Things settled into a steady hum of innovation as regulators and industry players continued their interactions.
Integrations have improved with digital assets, which now have more complex integrations with regular finance.
The headlines:
- The SEC dropped its Binance case;
- Researchers at the BIS think stablecoins impact Treasury markets significantly;
- Bergen County, New Jersey, wants to move $240 billion worth of property deeds to the Avalanche blockchain;
- OCC Acting Comptroller Rodney E. Hood called for increased crypto education;
- Bitcoin 2025 showcased a whole lot;
- Plus, a hacker introduced a project that enables offline Bitcoin transactions (more on that later);
- And much more!
As always, these are your decentralized diaries!
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Bitcoin Hovers at $104k (as of 6/2/24)
The crypto markets continued reeling after Bitcoin hit a $103,136.11 low from a $110,744.20 high. Bitcoin is currently at $104,412.76.
The altcoins are also in the gray.
Ethereum (ETH) is at $2,481.00, Solana (SOL) at $153.51, Chainlink (LINK) at $13.70, Avalanche (AVAX) at $20.31, Litecoin (LTC) at $88.05 and Polkadot (DOT) at $3.96.
The SEC Dropped Charges Against Binance
Things continued to turn green for Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. According to a joint motion filed by Binance, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, and the SEC, the trio asked a Washington, D.C., federal court to dismiss charges filed by the regulator.
Furthermore, the motion indicated that the SEC’s newly constituted Crypto Task Force will participate in ongoing mediation.
Similarly, on May 29, at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Pierce made surprising revelations. Pierce iterated that bad actors aren’t off the hook despite the regulator’s change in tone toward digital assets.
There’s a New Bitcoin-Backed Stablecoin
In a May 28 press release, boutique Bitcoin finance platform Mezo unveiled the MUSD, the first stablecoin fully backed by Bitcoin. User can use their bitcoins as collateral to instantly mint and spend MUSD tokens within Mezo’s ecosystem.
Mezo also introduced MUSD loans and credit (with a 1% fixed rate).
Stable Sea Unveiled a Stablecoin Management Product
At the StableCon conference in New York, the niche crypto firm Stable Sea launched its premier solution, Stable Sea Terminal. The product enables unique fiat on- and off-ramp capabilities for financial institutions (FIs), Fintechs, and other institutions.
Stable Sea Terminal also improves FX transaction outcomes with stablecoin-to-fiat (local currency) capabilities.
Stablecoins Significantly Impact US Treasury Yields-BIS
Similarly, still on stablecoins, a May 28 paper by BIS economists Rashad Ahmed and Iñaki Aldasoro suggests that the influence of the token class on US Treasury notes is more substantial than prior observations suggested. The document considered the consequences of transaction flows by the biggest stablecoin issuers, with three-month notes as their preferred choice.
Consequently, the paper iterated that T-bill yields decline by 2-2.5 basis points once a $3.5 billion inflow occurs into stablecoins. The economists also called for improved sector regulation with a focus on transparency.
TradeStation Securities Added CME’s XRP Futures Contracts to its Ecosystem
In a May 27 press release, leading brokerage TradeStation revealed the addition of XRP futures contracts to its product mix. TradeStation’s clients can access large-sized (50,000 XRP) and micro-sized (2,500 XRP) instruments.
Furthermore, the cash-settled XRP futures contracts base their metrics on the daily published CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate.
A New Jersey County Wants to Tokenize Property Deeds Worth $240 Billion
New Jersey’s Bergen County signed a landmark five-year deal with Balcony, a blockchain-focused records management firm. The setup involves tokenizing 370,000 property deeds on the Avalanche blockchain.
Blizzard, an Avalanche-focused CV fund, backed the deployment.
Some Blockchain Staking Activities Aren’t Securities-SEC
In a May 29 statement, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance stated that certain Protocol Staking Activities do not involve the sale or offer of securities. The regulator also indicated that participants in Protocol Staking Activity do not have any registration requirements.
In related news, the SEC announced plans to convene a DeFi-focused roundtable on June 9.
The OCC Called for Improved Crypto Financial Literacy
At a May 29 Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC) event, OCC Acting Comptroller Rodney E. Hood called on financial educators to expand access to digital asset educational resources. Hood also highlighted the increased utility of crypto among American households.
In addition, Hood noted that many recent cryptocurrency investors are newcomers to the sector, underscoring the need for education on cryptocurrencies.
Block Announced 2026 Bitcoin Payment Plans
In a May 27 post on its website, the Jack Dorsey-led Block revealed plans to introduce Bitcoin payments in its ecosystem. Square exhibited the feature at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The announcement also revealed deployments scheduled for later in the year, with a full launch expected in 2026.
Tether Owns Over 100k Bitcoins and 50 Tons of Gold-Ardoino
At Bitcoin 2025, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced that the stablecoin issuer holds over 100,000 bitcoins and owns more than 50 tons of gold. Ardoino also unveiled Tether’s profit, which topped $13 billion.
Moreover, Ardoino also indicated that Bitcoin and gold have divergent paths as asset classes, iterating that both assets have imperfections.
Canary Capital Filed for a Cronos ETF
Boutique crypto asset manager Canary Capital filed for an ETF product that tracks the price of the Cronos (CRO) token. According to a May 30 S-1 SEC filing, the ETF will expose investors to activity on the CRO token, the native asset of the Chronos blockchain.
The CRO token is also closely tied to the crypto.com digital asset exchange.
Kraken and BitGo Initiated $5 Billion FTX Repayments
Several FTX customers now have cause to smile with the start of token distributions via Kraken and BitGo. The duo are partners in the repayment process.
On May 30, FTX revealed the distribution on its official X/Twitter handle.
There’s a New Project That Enables Offline Bitcoin Transactions
On an interesting note, at Bitcoin 2025, a pseudonymous developer unveiled an open-source project that allows Bitcoin transactions on long-range radio. The Darkwire project enables users to send transactions across long-range radio networks.
The deployment creates a decentralized network that allows users to send transactions across nodes until an internet connection exists on the other end. Furthermore, the programmer, Cyber, is currently studying machine learning and artificial intelligence at an unnamed institution.
