JOON HYOUNG LEE

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

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

U.S. employment growth in April came in well above market expectations. The Labor Department said on May 8 that nonfarm payrolls increased by 115,000 from the previous month. That was 50,000 higher than the market forecast of 65,000. It was also 70,0

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

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

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 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 (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

Institutional money is flowing back into Bitcoin, while inflows into Ethereum remain sluggish, according to a CryptoQuant analysis. MorenoDV, a CryptoQuant contributor, wrote on May 8 that institutional capital is returning to crypto, but not evenly

Coinbase said the crypto market structure bill known as the Clarity Act can pass Congress this summer. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, told The Block on May 6 that he is confident the Clarity Act will be passed by the end of the summer a

President Donald Trump said on May 6 that an agreement related to ending the war with Iran could be reached before his May 14-15 trip to China. In a phone interview with US public broadcaster PBS, Trump said he felt the two sides were getting close t

U.S. Bitcoin miner Hut 8 has signed a $9.8 billion lease agreement for an artificial intelligence data center, sending its shares up more than 30%. The Block reported on May 6 that Hut 8 announced the AI data center lease agreement earlier in the day

Zcash surged, triggering $62 million of liquidations in the futures market over the past 24 hours. CoinDesk, citing CoinGecko data, reported on May 6 that the jump in Zcash prices wiped out $62 million in positions over the past day. About $60 millio

E-Trade, the brokerage owned by Morgan Stanley, has launched a cryptocurrency trading service. Bloomberg reported on May 6 that E-Trade recently introduced a pilot service for crypto trading. The brokerage plans to expand the offering to all 8.6 mill

Iran said it is still reviewing a US proposal related to ending the war. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told the semi-official ISNA news agency on May 6 that the proposal "is still under review." Iran plans to convey its position

U.S. private-sector job growth accelerated in April to its strongest pace in the past year and four months. ADP's employment report released on May 6 showed private nonfarm payrolls rose by 109,000 from the previous month. That was the biggest increa

President Donald Trump said the US would begin large-scale bombing if Iran does not agree to carry out its commitments under a deal. Writing on Truth Social on May 6, Trump said the US military operation against Iran known as “Epic Fury” would end if

U.S. crypto venture capital firm Multicoin Capital has made a large investment in Zcash, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency. Tushar Jain, Multicoin Capital's co-founder and managing partner, said at Consensus Miami on May 6 that the firm had recently

A string of stablecoin experiments by big tech companies could help drive the market to $4 trillion by 2030, according to Bitwise. Matt Hougan, the asset manager’s chief investment officer, wrote in a May 5 investor memo that large technology compani

Bitcoin rose above $82,000. According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin was trading at $82,019.96 as of 6:42 p.m. in Korea on May 6, up 1.78% from a day earlier. It was up 6.2% from a week earlier. The kimchi premium remained in the 1% range. Cryprice data s

The US and Iran are close to signing an agreement aimed at ending the war. Axios, citing multiple sources, reported on May 6 that Washington and Tehran are nearing a one-page memorandum that would establish a detailed framework for nuclear talks and

Crypto custody firm Taurus is stepping up its push into the European Union's tokenized securities market. Taurus received a MiFID II investment services license from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission on May 6, CoinDesk reported. MiFID II