News linked to this event type.
AI character economy platform Charms Interactive has announced the completion of a $1.5 million pre-seed funding round, with participation from Lattice, JME, Coinbase Ventures (Base Ecosystem Fund), Gidorah (Echo), and others. Charms has simultaneously launched its product, Charms.ai, aiming to upgrade "AI characters" from application features to tradable, ownable, and sustainable on-chain economic assets. (Decrypt)
According to Odaily, AI startup White Circle has completed an $11 million seed funding round, with participation from Romain Huet of OpenAI, Durk Kingma of Anthropic, and several other executives from prominent AI companies. The company provides a unified API for real-time monitoring of large model inputs and outputs, used to detect hallucinations, prompt injection attacks, harmful content, model drift, and malicious user behavior. It also supports custom security policies (such as rate limiting and banning) and automated governance. (Techfundingnews)
According to data released by Glassnode on platform X, the relative unrealized loss of Bitcoin long-term holders (LTH) briefly reached approximately 15% in early April. Compared to levels exceeding 75% during historical deep bear market cycles, the impact of this market correction on long-term holders is notably lighter.The analysis points out that while recent price pullbacks have caused some paper losses, the overall pressure remains far below historical cycle lows, indicating that the current decline has not yet posed a substantive test to the conviction of long-term holders. Structurally, this adjustment is more characteristic of mid-term volatility rather than a full-scale cyclical capitulation event.
According to CoinDesk, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced it will leverage Chainlink’s infrastructure to power its blockchain-based collateral management platform, Collateral AppChain. Built on the Besu blockchain, the platform utilizes Chainlink’s Compute Runtime Environment (CRE) and data standards to support asset pricing, valuation, margin calculation, collateral optimization, and settlement. Through smart contracts, it enables 24/7 automated collateral management—aiming to address the current delays in cross-institutional and cross-time-zone movement of assets within existing collateral systems.
According to official announcements, Brevis—a ZK-powered intelligent verifiable computation platform—has launched Pico Prism 2.0, now live on Ethereum’s mainnet under the current 60-million-Gas block limit. Benchmarking results show that, under Ethereum’s current 60-million-Gas block limit, Pico Prism 2.0 achieves an average proof time of 6.1 seconds per block, with 99.9% of blocks completing final proofs within 12 seconds. The entire system runs on just two machines equipped with a total of 16 RTX 5090 GPUs, at an aggregate hardware cost of approximately $100,000. Compared to Pico Prism 1.0, Pico Prism 2.0 delivers roughly a 5.3× improvement in per-block proof efficiency—even while using only one-quarter of the hardware configuration—further fulfilling the Ethereum Foundation’s two primary objectives for real-time proving: “average proof latency under 10 seconds” and “on-premises hardware cost under $100,000.” Previously, Brevis was selected for the Ethereum Foundation’s “On-Prem Proving Initiative,” a program launched in May 2026 to test whether ZK proofs can scale as decentralized infrastructure without reliance on a handful of cloud service providers—the most L1 zkEVM-integration-ready rehearsal to date. Moving forward, Brevis will continue focusing on robustness.
Odaily Planet Daily reported that Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, has officially launched strkBTC. This is a new Bitcoin-based asset designed to achieve private balances and anonymous transfers through zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology while maintaining composability with DeFi applications. After its launch, strkBTC supports "re-anonymization," allowing assets to be bridged back to entirely new, unlinked Bitcoin addresses, and also provides compliance audit and asset screening features. (The Block)
Bitdeer has released its production and operations report for April 2026: self-mining hash rate reached 65.5 EH/s, a significant increase of 400% year-on-year; 783 BTC were mined during the month, up 372% year-on-year. The next-generation SEALMINER A4 mining machine has entered mass production, with energy efficiency as low as 9.45 J/TH. The hosting lease agreement in Tydal, Norway, has entered advanced negotiation stages. The AI Cloud business achieved an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of $69 million, a quarter-over-quarter increase of 60%, with a utilization rate of 92%.
Lorenzo Protocol has officially launched its on-chain governance system, Lorenzo Governance, with the first governance proposal now open for voting. This proposal aims to shorten the vesting periods for six categories of tokens—Rewards, Investors, Ecosystem & Development, Team, Treasury, and Advisors—based on community demand, in order to accelerate the token release schedule. If the proposal is approved, the Lorenzo tokenomics will be upgraded from V2 to V3. Upon implementation, the total and circulating supply will immediately increase by 454.8 million tokens, representing an increase of approximately 21.66%. veBANK holders can directly participate in protocol decision-making through on-chain governance voting. The voting period for this round runs from May 12 to May 17.
Bakkt released its Q1 2026 financial results, reporting a net loss attributable to the company of $11.7 million, or a loss of $0.41 per share, compared to a net profit of $7.7 million in the same period last year. Affected by a decline in crypto trading volume, Bakkt's crypto services revenue dropped from $1.07 billion in the same period last year to $243.6 million, a year-over-year decrease of 77%. However, a large portion of this was offset by crypto costs and brokerage fees. As of the end of the first quarter, the company held $82.6 million in cash and had no long-term debt. Bakkt stated that it is transitioning from crypto trading infrastructure towards stablecoin payments and AI financial infrastructure, and completed the acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research on April 30, obtaining an AI-native payment engine and stablecoin compliance technology stack. (Cointelegraph)
: Galaxy Research Head of Research Alex Thorn stated that the U.S. Senate Banking Committee has released the first updated complete draft of the CLARITY Act since January. The new draft features significant adjustments in several key chapters, including:A substantial rewrite of Chapter I concerning definitions and the scope of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) authority; the addition of Section 109 on insider trading; an update in Chapter II changing "common control" to "coordinated control"; a rewrite of Section 301 to further clarify the regulatory boundary between DeFi and CeFi; an update to Section 404 incorporating the compromise proposal from Tillis and Alsobrooks; adjustments to Section 505 narrowing the scope of SEC authority limitations in the tokenization field; and a restructuring of the bankruptcy and insolvency framework in Sections 701 and 702. Additionally, Section 904 is a new addition, namely the "Build Now Act."Alex Thorn also noted that the developer protection provisions in the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, found in Section 604, remain largely intact with only minor modifications, without weakening their core protections.
: According to official sources, OKX has updated the Boost trading volume calculation rules. When users trade mainstream coins on OKX DEX, the trading volume can now be counted towards Boost trading volume and participate in related Boost activities. Additionally, token transactions on the X Layer chain will enjoy an extra 20% boost in trading volume for a limited time.It is reported that this rule update aims to further expand the coverage of Boost trading volume and enhance the user participation experience within the DEX and X Layer ecosystem.
Bitget released its April 2026 transparency report, detailing the latest developments in its core businesses, including tokenized stocks, AI trading infrastructure, and IPO Prime. Data shows that in April, Bitget's average daily trading volume remained stable above $10 billion. According to DefiLlama statistics, its net inflow for the month reached $359.37 million, ranking second among centralized exchanges. Furthermore, Bitget secured the second position globally in stock perpetual futures market share for the first quarter.On the product ecosystem front, the adoption rate of AI trading tools such as GetAgent, GetClaw, Agent Hub, and Gracy AI continues to rise, empowering users with intelligent trading experiences through the UEX system. In terms of innovative products, Bitget launched IPO Prime, a subscription service for US stock IPOs, extending the product boundaries of UEX into the primary market. According to rwa.xyz data, its first-phase projects ranked third globally among tokenized private equity and VC assets.
According to data released by Binance Research, 28% of Binance users currently allocate at least half of their investment portfolios to stablecoins—a sharp increase from 4% in 2020; this proportion reaches as high as 36% in emerging markets.
Lorenzo Protocol has officially launched its on-chain governance system, Lorenzo Governance, and opened voting for its first governance proposal.The proposal seeks to shorten the vesting periods for 6 categories of BANK tokens, including rewards, investors, ecosystem development, team, treasury, and advisors. If the proposal passes, Lorenzo Tokenomics will be upgraded from V2 to V3, increasing the total supply and circulating supply by 454.8 million tokens immediately, representing an increase of approximately 21.66%.Additionally, veBANK holders can now participate in protocol decision-making through on-chain governance. The voting will last until May 17, 2026, at 16:00 (UTC).
Wintermute released its weekly market analysis, covering the week ending May 11. During this period, BTC broke above $80,000 for the first time since January, peaking near $83,000 and decisively crossing its 200-day moving average—a resistance level that had held for seven months. However, Wintermute noted that this rally was primarily leveraged-driven: open interest surged by $10 billion month-on-month to $58 billion, while spot trading volume hit a two-year low—classic hallmarks of a short squeeze rather than a healthy breakout. Funding rates remain skewed bearish, indicating further short-covering potential in the near term; yet covering shorts does not equate to genuine bullish consensus. Looking at medium- to long-term fundamentals, institutional buying logic remains intact: BTC ETFs posted $623 million in net inflows for the week; Morgan Stanley’s BTC ETF attracted $194 million in its first month with zero net outflows on any single day; and BTC reserves held on exchanges remain at a seven-year low. Nevertheless, Wintermute cautioned that the RSI has entered overbought territory, and if spot buying fails to materialize after the squeeze concludes, prices face significant risk of a rapid correction. On the macro front, the Nasdaq rose 4.5% and the S&P 500 gained 2.3% for the week—both hitting all-time highs. Nonfarm payrolls significantly exceeded expectations (115,000 vs. forecast 65,000). U.S.-Iran negotiations collapsed, with Iran demanding sovereignty recognition and reparations—terms rejected by Trump. Oil prices swung violently between $88 and $113 per barrel during the week, yet equity markets reacted indifferently. Key events to watch this week:
Wintermute’s weekly market report indicates Bitcoin recently broke through $80,000 and briefly touched around $83,000, while also reclaiming the 200-day moving average for the first time in seven months. However, this rally is clearly more driven by leveraged capital rather than spot buying.The report notes that over the past month, Bitcoin open interest increased by approximately $10 billion, while spot trading volume dropped to a two-year low, a classic short squeeze scenario. Although ETFs still recorded net inflows of $623 million and BTC reserves on exchanges fell to a seven-year low, the current RSI has entered overbought territory. If spot buying fails to sustain after the short squeeze ends, BTC prices could face a rapid correction risk.Wintermute also stated that the current crypto market rally is more driven by the strength of US equities and the resonance of leverage, rather than an independent bull market narrative. Upcoming US CPI data and changes in Federal Reserve policy expectations will be key factors in determining whether BTC can stably hold above $80,000.
According to the official announcement, HTX has officially launched its “7th Leveraged Trading Competition,” with a total prize pool of 30,000 USDT to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day. From May 12 at 18:00 to May 24 at 18:00 (UTC+8), new users who complete their first leveraged trade will receive a 50 USDT leveraged trading interest coupon—limited to the first 2,000 recipients on a first-come, first-served basis. During the event period, users whose leveraged trading volume reaches or exceeds 1,000 USDT will receive a 5%–20% rebate on trading fees. Additionally, leveraged trades in BTC, ETH, DOGE, TRX, TON, ZEC, FIL, and JST will count three times toward the user’s total trading volume. Users can participate by clicking “Register Now” on the campaign page.
According to the official announcement, HTX (formerly Huobi) has launched perpetual contracts for AVGO/USDT, QCOM/USDT, and ORCL/USDT on May 12, with a maximum leverage of 10x. Additionally, HTX is hosting an AVGO, QCOM, and ORCL Contract Trading Party from 16:00 on May 12 to 16:00 on May 19 (UTC+8), with a total prize pool of up to $20,000. During the event, users who register and trade AVGO/USDT, QCOM/USDT, or ORCL/USDT perpetual contracts—achieving a cumulative valid trading volume of ≥$5,000—will share the prize pool based on their trading volume ranking. New contract traders completing AVGO/USDT, QCOM/USDT, or ORCL/USDT perpetual contract trades will also receive exclusive benefits.
According to Bybit’s latest options weekly report, the implied volatility indicator DVOL has further declined to an extreme historical low of 37–41%, marking the lowest reading since the outbreak of the current conflict. The report notes that the current DVOL level is exceptionally rare in BTC’s history; low volatility often precedes major price moves rather than signaling their conclusion. Combined with a technical ascending wedge pattern and persistently negative funding rates, these three signals collectively suggest that the derivatives market is poised for a directional shift—though price action has yet to confirm the specific nature of this move, prompting the report to advise investors to maintain close observation.
JUST officially released its weekly report, highlighting robust performance across the JUST ecosystem from May 5 to May 11. Total Value Locked (TVL) reached $12 billion, accounting for 41.79% of the TRON DeFi market. The lending market remained highly active, with total deposits surpassing $3.8 billion. Meanwhile, the cumulative JST token burn ratio has reached 13.70%, further amplifying its deflationary effect. While offering users diversified yield options—including sTRX and USDD—the platform continues optimizing the supply-demand balance of asset allocation. This transparent and efficient mechanism execution, coupled with consistent long-term value returns, not only underscores JUST’s stable operational strength as a core TRON DeFi protocol but also establishes a resilient, long-term value system for users.