The SYRUP token, launched about six months ago, dropped to an all-time low of $0.0845 on April 7, 2025. However, just a month later — on May 7, 2025 — its price saw a significant rebound following its Binance listing,…

Maple Finance price prediction: SYRUP is sweet again — but for how long?

US President Donald Trump was reportedly manipulated by a lobbyist tied to 
Ripple Labs into announcing the XRP token would be part of his plans for a 
national cryptocurrency reserve.
According to a May 8 Politico report, an employee of pro-Trump lobbyist Brian 
Ballard gave the president the text to a social media post she recommended he 
write announcing a US strategic crypto reserve that would include XRP, Solana 
(SOL), and Cardano (ADA). After he posted the message to his social media 
platform on March 2, Trump learned Ripple was one of Ballard&#8217;s clients, 
infuriating the president, who felt like he&#8217;d been used, Politico reported, 
citing two people familiar with the incident.
&#8220;He is not welcome in anything anymore,&#8221; said Trump, referencing Ballard, 
according to the report.
_March 2 Truth Social post announcing US crypto reserve. Source:__Donald 
Trump_
Trump had connections to Ripple long before the announcement of XRP in the 
proposed crypto reserve. The blockchain firm&#8217;s chief legal officer, Stuart 
Alderoty, donated more than $300,000 to fundraising and political action 
committees supporting Trump in the 2024 election, and both he and CEO Brad 
Garlinghouse met with the then-president-elect in January and attended 
inauguration events.
_**Related:**__**Democrats aim at Trump &#8216;s crypto profits with a 3-prong 
pincer move**_
Ripple also donated $5 million worth of XRP to Trump&#8217;s presidential inaugural 
fund and has been one of the largest contributors to Fairshake, a political 
action committee (PAC) that supports those it considers &#8220;pro-crypto&#8221; 
candidates through media buys. A spokesperson for the PAC said in January that 
it would continue its efforts in the 2026 midterm elections.
## Trump moved forward on crypto reserve days later
The president often uses his social media platform to suggest policies before 
any official announcement through the White House. Trump signed an executive 
order to create a &#8220;Digital Asset Stockpile&#8221; on March 6 &#8212; roughly four days 
after the post, which was still live at the time of publication.
The price of XRP did not appear to significantly react to the May 8 report. At 
the time of publication, it was $2.23, having risen roughly 5% in the previous 
24 hours. Cointelegraph reached out to a Ripple spokesperson for comment, but 
did not receive a response at the time of publication.
_**Magazine:**__**Trump &#8216;s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider 
trading questions**_

Trump tricked into pushing XRP for crypto reserve: Report

Bitcoin ETFs snapped back with a $142 million inflow after Tuesday’s dip, led 
by strong interest in ARKB and FBTC. Ether ETFs, meanwhile, continued their 
slide with a $21.77 million outflow driven solely by Blackrock’s ETHA. Bitcoin 
ETFs Rebound Strong But Ether ETFs Hit by $21.77M Outflow The bulls returned 
to bitcoin ETFs midweek, pushing […]

Bitcoin ETFs Bounce Back With $142 Million Inflow While Ether ETFs See Another Red Day

The Decentralized AI Society and CETI AI are joining forces on an initiative 
that will see DAIS run a masternode of Hypercycle, the artificial intelligence 
infrastructure platform focused on developing nodes that power the internet of 
AI. In an announcement,…

Decentralized AI Society to run Hypercycle masternode

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering rule changes to 
let companies more freely issue tokenized securities, SEC Commissioner Hester 
Peirce said in a speech published on May 8.
The regulator is &#8220;considering a potential exemptive order&#8221; for firms using 
blockchain technology to &#8220;issue, trade, and settle securities&#8221; that would 
release them from certain registration requirements, Peirce said in the 
speech.
For example, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) may no longer need to register &#8220;as 
a broker-dealer, clearing agency, or an exchange,&#8221; Peirce said. The SEC has 
previously brought numerous charges against DEXs such as Uniswap for failing 
to register as securities exchanges.
Firms should &#8220;not have to comply with inapt regulations, which, in many cases, 
were developed well before the technologies being tested existed and may be 
obviated by attributes of that technology,&#8221; Peirce said.
_Commissioner Peirce described the planned changes in a May 8 speech. 
Source:__SEC_
Under such an exemption, companies would still be expected to comply with 
rules designed to prevent fraud and market manipulation, the commissioner 
said. They may also need to meet certain disclosure and recordkeeping 
requirements.
_**Related:**__**Nasdaq urges SEC to treat certain digital assets as &#8216;stocks 
by any other name&#8217;**_
## Sharp policy pivot
The SEC has dramatically pivoted its stance on cryptocurrency oversight since 
US President Donald Trump took office in January.
Under the leadership of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the agency brought 
upward of 100 lawsuits against crypto firms for alleged securities law 
violations.
However, under Trump nominee Paul Atkins, who was sworn in as chair on April 
21, the agency has claimed jurisdiction over a narrower segment of 
cryptocurrencies.
In February, the SEC issued guidance stating that memecoins &#8212; if clearly 
identified as purely speculative assets with no intrinsic value &#8212; do not 
qualify as investment contracts under US law.
In April, the regulator said that stablecoins &#8212; digital tokens pegged to the 
US dollar &#8212; similarly do not qualify as securities if they are marketed 
solely as a means of making payments.
_**Magazine: **__**Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T 
TradFi tokenization race**_

SEC considers new rules easing security token issuance

The last time the cryptocurrency topped six figures was in February shortly 
after reaching its all-time high of $109,114.88 in late January. BTC Breaks 
$100K Barrier as Institutions Dive In Bitcoin ( BTC) broke through the $100K 
barrier on Thursday morning, as net cumulative inflows for spot BTC exchange- 
traded funds (ETFs) peaked at $40.72 billion […]