[Midnight News Brief] Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says the likelihood of the Cryptocurrency Regulation Bill CLARITY passing has increased.

PANews reported that the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 6% year-over-year in April, exceeding market expectations of 4.9%.

The month-over-month increase was 1.4%, far above the market forecast of 0.5%. PPI is an indicator that reflects price movements during the business production stage; data above expectations may intensify concerns about inflation and uncertainty about the interest-rate path.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that the likelihood of passage of the U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory bill, the “CLARITY Act,” is “closer than ever.”

According to Odaily, Armstrong said the bill will make the U.S. financial system faster, cheaper, and more inclusive, and will help the U.S. maintain an advantage in competition for the next-generation global financial system.

He thanked relevant people in the U.S. Senate and the 3.7 million “Stand With Crypto” supporters, saying they have driven the progress in bill discussions to the current stage.

PANews, citing SoSoValue data, reported that on May 12, the total net outflow from U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs was $233 million.

The largest net outflow came from Fidelity’s FBTC, with a single-day net outflow of $86.1294 million. The cumulative net inflow of FBTC has reached $110.45 billion.

On the same day, the largest net inflow came from Morgan Stanley’s ETF MSBT, with an inflow of $6.0195 million. The cumulative net inflow of MSBT was $226 million.

As of the time of the report, the total net assets of Bitcoin spot ETFs were $107.312 billion, with ETF net assets accounting for 6.64% of Bitcoin’s total market value. The cumulative net inflow was $59.134 billion.

Odaily cited on-chain data analytics agencies as saying that BlackRock deposited 861 BTC (about $69.59 million) and 44,691 ETH (about $103.15 million) into Coinbase.

The on-chain data analytics agency also said there may be further deposits. Deposits to exchanges are often interpreted as preparations for selling.

According to PeckShield, the cross-chain unified protocol Transit Finance was hacked, with an estimated $1.88 million stolen.

The stolen funds are currently stored in address 0x8a63…8abA5 in the form of Dai. Cross-chain protocols are services that support transferring assets across multiple blockchains; a hack could result in losses to users’ funds.

Charles Schwab has begun phased access to crypto accounts for individual customers.

According to Odaily, the first batch of customers can directly trade Bitcoin and Ethereum on the Schwab platform and manage them alongside existing investment products such as stocks.

Charles Schwab is a large U.S. traditional financial institution, and opening this service is seen as an effort to expand individual investors’ access to cryptocurrencies.

Watcher.Guru reported that JPMorgan plans to launch an Ethereum-based tokenized money market fund.

This product is an extension of the trend of tokenizing traditional financial assets for issuance and trading on the blockchain. Previously, global financial institutions had been expanding tokenization businesses for real-world assets such as payments, bonds, and funds.

PANews, citing The Block, reported that Anchorage Digital signed a cooperation agreement with the Mexican enterprise group Grupo Salinas to provide stablecoin-based cross-border payment infrastructure.

Under the agreement, Coinpro, Grupo Salinas’s cryptocurrency business division, will connect to Anchorage’s stablecoin payment network. This move aims to support real-time USD payments based on blockchain technology and to meet the compliance, security, and governance requirements needed by large financial institutions.

The U.S. SOL spot ETF recorded a single-day net inflow of $19.069 million. The Bitwise Solana Staking ETF led the inflows.

According to PANews, based on SoSoValue data, as of May 12 Eastern Time, the overall net inflow of the U.S. SOL spot ETF was $19.069 million.

In terms of specific products, the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF had a net inflow of $15.9772 million, ranking first. The ETF’s cumulative net inflow was $899 million.

The Fidelity Solana fund ETF had a net inflow of $3.0918 million. Its cumulative net inflow was $168 million.

As of the time of the report, the total net assets of the U.S. SOL spot ETF were $1.057 billion, with SOL net assets accounting for 1.93% and the cumulative net inflow reaching $1.103 billion.

PANews, citing Bitcoin Magazine, reported that Square, Block’s payments company, has automatically enabled Bitcoin payment functionality for about 1 million U.S. merchants.

With this feature, customers can pay for Bitcoin using the Lightning Network, while merchants settle in USD. The conversion is processed in real time by the system.

This feature has been enabled by default for eligible U.S. merchants since March 30. Block said that during peak hours, a new merchant activates this feature every 8 seconds.

Miles Suter, Block’s Bitcoin product manager, said that Bitcoin should circulate as a practical means of payment; if it sits idle, its value as peer-to-peer cash will be weakened.