Weekly Update: 8th of May
What happened between May 1 and May 8?
- Crypto markets continued their steady climb this week. Bitcoin reached over $82,000, its highest level since January, while spot bitcoin ETFs logged their fifth straight week of net inflows. Read more
- Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks reached a compromise on stablecoin yield in the CLARITY Act. Activity-based rewards remain allowed, but bank-deposit-style yield is off the table. Read more
- Morgan Stanley launched a crypto trading pilot on E*Trade at 0.50% per trade, well below most rivals. Bitcoin, ether and solana are available, with full rollout to 8.6 million clients planned later this year. Read more
- Western Union launched its own dollar stablecoin USDPT on Solana, issued by Anchorage Digital. The token rolls out first in the Philippines and Bolivia, with expansion to more than forty markets later in 2026. Read more
Crypto market continues steady climb to highest levels since January
The crypto market posted another week of green prints. Bitcoin pushed above $82,000 on Tuesday, May 5, its highest level since late January, gaining roughly 5% on the week. Ether climbed past $2,400 in the same period, up nearly 6%.
The rally was supported by sustained inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. On Monday, May 4, alone, the funds attracted more than $532 million in net inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT leading the way. It marked the fifth consecutive week of net inflows; cumulative bitcoin ETF flows now stand at $58.72 billion. Ether ETFs went the other way, with $82.47 million in net outflows for the week ending May 1.
CLARITY Act: stablecoin yield compromise unlocks Senate markup path
U.S. senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks reached a compromise this week on how stablecoin yield is treated in the CLARITY Act. The text bars crypto firms from paying interest on stablecoin balances in a manner economically or functionally equivalent to a bank deposit, but allows rewards tied to transactions and active use. The model shifts from “buy and hold” to “buy and use.”
The crypto industry welcomed the deal: Coinbase and Circle urged the Senate Banking Committee to advance the bill, and Circle’s stock (CRCL) jumped nearly 20% on May 4. Five major U.S. banking trade groups, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, issued a joint statement opposing the compromise. Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott aims to mark up the bill in May and bring it to the Senate floor in June or July.
Morgan Stanley brings crypto trading to E*Trade at cut-rate fee
Morgan Stanley launched a crypto trading pilot on E*Trade in early May. Customers can buy and sell three large-cap tokens for now: bitcoin, ether and solana. The investment bank charges 0.50% per trade, well below Robinhood (from 0.95%), Charles Schwab (0.75%) and Coinbase (from 0.60%).
Crypto trading is fully integrated into the existing E*Trade dashboard rather than offered as a separate app. Liquidity, custody and settlement are handled by Zerohash. Later this year, Morgan Stanley plans to extend access to all 8.6 million E*Trade clients. The bank was for years notably critical of crypto, but earlier this year it launched spot bitcoin and ether ETFs for high-net-worth clients.
Western Union launches own dollar stablecoin USDPT on Solana
Western Union went live with its own stablecoin USDPT on the Solana blockchain on May 4. The dollar-pegged token is issued by Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered U.S. bank and custodian. The first rollout takes place in the Philippines and Bolivia; more than forty additional markets will follow later in 2026 through the consumer brand “Stable by Western Union.”
With a network of roughly half a million physical cash-out locations worldwide, Western Union can plug USDPT directly into its existing remittance flows. That puts the new stablecoin in direct competition with Tether’s USDT (market cap around $189.5 billion) and Circle’s USDC (around $71 billion), which together dominate the market. Western Union is targeting users in emerging markets, where dollar stablecoins are increasingly used for savings and cross-border payments.
In other digital assets news
- Crypto exchange Bullish announced it will acquire transfer agent Equiniti for $4.2 billion, aiming to build a global infrastructure platform for tokenized securities.
- The European MiCA transition period definitively ends on July 1, 2026. Unlicensed crypto providers in countries such as France, Malta, Luxembourg and Estonia will lose their operating rights from that date.
- Ethereum treasury company Bitmine bought another 101,745 ETH last week for roughly $238 million. Its total holdings now stand at 5.18 million ETH.
- Strategy paused its weekly bitcoin buys around its May 5 Q1 earnings. CEO Michael Saylor hinted at a possible bitcoin sale to fund dividend payments on the company’s STRC preferred shares.
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