Bitstamp has locked in its MiCA license, making it one of the first exchanges cleared to operate across Europe&#8217;s new crypto framework. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp got approved for a crypto asset service provider license under the E.U.&#8217;s new MiCA rules,…

Bitstamp bags CASP license in Luxembourg for full MiCA rollout

Solv, Avalanche, and a consortium of DeFi protocols have launched 
SolvBTC.AVAX, the first institutional-grade bitcoin yield vault backed by 
real-world assets. The move aims to activate idle BTC by offering onchain, 
composable yield through tokenized U.S. Treasuries and structured DeFi 
strategies. First Institutional-Grade BTC Yield Vault Launches on Avalanche In 
a landmark step for bitcoin […]

Solv, Avalanche and Elixir Launch Real-World Yield for Bitcoin

Tokenization could open new opportunities for retail investors to access 
traditionally restricted asset classes, according to Johann Kerbrat, senior 
vice president and general manager of Robinhood Crypto, who called it &#8220;very 
important for financial inclusion.&#8221;
Speaking at the Consensus 2025 event in Toronto, Kerbrat said that some real- 
world assets, such as real estate and private equity, are available only to up 
to 10% of the US population. &#8220;You need to be an accredited investor to invest 
in private equity right now,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;How many people can afford a house or an apartment in New York?&#8221; he 
elaborated. &#8220;But you can get a piece of it with fractionalization, through 
tokenization. And so we think it makes it a lot easier to be exchanged, a lot 
more accessible for everybody.&#8221;
_Robinhood&#8217;s Johann Kerbrat at Consensus 2025. Source: Cointelegraph_
Robinhood has been one of a handful of investment firms or brokerages that 
have explored RWA tokenization in recent months. Others include BlackRock, 
Franklin Templeton, Apollo, and VanEck.
RWA tokenization is often touted as a means to enhance financial 
accessibility, with most tokenized funds currently concentrated on the private 
credit and US treasury markets. According to RWA.xyz on May 16, the total 
market capitalization of onchain RWA is $22.5 billion across just 101,457 
asset holders. On average, each holder owns $221,867 in onchain assets.
_**Related:**__**MultiBank, MAG, Mavryk ink world &#8216;s largest $3B RWA 
tokenization deal**_
## Stablecoin evolution will create more &#8216;specialized&#8217; tokens
Kerbrat also touched on stablecoins, which have emerged as a key crypto use 
case this cycle. &#8220;You will see 100 stablecoins,&#8221; he predicted.
Kerbrat expects a rise in stablecoins that are &#8220;more specialized in a specific 
market.&#8221; According to DefiLlama, dollar-pegged stablecoins dominate the 
stablecoin sector. The two largest, Tether&#8217;s USDt (USDT) and Circle&#8217;s USDC 
(USDC), account for $211.8 billion or 87.1% of the $243.3 billion stablecoin 
market cap.
&#8220;If you&#8217;re trying to move funds from the US to Singapore, maybe you will use a 
specific stablecoin,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The shift is going to go from just stablecoin 
to platforms that are managing all these stablecoins.&#8221;
_Tether&#8217;s USDT has seen its market share surge over the past few years. 
Source:__DefiLlama_
Fireblocks policy chief Dea Markova recently told Cointelegraph that there is 
a growing demand for non-dollar-pegged stablecoins. In April, the Italian 
finance minister warned that dollar-pegged stablecoins represent a greater 
risk than US President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariffs.
_**Magazine:**__**Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi 
tokenization race**_

Tokenization makes investing more accessible — Robinhood exec

An unprecedented surge in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s May Manufacturing 
Business Outlook Survey has jolted global risk markets and given crypto asset 
traders their clearest macro catalyst of the year. The Future New Orders 
diffusion index leapt by forty-plus points, a move that Julien Bittel, head of 
macro research at Global Macro Investor (GMI), called “literally” historic. 
Crypto Bulls Can Rejoice Bittel’s commentary on X framed the print with 
statistical precision: “Philly Fed data for May dropped yesterday – and the 
Future New Orders index just made history. Literally. … Expectations for new 
orders posted the largest monthly spike ever recorded – going all the way back 
to the index’s inception in May 1968. A staggering +4.3 standard deviation 
move. He underlined the shock with a comparison few macro watchers will 
forget: For perspective: that’s an even bigger move up than the downside 
collapse during the depths of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (-4.1σ). Let 
that sink in…” Bittel then set the surge in a broader narrative that has 
animated his research since late last year. “Q1 growth was weak. The reason is 
straightforward – financial conditions tightened sharply in Q4. The dollar 
ripped, bond yields surged… a classic tightening phase,” he wrote. Related 
Reading: Analysis: Crypto Heats Up As $35 Billion Enters Market In Under A 
Month The proximate trigger, in his telling, was “businesses panic‑loading 
inventories ahead of Trump tariffs, and markets front‑running the inflation 
narrative.” Those dynamics, he argued, are a replay of Donald Trump’s first 
term: “We’ve highlighted repeatedly: this had all the hallmarks of Q4 2016 
during Trump’s first term. Just like early 2017, that tightening spilled over 
into slower growth momentum in Q1.” Where 2017 began with doubt and ended in a 
synchronous global boom, Bittel believes 2025 is rhyming. “Those Q1 headwinds 
have flipped into Q2 tailwinds,” he insisted. “Everything flows downstream 
from changes in financial conditions… Purchasing managers’ expectations are 
shifting – and shifts in thinking eventually translate into action. Sentiment 
shifts first. Action follows. It always does. Bullish.” The crypto market 
responded muted. Bitcoin reclaimed the $104,000 level in early‑European trade, 
but lost it later on. Ether steadied near $2,600, and high‑beta layer‑one 
tokens such as Solana and Avalanche moved in tandem. Related Reading: Ethereum 
Gains Momentum Amid Flat Funding Rates – Is This A Healthy Uptrend? Giancarlo 
Cudrig, head of markets at Immutable, said the scale of the shock is less 
important than how under‑positioned investors are for an upside growth 
surprise. “An upside economic shock like this – +4.3σ on new orders – is rare. 
But the bigger story is market positioning. Asset prices are not prepared. The 
melt‑up is the asymmetric risk. Now it’s being repriced.” Independent analyst 
Market Heretic struck a similar note on X: “When this dropped, markets didn’t 
even blink. Because the shift’s already in motion. This wasn’t news, it was 
confirmation. That’s the real tell, when markets shrug off a four‑sigma upside 
shock. It means the turn is already upon us – and it’s just getting started.” 
For crypto investors, the implications are immediate. A softer dollar and 
retreating real‑yield expectations reduce the opportunity cost of holding 
non‑yielding assets, while the early phase of a reflationary turn historically 
favours high‑beta exposures. Bittel’s own playbook is unambiguous: “Sentiment 
shifts first. Action follows.” As long as that chain reaction continues, the 
crypto bulls appear to have both math and momentum on their side. At press 
time, the total crypto market cap stood at $3.28 trillion. Featured image 
created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Crypto Bulls Just Got Their Macro Wake-Up Call: Here’s Why

The S&amp;P 500 rose 0.7% Friday, closing out a strong week as investors looked 
past weak consumer sentiment data and persistent inflation concerns. The index 
posted a 5% gain for the week, its best since November 2023, as tech stocks…

Dow jumps 330 points as S&P 500 logs strong weekly gain

The Filecoin Foundation and Lockheed Martin Space have successfully 
transmitted data in space using a version of the InterPlanetary File System 
(IPFS) on a satellite orbiting Earth, Marta Belcher, president of the Filecoin 
Foundation, told Cointelegraph.
Filecoin and Lockheed Martin adapted the system for use in space and 
successfully tested it, Belcher said during the Consensus 2025 conference in 
Toronto.
The IPFS enhances privacy and security compared to traditional web protocols, 
such as HTTP, by identifying data based on its content rather than its 
location. This has additional benefits for data transmission in space, Belcher 
said.
&#8220;The architecture is well-suited to space because it reduces delays, 
compensates for data corruption caused by radiation, and enables cryptographic 
verification to ensure data has not been tampered with,&#8221; she said.
The foundation is a nonprofit governing the decentralized cloud storage 
protocol Filecoin (FIL), which uses the IPFS web protocol to store data. 
Lockheed Martin is one of the world&#8217;s largest aerospace companies.
_Source:__Filecoin Foundation_
## Decentralized storage benefits
&#8220;There&#8217;s a multi-second delay from the Moon and a multi-minute delay from 
Mars,&#8221; Belcher said.
&#8220;With IPFS, you look for a content ID and retrieve the data from wherever is 
closest &#8212; your own device, a nearby satellite, or a lunar station.&#8221;
Additionally, the IPFS uses a distributed architecture to store multiple 
copies of data across a global network, reducing reliance on centralized data 
centers.
These multiple copies of data improve reliability in environments where 
hardware is prone to degradation, helping to ensure the integrity of sensitive 
materials such as satellite images, according to Belcher.
Interest in decentralized archival storage is growing among media companies, 
and the Foundation is also exploring potential military applications of this 
technology, Belcher said.
&#8220;It could be really powerful for media in general to have that deep archive 
and also the ability to have your records everywhere all over the world when 
needed,&#8221; she said.
The FIL token is a utility token that can be used within the Filecoin 
ecosystem. It has a total market capitalization of approximately $1.8 billion 
as of May 16, according to Cointelegraph data.
_**Magazine: **__**X Hall of Flame: Bitcoin will &#8216;start ripping&#8217; as Trump&#8217;s 
polls improve &#8212; Felix Hartmann**_ _** **_