Bitcoin’s weekend breakout above $105,000 has bulls hopeful for new all-time highs at some point this week. Which altcoins will follow? Key points: Bitcoin’s rally to $105,980 has traders predicting new all-time highs this week. Traders lift their end-of-year Bitcoin price targets to $200,000 based on technical factors and institutional investor adoption. Read more
Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm's defense cited the same set of FinCEN documents used by the Samourai Wallet developers' legal team. Attorneys for Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm filed a motion asking the court to reconsider the motion to dismiss the case due to the prosecution withholding exculpatory evidence in the form of communications with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) dating back to 2023. According to a May 16 letter from Storm's attorneys to Judge Katherine Polk Failla, the FinCEN documents show that non-custodial crypto mixers do not fall under the legal definition of a "money transmitting business" and that prosecutors have known this since at least 2023. Despite having knowledge of the FinCEN guidance on crypto mixers, state prosecutors still proceeded with cases against the Samourai Wallet developers and Tornado Cash, the attorneys alleged. Read more
Durov did not name the EU country that asked him to censor "conservative voices" on the platform but hinted at it with a baguette emoji. Telegram founder Pavel Durov said he rejected pressure from a European Union (EU) country to censor political content on the social media platform ahead of the May 18 presidential elections in Romania. According to Durov, a Western European government, which he hinted at with a baguette emoji, approached the platform and requested it censor conservative voices, which he flatly denied. Durov wrote in a May 18 Telegram post: The Telegram founder is an ardent defender of free speech, who is highly regarded in the crypto community for his stances on freedom of expression, autonomy, privacy, and individual liberty. Read more
Bodyguard security firms are experiencing increased demand from cryptocurrency executives in response to a disturbing rise in kidnappings. Crypto industry executives are beefing up personal security and demanding more bodyguard services in response to a recent string of kidnapping and ransom attempts worldwide — particularly in France — targeting investors and professionals in the sector. According to a Bloomberg report, Infinite Risks International, a private security firm based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is seeing more inquiries into bodyguard services and more long-term clients signing up for a private security detail. Additionally, French law enforcement officials recently announced enhanced security measures for crypto entrepreneurs and investors, following at least three separate kidnapping incidents so far in 2025. Read more
Ethereum's price dropped to $2,400 on May 17 before resuming its rally, which can take ETH toward $3,000 or more. Key points: Ether price rose 3% to $2,550 on May 18, triggering $22 million in short ETH liquidations. A bull flag on the chart suggests a $3,700 target, with analysts predicting Bitcoin’s price to go as high as $5,000 in May. Read more
The rapid rise of Ethereum layer 2s isn’t a problem. It’s a sign of healthy growth and innovation. The future isn’t chain consolidation but a thriving ecosystem of thousands of specialized L2s. Opinion by: Igor Mandrigin, co-founder and CTPO of Gateway.fm Every couple of weeks, it seems another layer 2 rolls out, much to the chagrin of some Web3 industry commentators who are concerned about fragmentation. A recent Gemini Institutional Insights report actually noted how a new Ethereum L2 solution is launched approximately every 19 days. In response to the seemingly endless conveyor belt of new zkEVMs and optimistic rollups coming to market, the chorus of criticism continues to grow louder: “This is definitely the saturation point, no more chains are needed.” Some of the most outspoken critics of L2s argue that L2s are redundant, but this is narrow thinking. In many ways, the idea that creating new L2s should be slowed down is like arguing that there were too many websites in 1998. The proliferation of L2s is n...