hodler

21 May 2026, 16:43

Ethereum Is Microsoft of Crypto: Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi Breaks Down Why

Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi breaks down the corporate perks - and sluggish baggage - of Ethereum's emergence as the "Microsoft of crypto".

21 May 2026, 16:35

Kraken secures VARA license in Dubai for full AED trading

🚀 Kraken received the VARA license and will soon enable AED trading. Clients can directly fund accounts in $BTC or altcoins using UAE dirham. 📝 Critical data: Kraken's Dubai platform supports spot, margin, OTC, and staking services. Continue Reading: Kraken secures VARA license in Dubai for full AED trading The post Kraken secures VARA license in Dubai for full AED trading appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .

21 May 2026, 16:33

Neighbors stop attempted kidnapping of Sandbox co-founder Borget's wife in France

The wife of Sebastien Borget, co-founder and chief operating officer of The Sandbox, was nearly kidnapped at their home in Villenoy, Seine-et-Marne. Neighbors reportedly intervened in the incident, causing the perpetrators to flee. Two of the suspects were arrested while the other four remain at large. The Sandbox co-founder’s wife was almost kidnapped French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, which broke the story, reported that the attack began around 8:30 p.m. on May 20. A man posing as a delivery worker approached the property carrying a cardboard box and wearing a branded vest. When Borget’s wife opened the front gate, five masked accomplices charged into the courtyard and tried to force her into a Citroën C3 parked nearby. Neighbors who heard her screaming confronted the attackers, forcing the entire group to abandon the attempt and flee. Borget’s wife was luckily not injured during the incident. Four of the six suspects drove away in the vehicle while the remaining two ran from the scene on foot and hid until they could call a ride-hail car. Officers from the Meaux Anti-Crime Brigade pulled over that vehicle a short time later. The two detained suspects, identified as Mateo V., born 2010, and Walid H., born 2009, both from Pantin in Seine-Saint-Denis, were carrying a bag with a replica handgun, plastic zip-tie restraints, and balaclavas. Cryptopolitan reported previously that French police have observed a pattern of many perpetrators being minors or young adults recruited through messaging apps and paid small sums to carry out the physical attacks. France’s central security directorate has taken over the investigation. Early findings suggest the attempt was connected to cryptocurrency holdings. Why was Sebastien Borget’s wife targeted? Borget, 40, co-founded The Sandbox, a blockchain-based virtual world on Ethereum where users create and trade gaming experiences through NFTs and the SAND token. He is also president of the Blockchain Game Alliance, a position he has held since 2020, and has been named among the most influential figures in crypto. Before The Sandbox, Borget co-founded game studio Pixowl, which Animoca Brands acquired in 2018. As of May 21, the SAND token was trading at a value of $0.072 with a market capitalization of roughly $193 million. French authorities have struggled to contain the growing kidnapping crisis in the nation. 41 crypto-linked kidnappings or attempted abductions have occurred in France since January 1, 2026. Since 2023, authorities have dealt with 135 such incidents across the country, accounting for close to 80% of all European cases. In April 2026, masked intruders forced a French family with crypto ties to hand over approximately $820,000 in digital assets at gunpoint. That same month, 88 people were charged by French prosecutors after investigations into crypto kidnappings and home invasions. Cryptopolitan previously reported that the daughter of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat and the head of Binance’s French operations were also targets of such attacks. During Paris Blockchain Week 2026, Minister Delegate Jean-Didier Berger announced new preventive measures to address the wave of attacks, including a dedicated prevention platform. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .

21 May 2026, 16:29

Analyst: Ethereum Facing Silent Crisis, Hit by 55% Drawdown With No Dip Buyers

Ethereum (ETH) has lost more than half its peak value in nine months, and the buyers who normally step in to cushion the fall are nowhere to be found. According to on-chain analyst Easy On Chain, the current situation is particularly uncomfortable not just because of the price drop itself, but also due to a growing disconnect between the derivatives market and actual spot demand. A Market Divided Against Itself In a market report published on May 21, Easy On Chain painted a bleak picture for Ethereum’s broader structure, saying the token has already entered a medium- to long-term bear phase after its market cap dropped from about $585 billion in August 2025 to around $255 billion this month. Their report pointed to falling institutional participation as one of the clearest warning signs. Fund holdings, which stood above 7 million ETH in October 2025, have fallen toward the 5.5 million to 5.7 million range. At the same time, the Coinbase Premium Index stayed negative throughout May, suggesting US-based institutional buyers have largely stepped away from the market. Meanwhile, trading activity has also dried up, as, according to Easy On Chain, daily fund trading volume has fallen well below the yearly average, dropping into a range between $17 million and $42 million in recent months. The analyst described the current market as a phase where “futures-driven optimism accumulates without solid spot support.” That disconnect is becoming more visible in price action, considering the world’s second-largest crypto is down nearly 7% in the past week, more than 9% across the last month, and about 17% over one year, according to CoinGecko data. It is also sitting more than 57% below its all-time high of nearly $4,950, which was reached in August 2025. Technicals Lean Bearish Several commentators on X argued the chart still looks weak despite Bitcoin reclaiming levels above $78,000. One of them, Ted Pillows, wrote that ETH “still can’t reclaim the $2,150 level” even while stocks and Bitcoin moved higher, adding that “big buyers aren’t interested at all.” On his part, Benjamin Cowen said Ethereum may revisit its April 2025 lows near its lower logarithmic regression trend line, while analyst Cryptorphic warned that the asset breaking below a rising support trend line would open the door for a move toward the $2,050 area. The macro backdrop has not helped. In a post on May 18, Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee attributed part of Ethereum’s weakness to rising oil prices, citing what he described as the highest ever inverse correlation between ETH and crude oil. That same day, geopolitical pressure after US President Donald Trump issued warnings toward Iran sent Bitcoin to around $76,700 and triggered over $660 million in liquidations across crypto markets, with ETH accounting for $256 million of that figure. The post Analyst: Ethereum Facing Silent Crisis, Hit by 55% Drawdown With No Dip Buyers appeared first on CryptoPotato .

21 May 2026, 16:27

Bitcoin Ordinals case puts $1.1M Italian tax fraud in spotlight

Italian investigators have uncovered a years-long scheme of tax fraud involving Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens, among the earliest significant law enforcement cases involving these new types of Bitcoin assets. It appears the alleged criminal profited more than €1 million (about $1.1 million) from their illegal activities, in addition to fraudulently applying for and receiving public support for which they were ineligible. The case, revealed through blockchain analysis by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza, shows the power of these technologies to solve the technical challenges posed by Ordinals. Italian Guardia di Finanza targets Ordinals-enabled evasion The investigation was spearheaded by the Unit of Economic and Financial Police of Foggia, in collaboration with the Special Unit for Privacy Protection and Technological Fraud in Rome. A hardware wallet called “Ledger” was confiscated during one of the house searches, marking the start of the investigation. Even though the wallet created new addresses for every transaction—a common privacy technique—an ownership analysis revealed that all those separate addresses were owned by a single owner. The core of the scheme lay in a four-step process that used the Ordinals protocol, launched in 2023. The first step would be to move satoshis from the accused person’s main wallet cluster to an inscription service outside the system and then to write any kind of data into the witness field of Bitcoin transactions and create non-fungible Ordinals. Additionally, the subject conducted minting and exchange of BRC-20 tokens—these represent an innovative token standard for fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network, based entirely on inscriptions without smart contracts. After inscribing these inscriptions, they could be exchanged on Ordinals-specific platforms at a considerable markup. Funds from Bitcoin sales would then be deposited into the main wallet pool and used immediately to fund additional inscriptions. The closed system enabled the subject to generate substantial undeclared profits while still receiving public funding. Chainalysis traceability challenges the myths of crypto anonymity For their investigation, the Guardia di Finanza opted for Chainalysis Reactor, which enabled them to create a visualization and to unravel the complex transaction network. The tool helped convert what was originally a seemingly jumbled sequence of haphazard Bitcoin transactions into a recognizable “inscription monetization cycle.” Based on their analysis, they were able to quantify the extent of the evasion at more than €1 million. This is what stood out from the analysis – despite the introduction of novel data storage methods such as Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens, the existing Bitcoin UTXO structure still enables complete on-chain traceability of all activities. Right from the process of paying for the inscription to exiting the network, everything was traceable. Bitcoin markets experience volatility ahead of the weekend run Bitcoin (BTC) still dominates the crypto industry, trading at about $77,158 per token and with a market cap of $1.54 trillion. This is about 58-60% of the total crypto market which stands at $2.57-$2.65 trillion. Over the past 24 hours, BTC has shown little volatility, ranging from $76,655 to a high of $78,100, with gains of 0.69%. Good liquidity is evident with daily spot trading volumes over $26.7 billion. Estimates for Q4 2026 have been $74,000–$115,000 based on liquidity and risk appetite, according to Cryptopolitan. Bitcoin’s dominance has been stable, showing little capital is moving to altcoins. Infrastructure will remain intact in the future with institutional instruments and regulatory progress. The Bitcoin Ordinals market is currently quite sluggish (May 21, 2026), with not many transactions happening recently, but with the aggregated market cap remaining stable in the mid-nine-figure range. Aggregated market cap for all tracked Bitcoin-based NFTs is around $115M-$117M USD. Volume/trade in the last 24 hours is extremely low — data from major tracking websites shows 0 or almost 0 within the last 24 hours, suggesting that liquidity is very poor compared to high times such as 2023-2024. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .

21 May 2026, 16:26

BTC price steady at $77,300 as volatility nears

🚨 Bitcoin holds steady at $77,300 as traders eye a breakout. Price is stuck between $78,000 resistance and $76,500–$77,000 support. Continue Reading: BTC price steady at $77,300 as volatility nears The post BTC price steady at $77,300 as volatility nears appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .