OVERVIEW

Crypto Bulls Hit Resistance, Recovery Underway 🐂

Before we dive in, here’s today’s crypto market heatmap:

Source: Santiment

And here’s a look at crypto’s total market and altcoin market cap charts:

Source: TradingView

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Bulls Hit Wall, Fall Down, Shakily Get Back Up, And Start Moving Again 😕

Weekends are full of shenanigans – and this past weekend was no different. Let’s take a look at what happened:

BTCUSD 15-min Chart – Click to enlarge.

• At 8 PM EST, Bitcoin hit $107,111 – just over $2k shy of the January 2025 all-time high of $109,312.

• From there, things got shaky. Between 8 PM EST and 2:30 AM EST, BTC dropped 4.6%, losing nearly $5k.

• After a brief bounce, Bitcoin spent the next few hours (3 AM EST to 8:30 AM EST) doing the sideways shuffle, sliding back close to the swing low around $102,150.

• Then, from 9 AM EST to 4 PM EST, bulls stepped in, recovering $3.6k (+3.5%) from the morning low and pushing BTC back to $105,808.

And as of 4:20 PM, that’s where we’re at. Bulls look like their still in control – but to be honest, bulls and bears have been smacked around hard over the past 48 hours.

Tomorrow should be interesting.

And speaking of interesting: Sunday’s close was the highest daily close for Bitcoin, ever. 🤯 

STOCKTWITS POLLS
Which Blockchain Has The Best Tech? ⛓️ 

We just put this up this afternoon, and already nearly 2k have voted!

Click here to vote!

Let Cryptowits know what you think! 🧠 

FUTURES
CME XRP Futures Started Trading Today ✖️ 

Remember when BTC and ETH getting listed on the CME with their own futures contracts was a big deal? Well, that hasn’t been the case with XRP. 😐️ 

Ripple’s big wig, Brad Garlinghouse is thrilled though:

The launch of regulated XRP Futures on @CMEGroup marks a key institutional milestone for XRP…and very excited to report that Hidden Road cleared the first block trade on CME at the opening!

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse)
2:46 PM • May 19, 2025

How’s the response? How is the trading activity? Well, no one seems to care. Take a look how little it’s being traded on the 15 minute candlestick chart:

XRP Futures 15-minute chart – Click to enlarge.

Not a whole hell of a lot of contracts are moving. In fact, it’s almost embarrassing. And the micro-futures contract doesn’t look much better.

But let’s see how the next few weeks go. 👀 

POLICY
The GENIUS Act: Stablecoins Finally Face the Senate (Again) ⏯️

The Senate’s giving the GENIUS Act giving it another shot. Politicians just love to name things, GENIUS stand for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act. 📜 

This is a bipartisan effort – yes, actual teamwork in D.C. – introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty and backed by folks like crypto-friendly Senator Cynthia Lummis. And yes, it’s a pretty big deal, with a goal of finally giving stablecoins some legit federal oversight.

What Does the GENIUS Act Actually Do? 🤔 

Glad you asked:

• Defines Stablecoins Clearly: Specifically, those “payment stablecoins” redeemable 1:1 with actual dollars.

• Keeps Stablecoins Boring (Stable): Issuers gotta hold high-quality reserves like U.S. dollars or Treasuries, no sketchy coins backed by random stuff.

• Protects Your Money (Hopefully): If an issuer goes belly-up, your stablecoin holdings get prioritized in bankruptcy. Also, issuers need to stick to strict anti-money laundering and KYC rules.

• Tech Giants Need Not Apply: Recent tweaks banned non-financial companies (sorry, Amazon, Meta, Google) from issuing stablecoins.

• Clarifies Stablecoins Aren’t Securities: Because, duh.

• Global Friendly-ish: Foreign-issued stablecoins can play in U.S. markets if they meet similar strict reserve requirements.

Why Today’s Vote Is Actually Interesting 🧠 

Earlier this month (May 8), the GENIUS Act flopped in the Senate with a close 49-48 vote, nowhere near the needed 60 votes. Democrats led by Senator Elizabeth Warren stalled it, citing (valid) concerns about consumer protections and potential corporate overreach. 💵 

Plus, there was a sprinkling of drama about the bill being too friendly to Trump-linked crypto projects.

Since then, Republicans made amendments:

• No more non-financial giants issuing stablecoins.

• Tightened consumer protections (AML, bankruptcy rights).

• Removed controversial Trump-connected language.

Now, Senators Mark Warner and Jack Reed are reportedly reconsidering support. But Senator Warren? Still a “hell no,” joined by Ruben Gallego and a posse of Democrats worried about enabling risky practices and weakening consumer safeguards. 🛡️ 

What Happens After the Vote?

• Passes? Heads to the House (where the GOP majority seems friendly). Could legitimize stablecoins, boost fintech innovation, and stick it to China’s digital yuan.

• Fails Again? This thing could get shelved indefinitely – stablecoin regulation remains stuck in limbo, giving other nations a competitive edge.

If you’re a policy nerd or crypto junkie wanting all the juicy details, knock yourself out by reading it here.

We’ll keep you updated as this story progress. 📖 

NEWS IN THREE SENTENCES
Crypto News 📰

🏦 Big U.S. Companies Are Filing Bankruptcy Like It’s the Hot New TikTok Trend

Turns out, America’s corporate giants are dropping faster than your portfolio during altseason. Adam Kobeissi pointed out that 246 big-name companies filed for bankruptcy this year, more than double the count from two years ago. Consumer sentiment also tanked to near-historic lows – like, less optimistic than during the ’08 – impressive, really. The Kobeissi Letter

💸 Tether is Buying U.S. Debt Like It’s Shopping at Costco – Surpassing Germany

Tether now holds a mind-boggling $120 billion in short-term U.S. Treasuries, which, for perspective, is even more than Germany. Last quarter, they made over $1 billion profit flipping T-bills and gold. CryptoNews.

🕶️ Rich Crypto Holders Suddenly Realize They’re Kidnapping Targets

Crypto millionaires are finally noticing that flashing your wealth publicly on the blockchain might not be the safest life choice, especially after someone tried kidnapping a French crypto exec’s family in broad daylight. Cold wallets alone won’t stop attackers, so companies like Circle and Robinhood are now spending millions annually on bodyguards. Bloomberg.

NEWS IN THREE SENTENCES
AI, Stablecoins, & Privacy News 🕵️ 

🔒 Celo Got Forta’s Fancy AI Firewall

Celo just integrated Forta, an AI-powered security tool that stops sketchy transactions before they even reach the blockchain – seriously, about time someone realized monitoring isn’t enough. Forta apparently screens every transaction at lightning speed, blocking shady moves and exploits with scary-good accuracy (or at least that’s what they claim). Celo.

🤖 The Graph Is Fueling Theoriq’s AI ‘Swarms’

Theoriq built these fancy AI agent-swarm things that automatically optimize DeFi liquidity using data streamed from The Graph’s Substreams. These bots react instantly (what they say), rebalancing liquidity and executing trades. Which sounds brilliant as long as we don’t have any  “oops, my robot just drained your liquidity pool” incidents. The Graph.

NEWS IN THREE SENTENCES
Real World Asset Tokenization (RWA) News 🪙 

💼 Centrifuge’s New deRWA Tokens Let You Gamble With Real-World Assets

Centrifuge introduced these new deRWA tokens that basically wrap institutional-grade securities and let them play nicely in DeFi-land. Honestly, it’s kinda clever: imagine Wall Street suits dipping their toes into crypto without feeling too risky (adorable, right?). They promise easier borrowing, lending, and yield structuring. Centrifuge.

🎬 Hollywood’s Franchise Model is Broken, So They’re Adding More AI – That’ll Fix It

Hollywood’s IP franchises are basically exhausted, right? Star Wars Episode 97, anyone? Now David Goyer (that guy behind The Dark Knight) teamed up with Incention and Story to build a whole new IP universe, Emergence, where fans and AI co-create stories together. They promise blockchain-powered rights and shared revenue, which sounds great the robots start writing sequels even worse than The Rise of Skywalker. Story Protocol.

NEWS IN THREE SENTENCES
DeFi, DEX, & Lending Protocol News 🏦

🃏 BITE Protocol Thinks It Solved MEV

SKALE’s Stan Kladko just launched BITE Protocol, claiming he’s solved Ethereum’s MEV problem – you know, that super annoying thing where bots basically front-run your transactions. Basically, BITE encrypts transactions before they’re finalized, leaving the bots totally blind, which sounds awesome, assuming they didn’t overlook some weird exploit waiting to happen. SKALE Network.

🤝 0x Bought Flood.bid to Make Trading Slightly Less Terrible, Probably.

You don’t really hear a lot of news about DEX aggregators making big acquisitions, but one of crypto’s OG aggregators just did. 0x just acquired Flood.bid – yeah, I’d never heard of them eithe – but they’re really good at making decentralized trades suck less. The Flood team, flush with VC money and fancy tech, will now boost 0x’s routing capabilities, promising better prices and faster execution. 0x.

OLD NEWS
Last Years News, Today 👴

From the May 17, 2024 Litepaper

• Chainlink’s Tokenization Success:

  • DTCC and major financial institutions completed the “Smart NAV” pilot using Chainlink’s CCIP for tokenizing fund data.

  • LINK surged over 11.89%, hitting highs near $16.72, its strongest level since April.

• Cardano Preps Ouroboros Genesis Upgrade:

  • Charles Hoskinson teased Cardano’s major upcoming blockchain upgrade, “Ouroboros Genesis,” launching Q3 2024.

  • Enhancements include Ledger Peers, Lightweight Checkpointing, and stronger protections against network attacks and downtime.

• CME Group Eyes Bitcoin Spot Trading:

  • CME Group considering launching regulated Bitcoin spot trading via its EBS platform in Switzerland.

  • The news sent Coinbase shares tumbling -9.3%; Binance and Coinbase could face tougher competition.

• Quick Crypto News Hits:

  • Solayer’s restaking reached $20M in 45 mins on Solana.

  • Cosmos assed liquidity-enhancing Proposal #912.

  • Web3 still battling clunky onboarding and security issues.

  • SEC’s anti-crypto bill (SAB 121) rejected by U.S. Senate; Ripple celebrates.

  • GameStop stock plunges 20% on weak Q1 and share sale plans.

LINKS
Links That Don’t Suck 🔗

📺️ YouTube axes Roxom TV, sparking fresh fears of Bitcoin content crackdown

🛑 SEC delays decision on 21Shares and Bitwise Solana ETFs, opens public comment period

🔌 RTX: Raytheon lands $580M Navy contract to enhance electronic warfare

🤖 This soft robot needs only physics and air to spontaneously sync and scoot at top speeds

🕹️ Here’s how US tariffs have affected PC gaming hardware, from paused shipments to new investments

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