Decentral Block Post

The X account of the Ethereum layer 2 network ZKsync and its developer Matter Labs were compromised early on May 13, with hackers falsely claiming the network was being probed by US authorities, among other scam messages.

A ZKsync-related X account posted on May 13, confirming the accounts for ZKsync and Matter Labs were compromised, warning users not to interact after the accounts shared links to a fake airdrop in an apparent phishing scam.

Other X users had warned the ZKsync X account was compromised. Source: pseudo

The hacked ZKsync and Matter Labs then both posted a fake statement claiming ZKsync was under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and that the Treasury Department could impose sanctions on the platform.

Matter Labs communications head Lynnette Nolan confirmed to Cointelegraph that the now-deleted X post “is not legit” and both accounts are now “fully back in the control of the team.”

“Shoutout to the zksync hackers. Instead of dropping a token and stealing a few bucks they decided to scare the living shit out of onchain degens,” crypto startup g8keep co-founder Harrison Leggio, who goes by “Pop Punk,” posted to X.

Crypto bank Anchorage Digital has expanded its stablecoin offerings with the acquisition of Mountain Protocol, a stablecoin issuer that says it will begin winding down its main stablecoin, Mountain USD (USDM).

The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, will integrate the Mountain Protocol team, tech stack and licensing framework into Anchorage’s existing offerings, Anchorage said in a May 12 statement.

While terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, it reflects an accelerating number of acquisitions between crypto and TradFi firms in recent months.

Explaining the acquisition, Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley said stablecoins are becoming the backbone of the crypto economy, while anticipating that “every business” will eventually use stablecoins as part of their operations.

Source: Anchorage Digital

Mountain Protocol CEO Martin Carrica said the company’s expertise in stablecoins, combined with Anchorage’s crypto infrastructure, positions the merged entities to meet rising global demand for stablecoin services.

Key Takeaways:

Dogecoin's 38% surge reflects strong market demand, with spot-buyer volumes taking charge since March.

A bullish MACD crossover has traders predicting a 180% rally, with targets at $0.65 and $1.

Dogecoin's (DOGE) price rallied in lockstep with Ethereum over the past 7 days, gaining 38% in May, which is its strongest monthly performance this year. According to CoinGecko, DOGE recorded $4.7 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, ranking fifth among the top cryptocurrencies (excluding stablecoins). 

The memecoin’s market strength has been coupled with strong onchain insights. Data from CryptoQuant noted that DOGE’s spot taker 90-day cumulative volume delta (CVD), which measures the net difference between buying and selling volume over 90 days, has been "taker buyer dominant.” It indicates more aggressive buying than selling, a pattern last seen in November 2024, leading to DOGE’s breakout rally of 385% to $0.48 in Q4, 2024. 

Update May 13, 12:33 am UTC: This article has been updated to include more information from Curve Finance.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Curve Finance has warned that a hacker has again hijacked its domain name system (DNS), sending users to a malicious website.  

In the second attack on its infrastructure in a week, the “curve.fi DNS might be hijacked. Don’t interact!” the team said in a May 12 warning to X.

In a follow-up post to a user asking whether it was a hack or a hijack, the Curve Team said the website “Points to the wrong IP” when users try to visit. A DNS works like a directory that translates domain names into IP addresses. 

Source: Curve Finance

The team also said in another update that the “Password is secure,” its two-factor authentication was set up a “long time ago,” and a question has been sent to the “registrar now.”

Aave, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has reached a new record of funds onchain, according to data from DefiLlama.

In an X post, Aave said it topped $40.3 billion in total value locked (TVL) on May 12. Onchain data reveals that Aave v3, the latest version of the protocol, has approximately $40 billion in TVL.

Aave is a DeFi lending protocol that lets users borrow cryptocurrency by depositing other types of cryptocurrency as collateral. Meanwhile, lenders earn yield from borrowers. 

“With these milestones, Aave is proving its dominance in the Lending Space,” DeFi analyst Jonaso said in a May 12 X post. TVL represents the total value of cryptocurrency deposited into a protocol’s smart contracts. 

Aave v3’s TVL over time. Source: DeFiLlama

Related: AAVE soars 13% as buyback proposal passes among tokenholders

The list of the top holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin has been finalized ahead of background checks to apply for a dinner and “VIP tour” with the president on May 22.

In a May 12 X post, the TRUMP memecoin project said it would stop considering additional purchases for a dinner with the president, adding that the top tokenholders had been notified to apply for background checks if they wanted to attend.

According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth roughly $174 million at the time of publication.

Top 10 TRUMP memecoin holders as of May 12. Source: TRUMP memecoin project

It’s unclear who, if any, of the wallet holders will choose to apply for and attend the dinner with Trump, or the “exclusive reception” expected to be in the White House for the top 25 holders, on May 22. A May 7 Bloomberg report suggested that the majority of tokenholders were based outside of the United States, leading to potential security concerns and conflicts of interest.

Many US lawmakers and figures in the crypto industry criticized the president for launching the memecoin just days before taking office on Jan. 20. In the wake of his dinner announcement on April 23, the calls for congressional oversight and allegations of corruption have intensified, with one senator calling for Trump’s impeachment and other representatives refusing to consider crypto-related legislation until their concerns were addressed.

Coinbase Global (COIN) will join the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P500) index fund on May 19, financial information services platform S&P Global said in a recent statement.

The crypto exchange will replace Discover Financial Services (DFS), which was recently acquired by Capital One Financial Corp (COF), S&P Global said on May 12.S&P Global’s confirmation of Coinbase Global being inserted into the S&P 500. S&P Global

The S&P 500 is a stock market index that tracks the performance of 500 of the largest, publicly traded companies in the US, representing a broad measure of the overall US stock market.

Coinbase's inclusion in the S&P 500 should increase demand for its stock because index funds and exchange-traded funds that track the S&P 500 must buy COIN shares to mirror the index.

COIN shares immediately rose 8.8% to $225.4 in after-hours trading following the announcement, Google Finance data shows.

Related: $45 million stolen from Coinbase users in the last week — ZachXBT

The crypto exchange joins Tesla and Block Inc. as the other large corporate Bitcoin holders currently in the index fund, which tracks an aggregate market cap of more than $49.8 trillion as of March 31.

Key Takeaways:

Bitcoin exhibits a bearish breakout from an ascending channel, with the risk of profit-taking near $106,000.

A lower-than-expected US Consumer Price Index (CPI) print could boost Bitcoin, but a higher CPI may increase bearish pressure, leading to a price drop below $100,000.

Bitcoin (BTC) price reached an intraday high of $105,800 on May 12 but posted a 3% dip to $101,400 during the New York trading session. On the lower-time frame (LTF) chart, BTC oscillated between an ascending channel pattern before exhibiting a bearish breakout below the bottom range of the pattern.

Bitcoin 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

With respect to BTC’s stalling bullish momentum, data analytics platform Alphractal noted that BTC re-testing nearing $106,000 resistance levels increased the likelihood of profit-taking risks. As illustrated in the chart, Bitcoin currently approaches the “Alpha Price” zone, where long-term holders or whales could take profits, according to Joao Wedson, CEO of Alphractal. 

The US government has asked a federal judge to impose a two-year sentence for Eric Council Jr., the individual who helped post a fake message announcing the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) X account.

In a May 12 filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, prosecutors recommended Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentence Council to two years in prison for his role in posting a message to the social media platform X suggesting that the SEC had approved spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the first time in January 2024. The fake announcement, which shook markets in the roughly 24 hours before the regulator actually approved spot Bitcoin ETFs, led to the arrest of Council.

“This case deserves a guidelines range prison sentence,” said US prosecutors. “Defendant profited through a sophisticated fraud scheme involving fraudulently produced identification documents, a series of misrepresentations at telecommunication stores, and the transmission of password reset codes for victim online accounts to co-conspirators located in the United States and abroad. This conduct deserves a significant penalty.”

US government’s May 12 sentencing recommendation for Eric Council. Source: PACER

As of May 12, Council’s legal team had not filed a response to the sentencing recommendation. He is scheduled to appear before Judge Jackson on May 16.

Related: Ledger secures Discord after hacker bot tried to steal seed phrases

Blockchain technology could enable “a broad swath of novel use cases for securities” and foster “new kinds of market activities that many of the Commission’s legacy rules and regulations do not contemplate today,” Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins said.

During his keynote address at the Commission’s May 12 roundtable on tokenization and digital assets, Atkins welcomed “a new day at the SEC,” adding that “policymaking will no longer result from ad hoc enforcement actions. Instead, the Commission will utilize its existing rulemaking, interpretive, and exemptive authorities to set fit-for-purpose standards for market participants.”

Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

A key priority will be to “develop a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets that establishes clear rules of the road for the issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets while continuing to discourage bad actors from violating the law.”

In particular, Atkins said the SEC would focus on establishing “clear and sensible guidelines” for crypto assets that could be considered securities. Another area of focus would be to allow brokers to offer a broader range of investment products on their platforms, which in some cases may mix securities and non-securities.

Atkins’ approach moves away from former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s, whose tenure was criticized by some industry participants for its “regulation by enforcement” method of oversight.

Key points:

Bitcoin price saw profit booking near $105,819, signaling that bears remain active at higher levels.

Select altcoins have continued to move higher, indicating increased investor interest.  

The SPX and the DXY are playing catch-up to Bitcoin following the US-China trade deal.

Bitcoin (BTC) has started the new week on a cautious note, falling below $103,000, but the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and the US Dollar Index (DXY) have risen sharply following the announcement of the US-China trade agreement. One of the reasons could be that other assets are trying to play catch up with Bitcoin, and the sharp rally in the US dollar may be acting as headwinds for Bitcoin in the near term.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced partnerships between the city and financial firms as part of his crypto plans.

In a May 12 press conference at Gracie Mansion, the the city’s official mayoral residence, Adams said June Ou, founder of financial services company Figure, and Richie Hecker, CEO of private equity firm Traction and Scale, would be assisting the city in its crypto efforts. He spoke of Ou and Hecker acting as advisers for New York City’s next steps in “economic development and opportunities to serve the public using digital assets.” 

“We are focused on the long-term values of these technologies for our city and its people, not chasing memes or trends,” said Adams, adding:

“If you’re in the crypto, blockchain, Web3 or the fintech space, New York City is open for business.”Eric Adams addressing reporters on May 12. Source: Yedda Araujo/Cointelegraph

Adams made digital assets a large part of his policy platform after assuming office in January 2022, when he announced plans to accept his first three paychecks in Bitcoin (BTC). In a 2023 financial disclosure, the mayor reported holding between $5,000 and $54,999.99 worth of Bitcoin, but suggested it was worth more in a December 2024 press conference.

Trump DOJ dismissed the corruption case against Adams

Adams had been facing corruption charges over alleged illegal donations from the Turkish government, but Justice Department officials appointed by US President Donald Trump stepped in and directed local authorities to intervene. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened, in April, and Adams traveled to the White House on May 9 to reportedly thank Trump for his “words of support” during his 2024 campaign.

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin lags as investors shift toward stocks after the US and China strike a deal that could end the current trade war.

Macroeconomic conditions are swinging away from gold investing and back to stocks. 

Bitcoin (BTC) reached its highest price in over three months at $105,720 on May 12, but was unable to maintain its bullish momentum. Interestingly, the drop to $102,000 came after a temporary easing in the US-China tariff conflict. This has left traders puzzled as to why Bitcoin reacted negatively to what seemed like positive developments.

The 90-day truce reduced import tariffs, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that the agreement could be extended, provided there is a genuine effort and constructive dialogue. According to Yahoo Finance, the topics under discussion include “currency manipulation,” “steel price dumping,” and restrictions on semiconductor exports.

Emerging technologies, including quantum computing, could potentially render the cryptography securing Bitcoin and other blockchain networks ineffective, asset manager BlackRock said in a regulatory filing. 

On May 9, BlackRock updated the registration statement for its iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT). The revised version addressed potential risks to the integrity of the Bitcoin network posed by quantum computing, the filing shows.

“[I]f quantum computing technology is able to advance […] it could potentially undermine the viability of many of the cryptographic algorithms used across the world’s information technology infrastructure, including the cryptographic algorithms used for digital assets like bitcoin,” BlackRock said.

It is the first time the asset manager has explicitly flagged this risk in its IBIT disclosures. The IBIT ETF is the largest spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF, with approximately $64 billion in net assets, according to its website. 

Quantum computing is an emergent field that seeks to use the principles of quantum mechanics to greatly enhance computers’ processing capabilities. 

Tether’s USDt (USDT) surpassed a $150 billion market capitalization for the first time on May 12, marking a new milestone amid growing stablecoin adoption.

USDt’s circulating supply has expanded by over 36% in the past year, with growth accelerating in November following the election of US President Donald Trump.

USDt’s market cap growth over the past year. Source: CoinMarketCap

At its current supply, Tether accounts for 61% of the global stablecoin market, according to CoinMarketCap data. It’s followed by Circle’s USDC (USDC), which accounts for nearly 25% of the stablecoin market. 

As the world’s largest stablecoin, Tether is widely viewed as a barometer for cryptocurrency demand, given its central role in providing liquidity and funding for crypto trading.

Tether is part of a broader trend toward digital fiat currencies, with recent data from Dune and Artemis showing that the number of active stablecoin wallets has surged more than 50% over the past year, from 19.6 million to 30 million.

Key takeaways:

Possible de-risking ahead of the May 13 CPI print could be playing a role in today’s BTC price correction.

Bitcoin market structure and qualitative fundamentals remain bullish, suggesting today’s correction could be short-lived.

Bitcoin (BTC) price briefly stumbled on May 12, falling to $102,388 after hitting an intraday high at $105,819 during the US trading session. At first glance, the abrupt correction seemed unexpected given the positive news of the day. Since Sunday evening (May 11), mainstream media headlines have reported on the positive headway made in the US-China trade talks occurring in Switzerland, and throughout the evening, US President Donald Trump ran his victory lab via Truth Social posts heralding the positives of the deal. 

BREAKING: U.S. Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva pic.twitter.com/JjgvYAvAGe

Patel Real Estate Holdings (PREH) has launched a $100 million tokenization fund on the Chintai blockchain, aiming to give accredited investors access to institutional-grade real estate opportunities.

The new PREH Multifamily Fund is a tokenized investment vehicle focused on vintage Class A multifamily units across the top 20 US growth markets, the company told Cointelegraph on May 12.

“The entire structure is digital-native from the start — compliant onboarding, reporting, capital calls, and (potential) secondary market transfers,” a PREH spokesperson said.

The fund is part of a broader $750 million investment vehicle co-developed by PREH and several institutional firms, including Carlyle, DRA Advisors, Walton Street Capital, RPM and KKR. Initially, the company said that $25 million of the $100 million allocation would be tokenized on Chintai. 

According to PREH, the tokenization structure helps alleviate many transparency and liquidity constraints investors typically face in private market placements.

Opinion by: Robin Singh, CEO of Koinly

Is there a catch for Bitcoin hodlers, with the asset’s price up over 600,000% since the beginning of 2013? 

Perhaps — if governments keep waking up to Bitcoin’s value, the whole “you only pay tax when you sell” mantra could soon be a thing of the past.

What if a wealth tax is the answer for revenue-hungry tax agencies with no time to lose? It’s a yearly tax on a person’s total net worth — cash, investments, property and other assets — minus any debts, applied whether or not those assets are sold or generating income. The idea is to boost public revenue and curb inequality, mainly by taxing the ultra-rich. A wealth tax takes a clip off what you own, not what you earn.

Countries such as Belgium, Norway and Switzerland have had wealth taxes baked into their tax systems for ages, yet some of the world’s biggest economies — like the US, Australia and France — have largely steered clear. 

Key points:

Bitcoin seeks consolidation after rapid gains as stocks and the US dollar surge on US-China trade deal news.

Nearby order book liquidity forms potential targets for traders, which now include $102,000.

A classic moving average retest suggests that a new all-time high should result.

Bitcoin (BTC) stuck to $104,000 at the May 12 Wall Street open as markets shifted on US-China trade deal news.

Key points:

Bitcoin seeks consolidation after rapid gains as stocks and the US dollar surge on US-China trade deal news.

Nearby order book liquidity forms potential targets for traders, which now include $102,000.

A classic moving average retest suggests that a new all-time high should result.

Bitcoin (BTC) stuck to $104,000 at the May 12 Wall Street open as markets shifted on US-China trade deal news.