Crypto Institutional Surge Amid Geopolitical Tensions (2026-05-18)

Two whales have collectively purchased over 205,000 HYPE tokens, with one whale simultaneously opening a 5x long position.

May 18th news, according to Onchain Lens monitoring, whales are buying HYPE.

The whale “0xF56” sold 1,733 XAUT for $4.520 each, obtaining $7.83 million, and then deposited 10.20 million USDC into HyperLiquid, buying 103,636 HYPE (approximately $4.70 million) and opening a 5x long position in HYPE.

The whale “0x688” deposited 4.87 million USDC into HyperLiquid and bought 102,055 HYPE at a price of $47.75.

[PANews]

Japan’s SBI, Rakuten developing crypto investment trusts in-house: Nikkei

Japan’s two largest online brokerages are developing crypto investment trusts in-house and plan to sell them directly to retail investors.

SBI Securities will distribute funds built by group company SBI Global Asset Management, with the planned lineup spanning both ETFs and investment trusts tied to liquid assets such as bitcoin and ether. The group intends to handle everything from product development to distribution internally.

Rakuten Securities is taking a similar in-house approach through Rakuten Investment Management, with the products designed to trade directly via its smartphone app.

Among 18 major Japanese brokerage firms surveyed, another 11 said they would consider offering crypto investment trust products once the regulatory framework is finalized. Nomura Securities and Daiwa Securities have already announced plans to develop trusts inside their respective groups, while SMBC Group, including SMBC Nikko, has formed a cross-group task force. Asset Management One, the asset manager under Mizuho Financial Group, has begun preliminary research.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency is moving to revise the enforcement order of the Investment Trust Act by 2028, which would formally add cryptocurrencies to the list of specified assets that investment trusts can hold. Separately, the cabinet approved a bill in April reclassifying crypto under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act; if passed in the current Diet session, the law would take effect as early as fiscal 2027 and bring crypto under the same securities regime as stocks and bonds.

SBI Global Asset Management was targeting roughly 5 trillion yen ($32 billion) in assets within three years of product launch, the most aggressive public ambition among Japan’s wealth managers. SBI has also outlined plans for a dual bitcoin-and-XRP ETF and a gold-crypto product, both pending regulatory approval.

The launches would mark a meaningful shift in retail access. Today, buying digital assets in Japan typically requires opening a dedicated exchange account or setting up a wallet, while investment trusts could be held through existing brokerage accounts already used for stocks and bonds.

The ETF timeline has also tightened. Japan Exchange Group Chief Executive Hiromi Yamaji told Bloomberg in late April that the Tokyo Stock Exchange could list crypto ETFs as early as 2027 if legal reforms and tax treatment are finalized in the current Diet session, pulling forward an earlier timeline of 2028. Nomura and SBI Holdings are expected to lead the first listings, alongside the in-house investment trust products now in development.

Not every Japanese megabroker is leaning in at full speed. Nomura’s Swiss-based crypto trading subsidiary, Laser Digital, posted Q3 losses tied to market volatility, prompting the firm to scale back its trading exposure in February, though it reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the sector. The in-house trust strategy gives Japan’s biggest brokerages a route into the asset class that leans on distribution and fees rather than principal risk.

[Nikkei Asia]

Alleged Forsage co-founder extradited from Thailand, pleads not guilty in $340 million Ponzi case

A Ukrainian national accused of co-founding the Forsage cryptocurrency investment platform was extradited from Thailand last week and pleaded not guilty in federal court in Portland, Oregon, becoming the first of four co-defendants charged in a $340 million Ponzi scheme to face a U.S. courtroom.

Olena Oblamska, 42, also known online as “Lola Ferrari,” was arraigned on May 11 on a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to a notice posted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. A magistrate judge ordered her detained pending a four-day jury trial scheduled to begin July 14.

Oblamska was taken into custody in February when Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau raided a condominium in the Chalong subdistrict of Phuket, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported Sunday. Thai officers seized phones, computer equipment, a laptop, an iPad and documents during the arrest. Thai authorities did not name her at the time, and the FBI and DOJ declined to confirm her detention in the months that followed, according to ICIJ.

Oblamska had previously been believed to be hiding in Bali, Indonesia, and was characterized as Russian in earlier filings. She is the first of four Forsage co-defendants to be brought into U.S. custody since a federal grand jury in Oregon indicted the group in February 2023. Co-defendants Vladimir Okhotnikov, Mikhail Sergeev and Sergey Maslakov, all Russian nationals, remain at large.

Prosecutors allege the four founders launched Forsage in January 2020 and marketed it as a decentralized investment platform built on Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain and Tron smart contracts. Once an investor purchased a “slot,” the smart contract automatically routed their funds to earlier participants, the hallmark of a Ponzi structure, according to the indictment. The defendants also allegedly siphoned a portion of investor funds into wallets they controlled via the project’s “xGold” smart contract.

Blockchain analytics cited by the Justice Department show that more than 80% of investors in Forsage’s Ethereum program received less ETH back than they had deposited, and that over half received nothing at all. Prosecutors dispute the founders’ marketing claim that 50 participants became millionaires through the platform, saying only one user ID, controlled by the defendants themselves, received more than $1 million in cryptocurrency from the scheme.

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued 11 people tied to Forsage on civil fraud charges in August 2022, including the four founders and several U.S.-based promoters known as the “Crypto Crusaders.” The criminal indictment that followed in February 2023 was characterized by prosecutors as the first criminal case targeting a so-called DeFi Ponzi scheme.

Okhotnikov, identified by prosecutors as Forsage’s operational leader, fled to Dubai and has resurfaced in unlikely settings since. He co-wrote, co-produced and stars in disgraced actor Kevin Spacey’s directorial comeback “Holiguards Saga — The Portal of Force,” which premiered at a private event in Berlin in February, Variety reported last year. A court in Tbilisi sentenced him in absentia to 10 years in prison in 2024 for laundering $1.1 million in Forsage proceeds, per ICIJ’s Coin Laundry investigation. Okhotnikov has maintained his innocence.

If convicted, Oblamska faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Portland Field Office, the U.S. Secret Service, and Homeland Security Investigations offices in New York and Bangkok. The Justice Department is asking Forsage investors who lost funds to come forward as potential victims.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

[The Block]

Israeli media: Israeli Prime Minister speaks with Trump, discussing the possibility of restarting war with Iran

May 18th, according to Xinhua News Agency, Israeli media reported on the 17th that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone that day to discuss the possibility of restarting military operations against Iran.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Trump spoke for about half an hour, mainly discussing the possibility of restarting military strikes against Iran. The official said that if the United States resumes military operations against Iran, it is expected that the United States and Israel will jointly launch air strikes.

[PANews]

Michael Saylor Teases Bigger Bitcoin Buy for MicroStrategy as 8-K Filing Looms

MicroStrategy chair Michael Saylor teased another large Bitcoin (BTC) purchase on Sunday with a “Big Dot Energy” post, while traders await Monday’s 8-K filing expected to confirm one of the firm’s biggest weekly accumulation runs of 2026. Independent tracker Strc.live estimates roughly 15,466 BTC were funneled into Strategy purchases across four active trading days, after STRC preferred share volume hit an all-time record of 15.1 million shares on Thursday.

MicroStrategy’s STRC Engine Powers the Latest Hint: Michael Saylor extended his Sunday hints with a Bitcoin buy tease in a May 17 post, not catching markets by surprise as he often gives an almost similar messaging at the beginning of every week. Strategy’s recent $1.5 billion repurchase of 2029 convertible notes, settling around May 19, has not slowed the capital-raising flywheel. The firm holds 818,869 BTC at an average cost of roughly $75,543 per coin.

Thursday’s STRC trading session set an all-time volume record of 15.1 million shares, topping the prior peak from April 14. The community read the spike as fresh proceeds being deployed into Bitcoin.

Retail Vote Could Sharpen the Dividend Stream: Roughly 80% of STRC is held by retail investors across major brokerages including Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Robinhood. Strategy is asking those holders to approve moving the 11.5% annual dividend from monthly to semi-monthly payouts. The amendment would keep the headline rate steady while shortening cash-flow intervals.

Approval could reinforce demand for the variable-rate preferred. It could also sustain the at-the-market issuance pipeline that has funded most of Strategy’s Bitcoin buying this year. Monday’s 8-K should give the market a concrete number to weigh against the community’s 15,466 BTC estimate. A strong print would back the bullish reading of Saylor’s meme and keep retail attention on the STRC vote ahead of the next dividend record date.

Trump discusses restarting military strikes against Iran, significantly increasing the risk of U.S.-Israel joint airstrikes.

Israeli media confirmed that Trump and Netanyahu spoke on the phone, with the core issue being the resumption of military strikes against Iran. Israeli officials said that if the United States takes action, the two countries are expected to launch joint airstrikes. Trump warned Iran that “time is running out” and that if it does not come up with a good plan, it will suffer a more severe blow.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Trump spoke for about half an hour, mainly discussing the possibility of resuming military strikes against Iran. The official said that if the United States resumes military operations against Iran, the United States and Israel are expected to jointly launch airstrikes.

Trump said in a telephone interview with the Axios news website that Iran’s “time is running out” and warned that if the Iranian regime cannot come up with better terms for an agreement, “they will suffer a much more severe blow than ever before.” Two U.S. officials said Trump is expected to convene his senior national security team in the Situation Room on Tuesday to discuss military options.

[Golden Ten]

US DOJ Accuses Dream Market Admin of Turning Crypto Into $1.7 Million in Gold Bars

The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Owe Martin Andresen, 49, over an alleged $2 million crypto laundering scheme. Prosecutors say the German citizen converted darknet proceeds into gold bars shipped to his home. Authorities arrested Andresen in Germany on May 7. Investigators seized roughly $1.7 million in gold bullion and $23,000 in cash. Another $1.2 million in bank and crypto accounts was linked to the marketplace.

How the Alleged Scheme Worked: Prosecutors say Andresen operated under the moniker Speedstepper. He was the long-unidentified main administrator of Dream Market, which shut down voluntarily in 2019 amid law enforcement pressure. According to the indictment, Andresen accessed dormant marketplace wallets in late 2022. He then routed the funds into new consolidated addresses. Beginning August 2023, he allegedly used an Atlanta-based crypto service to buy gold bars from international dealers. The dealers shipped the bullion directly to his German home address.

A Familiar Darknet Enforcement Pattern: Dream Market operated from 2013 to 2019 and hosted close to 100,000 listings at its peak. Buyers paid in Bitcoin (BTC) to obscure transaction trails. Reportedly, the site facilitated sales of more than 450 kilograms of cocaine and 90 kilograms of heroin. DOJ figures also cite 36 kilograms of fentanyl moved through the platform. Earlier prosecutions convicted Dream Market admins using the handles Oxymonster, KITT3N, and GOWRON. Speedstepper, however, remained unidentified for years.

The indictment fits a broader crackdown on dormant darknet proceeds, including the recent recovery of $1 billion in Bitcoin tied to Silk Road. Each of the 12 US counts carries up to 20 years in prison, while parallel German charges add up to five years each. The case suggests that wallets once controlled by Dream Market’s senior administrators are finally back in circulation.

Shorting 300,000 HYPE tokens; a major holder increased their position by 75,000 HYPE tokens, bringing the total position value to $16.02 million.

According to on-chain analyst Ai Aunt’s monitoring, this whale has added another 75,000 HYPE tokens tonight, bringing its total holdings to 375,033.14 tokens, valued at $16.02 million.

The whale’s average entry price was $43.298 per token, resulting in a current unrealized profit of $225,000.

[Odaily]

Forsage co-founder extradited from Thailand to the U.S. pleads not guilty to charges related to a $340 million scam.

On May 18, news reported by The Block stated that Olena Oblamska, a Ukrainian citizen accused of co-founding the crypto investment platform Forsage, was extradited from Thailand to the United States and pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in Portland. She is the first of four defendants to appear in a U.S. court; the other three defendants—Russian nationals—remain at large.

Prosecutors allege that Forsage is a Ponzi scheme built on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and TRON smart contracts, with approximately $340 million involved. Blockchain analysis shows that over 80% of Ethereum-based project investors received less ETH than they deposited, and more than half of investors received nothing.

If convicted, Oblamska faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

[PANews]

US Department of Justice Launches Remission Process for Victims of Crypto Mining Scam AirBit Club

On May 18, news emerged that the U.S. Department of Justice announced the initiation of a restitution process for victims of the cryptocurrency mining scam AirBit Club. Founded in 2015, AirBit Club operated a financial pyramid scheme under the guise of cryptocurrency mining and virtual currency trading platforms. U.S. authorities have seized over $400 million in assets to fund restitution.

Victims who previously provided information to the FBI or prosecutors will be contacted by RCB Fund Services. Prosecutors stated that the restitution process incurs no fees.

The founder of AirBit Club was indicted in August 2020 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on charges of money laundering and fraud. The trial concluded in September 2023, and the court ordered the forfeiture of all illicit proceeds, including over 16,000 Bitcoin.

[PANews]

Whale “ShapeShift” purchased 2,656 ETH for 5.68 million USDC.

On May 18, according to on-chain analyst Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens), an address known as the “ShapeShift mysterious whale” spent 5.68 million USDC to purchase 2,656 ETH.

Currently, the address holds a total of 129,667 ETH, with a total value of approximately 274.8 million USD.

[TechFlow]

Institution: The Federal Reserve will find it difficult to implement further monetary tightening in the short term, and even if it does, it would likely occur after 2027.

On May 17th, according to Jinshi reports, TsLombard stated that in the face of oil price shocks, the extent of tightening of global central bank policies may be quite limited, and an aggressive tightening cycle is unlikely to occur.

In the United States, the possibility of the Federal Reserve implementing policy tightening in the short term is small, and even if there is, it will almost certainly have to wait until 2027.

In Europe, the energy shock is already dragging down economic activity. The UK labor market has appeared unstable for some time, and recruitment sentiment in Europe is becoming increasingly weak. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will tighten less this year than the market expects, and this possibility is currently underestimated.

[PANews]