Coin360 Weekly Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | May 4 - May 10, 2025

Crypto Weekly Market Update

Table of Contents

Market Movements and Trends

• Crypto Weekly Recap

Top Market Developments

• Hilbert Group Launches SEK 20 Million Directed Share Issue to Boost Operations in Digital Asset Market
• Ethereum's Pectra Upgrade Boosts Staking Limits, Sparks Price Surge
• Coinbase’s $2.9 Billion Deribit Acquisition Expands Crypto Derivatives Market
• Tether.ai Integrates Blockchain and Payments in Decentralized AI Project
• Solana Fixes Major Token Vulnerability Amid Strong Q1 Performance

Institutional Moves and Strategic Investments

• Corporate Bitcoin Surge: Strategy, Semler, and Goldman Sachs Expand Holdings
• TradFi-Crypto Convergence: Maldives $8.8B Crypto Hub, Kyrgyzstan Stablecoin, Citi's $75B Tokenization

Crypto Governance and Legal Actions

• Ripple Settles SEC Case for $50M, Worldcoin Faces Indonesia Ban, Celsius Founder Sentenced
• Uniswap Governance Crisis: Key Delegate Resigns, Citing Power Centralization

Asset Launches and ETFs

• Crypto ETF Surge: Bitcoin Dominates Inflows, BlackRock Leads, VanEck Files for BNB ETF
• Doodles Launches DOOD Token on Solana, Airdrops 30% to NFT Holders

Crypto Weekly Recap

Bitcoin:

• Weekly performance: +6.86%
• US Spot BTC ETFs: +$599.59M
• Bitcoin climbed from a local low of $93,519 to $104,102 this week, lifting the total market cap above $3T.
• BTC spiked mid-week amid macroeconomic uncertainty, reaching $103,261 on May 8 after Trump's UK trade deal announcement.
• The Fed held rates steady on May 7 but acknowledged escalating risks.
• Trump announced an 80% tariff on May 9 as he went softer on China, easing trade war fears from weeks prior.
• Bitcoin outperformed major assets this week versus the S&P 500’s 0.08% and gold’s 2.69% rise.
• BTC ETFs drew $41.16B in total inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT attracting more capital this year than GLD.
• Corporate adoption intensified, driven by new payment initiatives and institutional-focused products.
• Analysts anticipated a short-term Bitcoin breakout to $110,000 amid ongoing macro risks; CryptoQuant’s CEO apologized for a prior incorrect bear market call.
• Standard Chartered raised its Bitcoin price target, suggesting the $120K goal for Q2 might be conservative.

Ethereum:

• Weekly performance: +30.10%
• US Spot ETH ETFs: -$55.76M
• ETH entered the weekly top gainer list for the first time in weeks, marking its largest weekly gain in four years.
• The May 7 Pectra Upgrade raised the validator stake limit, boosted institutional participation, and added account abstraction to improve dApp user experience.
• ETH hit a weekly high of $2,486 on May 9, with a 21.4% single-day surge on May 8.
• The rally also lifted ETH-beta assets like PEPE, UNI, and LDO, each gaining over 25%. Memecoins also reclaimed top positions as risk appetite came back.
• Ethereum continued its tech upgrade push, with Foundation granting $32.6M to advance blockchain innovation and community projects.
• Despite debates with the Solana community over their centralization concerns, Ethereum’s trajectory remained unaffected.

Altcoins:

• Orders and courts: Ripple agreed to a $50M settlement, while Worldcoin faced a biometric ban.
• SEC explored tokenization, and Trump’s Binance ties drew scrutiny in US crypto policy.
• KuCoin dismissed claims of a Bitcoin reserve plunge, citing misleading data.
• Trump’s $2B crypto deal with the UAE triggered ethical and political backlash.
• Jupiter introduced Boop.Fun, targeting Solana memecoins.
• Notcoin suggested tap-to-earn was 'probably dead' as Telegram games shifted focus.
• OKX planned to relaunch its DEX with anti-abuse measures after Lazarus misuse.
• Robinhood selected B2C2 and Wintermute as top crypto market makers.
• Strike announced BTC lending, aiming to boost the reemerging sector.
• Mog Coin surged as Elon Musk and Gary Tan endorsed the Mog/Acc philosophy.
• Unichain captured 75% of Uniswap v4 volume, surpassing Ethereum.
• Zerebro’s Jeffy Yu was allegedly found alive at his parents’ house after his staged death spiked $100M in memecoin trading.
• Lido proposed a dual governance upgrade to give stETH holders more decision-making power.

Hilbert Group Launches SEK 20 Million Directed Share Issue to Boost Operations in Digital Asset Market

Hilbert Group AB, the Swedish quantitative investment firm behind Coin360 and Syntetika, is initiating a directed share issue of SEK 20 million through a bookbuilding procedure from May 2 to May 5, 2025. This issuance of B-shares, approved by the Board under the 2024 AGM's authority, aims to enhance operational infrastructure and risk management amid a volatile crypto market. The funds will bolster its algorithmic trading capabilities. Targeted at qualified investors under EU regulations, the share issue underscores Hilbert's strategy to navigate market uncertainties while capturing emerging opportunities in digital assets.

Ethereum's Pectra Upgrade Boosts Staking Limits, Sparks Price Surge

Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, launched on May 7, 2025, is its most significant update since the 2022 Merge, enhancing staking limits from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH and streamlining wallet functionality. Key proposals EIP-3074 and EIP-7702 were introduced, optimizing transaction processing despite security concerns. Post-upgrade, ETH surged by 28.9% to $2,400, stabilizing at $2,339 by May 9. However, Ethereum's 30-day futures premium remains at 3%, with total fee revenue trailing behind competitors like Tron and Solana. Pectra's auto-compounding staking rewards and reduced slashing penalties aim to bolster long-term investor engagement in Ethereum's ecosystem.

Coinbase Announces $2.9 Billion Acquisition of Deribit, Expanding Crypto Derivatives Market Reach

Coinbase has announced a transformative $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, consisting of $700 million in cash and 11 million shares, expected to close by the end of 2025 pending regulatory approval. This acquisition bolsters Coinbase's position in the crypto derivatives market, where Deribit recorded a 95% surge in trading volume in 2024, reaching $1.185 trillion. Deribit controls a significant $30 billion in open interest, outperforming competitors like CME Group. Following the announcement, Coinbase shares rose 5.2% to $206.88. Coinbase also launched 24/7 trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum futures, a first for a CFTC-regulated U.S. derivatives exchange.

Tether Launches Tether.ai: Decentralized AI Runtime Integrates Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Payments

Tether has launched Tether.ai, a decentralized AI runtime aimed at integrating blockchain technology with artificial intelligence, enabling operation on billions of devices without centralized control. The platform uses a modular architecture called Personal Infinite Intelligence and supports cryptocurrency payments in USDT and Bitcoin through its WDK development kit. Tether.ai enhances security by reducing single points of failure and is part of Tether's strategic expansion alongside investments in peer-to-peer technologies. Additionally, Rumble plans to release a non-custodial Bitcoin wallet by Q3 2025 in collaboration with Tether, enabling direct creator monetization via peer-to-peer transactions, marking a significant industry move.

Solana Fixes Major Token Vulnerability, Addresses Decentralization Concerns Amid Strong Q1 Performance

Solana patched a critical vulnerability in its Token-2022 standard, which could have allowed the minting of unlimited fake tokens and unauthorized withdrawals. The flaw was linked to the ZK ElGamal Proof system and was swiftly addressed, with 70% of validators implementing the fix within 48 hours, aided by security firms. Despite no funds lost, the incident raised concerns about Solana's decentralization. This controversy emerged as Solana led Q1 2025 blockchain revenue, surpassing Ethereum and BNB Chain, while Bloomberg Intelligence assessed a 90% likelihood of Solana ETF approval, emphasizing the importance of security and user confidence.

Uniswap Governance Crisis: Key Delegate Resigns, Accusing Foundation of Power Centralization

Uniswap is facing a governance crisis following the resignation of influential delegate Pepo, who accused the Uniswap Foundation of consolidating power and prioritizing its agenda over community involvement. Holding 455,000 UNI tokens, Pepo's exit underscores concerns about decision-making centralization, particularly regarding a $165 million treasury grant that some view as a means of exerting influence. Uniswap's total value locked (TVL) has dropped to approximately $4.27 billion from nearly $10 billion in 2021-2022. Critics claim governance practices resemble traditional politics, raising questions about the effectiveness of decentralized governance in the DeFi landscape.

Crypto ETF Surge: Bitcoin Outpaces Miners, BlackRock Leads Inflows, VanEck Files for BNB ETF

The weekly recap highlights significant developments in the cryptocurrency ETF market. U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs bought 18,644 BTC, nearly six times the 3,150 BTC mined, indicating strong institutional demand as Bitcoin reached $97,700. BlackRock's Bitcoin Trust attracted over $6.9 billion in 2025, surpassing gold ETF inflows amid rising gold prices. VanEck aims to launch a Binance Coin ETF, while the SEC delays decisions on various crypto ETF applications. Additionally, Tidal Financial seeks to create long-short ETFs for Bitcoin and gold, reflecting diverging investment strategies amidst market volatility and changing institutional interests.

Key TradFi-Crypto Developments: Maldives $8.8B Crypto Hub, Kyrgyzstan Gold-Backed Stablecoin, and Citi's $75B Tokenization Plan

This week's updates highlight significant developments at the intersection of TradFi and cryptocurrency. The Maldives signed an $8.8 billion deal to create a crypto hub, aiming to double GDP amid economic risks. Kyrgyzstan introduced the gold-backed USDKG stablecoin to boost trade, while Bybit will launch stock and gold trading. The ECB selected COTI, QNT, HBAR, and KIMA for its Digital Euro project. Citi and SIX Digital Exchange plan to tokenize a $75 billion pre-IPO market by Q3 2025. Institutional interest in crypto grows, with Tower Research expanding operations and Sentora launching an institutional DeFi platform.

Corporate Bitcoin Surge: Strategy, Semler, and Goldman Sachs Expand Holdings

This week's financial landscape showcases a significant surge in corporate Bitcoin adoption. Strategy and Semler Scientific both increased their holdings, with Strategy adding 1,895 BTC to reach 555,450 BTC, while Semler acquired 165 BTC, totaling 3,467 BTC. Metaplanet plans to raise $21.25 million for Bitcoin purchases and aims to establish a US presence. Strive Asset Management, post-NASDAQ merger, intends to raise $1 billion for Bitcoin acquisitions. Goldman Sachs has grown its stake in the iShares Bitcoin Trust by 28%, now holding 30.8 million shares worth $1.4 billion, underscoring increased institutional confidence in Bitcoin.

Ripple Settles SEC Case for $50M; Worldcoin Banned in Indonesia; Celsius Founder Gets 12 Years for Fraud

This week saw significant developments in the cryptocurrency legal sector. Ripple agreed to a $50 million settlement with the SEC, facing criticism over regulatory clarity. Worldcoin's operations were suspended in Indonesia, and a Kenyan court ordered the deletion of biometric data within seven days. Alex Mashinsky, founder of Celsius, received a 12-year prison sentence for a $1.19 billion fraud. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the Karen National Army for cyber crimes involving cryptocurrency theft. Finally, India’s Supreme Court expressed concerns about unregulated Bitcoin trading, while German authorities shut down crypto exchange eXch, seizing $38 million in digital assets.