ups

Bernstein reiterated its "Outperform" rating on Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR) and maintained a target price of $67, implying about a 72% upside from the current stock price of $38.97. Figure's Q1 2026 performance was strong: loan issuance reached $2.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 113%; adjusted revenue was $167 million, a year-on-year increase of 92%, exceeding market expectations by 6%; adjusted EBITDA was $82.7 million, with a profit margin of about 50%, slightly above market expectations. However, the GAAP diluted EPS was $0.18, about 9% below expectations, primarily impacted by $26 million in equity incentive expenses.Bernstein's analysis suggests that this performance should reshape the market's perception of Figure, as it is not a traditional credit company, but rather a "tokenization-driven capital market platform," with core profits coming from network fees and operational leverage, and it maintains a pricing model based on a 25x EBITDA valuation for 2027. Additionally, the tokenization ecosystem continues to expand: the yield-bearing security token YLDS reached $598 million (up 80% quarter-on-quarter); the balance of stock lending products was $368 million (up 79%); and the small business loan segment contributed $6 million in revenue. Figure's current stock price is still not far from the 2025 IPO issue price of $36, but there remains a significant gap from the historical high of $78.

Bernstein stated that it maintains a target price of $190 for Circle (CRCL): Although the decline in interest rates led to a quarter-over-quarter drop in reserve income of 11%, Q1 revenue of $694 million was slightly below expectations, but adjusted EBITDA reached $151 million, exceeding consensus by about 10%. Analysts pointed out that Circle's $222 million ARC token presale, completed at a fully diluted valuation of $3 billion, along with robust growth in USDC supply reaching $77 billion (a year-on-year increase of 28%), provides a buffer for the company.According to Gate's market data, Circle's stock closed at $131.76 on Monday, with the target price implying about a 44% upside. Bernstein reiterated that the upcoming launch of the Arc Layer 1 mainnet, the expansion of the payment network, and its leading position in AI agent payments (x402 standard) will support the long-term growth of USDC and maintain the fiscal year 2026 guidance unchanged.

The global stablecoin payment infrastructure platform WasabiCard has announced that it now supports Avalanche (AVAX) network top-ups. Users can now directly recharge their WasabiCard accounts on-chain through the AVAX network.It is reported that this integration aims to leverage the high performance, low latency, and low-cost underlying architecture of the Avalanche network to enhance the efficiency of on-chain funds entering the real commercial payment system and reduce friction costs during the transfer process. The official statement indicates that this move will further improve WasabiCard's multi-chain payment infrastructure layout and continuously promote the flexible application of on-chain assets in real global payment scenarios.

According to The Block, the well-known startup accelerator Y Combinator will hold interviews in New York City for the first time, focusing on fintech and cryptocurrency startups, hoping to support more companies in this field.YC stated on Wednesday: "This is the first time YC has moved the interview process for a specific industry offline in this way, as they are meeting with founders who are forming a key ecosystem."A YC spokesperson said the interviews will take place offline in New York on May 21. The standard investment terms for selected startups are a $500,000 investment for 7% equity. Earlier this year, after YC launched this option, startups can also choose to receive funding in the form of Circle's stablecoin USDC.The YC Winter 2026 batch includes several crypto and fintech startups, including the financial infrastructure Sponge Wallet for the AI agent economy, the crypto deposit service provider Unifold, the unified trading platform for crypto, real-world assets, and prediction markets Sequence Markets, and the cross-platform trading platform for prediction markets Valence.Since its establishment in 2005, YC has invested in over 5,000 companies, with a total valuation exceeding $1 trillion. Its portfolio includes OpenAI, Airbnb, Stripe, and Reddit. YC's first crypto investment was in Coinbase in 2012, and it has since invested in over 150 crypto and fintech companies, including the prediction market platform Kalshi, the DeFi trading platform Axiom, and the NFT marketplace OpenSea. Last year, YC partnered with Coinbase to support startups building on-chain infrastructure, which YC referred to as "Fintech 3.0."

The DeFi Education Fund, along with several other crypto advocacy organizations, has officially sent a joint letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), requesting the initiation of a formal DeFi rule-making process based on recent statements.Previously, the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets had clearly stated that certain software user interfaces used for trading cryptocurrencies do not need to register as broker-dealers, giving a green light to such activities. The joint letter calls on the SEC to solidify the above principles into an objective and clear framework through announcements or comment-based rule-making, clarifying which activities fall under the definition of "broker," while excluding infrastructure service providers such as validators, API and RPC providers, oracles, and cloud services. This would provide developers with long-term legal certainty and avoid reliance on temporary guidance. Under the leadership of current Chairman Paul Atkins, the SEC has taken a positive and open attitude towards digital asset innovation, contrasting sharply with the repressive stance of the previous administration, and the industry has also played an important role in the rule-making process.

CryptoQuant analyst MorenoDV_ tweeted that if Bitcoin can rise above and hold the $80,000 mark, this position will turn from resistance to support; conversely, if it encounters rejection and falls back, it will confirm $80,000 as a significant selling pressure area, potentially extending the adjustment period into the second quarter.Currently, the realized price for BTC ETF investors is about $76,400, which is close to the spot price (around $76,300), marking the first time since January 30 that it has approached the breakeven point; short-term holder whales have a realized price around $79,600 and are currently facing an unrealized loss of about $9.4 billion.MorenoDV_ pointed out that historically, when these trapped funds are finally released, it often triggers significant selling pressure. Bitcoin is currently fluctuating in the $76,000-$80,000 range, where $80,000 is not only an important psychological level but also a common breakeven and release threshold for these two major groups.

According to Bloomberg, political groups associated with the cryptocurrency industry have accumulated nearly $180 million in funding reserves ahead of this year's U.S. midterm elections, surpassing the funding levels of some major Republican super PACs.The report states that most of this funding has been carried over from last year, with the vast majority held by Fairshake. Fairshake's main backers include Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Andreessen Horowitz.

According to Jinshi reports, European Central Bank President Lagarde stated that the risks to the inflation outlook are skewed to the upside.

According to Jinshi reports, the European Central Bank's meeting minutes show that all members believe the risks to the inflation outlook are tilted to the upside.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Jefferson stated that the current labor market faces downside risks, while inflation faces upside risks.

According to DL News citing DefiLlama data, cryptocurrency startups raised nearly $5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year decrease of 16%. However, the investment ecosystem continues to evolve, with funding shifting significantly from speculative tokens to practical sectors such as payments and trading infrastructure. Among them, the prediction market sector leads with over $1.7 billion, while payments and trading infrastructure attracted $735 million and $423 million, respectively. Top non-crypto institutions such as Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Bain Capital, and Alibaba are also accelerating their entry.The top ten financing projects in Q1 are as follows: • Kalshi: $1 billion, valuation of $22 billion, led by Coatue Management, CFTC-regulated prediction market leader • Polymarket: $600 million, investment from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), leading decentralized prediction market platform • Rain: $250 million Series C, valuation of nearly $2 billion, led by Iconiq Capital, stablecoin payment infrastructure • BitGo: $213 million, NYSE IPO, valuation of over $2 billion, crypto custody institution • Flying Tulip: $206 million, public token sale, led by DeFi architect Andre Cronje, integrating trading/lending/insurance • Whop: $200 million, Tether.

According to official news, YZI Labs has launched the Atlas Scout Program to help college students support Web3, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology startups.Ella Zhang, head of YZi Labs, stated: "During recent meetings with founders, I was impressed by young entrepreneurs aged 16 to 18. In this AI-driven new era, the pace of learning and entrepreneurship is accelerating exponentially. We launched the Atlas Scout Program to empower the next generation of investors, allowing them not only to witness the future but also to identify, fund, and co-create it."It is reported that the Atlas Scout Program is a student-managed $1 million venture capital initiative that will support 5 to 10 top college students as investors, providing funding for founders in the fields of Web3, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. Atlas Scouts will receive a global travel budget, rewards aligned with incentive mechanisms, and direct access to the ecosystem of over 300 portfolio projects under YZi Labs.

According to the official website of the SEC, Paul Atkins, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, announced new cryptocurrency guidelines at the DC Blockchain Summit, and proposed the concept of a regulatory safe harbor for crypto assets, which includes three exemption pathways:Startup Exemption: A maximum of four years, allowing projects to have a regulatory buffer period before reaching maturity, with a fundraising limit of no more than $5 million within four years, requiring the submission of principal disclosure information.Financing Exemption: Allowing up to $75 million in fundraising within 12 months, requiring the submission of disclosure documents to the SEC that include principal disclosures, financial status, and financial statements.Investment Contract Safe Harbor: When the issuer completes or permanently ceases core management efforts under the investment contract, the relevant crypto assets may be exempt from the definition of securities.Atkins stated that this framework draws on Congress's work in recent years, particularly the CLARITY Act, and proposed rules are expected to be released for public comment in the coming weeks.

As Iran intensifies its strikes on key energy nodes, a large natural gas field in the UAE has been ignited. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump has called on allies to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.The drone attack on the Shah gas field occurred near the border between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. This marks the first time Iran has damaged the country's oil and gas upstream facilities during the conflict. The UAE government stated that operations at the gas field have been suspended, and there were no casualties on site. The gas field is jointly operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Texas-based Occidental Petroleum.Due to multiple drone and missile attacks, the UAE closed its airspace at night. Authorities reported that air traffic returned to normal on Tuesday morning. Just a day before the attack, Iran also struck a fuel depot at Dubai's main airport, causing a massive plume of smoke to rise over the world's busiest international transit hub and leading to a brief disruption of flights.

According to The Block, Ethereum researchers demonstrated a proof of concept for "native Rollups" based on the execution client Ethrex, implementing EIP-8079 through the addition of an EXECUTE precompile, which directly replays and verifies Layer 2 block state changes on the Ethereum base layer.This solution does not rely on zero-knowledge proofs or fraud proofs, but instead is executed and confirmed by Ethereum itself to validate Rollup transaction validity. The related contracts are used to track Rollup state, bridge cross-layer messages, and verify withdrawals based on Merkle-Patricia proofs. Developers claim that native Rollups can simplify long-term maintenance of Layer 2, allowing them to directly inherit Ethereum's security and upgrade properties, and they are still in the exploration and proof of concept stage.

According to CoinDesk, analysts at brokerage firm Bernstein maintain an "outperform" rating on USDC issuer Circle's stock, with a target price of $190, representing about a 60% upside from the current level of $120.The report notes that the adoption of stablecoins is increasingly decoupling from the cryptocurrency market cycle. Despite the market being in a bear phase, the supply of USDC has rebounded to nearly a record $78 billion, and the total market capitalization of dollar-pegged stablecoins remains stable at around $270 billion. Adjusted stablecoin trading volume has increased by over 90% year-on-year, with trading turnover rising, indicating that stablecoins are being used more frequently in scenarios outside of cryptocurrency trading.Payment adoption is the main driver, as stablecoins are gradually being integrated into traditional card networks. Visa currently supports over 130 stablecoin-linked cards across more than 50 countries, with an annual settlement volume of approximately $4.6 billion. AI-driven "proxy finance" could become a new growth theme, as machine-to-machine micropayments between autonomous software agents will require stablecoins as a natural payment rail.

According to Jinshi, U.S. President Trump announced the establishment of a new military alliance to eliminate drug trafficking groups.

According to market news, Bitcoin's recovery today is closely related to a similar rebound in the U.S. stock market, with artificial intelligence and tech stocks leading the market higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index led the gains, rising by 1.05%, while the S&P 500 index increased by 0.68%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 421 points, closing up 0.86% on Tuesday. Analysts point out that the correlation between Bitcoin and gold, as well as U.S. stocks, is currently at its lowest level since the FTX incident in 2022.Despite gold rising 51% over the past six months while Bitcoin has fallen 43%, on-chain data firms believe that this extreme divergence historically indicates significant upside potential. Additionally, the Coinbase premium index turned positive for the first time since January 15, accompanied by a net inflow of $258 million into spot ETFs on Tuesday, indicating that U.S. institutional buying is returning. QCP Capital founder Darius Sit stated that this divergence reflects changes in liquidity driven by position liquidations and leverage, rather than a failure of Bitcoin's long-term narrative.

According to Cointelegraph, cryptocurrency economist Timothy Peterson's latest analysis indicates that Bitcoin still has structural upside potential during the current bear market correction: 50% of the months in the past 24 months recorded positive returns, suggesting a higher probability of a positive return turning point in any 24-month period.Based on this, Peterson estimates that the probability of Bitcoin being above the current level in the next 10 months is 88%. He emphasizes that this statistical model shows the market may be approaching a turning point rather than continuing to decline.The current Bitcoin price is approximately $68,173, down nearly 25% from the year's high, erasing most of the gains after the 2024-2025 U.S. elections; the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has fallen to "Extreme Fear" at 9 points, and social media interest in Bitcoin predictions has dried up, with sentiment trending neutral.