Structural Shifts Define Crypto Market Pulse (2026-05-31)

Analysis: The CME Bitcoin futures weekend gap will become history; bullish positioning has yet to form a clear trend.

May 31st news, Bitcoin trading is ushering in structural changes. Starting from May 29, 2026, CME Bitcoin futures will implement 7×24-hour all-weather trading, ending the “CME Gap” phenomenon caused by weekend shutdowns. This classic short-term technical indicator will no longer be generated.

The market has now completed the recent week’s Bitcoin CME gap filling, and the current price is hovering between the remaining gap intervals. Structural changes mean that traditional short-term technical analysis references will be reconstructed.

At this stage, large traders’ short positions continue to decline, and short-term short selling pressure has weakened, but the layout of long positions has not yet formed a clear trend, suggesting that Bitcoin’s short-term price may still fluctuate.

[Cointelegraph]

$96.1686 million in contracts were liquidated across the entire network in the past 24 hours, with both long and short positions liquidated.

On May 31, CoinAnk data showed that the total liquidation of cryptocurrency contracts across the network reached $96.1686 million in the past 24 hours. Among this, long positions accounted for $52.6133 million in liquidations, while short positions accounted for $43.5552 million.

Specifically, the total liquidation amount for BTC was $6.8575 million, and the total liquidation amount for ETH was $8.1804 million.

[PANews]

Fed Governor Waller: Stablecoin Adoption Would Amplify Policy Influence

Federal Reserve Governor Waller said at the 32nd Dubrovnik Economic Conference that the global popularity of stablecoins may amplify the influence of the Federal Reserve’s policies.

He pointed out that for countries that adopt stablecoins, this is like a fixed exchange rate system, which actually expands the scope of influence of U.S. monetary policy.

[ChainCatcher]

SoftBank Bets Up to €75 Billion on France in Massive AI Data Center Push

SoftBank Group is making a huge move in AI infrastructure in Europe, with plans to develop and operate a whopping 5 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in France.

The investment, which could reach up to 75 billion euros, is intended to meet surging demand for high-performance computing and position the country as a major European hub for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

According to an official release, the first phase of the project will include an initial €45 billion investment. It should deliver 3.1 GW of AI data center capacity in the Hauts-de-France region by the year 2031.

The facilities are planned for Bosquel, Bouchain, and Dunkirk, with SoftBank also eyeing additional sites across the country.

The announcement was made at the Choose France summit, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron. The firm said the investment will expand access to computing power for AI companies, enterprises, cloud providers, public institutions, as well as for research organizations.

Speaking on the matter, SoftBank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said: “AI is entering a new era, and the countries that build the infrastructure for this transformation will shape the future of technology, industry and society. SoftBank is proud to make this major commitment to France. With its industrial capabilities, talent base and national ambition, France is uniquely positioned to become a leading AI infrastructure hub in Europe.”

The move highlights the growing demand for computing power, while SoftBank also vows to create thousands of high-skilled jobs across engineering, data center development, robotics, operations, maintenance, advanced manufacturing, and more.

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MiniMax: Plans to list on the STAR Market

On May 31, according to a notice from MiniMax Group Inc. cited by JIN10, the Board of Directors announced that it has resolved to explore preliminary proposals for issuing RMB-denominated shares, which may involve entering into agreements with professional advisors and consulting and discussing with relevant securities or other regulatory authorities.

The company has engaged professional advisors to provide consultation on meeting the listing requirements for the STAR Market and has signed a tutoring agreement. The proposed issuance of RMB-denominated shares will be subject to market conditions and necessary regulatory approvals.

[PANews]

X Debunks Popular Engagement Myth on Pope Leo’s Tweet

X Head of Product Nikita Bier debunked a persistent social media myth on May 31, directly telling the Vatican’s account that embedding a link in an X post does not reduce its reach. The exchange followed @Pontifex, the Vatican’s official account, which posted an excerpt from Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, with a link to the full text on vatican.va. A user replied, advising the Pope to append the URL in a threaded reply for better algorithmic performance.

Bier entered the thread with a single-line response addressed to the head of the Catholic Church. As Head of Product, Bier oversees X’s ranking and recommendation architecture. His correction, therefore, carries as much official weight as any public statement on the subject can carry.

The belief that linking to off-platform destinations suppresses a post’s reach has circulated widely for years. This has pushed many social media teams toward workarounds like reply-threading links. Bier joined X in mid-2025 after building TBH and Gas, two viral social apps acquired by Facebook and Discord. His first year on the platform has been eventful, and not entirely on his own terms.

Earlier in 2026, he became the center of claims of crypto content suppression by cryptocurrency creators, who reported declining reach. A creator monetization rollback followed when Elon Musk paused a revenue-sharing overhaul within hours of announcement. Bier has also said the crypto bot spam problem may be unsolvable with existing technology. More recently, he previewed a crypto product on X to rebuild the platform’s relationship with digital assets.

The document he was commenting on carries different concerns. Pope Leo XIV signed Magnifica Humanitas on May 15, the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII’s foundational text on labor and industrialization. The 42,300-word encyclical on artificial intelligence argues that technological progress without corresponding ethical development produces only an increase in means, without genuine human betterment. Leo presented the text alongside Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah at the Vatican. The product chief’s one-line reply may serve as a small footnote to that argument.

Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: In the first quarter of 2026, the transaction volume of 12 licensed virtual asset trading platforms increased by nearly three times year-on-year.

Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Chairman Wong Tin-yu revealed in his latest speech that the trading volume of Hong Kong’s 12 licensed virtual asset trading platforms in 2025 has exceeded HK$640 billion, with the first-quarter trading volume this year surging nearly threefold year-on-year.

Moreover, brokerage firms engaged in virtual asset-related businesses saw their commission income from such activities increase by over 80% year-on-year last year.

[ChainCatcher]

This Week in Crypto: MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Fears Fade, $500M Claude Bill, Thiel Stock Halves

Crypto and its neighboring markets spent the week separating conviction from hype. Bitcoin (BTC) shook off sell-off fears and pushed its long-term floor higher, even as a $500 million AI bill and a 50% stock crash showed how fast unbacked bets unravel. That split ran through the week’s biggest names. SpaceX banked a $2.29 billion defense win, and Bitcoin holders bought weakness, while a runaway AI tab and a Las Vegas sports flop supplied the cautionary half.

MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder, withdrew 411.5 BTC worth about $30 million from Coinbase Prime hours after depositing it. The deposit was its first direct exchange move in nearly two years. The round trip eased fears that Michael Saylor was lining up a sale. Prediction-market odds of a 2026 sale eased but stayed high. The firm still holds 843,738 BTC and has bought none since May 18. Tom Lee’s BitMine bought the weakness too, adding 25,000 ether (ETH) for $50.6 million.

Bitcoin’s 200-week moving average has climbed past $61,000, up from $60,000 in early May. Blockstream CEO Adam Back flagged the move on May 30 as a long-term bull signal. The average smooths nearly four years of weekly closes and has marked every prior cycle bottom. Only the 2022 bear market saw a weekly close below it. With BTC near $73,600, the spot price sits roughly $12,600 above that rising floor. Back paired the chart with a discipline argument borrowed from the late Charlie Munger.

An unnamed enterprise client ran up a $500 million charge on Anthropic’s Claude AI in a single month, Axios reported. The cause was simple: nobody set usage limits or spending caps for thousands of employees. Microsoft later trimmed internal Claude Code licenses after per-engineer costs hit $500 to $2,000 a month. Uber reportedly exhausted its 2026 AI budget by April. Amazon even shut an internal AI leaderboard after staff gamed it with low-value prompts. The blowup is accelerating enterprise AI discipline across the sector.

SpaceX secured a $2.29 billion US Space Force contract to build the Space Data Network Backbone. The system will move secure military data over low-orbit satellites, with a prototype due by the end of 2027. It feeds the Pentagon’s wider Golden Dome plan and deepens Elon Musk’s role in national security. Rocket Lab (RKLB) climbed about 13% on the week. The deal also sharpens the SpaceX IPO speculation that crypto prediction markets keep pricing.

Enhanced Group (ENHA) closed the week as the market’s clearest hype check. The Peter Thiel-backed stock fell about 50% on Tuesday. A six-hour Las Vegas debut produced just one unofficial world record. The May 24 event paid a $25 million purse, and the company’s own data showed 91% of athletes used testosterone. Swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev set the lone record, while clean athletes won three events outright. The slide wiped close to $800 million from a firm that went public this month at a $1.2 billion valuation. The setup echoed another venture-backed spectacle in which a human intern recently outpacked a humanoid robot.

Michael Saylor has once again released Bitcoin Tracker information, and may disclose increased holdings data next week.

Michael Saylor, founder of Bitcoin treasury company Strategy, has once again released information regarding the Bitcoin Tracker.

Following previous patterns, Strategy always discloses its Bitcoin purchases the day after related announcements.

[ChainCatcher]

Analyst: BTC may experience a brief rebound in early June before falling further

Analyst Killa posted on X, stating that BTC declined at the June monthly close. Although a bearish monthly close for June is expected, a brief rebound may occur at the beginning of the month, followed by further declines.

[Odaily]

White House Economic Director Hassett calls on the public to view economic data fluctuations rationally.

May 31st, according to Jinshi reports, White House National Economic Council Director Hassett said on Sunday that the way the media reports on economic news often makes people overemphasize the most serious problems that exist at a particular moment.

Hassett said while attending ABC’s “This Week” program: “One thing I’ve noticed at the White House is that whenever a consumer price data point looks a little disappointing, we only talk about that one.” He made the above remarks regarding gasoline prices and their impact on inflation.

Hassett said that everyone should look at the big picture, not just energy prices or a sector of the economy that is temporarily experiencing difficulties. “What you should do is calmly look at these ups and downs and focus on the changes in real wages,” he said. “If you look closely, you will find that due to the increase in employment, the rise in the stock market, and the high profits of companies, this is being translated into higher salary levels.”

[PANews]

U.S. retail investors have outperformed institutional investors for two consecutive months, with excess returns reaching a record 16 percentage points in May.

The Kobeissi Letter posted on X, stating that in May, the stock portfolio favored by retail investors outperformed the portfolio favored by mutual funds by 16 percentage points—the largest single-month gap since data became available in 2018. This retail-favored stock portfolio includes large-cap tech stocks, such as the “Magnificent 7” and semiconductor stocks.

In April, retail investors had already achieved an excess return of 14 percentage points; the combined two-month outperformance marks a record high—surpassing the previous record of 13 percentage points set during the initial meme-stock frenzy at the end of 2020.

During the same period, total funds allocated by retail investors to semiconductor options contracts reached 4.9 times the historical monthly average—a new all-time high—and were approximately 25% higher than the prior record set in March 2024.

[Odaily]