The crypto sector has become a major absorber of U.S. debt, holding over US$220 billion primarily through stablecoins and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
Ethereum’s Glamsterdam upgrade entered its final development phase, locking in structural proposals like Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) and Block-Level Access Lists (BALs).
Ethlabs, a new nonprofit launched by former Ethereum Foundation researchers, aims to advance Ethereum’s research and development (R&D).
Japan’s SBI Group launched JPYSC, a trust-based stablecoin issued by Shinsei Trust and Banking Co., Ltd.
MoneyGram joined the Solana network as an active validator.
Chainlink is partnering with major European and Korean banks on Project Pangea to deploy stablecoins for more transparent and efficient foreign exchange (FX) settlement.
Synthetix governance proposed SIP-423 to retire its sUSD stablecoin.
Main Street’s msUSD stablecoin and its yield-bearing token msY lost their U.S. dollar pegs after verification provider Accountable terminated their agreement.
Morpho Blue‘s Alpha USDC Delta V2 vault currently faces an estimated $18 million loss from msY/USDC market exposure following the msY collapse.
Aztec Labs suffered a second exploit, losing $2.15 million from an immutable, deprecated smart contract.
Secret Network‘s cross-chain bridge to Axelar was drained of $4.67 million over a seven-day period due to a legacy infinite-mint vulnerability.
Ethereum L2 network Taiko halted block production after an attacker exploited its bridge to steal roughly $1.7 million.
This week, the market cap, volume, and volatility indices dropped -15.44%, -23.49%, and -18.52%, respectively.
Jupiter (JUP) rallied following news of a 7.5 million token buyback over the last three months. Additionally, a new governance proposal aims to increase fee buybacks from 50% to 70% to enhance token scarcity and bolster buy-side pressure.
Chainlink (LINK) is partnering with major European and Korean banks on Project Pangea to deploy stablecoins for more transparent and efficient FX settlement.
Main Street USD’s (msUSD) crash triggered a liquidity crisis and significant financial exposure for the Morpho lending protocol. The msY (a yield token minted by staking msUSD)/USDC market on Morpho hit 100% utilization, meaning nearly all msY supplied by lenders has been borrowed. Consequently, Morpho Blue’s Alpha USDC Delta V2 vault faced an estimated $18 million loss from msY/USDC market exposure following the msY token’s collapse.
U.S. total public debt outstanding hit a record $39.3 trillion in June. The crypto sector has become a major absorber of this debt, holding over $220 billion primarily through stablecoins and RWA tokenization. By comparison, Norway — the 14th-largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries — holds $214.7 billion.
Circle and Tether collectively hold approximately $205 billion in the U.S. Treasury securities to back their stablecoins. Meanwhile, tokenized U.S. Treasuries hit $15 billion, accounting for a historic 0.04% of total U.S. debt. Over the past 30 days, Circle’s tokenized money market fund, USYC, led the sector with $139 million in net inflows. In contrast, WisdomTree’s WTGXX and Securitize’s BUIDL saw the largest pullbacks, with $186 million and $158 million in net outflows, respectively.
Ethereum‘s Glamsterdam upgrade entered its final development phase, locking in structural proposals like Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) and Block-Level Access Lists (BALs). This overhaul clears the path for a 200 million gas-limit capacity target, expanding L1 throughput ahead of its expected mainnet activation in late 2026.
Ethlabs, a new nonprofit launched by former Ethereum Foundation researchers, aims to advance Ethereum’s R&D. Supported by major corporate ether holders and key ecosystem figures, the initiative marks a strategic transition from the Ethereum Foundation’s centralized stewardship toward a “multi-node” development model, where independent entities collaboratively guide the network’s future.
Japan’s SBI Group launched JPYSC, a trust-based stablecoin issued by Shinsei Trust and Banking Co., Ltd. Co-developed with Startale Group, SBI is the first Japanese institution to launch under the country’s newly amended Payment Services Act, prioritizing institutional settlements.
MoneyGram joined the Solana network as an active validator. The move signifies a deeper structural commitment as TradFi continues to adopt fast, low-cost stablecoin rails for international payment settlements.
Synthetix governance proposed SIP-423 to retire its sUSD stablecoin. The proposal aims to freeze the contract and reimburse eligible holders with linearly vested SNX tokens at a conversion rate that honors sUSD’s intended $1.00 value.
Main Street’s msUSD stablecoin and its yield-bearing token msY lost their U.S. dollar pegs after verification provider Accountable terminated their agreement. Accountable stated that Main Street failed to meet its proof-of-reserves standards. Consequently, msUSD dropped sharply from approximately $1.00 to around $0.29, erasing roughly 71% to 90% of its value within 24 hours and reducing its market cap to roughly $30.5 million.
Aztec Labs suffered a second exploit, losing $2.15 million from an immutable, deprecated smart contract. The incident was executed via false rollup proofs, reinforcing concerns over the security risks of abandoned on-chain infrastructure.
Secret Network‘s cross-chain bridge to Axelar was drained of $4.67 million over a seven-day period because of a legacy infinite-mint vulnerability. The attacker successfully forged Cosmos IBC packets to mint unbacked tokens because the contract lacked proper incoming denomination validations.
Ethereum L2 network Taiko halted block production after an attacker exploited its bridge to steal roughly $1.7 million. The attacker forged withdrawal proofs to drain funds from the bridge and token vault, likely using a leaked signing key.
Pre-IPO Perpetuals: Front-Running Wall Street: Crypto derivatives offer retail investors a solution through synthetic pre-IPO perpetual contracts. These 24/7, leveraged financial instruments wrap expected valuations, dismantling the barriers to institutional exclusivity and enabling users to trade the trajectories of private tech companies.
Market Update (May 2026): May highlighted a performance gap between surging global equities and declining cryptos and commodities. Equity markets led with the MSCI Emerging Markets index up +9.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite gaining +8.4%. Conversely, BTC and ETH fell -3.5% and -11.2%, respectively. Bonds and Real Estate posted modest gains, while Commodities and Gold fell. Data suggests a rotation from crypto toward high-growth equity sectors.
Research Roundup Newsletter (May 2026): We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring our analysis on Real-World Asset Perpetuals and April’s market review and outlook.
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Research and Insights Team
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