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CME Expands Crypto Derivatives Offering With AVAX and SUI Futures Launch
CME Group announced that Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI) futures are now live for trading. CME said the new products are designed to give institutional and professional traders more tools to manage crypto exposure and diversify portfolios. The launch also reflects how traditional derivatives markets are expanding beyond BTC, ETH and SOL to cover more major Layer 1 tokens.

SharpLink’s ETH Treasury Bet Wins Russell Index Inclusion
SharpLink, the second-largest Ethereum treasury company, said it will be added to the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes, effective June 29. CEO Joseph Chalom said the move reflects recognition of the company’s “institutional-grade ETH treasury strategy” and is expected to broaden its shareholder base and capital markets profile.

UK Sanctions Crypto Exchanges for First Time Under Russia Regime
The UK government on May 26 sanctioned several crypto-related firms, including Bitpapa IC FZC LLC, Exmo Exchange Limited, Aifory LLC and Rapira Group LLC, accusing them of providing financial services, funds or economic resources to A7 Limited Liability Company. The move is part of a wider UK crackdown on Russia sanctions-evasion networks, also targeting Garantex Europe OU, banks and related companies. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said this marks the UK’s first use of the relevant Russia sanctions regime against crypto exchanges.

UK Sanctions HTX Entity Formerly Known as Huobi Global
The UK government on May 26 sanctioned HUOBI GLOBAL S.A., the entity linked to HTX, accusing it of providing financial services, funds or economic resources to A7 Limited Liability Company as part of a wider crackdown on Russia sanctions-evasion networks. The action also targeted crypto platforms including Garantex Europe OU, banks and related firms. The move follows the FCA’s February legal action against HTX over alleged unlawful financial promotions to UK consumers. Justin Sun is a member of HTX’s global advisory board.

Binance Eyes Philippines Comeback Through SEC Sandbox Partner
Binance has partnered with Philippine fintech BlockShoals Technologies to expand in the Philippines through a local compliance route. The companies said the partnership followed more than two years of regulatory engagement with the SEC and an in-principle approval to enter the regulator's sandbox in November 2025. The move gives Binance a potential path back into a market where regulators previously moved to block the exchange over licensing concerns.

BitMine Added Over 110,000 ETH Last Week, Lifting Holdings Above 5.39 Million ETH
BitMine, one of the largest publicly traded Ethereum treasury companies, said it held 5,390,404 ETH as of May 25, representing about 4.47% of Ethereum’s total supply, after adding 111,942 ETH from the prior week. The company said its crypto assets, cash and “Moonshots” investments totaled about $12.3 billion, including $444 million in cash, 203 BTC, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries and $95 million in ORBS shares. BitMine has staked 4,712,917 ETH, worth about $10.1 billion at current prices. Chairman Tom Lee said ETH’s pullback below $2,200 is an “attractive opportunity.”

Mysterious 107 BTC Sent to Bitcoin Burn Address in Five Transactions
According to onchain monitor @SaniExp, someone sent 107 BTC worth roughly $8.2 million to Bitcoin’s well-known burn address 1111111111111111111114oLvT2 across five transactions. It remains unclear whether the transfers were accidental, intentional burns, or something else.

Strategy Retires $1.5 Billion of Debt at Discount, Skips Bitcoin Buy
Strategy, the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, said it completed the repurchase of $1.5 billion of convertible notes due 2029 at an roughly 8% discount to face value, adding 0.7 percentage points to its Bitcoin yield and cutting total debt to $6.7 billion. The company said its 2026 year-to-date Bitcoin yield rose to 13.3%. Strategy did not buy additional Bitcoin in the week ended May 25, leaving its holdings unchanged at 843,738 BTC, acquired for about $63.87 billion at an average price of roughly $75,700 per Bitcoin.

Original Author | danny (@agintender)
Compiler | WuBlockchain Aki Chen
Original Source Link:
https://x.com/agintender/status/1953092247253336129
Disclaimer: This article is a reposted piece. Readers may refer to the original source for more information. If the original author has any objections to the form of reposting, please contact us and we will make modifications as requested. The repost is intended solely for information sharing and does not constitute any investment advice, nor does it represent the views or positions of WuBlockchain.
The 2025 crypto bull market may already be underway, but its engine is roaring in a very different way from prior cycles. If you are still gauging market heat by staring at spot trading volumes, you’re likely seeing only the tip of the iceberg. The protagonist of this cycle is perpetual futures (“perps”) — a vast, highly leveraged, player-versus-player (PvP) arena driven by intense long–short combat. Liquidity, narratives, and wealth effects there are redefining the entire market in unprecedented ways.
We explain why liquidity has concentrated in derivatives to an unparalleled degree, and — using a numerical example — how short-liquidation cascades act as rocket fuel, the core mechanism that propels asset prices into reflexive, spiral-higher moves.
I. Data in Focus: When the Tail Starts Wagging the Dog
Empirics are the best proof of theory. We begin with data to validate a striking fact: trading in perpetuals has completely eclipsed the spot market.
Volume comparison: According to Q2 2025 data from TokenInsight and other providers, crypto derivatives (predominantly perpetuals) on major exchanges typically post trading volumes 10–15× larger than spot. In other words, when spot turnover is USD 10 billion, the perps market may already be printing USD 100–150 billion.
Open interest (OI): For majors such as BTC and ETH, as well as popular new listings, outstanding OI often exceeds the corresponding assets’ exchange balances on spot venues. This indicates that most participants’ risk exposure and capital are deployed on the derivatives side.
Funding rate: For much of this bull cycle, funding rates have stayed persistently positive and elevated. This attracts basis traders who short perpetuals while buying equivalent spot to harvest the funding carry. That flow further siphons liquidity out of the spot market and locks it into hedged positions.
Conclusion. The data clearly shows a structural shift in where capital, attention, and strategic gameplay are concentrated. Perpetuals are no longer an adjunct to spot; they have become the core battlefield driving short-term price discovery. The market has flipped from “spot pulling derivatives” to “derivatives’ PvP dynamics forcing spot to follow.”
“At this moment, spot has, astonishingly, become the ‘appendage.’”
II. Core Mechanism Unveiled: How the “Short-Liquidation Rocket” Launches
An apparent anomaly in this cycle is that price advances often do not start with spot buy-side flow; they are set off by forced liquidations on the derivatives side. This is the core mechanism of the current, perps-led bull market.
Illustrative case: “RocketCoin” (RKT)
Setup.
1. RKT is a hyped new project with an extremely thin initial free float: only 1 million tokens (one-tenth) are in the market. (Assume total circulating supply is 10 million.)
2. An exchange lists a USDT-margined perpetual on RKT.
3. Current spot price: $10.
4. Owing to the “short the new coin” mindset, the perps market has accumulated sizeable short interest. Assume that between $11 and $15 there are shorts with USD 10 million notional (300000 RKT) queued for liquidation.
Launch sequence
1. Ignition: A whale or the project team spends a modest amount on spot — say $200000 to buy 20000 RKT — forcibly pushing spot from $10 → $11. Given the thin order book (low free float), the cost of lifting price is minimal.
2. Stage-1 separation (first liquidation wave): When $11 is tagged, the first cohort of shorts with stops/liq triggers at that level is force-closed. Assume this tranche totals $1 million notional.
Liquidation mechanics. Covering shorts requires buy orders. The liquidation engine must immediately execute $1 million of market buys in the RKT perpetual.
Market-maker hedging. Liquidity-providing market makers that sell into those perp buys will, to avoid being net short via the contract, promptly buy equivalent RKT on spot to delta-hedge.
Price feedback.That market-maker spot demand further lifts an already thin spot market — for example, from $11 → $12.
3. Stage-2 ignition (cascading liquidations): When spot reaches $12, a new, larger wave of short positions is liquidated. The sequence repeats exactly as before: perp liquidations → market-maker spot hedging → further spot price appreciation.
4. Achieving orbit: This loop iterates into a positive-feedback liquidation spiral. Each layer of short wipe-outs fuels the next leg higher, taking RKT from $11 toward $15 and beyond. In the process, the initial $200000 “ignition” crowds in millions to tens of millions of dollars of forced/passive buy-side flow.
Conclusion. This is the simplified essence of a “perps bull market”: exploit extremely thin spot liquidity as a leverage fulcrum; manufacture the opposing side in the perpetuals market (i.e., build up substantial short interest); and let the forced-liquidation mechanism act as the engine that propels prices in a rally that appears to rise “out of thin air.” The spot up-move is better understood as the result and outward manifestation of this process, not its cause. (In practice, of course, the path is far from this smooth.)
III. Why this version? Timing, Infrastructure, and Crowd Alignment
This phenomenon was less visible in prior cycles because multiple forces are now acting in concert:
1. Timing (issuer strategy): Projects this cycle commonly adopt low float, high FDV (fully diluted valuation) issuance. This creates a near-perfect set of necessary-and-sufficient conditions to engineer the spot book and lever into the high-gear perps market.
2. Infrastructure (market rails): Perpetuals have matured after years of iteration: seamless execution, deep liquidity, and robust APIs plus market-making programs allow the venue to absorb massive capital and sustain complex games.
3. Crowd alignment (consensus & narratives):
“Short-the-new-coin” paradigm. The hyped “consensus” proactively manufactures a large supply of fuel (short interest).
Get-rich mythos. Tales of traders turning triple- and quadruple-digit returns keep high risk-seeking players flowing in — especially the high-leverage feats by whales on Hyperliquid, which give ample room for the “get-rich-(or-get-wrecked)” narrative to flourish.
Mechanistic allure. Funding-rate carry trades, liquidation sniping, and other advanced tactics have turned a simple long–short duel into a multi-actor, multi-dimensional financial game, further locking in liquidity.
Epilogue
Please don’t take this too literally: calling the current cycle a “perps bull market” is a tongue-in-cheek label for a deeper structural shift. While it indeed tells a story of wealth creation, it is far more a complex financial parable about leverage, liquidity, mechanisms, and human nature than straightforward price discovery.
In this version of the market, spot functions primarily as the hedging instrument and the ultimate expression of price, whereas perpetuals are the core vehicle that fuses narratives, capital, and market mechanics, truly setting the market’s pulse. Understanding — and adapting to — the rule set of this game, one that “uses your liquidations as fuel,” is essential to traversing this cycle.
Finance, or if you prefer, strategic gameplay, works this way — PvP always introduces new experiences. May we carry a lasting sense of humility and respect toward the market.
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Bitget Takes Wall Street Onchain With Reality RWA Platform
Bitge has launched Reality, an RWA platform initially focused on tokenized exposure to selected U.S. stocks and ETFs. Reality will issue rTokens, onchain representations of publicly traded equities and ETFs, with each rToken backed 1:1 by real shares held by a FINRA-registered, SIPC-protected U.S. brokerage.

Bitcoin Sees Largest Weekly Outflow of 2026 as Digital Asset Funds Lose $1.47B
CoinShares reported $1.47 billion in outflows from digital asset investment products last week, marking the third-largest weekly outflow of 2026. Bitcoin alone saw $1.315 billion in outflows, the biggest weekly Bitcoin outflow of the year, while Ethereum recorded $223 million in outflows. CoinShares said risk-off sentiment intensified amid ongoing Iran-related geopolitical tensions, with outflows extending beyond the U.S. to Switzerland, Canada, and Hong Kong.

Scammers Steal at Least $400K Through Fake Uniswap Google Ads
On-chain analyst b-block warned that fake Google ads impersonating Uniswap are stealing user funds, with attackers having obtained at least $400,000 so far. Stacy Muur, founder of Web3 marketing agency Green Dots, said the funds came from users clicking sponsored Google ads for fake Uniswap sites.
Security Alliance (SEAL) previously said Google Search phishing campaigns have risen sharply since March, with attackers often buying ads or compromising legitimate ad accounts to impersonate popular crypto protocols.

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Circle CEO: Stablecoins can skip yield, but need alternative reward systems
On March 20, 2026, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire noted the GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest directly to users. The real debate is whether distributors can offer rewards.
He believes that as stablecoins adopt an internet software architecture, traditional finance won't vanish but will face fierce, fair competition similar to the internet era.

Hyperliquid Launches Canonical Prediction Markets Based on Offchain Events
Hyperliquid announced that it now supports canonical outcome markets based on offchain events. These markets are published by automated newsfeed software run by validators as part of their regular node operations. Validators will vote on the deployment and settlement of canonical markets based on factors including rule clarity, correctness, and the subjective quality of the market.

Ondo Finance Founder Nathan Allman Passes Away, Ian De Bode Named CEO
RWA project Ondo Finance announced the unexpected passing of its founder, Nathan Allman. The team said Allman's vision and belief in building a more open and accessible financial system will continue to guide Ondo's work. Ondo also said Ian De Bode, its longtime president who has led strategy, product, and day-to-day operations for more than two years, will serve as CEO.

Strategy Added No BTC Last Week, BitMine Added No ETH, While Four Public Firms Bought 612 BTC
According to Lookonchain's weekly report, from May 18 to May 24, Strategy paused its BTC purchases and BitMine paused its ETH purchases, while four public companies still added a combined 612 BTC, worth about $47.5 million. As of May 25, Strive, The Smarter Web Company PLC, DDC Enterprise Limited and Hyperscale Data together held 21,525 BTC, worth about $1.67 billion.

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CZ: I Doubted RWA and Stablecoins, Both Took Off Fast
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said in a May 9, 2026 interview with Crypto In America that he was once skeptical of RWA and stablecoins. But RWA has grown quickly after emerging about a year and a half ago, while stablecoins, which he doubted 10 years ago, are now a $200 billion industry.
CZ added that SpaceX shows mature technologies can still create new opportunities - and crypto is no different.

US Consumer Sentiment Falls Near Historic Low Amid Rising Inflation Concerns
US consumer sentiment fell to 44.8 in May, marking a third consecutive monthly decline and nearing the record low seen in June 2022, according to the University of Michigan. The survey showed 57% of consumers said high prices were hurting their personal finances. One-year inflation expectations rose from 4.7% to 4.8%, while long-term inflation expectations climbed from 3.5% to 3.9%.

Trader Linked to “10/10 Whale” Now Down $128M Overall: Bubblemaps
Bubblemaps said trader Garrett Jin, linked onchain to the “10/10 whale,” would have been up over $70 million had he never traded ETH, but is now down $128 million overall after major ETH losses. The whale previously made about $100 million shorting BTC before reportedly losing over $200 million on ETH longs. A connected wallet recently deposited millions to Hyperliquid, bought $10 million in HYPE, and opened a $38 million short on ZEC.

Indonesia Blocks Polymarket Over Online Gambling Concerns
Reuters reported that Indonesia has blocked prediction market platform Polymarket as part of its crackdown on online gambling. Authorities said Polymarket’s betting and speculation activities violate local law, days after the platform drew attention in Indonesia for a market predicting when President Prabowo Subianto would leave office.