XRP extended its selloff over the past 24 hours, sliding to around $1.33 and marking its lowest level since April 13. Less than 10 days ago, the token tested resistance near $1.55 before being sharply rejected, and the pullback has since deepened. The broader crypto market was also lower, with Bitcoin dropping to $75,000 for the first time in three weeks. XRP, though, has underperformed, down roughly 14% from its recent local peak on a 10-day view. XRP's market capitalization has fallen toward $82 billion, widening the gap versus BNB to more than $5 billion at press time. On-chain data also points to cooling large-holder participation. Whale activity on the XRP network has fallen from 157 transactions exceeding $1 million a few months ago to 67 today, a 57.3% decline. Analyst Ali Martinez said the drop suggests the asset may be "entering a compression phase," with whales stepping back as the price range stabilizes and near-term volatility eases. There was one notable bright spot in network growth: earlier this week, XRP recorded about 4,300 new wallet creations in a single day, the fourth-largest one-day spike in 2026. Santiment said network expansion is among the stronger signals that can precede market reversals. Still, some analysts see additional downside risk. CRYPTOWZRD said XRP closed with a bearish tone and warned the token could face further pressure if Bitcoin continues to decline. The analyst also flagged an "increasing trend in short positions" and said there are "no reversal signals in the futures market yet," adding that XRP could slip to $1.30.

May 23 — The European Central Bank has rejected suggestions to relax the EU's regulatory regime for euro-denominated stablecoins, warning that lighter rules could heighten risks to financial stability and disrupt monetary policy transmission. The push for change surfaced during an informal gathering of EU finance ministers in Nicosia, Cyprus. Think tank Bruegel proposed reducing liquidity requirements for stablecoin issuers and allowing them, in certain circumstances, to tap ECB funding. The aim would be to curb the dominance of dollar-linked stablecoins and avoid what it described as "digital dollarization." ECB officials, including President Christine Lagarde, opposed the idea. They argued that stablecoins could draw funds away from bank deposits, raise banks' funding costs, constrain lending, and complicate interest-rate policy. While some finance ministers offered mixed reactions, multiple central-bank officials questioned whether the ECB should serve as a "lender of last resort" for stablecoin issuers. The EU is currently applying strict stablecoin requirements under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). In contrast, the U.S. GENIUS Act, passed in 2025, takes a more permissive approach. Euro-denominated stablecoins represent about 0.3% of global stablecoin supply. Europe is also advancing its digital euro project as part of a broader effort to strengthen payments autonomy.

Germany's Finance Committee has voted down a proposal from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen that sought to abolish the country's one-year tax exemption for crypto assets. The decision leaves current rules unchanged: private investors can sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tax-free if they have held them for more than 12 months. Most parliamentary factions opposed the draft or held back support. Die Linke was the only party to back the proposal, while also criticizing the bill for administrative complexity and for failing to set clear limits on offsetting trading losses from crypto transactions. Under Germany's existing tax treatment, the one-year holding period has been a key feature for long-term crypto investors and has helped the country stand out in Europe. The Greens argued the exemption no longer reflects today's market, saying it was originally intended for physical items such as antiques rather than highly liquid digital tokens that can be traded globally at any time. CDU/CSU lawmakers said the bill would create fresh loopholes and raised fairness concerns, pointing to a potential mismatch in taxation between crypto and assets such as precious metals and foreign currencies. AfD also rejected the proposal, arguing more broadly against expanding tax sources. The SPD did not rule out tightening crypto taxation but said it would wait for Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil to present his own proposals before supporting specific legal changes. Earlier reports have suggested Klingbeil could revisit the one-year exemption as part of wider budget and tax planning. The Greens cited research from the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center estimating that ending the exemption could generate €11.4 billion in annual tax revenue, though the party said it used a lower figure in its own calculations to remain conservative. The committee vote comes as retail access to crypto-linked products in Germany continues to expand. ING Deutschland recently opened trading in crypto ETNs to retail clients, offering exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and crypto index products via standard securities accounts without requiring customers to manage wallets or private keys. Deutsche Börse has also been listing a growing range of crypto ETNs on Xetra, tracking both individual tokens and baskets of digital assets. For now, the long-term holding rule remains in place, though investors must still comply with reporting requirements and note that other crypto activities, including income from staking or lending, may be taxed differently. Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Coin Edition is not responsible for losses resulting from the use of any content, products or services mentioned. Readers should exercise caution before taking any action related to the company.

PANews, May 23 — Uniswap founder Hayden Adams said the protocol's fee mechanism is now active across nine blockchains and is designed to burn UNI. The Uniswap Foundation has launched a new proposal to extend the V2 and V3 fee mechanism to BNB Chain, Polygon, and Celo. The expansion is expected to increase UNI burn and reduce UNI's circulating supply.

BlockBeats reported on May 23 that Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine and head of what he described as the largest Ethereum treasury, welcomed news that BitMine (BMNR) has been included on the preliminary candidate list for the Russell 1000 large-cap index. Lee noted that BMNR's market capitalization has cleared the index's minimum inclusion threshold of $5.7 billion. He also highlighted that many active managers restrict investments to Russell 1000 constituents, and that passive index funds and ETFs are estimated to hold roughly 20–25% of the aggregate market value of companies in the index.

Boerse Stuttgart Group's digital settlement unit, Seturion, has formed a strategic partnership with online broker flatexDEGIRO and French lender Societe Generale, including its crypto-asset subsidiary Societe Generale-FORGE (SGFORGE), to develop a pan-European blockchain settlement framework aimed at modernizing post-trade processing and lowering costs. The partners plan to start with tokenized structured securities, citing their high issuance and transaction volumes. Societe Generale will issue tokenized structured products such as turbo warrants and investment certificates via Seturion. These instruments are expected to trade across European venues, including Boerse Stuttgart's own markets and Nasdaq's European trading venues. Retail flow is set to come through flatexDEGIRO, which serves more than 3.5 million customers across 16 countries. Settlement will take place on-chain through Seturion using regulated euro- and U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins provided by SGFORGE. Seturion said the design targets Europe's fragmented post-trade landscape by supporting both public and private blockchains, with the stated goal of reducing settlement costs and shortening transaction cycles. Matthias Voelkel, CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Group, said Seturion is intended to serve as a European settlement platform aligned with the emerging Capital Markets Union and to help overcome fragmentation. Lidia Kurt, CEO of Seturion, said faster and more cost-efficient settlement "on tokenized rails" is especially relevant for securities with large numbers of transactions and issued products. Oliver Behrens, CEO of flatexDEGIRO, highlighted execution quality and settlement efficiency as central to modern online brokerage, describing tokenization as an area of "enormous potential." Societe Generale executives framed the project as a bridge between digital-asset infrastructure and traditional finance. Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of SGFORGE, said regulated stablecoins would support secure on-chain settlement, while Christian Sagerer, a management board member at Societe Generale's Frankfurt branch, said the bank aims to use the infrastructure to drive innovation and improve efficiency in how structured securities are issued and distributed.

Odaily Planet Daily reports that a Uniswap governance proposal aims to roll out the protocol fee collection-and-burn infrastructure on BNB Chain and Polygon, while also completing the previously unfinished fee activation on Celo that was left unexecuted due to configuration errors. Under the proposal, TokenJar would be designated as the V2 fee receiver on BNB Chain, Polygon and Celo, and V3OpenFeeAdapter would be set as the owner of the V3 Factory on those chains. On Celo, the feeToSetter role and ownership of the V4 PoolManager would be transferred to CrossChainAccount. The proposal says fees accrued on each chain would be consolidated into the relevant TokenJar, then UNI would be bridged back to Ethereum mainnet and sent to a burn address.

Santiment said U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded net outflows of about $1.26 billion over the past six trading sessions, a move the firm argues could be interpreted as a contrarian buying opportunity for Bitcoin. The crypto analytics platform said ETF flow data tends to track retail sentiment more closely than shifts in "smart money" positioning. Santiment pointed to signs that some retail investors grew impatient after Bitcoin failed to hold above $80,000 in May. BTC is now trading near $75,400, down from a mid-May high of roughly $79,000. According to Santiment, extended periods of ETF outflows have historically aligned more with windows for gradual, patient accumulation than with outright market panic. That stance differs from broader market thinking. Many analysts view consecutive withdrawals from spot Bitcoin ETFs as a sign of weakening sentiment and a setup for additional downside pressure. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that since launch, spot Bitcoin ETFs have taken in close to $60 billion in cumulative net inflows, largely offsetting the roughly $9 billion of outflows seen between October last year and February this year. He expects net inflows to reach new all-time highs as more ETF products come to market.

A Uniswap governance proposal calls for rolling out the protocol's fee collection and burn setup to BNB Chain and Polygon, while also finalizing fee activation on Celo after an earlier attempt was left incomplete due to a configuration error. Under the plan, TokenJar would be designated as the fee recipient for Uniswap V2 deployments on BNB Chain, Polygon, and Celo. For Uniswap V3 on those networks, V3OpenFeeAdapter would be set as the owner of the V3 Factory. On Celo, the proposal also includes moving the feeToSetter role and transferring ownership of the V4 PoolManager to CrossChainAccount. The proposal says fees collected on each network would be consolidated into the relevant TokenJar, then UNI would be bridged back to Ethereum mainnet and sent to a burn address.