Bitcoin Magazine US Justice Dept Disbands Bitcoin And Crypto Enforcement Unit In a major shift in federal oversight of bitcoin and crypto, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has officially disbanded its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), a specialized unit created under the Biden administration to investigate and prosecute criminal activity involving bitcoin and crypto. The move follows a directive from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, […] This post US Justice Dept Disbands Bitcoin And Crypto Enforcement Unit first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Vivek Sen Bitcoin.

US Justice Dept Disbands Bitcoin And Crypto Enforcement Unit

BTC and BNB could soon anchor Kyrgyzstan’s national crypto reserve as 
Binance’s founder joins forces with the country’s president to propel 
blockchain adoption and digital asset policy. CZ Pushes BTC and BNB Into 
Kyrgyzstan’s National Reserve Spotlight Binance founder and former CEO 
Changpeng Zhao (CZ) disclosed on May 5 via social media platform X that […]

Binance Founder Pushes BTC and BNB Into National Reserve Spotlight

Trump family-backed crypto platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is 
proposing to airdrop a small amount of its new US dollar-pegged stablecoin to 
reward early WLFI holders in a test of its airdrop mechanism.
With over 99% of votes in favor of the proposal already, the airdrop will 
distribute a small amount of USD1 to eligible holders of the WLFI token, 
according to the May 6 proposal in the WLFI governance forum.
&#8220;Testing the airdrop mechanism in a live setting is a necessary step to ensure 
smart contract functionality and readiness. This distribution also serves as a 
meaningful way to thank our earliest supporters and introduce them to USD1,&#8221; 
the proposal states.
&#8220;This will allow World Liberty Financial to validate the technical 
functionality of its airdrop system in a live environment while thanking early 
supporters of the project.&#8221;
_Source:__World Liberty Financial_ 
 _&#8217;_
The amount of USD1 is still to be determined but will be based on the total 
eligible wallets and budget, according to the proposal.
The date for the airdrop is also pending, and WLFI says it reserves the &#8220;right 
to discontinue, suspend, modify or terminate the test airdrop&#8221; at any time.
The vote is scheduled to close on May 14, and so far, those in favor are ahead 
with 2.6 billion, or 99.97% of tokens, used to vote yes. Those against the 
measure make up about 901,000 votes, or 0.03% of the vote so far.
_The airdrop vote will close on May 14, and so far, those in favor are way 
ahead in the poll. Source:__World Liberty Financial_
WLFI launched its stablecoin in early March. Since the platform&#8217;s launch in 
September, the crypto firm has also completed two public token sales, netting 
the firm a combined $550 million from the 85,000 registered holders.
## Other countries challenging US dollar stablecoins
The market cap of US dollar-denominated stablecoins crossed $230 billion in 
April, a report from investment banking giant Citigroup found, an increase of 
54% since last year, with Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC) dominating 90% of the 
market.
_**Related:**__**$1T stablecoin supply could drive next crypto rally &#8212; 
CoinFund&#8217;s Pakman**_
However, other countries have announced plans to launch stablecoins backed by 
currencies other than the US dollar.
On April 28, a trio of major Abu Dhabi institutions, including the Emirate&#8217;s 
sovereign wealth fund, announced a joint initiative to launch a new dirham- 
pegged stablecoin.
A Russian finance ministry official also floated a plan on April 16 for the 
country to develop its own stablecoin after a freeze on wallets linked to the 
sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex by US authorities and stablecoin issuer 
Tether.
_**Magazine:**__**Ridiculous &#8216;Chinese Mint&#8217; crypto scam, Japan dives into 
stablecoins: Asia Express**_

World Liberty Financial floats USD1 airdrop to WLFI holders

XRP price found support at $2.080 and started a fresh increase. The price is 
now facing resistance near $2.1650 and struggling to continue higher. XRP 
price started a recovery wave from the $2.080 zone. The price is now trading 
below $2.170 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There is a key bearish 
trend line forming with resistance near $2.160 on the hourly chart of the 
XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken). The pair might start another increase 
if there is a close above the $2.1680 resistance. XRP Price Recovery Could 
Fade XRP price started a downside correction below the $2.20 and $2.150 
levels, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The price even declined below the $2.120 
level before the bulls appeared. A low was formed at $2.0780 and the price is 
now correcting losses. There was a move above the $2.10 and $2.120 levels. The 
price cleared the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the 
$2.2579 swing high to the $2.078 low. However, the bears are active near the 
$2.1650 zone. There is also a key bearish trend line forming with resistance 
near $2.160 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The price is now trading 
below $2.170 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. On the upside, the 
price might face resistance near the $2.160 level. The first major resistance 
is near the $2.1680 level and the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward 
move from the $2.2579 swing high to the $2.078 low. The next resistance is 
$2.20. A clear move above the $2.20 resistance might send the price toward the 
$2.220 resistance. Any more gains might send the price toward the $2.250 
resistance or even $2.30 in the near term. The next major hurdle for the bulls 
might be $2.320. Another Decline? If XRP fails to clear the $2.160 resistance 
zone, it could start another decline. Initial support on the downside is near 
the $2.120 level. The next major support is near the $2.080 level. If there is 
a downside break and a close below the $2.080 level, the price might continue 
to decline toward the $2.050 support. The next major support sits near the 
$2.020 zone. Technical Indicators Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is now 
losing pace in the bullish zone. Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The 
RSI for XRP/USD is now above the 50 level. Major Support Levels – $2.120 and 
$2.080. Major Resistance Levels – $2.1680 and $2.20.

XRP Price Hits Resistance—Will the Bulls Push Through or Fade Away?

Coinbase has introduced a new payments protocol for online payments that 
enables stablecoin transfers over standard internet protocols and AI agents to 
transact autonomously. 
On May 6, Coinbase announced that it is launching a protocol called x402 for 
instant stablecoin payments directly over the internet communication protocol 
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol).
It allows Application Programming Interface (APIs), apps, and AI agents to 
transact seamlessly, &#8220;unlocking a faster, automated internet economy,&#8221; the 
firm stated.
Coinbase said that x402 &#8220;is fixing the internet&#8217;s first mistake.&#8221; The protocol 
resurrects the experimental HTTP 402 &#8220;Payment Required&#8221; status code to create 
a seamless payment system native to the internet.
The firm noted that traditional payment rails, such as credit cards, bank 
transfers and subscriptions, &#8220;were built for a pre-internet world.&#8221;
They&#8217;re slow, expensive, geographically limited, and &#8220;riddled with manual 
steps,&#8221; it added.
However, x402 embeds stablecoin payments directly into web interactions, 
requiring minimal code integration, and is designed for both humans and AI 
agents to transact value as easily as exchanging data.
_x402 payment flow. Source:__Coinbase_
The head of engineering at Coinbase Developer Platform and co-author of the 
x402 white paper, Erik Reppel, said, &#8220;We&#8217;re laying the groundwork for an 
economy run not just by people, but by software &#8212; autonomous, intelligent, 
and always on.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**Coinbase sees first crypto transaction between AI agents**_
Gagan Mac, vice president of product management at Circle, said x402 
&#8220;elegantly simplifies real-time monetization&#8221; and unlocks &#8220;exciting new use 
cases like micropayments for AI agents and apps.&#8221;
Coinbase is launching the new protocol in partnership with AWS (Amazon Web 
Services), stablecoin issuer Circle, AI company Anthropic and AI-focused 
proof-of-stake layer-1 blockchain Near Protocol.
## Big benefits for agentic AI
AI agents can achieve economic autonomy by independently transacting without 
human intervention. The protocol enables AI agents to access paid resources in 
real-time based on their needs and eliminates dependency on pre-paid credits, 
API keys, or human-managed accounts.
AI agents can also provision and pay for hardware resources in real-time, 
access specialized data sources through micropayments, and pay other AI 
systems for services.
The x402 protocol essentially transforms AI agents from tools that require 
constant human interaction into autonomous economic actors that can 
independently discover, purchase and utilize resources to accomplish their 
goals.
Developers can use the protocol to monetize APIs, create software unlocks and 
enable metered services that dynamically charge users based on actual resource 
usage, while content creators can monetize their content without the need for 
blanket subscriptions or credit card minimums and fees.
_**Magazine:**__**Crypto AI tokens surge 34%, why ChatGPT is such a kiss-ass: 
AI Eye**_

Coinbase x402 payments protocol to make AI agents more autonomous

According to a recent X post by crypto trader Coinvo, Ethereum (ETH) is 
‘insanely undervalued’ at its current price. Several on-chain metrics appear 
to support Coinvo’s assessment, as ETH accumulation addresses continue to 
stack the digital asset despite lackluster price performance over the past few 
years. Ethereum May Be Due A Rally Soon Although ETH has risen 8% over the 
past two weeks, it remains down 43% over the past year, trading around $1,700 
at the time of writing. From its all-time high (ATH), Ethereum is down 63.6%, 
in stark contrast to Bitcoin (BTC), which is trading just 13.7% below its ATH. 
Related Reading: Ethereum Capitulation Nearing Its End? Key On-Chain Metric 
Reveals Insights Ethereum’s relatively poor performance compared to other 
major cryptocurrencies has raised questions about its long-term outlook. While 
Bitcoin benefits from its first-mover advantage and broader institutional 
adoption, Ethereum faces increasing competition from rival smart contract 
platforms like Solana (SOL), SUI, and Polkadot (DOT). Despite prevailing 
negative sentiment, some analysts believe ETH could be on the verge of a 
turnaround. Coinvo, for instance, claims that Ethereum is significantly 
undervalued and could be poised for a massive rally. The trader shared the 
following chart leveraging the Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) Z-score &#8211; 
a metric used to identify potential market tops and bottoms. According to the 
chart, Ethereum’s MVRV Z-score has now entered the green zone &#8211; between 0 and 
-1 &#8211; a range that historically signals a market bottom and possible trend 
reversal. Meanwhile, inflows into Ethereum accumulation addresses have surged 
to historic highs. In an X post, analyst CryptoGoos shared a chart showing 
record ETH inflows into these addresses in 2025. ​​High inflows to 
accumulation addresses indicate that long-term investors are actively buying 
and holding ETH, even during market downturns. This behavior often reflects 
growing confidence in Ethereum’s future value and suggests a potential bullish 
sentiment building beneath the surface. In a separate post, CryptoGoos also 
highlighted that Ethereum’s exchange reserves are at a multi-year low. 
Diminishing reserves on exchanges point to reduced selling pressure and a 
tightening supply, which could strengthen ETH’s scarcity narrative and drive 
prices higher in the near term. ETH Holders Not ‘Bullish Enough’ Noted analyst 
Crypto Rover drew parallels between ETH’s current price action and BTC’s 2021 
trajectory. According to the analyst, if Ethereum mirrors Bitcoin’s past 
performance, it may be on track to reach a new ATH in the coming months. 
Related Reading: Ethereum Holders Stay Committed Despite Unrealized Losses – 
Signs Of An Incoming Rally? That said, concerns remain around further decline 
in ETH’s price if the global macroeconomic situation worsens amid the US 
President Donald Trump’s looming reciprocal trade tariffs. At press time, ETH 
trades at $1,754, down 2.1% in the past 24 hours. Featured image created with 
Unsplash, charts from X and TradingView.com