Bithumb said it has terminated its partnership with Heleket, citing anti-money laundering and terrorism-financing risk concerns. The move comes as the South Korean exchange tries to strengthen compliance after regulators earlier dropped a 36.8 billion won ($24.6 million) penalty tied to transactions routed through unregistered foreign platforms.

Hyperliquid's HYPE token rose more than 20% over the past 24 hours to about $61.35, setting a new peak after topping near $58.50 last September and sliding to $21 at the start of 2026. U.S. spot Hyperliquid ETFs took in a record $25.5 million on Wednesday, lifting total inflows to roughly $54 million over their first seven trading days. Bitwise also said Monday it will use 10% of BHYP management fees to buy HYPE for its balance sheet and stake the tokens.

A CoinGecko report says leveraged crypto trading has been shifting toward perpetual DEXs, which increased their share of trading volume and open interest through 2025. The perp DEX-to-CEX volume ratio rose from 3% in January 2025 to a 13% peak later in 2025, then eased to about 10% by April 2026, while Hyperliquid recorded roughly $190.28bn in April volume.

SpaceX said a portion of its IPO shares would be sold directly through online brokerages including Robinhood, Fidelity and Charles Schwab, following a prospectus released Wednesday. The company is reportedly aiming to raise up to $75 billion in a June offering, while experts warn retail buyers may receive fewer shares than requested and the stock could be volatile after trading begins.

SpaceX filed an S-1 with the SEC for a Nasdaq IPO under ticker SPCX and disclosed 18,712 BTC worth about $1.45 billion, placing it among the world's top seven corporate Bitcoin holders. XRP traded in a tight $1.36–$1.37 band as Bollinger Bands compressed, while spot crypto ETFs saw -$1.1 billion in outflows and spot XRP ETFs reached $1.134 billion in total capital. Separately, Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus replied to a $20 trillion market-cap claim on May 21, 2026, calling the idea less boring but implicitly unrealistic.

GD Culture Group (GDC), a Nasdaq-listed penny stock that markets itself as a BTC treasury play and has been linked to Donald Trump's TRUMP memecoin, slid to a 52-week low below $0.10 after previously touting a non-binding $10.75-per-share going-private proposal. The shares briefly jumped to $8.18 on the proposal day, but later fell about 98% as questions emerged around the deal and the company's limited operating footprint. The company has disclosed 7,500 BTC tied to a related-party transaction and, by February 2026, authorized potential BTC sales to fund a $100 million share repurchase plan.

International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said on Thursday that oil markets could move into a "red zone" in July or August as global inventories keep declining while summer travel demand rises. He said the key remedy to the Iran war's energy shock is a full, unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, warning that continued closure without new Middle East supply could tighten markets further.

On Wednesday, spot bitcoin ETFs posted $70.47M in net outflows, marking a fourth straight session of redemptions led by BlackRock's IBIT at $61.45M. Ether ETFs also stayed negative, losing $28.14M for an eighth consecutive day, while XRP ETFs logged a small $1.45M inflow and Solana ETF flows were flat. Despite withdrawals, trading remained active with $1.36B traded in bitcoin ETFs and $350.41M in ether ETFs.