Senate Schedules CLARITY Act Markup As Banking Lobby, Democrats Mount Resistance

The Senate Banking Committee has set May 14 as the date for its long-delayed markup of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, the most consequential piece of cryptocurrency legislation ever to reach this stage in Congress, as a last-minute lobbying blitz from major banks and a Democratic ethics standoff threaten to derail the bill before it clears committee.

The executive session is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at Room 538 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., where committee members will debate amendments and vote on whether to advance the legislation to the full Senate floor. Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) confirmed the date last week, and live video feed of…

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Strategy Adds 535 BTC As MSTR Eyes $200 For First Time Since November – Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR)

Back To Work After Brief Pause

The purchase marks Strategy’s return to weekly buys after pausing the week prior ahead of Q1 earnings. 

Executive Chairman Michael Saylor shared an update on Strategy’s bitcoin acquisition tracker and stated “Back to work.”

That brings Strategy’s total Bitcoin position to more than 3.9% of the 21 million supply cap.

The company now holds roughly $4.6 billion in paper gains at current prices after buying Bitcoin at an average cost of $75,540 per coin and spending around $61.9 billion, including fees and expenses.

STRC Preferred Stock Driving Recent Buys

The company funded the latest acquisitions through at-the-market sales of MSTR common stock and STRC…

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Circle Raises $222M From BlackRock, a16z For ‘Arc’ Blockchain – Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL)

Circle Internet Group Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) has raised $222 million for its new institutional blockchain Arc at a $3 billion valuation as shares jumped 2.5% in premarket trading.

The First Public Company Token Presale

a16z crypto led the round with a $75 million commitment, according to CNBC. 

Meanwhile, Circle becomes the first publicly listed company to conduct a token presale.

Arc is a public blockchain built for institutional finance, using USDC as its native gas token with sub-second finality and EVM compatibility.

Q1 Revenue Up 20%, Net Income Down 15%

Circle reported Q1 2026 results alongside the Arc announcement. Total revenue and reserve income reached $694 million, up 20% year-over-year,…

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XRP Tries (And Fails) Breakout From Multi-Month Pattern: What Is Going On?

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) has failed to break above a multi-month triangle pattern that formed since February and is now testing support at the breakout level.

Shorts Getting Squeezed As Retest Holds

Volume surged 170.81% to $5.38 billion during the breakout, far above typical retest levels and pointing to institutional buying.

Open Interest climbed 7.41% to $2.90 billion, while Options Volume jumped 322.80% as traders positioned for the next move higher.

Liquidation data shows $6.03 million in shorts wiped out versus $5.21 million in longs over the past 24 hours, with bearish bets getting caught as the retest holds.

Funding Rates Hit Three-Month Bearish Extreme

XRP funding rates on Binance are…

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Strategy (MSTR) Buys $43 Million More Bitcoin After Saylor Defends Potential BTC Sales

Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) purchased 535 bitcoin for approximately $43.0 million at an average price of $80,340 per coin, the company disclosed Monday in a Form 8-K filing. The firm now holds 818,869 BTC, acquired for roughly $61.86 billion at an average cost of $75,540 per bitcoin, and has recorded a bitcoin yield of 9.4% year-to-date in 2026.

The acquisition was funded through $0.1 million raised via Strategy’s STRC ATM program and $42.9 million from its MSTR ATM offering.

The purchase comes six days after executive chairman Michael Saylor told investors on the company’s Q1 earnings call that Strategy was prepared to sell a portion of its bitcoin holdings for the first time. This…

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Bitcoin Holds $81,000 As Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Stabilize On Monday Morning

Bitcoin trades near $81,000 early Monday as crypto markets stabilizes ahead of a key week for regulation, with traders closely watching the upcoming CLARITY Act discussion scheduled for May 14.

Bitcoin ETFs saw $145.7 million in net outflows on Friday, while Ethereum ETFs reported $3.6 million in net inflows.    

Meme coin market capitalization is trading relatively flat with 0.8% gains to $39.5 billion over the past 24 hours.

Trader Commentary: 

Lennart Snyder said Bitcoin is showing early weakness after rejecting the previous daily high and $78,000 remains the critical breakdown level that could trigger additional downside pressure.

Snyder added that bullish continuation would require…

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Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Dow Futures Fall As Trump Rejects ‘Totally Unacceptable’ Iran Peace Proposal

U.S. stock futures fell on Monday after Friday’s higher close. This followed President Donald Trump‘s rejection of Iran’s response to a U.S.-backed peace proposal.

Trump took to Truth Social and wrote, “I have just read the response … I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.38%, and the two-year bond was at 3.92%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 93.6% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged during June’s meeting.

IndexPerformance (+/-)Dow Jones-0.05%S&P 500-0.05%Nasdaq 100-0.04%Russell 2000-0.18%Stocks In FocusAntelope Enterprise… Read more on Benzinga

Crypto Is Allowing People In The Global South To Power Through Daily Survival While The West Chases ETFs

Influential analyst Ali Martinez spotlighted on Friday rising cryptocurrency adoption in emerging economies, emphasizing their growing role as a “financial tool” rather than just a “trading market.”

Emerging Markets Throng Binance

In an X post, Martinez pointed to Binance Research’s latest report on the shift in usage patterns in different markets.

The emerging market share of Binance users rose from 49% in 2020 to 77% in 2026, according to the report, while those from developed markets fell from roughly 48% to 20%.

Moreover, 83% of users engaging with two or more products on Binance were from emerging markets.

Stablecoins As Store Of Value?

Overall, 73% of all stablecoin savers…

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Dogecoin’s Bigger And Better Version? Popular X Account Touts This Crypto As ‘Next Generation Of Memecoin

Dogecoin’s Criticism Justified?

WallStreetbets noted in an X article that while DOGE pioneered the meme culture and brought in interest and liquidity, it failed to convert that surge into lasting dominance.

“There was no coordinated effort to turn it into a global consumer brand. No retail footprint,” WallStreetbets stated. “No ecosystem designed to expand its reach beyond the internet.”

The Dogecoin Foundation, a non-profit supporting the development of the Dogecoin ecosystem, didn’t return Benzinga’s request for comment.

It’s worth noting that HC Sierre, an ice hockey team in the Swiss League, prominently features DOGE logos on jerseys and helmets. The team is sponsored and…

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