Weekly Rollup - May 19, 2026

Market highlights

• The CLARITY Act passed final markup and is expected to go to the Senate floor for final vote.
• Lombard Finance migrating over US$1 billion in BTC-backed assets from LayerZero.
• Strategy plans to retire US$1.5 billion in convertible debt before 2029 maturity date.
• JPMorgan filed to launch JLTXX, a tokenised money market fund built on Ethereum.
• Bank of England reconsidering proposed stablecoin restrictions after industry criticism.
• President Trump’s latest ethics filings revealed trades in crypto-linked stocks.

Macro market overview

Risk assets wiped out their gains from earlier in the week as inflation concerns, higher oil prices, and the bond sell-off and subsequent rising Treasury yields sparked risk-off sentiment. The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) for the year ending April 30, 2026 came in at 3.8%, slightly higher than the 3.7% forecast. The hot CPI reading, coupled with the U.S. producer price index for April coming in at 1.4%, versus a forecast 0.5%, also has market participants concerned that rates will remain on hold for longer.

Commentary from President Trump and Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, added to risk-off sentiment, with concerns rising that the ceasefire between the nations may not hold. The price of oil rose by 3.4%, now around US$103 per barrel. Bond yields also gained on the increased uncertainty this week, with the ten-year yield now around 4.6% and the two-year yield just over 4%. Notably, the thirty-year yield gained to over 5.1% this week—levels not seen since their 2023 peak. Some analysts say if long-dated treasuries hold around these levels, it could could place pressure on current conditions across TradFi risk assets.

In other news, Kevin Warsh was confirmed to be the next U.S. Federal Reserve chair. CME’s Fed Watch tool puts the likelihood of rates staying on hold at the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) June 17 meeting at 99.1%. This week, market participants will monitor the FOMC’s April meeting minutes, developments in the Middle East, Flash manufacturing and services purchasing manager index (PMI) updates from around the world, and earnings from major U.S. retailers, including Walmart and Target.

Weekly performance: S&P 500 +0.1%, Dow Jones -0.2%, Nasdaq -0.1%.

Looking ahead:

• U.S. FOMC April meeting minutes - Wednesday, May 20
• U.K., Germany, France and U.S. Flash manufacturing and services PMI - Thursday, May 21

Crypto Market Performance

Market Cap: $2.57T (-1.56%)

All crypto sectors declined this week due to risk-off sentiment over U.S. inflation, rising treasury yields, and uncertainty over U.S.-Iran tensions. Even the CLARITY Act passing the Senate Banking Committee’s markup vote wasn’t enough to buoy prices, suggesting that global macro remained a key driver of crypto market sentiment. Liquidations reached US$672 million heading into the new week. The crypto fear and greed index declined by 11 points to “fear” at 39.

Bitcoin (BTC)

• Opened the week at US$82,199 and declined throughout the week to a low of US$76,673 on Sunday, May 17 due to concerns over inflation, U.S.-Iran tensions and rising treasury yields. Bitcoin's decline continued into the new week, and it's now trading around US$77,100 (-5.6%).
• BTC dominance ranged between 60.6% and 60.9% this week.
• Bitcoin investment products saw outflows of US$981.5 million.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly backed "Hormuz Safe," a bitcoin-settled maritime insurance platform for ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Iran claims the initiative could generate US$10 billion annually, though analysts warn sanctions risks, traceability and limited insurer support may hinder adoption.

Lombard Finance, announced it will migrate more than US$1 billion in bitcoin-backed assets from LayerZero to Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability platform (CCIP) following the US$292 million Kelp DAO exploit. The bitcoin DeFi protocol cited stronger security assurances after an internal review, joining other firms abandoning LayerZero over cross-chain infrastructure risks.

Strive Asset Management launched a preferred stock designed to pay daily dividend payments backed partly by bitcoin-linked strategies. The firm said the product aims to appeal to income-focused investors while expanding exposure to digital assets.

Japanese Bitcoin investment firm Metaplanet reported a US$725 million quarterly loss after bitcoin's price decline triggered large non-cash valuation losses on its holdings. The company also delayed planned preferred share offerings designed to help fund further BTC purchases, citing challenges in adapting the products to Japan's market structure.

In bitcoin buying (and selling) news:

• Strategy bought 24,869 bitcoin (US$2 billion), bringing its holdings to 843,738 BTC, at an average purchase price of US$75,700 per bitcoin. The company's total BTC holdings are worth US$65 billion. The company plans to retire US$1.5 billion in convertible debt, originally due in 2029, for almost US$1.4 billion. In its filing, selling bitcoin is listed as an option to fund the repurchase of the debt.
• MARA sold 20,880 bitcoin (US$1.5 billion) in Q1 to reduce debt and fund the company's pivot into AI infrastructure. The company reported an almost US$1.3 billion Q1 loss.
• Exodus sold 1,076 bitcoin (US$87 million) throughout Q1 to fund acquisitions, repay debt and expand its payments business.
• Nakamoto sold 284 bitcoin (US$22 million) throughout Q1 as the company reported a net loss of US$239 million for the quarter.
• The Kingdom of Bhutan moved 100 bitcoin (US$8.1 million) out of holding wallets this week, though it hasn't yet sold any of the BTC in this transaction.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Ethereum (ETH)

• Opened the week at US$2,370 and declined on risk-off sentiment to a weekly low of US$2,078 on Sunday, May 16. Ethereum is now trading around US$2,140 (-8.5% 7D).
• Ethereum dominance ranged between 10% and 10.6% this week.
• Ethereum-focused funds saw outflows of US$249.3 million.

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee said rising oil prices are weighing on Ethereum, pointing to a record inverse correlation between ETH and crude oil. Despite Ethereum erasing its May gains, Lee remains bullish long term, arguing the weakness reflects temporary liquidity pressures rather than deteriorating fundamentals for the network.

In Ethereum buying news:

• BitMine bought 71,672 ETH (US$157 million), bringing its total holdings to almost 5.3 million ETH, worth US$12.6 billion and equating to 4.3% of supply.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Altcoins

The altcoin season index is currently 34, which is bitcoin season.

TEL me a story

• Telcoin gained 30.8%. The fintech network that bridges telecommunications and DeFi, presumably saw upward momentum on the CLARITY Act passing the Senate Banking Committee’s markup vote. Telcoin has promoted its banking charter as part of its plan to become a digital asset bank in the U.S.

HYPEd up

• Hyperliquid gained 13.2% despite claims from CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange that its oil-linked perpetual futures markets pose manipulation risks. The decentralised exchange argued its fully transparent on-chain trading system deters misconduct. Concerns emerged as oil trading volumes surged amid Middle East tensions, with Hyperliquid processing over US$21.5 billion in Brent crude futures volume.

Chainlink x DTCC

• Chainlink declined by 9.4%. The declines came despite Wall Street clearing giant DTCC announcing it will integrate Chainlink technology into its blockchain-based Collateral AppChain to enable near real-time, 24/7 collateral management across global markets. Prediction Market, Myriad, also announced this week that it has fully adopted Chainlink to power its crypto prediction markets.

Decentralised downturns

• Internet Computer declined by 22.8%. The layer-1 chain designed to be a decentralised “world computer” sold off as the wider crypto market declined with Coinbase also removing six non-USD trading pairs, including ICP/USDT and ICP/GBP.
• Aerodrome finance declined by 21.8%. The decentralised exchange and central liquidity hub for the Base chain saw selling pressure due to risk-off sentiment.
• Jupiter declined by 18.9%. The DeFi super-app and primary liquidity aggregator for the Solana network presumably saw losses due to broader risk-off sentiment. This week, the network announced the launch of an Ethena-focused lending market.

Crypto ETF News

Digital asset investment products saw outflows of US$1 billion on risk-off sentiment driven by U.S.-Iran tensions, inflation fears, and rising oil prices and treasury yields. It's the first week of outflows in seven weeks.

Altcoins bucked the trend, with XRP and Solana seeing inflows of US$67.6 million and US$55.1 million, respectively.

JPMorgan filed to launch JLTXX, a tokenised money market fund built on Ethereum. The fund will invest in U.S. Treasuries and Treasury-backed repurchase agreements, with blockchain infrastructure managed by Kinexys Digital Assets. JPMorgan said the product is designed to support stablecoin reserve requirements under the GENIUS Act.

Other crypto news

• The U.S. Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act despite divisions among Democrats. The bill is expected to proceed to the Senate floor for a final vote, presumably before the July 4 deadline that the White House imposed last week. The bill will need support from at least seven Democrats to pass the floor vote.
• Charles Schwab has begun rolling out direct bitcoin and Ethereum trading to eligible U.S. retail clients through its new Schwab Crypto platform. The brokerage giant said users can trade crypto alongside traditional investments.
• President Trump's latest ethics filings revealed trades in crypto-linked stocks including Coinbase, Robinhood, Mara Holdings and Cleanspark. Filings showed some Coinbase and Robinhood purchases exceeded $100,000. A Trump Organisation spokesperson said the investments were managed independently through discretionary third-party accounts without family involvement in trading decisions.
• The Bank of England is reconsidering proposed stablecoin restrictions after industry criticism that the rules were too conservative and could hurt the UK’s competitiveness. Regulators are reviewing reserve requirements and holding caps, while signalling support for a framework that addresses stability and innovation in digital assets and tokenised finance.
• The Bank of England and the UK Financial Conduct Authority released a joint “shared vision” for tokenisation in wholesale financial markets, aiming to provide clearer rules around tokenised collateral, settlement assets and prudential treatment. The regulators also outlined plans for expanded real-time settlement infrastructure and near-24/7 payment operations as tokenisation develops in wholesale markets.