Solana logged record network usage in Q1 2026 even as SOL fell 33% to close around $83. Messari reported average daily non-vote transactions hit 112.6 million and application revenue stayed near-flat at $342.2 million. The quarter also saw RWAs rise 43% to $2.01 billion, while DeFi TVL dropped 22% to $6.16 billion alongside the token's price decline.

SpaceX said in an S-1 registration statement filed with the U.S. SEC that it holds 18,712 BTC, carried at a fair value of $1.293 billion as of March 31, 2026. The company disclosed an average purchase cost of around $35,324 per BTC, or roughly $661 million in total, implying an unrealized gain of nearly 119%. The filing comes ahead of SpaceX’s planned IPO and is presented as its first public breakdown of a Bitcoin treasury position.

After the May 17 exploit of the Verus-Ethereum bridge, the attacker returned $8.5 million to the Verus team while keeping $2.8 million as a white-hat bounty. The project had offered a 1,350 ETH reward if 4,052 ETH was sent back within 24 hours, alongside a pledge to halt investigations if the terms were met.

Kevin Warsh is expected to be sworn in as the 17th Federal Reserve Chair at the White House on Friday, May 22, a shift XWIN Research Japan says could show up first in Bitcoin's on-chain indicators. The firm highlights the Coinbase Premium and exchange netflows as early gauges of U.S. institutional demand and potential risk-off positioning, with BTC last trading just above $77,000 after dipping near $76,000 and stalling around $78,000.

WLFI saw a major profit-taking wave on May 18, when 1.8 billion tokens were sold at a profit, alongside record "age consumed" activity. The move followed Binance launching a USD1/BTC pair tied to WLFI's USD1 stablecoin, while WLFI later traded near $0.061 with a roughly $1.9 billion market cap.

Ethereum has shed more than half of its peak value over the past nine months, and an on-chain analyst says the usual dip buyers have not appeared. In a May 21 report, Easy On Chain said derivatives-led optimism is not being matched by spot demand, alongside declines in fund holdings and a persistently negative Coinbase Premium Index through May.

Hyperliquid's HYPE moved above $57 on Thursday, putting it within about 2% of its roughly $59 all-time high set in September 2025. The move followed a short squeeze that erased about $21 million in HYPE futures positions in 12 hours and pushed 24-hour liquidations to $30.6 million on the short side versus $1.08 million in longs. HYPE was up nearly 17% over 24 hours, more than 46% over seven days, and over 111% year over year at the time of writing.

Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said on May 18 that rising oil prices have been a key factor weighing on Ethereum, arguing the inverse ETH-oil correlation is at a record high. He made the comments as ETH traded near $2,100, down about 3% in 24 hours and 12% over the past month. Lee added that while the move may be near-term "noise," he still views tokenization and agentic AI as longer-term tailwinds into 2026.

A reported exploit on the Verus-Ethereum bridge drained $11.58 million from a cross-chain contract holding ETH, tBTC, and USDC. Security firms said the attacker converted the haul into about 5,402 ETH and moved the funds to another wallet, while VRSC showed limited immediate market reaction.