Gate Insights and Crypto Market Analysis

Oil Shocks and Inflation Fears Drive Markets Higher on 18 May Geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran are driving crude oil prices higher as peace negotiations remain stalled, intensifying global inflation concerns and shifting central bank expectations toward rate hikes. The

Strategic Partnership Overview AI-powered data intelligence platform TradingRazor and decentralized autonomous organization M3 DAO announced a strategic partnership on May 18, 2026, aimed at improving access to sophisticated trading intelligence across the Web3 ecosystem. Through the

Trae Stephens, co-founder of Anduril and partner at Founders Fund, believes most venture capital rejections are polite lies designed to mask personal rejection of the founder rather than genuine concerns about the business. Speaking on a Kleiner Perkins video series, Stephens argued that investors t

Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. recorded their largest single-day net outflows since January 29 on Monday, with $648.6 million in net outflows across seven funds, according to data from SoSoValue. This extended last week's total net outflows of $1 billion, which ended a six-week

Minnesota has enacted legislation allowing banks and credit unions to offer cryptocurrency custody services. Governor Tim Walz signed HF 3709 into law on Friday, with an effective date of August 1, 2026. The bill permits "certain virtual-currency custody services to be offered and performed" by bank

Swan Bitcoin faces a Delaware bankruptcy lawsuit over allegations it withdrew approximately US$1 billion in digital assets from Prime Trust before the crypto custodian's collapse in 2023. The PCT Litigation Trust, which is handling recovery efforts tied to Prime Core Technologies' bankruptcy

The bank, which is currently the third largest financial institution in Brazil, confirmed that it had found a partner to enter the cryptocurrency custody business, including stablecoins. Bradesco’s head of innovation also indicated that the bank had an internal structure dedicated to digital

Solana strengthened its position in institutional tokenisation and payments during Q1 2026, with real-world asset lending deposits, stablecoin settlement volumes, and tokenised trading activity all rising as broader crypto trading cooled. According to a Messari report, Solana captured 41% of

Pi Network's V23 upgrade has entered its final phase as Mainnet node operators race to complete migration before the network-wide deadline. Testnet 1 and Testnet 2 have already fully transitioned to Protocol V23, while Mainnet continues operating on V22 during the final synchronization stage.

Bitcoin-focused DeFi protocol Echo suffered an exploit on Monday, with the attack first flagged by pseudonymous crypto influencer DCF GOD on X at around 5:55 p.m. ET. According to onchain analytics, the attacker minted 1,000 eBTC — Echo Protocol's bitcoin liquidity token issued on Monad — and

Minnesota has enacted legislation permitting banks and credit unions to offer cryptocurrency custody services, with Governor Tim Walz signing HF 3709 into law on Friday. The bill takes effect on August 1, 2026, as the state continues establishing regulatory frameworks for crypto-related financial se

Bitcoin Depot filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on May 18, taking its Bitcoin ATM network offline amid tightening state regulations, lower transaction limits, litigation, and declining revenue. The company, which operated more than 9,000 kiosk locations globally as of August 2025 an

Ethereum's staking participation has climbed from 29% to 31% despite the token losing 26% of its value year-to-date, according to blockchain data shared by Wu Blockchain on May 19, 2026. The metric signals that long-term holders continue locking ETH into staking contracts rather than selling

Echo Protocol, which operates on the Monad blockchain, suffered a major security breach on Tuesday when an attacker minted approximately 1,000 unauthorized eBTC tokens, resulting in roughly $76.7 million worth of synthetic Bitcoin created without authorization. Blockchain security firms PeckShield a

Reliance Industries, an Indian conglomerate, is in talks with China's CATL and other suppliers to purchase battery energy storage system components for its Jamnagar plant in Gujarat. The negotiations come as Reliance adjusts its renewable energy plans in response to tighter Chinese curbs on battery

Bitcoin-focused DeFi protocol Echo suffered an exploit on Monday, with onchain analysts confirming approximately $816,000 stolen. The attack targeted Echo Protocol's eBTC token—a bitcoin liquidity token issued on Monad—and was first flagged by crypto influencer DCF GOD on X at around 5:55 p.m. ET Mo

Minnesota has enacted legislation permitting banks and credit unions to offer cryptocurrency custody services. Governor Tim Walz signed HF 3709 into law on Friday, marking the state's formal entry into crypto custody regulation. The bill takes effect on August 1, 2026. According to Rep. Bernie

The U.S. Federal Reserve released its 2025 Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households report on October 13, revealing that one in ten American adults has held or used digital assets for financial transactions in the past year. However, investment activity far outpaces actual payment or remittance use, a