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CryptoWorld News reports that the local government states that Russia's strikes on the Odessa region of Ukraine have caused power outages for over 1,000 households.

Rubio testified at a congressional hearing that the U.S. is still negotiating with Iran, and it is uncertain when an agreement will be reached. Iran has agreed to negotiate on some issues related to its nuclear program, a change from a month ago. An agreement could be reached on that day, tomorrow, or next week, but there is no guarantee it will be approved by Congress. The U.S. has not proposed lifting sanctions or using frozen funds as conditions; any sanctions relief must be contingent on resolving Iran's nuclear program.

CryptoWorld News reports that earlier today, Trump stated that negotiations with Iran over a temporary peace agreement will "result in very good outcomes," despite renewed clashes between the two countries' forces near the Strait of Hormuz. Trump is currently under pressure to end this war, which has driven up energy prices and is unpopular with most Americans. However, if Washington unfreezes billions of dollars in Iranian funds at Tehran's request, he could face criticism that may follow, and he needs to strike a balance between the two. Trump's post today regarding the negotiations is his first statement since a White House Situation Room meeting on Friday, during which he said he would make a "final decision." However, as both sides continue negotiations on details such as Iran's high-enriched uranium stockpile and how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz (possibly after mine clearance), he has delayed that decision.

ME News Report, May 16 (UTC+8), the head of Iran's Parliament National Security Committee announced: Iran has prepared a set of mechanisms to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz along designated routes, with details to be announced soon. During this process, only commercial vessels and parties cooperating with Iran will benefit. Necessary fees will be charged to cover the professional services provided under this mechanism. The channel will remain closed to operators of the "Freedom Plan." (Source: PANews)

According to The Block, the United States has seized approximately $1 billion worth of Iranian cryptocurrency assets, nearly double the government's previous estimate. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated at the 2026 Reagan Economic Forum that Iran is stealing about $400 million to $500 million per month by evading sanctions and said that they have directly confiscated its wallets, and the involved parties may not have realized it yet. On April 29, he also stated that nearly $500 million worth of Iranian crypto assets have been seized.

The Central Bank of Russia submitted supplementary comments before the second reading of the crypto regulation bill, proposing to allow licensed financial intermediaries to promote services related to cryptocurrencies, but the advertisements must not include specific cryptocurrency names such as "Bitcoin," "Ethereum," "Solana," etc., because cryptocurrencies are considered high-risk assets. The report also states that the bill plans to introduce a license for crypto exchanges and permit non-qualified investors to purchase digital currencies within set limits established by the Central Bank of Russia after passing a test. (Bits Media)

The author describes themselves as an early investor, accusing the Ethereum Foundation of shifting the narrative from "We are building" to "We are infrastructure" between 2021 and 2023, using philosophy and ESG to mask poor execution and neglecting user experience. After the merge, ETH's price relative to BTC dropped about 65%, with native staking lacking user-friendly entry points and relying on Lido. The rollup approach weakens the base layer, and after EIP-4844, revenue has significantly declined, leading to ecosystem fund fragmentation. Solana has surpassed in user focus. Conclusion: ETH's market cap ceiling comes from execution debt, not coordination issues; the sell-off stems from abandoning asset appreciation strategies.

Garrett Jin pointed out that geopolitics is tied to the US dollar, with the Iran-Hormuz situation unresolved, and the White House denying peace agreements; U.S. Treasury yields remain at a 19-year high of 5.07–5.18%.
A market reversal requires two catalysts to coincide (credit, central bank policies, or geopolitics).
AI capital expenditure is spreading from the U.S. to Asia, with ByteDance potentially investing $70 billion this year, and Tencent and Alibaba also increasing spending.
AI competition has risen to a matter of sovereignty.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority responded by stating that on May 22, it issued additional regulatory requirements to all recognized institutions, proposing three measures for mainland China investment accounts: First, closing accounts opened with suspicious or forged documents (from January 2023 or during the instructed period); second, closing mainland China investment accounts with zero balances and no activity within 12 months; third, new accounts must obtain a written declaration confirming that the funds come from legitimate sources outside mainland China. The measures apply only to individual investment accounts, not to corporate/institutional clients, and do not involve non-investment function accounts.

Mars Finance News, according to Lookonchain monitoring, the whale 0x7be1 is going long on NEAR.
In the past 10 hours, it opened a long position with 2.34 million NEAR (worth $6.45 million) using 10x leverage,
and has placed an order at $2.46 to add another 813k NEAR (worth $2 million).