JOON HYOUNG LEE

Arbitrum Foundation Seeks $43.5 Million for 2027 Operations, Vote Starts June 8

The Arbitrum Foundation has requested $43.5 million for its 2027 operating budget. BlockBeats reported on May 29 that the foundation recently submitted its 2027 budget proposal to governance. The request includes $16 million in real-world assets and

Paxos Wins SEC Clearing Agency Registration, First for a Blockchain Firm

Blockchain infrastructure company Paxos has registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as a clearing agency. Paxos said May 28 that its subsidiary, Paxos Securities Settlement Company, or PSSC, was formally registered with the SEC as a

Bitcoin Drops Out of Global Top 10 Assets as Market Cap Loses $1.5 Trillion in a Month

Bitcoin's market capitalization has fallen by nearly $1.5 trillion this month, dropping the cryptocurrency to 13th place in the global asset rankings. Cointelegraph reported on May 29 that Bitcoin fell from the $83,000 range at the start of the month

Bitcoin Falls Into $73,000 Range as CryptoQuant CEO Says Bear Market May Last Until Early 2027

Ki Young Ju, chief executive officer of CryptoQuant, said Bitcoin's bear market could persist until early 2027. In a post on X on May 29, Ju wrote that investors' profit and loss, or PnL, typically declines for about 18 months when profit-taking sets

Strategy’s ‘Stretch’ Preferred Falls Below Par as Bitcoin Weakens; Strive’s SATA Draws Interest

Strategy’s perpetual preferred stock Stretch, issued by the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, has fallen below its $100 par value. CoinDesk reported on May 29 that Stretch closed at $98.57 on May 28 after dropping as low as $97.11 intraday. T

TeraWulf Acquires Large Kentucky Data Center Site to Expand AI Infrastructure

U.S. Bitcoin miner TeraWulf has acquired a large data center site in Kentucky to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure. ODaily reported on May 29 that TeraWulf had acquired the Muskie Data Campus, a high-performance computing development

Mastercard Partners With Chainlink to Expand Crypto Payments Infrastructure

Mastercard has partnered with Chainlink (LINK) to expand its cryptocurrency payments infrastructure. BlockBeats reported on May 29 that Mastercard recently entered into the partnership with Chainlink. The partnership is aimed at strengthening connect

Binance Founder CZ Says Most AI Companies Will Go Bankrupt

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, said most artificial intelligence companies will go bankrupt. Zhao wrote on X on May 29 that AI will continue to exist and grow exponentially, but most AI companies will fail. Even the companies that survi

Court Suspends FIU’s Three-Month Partial Business Ban on Coinone

A South Korean court has suspended a financial regulator’s partial business ban on local crypto exchange Coinone. The Seoul Administrative Court’s 10th division on May 29 granted Coinone’s request to halt enforcement of a three-month partial business

Iran Parliament Says It Won’t Transfer Highly Enriched Uranium Abroad

Iran’s parliament said it has no plan to transfer the country’s highly enriched uranium outside its borders. Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti on Ma

Korea Investment Securities, OKX Ventures to Buy 20% Each in Coinone

Korea Investment Securities will invest about $58 million to acquire about a 20% stake in South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinone, becoming a joint third-largest shareholder. Coinone said on May 29 that Korea Investment Securities and OKX Ventur

Sui Mainnet Temporarily Halted Amid Network Congestion

Sui's mainnet was temporarily halted. The project said on its official X account on May 28 that its mainnet was experiencing network congestion and that it was actively working on a fix. Sui added that transactions may be temporarily paused. It said

Standard Chartered Likens Ethereum to Amazon After Dot-Com Bust, Keeps $4,000 Year-End Target

Standard Chartered has maintained its forecast that Ether will reach $4,000 by the end of 2026. The bank said in a report on May 28, as cited by The Block, that Ether's current price action resembles Amazon.com Inc.'s stock performance during the 200

Axios: US, Iran Reach 60-Day Ceasefire Deal, Await Trump Approval

The US and Iran have reportedly reached a 60-day ceasefire agreement. Axios reported on May 28 that US and Iranian negotiators agreed to a 60-day ceasefire and a framework for nuclear talks. The deal is still awaiting final approval from President Do

Grayscale Halts IPO Plan as Crypto Slump Drags On, Earliest Restart Seen in Fourth Quarter

Grayscale has suspended its initial public offering plan as the cryptocurrency bear market drags on. CoinDesk reported on May 28 that Grayscale recently paused work on the IPO. Citing sources, the outlet said the process is unlikely to restart before

US Treasury Warns Major Economies Not to Pay Iran Strait of Hormuz Transit Fees

The US has warned major economies not to pay transit fees to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, BlockBeats and other outlets reported on May 28. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said some companies and countries were warned that day no

US First-Quarter GDP Growth Revised Down to 1.6%, Below 2.0% Estimate

U.S. economic growth in the first quarter was revised down to 1.6% from 2.0%. The Commerce Department said on May 28 its second estimate showed U.S. gross domestic product rose at an annualized 1.6% rate in the first quarter. That was 0.4 percentage

US Initial Jobless Claims Rise to 215,000, Above Forecast

US initial jobless claims came in above market expectations last week. The Labor Department said on May 28 that initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 215,000 last week. That was 4,000 higher than economists’ forecast of 211,000 and up 5,00

US April Core PCE Price Index Rises 3.3%, Matching Estimates

The US core personal consumption expenditures price index matched market expectations in April. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said May 28 that the headline PCE price index rose 3.8% in April from a year earlier, the fastest an

VanEck Tokenized Treasury Fund Launches on Euler, Expanding Wall Street-Style Collateral in DeFi

VanEck’s tokenized US Treasury fund is now trading on DeFi lending platform Euler. CoinDesk reported on May 28 that VBILL, VanEck’s US Treasury fund issued by tokenization specialist Securitize, has started trading in Euler’s lending market. The list

NTS-Commissioned Report Says Crypto Staking Rewards Should Face 22% Tax

A report commissioned by South Korea’s National Tax Service said crypto staking rewards should be included in the tax system as the government moves ahead with virtual-asset taxation next year. Maeil Business Newspaper reported on May 28 that the Ind

Strategy’s Unrealized Bitcoin Loss Nears $2 Billion After BTC Drop

Strategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, is facing nearly $2 billion in unrealized losses. Data compiled by DESSPIRAL on May 28 showed the company’s unrealized loss on its Bitcoin investment stood at about $1.93 billion. The decline ca

South Korea’s National Pension Service Raises 2026 Domestic Stock Target to 20.8% From 14.9%

South Korea’s National Pension Service raised its target allocation to domestic equities for 2026 to 20.8%. Yonhap News reported on May 28 that the National Pension Service’s fund management committee approved a mid-term asset allocation plan for 202

Former FSC Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang Joins Dunamu Board

Former Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang will join the board of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Dunamu held an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in Seoul’s Gangnam district on May

South Korea Presidential Office Calls for Broader Debate on Sharing Large Companies’ Excess Profits

South Korea’s presidential office said discussions on how to share excess profits at large companies should be opened to broader public debate, including through future forums. Kang Yoo-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, made the remarks at a br

Ethereum Futures Open Interest Hits Record $32.5 Billion as Short Selling Pressure Builds

Ethereum open interest in the cryptocurrency futures market has climbed to a record high. BlockBeats reported on May 28 that open interest in Ethereum futures has increased for three straight days. The total reached about $32.5 billion, marking a fre

KakaoBank to Add Crypto Wallet to App as It Expands Stablecoin Push

KakaoBank plans to offer a cryptocurrency wallet service through its app. According to industry officials on May 28, KakaoBank has recently started recruiting staff for its stablecoin business. The company said the role would be responsible for plann

Middle East Tensions Wipe $80 Billion From Crypto Market in 24 Hours

Middle East tensions wiped about $80 billion from the cryptocurrency market in a single day. Cointelegraph reported on May 28 that total crypto market capitalization fell by about $80 billion over the previous 24 hours. The outlet said U.S. strikes o

BlackRock’s IBIT Sees Record $527.8 Million Daily Outflow Since Launch

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund saw $527.8 million of net outflows in a single day. The Block reported on May 28 that BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, logged $527.8 million in net outflows on May 27. That was the largest daily net ou

[Blooming Lunch] Bok Jin-sol Says Blockchain Can Build a System of ‘Physical Trust’

Bok Jin-sol, Research Lead at 4pillars Holds a doctorate in chemical and biological engineering “I was drawn to blockchain’s trustless model” Joined 4pillars after Decipher “Web3 entered mass adoption one to two years ago” “Meeting good people and ha