Weekly Update: 22nd of May
What happened between May 15 and May 22?
- Crypto markets stalled this week amid Middle East tensions. Bitcoin traded around $77,000 and bitcoin ETFs posted $1.1 billion in net outflows, their first negative week in seven. Read more
- The SEC is preparing an ‘innovation exemption’ for tokenized public equities, with Ondo benefiting. The Bank of England also unveiled plans to push UK settlement toward near-24/7. Read more
- Hyperliquid rose more than 40% this month after launching the first synthetic SpaceX pre-IPO futures contract. Lighter, on which we also actively trade, rallied more than 50%. Read more
- Circle raised $222 million in a token presale for its new Arc blockchain, valued at roughly $3 billion. The project targets institutional stablecoin and tokenization rails. Read more
Crypto market stalls around Iran tensions
Bitcoin traded around $77,000 last week, while ether slipped toward $2,000. Markets reacted cautiously to White House comments suggesting the conflict with Iran is in its final stages, but remained on edge over the risk of further escalation. On a weekly basis the crypto market closed roughly flat.
The picture was less calm on the fund side. Crypto ETFs recorded $1.1 billion in net outflows for the week ending May 15 — the third-largest weekly outflow of 2026 and the end of a six-week inflow streak. The pullback followed a 3.8% CPI print and a jump in the implied probability of a rate hike to 44%. Bitcoin ETFs in particular saw institutional positioning unwind.
SEC opens the door to tokenized equities with new innovation exemption
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a temporary exemption that would let crypto platforms offer tokenized versions of listed public equities without first obtaining a full broker-dealer or national exchange license. Under the framework these platforms would operate as a regulatory sandbox with defined limits and reporting obligations. Chair Paul Atkins is targeting a mid-May release for the exemption.
The announcement sent providers of tokenized products higher. Ondo Finance, the market leader with $883 million in tokenized equity and almost 60% market share, was a direct beneficiary. The company also completed a cross-border tokenized treasury settlement with J.P. Morgan, Mastercard and Ripple in under five seconds this month. Across the Atlantic, the Bank of England unveiled plans to extend the UK’s core settlement rails toward near-24/7 availability, preparing wholesale markets for tokenization. From September 2027 CHAPS will already be extended to overlap with Asian trading hours.
Hyperliquid jumps more than 40% on SpaceX pre-IPO
Hyperliquid’s HYPE token gained more than 40% this month, helped by the launch of the first synthetic SpaceX pre-IPO perpetual futures contract on the platform. The contract opened at $150 with an implied valuation of $1.78 trillion, spiked to $216 within hours and then settled back near $203. The first day generated $33 million in trading volume.
Hyperliquid is increasingly drawing traditional investors. The platform generated around $820 million in revenue over the past year, making it one of the most profitable organisations in the crypto sector. Alongside crypto, Hyperliquid offers trading in commodities and tokenized equities via its HIP-3 protocol. Hyperliquid is part of the Hodl portfolio. Lighter, on which we also actively trade, gained more than 50% this week.
Circle raises $222 million for its own Arc blockchain
Stablecoin issuer Circle has raised $222 million in a token presale for its new Arc blockchain. The network is valued at roughly $3 billion and is positioned as an institutional ‘economic operating system’ for stablecoins and tokenized assets. Arc is intended as a second growth engine alongside Circle’s existing USDC stablecoin business.
Circle also launched the Agent Stack, a set of developer tools for the emerging agentic economy. The stack includes agent wallets, a command-line interface, a marketplace and a nanopayments protocol that can settle USDC transactions from $0.000001 with no gas fees. USDC’s market cap now stands at $76.6 billion, against $189.7 billion for Tether’s USDT.
In other digital assets news
- Strategy bought another 24,869 bitcoin last week for roughly $2.01 billion, at an average price of $80,985. The company’s total bitcoin position now stands at 843,738 BTC.
- SpaceX’s IPO filing revealed a bitcoin treasury of 18,712 BTC, worth almost $1.5 billion at current prices. That puts the company ahead of Tesla in terms of bitcoin held.
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