Polymarket seeks Japan entry, Harvard dumps whole ETH place: Hodler’s Digest, Could 17 – 23

Kevin Warsh sworn in as Fed chair, as merchants forecast price hikes in 2026

Kevin Warsh was sworn in on Friday because the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, however buyers and merchants nonetheless forecast no rate of interest cuts for the remainder of 2026.

Talking on the ceremony, US President Donald Trump stated that Warsh will stay “unbiased” of the Government Department concerning rate of interest coverage, and claimed that employment numbers are at file ranges. 

“Fortunately, in contrast to a few of his predecessors, Kevin understands that when the financial system is booming, that’s factor,” Trump stated. He added:

“We do have some debt we want to care for, and the best way you do that’s by way of development. We’re going to develop our means out of it so quick.”

Bitcoin ‘Pizza Day’ was 16 years in the past, right here’s how a lot that BTC is value at present

The Bitcoin group celebrated the sixteenth anniversary of “Pizza Day” on Friday, marking the primary recorded industrial Bitcoin transaction, during which real-world items have been bought with Bitcoin.

In Could 2010, software program developer Laszlo Hanyecz printed an internet put up providing 10,000 BTC, which was valued at about $41 on the time, in trade for 2 Papa John’s pizzas.

At present market costs, the BTC is value greater than $767 million, and on the all-time excessive of about $126,000 reached in October 2025, the ten,000 BTC was valued at greater than $1.2 billion. Nischal Shetty, the founding father of crypto trade WazirX, stated: 

“Bitcoin Pizza Day is without doubt one of the most necessary moments in crypto historical past as a result of it reworked Bitcoin from an web experiment into an actual financial community. It was really the primary proof {that a} decentralized digital asset may facilitate real-world commerce.”

NYSE proprietor ICE to launch oil-linked futures with OKX

Intercontinental Trade (ICE), the proprietor of the New York Inventory Trade (NYSE), is working with crypto trade OKX to launch buying and selling of oil-linked perpetual futures.

OKX stated Friday it plans to introduce perpetual futures primarily based on ICE’s Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude benchmarks, two of the world’s most generally used oil value indicators, in response to a launch shared with Cointelegraph.

“These new OKX perpetual contracts, primarily based on ICE’s deep, liquid, clear, and international oil markets, enable OKX’s buyer base […] to entry power benchmark merchandise,” stated Trabue Bland, ICE’s senior vice chairman of futures exchanges.

An OKX spokesperson informed Cointelegraph the contracts characterize the trade’s first product collaboration with ICE and can settle towards ICE’s Brent and WTI benchmark costs, that are extensively used throughout conventional power markets.

THORChain exploit tied to malicious node and GG20 flaw

THORChain stated a malicious node operator exploited a vulnerability in its GG20 threshold signature system to empty about $10.7 million from one of many protocol’s vaults.

The GG20 threshold signature scheme is used to safe THORChain vaults by splitting key management throughout a number of node operators, which means no single node usually holds the complete non-public key.

The vulnerability allowed the malicious node operator to reconstruct a full non-public key for one vault, by way of “progressive key materials leakage,” the protocol stated in a autopsy report launched on Wednesday.

THORChain stated its automated solvency checks triggered inside minutes and halted signing and buying and selling throughout a number of chains with out human intervention. Node operators subsequently coordinated by way of Discord for a full community halt inside two hours after and deployed a patch to repair the vulnerability.

Polymarket seeks Japan entry regardless of playing regulation hurdles: Report

Polymarket, a world prediction market platform, is reportedly looking for entry into Japan amid rising regulatory scrutiny of the sector worldwide.

The corporate has appointed Mike Eidlin, head of Japan at crypto agency Jupiter, to guide its native efforts and is getting ready to foyer for authorization of prediction markets within the nation, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing individuals accustomed to the matter.

Polymarket is concentrating on authorities approval in Japan by 2030, viewing the market as a serious untapped alternative.

The plans come as prediction markets, together with Polymarket and rival Kalshi, face elevated regulatory strain globally, with international locations akin to India among the many newest to maneuver towards the platforms.

Winners and Losers

On the finish of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $76,909, Ether (ETH) at $2,111 and XRP (XRP) at $1.38. The full market cap is at $2.56 trillion, in response to CoinMarketCap.

Among the many greatest 100 cryptocurrencies, the highest three altcoin winners of the week are Kite (KITE) at 16.43%, Humanity (H) at 13.83%, and Steady (STABLE) at 10.84%. 

The highest three altcoin losers of the week are Web Laptop (ICP) at 24.99%, Terra Traditional (LUNC) at 24.54% and Jupiter (JUP) at 23.84%.

Prime Prediction of The Week

‘Not unlikely’ Technique will promote Bitcoin in 2026: Michael Saylor

Technique chairman Michael Saylor has not dominated out the corporate offloading some Bitcoin as early as this yr, after just lately softening his long-held “by no means promote” stance.

“I feel it’s not unlikely that we’ll promote some Bitcoin between now and the tip of the yr,” Saylor stated throughout an interview with Natalie Brunell printed to YouTube on Friday.

Saylor stated it’s “additionally seemingly” that the corporate will promote a mixture of fairness and credit score and handle its USD and money holdings. “We do it in a really considerate programmatic trend the place we’re working our multivariate fashions, and we’re actually working them,” Saylor stated, noting the corporate is targeted on long-term outcomes out to 2033:

“Finally, the best way to think about it’s seven years out, we want to have maximized our Bitcoin per share,” Saylor stated.

Prime FUD of The Week

Galaxy’s Novogratz speaks in courtroom over failed $1.2B BitGo deal: Report

Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz appeared in courtroom on Tuesday to face off towards BitGo CEO Mike Belshe in a long-running authorized struggle over a failed proposed $1.2 billion merger in 2021.

The deliberate deal was the largest-ever crypto merger on the time, set to create a large conglomerate providing a set of providers at a time when investor curiosity in crypto was excessive.

Galaxy referred to as off the deal in August 2022 because the crypto market was reeling from the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. BitGo has requested Galaxy to pay a $100 million charge for pulling out of the deal and in addition hid it was being probed by US authorities, whereas Galaxy has claimed BitGo failed to supply monetary info on time.

Accused attackers of Sandbox exec’s spouse tried to flee by way of Uber

Two of the six males accused of trying to kidnap the spouse of Sébastien Borget, the co-founder of The Sandbox, have been arrested after calling an Uber to flee the scene, in response to native studies. 

One of many attackers, disguised as a supply driver, allegedly satisfied Borget’s spouse to open the gate at their dwelling within the Île-de-France area in northern France. Then 5 masked accomplices rushed into the courtyard and tried to power her into a close-by automotive, Le Journal du Dimanche reported Thursday. 

Neighbors intervened, forcing the attackers to flee. 4 escaped within the automobile, whereas two others fled on foot and ordered an Uber, which was then intercepted by the Meaux Anti-Crime Brigade, in response to Le Journal du Dimanche. The 2 suspects have been allegedly discovered with a reproduction handgun, cable ties and balaclavas.

Harvard dumps whole ETH place after only one quarter

Harvard Administration Firm, the entity that manages Harvard College’s endowment fund, bought all of its Ether (ETH) holdings after only one quarter, in response to its Q1 2026 United States Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) submitting.

The endowment now not holds the $87 million in BlackRock iShares Ethereum Belief exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares, which it held in This fall 2025, in response to its Q1 2026 SEC submitting.

Harvard additionally diminished its publicity to Bitcoin (BTC) in Q1 2026, offloading about 2.3 million Bitcoin ETF shares. The endowment fund nonetheless holds greater than 3 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Belief ETF, valued at almost $117 million.

Prime Journal Tales of The Week

ETH bears growling, Tom Lee’s shopping for, XRP to ‘explode’: Market Strikes

Practically 10% of the full Bitcoin provide is taken into account “structurally unsafe,” Ethereum merchants say bears ‘in management.’

5 tech predictions the mainstream media acquired horribly unsuitable

5 occasions the mainstream media made “laughably inaccurate” however confident-sounding predictions about the way forward for expertise.

Crypto scammers face dying, Aussie CGT makes Asian hubs enticing: Asia Specific

Myanmar unveils the harshest punishments on the planet for crypto scammers, as Australia introduces the very best crypto taxes.

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