MARA Holdings reported an increase in Bitcoin mining activity for March, producing 829 BTC and winning 242 blocks, a 17% rise from February. This marks the company’s third-highest monthly block count, according to a company note. The increase comes as…

MARA’s mining pool drives March surge in BTC production and rewards

Ethereum price found support at $2,320 and started a fresh increase. ETH is 
now rising and might aim for a move above the $2,650 resistance zone. Ethereum 
started a decent increase above the $2,450 and $2,500 levels. The price is 
trading above $2,500 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There was a 
break above a connecting bearish trend line with resistance at $2,530 on the 
hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair could gain strength 
if it clears the $2,650 resistance in the near term. Ethereum Price Regains 
Traction Ethereum price started a downside correction below the $2,450 level, 
unlike Bitcoin. ETH traded below the $2,400 and $2,350 support levels. 
However, the bulls were active near the $2,300 zone. A low was formed at 
$2,308 and the price started a fresh increase. There was a move above the 
$2,450 and $2,500 levels. The price surpassed the 61.8% Fib retracement level 
of the downward move from the $2,583 swing high to the $2,308 low. Besides, 
there was a break above a connecting bearish trend line with resistance at 
$2,530 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. Ethereum price is now trading above 
$2,540 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. The price is also above the 
76.4% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $2,583 swing high to 
the $2,308 low. On the upside, the price could face resistance near the $2,580 
level. The next key resistance is near the $2,600 level. The first major 
resistance is near the $2,650 level. A clear move above the $2,650 resistance 
might send the price toward the $2,720 resistance. An upside break above the 
$2,720 resistance might call for more gains in the coming sessions. In the 
stated case, Ether could rise toward the $2,780 resistance zone or even $2,840 
in the near term. Another Decline In ETH? If Ethereum fails to clear the 
$2,650 resistance, it could start a fresh decline. Initial support on the 
downside is near the $2,520 level. The first major support sits near the 
$2,450 zone. A clear move below the $2,450 support might push the price toward 
the $2,420 support. Any more losses might send the price toward the $2,320 
support level in the near term. The next key support sits at $2,250. Technical 
Indicators Hourly MACD – The MACD for ETH/USD is gaining momentum in the 
bullish zone. Hourly RSI &#8211; The RSI for ETH/USD is now above the 50 zone. Major 
Support Level – $2,450 Major Resistance Level – $2,650

Ethereum Price Flashes Bullish Signal, But Can It Power Through Obstacles?

The US Securities and Exchange Commission&#8217;s sole Democratic Commissioner has 
said the agency is &#8220;playing a game of regulatory Jenga&#8221; with its approach to 
the crypto industry and market regulation under the Trump administration.
In May 19 remarks at the SEC Speaks event, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw 
cautioned against what she described as a dangerous dismantling of &#8220;discrete 
but interrelated rules&#8221; on crypto and the wider market.
She likened market stability to a &#8220;Jenga tower&#8221; that the agency&#8217;s rules had 
&#8220;carefully developed over the years,&#8221; which could topple if some rules were 
removed.
In addition to a lamentable loss of staff, Crenshaw said the SEC has used 
staff guidance to effectively reverse rules without proper analysis or public 
comment, particularly around crypto
&gt; &#8220;Our statements on these crypto-related issues are the equivalent of a wink 
&gt; and nod intended to convey that we do not plan to rigorously apply our laws 
&gt; in certain, specific situations.&#8221;
She added that the regulator has abandoned enforcement actions, especially in 
crypto markets, creating what she calls &#8220;regulation by non-enforcement.&#8221;
&#8220;I am deeply troubled by the Commission&#8217;s abandonment of swaths of our 
enforcement program,&#8221; she said.
_SEC Commissioner Crenshaw. Source: SEC_
Crenshaw, the SEC&#8217;s last remaining Democrat commissioner, said the agency&#8217;s 
&#8220;about-face&#8221; is problematic for a host of reasons, such as corroding its 
reputation in court, undermining its credibility, and casting doubt on the 
state of &#8220;longstanding and fundamental case law.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**SEC is scaling back its crypto enforcement unit: Report**_
Crenshaw, who had also opposed the SEC&#8217;s settlement with Ripple, said in her 
latest remarks that the 2022 FTX collapse was an example of what a &#8220;large- 
scale crypto crisis&#8221; can look like.
&#8220;Those risks have not gone away, but the calls for serious regulatory scrutiny 
are a lot quieter these days,&#8221; she said.
&gt; &#8220;Failing to appreciate and address these risks and complexities destines us 
&gt; to repeat hard lessons with high stakes as crypto becomes increasingly 
&gt; entangled with traditional finance.&#8221;
In comparison, remarks from the SEC&#8217;s Republican commissioners welcomed the 
agency&#8217;s embrace of the crypto sector.
## Crypto was &#8220;languishing in SEC limbo&#8221;
SEC chair Paul Atkins said at the SEC Speaks event that &#8220;crypto markets have 
been languishing in SEC limbo for years,&#8221; adding that the agency should not be 
in the business of stifling innovation of crypto companies.
Commissioner Hester Peirce, who heads the SEC&#8217;s Crypto Task Force, said in 
remarks that the agency&#8217;s approach under the Biden administration has &#8220;evaded 
sound regulatory practice and must be corrected.&#8221;
She also claimed that crypto did not come under the purview of securities laws 
because &#8220;most currently existing crypto assets in the market&#8221; are not 
securities.
&gt; &#8220;Even if a broad swath of the crypto assets trading in secondary markets 
&gt; today were initially offered and sold subject to an investment contract, 
&gt; they clearly are no longer bought and sold in securities transactions. Many 
&gt; of these crypto assets are functional.&#8221;
Commissioner Mark Uyeda echoed the sentiment of his peers, stating that the 
SEC &#8220;should undertake efforts to provide assurances that regulation by 
enforcement will not be a tool used for future policymaking.&#8221;
_**Magazine:**__**Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins &#8216;powerful rally&#8217; 
looms: Hodler&#8217;s Digest**_

SEC’s Crenshaw says agency playing ‘regulatory Jenga’ with crypto

A quant has pointed out how the Mayer Multiple could suggest Bitcoin is still 
not overheated at $103,000 when compared to past trend. Bitcoin Mayer Multiple 
Z-Score Is Still Under Its Mean In a post on X, quant Frank has talked about 
how the Mayer Multiple of Bitcoin is looking right now. The &#8220;Mayer Multiple&#8221; 
here refers to an indicator that keeps track of the ratio between the BTC spot 
price and its 200-day moving average (MA). In other words, the metric 
represents the distance that the asset&#8217;s value has from the 200-day MA. The 
200-day MA is a level that&#8217;s generally considered as an important boundary 
between macro bullish and bearish trends in the cryptocurrency, so it can be 
useful to know how far the coin is from this line. Related Reading: Bitcoin Up 
$18,000, But HODLer Profits Same As On April 1—Here’s Why In the context of 
the current discussion, the Mayer Multiple itself isn&#8217;t of interest, but 
rather its Z-Score. The Mayer Multiple Z-Score is an oscillator that tracks 
how much deviation the indicator has from its mean value. Now, here is the 
chart for the metric shared by the analyst: As is visible in the top graph, 
the Bitcoin price saw a dip under the 200-day MA during the earlier market 
downturn, but with the latest recovery run, it has broken back above the line. 
It would seem, though, that the asset hasn&#8217;t gained too much distance over the 
level so far, at least in historical context. And indeed, the Mayer Multiple 
Z-Score (bottom graph) confirms this, as its value is currently below zero. 
The zero level corresponds to the all-time mean of the Mayer Multiple. As 
such, a negative value like the current one suggests the metric is less than 
the average over history. More specifically, 53% of all days have witnessed 
the ratio being higher than the latest level. Based on this, the quant notes 
that Bitcoin remains relatively cool even at its current $103,000 price. From 
the chart, it&#8217;s visible that while the Z-Score is still negative, it&#8217;s much 
improved compared to the lows from earlier in the year. It&#8217;s possible that if 
BTC continues its bullish momentum, it will be challenging the zero level 
soon. Related Reading: Bitcoin Could See Short-Term Holder Selloff Around 
These Levels, Analyst Says In the current cycle, the Mayer Multiple has been 
higher than its mean on a few occasions already, with the largest separation 
occurring in the rally from Q1 2024, where the Z-Score surged above the level 
corresponding to a standard deviation of 1. So far, though, the Bitcoin Mayer 
Multiple hasn&#8217;t deviated to the same degree as during the bull run from the 
first half of 2021. It now remains to be seen whether the metric would heat up 
to similar levels in this cycle as well or not. BTC Price At the time of 
writing, Bitcoin is trading around $102,700, down 1.5% over the last seven 
days. Featured image from Dall-E, checkonchain.com, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin At $103,000 Relatively Cool Per This Indicator, Quant Says

Ripple is revolutionizing cross-border finance in the UAE, launching with Zand 
and Mamo just months after securing groundbreaking regulatory approval, 
unleashing real-time blockchain-powered payments. Ripple Payments Gains First 
Major Foothold in UAE with Zand and Mamo Integration Ripple announced on May 
19 that Zand Bank and Mamo have become the first customers in the United […]

Ripple Expands in UAE With License Powering Blockchain Payment Surge

Crypto exchange Binance has asked a US federal judge to send all members of a 
class-action lawsuit alleging it sold securities to arbitration, arguing that 
the group waived their ability to form a class action under the company&#8217;s 
terms.
The exchange said in a May 16 filing to a New York federal court that its 
terms of service, which it claimed the class group agreed to, has a clause 
that users agree to arbitrate all claims, along with a clause preventing users 
from launching class actions against the crypto exchange.
&#8220;The Court should hold that Plaintiffs are required to arbitrate claims that 
accrued after Feb. 20, 2019, even if the Court adheres to its initial decision 
as to claims that accrued before then and that the class-action waiver in the 
2019 Terms of Use is enforceable for all of Plaintiffs&#8217; claims,&#8221; Binance said.
_Binance argues that its terms of service have a clause about users agreeing 
to arbitrate all claims. Source: PACER_
In March, Judge Andrew Carter denied Binance&#8217;s request to have all of the 
class action&#8217;s claims sent to arbitration for users who bought tokens on the 
exchange between April 1, 2017, and Feb. 20, 2019, and partially denied the 
motion for users who bought tokens after 2019 until a decision could be made 
to what extend the arbitration clause would apply. 
Binance said in its latest filings that it updated its terms in February 2019 
to include the arbitration clause and argued that an earlier version of the 
terms of service included a clause that informed users that Binance could 
amend the terms as needed without any individual notice..
## Binance case was previously dismissed
Judge Carter had sided with Binance and dismissed the suit in March 2022. 
Binance had argued that it isn&#8217;t beholden to US securities laws because it 
doesn&#8217;t have a physical headquarters in the country.
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned that decision in 
March 2024, and the Supreme Court later declined to hear Binance&#8217;s appeal in 
January of that year.
_**Related:**__**US judge transfers Binance lawsuit to Florida, citing first- 
to-file rule**_
Binance&#8217;s legal entanglements in the US have escalated since mid-2023, when 
the Securities and Exchange Commission sued the company for selling 
unregistered securities, which was settled for $4.3 billion in November 2023.
Binance was also slapped with a class action in Canada in April 2024 for 
allegedly violating securities laws after it announced its departure from the 
country in May 2023.
_**Magazine:**__**Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins &#8216; powerful rally&#8217; 
looms: Hodler&#8217;s Digest, May 11 &#8211; 17**_