Ripple has announced a $25 million commitment to education nonprofits DonorsChoose and Teach For America, with most of the funding disbursed in Ripple USD, the company’s new U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin. The initiative will support classrooms, teachers, and students across the…

Ripple pledges $25m in stablecoin to support U.S. teachers and classrooms

The first full crypto trading week of May compresses five heavy-hitting 
catalysts into four days, each poised to sway liquidity, sentiment and 
valuations across the digital-asset spectrum. #1 Bitcoin And Crypto Market 
Awaits FOMC Decision (May 8) The Federal Open Market Committee is almost 
universally expected to leave the target range at 5.25 – 5.50 percent for a 
third straight meeting. Yet Chair Jerome Powell’s post-decision press 
conference will be dissected for any hint that softening data could hasten a 
first rate cut as early as June or July. “Our obligation is to keep longer- 
term inflation expectations well anchored and to make certain that a one-time 
increase in the price level does not become an ongoing inflation problem,” 
Powell reminded reporters on 16 April, signalling caution even as tariffs 
threaten to lift unemployment. Related Reading: Best Altcoins To Watch In May: 
Breakouts Are Brewing, Says Crypto Analyst Governor Chris Waller sharpened the 
message: “I don’t think you’re going to see enough happen in the real data in 
the next couple of months, until you get past July.” Public lobbying from 
President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for immediate 
easing has so far failed to sway the Committee, but any rhetorical softening 
on Wednesday would reverberate through bitcoin’s real-rate–sensitive markets. 
#2 Ethereum Pectra Upgrade (May 7) At 10:05 UTC, epoch 364 032, Ethereum 
activates Pectra, an eleven-EIP hard fork that stitches last year’s Dencun 
groundwork into a far richer fabric. EIP-7702 lets externally owned accounts 
delegate to smart-contract code, enabling transaction batching, gas 
sponsorship, passkey authentication and revocable spending controls without 
abandoning existing addresses. EIP-7251 multiplies the maximum effective 
validator balance from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, allowing native reward compounding 
and validator consolidation that will trim network bandwidth. On the data 
front, EIP-7691 doubles blob throughput to an average six blobs per block 
(nine at peak), while EIP-7623 caps worst-case block size to offset bandwidth 
pressure. Deposit-queue latency—an artefact of the pre-merge PoW re-org 
risk—falls from roughly nine hours to thirteen minutes under EIP-6110. In the 
Foundation’s own words, Pectra “augments Ethereum accounts, improves the 
validator experience, supports L2 scaling and more,” laying the rails for 
future data-availability sampling. #3 Sonic Summit (May 6-8) Vienna hosts 
Sonic Summit 2025, Sonic Labs’ annual showcase for builders, capital 
allocators and researchers. Chief executive Michael Kong, chief research 
officer Dr Bernhard Scholz and engineering leads will alternate keynotes with 
partners from Chainlink Labs, Vertex and the Pyth Data Association, mapping 
out interoperability road-maps and zero-knowledge tooling. Organisers promise 
“technical deep-dives, networking and hands-on sessions” against the Austrian 
capital’s baroque backdrop. With 2025’s funding landscape far leaner than the 
exuberant vintages of 2021 – 22, attendees will measure success by concrete 
milestones rather than marketing gloss. #4 Hyperliquid Fee Overhaul (May 5) 
Hyperliquid today split spot and perpetual-futures fee schedules and began 
counting spot turnover double toward traders’ rolling fourteen-day volume 
tiers. Stakers now earn up to a 40% percent fee rebate if they hold 50 million 
HYPE, a threshold recalculated daily. Related Reading: Crypto Graveyard: 50% 
Of Tokens Have Failed In the Past 5 years – Report The venue emphasises that 
“all fees” accrue to the community, contrasting itself with more centrally 
controlled competitors. Maker rebates reach 0.015% for notional volume above 
$70 million, but only if staking incentives can coexist with the liquidity 
that high-frequency market-makers supply. The coming sessions will test 
whether the design lures depth without throttling activity. #5 Coinbase 
Earnings Call (May 8) Coinbase Global reports first-quarter results 
immediately after the US equity close. Consensus forecasts cluster between 
$2.09 and $2.15 in adjusted earnings per share, flagging a sharp rebound in 
profitability. With landmark litigation still moving through federal courts, 
analysts will focus on legal provisioning, international expansion and the 
revenue mix between trading fees and subscription products. Management 
guidance on operating margin under an evolving US regulatory regime is likely 
to set the tone for after-hours price action and, by extension, crypto-equity 
beta for the rest of the quarter. At press time, Bitcoin traded at $94,777. 
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Crypto Markets Face Make-Or-Break Week—Here’s What’s At Stake

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) ended the week with a thunderous $675 
million inflow, entirely powered by Blackrock’s IBIT. Ether ETFs also 
maintained positive momentum, adding $20 million through ETHA alone. Bitcoin 
ETFs Close Week With $675 Million Inflow Led Entirely by Blackrock’s IBIT As 
the week came to a close on Friday, May 2, Blackrock […]

Blackrock Dominates ETF Flows Again as Bitcoin and Ether Inflows Soar

Cardano price retreated on Monday, even after BitcoinOS demoed the first 
bridgeless transfer of Bitcoin between Bitcoin and Cardano. Cardano (ADA) 
dropped to $0.6595 on Monday, down 12.3% from its April high and 50% lower 
than its 2024 peak. This…

Cardano price dips post-BitcoinOS demo as whale accumulation persists

Crossover Markets Group Inc., a London-based digital asset trading firm 
founded by foreign exchange veterans, is preparing to launch its platform in 
the United States. Part of this launch was driven by growing institutional 
interest and a shift in the…

Crossover Markets plans U.S. launch as Trump embraces crypto: report

In an X post, former Binance CEO rips the credentials of Boop.fun founder.