Bernstein analysts said on Friday that Figure Technology Solutions’ May 11 first-quarter earnings report underscores how the company differs from balance sheet-based fintech lenders. The firm beat Wall Street expectations on revenue and EBITDA, and Bernstein argued FIGR could increasingly trade as a proxy for onchain loan volumes as its blockchain-native credit ecosystem scales.

Following the $292 million KelpDAO exploit on April 18, 2026, DeFi activity weakened across major protocols. DeFiLlama data indicates Aave's total value locked fell 44% over 30 days to about $14.77 billion, a roughly $11.605 billion reduction, while 31 of the top 50 protocols posted TVL declines in the same period.

On 17 May 2026, Token Terminal data showed tokenized stocks climbing to a $1.5B onchain market cap, roughly 40x year-over-year, spanning 2,649 assets across 10 chains and 11 issuers. Issuer share was heavily concentrated, with Ondo Finance at $963.3M (63.1%) and xStocks at $402.7M (26.4%), while the top three chains—Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain—collectively represented 97.8% of market cap.

A new Manhattan federal court filing seeks to force Tether to move 344,149,759 USDT (about $344 million) that was frozen on two Tron addresses designated by OFAC as tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Plaintiffs ask the Southern District of New York to order Tether to zero the blocked wallets and reissue the same USDT amount to a wallet controlled by their counsel, arguing the issuer’s freeze powers amount to effective control of the asset.

A16z crypto said on Friday that clearer US rules under the CLARITY Act could accelerate domestic innovation and create knock-on effects beyond the crypto industry. It cited the GENIUS Act passed in July 2025 as an example, arguing that balanced regulation can support adoption and consumer protection while benefiting the broader economy.

Grayscale said the CLARITY Act still faces multiple procedural hurdles after the Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill on May 15 by a 15-9 vote. The proposal must be merged with the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act and then reconciled with the House-passed version from last July. If Republicans stay united in the full Senate, passage would likely require at least seven Democratic votes.

In May 2026, the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) sector rose to $37.5 billion in total market capitalization, representing 100% year-on-year growth. The report highlights institutional participation across tokenized U.S. Treasuries and private credit, while projecting further expansion through 2033–2034 forecasts.

On May 14, 2026, the Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, moving the U.S. closer to a comprehensive crypto market-structure law. A16z Crypto's general counsel Miles Jennings said the bill would clarify SEC vs. CFTC oversight and build on the GENIUS Act's July 2025 stablecoin framework. The legislation next heads toward a full Senate vote, with further steps required in the House and a presidential signature to become law.