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U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with technology shares strengthening, Dell surging, and oil prices stabilizing. U.S. Treasury yields approached 5%, and global stock markets may face a 5%-8% correction. Trump said the strikes on Iran would end soon and that the Strait of Hormuz would be renamed the Trump Strait. The former British prime minister warned that failure to control debt would force emergency spending cuts. The Beige Book said the U.S. economy grew moderately, with AI and data centers serving as key supports. Tron’s USDT supply surpassed Ethereum’s for the first time. Broadcom’s Q3 results exceeded expectations, and its AI revenue guidance was raised. Robinhood Chain generated $3.75 million in daily fees, exceeding the combined total of Solana, ETH, and Base.

A U.S. court sentenced Meta-1 Coin operator Robert Dunlap to 23 years in prison for defrauding approximately 1,000 investors of more than $20 million. He claimed the token was backed by gold reserves and valuable paintings and promised high returns, while providing falsified audit materials. The assets did not exist in reality; the funds were used for lavish spending, and the token was never issued on-chain. The SEC filed a civil fraud lawsuit in 2020, but Dunlap was not criminally charged until 2024. The FBI said the case destroyed substantial wealth and trust among the victims.

The Reppo Foundation has completed a $20 million funding round backed by BoltsCapital to address the bottleneck in AI training data. Through a market mechanism that stakes tokens based on the accuracy of judgments, it has created a self-correcting labeling system that incentivizes high-quality data. The platform’s trading volume has exceeded $2 million as it expands its infrastructure, demonstrating that decentralized networks can outperform centralized labeling services. Institutional investors are betting that the protocol can convert human opinions into on-chain verifiable signals needed by AI companies, bypassing data silos.

ME News, May 3 (UTC+8), the Iranian Embassy in South Africa posted an image of U.S. President Trump on social media platform X with the caption: “Pirate or President?” Previously, Trump had likened the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to an act of piracy, calling it “a very profitable thing.” (Source: PANews)

ME News reported on May 3 (UTC+8) that prediction market data showed the probability of “Yes” for “Will Lovable be acquired before 2027?” in the event “Which companies will be acquired before 2027?” rose from 13.5% to 35.5%, an increase of 22.0 percentage points in a single day.

Figure Technology Solutions CEO Cagney said the company is using blockchain to rebuild credit infrastructure by tightly integrating real-world assets, securitization, and DeFi to reduce intermediation costs and improve liquidity. Lending surpassed $1 billion in March, with approximately $2.9 billion in loans originated in Q1, or about $12 billion annualized. The company has launched the YLDS stablecoin and an on-chain credit vault on Solana, plans to enter the Ethereum ecosystem, and is exploring stock tokenization and on-chain securities lending. The value of blockchain lies in rewriting the abstraction layer of finance.

The Federal Reserve is shifting internally from a dovish stance toward neutrality, discussing the conditions under which it might resume raising rates rather than simply cutting them. Three regional presidents opposed continuing to frame the outlook as “the next move is more likely to be a rate cut,” while Dallas’s Logan said rates could move either up or down in the future. Powell acknowledged the shift toward neutrality, saying that if rate hikes become necessary, the Fed would first adopt neutral guidance before moving toward a tightening bias. Elevated energy prices, risks surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, and escalating tensions in the Middle East are increasing inflation risks and weakening expectations for rate cuts this year.

ME News reported on May 4 that Nominis analysis found that the Iran-related crypto wallets newly seized by OFAC exhibit on-chain characteristics different from the IRGC’s previous patterns, suggesting the possible involvement of actors from other countries. The Treasury Department froze more than $340 million in the Operation Economic Fury action, bringing the total Iran-related assets frozen to nearly $500 million. IRGC wallets typically favor dispersion, maintain low balances, and avoid long-term holdings; the differences have raised questions about the proportion directly controlled by the IRGC and whether they overlap with other countries’ financial networks. Levi noted that organizations including the IRGC and potential Chinese state actors are upgrading their blockchain infrastructure, making static risk labels insufficient and behavioral analysis and address clustering increasingly important.

According to a CoinDesk-commissioned survey of 1,000 U.S. voters, only 1% view cryptocurrency as the most important issue in the 2026 midterm elections, with the cost of living ranking first. Most voters hold negative views of crypto; 27% have invested in or used it, while another 27% may participate in the future. Forty-seven percent believe Republicans are more crypto-friendly, compared with 14% who say the same of Democrats; however, when it comes to trusting the parties to manage crypto policy, Democrats narrowly lead Republicans, while 40% trust neither party. Although crypto is not a core issue, about 40% of voters would be willing to vote for candidates whose views on crypto align with their own.

On May 4, SpaceX is set to launch a massive IPO, prompting major Wall Street funds to aggressively adjust their holdings. About a week ago, a private jet bearing the SpaceX logo flew nearly 200 fund investors to Texas for a roadshow. Demand was extremely strong, with every seat filled. With the listing imminent, the market is abuzz with talk that investors are selling tech stocks to subscribe to SpaceX, potentially involving tens of billions of dollars.

As of 2025, Starlink had approximately 7.8 million users worldwide, a significant increase from 2021, but its average monthly ARPU declined by approximately 18%. The company is expanding in emerging markets through low-cost plans, with growth mainly coming from Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia. Although its high-margin businesses are growing rapidly, they account for a limited share. Analysts say it is transitioning from premium satellite internet to mass-market global broadband to spread costs and expand its global influence.

The G7 Cybersecurity Working Group warns that quantum computing poses a threat to government, business, and economic security. A migration to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is needed as soon as possible, but the process could take years. Attackers can already store data and decrypt it once powerful quantum computers emerge, potentially compromising digital signatures and identities. Public-key systems such as Bitcoin have not yet been cracked, but post-quantum solutions are being explored. Ethereum, Solana, and others are testing replacement components, while governments are urged to strengthen public-private cooperation and national PQC strategies.

U.S. August employment data came in stronger than expected, lifting expectations for a September rate hike, while Wall Street risk assets showed no signs of panic. Labor-market resilience pushed up Treasury yields and the dollar. The S&P 500 fell on Friday but still gained for the week. Credit spreads remain low, and corporate bond ETFs and equity index futures have yet to show signs of stress. Market resilience is being driven by economic growth and AI-driven capital spending, with focus shifting to inflation and the Federal Reserve’s policy path. If yields continue to rise, investors may be prompted to reduce risk exposure.

According to a CoinDesk-commissioned survey of 1,000 U.S. voters, only 1% consider cryptocurrency the most important issue in the 2026 midterm elections, with the cost of living ranking first. Most voters hold negative views of crypto; 27% have invested in or used it, while another 27% may participate in the future. While 47% believe the Republican Party is more crypto-friendly and 14% say the same of the Democratic Party, Democrats slightly surpass Republicans in terms of whom voters trust to manage crypto-related affairs. Meanwhile, 40% say they trust neither party. Despite crypto not being a core issue, about 40% of voters would be willing to vote for a candidate whose views on crypto align with their own.

Google Quantum AI’s latest white paper estimates that the number of physical qubits needed to break the core cryptographic systems of cryptocurrencies has fallen to approximately 500,000, about 20 times lower than previous estimates, bringing the quantum threat into the realm of quantifiable medium-term risk. Attacks would focus on elliptic-curve signatures, covering both transactions in transit and attacks on assets at rest. Approximately 6.9 million Bitcoin, or about 33% of the total supply, and a large number of Ethereum accounts have exposed public keys, creating risk. Although the hardware gap remains, algorithmic optimization is continuing, and Q-Day is expected to arrive between 2028–2035, with the bottleneck in migration lying in governance rather than technology.

As of 2025, Starlink had approximately 7.8 million users worldwide, representing significant growth from 2021, but its average monthly ARPU declined by approximately 18%. The company has expanded in emerging markets through low-priced plans, with growth primarily coming from Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia. Although high-margin businesses are growing rapidly, they account for a limited share. Analysts say Starlink is transitioning from a premium satellite internet service to mass-market global broadband in order to spread costs and expand its global influence.

ME News, May 3 (UTC+8) — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that the New York Stock Exchange has submitted a rule change proposal to allow tokenized securities to be traded within the existing market system. The proposal is based on the DTC’s three-year pilot and supports clearing and settlement via blockchain. Tokenized securities must have the same identifiers and shareholder rights as traditional securities and be traded on the same order book, subject to the same matching and regulatory rules, with settlement remaining T+1. The rule has taken effect, but regulators may suspend it and conduct further review within 60 days. (Source: MLion)

ME News reported on May 4 that Nominis’ analysis found the on-chain characteristics of the Iranian-linked crypto wallets newly seized by OFAC differed from the IRGC’s previous patterns, suggesting the possible involvement of actors from other countries. The Treasury Department froze more than $340 million in assets and nearly $500 million in Iranian-linked assets in total during Operation Economic Fury. IRGC wallets have typically favored dispersal, low balances, and avoiding long-term holdings; this discrepancy has raised questions about the proportion directly controlled by the IRGC and whether they overlap with other countries’ financial networks. Levi noted that organizations including the IRGC and potential Chinese state actors are upgrading their blockchain infrastructure, making static risk-control labels insufficient and behavioral analysis and address clustering increasingly important.

ME News, May 4 (UTC+8) — Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said that an open mind is needed regarding the future of interest rate policy, and that the longer the war continues, the greater the inflationary pressure will be. In some cases, the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates, and even if the war ends completely now, it would still take several months for supply chains to recover. He is very concerned about the downside risks posed by the war. The challenge facing the Federal Reserve is the uncertainty surrounding the path of inflation. He looks forward to working together after Warsh’s nomination is confirmed and is open to some of the concerns expressed by Warsh. (Source: PANews)

Fed officials said inflation data will be the most critical factor in determining whether to raise interest rates ahead of the September 15-16 policy meeting, while the framework of keeping rates unchanged remains in place. Strong August employment data did not change the framework but removed an obstacle to a rate hike; if August employment had remained weak, the case against tightening would have been more compelling. However, August employment reversed July’s negative growth, and the six-month average pace of hiring rose to its highest level in more than two years, so the case against a rate hike no longer holds.

ME News reported on May 3 (UTC+8) that the Iranian Embassy in South Africa posted an image of U.S. President Trump on the social platform X, with the caption: “Pirate or President?” Previously, Trump had compared the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to piracy, calling it “a very profitable thing.” (Source: PANews)