The customized stablecoin USDF on the Solana blockchain has gone live.
The Solana-based custom stablecoin USDF, jointly launched by Coinbase and Flipcash, has gone live.
This stablecoin is part of the “Custom Stablecoins” program, enabling businesses and protocols to easily issue their own branded USD-pegged stablecoins for payments, payroll, cross-border settlements, and more—while maintaining regulatory compliance.
[Odaily]
Data: Crypto ETFs see weekly outflows of $1.1 billion, the third-largest weekly outflow in 2026
Last week, crypto ETFs saw a total outflow of $1.1 billion—the first net outflow in seven consecutive weeks and the third-largest single-week outflow of 2026.
Among them, Bitcoin ETFs experienced an outflow of $982 million, while Ethereum ETFs saw an outflow of $249 million. Nevertheless, Bitcoin ETFs remain up $3.9 billion in net inflows year-to-date.
Additionally, the total assets under management (AUM) for crypto funds declined by $2 billion to $157 billion. For altcoins, XRP and Solana recorded inflows of $68 million and $55 million, respectively.
[ChainCatcher]
Plume secures Bermuda license for what it calls first regulated onchain vault manager
Plume, a blockchain built for real-world asset tokenization, has secured a digital asset business license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority for its subsidiary Kimber Digital Assets Bermuda ISAC Ltd., enabling what it claims is the world’s first regulated onchain vault manager.
The Class M license, granted under Bermuda’s Digital Asset Business Act 2018, subjects KDAB to full prudential oversight, including net asset requirements, liquidity risk management, and wind-down planning. The license also allows the firm to distribute vault tokens permissionlessly to anyone with an internet connection and a stablecoin.
Plume vault structure borrows deliberately from the ETF playbook. Users deposit assets, receive proportional shares, earn yield, and redeem at net asset value. The key difference is that everything runs on immutable smart contracts rather than on administrators or custodians, with a curator managing and rebalancing assets according to hardcoded rules.
“The ETF was the last great structural innovation in asset management,” Chris Yin, co-founder and CEO of Plume, said in an announcement. “The BMA license makes this real. It means this is not an experiment. It is a regulated financial product, supervised by a regulator that has been overseeing global financial services since 1969.”
KDAB claims to be the first regulated vault curator licensed to issue and distribute vault tokens under AML standards modeled on those applied to stablecoins under Bermuda law and the U.S. GENIUS Act. Each vault operates through its own incorporated segregated account under Bermuda’s Incorporated Segregated Accounts Act 2019. As such, the vault enjoys statutory ring-fencing, separate legal personality, and bankruptcy remoteness.
Vault reserves are held onchain in non-custodial smart contracts with continuous, cryptographically verifiable proof of collateral attested by Bluprynt. Freeze-and-seize capabilities are embedded directly in the vault token at the AML layer. Plume joins Circle, Coinbase, and Kraken as firms that have chosen Bermuda’s DABA framework as a regulatory base.
The license also activates an existing but underused legal pathway. U.S.-registered master funds can now be accessed by non-U.S. feeder structures at onchain scale, pairing a BMA-supervised feeder with a globally distributable vault token.
U.S. asset managers gain a credible route to reach investors in markets they have historically been unable to serve without standing up separate fund infrastructure. “With this level of regulatory alignment, we will be able to distribute high-quality assets to a broad audience globally, removing high barriers to entry,” said Teddy Pornprinya, Plume co-founder and chief business officer.
Plume (PLUME), which launched its mainnet in June 2025 with $150 million in real-world assets already deployed, has built tokenization infrastructure spanning solar farms, private credit, Medicaid claims, and mineral rights. Apollo Global Management made a strategic investment in the network in April 2025. The company reported a blocked transaction rate of 0.000005%, compared with roughly 1% on other public blockchains.
Specific vault products operating under the new KDAB license will be announced in the coming days and weeks, the company said.
[The Block]
Arbitrum-based derivatives venue Variational raises $50 million Series A led by Dragonfly
Arbitrum-based derivatives startup Variational has raised a $50 million Series A round led by Dragonfly Capital, according to an announcement on X on Wednesday.
The round also saw participation from Bain Capital Crypto and Coinbase Ventures, according to Fortune, which was first to report the news. Bain previously led the company’s $10.3 million seed round.
Founded by Lucas Schuermann and Edward Yu, the Cayman Islands-based Variational aims to bring liquidity from traditional finance dealers and exchanges to onchain trading. The platform also aims to offer a wide array of derivatives, including real-world commodities.
On X, the firm noted its is starting “Phase 1 of our RWA rollout to stress-test” its infrastructure before launching over 100 TradFi markets this summer. Gold, silver, copper, and oil markets are now live, the team said.
Variational users will be able to trade these markets using a single cross-margined account, a feature that is rolling out across more and more crypto trading platforms.
By aggregating liquidity from existing venues, Variational says it can create deeper markets than existing onchain platforms like Hyperliquid, which uses an order book. In particular, Variational is using a Request-for-Quote (RFQ) system powered by a single liquidity provider, its Omni Liquidity Provider (OLP) vault, which will serve as a counterparty to all trades.
“Routing directly to TradFi sources allows Variational to bypass the bottleneck of bootstrapping order books, instantly plugging DeFi into massive off-chain liquidity,” the team wrote.
Other onchain platforms like Ostium have struck on similar solutions to the cold start problem of onchain RWA markets, by bridging liquidity from existing, traditional sources.
That said, Variational is positioning itself as a more retail-friendly brokerage like Robinhood, via its in-development Omni app, which will offer “zero-fee” trading.
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]
The three major U.S. stock indices rose, with the Nasdaq 100 Index’s gain widening to 1%.
According to MSX.COM data, the three major U.S. stock indices have rallied, with the Nasdaq 100 index gains expanding to 1%, the S&P 500 index rising 0.6%, and the Nasdaq rising nearly 1%.
Previously, it was reported that the U.S.-Iran agreement text has entered the final polishing stage. If the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan does not travel to Iran, the final version of the agreement text may be announced as completed within hours. The next round of negotiations will be held in Islamabad after the Hajj season.
[Odaily]
A whale opened a 10x leverage short position and reduced its HYPE spot holdings, with a liquidation price of $60.90.
May 20th news, according to Onchain Lens, in the past 2 hours, a whale address opened a short position of 218,406 HYPE with 10x leverage, with a nominal value of approximately $11.16M, and a liquidation price of $60.9.
At the same time, the address also sold 64,401 HYPE in exchange for approximately 3.08M USDC.
[PANews]
MoneyGram named ‘anchor remittance validator’ for Stripe-backed Tempo blockchain
MoneyGram was named the “Anchor Remittance Validator” for Tempo, the blockchain co-developed by Stripe and Paradigm. As part of its role, MoneyGram will validate remittance transactions on the Layer 1 blockchain and integrate stablecoin settlement, including with Stripe, for its global flows, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
“Tempo is built for institutions powering everyday payments,” Matt Huang, Tempo founder and managing partner of Paradigm, said. “MoneyGram’s role as a validator brings deep global payments expertise to the network and helps connect stablecoin settlement with real-world use.”
MoneyGram was named as one of Tempo’s initial cast of corporate validators, including Stripe, Visa, and Zodia Custody, which is now being absorbed into Standard Chartered.
Tempo mainneted in mid-March, after raising a $500 million Series A in October. The blockchain is designed to support stablecoin transactions and swaps, and is targeting use cases like remittances, retail commerce, and corporate treasury management.
Last month, Tempo unveiled “Zones,” a key privacy feature allowing companies to launch permissioned blockchains on top of the Tempo mainnet, to support use cases like payroll, treasury, and settlements. It also partnered with DoorDash to support stablecoin payments. The network is also reportedly working with firms including OpenAI, Shopify, Anthropic, and Deutsche Bank.
MoneyGram has leaned into crypto in recent years, including as a global fiat offramp, particularly through a recently announced partnership with Kraken. It has tapped Fireblocks to power stablecoin settlements for global wires.
“MoneyGram has long served as critical infrastructure powering global money movement,” MoneyGram CEO Anthony Soohoo said in a statement. “Tempo, as a purpose-built blockchain that shares our focus on solving real consumer problems, is a natural partner and a direct expression of that commitment.”
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]
Kik founder’s latest app Flipcash first to tap Coinbase’s stablecoin-as-a-service platform
Flipcash has tapped Coinbase’s Custom Stablecoin platform to launch a native stablecoin on Solana, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
The token, USDF, will be used for “cash-like payments” within the Flipcash app, the platform founded by Kik creator Ted Livingston that enables users to create and trade their own fixed-supply “community currencies.”
USDF will be pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and fully backed by USDC. Coinbase’s custom stablecoin platform handles issuance, reserves, compliance, and other features.
“We launched USDF with Coinbase because they delivered everything we needed to power a seamless consumer experience in Flipcash,” Livingston said. “Their team has been impressive, both in how fast they move and how thoughtful they are about the end user.”
Coinbase rolled out its stablecoin-as-a-service offering in late 2025, enabling companies to launch branded stablecoins without needing to spin up their own infrastructure or handle other compliance-heavy aspects of token issuance.
Flipcash’s USDF is the first Coinbase-powered stablecoin to hit the market, according to Livingston, though Solflare and R2 were also announced as early partners.
Paxos arguably has the most widely adopted stablecoin-as-a-service platform, having issued PayPal’s PYUSD and Binance’s now-defunct BUSD, among others. Though it has become an increasingly competitive field, with Stripe-owned Bridge and custodians like Anchorage, among others, launching stablecoin issuance platforms.
The move comes on the heels of Hyperliquid tapping Coinbase as its official USDC treasury deployer.
Flipcash is a digital payments app built on Solana. Livingston is also the founder of the Kik messaging platform, which launched a token called Kin that was subject to a multi-year Securities and Exchange Commission probe.
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]
Hyperliquid ETF attracted $22.30 million in the first week, analysis shows growth in “real institutional demand”
Spot ETF products related to Hyperliquid recorded net inflows of approximately $22.30 million in their first week of listing. Market analysts believe this reflects strong institutional demand and the expansion of the on-chain derivatives ecosystem.
Data shows that Hyperliquid currently accounts for more than 42% of the fee share in the on-chain derivatives market, significantly ahead of the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems. Analysts believe that the buyback and burn mechanism of its token HYPE further strengthens the transmission effect of ETF fund flows on prices.
Previously, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated that the continuous increase in THYP trading volume is a “positive signal of increased organic demand” and pointed out that Hyperliquid’s high fee income may be an important reason for fund attention.
[The Block]
Fireblocks Joins the x402 Foundation and Launches the Agentic Payments Suite
Fireblocks, a digital asset infrastructure platform, has announced the launch of its “Agentic Payments Suite,” an AI Agent payment framework supporting the x402 protocol, and simultaneously announced its membership in the x402 Foundation.
The suite reportedly covers the entire AI Agent payment lifecycle, including wallet infrastructure for Agents to initiate transfers, merchant收款 layers, and settlement and risk management functionalities tailored for compliant financial institutions.
[Cointelegraph]
Gate.io Founder and CEO Dr. Han: Regulatory clarity and TradFi integration are key trends
According to a recent video interview by Cointelegraph, Gate founder and CEO Dr. Han stated that the crypto industry is gradually shifting from a speculative-driven market to a phase of infrastructure development and real-world applications.
Dr. Han pointed out that stablecoins, RWA, AI, and asset tokenization are becoming the core directions of the industry, while clearer regulatory frameworks (such as the CLARITY Act) are expected to further promote innovation in DeFi, payments, and on-chain finance.
Dr. Han also mentioned that high user entry barriers, security risks, and liquidity fragmentation remain significant challenges for the industry. In the future, the crypto industry will further integrate with traditional finance and play a more important role in areas such as payments, settlement, and the circulation of digital assets.
Gate continues to deepen its multi-asset and TradFi layout. In addition to expanding into stocks, metals, foreign exchange, indices, and commodities, the platform has launched Pre-IPOs and listed its first project, SpaceX (SPCX). At the same time, as one of the first CEX platforms to integrate with Polymarket, Gate is continuously promoting the development of the prediction market ecosystem, accelerating the construction of a comprehensive trading platform covering both crypto and traditional finance.
[Odaily Planet Daily News]
Strategy CEO: 13 out of the top 15 institutional shareholders increased their holdings of MSTR in Q1, with a total increase of 27.00% in holdings
Strategy CEO Phong Le stated that in Q1 2026, 13 out of Strategy’s top 15 institutional shareholders increased their holdings of $MSTR, with a total increase in holdings of 27.00%.
[ChainCatcher]
In the past 24 hours, the entire network contract爆仓 was $148.00 million, with both long and short positions being liquidated.
On May 20, according to CoinAnk data, the total liquidation amount across the cryptocurrency market’s futures contracts over the past 24 hours reached $148 million, including $61.373 million in long positions and $86.3449 million in short positions.
The total liquidation amount for BTC was $25.8557 million, and for ETH it was $18.8148 million.
[PANews]
Today’s Market Pulse
The crypto market reveals a clear bifurcation between long-term institutional adoption of infrastructure and short-term volatility. While major ETFs experience outflows, specialized platforms like Hyperliquid attract institutional interest, signaling a shift from pure speculation to real-world applications.
Key Themes
Regulatory Frameworks and Real-World Assets
What’s happening: Plume secured a Bermuda license for what it claims is the first regulated onchain vault manager, while Variational raised $50M for RWA derivatives on Arbitrum. These developments represent significant steps toward regulated tokenization of real-world assets.
Why it matters: Regulatory clarity is accelerating the tokenization of real-world assets, moving beyond the experimental phase into legitimate financial products.
Near-term implication: Expect more institutional capital to flow into RWA platforms as regulatory frameworks mature, potentially creating new asset classes and investment opportunities.
Stablecoin Expansion and Enterprise Adoption
What’s happening: Coinbase and Flipcash launched USDF on Solana, while MoneyGram joined Stripe’s Tempo blockchain as an anchor validator. Fireblocks also launched its Agentic Payments Suite supporting AI agent transactions.
Why it matters: Enterprise adoption of blockchain infrastructure is accelerating, with traditional financial institutions integrating stablecoins for payments and settlements.
Near-term implication: Increased enterprise adoption could drive significant transaction volume growth for blockchain networks, particularly those with established compliance frameworks.
ETF Flows and Market Sentiment
What’s happening: Crypto ETFs saw $1.1 billion in weekly outflows, the third-largest of 2026, though Bitcoin ETFs remain up $3.9B year-to-date. Meanwhile, Hyperliquid ETF attracted $22.3M in its first week, indicating demand for specialized exposure.
Why it matters: ETF outflows suggest broader market hesitation, but specialized products are finding traction, indicating a shift in institutional preferences.
Near-term implication: Market sentiment may remain volatile until broader macro clarity emerges, but specialized platforms with clear value propositions could outperform.
Market Volatility and Trading Activity
What’s happening: The crypto market saw $148 million in liquidations over 24 hours, with both long and short positions affected. A whale opened a 10x short position on HYPE with a liquidation price of $60.90.
Why it matters: High leverage and concentrated positions are creating significant volatility, particularly in altcoin markets.
Near-term implication: Expect continued volatility in leveraged markets, potentially creating opportunities for disciplined traders while posing risks to highly leveraged positions.
RichSilo Verdict
Smart money should focus on the convergence of regulatory clarity, institutional adoption, and real-world asset tokenization as the primary drivers of value in the current market cycle. Monitor developments in the RWA space, particularly platforms with regulatory frameworks like Plume, and watch how enterprise adoption of stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure evolves. The bifurcation between traditional crypto ETFs and specialized platforms suggests that differentiation and clear use cases will be key factors in attracting institutional capital, while high leverage in markets like HYPE indicates potential volatility that could create both opportunities and risks.
