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According to token unlocking data from the Crypto asset data platform RootData, Sentient (SENT) will unlock approximately 31.844 million tokens at 0:00 on May 22, Beijing time, worth about 5.16 million USD.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York stated in a court filing on Tuesday that Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former Chief Revenue Officer of the defunct crypto lending platform Celsius, has agreed to a forfeiture judgment of $1.07 million, representing the proceeds traceable to his criminal conduct. Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty in September 2023 to charges of fraud and conspiracy to manipulate the price related to Celsius's CEL token, and is scheduled to be sentenced this Thursday. Cohen-Pavon's lawyer previously requested a sentence of time served, citing his cooperation agreement with the government and his potential role in the guilty plea of former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 for commodity and securities fraud and agreed to forfeit over $48 million. In a letter to the judge, Cohen-Pavon stated, "I plead guilty because I am guilty. I participated in the manipulation of the CEL token. I should have stopped it but did not, I could have left but did not. I take full responsibility for this."Additionally, on Thursday, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the same court ordered that $10 million in assets associated with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried be used to fulfill his forfeiture agreement. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding FTX users and investors and is subject to over $11 billion in forfeiture. His appeal to overturn the conviction and sentence is still pending.

According to Bits.media, the Presnensky District Court in Moscow sentenced the former head of Binance Russia and co-founder of the Blum crypto platform, Vladimir Smerkis, to five years in prison. The court found him guilty of "large-scale fraud" as stipulated in Article 159, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.According to the prosecution, in June 2024, trader and crypto blogger Oleg Polunin requested Smerkis's help to drive traffic to his social media. Smerkis promised to bring in about 2 million new users but failed to fulfill his obligations after receiving over 8.8 million rubles, misappropriating the funds for personal use. The verdict has not yet taken effect and can be appealed.Smerkis was arrested a year ago. He served as the regional head of Binance from early 2022 until September 2023, and later announced the launch of the clicker game Blum with another former Binance regional manager; on the day of his arrest, the Blum team announced his departure.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett disclosed on the X platform that since last Friday, members of the American Bankers Association have sent over 8,000 letters to Senate offices urging lawmakers to amend the stablecoin revenue compromise proposal. Sources say this does not include additional phone lobbying activities.

According to Cointelegraph citing Bloomberg, the U.S. House fundraising committee will hold a closed-door bipartisan briefing on cryptocurrency tax issues this Thursday.

According to 10x Research analysis, since mid-January, the total gamma exposure of Bitcoin has remained negative, currently reaching -3.2 billion dollars at the strike price of 82,000 dollars. In a negative gamma environment, market makers are forced to trade in the direction of the trend, accelerating buying during price increases and accelerating selling during price decreases, which exacerbates price volatility.As the options expiration on May 29 and June 26 approaches, the negative gamma suppression effect is expected to gradually dissipate, and the downward bias of Bitcoin will subsequently ease. Currently, the market demand for call options is significantly higher than for put options, and institutions expect that market sentiment will shift from bearish to bullish at that time.

NASDAQ-listed Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings has initiated a consent solicitation process for holders of its $600 million senior secured notes to amend certain covenant terms.MARA had previously signed an agreement on April 29 to acquire 100% of the parent company of Long Ridge. Since this transaction would trigger the "change of control" clause in the notes, it theoretically requires a cash buyback of all outstanding notes at 101% of the price. MARA is seeking the consent of noteholders to exclude this transaction from the definition of "change of control" and to designate MARA and its affiliates as "permitted holders."

Former Singapore Navy personnel Zhang Rongxuan (35 years old, phonetic) was sentenced to six years and ten months in prison after stealing 1.7 million Tether (nearly 2.3 million Singapore dollars) from a friend's cold wallet, which he spent on luxury watches, gambling, and paying off a mortgage.It is reported that Zhang Rongxuan was a member of the Naval Diving Unit at the time of the incident, holding the rank of captain. After getting to know the victim, he also co-managed a non-fungible token trading platform with friends, which is affiliated with Upstairs Research Pte Ltd and owned by DiGi Selection Holdings Pte Ltd. After security companies tracked the cryptocurrency wallet, Zhang Rongxuan admitted that he committed the crime due to suffering significant losses from the collapse of the FTX exchange.

According to market news, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings has initiated a holder consent solicitation process regarding Long Ridge Energy's $600 million senior secured notes to amend the relevant covenant terms.MARA had previously signed an agreement on April 29 to acquire 100% of the parent company of Long Ridge. Since this transaction would trigger the "change of control" clause in the notes, it theoretically requires a cash buyback of all outstanding notes at 101% of the price. MARA is seeking the consent of the noteholders to exclude this transaction from the definition of "change of control" and to list MARA and its affiliates as "permitted holders."

The People's Court of Haidian District, Beijing, disclosed a case involving virtual currency "box opening." The defendant illegally obtained citizens' personal information through encrypted communication tools and other channels, unlawfully acquiring over 900 million pieces of information data, building a "social engineering database" website storing over 170 million pieces of citizens' personal information, and profiting by selling it in exchange for virtual currency. Additionally, they used encrypted communication tools to establish a "box opening hang person" group to publish illegal information that infringes on privacy.The court sentenced the principal offender, Lin, to 7 years in prison for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information and the crime of illegally using information networks, and imposed a fine of 70,000 yuan.

Bitcoin fell below the $80,000 mark this week, following a five-day streak of net inflows into spot ETFs, as the market's rebound momentum from February's lows showed signs of cooling. The U.S. April non-farm payroll data added 115,000 jobs, exceeding the expected 62,000, while the unemployment rate remained at 4.3%. Although the overall data was relatively strong, it did not significantly alleviate market concerns about macroeconomic uncertainty; instead, it reinforced expectations that "energy-driven inflation limits the space for interest rate cuts."In terms of capital flow, the spot Bitcoin ETF saw a net outflow of $277 million on Thursday, ending a previous cumulative inflow of $1.69 billion; the Ethereum ETF also recorded a net outflow of $104 million on the same day, indicating a short-term cooling of institutional risk appetite. On the geopolitical front, tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated again, prompting the market to reprice the risks in the Strait of Hormuz, leading to a rebound in oil prices, which partially offset the support that previous risk assets received from the decline in oil prices.The derivatives market shows a more long-term hawkish outlook, with interest rate futures pricing in over a 50% probability of rate hikes beyond 2027, suggesting that the easing cycle may be delayed until 2028. On-chain data indicates that the current rise in Bitcoin is primarily driven by institutional spot buying and short covering, with retail participation remaining relatively low, and funding rates maintaining a moderate level, resulting in a weak market momentum structure. Analysts believe that if retail funds do not return, BTC may still face the risk of testing the support range of $75,000 to $78,000.

Glassnode analysis indicates that Bitcoin has broken through key resistance, rising to $82,000 - $83,000, ending several weeks of narrow fluctuations, and market volatility has returned.Options data shows that the short-term 1-week implied volatility has rebounded by about 6 points, while long-term volatility remains moderate, and short-term trading demand has quickly recovered. In terms of sentiment and positioning, the 25 delta skew is converging towards neutral, with reduced demand for downside hedging; short-term outlook is slightly bearish, while long-term has turned bullish, with upward expectations being repriced. Structurally, implied volatility exceeds realized volatility, and the VRP has turned positive; there is a concentration zone of about $2 billion in "short gamma" around $82,000, which may amplify volatility. Over the past 24 hours, the proportion of call options sold is 81%, indicating that the market tends to consolidate.

The U.S. Treasury Department has sent a letter to Binance, requesting compliance explanations regarding recent reports involving cryptocurrency transactions related to Iran and to strengthen regulatory cooperation.It is reported that this move comes amid ongoing scrutiny by U.S. regulators over cross-border capital flows on cryptocurrency platforms. Previous investigations and media reports have pointed to the possibility that Iran and related entities may be transferring funds through centralized exchanges, drawing the attention of the U.S. Treasury and Justice Departments.

On-chain data platform Glassnode shows that Bitcoin whales' net long positions on Hyperliquid have risen to a new high for 2026. The data indicates that whales have been continuously increasing their long positions recently, continuing the trend of going long after last month's Bitcoin price breakout. Currently, the total positions of whales on the platform are approximately $3.5 billion, with longs slightly outnumbering shorts.Analysis suggests that the movements of Hyperliquid whales are often seen as a market sentiment indicator; the current overall liquidation scale is relatively low and mainly concentrated in short positions, reflecting a bullish market atmosphere.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve's Goolsbee stated that although the labor market is stable, it is not ideal. Currently, the growth of non-farm payrolls is not a good indicator of the economy's idle capacity.

According to Jinshi reports, New York Fed President Williams stated on Monday that the current accommodative stance of the Federal Reserve reflects the possible long-term direction of monetary policy, and inflation dynamics have not reached a level that warrants discussions on interest rate hikes. He noted, "I do not see any signs from today's data that suggest a need to raise rates 'in the near term'." At the same time, he mentioned that due to numerous uncertainties, the direction of interest rates in the upcoming meetings cannot provide clear guidance.

As Bitcoin strongly breaks through the $80,000 mark, the current funding rates on mainstream CEX and DEX show that market short-selling sentiment has significantly weakened, as shown in the attached image.The funding rate is a fee set by cryptocurrency trading platforms to maintain the balance between the contract price and the underlying asset price, typically applicable to perpetual contracts. It is a mechanism for the exchange of funds between long and short traders, and the trading platform does not charge this fee; it is used to adjust the cost or profit of traders holding contracts to keep the contract price close to the underlying asset price. When the funding rate is 0.01%, it indicates the benchmark rate. When the funding rate is greater than 0.01%, it represents a generally bullish market. When the funding rate is less than 0.005%, it represents a generally bearish market.

According to Forbes, a U.S. court sentenced Robert Dunlap, the operator of the cryptocurrency scam Meta-1 Coin, to 23 years in prison. He was accused of defrauding approximately 1,000 investors through a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment project from 2018 to 2023, with the amount involved exceeding $20 million.According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Dunlap claimed that the "Meta-1 Coin" he issued was backed by $44 billion in gold reserves and $1 billion worth of artworks by Picasso, Dali, Van Gogh, etc., and promised a maximum return rate of 224,923%, while providing investors with forged audit documents and insurance materials.Investigations revealed that the so-called gold and art assets did not exist, and the "Meta Exchange" website he built used automated trading bots to create the illusion of profits. The related tokens were never actually issued on-chain. Investor funds were subsequently used to purchase luxury items, including Ferraris.It is worth noting that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had already filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Dunlap in 2020, but he continued to operate the project until he was criminally charged in 2024. The FBI stated that the case "destroyed the wealth and trust accumulated by many victims over the years."

The South Korean prosecution has formally requested the court to sentence the former CEO of the cryptocurrency platform Delio, Jeong Sang-ho, to 20 years in prison, accusing him of committing large-scale economic fraud. In the closing statement at the Southern District Court of Seoul, the prosecution cited the local economic crime aggravated punishment law, directly pointing out that the suspect had long deliberately deceived and falsely advertised, causing approximately 2,800 investors' funds to be trapped and difficult to redeem.The prosecution pointed out that the defendant had a clear subjective intent to defraud, the losses involved were enormous, and he subsequently refused to cooperate with the investigation and deliberately shirked responsibility, continuously exacerbating the losses and difficulties faced by the victims. Therefore, they are seeking a strict sentence according to the law.

According to the Los Angeles Times, 22-year-old Evan Tangeman from Newport Beach was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for money laundering for a young fraud gang.Tangeman admitted that the gang laundered at least $3.5 million, which was obtained by stealing over $263 million in cryptocurrency from investors through social engineering tactics such as impersonating employees of cryptocurrency trading platforms. Tangeman's compensation included luxury sports cars like Lamborghinis and Porsches. Federal agents seized a black 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost (worth over $300,000) and a Porsche GT3 RS from his home.The gang is referred to as the "crypto kids," consisting of teenagers who used the stolen funds to rent luxury mansions and private jets, purchase luxury goods, and spend up to $500,000 in a single night at nightclubs. Tangeman also instructed others to destroy digital devices after gang members were arrested.