Weekly Update: 1st of May
What happened between April 24 and May 1?
- Crypto markets drifted sideways this week. ETF outflows continued, oil prices climbed further and the Fed held rates steady while sharpening its tone on inflation. Read more
- Meta launched a pilot paying content creators in stablecoins. The program runs on Stripe and is initially available only to a select group in Colombia and the Philippines. Read more
- Polymarket odds for the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026 dropped to 45%. A new Senate markup delay and internal opposition weighed on sentiment. Read more
- At the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas the White House hinted at a major announcement on the U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve. Several prominent speakers also took the stage. Read more
Markets drift sideways amid geopolitical tension as ETF outflows persist
Crypto markets traded in a narrow range this week, weighed down by geopolitical uncertainty and persistent outflows from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. Bitcoin hovered around $75,000 after failing twice to reclaim $80,000 earlier in the week, while Ethereum closed near $2,241, down more than 2% on the week.
The Federal Reserve held rates steady as expected but stiffened its tone on inflation by dropping the word “somewhat” from its official characterization. On the same day, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $263 million in net outflows, with Fidelity’s FBTC the biggest single loser at $150 million. Brent crude climbed back above $104 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz remained closed.
Meta launches stablecoin payouts pilot for creators
Meta has launched a pilot program that pays a select group of content creators in stablecoins. The rollout runs on Stripe’s payment rails and is initially available only to creators in Colombia and the Philippines.
The choice of these two markets is notable: both have less stable local currencies and a low barrier for adopting dollar-denominated tokens. Meta has not said when or whether the program will be expanded to additional countries.
Polymarket puts CLARITY Act 2026 odds at 45% as delays mount
The probability that the U.S. CLARITY Act will be signed into law this year has fallen to roughly 45% on Polymarket, down from 64% just a week earlier. The drop follows yet another delay to the Senate markup and renewed resistance from Democratic senators.
Senator Thom Tillis recently added a new condition: the bill must include ethics provisions limiting how White House officials can promote or issue crypto, or he will vote against it. The CLARITY Act would establish the first clear regulatory framework for the U.S. crypto market, splitting oversight between the SEC and the CFTC.
Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas: strategic bitcoin reserve breakthrough on the horizon
At the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, Patrick Witt, head of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, hinted at a major announcement on the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. He said the White House will take a meaningful step through executive action within a few weeks, without waiting for Congress.
The federal government currently holds roughly 328,372 bitcoin, worth around $25 billion. Other speakers at the conference included SEC Chair Paul Atkins, Senator Cynthia Lummis, Michael Saylor and Arthur Hayes. MARA Holdings used the event to launch the MARA Foundation, an initiative focused on the long-term health of the Bitcoin network.
In other digital assets news
- Several more exploits hit crypto this week, with ZetaChain pausing cross-chain transactions after an attack on its GatewayEVM contract that drained about $334,000 from internal team wallets.
- Tether Investments proposed a three-way merger between Twenty One Capital, payments platform Strike and bitcoin miner Elektron Energy, combining treasury, mining and payments under one public platform.
- Bitcoin miner Core Scientific is shifting from bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure, working on a $3.3 billion bond sale and securing up to $1 billion in financing from Morgan Stanley.
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