Crypto Weekly 5/3/26
A Deal on Stablecoin Yield Clears the Path for the CLARITY Act, Tether Stockpiles $20 Billion in Gold, and Crypto Is the Most Muted Topic on X
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($2.70T): 0% / -11%
- BTC ($78,915): +1% / -10%
- ETH ($2,330): -1% / -21%
- SOL ($84): -3% / -32%
- UNI ($3.25): -1% / -42%
- OP ($0.12): -3% / -54%
- COIN ($191): -4% / -15%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($190B): 0% / +1%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($77B): -1% / +2%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 59% / 10%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell slightly before rebounding, after the Federal Reserve voted to hold interest rates steady, cooling expectations for near-term cuts. Link. Link.
- Coinbase said a deal has been reached on a key stablecoin yield provision, clearing a path for the long-awaited CLARITY Act to move forward. Updated language would allow for activity-based or transaction-based rewards and incentives related to stablecoins, and would disallow direct payment of interest on deposits. Banks had pushed back on the ability of crypto exchanges to offer rewards to customers for holding stablecoins, saying it could lead to deposit flight at traditional lenders. Link. Link.
- Tether, the company behind the largest stablecoin USDT, now holds almost $20 billion in gold reserves making it the largest holder of bullion outside of banks and nation states. Tether also reported more than $1 billion in profit for Q1. Link. Link.
- Crypto is the most muted topic on X’s “For You” feed, ahead of politics and global conflict, a month after X rolled out its 24-hour topic snooze feature. Link. Tweet.
- Decentralized perpetuals marketplace Hyperliquid plans to add prediction markets to its platform. Hyperliquid handled $219 billion in total trading volume in March. Link.
- Visa stablecoin settlement is up 50% over the last quarter, hitting a $7 billion annualized run rate. Link.
- Robinhood’s crypto revenues and trading volumes dropped by roughly 50% during Q1, though growth in event-based contracts and options revenue allowed the company to maintain profitability. Link.
- Prediction marketplace Polymarket is partnering with crypto analytics firm Chainalysis to help police the platform against insider trading. Link.
- North Korean hacking groups stole $577 million across two April exploits, accounting for 76% of total losses in 2026. Link.
- AWS has made Chainlink’s data feeds, data streams, and proof-of-reserve solutions available on the AWS Marketplace. Link.
- Fintech startup Aven is rolling out the Aven Bitcoin Visa Card that will offer a bitcoin-backed line of credit of up to $1 million at 8% APR. Link.
- Ethereum scaling protocol MegaETH launched its MEGA token at a $1.6 billion FDV, one week after the network hit sufficient real onchain activity. 53% of MEGA’s token supply is tied to performance-based KPIs. Link. Link.
- Block, the company behind Square and Cash App, used on-chain signatures to confirm reserves of 28,355 bitcoin worth roughly $2.2 billion. $1.5 billion is held on behalf of customers. Link.
- Meta has launched USDC creator payouts on Solana and Polygon via Stripe. Link.
- Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was denied a motion for a trial, with the judge calling the arguments “baseless on multiple independently sufficient levels”. Link.
- Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky is permanently barred from the crypto industry and ordered to pay a $10 million fine, after pleading guilty to fraud charges that led to the bankruptcy of the crypto lending platform. Link.
- A global task force led by the FBI arrested 276 suspects and 9 scam centers involved in “pig butchering” fraud schemes Link.
- French authorities have charged 88 individuals linked to criminal organizations carrying out crypto wrench attacks in the country. Link.