U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs logged a third week of strong inflows as investor demand stayed high, helped by easing trade war worries after the U.S. struck a deal with a key partner and signaled talks with China’s president to improve…

Spot Bitcoin ETFs see three-week inflow streak totalling $5.8 billion

The creator of the non-fungible token (NFT) collection DeGods announced that 
he has stepped down as the CEO of the project amid an uptick in sales for the 
collection.
Rohun Vora, known online as &#8220;Frank DeGods&#8221; on X, said he has stepped down as 
the project&#8217;s CEO, concluding a three-year stint as the head of one of the 
most popular Solana-based NFT collections.
He named pseudonymous figures 0x_chill and Pastagotsauce as the new leaders of 
DeGods. &#8220;There are no investigations, because I have never done anything 
illegal. That&#8217;s the boring truth,&#8221; Vora wrote, addressing speculation about 
his departure. 
The announcement came as the NFT collection started to gain traction on the 
Ethereum and Solana blockchains.
_Source:__Frankdegods_
## DeGods&#8217; sales are up 101% on Solana
Data tracker CryptoSlam shows that in the last seven days, DeGods NFTs have 
seen a significant increase in sales.
On May 12, DeGods on Solana recorded a sales volume of around $458,000, a 101% 
increase over the previous week. In the last 30 days, the collection had a 
sales volume of $1.1 million for its NFTs based on the Solana network.
On Ethereum, the DeGods collection recorded $104,000 in sales for the past 
week, a 156% growth over the previous seven days. In the last 30 days, the 
collection recorded over $250,000 in sales, a 323% increase in sales volumes.
Following the announcement, new DeGods project lead Pasta shared plans to 
release a tribute to the project&#8217;s three-year history and teased a shift in 
strategy.
Pasta also hinted that there will be changes in the project&#8217;s approach. &#8220;Our 
job isn&#8217;t to build crypto products. It&#8217;s to make DeGods as big as it can 
possibly be. That&#8217;s what you want. That&#8217;s what we want too. So that&#8217;s exactly 
what we&#8217;re gonna do,&#8221; Pasta wrote.
_Source:__Pastagotsauce_
 _**Related:**__**Doodles NFT sales surge 97% ahead of DOOD token airdrop**_
## NFT sales are up by 17% in the last seven days
Meanwhile, the broader NFT market has also gained traction in the last seven 
days. CryptoSlam data shows that from May 6 to 12, NFTs recorded a sales 
volume of over $120 million, a 17% increase compared to the previous week.
_**Magazine:**__**Trump-Biden bet led to obsession with &#8216;idiotic&#8217; NFTs 
&#8211;Batsoupyum, NFT Collector**_

DeGods NFT founder steps down as collection gains traction

Crypto exchange Backpack announced that customers of the defunct crypto 
exchange FTX EU can begin reclaiming their funds through its service.
According to a May 12 X post, Backpack now allows FTX EU users who selected it 
as the redistribution platform to claim their euro balance. Users must first 
complete Know Your Customer (KYC) verification on the exchange before they can 
withdraw funds.
Backpack&#8217;s support page also explains that the KYC details on the platform 
must match the ones provided to FTX EU:
&gt; &#8220;If they do not, you will need to contact Backpack EU support at 
&gt; support@eu.backpack.exchange to update your Backpack EU account to reflect 
&gt; the same information used for your FTX EU claim. This ensures a smooth 
&gt; verification process and avoids delays in accessing your distribution.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**Former FTX exec&#8217;s wife says gov&#8217;t &#8216;induced a guilty plea&#8217;**_
## FTX EU claims process begins
Backpack opened the claim process for former FTX EU exchange users on April 1. 
To access their claim through the platform, users had to create an exchange 
account and go through the aforementioned KYC checks. No deadline has been set 
for users going through the process.
The support page clarifies that not all European Union-based FTX users are FTX 
EU users. Those users who signed up to FTX before March 7, 2022, are not FTX 
EU users unless they later specifically signed up on the FTX EU platform. The 
documentation states:
&gt; &#8220;Generally, EU-based users who signed up to FTX on or after March 7, 2022, 
&gt; are FTX EU customers, in which case they should make their claim with FTX 
&gt; EU.&#8221;
Still, no rule is set in stone. Backpack explained that some EU-based users 
signed up to FTX International after March 7, 2022. The exchange recommends 
checking the terms of service to determine which FTX platform they signed up 
for.
_**Related:**__**FTX says Backpack acquisition of EU arm has not been approved 
by court**_
## Backpack&#8217;s involvement with FTX EU
Backpack acquired FTX EU in January 2025 to offer crypto derivatives, 
including perpetual futures, in Europe. The deal came after a lengthy battle 
to buy the European arm of the bankrupt exchange.
Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante explained at the time that the firm would return 
FTX EU funds as fast and as safely as possible. Shortly after the acquisition, 
Backpack clashed with the FTX estate over ownership rights to FTX EU.
The US-based FTX estate claimed at the time that the shares of FTX EU remain 
under the ownership of FTX Europe AG, a subsidiary of FTX. According to the 
statement, the previously announced transfer of shares to FTX EU&#8217;s co- 
founders, Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke, had not yet occurred.
&#8220;As of today, 100% of the share capital of FTX EU is held by FTX Europe AG, an 
FTX subsidiary,&#8221; the FTX estate claimed.
_**Magazine:**__**Ex-Alameda hire on &#8216;pressure&#8217; to not blow up Backpack 
exchange: Armani Ferrante, X Hall of Flame**_

FTX EU creditors can now withdraw money from Backpack exchange

Strategy has added another 13,390 bitcoin to its treasury, spending 
approximately $1.34 billion at an average price of $99,856 per coin, according 
to Executive Chairman Michael Saylor. Strategy Now Holds 568,840 Bitcoin The 
bitcoin treasury and software firm now holds a total of 568,840 bitcoin, 
acquired for roughly $39.41 billion at an average price of […]

Strategy Buys More Bitcoin, Pushing Holdings to 568,840 BTC

Hundreds of billions of dollars in cross-border cryptocurrency payments flow 
globally, primarily driven by speculative investment, according to a recent 
report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The BIS study, published May 8, found cross-border payments using the two 
largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), and the two largest 
stablecoins, USDT (USDT) and USDC (USDC), totaled approximately $600 billion 
during the second quarter of 2024, the final observation period covered by the 
analysis.
&#8220;Our findings highlight speculative motives and global funding conditions as 
key drivers of native crypto asset flows,&#8221; the BIS stated.
_Cross-border crypto asset flows by quarter. Source: BIS_
However, the report also noted stablecoins and low-value Bitcoin transactions 
are frequently driven by practical use cases, particularly as alternatives to 
traditional remittances. The researchers pointed out that geographical 
barriers have less influence on cryptocurrency transactions compared to 
traditional financial systems.
_**Related:**__**Spar supermarket in Switzerland starts accepting Bitcoin 
payments**_
Speculative crypto activity remains tied to &#8220;global conditions for funding in 
major crypto markets,&#8221; signaling a growing &#8220;interconnectedness&#8221; between 
cryptocurrencies and the legacy financial system, the researchers stated, 
adding:
&gt; &#8220;Concurrently, we observe that tighter global funding conditions, known to 
&gt; curtail risk-taking in traditional asset classes, are associated with 
&gt; reduced flows. This indicates increasing interconnectedness between 
&gt; cryptoassets as speculative assets and mainstream finance.&#8221;
Additionally, crypto-specific risks and heightened public awareness 
significantly influence crypto investment flows, reinforcing their role as 
speculative assets, according to the BIS.
The findings were published nearly a month after the BIS warned that the 
number of investors and amount of capital in crypto and decentralized finance 
(DeFi) have &#8220;reached a critical mass,&#8221; posing a threat to financial stability 
and global wealth inequality, Cointelegraph reported on April 19.
_**Related:**__**$400M Web3 investment fund ABCDE halts new investments, 
fundraising**_
## Stablecoin, low-value Bitcoin payments fueled by fiat inflation, high 
transfer costs
Beyond speculative investment tools, stablecoins and Bitcoin are also used as 
a &#8220;transactional medium.&#8221;
&#8220;Higher opportunity costs of fiat currency usage, such as high inflation, spur 
bilateral cross-border transactions in both unbacked cryptoassets and 
stablecoins,&#8221; the BIS stated, adding:
&gt; &#8220;Likewise, greater economic activity within both sender and receiver 
&gt; countries is often linked to increased crypto flows in most cases.&#8221;
High remittance fees charged by traditional financial institutions further 
bolster crypto adoption for international money transfers, especially from 
developed economies to emerging markets, the report stated.
_Global USDT flow map. Source: BIS_
The US and the UK accounted for a cumulative 20% of cross-border payments 
using Bitcoin and USDC, and nearly 30% using ETH.
As for USDT, Russia and Turkey accounted for over 12% of the cross-border 
transactions using the world&#8217;s largest stablecoin.
_**Magazine:**__**Uni students crypto &#8216;grooming&#8217; scandal, 67K scammed by fake 
women: Asia Express**_

Crypto speculation dominates $600B cross-border payments: BIS report

South Korea&#8217;s central bank said it should have legal authority over the 
approval of won-based stablecoins, warning they could disrupt monetary policy 
if treated like legal tender. The Bank of Korea, South Korea&#8217;s central bank, 
said monetary authorities must be…