Crypto’s Institutional Acceleration Meets Market Revolution (2026-05-15)

Bloomberg analyst: Cerebras ETF is listed, OpenAI and SpaceX may usher in an “hourly” leveraged product issuance pace.

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart posted on the X platform that the 2x leveraged Cerebras Systems ETF (ticker: CBRG) has officially started trading, while its underlying asset CBRS only started trading in the afternoon of the previous day, meaning that the leveraged ETF was launched only a few hours apart, setting a record for extremely fast product launch pace.

James Seyffart pointed out that this “fast-following” ETF issuance model is accelerating, and leveraged ETFs around unlisted or high-profile assets such as SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI may also see similar rapid replication and issuance paths in the future, reflecting a significant increase in the speed of productization of new asset exposures in the ETF market.

[Odaily]

Canaccord Wealth UK Partners with Bitwise to Offer Crypto ETP Allocations to High-Net-Worth Clients

On May 15, according to Bradley Duke, Bitwise’s Head of Europe, Canaccord Wealth UK—a UK-based wealth management firm managing approximately $70 billion in assets—has entered into an exclusive partnership with Bitwise to offer Bitcoin and Ethereum ETP products to select clients, with allocations of up to 5% of their investment portfolios.

This collaboration covers the UK and the Channel Islands markets and is regarded as a significant step forward for the UK’s traditional wealth management industry in driving cryptocurrency adoption.

[PANews]

Payward lays off 150 employees to streamline operations for Kraken’s IPO

PANews, May 15: Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has laid off approximately 150 employees as part of a business optimization plan ahead of its IPO. Kraken currently has around 3,000 employees.

Payward is seeking a new round of financing at an estimated valuation of approximately $2 billion and accelerating its merger and acquisition expansion. The company previously acquired stablecoin payment firm Reap, derivatives platform Bitnomial, and, in 2025, acquired U.S. futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion.

Payward secretly filed its IPO application documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November 2025 and plans to restart its IPO process once market conditions improve.

[CoinDesk]

Hyperliquid Policy Center responds to Bloomberg report: On-chain perpetual markets are more transparent and efficient, calling for inclusion in the regulatory framework

The Hyperliquid Policy Center posted on X, stating that Bloomberg reported concerns from some traditional exchanges regarding the integrity and influence of Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures market—concerns that are “unfounded.” Hyperliquid achieves market transparency through fully on-chain recordkeeping: every transaction is publicly visible in real time, traceable, and immutable—mechanically reducing opportunities for insider trading and price manipulation, while also aiding regulators and law enforcement agencies in monitoring, identifying, and investigating market activity.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid emphasizes that its 24/7 trading mechanism significantly enhances market efficiency, enabling prices to continuously reflect information changes even when traditional exchanges are closed—thereby minimizing price gaps and liquidity fragmentation caused by segmented trading hours, and ultimately optimizing overall price discovery.

Regarding regulatory matters, Hyperliquid notes that the current U.S. legal framework has not yet fully adapted to the structure of public-blockchain-based derivatives markets. Nevertheless, Hyperliquid welcomes and looks forward to collaborating with policymakers in Washington to progressively integrate on-chain markets into the regulatory framework.

[Odaily]

Kelp: The rsETH protocol has fully resumed operations, and deposits and withdrawals have been restarted.

May 15th news, according to the Kelp DAO announcement, the rsETH protocol operation has been fully restored, and the deposit and withdrawal functions of the mainnet and Layer 2 networks are now reopened, and rsETH asset support has also been fully restored.

The official said that the accumulated staking收益 during the suspension has been completed at 22:45 Beijing time on May 15 (16:45 CET) to update the exchange rate, and the relevant EIGEN rewards are now open for collection. Kelp DAO said that this recovery work was assisted by Aave, Consensys, Mantle, ether.fi, Lido and other ecological projects.

Previously, Kelp DAO had encountered a security incident of nearly $300.00M, which triggered concerns about Aave liquidity risk.

[PANews]

The Federal Reserve terminated its enforcement action investigation into UBS, Credit Suisse, and Archegos-related transactions.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated its enforcement actions against UBS (UBS.N) and Credit Suisse (CS.N) related to their 2023 transactions with Archegos.

[Odaily]

Musk: Grok V9 is vastly superior to V8; the training version of V9 already demonstrates better performance.

Elon Musk posted on X, stating that his latest completed Grok V9 (1.5T parameters) training run “performed very well,” and that the results have not yet been included in the supplementary training portion of Cursor data. The current internal base model version being developed is V9, with a parameter scale of approximately 1.5 trillion, which has significant improvements in data cleaning, training methods, and model scale compared to V8, and has been optimized for the Blackwell architecture to improve computing power utilization efficiency.

Musk emphasized that, in contrast, the current external version v4.2 is built on the V8 base model, with a parameter scale of approximately 0.5T, running on the Hopper architecture, and still has certain limitations in terms of training data quality and coverage. The performance gap between Grok V8 and V9 is huge, and the new generation model has achieved a leapfrog upgrade in overall capabilities.

[Odaily]

A whale deposited 8.80M USDC into Hyperliquid and opened a 10x HYPE short position.

According to Lookonchain monitoring, after a month of silence, a whale starting with 0x519c deposited 8.80M USDC into Hyperliquid and opened a 10x leverage short position of 175,082 HYPE (worth approximately $7.62M).

This whale is still continuing to increase its HYPE short position.

[Foresight News]

Hyperliquid’s lobbying organization responds to regulatory pressure from CME and ICE: On-chain transparency is more effective in combating market manipulation

Regarding the Bloomberg report that CME and ICE are pressuring the CFTC regarding Hyperliquid, the Hyperliquid Policy Center, a lobbying organization led by well-known crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky and funded by the Hyper Foundation, responded by tweeting that the above concerns lack basis.

The organization stated that Hyperliquid publishes complete on-chain transaction records in real-time, with transparency far exceeding traditional exchanges, which has a strong deterrent effect on insider trading and price manipulation, and is conducive to regulatory agencies and law enforcement departments to carry out monitoring and investigation. In addition, Hyperliquid provides 24-hour uninterrupted trading, effectively eliminating price gaps between the opening and closing of traditional markets. The organization stated that it recognizes that current U.S. law has not yet made specific provisions for the on-chain derivatives market, and will continue to work with Washington policymakers to promote the implementation of relevant regulatory frameworks.

Previously, the Hyperliquid Policy Center was established in Washington on February 18 this year, with former Blockchain Association and Variant Chief Legal Officer Jake Chervinsky as CEO, and received a donation of 1.00 million HYPE from the Hyper Foundation, focusing on promoting the compliant regulatory path of DeFi in the United States.

[Foresight News]

WTI crude oil breaks above $105 per barrel, surging 3.00% intraday.

According to Gate data, WTI crude oil rose 3.00% during the day and is now trading at $105.11 per barrel.

[Odaily Planet Daily News]

Analysis: Iran conflict drives market shift toward 24/7 trading; on-chain platforms emerge as new venues for round-the-clock price discovery

The escalation of the Iran situation is serving as a real-world stress test for financial markets’ “24/7 trading” capability. Market analyst Huang noted that, against the backdrop of the latest geopolitical conflict, traders are no longer waiting for traditional financial markets to open; instead, they’re directly executing trades via blockchain infrastructure—conducting round-the-clock price discovery and risk hedging for assets like crude oil and gold on on-chain platforms such as Hyperliquid.

Analysis suggests that today’s information dissemination speed has far outpaced traditional market response mechanisms: news spreads instantaneously across time zones, yet traditional trading systems remain constrained by fixed trading hours and weekend closures—causing prices to fail to reflect the latest information in real time, often resulting in concentrated volatility and liquidity shocks upon market reopen.

In contrast, blockchain networks offer 24/7 operation and real-time settlement, enabling traders to continuously adjust positions outside conventional trading hours—a capability increasingly viewed not just as a complement to, but even a potential alternative path to, traditional market structures. During this Iran conflict, this “always-on market” model has further underscored its value.

Analysts point out that the core tension lies in a structural mismatch between market infrastructure and the information environment. Although traditional finance still holds advantages in liquidity depth and scale, temporal boundaries are becoming a growing source of efficiency loss—especially pronounced amid high volatility and frequent macro-level disruptions.

Meanwhile, on-chain derivatives platforms like Hyperliquid are validating the feasibility of 24/7 markets and gradually assuming part of the risk-pricing function during weekends and off-hours. However, the industry broadly acknowledges that current on-chain systems still face constraints in liquidity depth, performance, and institutional-grade risk controls—making full replacement of traditional exchanges unlikely in the near term.

Overall, markets are gradually shifting from “trading-hours-driven” to “information-driven perpetual trading,” and competition at the infrastructure level is accelerating.

[CoinDesk]

Hyperliquid Responds to Bloomberg’s Questions About Perpetual Contract Market: Concerns Are Unfounded

On May 15th, Hyperliquid’s Hyperliquid Policy Center responded to Bloomberg’s report on the integrity and market impact of its perpetual derivatives market, stating that the concerns raised by some traditional exchanges “lack basis.”

Hyperliquid stated that it enhances market transparency by publicly disclosing all transaction records on-chain in real-time, and claims that this mechanism helps to curb insider trading and price manipulation. Hyperliquid also emphasized that the platform provides a 24/7 continuous trading mechanism, which can reduce price gaps and liquidity fractures during traditional market closures, and improve price discovery efficiency.

It also stated that current U.S. law has not established clear rules for derivatives markets on public blockchains, and that it will continue to work with Washington policymakers to promote the inclusion of on-chain markets into the regulatory framework.

[PANews]

Anthropic is seeking to refinance $30.00B.

Anthropic is seeking to raise another $30.00B, with the artificial intelligence lab absorbing the lion’s share of venture capital.

[Golden Ten Data]

Machi closed most of its long positions in ETH and BTC, resulting in cumulative losses of nearly $32 million.

On May 15, according to Onchain Lens, as the market continues to decline, Machi (@machibigbrother) has closed most of their long positions in ETH and BTC—leveraged at 25x for ETH and 40x for BTC. During this period, some of their positions were also liquidated.

Currently, Machi’s cumulative losses have approached $32.00 million, and they still hold some positions, with the remaining positions totaling approximately $10.00 million.

[PANews]

OpenSea CMO: The next wave of NFTs may be driven by Pokémon cards, Rolex, and ticketing

OpenSea’s Chief Marketing Officer Adam Hollander stated that the next round of the NFT cycle may be very different from the speculative frenzy of over $1.60B in 2022. In an interview with The Block at Consensus Miami, Hollander pointed out that it is “completely reasonable” to put assets such as collectible cards, luxury watches, and digital ticketing on the chain and trade them, and these may become the core driving force for a new wave of NFTs.

Adam Hollander emphasized that although avatar-type NFTs such as Bored Apes and CryptoPunks have experienced a collapse in value, NFT technology can still be used to prove ownership of digital and physical assets. He believes that the past NFT craze was overly dependent on speculation, and buyers regarded NFTs more as digital casinos than focusing on their technology and actual value. Future NFT applications will be driven by actual needs such as collectibles, game props, and AI tools. The development of artificial intelligence will also lower the threshold for digital art, animation, and game creation, and accelerate NFT adoption.

In terms of platform development, OpenSea is working to create an ecosystem that can manage all crypto assets and NFTs across wallets and chains, and optimize user experience, including simplifying the onboarding process, supporting Apple Pay-like fiat currency payments, and displaying NFT prices in USD. Regarding the delayed launch of the SEA token, which has attracted external attention, Hollander stated that the decision is up to the OpenSea Foundation, and he himself has no more information on the timeline, and emphasized that if the token is just an “airdrop meme coin”, it will not create value for users.

[Odaily]

Amundi and Spiko Announce Expansion of SAFO Fund to Solana

Solana tweeted that Amundi, Europe’s largest asset management company (with approximately €2.3 trillion in assets under management), and Spiko Finance (with $1.70B in assets under management) announced the expansion of the tokenized fund SAFO (Spiko Amundi Overnight Swap Fund) to Solana.

The fund was previously launched on Ethereum and Stellar in March of this year, with a starting size of $100.00M. SAFO is a UCITS compliant fund (EU standard open-ended fund) aimed at institutional professional investors, providing overnight swap收益 and cross-chain settlement capabilities.

[Foresight News]

OpenAI launches a financial management service that connects to bank accounts for ChatGPT Pro users.

OpenAI has announced a new preview of its personal finance experience for ChatGPT Pro users in the United States. Users can securely link their bank and investment accounts to view a cash-flow dashboard directly within ChatGPT, consult AI on financial questions based on their personal financial situation, and retain full control over their data.

The new feature links accounts via Plaid (Intuit integration coming soon), synchronizing balances, transactions, investments, and liabilities—helping users uncover spending patterns, analyze savings opportunities, plan goals, and optimize major financial decisions. Users can also input financial context—such as mortgage details, savings targets, or large upcoming expenses—to enable ChatGPT to deliver more personalized recommendations.

This experience emphasizes automation and actionability: users can set budget caps, automate savings transfers, and track weekly progress—enabling lightweight, sustainable financial planning. The system offers tailored savings strategies for dining, shopping, transportation, everyday purchases, and subscription services, helping users save more without compromising quality of life.

OpenAI notes this feature is not a substitute for professional financial advice—but it combines complex personal finance questions with GPT-5.5’s reasoning capabilities to deliver more precise solutions. In the future, the feature will gradually roll out to Plus and all users, and OpenAI plans to expand the ecosystem with partners like Intuit to deliver an end-to-end financial planning and execution experience.

Regarding privacy and security, users can disconnect accounts or delete financial memory at any time. All account data is used solely to provide personalized financial services, never to modify user funds, and fully complies with strict data governance and privacy protection standards.

[Odaily]

Kraken’s parent company, Payward, lays off 150 people to promote business integration before IPO

Kraken’s parent company, Payward, is laying off approximately 150 employees, according to two sources familiar with the matter—a move part of the company’s broader optimization efforts in preparation for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). A Kraken spokesperson stated in a press release: “We continuously evaluate and adjust our organizational structure to ensure we have the right framework and talent in place to achieve our growth objectives and better serve our customers.”

Meanwhile, Payward is seeking a new round of funding at a $2.00 billion valuation to support its pre-IPO expansion strategy. Recently, the company completed its $600 million acquisition of stablecoin payments firm Reap, as well as its $550 million acquisition of digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial. Its largest acquisition to date occurred in 2025, when Payward acquired U.S. retail futures platform NinjaTrader—for $1.50 billion. NinjaTrader also holds a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) futures commission merchant (FCM) license.

Payward confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 19, 2025—marking an initial step toward going public. In March of this year, CoinDesk reported that the company had paused its IPO plans due to challenging market conditions; however, sources say Payward remains committed to proceeding with its IPO once market conditions improve. At the Consensus Miami conference, Payward and Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated that exchange IPO preparations are now “80% complete.”

[CoinDesk]

Loracle.hl increased its short position in HYPE by approximately $5.40M, bringing its total position to $59.90M.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Loracle.hl increased its short position by 122,305 HYPE (5x), worth approximately $5.40M.

Currently, it holds a short position of 1.36M HYPE, worth approximately $59.90M, with a liquidation price of $61.71.

[Foresight News]