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Cuban stated, "Every time the dollar falls, Bitcoin should rise... but it just doesn't." He candidly expressed disappointment with Bitcoin but maintains a relatively positive attitude towards Ethereum, referring to most other cryptocurrencies as "garbage." Previously, Cuban had publicly stated that about 60% of his crypto asset portfolio is in Bitcoin, which he has held long-term without selling.

According to TASS, the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Russia plan to finalize the draft law for cryptocurrency market regulation next week and submit it to the State Duma for a second reading.Deputy Minister of Finance Ivan Chebeskov announced this news to reporters during the "Russian Digital Financial System: Digital Currency, Tokenization, and Artificial Intelligence" conference.

According to crypto community user @0x_Lucas on X, Bankless has recently allegedly laid off most of its team members and has not issued a public statement or acknowledgment to assist the laid-off employees in finding new opportunities. Previously, Bankless BD Director Jean-Paul Faraj confirmed his departure, and co-founder Ryan Sean Adams subsequently publicly sought employment on X.At the same time, Adams officially stated that the first phase of Bankless has ended, noting that this marks the conclusion of his six-year collaboration with David exploring crypto, DeFi, and Ethereum, and that they have now entered the second phase. Adams indicated that he will transition to a supportive role to continue providing assistance to Bankless.

Bankless founder David Hoffman posted on the X platform that he has completely sold all his ETH.Meanwhile, Bankless co-founder Ryan Sean Adams stated that he still has a positive outlook on ETH. In addition, he revealed that the first phase of Bankless—his six-year collaboration with David Hoffman—has officially ended.

According to crypto analyst Ai Yi @ai_9684xtpa, a whale address that has attracted attention for multiple high-win-rate swing trades of PEPE has transferred all of its remaining 63.9 billion PEPE to Bitget in the past 12 hours, valued at approximately $2.357 million, suspected to have completed liquidation.Data shows that the recharge price for this portion of PEPE was about $0.000003687, with an entry cost of about $0.00001683. If sold, it would incur a loss of approximately $8.4 million. Combined with the portion of the position that was transferred to exchanges two months ago, the total estimated loss has exceeded $17.12 million. Additionally, this address has also recharged other altcoins such as UNI and CAKE to the exchange, and it is currently uncertain whether it plans to fully liquidate or is simply changing addresses.

According to Jinshi reports, sources indicate that the European Central Bank may have an uncertain stance on July's policy. As the inflation outlook shifts towards a negative scenario, the possibility of the European Central Bank raising interest rates in June is very high.

According to the official announcement, Tether International announced the acquisition of all shares held by SoftBank in Twenty One Capital (XXI), becoming a larger controlling party. After the transaction is completed, the board members of XXI appointed by SoftBank have exited the board in accordance with the shareholder agreement.Tether stated that this move reflects its long-term strategic commitment and confidence in building a publicly listed company from scratch with Bitcoin at its core. The announcement pointed out that SoftBank's early involvement provided important institutional background and governance experience for XXI, helping the company complete its initial phase layout, and Tether will drive XXI into the next stage of development based on this foundation.

According to Fortune, Catena Labs, an AI financial infrastructure company founded by Circle co-founder Sean Neville, announced the completion of a $30,000,000 Series A funding round, co-led by Acrew Capital and Andreessen Horowitz's a16z crypto, with participation from Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, and QED.Catena Labs focuses on building "AI-native banking" infrastructure, aiming to enable AI Agents to securely perform financial operations such as payments, transfers, and fund management. The company also announced that it has applied for a national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to support payment processing and client fund custody.

According to The Block, Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, presented a vision for the digitization of the UK financial system at the 2026 London City Week conference, focusing on the integration of regulated stablecoins. A draft rule for systemic stablecoins is planned to be released next month, with the final version to be completed by the end of the year. Breeden pointed out that future retail payment systems should include various interchangeable forms of currency, including digital deposits and stablecoins.She stated that shared ledger technology is expected to reduce payment costs and accelerate processing speeds, minimizing intermediaries. In addition, smart contracts support customization, conditionality, and automation, further enhancing the efficiency of retail payments. Breeden emphasized that the Bank of England will actively support the responsible adoption of AI technology, including agent payments and commercial transactions.

According to the Financial Times, the Amsterdam company Qivalis has secured support from 37 European banks, including BNP Paribas, ING, and UniCredit, for its yet-to-be-launched euro stablecoin, making it the single euro stablecoin project with the most supporters in Europe.New supporters include ABN AMRO, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Rabobank. Qivalis has applied for a license from the Dutch central bank, aiming to receive approval in the second half of this year and plans to complete operational preparations upon receiving the license.

According to Jinshi reports, the governor of Indonesia's central bank stated that some central banks have begun to raise interest rates. He pointed out that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates this year and may even raise rates next year.

According to the Financial Times, Amsterdam-based Qivalis has secured support from 37 European banks for its yet-to-be-launched stablecoin, including BNP Paribas, ING Group, and UniCredit. The newly added 25 banks include ING Bank, Banco di San Paolo, and Rabobank.As executives and policymakers increasingly worry about the implications of the dollar's dominance in the crypto market, the support garnered by this single euro stablecoin project makes it the most supported stablecoin project in Europe. Qivalis has applied for a license from the Dutch central bank, hoping to obtain it in the second half of this year and aims to be operational when the license is issued.

According to a report by Shangguan News, on May 17, 2026, an elderly man in his 70s, Mr. Gong, from Shuxin Town, Chongming, Shanghai, was deceived by a scammer posing as an "investment mentor" on a short video platform. He was lured into investing in Bitcoin with the bait of "low investment, high returns" and attempted to withdraw 100,000 yuan in cash for transfer at different bank branches twice.After noticing the unusual behavior, the bank teller activated the anti-fraud warning mechanism and coordinated with the police to intervene and dissuade him. The police explained to the elderly man, using real cases, that virtual currency trading and speculation are explicitly prohibited in the country, and that so-called "Bitcoin investments" are all scams. They helped him delete the fraudulent software and block the scammer on WeChat on the spot. After two rounds of patient persuasion from the police and the bank, the elderly man ultimately recognized the scam and gave up the transfer.

According to Slow Fog's Yu Xian monitoring, multiple user wallets of Bankr have been stolen. @bankrbot replied that the incident was a social engineering attack targeting the trust layer between automated agents, specifically involving the interaction between Grok and Bankrbot, which led to unauthorized transaction signatures.

Mastercard has abandoned its investment plan for the cryptocurrency infrastructure company Zerohash, which had previously agreed in March to acquire the UK stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK for $1.8 billion. Mastercard had considered a strategic investment in Chicago-based Zerohash in January of this year. At that time, Zerohash was seeking to raise $250 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion, while the company is currently advancing a new funding round at a higher valuation. Founded in 2017, Zerohash primarily provides APIs and developer tools for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized products.Meanwhile, recent transactions involving Kraken's parent company Payward and Bullish indicate that consolidation in the digital asset infrastructure sector is ongoing. In terms of stablecoin payment arrangements, Mastercard has acquired BVNK for $1.8 billion and may pay an additional $300 million in performance-based compensation. BVNK currently serves payment and payroll platforms like Worldpay and Deel for cross-border payments, fund settlement, and financial management.Mastercard plans to integrate BVNK's technology into its Mastercard Move network to support 24/7 stablecoin settlement for payment institutions and merchant acquirers, and to explore adding stablecoin checkout functionality in payment gateways. Analysts believe that this transaction will further intensify the competition between Mastercard and Visa in the networked strategy of payment networks and accelerate the evolution of traditional cross-border clearing systems towards stablecoin settlement models.

According to Bits.media, the Central Bank of Russia aims to prohibit Russian citizens from trading on cryptocurrency exchanges that comply with international sanctions. Ekaterina Lozgacheva, head of the Central Bank's Strategic Development Department, stated that the Central Bank plans to ban Russians from trading on foreign cryptocurrency exchanges that adhere to international sanctions. Russians can only trade cryptocurrencies on foreign platforms through Russian brokers, provided that these foreign platforms do not comply with international sanctions.The country's central bank will establish its own standards for foreign platforms that Russian brokers and investors can use. Lozgacheva noted that even trading cryptocurrencies abroad through Russian intermediaries is subject to foreign regulation, posing additional risks. The annual purchase limit for non-professional investors is set at 300,000 rubles, and they can only access the most liquid cryptocurrency assets through domestic brokers. A test must be completed before trading, and qualified investors are not subject to the limit but must also undergo testing. Relevant restrictions will be included in the second reading version of the draft "Digital Currency and Digital Rights Law," with key provisions expected to take effect on July 1.

According to Cointelegraph, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden stated that tokenization can reduce settlement costs, speed up processes, and promote competition, provided that trust and interoperability are ensured. Breeden emphasized that even in the context of private sector innovations such as tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins, central bank money will remain the cornerstone of the monetary system. She mentioned that the Bank of England is working with industry, government, and regulators to build a framework that supports innovation without compromising financial stability.Breeden stated that, in addition to traditional bank deposits, people should also be able to make payments using tokenized deposits, regulated stablecoins, and retail central bank digital currencies, and that increased competition in technologies and business models will lower user costs and improve functionality. The Bank of England also proposed on Monday to extend the operating hours of its core settlement infrastructure to nearly 7x24 hours to support cross-border payments and securities settlement.

According to Bits.media, the Russian government's bill on cryptocurrency regulation will be revised during its second reading, aiming to grant the central bank the authority to set requirements for anti-money laundering verification services for cryptocurrency transactions. Alexey Yakovlev, head of the Financial Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance, stated that he hopes to authorize the central bank to impose requirements on AML services, enabling them to verify whether transactions comply with current Russian laws and regulations.A representative from the Ministry of Finance stated that the authorities plan to mandate AML services to consider an "external perspective," analyzing the performance of Russian cryptocurrency wallets in international services and the "image of the Russian system formed abroad." At the same time, such services must "maintain the confidentiality of Russian financial infrastructure," not disclosing their operational principles and internal process details to outsiders. AML services are platforms that help users verify the risks of cryptocurrency wallets concerning international sanctions, anti-money laundering, and counter-terrorism financing. Currently, the main regulatory body for such platforms in Russia is the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation.

According to The Block, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice jointly filed a lawsuit against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and related officials on Tuesday local time, because the state signed the SF 4760 bill, becoming the first in the nation to explicitly and comprehensively ban prediction markets, which will take effect on August 1, 2026.The CFTC argues that prediction markets fall under federally regulated derivatives and "swap" products, and that state governments do not have the authority to criminalize or prohibit them, requesting the court to issue a permanent injunction against the law.