Crypto Vesting

Animoca Brands is looking at trends in real-world tokenized assets, AI projects, and the gaming sector to invest in and develop, according to Omar Elissar, the company’s managing director for the Middle East and the head of Global Strategic Partnerships.

In an interview with Cointelegraph’s Sam Bourgi at Token2049, Elissar said that stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization, the intersection between AI and crypto, alternative use cases such as decentralized science, and Web3 gaming were all niches the company is exploring.

Gaming is “part of our DNA,” the executive said before reflecting on the current state of the Web3 gaming industry:

“It’s gone quiet for some time in terms of less PR, but there’s been building in the background. Recently, there have been a few games that have come out that have been truly fun to play, which I think has been one of the

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Avraham Eisenberg was sentenced to more than four years in prison on child pornography charges, unrelated to his role in the 2022 exploit that drained the decentralized exchange Mango Markets of roughly $100 million.

According to reporting from Inner City Press, a judge sentenced Eisenberg to 52 months in prison at a May 1 hearing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case was filed in April 2024 after Eisenberg’s 2023 indictment on fraud for the Mango Markets exploit.

Eisenberg was initially scheduled to be sentenced in July 2024 following his guilty plea on the child porn charge. In May 2024, the judge suggested the sentencing for both cases would occur simultaneously in a consolidated proceeding. However, as of May 1, the fraud sentencing remains pending.

The prosecution in the Mango Markets case reflects the growing probability of apprehension for

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Michael Saylot’s tech firm Strategy has earned shareholders a Bitcoin yield of 13.7% in the year-to-date, the company said in its May 1 earnings report.

That equates to a Bitcoin gain of more than 61,000 Bitcoin (BTC), worth approximately $5.8 billion, according to the company. Bitcoin yield and Bitcoin gain are unofficial accounting metrics that Strategy uses to benchmark the success of its BTC buying strategy. 

Bitcoin yield measures the ratio of Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings to the number of outstanding shares of its stock, MSTR. Bitcoin gain quantifies that figure in terms of accrued Bitcoin, Strategy said in February. 

“We are increasing our 2025 ‘BTC Yield’ target to 25% and our 2025 ‘BTC $ Gain’ target to $15 billion,” Andrew Kang, Strategy’s chief financial officer, said in a statement.

Strategy generated a Bitcoin yield of 11% and a Bitcoin gain

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A Texas member of the US House of Representatives has proposed that government officials consider installing cryptocurrency ATMs in federal buildings across the country.

In a May 1 letter to Stephen Ehikian, the acting administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) — the entity responsible for managing the US government’s properties — Rep. Lance Gooden claimed that introducing crypto ATMs to federal buildings would serve as an “educational resource” and reflect advances in financial technology. He requested that the GSA begin exploring the necessary guidelines and regulations needed to install such ATMs in government-controlled properties across the US, citing alignment with President Donald Trump’s goals.

May 1 letter pitching crypto ATMs to GSA. Source: Rep. Lance Gooden

According to financial disclosure reports filed with the US House of Representatives, Gooden had held no investments in cryptocurrency or ATM companies since taking office

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Retail investors are running out of time to accumulate Bitcoin as institutional adoption accelerates, according to Sergej Kunz, co-founder of exchange aggregator 1inch.

Bitcoin (BTC) is evolving into an alternative reserve currency, propelling institutional demand and potentially pricing out retail investors, Kunz said during Cointelegraph’s LONGITUDE event in Dubai. 

“Every retail user should be thinking about getting at least one Bitcoin — very soon they won’t be able to afford it,” Kunz said. 

If the United States starts buying Bitcoin for a strategic reserve, even smaller countries may soon struggle to acquire the cryptocurrency, he added. “I’m pretty sure we’ll soon see countries battling over who owns more Bitcoin. The US will start.”

Bitcoin demand has accelerated since US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on US imports in April, setting off a global trade war.

“The only thing that still acts as a true hedge — across

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Key takeaways:

Bitcoin could reach $150,000 by August or September of this year if BTC breaks above the parabolic slope pattern.

Bitcoin (BTC) price jumped to new quarterly highs at $96,700 on May 1, a day after the US GDP contracted -0.3% for the first time since Q2 2022. Amid heightened economic concerns, the probability of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut rose to 62.8% for the June 18 Federal Reserve meeting.

Over the past 24 hours, short position liquidations exceeded $137 million, with Alphractal founder Joao Wedson observing that BTC’s price momentum continues to favor bullish trends.

Bitcoin aggregated liquidation heatmap. Source: X.comPeter Brandt predicts a $150K Bitcoin top by Q3

In a recent post on X, veteran trader Peter Brandt forecasted a Bitcoin price rally, potentially reaching $125,000 to

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Cryptocurrency can accelerate artificial intelligence adoption by helping AI startups onboard users, according to Polygon’s co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.

“You can use crypto incentives and disincentives to onboard users to onboard the ecosystem players,” Nailwal said during a panel discussion at the LONGITUDE by Cointelegraph event.

He added that projects with effective onchain incentive structures might even “build a better AI because you have this incentive engine that brings in developers,” Nailwal said on May 1.

Cointelegraph’s LONGITUDE is an event series that brings together leaders and innovators from the blockchain and Web3 space for exclusive discussions.

Joining the panel, Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of the Near Protocol, expanded on crypto’s long-term synergy with AI, forecasting that crypto-native AI agents could replace traditional web application front-ends as the primary user interfaces for Web3.

“We don’t need applications or websites anymore. Your AI becomes the interface to computing and the internet,” Polosukhin said.

Sandeep Nailwal and

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Paolo Ardoino, CEO of stablecoin issuer Tether, addressed criticism over the company’s decision not to seek registration under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, arguing that the regulations were risky for stablecoins.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Token2049 conference in Dubai, Ardoino reiterated that Tether had no plans to apply for its US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDt — the largest by market capitalization — to be compliant under MiCA in European countries, potentially forcing exchanges to delist the stablecoin. He added that though crypto firms had to follow regulations, there was a “fear of compliance” among companies in the EU.

“[…] MiCA license is very dangerous when it comes to stablecoins, and I believe that is even more dangerous for the small, medium banking system in Europe,” said the Tether CEO, adding that banks in the region could “go belly up” in the next few years

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Crypto exchange Coinbase has announced it will suspend trading of Movement Labs’ native token effective May 15.

The decision was shared in a May 1 post on X, with Coinbase citing the token’s failure to meet its listing standards. According to CoinMarketCap, the MOVE token declined by 13.6% in the last 24 hours. Coinbase announced:

“Trading for MOVE will be suspended on Coinbase, Simple and Advanced Trade, Coinbase Exchange, and Coinbase Prime. We have moved our MOVE order books to limit-only mode. Limit orders can be placed and canceled, and matches may occur.”

The trading suspension follows an ongoing investigation into Movement Labs over an agreement that allegedly influenced the MOVE token price.

Source: Coinbase

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

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