Key Takeaways
- Senate Banking neared a CLARITY Act vote, setting up a pivotal U.S. crypto market test in 2026.
- Pavel Durov drove TON up 32% to $2.89, putting Telegram-led adoption in focus next.
- Tether froze $515M in 371 wallets as Zcash jumped 40%, sharpening 2026 privacy debates.
WEEK IN REVIEW
CLARITY Act Draft Circulates Ahead of Potential Senate Vote, Report
Senate Banking Committee action on the CLARITY Act is reportedly moving closer, with draft text circulated to select industry members before a potential Thursday vote… read more
Editor’s comment:
This is probably the biggest regulatory hurdle of all time for crypto. It also comes as stocks are at all-time highs, Bitcoin rallies, a new virus scare is spooking markets, and a geopolitical situation in Iran metastasizes. An interesting call for fundamental analysts.
Toncoin Jumps 32% in 24 Hours as Pavel Durov Pushes Telegram Deeper Into TON
Toncoin jumped 32% to $2.89, marking a 110% increase since Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced a major strategic shift and a sixfold fee reduction… read more
Editor’s comment:
Telegram has one of the biggest natural networks of users in the world, so an embrace of some kind of digital asset seems obvious. What’s not obvious, as of yet, is how exactly to bring value to the TON token. This was one of Pantera Capital’s biggest investments, so it will be interesting to see the TON thesis play out.
‘Fully Invested’: Bollinger Bands Creator Officially Calls a New Bitcoin Bull Market
John Bollinger, inventor of the Bollinger Bands and founder of Bollinger Capital Management, one of the better-regarded trading indicators… read more
Editor’s comment:
The world of technical analysis and male astrology does provide some gems from time to time, and Bollinger is a testament to that. We can revisit this in 6-12 months to see if this was actually a decent entry point, or another FOMO-driven top buy based on meaningless squigglies. There are some other technical indicators screaming buy as well, most notably the RSI.
Tether Freezes $515 Million in USDT Across 371 Addresses in 30 Days
Tether has blacklisted 371 addresses and frozen approximately $515 million worth of USDT across the Ethereum and Tron networks over the past 30 days, new data shows… read more
Editor’s comment:
An ongoing topic for a while now, stablecoins may be a critical piece of the cypto ecosystem, but are also now an arguably equally important piece of US imperialism. We argued in this week’s episode of Token Narratives that the next piece of the dollar hegemony to be constructed was tokenized stocks, or “Wall Street imperialism.”
Zcash Surges Past $600 as Traders Drive 40% Spike, Flipping Monero by Market Cap
Zcash soared more than 40% on May 6, hitting a $600 peak and briefly propelling its market capitalization to $10 billion… read more
Editor’s comment:
As Mert says, what can’t be seen can’t be seized. And in an increasingly taxed and surveilled world, privacy is naturally becoming a big narrative, as evidenced by the price of ZEC and XMR. This is also a narrative that might not even need institutional support, as some of the regulatory risk may not apply to most of the total addressable market (TAM).
