Across stablecoin adoption, exchange investment and AI infrastructure, this week shows how broadly crypto is expanding into mainstream finance and how quickly regulators are moving to keep pace.

🔎 Recent Updates & Developments

Across stablecoin adoption, exchange investment and AI infrastructure, this week showed how broadly crypto is expanding into mainstream finance and how quickly regulators are moving to keep pace.

– Samsung acquired 4% stake in Upbit operator Dunamu for $408M, deepening exposure to Korea’s crypto market

– Cash App rolled out native USDC support across Ethereum, Solana, Polygon and Arbitrum networks

– StablR lost $13.5M after an attacker gained control of its minting infrastructure and issued unbacked EURR and USDR tokens.

– Blockworks launched Transparency Alliance with Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple and Grayscale to standardize token disclosures

– Base launched MCP infrastructure connecting AI agents directly with onchain protocols and blockchain actions

– Hyperliquid launched CPI-based event markets settled through official government inflation data feeds

The prediction market sector keeps expanding. Limitless up 97% in fees. Polymarket US up 91%. Here's how the top 4 platforms performed in May 2026 — by fees, users, and market focus.

CTR trading starts today at 13:00 UTC, backed by $16.7M in funding. This board compares potential FDV scenarios using benchmarks from other Bitcoin Scaling projects like StarkNet, Zest, and Stacks.

What's New This Week:

BTC ETFs: -$1.25B

ETH ETFs: -$216M

Bitcoin ETFs accounted for the bulk of crypto ETF withdrawals this week, while Ethereum products also finished in negative territory. Combined outflows exceeded $1.4B across the recent period, marking one of the weakest stretches for major crypto ETFs in recent months. 

Despite pressure on BTC and ETH products, investors continued allocating capital to Solana, Hyperliquid, and XRP ETFs, which remained among the few funds posting positive net flows.

WorkOS introduced  auth md, an open protocol that standardizes how AI agents register for online services. The specification launches with support from Cloudflare and Firecrawl as early adopters. 

Instead of relying on browser automation, CAPTCHAs, or human-driven signup flows, applications can expose registration requirements, permissions, and authentication endpoints through a simple auth md file.

Two registration flows are supported: agent verified, where the agent’s identity provider vouches for the user with no human interaction, and user claimed, where the agent triggers an OTP the user confirms manually.

The protocol is open and not tied to WorkOS infrastructure. It builds on existing OAuth standards and can be implemented by any app or agent provider. WorkOS AuthKit integration is available via early access.

👉 x.com/grinich/status/2057902247892443354?s=20

Institutional activity picked up across several fronts this week: corporate Bitcoin accumulation, blockchain infrastructure acquisitions, and funding rounds targeting AI banking rails & onchain liquidity.

 🔎 Recent Updates & Developments

– SpaceX disclosed a $1.45B Bitcoin treasury in IPO filings, joining the largest corporate BTC holders

– Tether acquired SoftBank’s stake in Twenty One Capital, increasing control over 43,514 BTC

– Deloitte acquired Blocknative, adding gas prediction and mempool monitoring to its blockchain stack

– Blockchain.com confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, joining the wave of crypto companies going public

– Variational raised $50M from Dragonfly, Bain Capital to bring TradFi liquidity onchain

– Polymarket partnered with Nasdaq Private Market to launch prediction markets for SpaceX, OpenAI and other private firms

– Catena Labs raised $30M from a16z Crypto to build banking infrastructure for AI agents

Weekly snapshot (May 11–15):

- BTC ETFs: -$995M

- ETH ETFs: -$255M

After six consecutive weeks of inflows totaling around $3.4B, the streak finally snapped. This week brought a clear shift, with both BTC and ETH ETFs moving into net outflow territory.

Alt ETF flows:

- SOL ETFs: +$58.2M

- XRP ETFs: +$60.5M

While majors saw capital step back, SOL and XRP ETFs continued to attract steady inflows.

Treasury activity:

- Capital B added 192 BTC, about $15.0M, bringing total holdings to roughly 3,135 BTC, around $241M

- Strategy buys 24,869 BTC ($2.01B), total now 843,738 BTC (~$63,9B)

- Bitmine: TBA

On the corporate side, activity remains muted so far. No major additions, just selective accumulation.

Major capital continues to concentrate around core infrastructure, with large funding rounds, ETF expansion, and system-level upgrades, alongside stablecoin integration and moves into regulated markets.

🔎 Recent Updates & Developments

– Circle raised $222M for Arc at $3B valuation, backed by BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and 100+ institutions  

– Digital Asset seeks $300M at $2B valuation led by a16z to scale Canton Network for institutions  

– 21Shares launched Hyperliquid ETF on Nasdaq, providing direct HYPE exposure with physical backing and staking  

– Wells Fargo increased Ethereum ETF holdings by 63% to 1.1M shares, expanding crypto exposure  

– Elliptic raised $120M Series D backed by Nasdaq Ventures, Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan to scale compliance  

– LayerZero removed 1/1 DVN setups after exploit concerns, triggering ~$2B TVL migration to Chainlink  

– Coinbase became Hyperliquid’s USDC deployer, replacing USDH as native stablecoin infrastructure  

– OKX is in talks to acquire ~20% stake in Coinone, targeting regulated South Korean market access

Weekly snapshot:

• BTC ETFs: +$631.6M

• ETH ETFs: +$70.3M

ETF flows stayed constructive, continuing to channel institutional demand even as direct balance sheet expansion slowed.

Latest treasury moves:

• Strategy bought 535 BTC (~$43.0M)

Corporate accumulation outside Strategy remains subdued, with last week marking a breather after aggressive Q1 and April buying.

Structure remains unchanged: Strategy still dominates treasury activity, while ETFs provide a parallel route for capital deployment.

Total RWA market cap has surpassed $26.4B across 165 issuers, with a growth curve that went near-vertical heading into 2026. Zooming in, Syrup USDC's $305M DeFi TVL on just $1.50B market cap shows which assets are actually being put to work.