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According to CoinDesk, Kraken's parent company Payward is laying off about 150 employees. This move is part of the company's optimization adjustments in preparation for its IPO, according to two insiders. A Kraken spokesperson stated in a statement: "We continuously evaluate and adjust our organizational structure to ensure we have the right structure and talent to achieve growth objectives and better serve our customers."Meanwhile, Payward is seeking a new round of financing at a valuation of $20 billion to support its pre-IPO expansion strategy. Recently, the company completed a $600 million acquisition of stablecoin payment company Reap and a $550 million acquisition of digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial. The previous largest acquisition occurred in 2025, when Payward acquired the U.S. retail futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, which also holds a CFTC futures broker license.Payward submitted a confidential S-1 registration statement draft to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 19, 2025, taking the initial steps toward going public. In March of this year, CoinDesk reported that the company had postponed its IPO plans due to a sluggish market environment, but insiders indicated that the company still plans to move forward with the IPO once market conditions improve. At the Consensus Miami conference, Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated that the exchange's IPO preparations are "80%" complete.

According to the official announcement, the second phase of the Gate contract points lottery has officially started, with two major prize pools set up.Among them, users holding Gate contract points ≥50 can consume 20 points to participate in the 20 GUSD lottery, with a total of 5,000 winning spots; users holding points ≥40 can consume 20 points to receive a 100 USDT position experience voucher, with a total of 3,000 spots available.In addition, participants must upgrade the Gate App to version 8.18.0 or above to participate, and the web version is also open. The GUSD lottery time is from May 15, 18:00 to May 18, 18:00 (UTC+8), and the voucher prize pool redemption time is from May 18, 18:00 to 23:59 (UTC+8). Rewards are expected to be distributed to user accounts within 1 hour after the event ends.

Forward Industries, a Solana treasury company, announced its quarterly financial report for the period ending March 31, 2026, showing a year-on-year revenue increase of 319% to $13 million. However, due to the decline in the fair value of crypto assets, net losses widened to $283.1 million.The company stated that the growth this quarter was mainly driven by increased staking rewards from Solana (SOL). However, during the same period, it recorded a digital asset loss of $201.7 million and an asset impairment of $85.1 million, primarily due to the price volatility of SOL leading to a decrease in the valuation of holdings.The financial report indicated that the company held approximately 7.04 million SOL during the quarter and earned about 201,200 SOL in rewards through staking, with nearly all SOL assets being staked. Solana fell approximately 33.7% during the reporting period, closing at $82.44. Price volatility is considered the core factor dragging down financial performance.Additionally, Forward Industries signed a loan agreement with Galaxy Digital in March and drew the first tranche of $40 million in financing, using fwdSOL as collateral, with a comprehensive annual interest rate of about 3.4%. The company stated that this financing is used to optimize its liquidity structure.Company management indicated that they have adjusted the balance sheet through cost reductions, debt instruments, and stock buybacks to cope with market volatility and enhance long-term value. Despite a significant widening of quarterly losses, the company's stock price slightly declined in after-hours trading following the financial report, but it still recorded a monthly increase recently.

Recently, the decentralized AI infrastructure DGrid AI announced its official participation in the "0G AI Alliance Million Token Carnival" event. This event is jointly initiated by NeoSoul, 0G, and several ecological projects, and is now live on task platforms such as Galxe and TaskOn. Users who complete actions such as following, joining communities, and participating in designated tasks will have the opportunity to receive rewards including project tokens, ecological points, SBT, and USDT.As an infrastructure project focused on decentralized AI computing power and model services, DGrid has launched several core products, including the AI Gateway that aggregates mainstream global large models, the AI intelligent entity platform DClaw, the AI model competition platform AI Arena, and the intelligent model assistant Dori, providing developers and users with a one-stop service from model invocation to application experience. This carnival is DGrid's ecological debut aimed at a broader community, welcoming more users to learn about and experience DGrid's products and services through the event.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the predicted market event "LoL: Oh My God vs EDward Gaming (BO3) - LPL Group Stage Nirvana" on Polymarket, the "Odd" option in the sub-market "Odd/Even Total Kills" has experienced a dramatic fluctuation in win rate, soaring from 50% an hour ago to the current 90% (a fluctuation of 40%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to a report by Cryptopolitan, a market report released by Wintermute indicates that Bitcoin's breakthrough of $80,000 is primarily driven by a short squeeze in the perpetual futures market, rather than by spot demand. Over the past month, Bitcoin futures open interest has increased by about $10 billion to $58 billion, while spot trading volume has dropped to a two-year low. When Bitcoin surpassed $70,000, a large number of shorts were forced to close their positions, triggering a buying spree that pushed prices higher. Wintermute warns that the rally, lacking support from spot demand, is fragile, and the market may face a sharp reversal.In the long term, recent net inflows into spot ETFs have reached $623 million, and the exchange's Bitcoin inventory has fallen to a seven-year low, but these factors are not enough to offset short-term risks. The U.S. CPI data being higher than expected and the uncertainty surrounding the nomination of the Federal Reserve Chair may also exacerbate market pressures. Wintermute states that $85,000 is still a possibility, but the risk-reward ratio for buying at the current price level is poor.

Tria announced that the $2.25 million USDT cash rebate has been officially distributed to all eligible users, and you can claim it immediately by opening the Tria App.At the same time, Tria's second quarter rewards have been fully launched, including the distribution of 300,000 USDT + 40 million TRIA, with the third quarter approaching.

According to The Block, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee has released an updated 309-page text of the Clarity Act, which is set to be reviewed and voted on later this week. The new text includes language related to restrictions on stablecoin rewards, as well as provisions from the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, clarifying that non-custodial developers do not fall under the category of money transmitters. Coinbase, which previously withdrew its support due to controversies over the stablecoin rewards provisions, has now shifted to support, but banking groups still believe the restrictions are insufficient.Meanwhile, the bill still does not include ethical constraints regarding profits from digital assets for the president and other federal officials. Democrats have stated that without relevant compromises, the bill will struggle to gain support.

According to informed sources, Payward, the parent company of the cryptocurrency platform Kraken, is conducting a new round of capital financing at a valuation of $20 billion, to which Kraken declined to comment.The company has recently significantly increased its merger and acquisition spending—acquiring the stablecoin-focused payment company Reap for $600 million and the digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for $550 million, both transactions conducted at a $20 billion valuation.Its largest transaction was the $1.5 billion acquisition of the U.S. retail futures platform and CFTC-registered futures commission merchant NinjaTrader in 2025, which provided Kraken with a significant foothold in the U.S. derivatives market.Regarding IPO progress, Payward secretly submitted an S-1 registration statement draft to the U.S. SEC on November 19, 2025. Although reports in March 2026 indicated that the company paused its IPO plans due to unfavorable market conditions, sources stated that the company still intends to go public, but may wait for market improvements.At last week's Consensus conference in Miami, Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated that the trading platform is "80% ready" for an IPO.Additionally, Deutsche Börse (DB1) purchased approximately 1.5% of Payward's shares for $200 million through a secondary share sale in April 2026, valuing Payward at $13.3 billion (lower than the previous financing round's valuation of about $20 billion).In November 2025, Kraken completed an $800 million financing in two tranches to push traditional financial products onto the blockchain, with investors including Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, and Tribe Capital. Subsequently, Citadel Securities also made a strategic investment of $200 million at a $20 billion valuation.

As the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, Anchorage Digital has stated that it will reduce its involvement in the Global Dollar (USDG) stablecoin alliance and will no longer play a more prominent role as it did previously. Members of the alliance include institutions such as Robinhood, Kraken, Galaxy Digital, OKX, and Visa Inc.Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage, stated that the company will adopt "a higher degree of neutrality" in the stablecoin issuance space in the future, avoiding targeted support for any single stablecoin to accommodate its expansion as a white-label issuance and custody platform. He pointed out that as more institutions seek to issue stablecoins through Anchorage (with about 20 potential partners currently), the company needs to reassess its incentive structures and alignment of interests.Currently, USDG is issued by Paxos Digital Singapore and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, with a circulation size of approximately $3 billion. Market participants generally believe that stablecoin issuance is entering a new phase of parallel development among multiple institutions and networks.

According to The Block, Rob Nichols, the CEO of the American Bankers Association (ABA), sent a letter to bank executives on Sunday evening urging them to contact senators to further tighten the provisions related to stablecoin rewards before the Senate Banking Committee's markup vote on Thursday.Nichols warned that the current draft fails to effectively prevent crypto companies from offering "interest-like rewards" to users, which could lead to significant outflows of bank deposits, threatening economic growth and financial stability.The current draft, negotiated by Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis, prohibits paying interest or returns to users holding stablecoins but allows rewards linked to real activities or transactions, a provision that has received support from Coinbase. The banking industry groups believe that the related exceptions contain loopholes that could be exploited and jointly sent a letter on May 8 to Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Democrat Elizabeth Warren, requesting technical revisions to the wording of the provisions.

According to Jin Shi reports, on Monday, the U.S. stock market lacked a clear direction overall, but strong corporate earnings reports prompted Wall Street strategists to continue raising their S&P 500 targets. The S&P 500 index opened roughly flat, with strong performance from chip stocks continuing to boost the benchmark index, particularly with companies like Intel and Micron Technology standing out. The Nasdaq 100 index rose slightly by 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.1%.Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report, stated that the market still believes a ceasefire agreement will be reached, which is the reason why there was no larger sell-off in the stock market after Trump's response that Iran's proposal to end the war is "completely unacceptable."

Payward (the parent company of Kraken) has applied to the OCC for a national trust company license, planning to establish Payward National Trust Company (PNTC). This entity will provide regulated, bank-like digital asset custody and trust services to institutional and individual clients.Previously, Coinbase and Ripple have received conditional approvals for similar licenses, indicating that crypto institutions are accelerating their alignment with the compliant financial system.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Governor Milan stated that reducing forward guidance will make the Federal Reserve's policy more flexible.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve official Daly stated that the current monetary policy is "slightly tight." He pointed out that if the conflict between the United States and Iran is resolved, it will create downward pressure on inflation.

On-chain detective ZachXBT announced a reward of $10,000 for evidence of market manipulation related to LAB, including insider information on market makers for LAB on Bitget spot, Bybit perpetual contracts, Binance perpetual contracts, and OKX perpetual contracts, such as contracts, chat records, etc., as well as identity clues like the passport or ID of LAB founder vsadkovv.ZachXBT stated that the aforementioned actions are further damaging the reputation of the crypto industry, and the relevant participants should not go unpunished, adding that they have entered "war mode."

According to Jinshi reports, Boston Fed President Collins stated that she supports the decision to keep interest rates unchanged but hopes to adjust the wording of the statement to avoid implying a rate cut. She pointed out that an increasing number of officials want the Fed to clearly signal that the next action could be either a rate cut or a rate hike. Collins emphasized that interest rates may remain unchanged for a "longer period" and is focused on the persistence of inflation, believing that policymakers need to reassess the appropriate policy.

The trading platform Aster announced that at 18:00 Beijing time today (10:00 UTC), it will launch the U-based perpetual contract (AGTUSDT) for Alaya AI (AGT).It is reported that to coincide with the launch of the new contract, Aster will simultaneously open a trading reward event from May 7 to May 14. During the event, AGTUSDT contract trading will enjoy a 1.2 times bonus, and participating users will share a total prize pool of $50,000 in ASTER based on their proportion of generated transaction fees. The participation condition is that the transaction fee must be greater than $5, and the individual reward cap is 3% of the total prize pool.According to reports, Alaya AI is an open Web3 data sampling and automatic labeling AI infrastructure driven by a decentralized community, aimed at transforming data into on-chain user-owned assets.

The next-generation financial operating system PhotonPay has won three awards at the Mastercard Annual Partner Awards Gala, namely: New Product Launch Award (Physical Card), New Service Launch Award (MDES Digital Empowerment), and New Service Launch Award (Consulting Services). This marks PhotonPay's role as a next-generation financial operating system that is comprehensively reshaping the financial infrastructure landscape for global enterprises.The PhotonPay physical card is issued on the Mastercard network, supporting real-time consumption tracking globally, multi-level limit control, 3D Secure authentication, and significantly reducing cross-border transaction fees. The flexible open API meets the personalized customization needs of enterprises.MDES Digital Empowerment reflects the deep integration of PhotonPay with Mastercard's digital empowerment services, allowing virtual and physical cards to be linked to Apple Pay and Google Pay in seconds, with transaction security ensured throughout by tokenization technology.The Consulting Services Award recognizes the effective collaboration between PhotonPay and the Mastercard expert team, helping PhotonPay create more compliant and competitive card product solutions for global clients.Lewison, founder and CEO of PhotonPay, stated that these honors reflect Mastercard's trust in PhotonPay and PhotonPay's adherence to its own standards. The company remains focused on building financial infrastructure that provides global enterprises with the tools for borderless operation, expansion, and competition.