its holdings from 843,738 BTC to 843,706 BTC, according to a Monday 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.The company’s MSTR Nasdaq-traded shares fell more than 6% following Monday’s market open, last trading at about $148.70 apiece.Proceeds from the Bitcoin sale are expected to be used to fund distributions on preferred stock, the company said.Source: SECThe sale came after Strategy faced increased scrutiny over its preferred stock financing model, as investors questioned whether dividend obligations could eventually pressure the company to sell some of its Bitcoin.The sale is Strategy’s first reported Bitcoin disposal since a 2022 tax loss transaction, when the company sold 704 BTC and repurchased 810 BTC two days later.Bitcoin (BTC) price chart over the past 24 hours. Source: CoinGeckoBitcoin slipped below $72,000 following the disclosure and traded at $71,939 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko.Strategy sells $128 million in Common A stockIn addition to selling Bitcoin in the last week of May, Strategy also offloaded 801,994 Class A (MSTR) shares, generating $128.3 million in proceeds.No preferred stock raises took place over the week, aligning with reports by STRC Live, which estimated that Strategy would announce no buys for the past week.Source: PolymarketThe sale may have surprised some investors after Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor hinted at possible fresh activity over the weekend.“Working Better” Saylor posted on X late Sunday morning to accompany a bubble chart tracking Strategy’s Bitcoin purchases over the past nearly six years.Saylor had not posted on X about the $2.5 million Bitcoin sale at the time of writing, prompting criticism that he has gone “radio silent” despite typically announcing new purchases immediately.Some industry observers had been anticipating a potential sale, with crypto intelligence platform Arkham reporting that Strategy transferred BTC to Coinbase Prime last Friday.Related: Strategy buys back $1.5B of debt at discount, cuts outstanding notes to $6.7BStrategy CEO Phong Le confirmed last week that the company might sell Bitcoin at some point in the future.“We’ll likely sell Bitcoin at some point in time, but we will be net increasing our Bitcoin and more importantly, increasing our Bitcoin per share,” the CEO said.Corporate Bitcoin demand cools as selling activity emergesStrategy’s sale comes as some Bitcoin treasury companies have slowed purchases or begun reducing holdings after months of accumulation.Nasdaq-listed ProCap Financial announced Monday it sold about 52 Bitcoin to fund the repurchase of 2 million shares of its common stock at an approximately 50% discount to net asset value. The company said the transaction increased Bitcoin exposure on a per-share basis for remaining shareholders.Source: Anthony PomplianoBroader Bitcoin treasury activity also showed signs of cooling, with firms acquiring a combined 144 Bitcoin over the past week, including purchases by DDC Enterprise, the Smarter Web Company and Capital B, according to corporate disclosures. That compares with 603 Bitcoin purchased by corporate holders in the previous week, marking a sharp week-over-week decline.Magazine: Big Questions: Do we really only need 2–5 cryptocurrencies?

Crypto investment products extended losses to three straight weeks last week amid ongoing selling pressure in markets and limited institutional demand.Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) recorded $1.67 billion in outflows last week, the second-largest weekly withdrawal of 2026, CoinShares reported on Monday.The fresh outflows bring three-week losses to $4.21 billion, with total assets under management dropping to $141 billion, the lowest level since early April.CoinShares head of research James Butterfill attributed surging outflows to an Iran-related risk-off move that has now overwhelmed any cushioning effect from CLARITY Act progress. “The pattern is reminiscent of the January-February episode that delivered five consecutive negative weeks,” he said.Bitcoin sees the largest weekly outflow of 2026Bitcoin (BTC) ETPs led weekly outflows by a wide margin, with $1.44 billion leaving the funds, marking the largest weekly outflow so far this year.The funds were $2.4 billion down month-to-date but still had about $1.2 billion in inflows year-to-date, while assets under management fell to $114.6 billion.Crypto ETP flows by asset (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinSharesEther (ETH) funds continued to see selling pressure with $257.3 million in outflows, bringing year-to-date losses to $346 million.Altcoin participation also collapsed, CoinShares’ Butterfill said, referring to only five assets recording substantial inflows above $1 million, down from nine a week prior.XRP (XRP) again led positive momentum with $20.3 million in inflows, while Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Near (NEAR) followed with $10.8 million and $7.6 million, respectively.US drives losses with $1.63 billion of outflowsRegionally, the United States drove the global outflow story with $1.63 billion of outflows, aligning with $1.42 billion in outflows from US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to SoSoValue data.Germany joined the risk-off sentiment with $25.7 million of outflows, while Sweden and Hong Kong saw $6.6 million and $4.5 million in outflows, respectively. The Netherlands again was the only country to see inflows above $1 million, with $1.3 million in inflows, down from $6.6 million a week prior.Crypto ETP flows by country (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinSharesAccording to the derivatives trading desk at Laser Digital, the crypto sell-off last week came without a clear catalyst and was affected by underperforming equities.Related: Strategy’s Michael Saylor teases BTC buy with ‘working better’ tweetThe unit cited a lack of demand, including Michael Saylor’s Strategy announcing that it did not purchase any BTC between May 18 and May 24.“With STRC still trading below par and the continued lack of interest from retail buyers, BTC is expected to remain weak for the time being,” it said in a statement seen by Cointelegraph.Magazine: HYPE chases $100 target, ETH could dump below $1800: Market Moves