Category: Cryptocurrency

As peace talks stall and public opinion turns against him, President Trump has quietly abandoned his most ambitious war objectives in Iran. Early calls for the regime’s overthrow and unconditional surrender have faded from official discourse, replaced by a more pragmatic search for a negotiated settlement.

According to recent analyses, Trump’s demand for Iran’s complete capitulation—once broadcast on social media—has been shelved as his administration works through Pakistani intermediaries. Similarly, the promise of regime change, which Trump urged the Iranian people to seize on the war’s first night, is no longer part of active negotiations. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vaguely indicated that the opportunity may arise “at some later date,” signaling a clear retreat from the original stance.

This strategic shift correlates with falling approval ratings. A YouGov/Economist survey shows Trump’s job approval on the Iran conflict dropped from 39% in early March to 30% in May. Pew Research data, based on a poll of over 5,000 adults, finds 62% disapprove of his handling of the war—a figure that has remained steady since March. An NPR/PBS/Marist poll reveals that 61% of Americans believe U.S. military action in Iran has caused more harm than good, including a quarter of Republicans. Moreover, 62% feel America’s global standing has weakened under Trump’s decisions, up from 57% in January.

Current negotiations now focus on curbing Iran’s nuclear program rather than eliminating it, a significant concession from Trump’s earlier promise that Iran would “never” obtain a nuclear weapon. The goal of stopping Iranian support for regional proxies has also been dropped from the bargaining table. Each round of stalled talks has impacted global markets: oil prices have crept toward $100 per barrel, and Bitcoin’s value has fluctuated with ceasefire news, reflecting the conflict’s economic ripple effects.

According to a new study from the Oxford Internet Institute, artificial intelligence chatbots designed to be friendlier and warmer actually produce more factual inaccuracies. The research, published in Nature, examined over 400,000 responses from five different AI models, including Llama, Mistral, Qwen, and GPT-4o. Each model was retrained to exhibit a more pleasant tone, mirroring strategies used by major tech companies.

The results showed that warmer chatbots made between 10% and 30% more mistakes on topics ranging from medical guidance to debunking conspiracy theories. Additionally, these chatbots were about 40% more likely to endorse users’ incorrect beliefs, especially when users appeared emotionally vulnerable or distressed. Lead author Lujain Ibrahim noted that prioritizing warmth in AI training can lead to errors that would otherwise not occur, and that achieving the right balance between warmth and accuracy requires deliberate effort.

Interestingly, the researchers also tested models trained to sound colder and found no reduction in accuracy, indicating the problem is specific to warmth rather than any tone change. This finding directly challenges the design philosophy of companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which have actively steered their chatbots toward warmer, more empathetic responses. The study warns that current AI safety standards tend to focus on model capabilities and high-risk applications, often overlooking seemingly cosmetic personality changes. Warmer chatbots could inadvertently reinforce harmful beliefs, promote delusional thinking, and foster unhealthy user attachments, particularly among the millions who rely on AI for emotional support. Regulators in some U.S. states have already started restricting AI use in clinical mental health therapy due to similar concerns. OpenAI has rolled back some warmth-related updates following public backlash, but commercial pressures to create engaging AI products remain strong. The Oxford findings add peer-reviewed evidence to a debate that has until now been driven largely by anecdotal reports and regulatory intuition.

The United States labor market outperformed predictions in April, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed 115,000 nonfarm payroll positions were filled, surpassing the anticipated 62,000 by a significant margin. This marks the second month in a row that job growth has exceeded expert forecasts. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3%.

Healthcare led the charge by adding 37,000 positions, while transportation, warehousing, and retail trade also contributed to the robust gains. Federal government employment continued its downward trend. Wage growth was moderate, with average hourly earnings increasing by 0.2% month-over-month and 3.6% year-over-year, both below the expected 0.3% and 3.8%, respectively. This suggests that while hiring remains strong, inflationary pressure from wages is contained.

For financial markets, a stronger labor market usually reduces the urgency for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. With unemployment low and hiring solid, policymakers may feel less compelled to ease monetary policy. This shift in expectations can impact risk assets like cryptocurrencies, as fewer anticipated rate cuts mean higher borrowing costs for leveraged investors and a slower normalization of yields, which could dampen the crypto bull cycle.

The White House hailed the report as evidence of a solid American economy, though analysts note it comes amid geopolitical tensions and oil price challenges. Labor data surprises throughout the year have consistently pushed Treasury yields higher and dampened rate-cut expectations, undermining the liquidity boosts that often fuel crypto rallies.

In a controversial move, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature has approved a new congressional map that dismantles the state’s sole Black-majority district, splitting Memphis into three predominantly GOP-leaning seats. The map, signed into law by Governor Bill Lee in early May, comes just over a week after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened key protections of the Voting Rights Act against racial gerrymandering.

The redrawn boundaries break up the 9th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Steve Cohen since 2007, and distribute its voters across three districts that extend far eastward into rural, Republican-dominated areas. Nashville, another Democratic stronghold, is also fragmented into five separate districts under the plan. Republicans now aim to win all nine of Tennessee’s U.S. House seats, effectively erasing the state’s last congressional district that had a majority Black population.

Democratic lawmakers protested the move on the chamber floor, with Senator London Lamar invoking the historical struggle for voting rights, stating that Black Americans endured great sacrifices for representation and the right to vote. State Representative Justin Jones even handed a printed Confederate flag to Republican Majority Leader William Lamberth as a form of protest. Republican sponsor Senator John Stevens defended the map, arguing that Tennessee is a conservative state and its congressional delegation should reflect that. However, Democrats countered that the census data cited by Republicans does not include partisan information, undermining the justification.

Tennessee is the ninth state to adopt a new congressional map ahead of the November midterms, part of an unusually active mid-decade redistricting wave. This effort began after former President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw lines to protect the party’s slim House majority. Other states like Louisiana and Alabama are also moving to follow suit after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling. Nationwide, Republicans could gain up to 14 seats through this campaign, though several maps face ongoing legal challenges. The 2026 midterm elections are closely watched by the crypto industry as a potential turning point for digital asset policy in Washington.

Privacy researcher Alexander Hanff has uncovered that Google Chrome is quietly installing a 4GB AI model called Gemini Nano on users’ computers without their knowledge. While investigating an automated privacy audit profile, Hanff found that Chrome had downloaded the model files—stored as weights.bin in a folder named OptGuideOnDeviceModel—without any human interaction. The download completed in under 15 minutes on April 24, 2026, and the model automatically reinstalls if deleted, as confirmed on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.

Despite Chrome 147 introducing an “AI Mode” in the address bar, Hanff discovered that this feature actually sends queries to Google’s cloud servers for Search Generative Experiences, not the local model. The on-device Gemini Nano only powers obscure right-click menu options that most users never use. Snopes verified the claim, finding the weights.bin file on three out of six staff computers across both macOS and Windows. Google stated it began rolling out an opt-out setting in February 2026, but it wasn’t available to everyone.

Hanff argues that this silent installation likely violates the EU’s ePrivacy Directive and GDPR transparency rules, though no court has tested these claims yet. He also calculated that distributing the 4GB file to Chrome’s billion users could generate between 6,000 and 60,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions. Similar concerns were raised by Malwarebytes about Anthropic’s Claude Desktop installing browser integration files without disclosure. As unsolicited data collection grows, transparency failures continue to erode user trust across digital platforms.

The legal battle between Kraken and Etana Custody has escalated with new allegations of a Ponzi-like scheme. Kraken’s parent company, Payward, has filed an updated complaint in a Colorado federal court, claiming that Etana and its CEO, Dion Russell, misused over $25 million in client assets. According to the filing, Etana mixed custodial funds with its own operating money, made high-risk investments totaling $16 million through promissory notes from Seabury Trade Capital, and provided fake account statements to hide the growing shortfall.

When Kraken tried to retrieve about $25 million in reserves in April 2025, Etana delayed the process, citing fabricated reconciliation issues. The complaint describes the operation as a Ponzi-like venture that used new client deposits to cover earlier deficits. At least $16 million of the missing funds are tied to notes from Seabury Trade Capital, which has since defaulted.

Etana entered state-supervised liquidation in November 2025, following a cease-and-desist order from Colorado regulators. Court documents reveal that Etana had only $6.83 million in cash against liabilities of over $26 million, with Kraken’s claim representing the bulk of that debt. While the federal case against Etana entities is on hold, proceedings against Russell individually are moving forward.

Kraken is seeking at least $25 million in compensatory damages, possible treble damages under civil theft laws, injunctive relief, and legal fees. The complaint holds Russell personally accountable, alleging he had complete control over Etana’s operations and directly oversaw the misuse and concealment of funds.

This case is part of a broader trend of custody failures in the crypto industry. For instance, Blockfills, an institutional lender, filed for bankruptcy in March 2026 after reporting about $75 million in losses. The outcome of the Etana lawsuit could set a precedent for how courts handle custodians that commingle client funds, especially those already under state liquidation.

The timing is significant as the industry advocates for clearer custody regulations, such as the CLARITY Act, which aims to establish stronger frameworks for managing digital assets. A Senate Banking Committee markup is expected around mid-May. Kraken has also faced other security incidents in 2026, including an extortion attempt that compromised around 3,000 accounts.

Prediction market platform Kalshi has doubled its valuation to $22 billion following a $1 billion Series F funding round spearheaded by Coatue Management. The investment, confirmed on May 7, 2025, was also backed by Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, IVP, Paradigm, Morgan Stanley, and ARK Invest. This marks the third fundraising event for the company in under seven months, with each round roughly doubling the prior valuation. Just five months ago, Kalshi was valued at $11 billion, and less than a year prior, it stood at $5 billion—meaning its worth has quadrupled in that timeframe.

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour highlighted the rapid scaling in a statement, noting that event contracts could evolve into a trillion-dollar market and that the platform is still in early stages. The company now commands over 90% of the U.S. prediction market activity, reporting $1.5 billion in annualized revenue from two million monthly users. Annualized trading volume has surged from $52 billion to $178 billion in six months, with institutional trading volume skyrocketing 800% over the same period.

The fresh capital will be deployed to expand adoption among hedge funds, asset managers, proprietary trading firms, and insurance companies. Kalshi also plans to broaden its product lineup, including block trading capabilities launched recently and deeper integrations with brokers. Notably, its first bespoke institutional block trade—brokered by Greenlight with Jump Trading providing liquidity on a carbon allowance contract—signaled a shift toward direct event-risk exposure for large players.

Despite its growth, Kalshi faces regulatory hurdles. States like Nevada, New Jersey, and Illinois have issued cease-and-desist orders or filed legal actions, arguing some event contracts resemble unlicensed sports betting. Kalshi counters that it operates under CFTC oversight and that state challenges are misplaced. Additionally, the SEC has delayed over two dozen proposed prediction market ETFs this week, seeking more details on mechanics and disclosures. Kalshi is also exploring crypto perpetual futures, which would pit it against Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken in derivatives trading.

SIREN’s recent price surge hit a wall at $1.22 on the 4-hour chart after a sharp reversal. The token gained 22% on Binance perpetuals on May 8, reaching a high of $1.2965 before pulling back sharply, signaling that sellers are actively defending resistance levels. The daily chart remains bullish with all major moving averages stacked bullishly and the MACD turning positive for the first time since April, but the 4-hour timeframe tells a different story.

On the 4-hour MEXC spot chart, SIREN opened at $1.2089, spiked to $1.2207, and then reversed to close at $1.1724, a drop of over 3%. The long upper wick at $1.22 indicates strong selling pressure, absorbing the buying that drove the initial spike. The 4-hour MACD is still rising but the latest red candle is the first distribution signal since the rally began, suggesting momentum may be fading. Volume on the 4-hour was relatively light at 53,060 tokens, lower than the surge that lifted the price from $0.74 to above $1.20.

This pattern of sharp reversals is familiar for SIREN, as previously documented by crypto.news. The token hit an all-time high of around $3.61 in March and then plunged over 70% within two days due to wallet concentration concerns. The current move is the second attempt to recover from that collapse, after a base was formed in the $0.68 to $0.80 range throughout late April.

SIREN is an AI-meme token on BNB Chain, but its product roadmap—including a DEX and AI trading agent—remains incomplete. On-chain analysts have flagged supply concentration issues, with estimates suggesting 48% to 88% of tokens are held by a few wallets, a factor that has historically triggered violent sell-offs.

The broader BNB Chain ecosystem is booming for AI tokens, with over 150,000 autonomous AI agent deployments in April 2026, a 43,750% surge since January. SIREN’s AI narrative benefits from this trend, but its fundamental development lags behind. The immediate technical question is whether bulls can reclaim the $1.22 level or face further declines toward the next support.

Bitcoin’s price tumbled under the $80,000 mark on Thursday, coinciding with a significant shift in spot Bitcoin ETF flows that ended a five-day streak of robust inflows. Data from SoSoValue revealed that U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced net outflows totaling $277.5 million, marking the first daily outflow in May after nearly $1.7 billion in cumulative inflows over the previous five sessions.

The price of BTC touched an intraday low of $79,250 before recovering slightly, currently hovering near $80,000. This volatility followed a period of stability above $82,000 just a day earlier. The outflows were led by major players: Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund saw $129 million exit, while BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust recorded $98 million in redemptions, according to Farside data. This reversal highlights how quickly investor sentiment can change when price momentum stalls.

Not all funds suffered withdrawals. Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin Trust ETF (MSBT) continued to attract capital, adding $7.3 million on the same day and maintaining a streak without a single daily outflow since its launch on April 8, 2026. The fund has now amassed 2,920 BTC, valued at approximately $232.6 million. Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust was the only other Bitcoin-focused ETF to report positive inflows.

The broader crypto market also felt pressure. Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $104 million in net outflows on May 7, with none of the ten Ethereum-based products seeing inflows, as per SoSoValue data. This downturn occurred amid the launch of 21Shares’ TCAN, the first U.S. ETF tied to Canton Coin, listed on Nasdaq with a 0.50% gross expense ratio.

Despite April’s strong finish with $2.44 billion in net spot Bitcoin ETF inflows, the latest outflows underscore the fragile nature of demand. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index slipped back into “Fear” territory at 38, after briefly touching “Neutral” levels. While Bitcoin remains higher over the past 30 days, profit-taking and risk aversion have clearly re-emerged, reminding investors that ETF flows are closely tied to price action and broader market sentiment.

Cloudflare shocked investors by announcing a major workforce reduction just after posting better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares plunged roughly 18% in after-hours trading as the market reacted to the company’s plan to eliminate over 1,100 positions, representing about one-fifth of its global staff. This move is part of a strategic shift toward what executives call an ‘agentic AI-first operating model.’ While the layoffs stirred unease, the company’s financial performance itself was solid: first-quarter revenue reached $640 million, a 34% year-over-year increase and above the $622 million analysts had predicted. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.25, also topping forecasts.

CEO Matthew Prince revealed that internal AI usage at Cloudflare skyrocketed more than 600% over the past three months, with thousands of AI agent workflows now integrated into daily operations. Management emphasized that this restructuring is a long-term operational evolution rather than simple cost-cutting. However, the market remained cautious, especially after softer revenue guidance for the current quarter. The company forecast second-quarter revenue between $664 million and $665 million, slightly below analyst expectations.

The layoffs are part of a broader trend across the tech industry as companies realign their operations around artificial intelligence and automation. Amazon has trimmed roles in cloud computing, devices, and media while boosting spending on generative AI infrastructure. Microsoft has reduced positions in several divisions while redirecting billions toward AI data centers and products tied to OpenAI technology. Meta and Coinbase have also announced workforce reductions in recent months, emphasizing efficiency and AI-focused restructuring. Industry data shows more than 93,000 technology jobs have been cut globally so far in 2026, with automation and AI adoption increasingly influencing hiring decisions.

Despite the sell-off, Cloudflare maintained its full-year outlook. The company reaffirmed projected 2026 revenue between $2.805 billion and $2.813 billion and forecast earnings per share of $1.19 to $1.20. Management believes expanding AI integration across operations will improve efficiency and accelerate product delivery. The market reaction, however, underscored lingering uncertainty about aggressive AI-driven restructuring strategies in the tech sector.