JOON HYOUNG LEE

Bitcoin Falls Below $80,000; Kimchi Premium Turns Negative at -0.47%

Bitcoin fell below $80,000. CoinMarketCap data showed Bitcoin trading at $79,676.91 as of 10:55 p.m. on May 13 in Korea, down 1.18% from a day earlier. The token was 2.47% lower than a week ago. The kimchi premium also turned negative. Cryprice data

Coinbase CEO Says CLARITY Act Is Closer Than Ever

Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said the CLARITY Act, a US crypto market structure bill, is closer than ever. Armstrong made the comment in a post on X on May 13. He wrote that the CLARITY Act would make the US financial system faste

Coinbase-Backed x402 Adds Batch Settlement for AI Agent Payments

Coinbase-backed payment protocol x402 has introduced a batch-settlement feature for payments made by artificial intelligence agents. Base developer Jesse Pollak announced the update on May 13, Cointelegraph reported. Base is Coinbase’s layer-2 blockc

US April Producer Prices Jump 1.4% on Month as Iran-Driven Oil Shock Lifts Costs

Rising global oil prices tied to the war involving Iran pushed U.S. producer prices in April well above market expectations. The Producer Price Index rose 1.4% in April from the previous month, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said o

KRW Stablecoin KRWQ Launches on Solana to Expand Liquidity

KRWQ, a won-pegged stablecoin, is launching on Solana. The Block reported on May 13 that IQ said it is deploying KRWQ on the Solana network with Frax. The company said the Korean won has long been a globally traded currency in offshore derivatives ma

Bitwise Says GENIUS Act Unlocked Crypto Funding, Eyes Clarity Act as Next Catalyst

Bitwise said passage of the US stablecoin bill known as the GENIUS Act has accelerated fundraising across the cryptocurrency industry, and that the next catalyst could be the crypto market structure bill known as the Clarity Act. In an investor memo

Superform Jumps 120% on Upbit Listing News

Superform rose sharply on news of its listing on a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. According to CoinMarketCap, Superform was trading at $0.2709 as of 6:48 p.m. on May 13, up about 122.51% from a day earlier. The token was also up about 129% fro

Metaplanet’s Bitcoin Holdings Top 40,000, Worth $3.27 Billion

Metaplanet, often dubbed Japan’s version of Strategy, said its Bitcoin holdings have surpassed 40,000. The company said on May 12 it held 40,177 Bitcoin as of the first quarter. That amounted to about 87% of the Bitcoin held by Japan-listed companies

US Spot Bitcoin ETFs Post $233.2 Million Outflow, Reversing After One Day

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds swung back to net outflows after one day of inflows. Farside Investors data showed U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $233.2 million on May 12. The funds had posted net inflows on May 11. Fidelity'

BASIS Launches Crypto Arbitrage Platform After Private Test

BASIS, a cryptocurrency arbitrage platform, has officially launched after completing a private test. Bloomingbit reported on May 13 that BASIS began offering the service to general users that day. The platform was developed with technical support fro

Warren Opposes Revised Clarity Act, Citing Trump Family Conflict Concerns

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is opposing a revised version of the Clarity Act, a bill to set rules for the cryptocurrency market’s structure. In a post on X on May 12, Warren wrote that the U.S. Senate Banking Committee had released a new version of the Cla

XRP Volume Overtakes Bitcoin on South Korean Exchanges as Traders Eye $1.50 Resistance

XRP trading volume has surpassed Bitcoin on South Korea’s major cryptocurrency exchanges. CoinDesk, citing CoinGecko data, reported on May 13 that XRP posted about $110.9 million in 24-hour trading volume on Upbit’s Korean won market. That exceeded B

Norway’s Largest Pension Fund Adds Strategy Shares, Stake Nears $20.5 Million

Norway’s largest pension fund, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS, has added to its holding in Strategy. Data from BitcoinTreasuries on May 12 showed KLP increased its Strategy holdings by nearly 10% to 104,680 shares from 95,160 shares. The stake is worth ab

South Korea’s Democratic Party Pushes Blockchain Framework Law, Lawmaker Calls for Cross-Ministry Governance

South Korea’s Democratic Party has begun pushing to enact a Framework Act on Blockchain. Industry calls for legal clarity to foster the country’s blockchain sector are also growing. Lee Ju-hee, a member of the Democratic Party’s Digital Asset Task Fo

Exclusive: South Korea’s Jindo County to Track Jindo Dog Bloodlines on Blockchain

Jindo County in South Jeolla Province is introducing blockchain technology to manage the bloodlines of the Jindo dog, a national natural monument. According to industry officials on May 12, the county will begin work this month on a blockchain-based

US Central Command Says It Disabled Two Iranian Tankers in Gulf of Oman Blockade Enforcement

The US attacked two tankers bound for Iran in waters off Oman. US Central Command said on its official X account on May 8 that it had enforced a blockade against two empty Iranian-flagged tankers seeking to enter an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman.

BlackRock, Fidelity Move $80.8 Million of Ether to Coinbase Prime in Potential Sell Signal

BlackRock and Fidelity have moved large amounts of Ether to Coinbase Prime, on-chain tracker Lookonchain said on May 8. BlackRock deposited 11,475 ETH, worth about $26.3 million at current prices, into Coinbase Prime, according to Lookonchain. Fideli

Goldman Survey Shows Strait of Hormuz Shipping Disruptions Lasting Into Second Half

Most investors expect shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz to last into the second half of the year, a Goldman Sachs survey showed. Walter Bloomberg reported on May 8 that Goldman’s recent survey of about 840 investors found most respond

Coinbase Restarts Trading After AWS Outage, Says Major Issues Are Resolved

Coinbase, the US cryptocurrency exchange, restored trading services after an Amazon Web Services outage temporarily disrupted parts of its platform. Cointelegraph reported on May 8 that Coinbase detected elevated error rates across its exchange, webs

Iran Condemns Alleged US Attack on Tankers as Clear Breach of March 8 Ceasefire

Iran condemned what it said was a US attack on its tankers. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 8, cited by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, that the attack occurred between late May 7 and early May 8. The ministry called the “agg

Swiss Bid to Mandate SNB Bitcoin Reserves Fails After Falling Short on Signatures

A campaign to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin as part of its reserves has effectively collapsed. Reuters reported on May 8 that the Bitcoin Initiative plans to halt the campaign after failing to collect enough signatures to trigger a

US April Nonfarm Payrolls Rise 115,000, Far Exceeding Forecast

U.S. employment growth in April came in well above market expectations. The U.S. Department of Labor said on May 8 that nonfarm payrolls increased by 115,000 from the previous month. That was 50,000 above the market forecast of 65,000. It was also 70

Warren Presses Meta Over Stablecoin Tests, Citing ‘Private Central Bank’ Risk

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has asked Meta Platforms Inc. to explain its plans for stablecoins. The Block reported on May 8 that Warren recently sent a letter to Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg demanding that Meta disclose its stablecoin business p

Bernstein Keeps Coinbase Price Target at $330, Sees 71% Upside

Bernstein maintained its $330 price target on Coinbase. The Block reported on May 8 that Bernstein reiterated its outperform rating on Coinbase in a report released the same day. It also kept its $330 price target unchanged, implying about 71% upside

Zcash to Roll Out Quantum Recovery Wallet Within a Month, Complete Post-Quantum Shift by Next Year

Zcash plans to launch a quantum recovery wallet within the next month and complete its transition to a post-quantum system by next year. Josh Swihart, founder and chief executive officer of Zcash Open Development Lab, made the remarks on May 7 at the

Goldman Sachs Raises Kospi Target to 9,000 After Breakout Rally

Goldman Sachs raised its target for South Korea’s Kospi index to 9,000. Business Insider and other foreign media reported on May 8 that Goldman recently lifted its Kospi target to 9,000 in a report. The move came about 20 days after the bank raised i

Coinbase CEO Armstrong Sold 1.5 Million Shares Over the Past Year for $550 Million

Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong sold more than 1.5 million shares of the company over the past year, cashing out about $550 million. BlockBeats, citing OpenInsider data, reported on May 8 that Armstrong sold the shares from May 2025

ECB’s Lagarde Says Stablecoins Pose Risks to Banks, Monetary Policy

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde voiced opposition to the introduction of euro-denominated stablecoins. In a speech on May 8, Lagarde said euro stablecoins could lower euro-area funding costs in the short term and expand the currency

Arbitrum DAO Approves $70 Million in Ether Support for KelpDAO Recovery

Arbitrum DAO has approved a contribution of about $70 million in Ether to support KelpDAO after the protocol was hit by a recent hack. The Block reported on May 8 that the DAO approved a proposal to transfer about 30,766 frozen ETH to DeFi United. Th

Zcash Jumps Nearly 70% in a Week as Surveillance Fears Revive Privacy Coins

Zcash (ZEC) has surged nearly 70% over the past week, as rising concerns about financial surveillance fuel renewed interest in privacy coins. As of May 8, Zcash was trading at about $573, up roughly 2.7% from a day earlier, according to CoinMarketCap