After years of research, engineering, and community collaboration, Panther Protocol Foundation announced that Panther Protocol is now live on Polygon. Zug, Switzerland, May 7, 2026 – After years of research, engineering, and community collaboration, Panther Protocol Foundation announced that Panther Protocol is now live on Polygon. The deployment introduces what the team describes as “programmable privacy” for decentralized finance — infrastructure designed to enable confidential on-chain interactions while supporting verifiable compliance when required. The Panther interface is accessible at: https://pantherdao.app. Read more
Germany may overhaul its crypto tax rules from 2027, potentially curbing the country’s hallmark one-year tax-free holding rule as it tightens enforcement and seeks extra revenue. Germany is preparing to change how it taxes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from 2027, potentially ending one of Europe’s most generous long-term holding exemptions as it seeks to raise additional revenue and tighten tax compliance. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said at an April 29 press conference on the 2027 federal budget that the government wants to “tax cryptocurrencies differently,” and key points include an extra 2 billion euros (about $2.3 billion) in revenue from crypto taxation and measures against financial and tax crime. Under current rules, private crypto gains in Germany are taxable if the assets are sold within one year of acquisition, but are generally tax-free after that period. The exemption has made Germany one of the more favorable European jurisdictions for long-term Bitcoin and crypto holders. Read more
The Snapshot vote would move the recovery effort toward a binding onchain Arbitrum governance proposal. A joint proposal to release the roughly $71 million in Ether frozen after the Kelp DAO exploit is set to pass later on Thursday, moving a cross-protocol recovery effort closer to restoring part of rsETH’s backing. Over 90.5% of the tokens were cast in favor of the motion, representing 173.9 million Arbitrum (ARB) tokens, while 9.4%, or 18.1 million tokens, abstained. Less than 1%, or 1,700 tokens, voted against the proposal before the voting period’s scheduled end at 6:54 pm UTC, according to a Snapshot at the time of writing. Co-authored by Aave Labs, Kelp DAO, LayerZero, EtherFi and Compound, the proposal seeks to unfreeze the 30,765 Ether (ETH) that was frozen by Arbitrum’s Security Council on April 21, days after an attacker drained about 116,500 restaked Ether (rsETH) from Kelp Dao, worth between $290 million and $293 million at the time. Read more
Kraken parent Payward agreed to buy Hong Kong-based Reap for up to $600 million, adding card issuance and stablecoin payment capabilities to its new B2B platform. Kraken parent Payward agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies for up to $600 million, expanding its push into stablecoin payments and business-to-business (B2B) financial infrastructure. Payward has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Reap for up to $600 million, the company announced Thursday. The deal is set to be paid in a mix of cash and Payward stock, in a transaction that values Payward’s equity at $20 billion. It would expand Payward Services, the company's B2B infrastructure platform launched in March 2026. The deal comes as crypto companies increasingly expand beyond trading services into payments infrastructure and stablecoin-related products as stablecoins gain traction among fintech firms and businesses. Read more
Polygon delivered its first block time reduction upgrade since genesis, as the network seeks to position for more high-frequency applications such as private stablecoin payments. Blockchain layer-2 (L2) network Polygon reduced its average block time by 250 milliseconds to 1.75 seconds, marking its first block-time reduction since genesis as the network pushes deeper into stablecoin payments and settlement infrastructure. Polygonscan shows that the latest blocks on the network were created in 1.75 seconds. The upgrade means that Polygon can process around 14% more payments per second, reaching a maximum theoretical throughput of about 3,260 transactions per second (TPS), according to Polygon software engineer Lucca Martins. Shorter block times can help transaction backlogs clear faster, reducing the duration of network congestion and subsequent transaction fee spikes, which is particularly important for high-frequency use cases such as payments, stablecoins or decentralized finance (DeFi) trading. Read more
XRP is retesting a key multi-year support zone that has historically preceded major rebounds, with analysts predicting a rally toward $12 if the level holds. XRP (XRP) is testing a key long-term support level that has historically preceded major rebounds, according to a monthly chart shared by analyst MikybullCrypto. Key takeaways: Read more
South Korea’s Finance Ministry has reportedly confirmed for the first time that a 22% tax on crypto gains will proceed as scheduled in January 2027. South Korea’s Finance Ministry has confirmed that a long-delayed tax on crypto gains will take effect as scheduled in January 2027. Moon Kyung-ho, director of the ministry’s income tax division, announced at an emergency parliamentary forum on virtual asset taxation held at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Seoul on Thursday, according to South Korea news outlet Edaily. The forum was hosted by Representative Park Soo-young of the People Power Party and the Korea Tax Policy Association. “We will proceed with virtual asset taxation as scheduled in January next year,” Moon said in what appears to be the first public confirmation from the ministry that the crypto tax framework will move forward after multiple postponements. Read more