Disclosure: The author of this story owns shares in Strategy (MSTR).
Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin BTC$81,241.52, announced Monday on X the purchase of 535 bitcoin for roughly $43 million at an average price of about $80,340 per coin
The purchases bring the company’s total holdings to 818,869 BTC, acquired for $61.86 billion at an average cost basis of $75,540. With bitcoin currently trading above $81,000, Strategy’s stash is currently in profit.
Last week’s purchases were funded by $42.9 million raised through sales of the company’s preferred stock, according to a May 11 SEC filing.
This purchase follows Strategy’s first-quarter earnings call, where the company said it was prepared to sell bitcoin to repay convertible debt or fund dividend obligations, provided the move remains accretive on a bitcoin-per-share basis.
MSTR shares rose more than 1% in pre-market trading.
Crypto.com has received a Stored Value Facilities license from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, allowing residents to pay Dubai government fees using cryptocurrencies via its platform, the company said Monday.
The company says the license allows users to fund payments in digital assets while settlements are made in UAE dirhams or in dirham-backed stablecoins approved by the central bank under the SVF framework.
The approval allows Crypto.com to activate its partnership with Dubai’s Department of Finance, giving the exchange access to provide digital asset payment services for government fees through its platform under Dubai’s cashless payments strategy.
The company said the license could also support future payment integrations with Emirates Airlines and Dubai Duty Free, though those services remain subject to further approvals from the UAE central bank.
The SVF authorization applies to its local Dubai entity, Foris DAX Middle East FZE, which trades as Crypto.com. Subject to further sign-offs from the central bank, the company said the license will also allow it to start crypto-funded payment integrations with Emirates Airlines and Dubai Duty Free, extending the same digital asset-to-dirham settlement model into commercial payments.
Cointelegraph reached out to Crypto.com and the Central Bank of the UAE for comment, but had not received a response by publication.
Related: Crypto.com gets into prediction markets through High Roller tie-up
Crypto.com expands UAE regulatory and payments push
The new authorization adds another layer to Crypto.com’s regulatory footprint in the UAE, where it already holds a Virtual Asset Service Provider license from VARA and promotes its platform as an institutional-grade, compliance-focused venue for digital assets.
Outside the UAE, the company has been building a similar regulated profile, including securing licensing to operate under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regime and obtaining conditional approval from the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter that would allow it to act as a qualified digital asset custodian.
At the same time, Crypto.com is expanding into event-based derivatives and prediction markets through a regulated US affiliate, part of a broader strategy to combine tighter regulatory oversight with a growing range of trading and payments products around cryptocurrencies.
Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs — Mid-2026
This is an excerpt from CoinDesk newsletter ‘Daybook.’Sign up here, if you haven’t already.
Institutional demand for crypto is real, and suggests there may be a sustained bitcoin BTC$81,002.49 price move above its pivotal 200-day simple moving average (SMA).
Investors poured $858 million into crypto funds issued by asset managers like BlackRock and 21Shares last week, extending a five-week inflow streak and marking the strongest weekly total since late April, according to CoinShares.
More importantly, bitcoin funds alone pulled in over $700 million, taking year-to-date flows to $4.9 billion. Talk about the demand for the leading cryptocurrency. The catalyst? Improving sentiment around the Clarity Act, according to CoinShares’ head of research, James Butterfill.
Bitcoin recently traded at $81,000, having narrowly missed the 200-day SMA positioned above $82,000 late Sunday. That’s the second such near miss since last week. Prices remain above $80,000, indicating that bulls are simply taking a breather, not retreating.
Analysts say the next big leg higher could unfold once prices top $82,000, effectively rising above the 200-day SMA, which is largely seen as a barometer of long-term trends.
“The clean next step is a daily close above $82,000 with steady spot demand. Without that, it can chop between $79,000 and $82,000 while macro sets the tone,” analysts at Marex said.
On the downside, immediate support is seen around $80,400, and the broader demand zone remains between $78,200 and $78,600., according to Vikram Subburaj, CEO of India-based Giottus.com, said in an email.
In the broader market, Sui blockchain’s SUI has surged 12% to $1.26 in 24 hours. The rally comes as developers behind the blockchain look to foray into privacy. Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder and chief product officer of Mysten Labs, the development team behind Sui, posted on X that confidential transactions on Sui will be introduced this year, enabling fee-free privacy-preserving payments at scale.
Last week, Nasdaq-listed Sui Group Holdings (SUIG) said that it had staked most of the $108.7 million worth of SUI tokens in its treasury, removing roughly 2.7% of supply from the active market. That likely greased the bullish momentum.
The other major gainer is XDC Network’s XDC token, which climbed over 10%. Several other tokens, such as KAS, HASH and ATOM , have gained 5% or more in 24 hours.
In traditional markets, U.S. Treasury yields rose as dimming hopes of U.S.-Iran peace deal kept oil prices elevated. Stay alert!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
What’s trending
Today’s signal
ETH’s daily chart. (TradingView)
The chart shows ether’s (ETH) daily price swings in candlestick format since late 2025. Overlaid are Bollinger Bands, which are volatility bands placed two standard deviations around the 20-day moving average of the price.
The gap between upper and lower bands is currently the narrowest since late 2023. In other words, at their tightest in 2.5 years, signaling an extended period of compressed volatility.
Such tightening typically reflects a market in equilibrium, with both buyers and sellers unwilling to lead the price action. Such low-volatility phases tend not to persist for long, often resolving into sharper directional moves once bulls or bears reassert dominance.
In short: Watch out for a large directional move ahead.
Disclosure: The author of this story owns shares in Strategy (MSTR).
When executive chairman Michael Saylor confirmed on Strategy’s (MSTR) Q1 2026 earnings call on May 6 that the company was prepared to sell bitcoin, it appeared to mark a shift for the world’s largest publicly traded corporate holder of the cryptocurrency. But the move would not be unprecedented. In December 2022, Strategy sold bitcoin for tax-loss harvesting purposes — the same rationale the company now appears to be signaling to the market once again.
On Dec. 22, 2022, Strategy sold 704 bitcoin for approximately $11.8 million at $16,776 per coin, but immediately repurchased 810 bitcoin two days later. The sale was designed to carry back capital losses against previous gains and generate a tax benefit. A tax loss harvesting event.
“MicroStrategy plans to carry back the capital losses resulting from this transaction against previous capital gains, to the extent such carrybacks are available under the federal income tax laws currently in effect, which may generate a tax benefit”.
Bitcoin fell 23% in Q1 2026, from $87,500 to $67,700. Under FASB fair value accounting rules adopted Jan 1, 2025, Strategy marks its entire bitcoin holdings to market every quarter, in Q1 posted a $12.54 billion loss which pushed unrealized losses directly through the income statement and generating a $2.2 billion deferred tax asset across its higher cost basis holdings.
According to the MSTR earnings call, assuming an $80,000 bitcoin price, Strategy has purchased over 434,000 BTC above $80,000 generating a $7.6 billion unrealized loss and a $2.2 billion deferred tax asset at a 29% tax rate.
BTC Holdings by Cost Basis Tier (Strategy)
If bitcoin recovers and Strategy sells appreciated bitcoins, that $2.2 billion tax can offsets future gains.
The primary goal for the company is to increase “bitcoin per share” which is the ratio of Strategy’s total bitcoin holdings divided by its total diluted shares outstanding.
The use of proceeds from the bitcoin sale is to retire the $8.2 billion in convertible debt, purchase MSTR common stock when the multiple to net asset value falls below 1.22x or fund $1.5 billion in annual dividend obligations from its perpetual preferred stock Stretch (STRC).
MSTR is up 1% in pre-market trading, while bitcoin trades above $81,000.
Three of DeFi’s relatively young applications, including Hyperliquid, EdgeX and Pump.fun, have distributed a combined $96.3 million to token holders over the past 30 days, as the sector’s focus shifts to actual earnings.
Hyperliquid led the pack, generating $50.95 million in revenue over the period, all of which went directly to token holders with zero spent on incentives, according to data from DefiLlama. Pump.fun came in second with $22.09 million returned to holders out of $38.81 million in total revenue. EdgeX followed with $23.26 million distributed to holders from $8.26 million in protocol revenue, suggesting that the platform is drawing on reserves or alternative income streams to reward holders.
On an annualized basis, Hyperliquid has generated $945.87 million in revenue over the past year, all returned to holders, while Pump.fun sits at $481.15 million and EdgeX at $236.42 million.
Among other major protocols, Chainlink returned $4.63 million to holders, Aerodrome $3.53 million and Uniswap $3.29 million across 44 chains. PancakeSwap generated $3.94 million in revenue but returned $2.48 million to holders while spending $905,260 on incentives.
Related: DeFi can freeze stolen funds, but not everyone agrees it should
Crypto community now focuses on revenue
The data comes as revenue is becoming the metric that matters most in crypto, with token holders pushing protocols to justify their valuations through actual earnings rather than transaction volumes or network growth figures.
“Nobody cares that your chain does 10x the TPS anymore,” wrote Robbie Klages, co-founder of The Rollup, referring to a blockchain’s measure of transactions per second. “The market is ‘show me the money right now.’ Treat it like a business not a network growth thesis,” he added.
Top DeFi protocols by Holders Revenue. Source: DefiLlama
Another X user wrote that the shift from narrative to earnings is “permanent now,” warning that protocols unable to show real revenue will be valued like pre-revenue startups in a rate hike environment, a reference to the kind of sharp devaluations that hit speculative assets when capital gets expensive.
Related: Aave-Linked DeFi United Details rsETH Recovery Plan
DeFi is becoming backend for onchain economy
Andre Cronje, founder of the popular DeFi protocol Yearn.Finance, said that DeFi in 2026 looks less like a speculative playground and more like functioning financial infrastructure. He noted that stablecoins have grown into a $320 billion market led by Tether and Circle, decentralized exchanges are processing over $160 billion in monthly spot volume and perpetual DEXs are handling $540 billion monthly.
Cronje added that lending protocols, including Aave, Morpho and Maple Finance, are sitting on $28 billion in active loans, while real-world assets are increasingly being used as onchain collateral. “DeFi is no longer just competing for APY. It is becoming the backend for the onchain economy,” he wrote on X.
Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs — Mid-2026
Digital Asset Holdings, the company behind the Canton Network blockchain used by several major banks and trading firms, is seeking $300 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto at a roughly $2 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg.
The funding round is expected to close in the next few weeks, and the amount raised could vary, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The sources said investment banking company FT Partners is consulting Digital Asset on the funding round.
Digital Asset Holding, Canton Network and a16z crypto did not respond to a CoinDesk request for comment and confirmation.
The Canton Network is a privacy-enabled blockchain infrastructure whose purpose is to connect financial institutions and their tokenized assets across interoperable, permissioned applications.
In February, it revealed that a group of global financial firms completed the first cross-border, intraday repurchase agreement using tokenized British government bonds on its blockchain. The transaction was the first time digital versions of gilts, a $2 trillion market, had been used in an intraday repo across borders.
Digital Asset received backing estimated at about $50 million in late 2025 from investors, including Bank of New York Mellon and Nasdaq. Existing backers also include DRW and Citadel Securities.
For Andreessen Horowitz, participation in this fundraising round could be its first since raising $2.2 billion a week ago for its latest crypto fund, taking its total capital dedicated to the sector to just shy of $10 billion across five funds.
Most of us have been there: You see a headline about a big class action lawsuit against a bank, phone company, or everyday product you’ve used… and you think, “I wonder if I’m owed something?”
Then life happens. You forget. The deadline passes. Or you start the form, get stuck on page 3, and close the tab.
Here’s the shocking truth: Every year, billions of dollars in settlement money sit unclaimed. It’s money that’s legally yours from products and services you’ve already paid for, but the system is built to make claiming it feel impossible.
If you’re tired of missing out, you’re not alone. And there’s now a simpler way.
Why Class Action Settlements Are So Hard to Claim (Even When You Qualify)
The process wasn’t designed with real people in mind. Here’s exactly why most eligible people never see a dime:
No central place to look: Every settlement has its own administrator, website, and rules.
Deadlines sneak up fast: Miss the window by even a day, and the money is gone forever.
Forms are confusing and repetitive: Same info over and over, plus proof of purchase that you may not have kept.
Different portals, different logins: It feels like a full-time job just to chase one claim.
Most people give up: Even when they know they qualify, the effort just isn’t worth it.
Result? Billions of dollars that should be in people’s pockets stay with the settlement administrators instead.
Meet MoneyPilot: The Platform That Does the Hard Work for You
Launched in December 2025, MoneyPilot was created to fix this exact problem.
Instead of leaving you to hunt down claims and fill out endless forms, MoneyPilot finds active class action settlements you’re eligible for, files the claims on your behalf, and tracks everything until the money hits your account.
As the team puts it, “We handle the paperwork. Users just collect.”
No more searching random websites. No more guessing if you qualify. No more half-filled forms abandoned at 11 p.m.
How MoneyPilot Makes Claiming Money Actually Easy
Here’s what the end-to-end process looks like:
Automatic discovery: The platform scans live settlements and instantly matches them to your purchases and usage history.
Smart eligibility check: It determines whether you qualify in seconds, and no manual searching or paperwork is required.
Deadline tracking: MoneyPilot automatically monitors all critical claim deadlines so you never lose track.
Smart notifications: It sends timely alerts and reminders, ensuring you never miss a claim window.
One-click filing: It submits the claim for you across any administrator’s system with a single tap.
Real-time tracking: Get clear updates in one clean dashboard instead of chasing 17 different emails.
Zero ongoing effort: Once you connect your information, everything runs on full autopilot.
The messy, fragmented world of settlement administrators stays behind the scenes. You just get the simple, human-friendly experience.
Real Results Already Happening
Since launch, MoneyPilot has already:
Processed and submitted hundreds of verified claims across multiple live settlements
Filed 617 claims in a single high-profile case alone
Started building direct relationships with settlement administrators to speed up payouts and expand coverage
This isn’t just discovery, it’s execution. Most other tools stop at “here’s a list of settlements.” MoneyPilot makes sure the claims actually get filed.
The Bottom Line: Your Money Shouldn’t Require a Side Hustle to Claim
Class action settlements were supposed to compensate consumers. Instead, the system quietly relies on people being too busy, confused, or overwhelmed to collect.
MoneyPilot flips that script.
It turns “I probably qualify but can’t be bothered” into “I just got another payout notification.”
If you’re ready to stop leaving money on the table, the easiest move you can make is letting MoneyPilot do the work for you.
Because the biggest opportunities aren’t always the flashy new things.
Sometimes they’re the quiet billions that were always meant to be yours; you just needed someone to make claiming them effortless.
Crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital said seven Democratic lawmakers on the US Senate Banking Committee could be key to advancing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act when it goes to markup on Thursday, sending it to the Senate for a vote.
In an X post on Sunday, Galaxy Digital labeled Democratic lawmakers Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks as “constructive/pro-framework” when it comes to crypto. Four other lawmakers are seen as “deal-makers,” while one lawmaker is seen as “mixed.”
“If Democrats vote for the bill in markup, likelihood of ultimate passage on the Senate floor increases significantly,” Galaxy Digital said.
Passing the CLARITY Act through the Senate and into law would create clearer federal rules for the US crypto industry, potentially reducing years of regulatory uncertainty and encouraging more projects to build in the country.
Galaxy Digital speculates that seven Democrats on the US Senate Banking Committee could be swayed to approve the CLARITY Act. Source: Galaxy Digital
Galaxy listed Mark Warner, Catherine Cortez Masto, Andy Kim and Raphael Warnock as “deal-maker/conditional,” saying they have shown support for a crypto framework and voted to pass the GENIUS Act.
Galaxy said they also want stronger safeguards against illicit finance and money laundering risks.
Lisa Blunt Rochester, who was labeled “mixed,” is considered a possible swing vote because she has backed the crypto framework but voted against the GENIUS Act.
At least four are likely to vote against the bill
Jack Reed, Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith and Chris Van Hollen all voted against the GENIUS Act, and Galaxy predicts they will follow a similar path on the CLARITY Act based on past statements.
The CLARITY Act has been scheduled for markup on Thursday. To pass through the Senate Banking Committee, at least half of the 24-member group, which is made up of 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats, will need to approve it.
After passing through the committee, the bill heads to the Senate floor for scheduling, debate and possible further amendments before a vote. Kara Calvert, vice president of US policy at crypto exchange Coinbase, told attendees at the Consensus 2026 conference that the bill needs at least 60 votes to pass in the Senate and bipartisan support to become law.
Stand With Crypto, a US crypto advocacy and tracking platform that scores politicians on their crypto stance based on past statements and actions, lists Warner, Cortez Masto, and Alsobrooks as strongly supportive of crypto.
Related: ‘Visible flaws’ in Bitcoiners’ mid-bear market forecast: Analyst
Kim is considered neutral, and Reed, Warren and Smith are all considered strongly opposed to crypto. Warnock, Blunt Rochester, Gallego, and Van Hollen are not ranked due to insufficient data, according to Stand With Crypto.
The CLARITY Act, introduced in July 2025, was expected to progress but stalled in January after Coinbase withdrew its support for the legislation, citing concerns over a lack of legal protections for open-source software developers, a prohibition on stablecoin yields and decentralized finance regulations.
Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs — Mid-2026
Macro investor and former hedge fund manager Jordi Visser said he recently bought Ether as he sees the “tokenization reality” starting this year, with tokenized assets powering agentic AI payments.
“I don’t think enough people are talking about tokenization and what’s happening,” Visser told Anthony Pompliano on a podcast on Saturday, predicting that tokenization and AI will be intertwined.
AI agents cannot access banking services or credit, so their primary method of transacting online autonomously will be digital assets such as Ether or stablecoins, which do not require bank accounts, logins or human approval.
“AI agents are with us,” he said. “They need food, and that food is not physical food. It is tokens,” he added. “There’s been a shortage,” which could lead to a supply and demand issue, he continued.
Autonomous online payments have surged this year, recording more than $24 million in transaction volume over the past month on the Coinbase x402 standard, according to x402.org.
Meanwhile, crypto protocols are racing to implement agentic AI payment protocols into their blockchains. The Algorand Foundation is one of the more recent, announcing on Saturday support for agentic commerce via a partnership with Google on the AP2 Agentic Payments Protocol.
Tokenization is needed for price discovery
Ethereum is a major blockchain for real-world asset tokenization, commanding more than 60% market share of tokenized assets, including layer-2 networks, according to RWA.xyz.
He also connected tokenization to a broader need for price discovery in illiquid assets, arguing that tokenization isn’t just a crypto story but a structural necessity for unlocking capital trapped in dormant assets such as private credit, private equity and venture capital.
Related: Agentic AI commerce may spell the end of internet ads: a16z Crypto
He argued that markets are entering a period where transparency and liquidity are “becoming critical” because a lot of money is stuck in these dormant assets.
“So tokenization is actually needed for no other reason than price discovery for a lot of these things that they’re trapped in.”
Source: YouTube
The head AI macro at 22V Research and a former hedge fund manager, however, cautioned about rising inflation, stating that he wanted to be in gold and silver and has also bought Bitcoin (BTC) as a hedge.
Magazine: Strategy reveals why they would sell BTC, Trump Media posts loss: Hodler’s Digest
