News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky has filed a motion with a New York court, seeking to overturn his 12-year sentence for fraud and market manipulation.Court documents show that Mashinsky chose to proceed pro se after his lawyers withdrew, claiming they 'stopped communicating' with him, forcing him to file documents personally with the court. He argues that his previous defense constituted 'ineffective assistance of counsel' and invokes the 'fruit of the poisonous tree' doctrine, challenging the legality of certain evidence in the case.In his filings, Mashinsky also accused Sam Bankman-Fried of intending to 'destroy Celsius' and attributed market manipulation related to the CEL token to FTX. Additionally, he publicly disclosed text messages with former Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen-Pavon, alleging that Cohen-Pavon attempted a 'hostile takeover' of the company.In 2025, Mashinsky pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud, was ordered to forfeit $48 million, and must also pay a $10 million settlement to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Cohen-Pavon, who previously testified as a cooperating witness for the prosecution, has been sentenced to 'time served' and ordered to pay over $1 million in fines. (Cointelegraph)
According to Cointelegraph, cryptocurrency analysts are divided on whether Bitcoin will reenact its historical “Sell in May” pattern in 2026. In the two midterm election years—2018 and 2022—Bitcoin experienced sharp declines in May, falling approximately 30% and 70%, respectively. Analyst Merlijn Enkelaar warned that this historical pattern could repeat, with Bitcoin potentially dropping to $33,000. Joao Wedson, CEO of Alphractal, also noted that if Bitcoin remains persistently below $78,000, the likelihood of a new capitulation phase increases. However, Jeff Ko, Chief Analyst at CoinEx, argued that past crashes stemmed from specific shocks—including the Mt. Gox incident, China’s ICO regulations, the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening, and the collapses of Terra and FTX—not from calendar-based seasonality. He added that the launch of spot ETFs, corporate treasury allocations, and progress on the CLARITY Act have significantly broadened the institutional buyer base, making a 70–80% deep correction unlikely this cycle. Analyst Michaël van de Poppe highlighted $76,000 as the current critical support level; failure to hold it would likely trigger further downside pressure.
according to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, sources say a small bipartisan group of U.S. Senate lawmakers held negotiations last night over the CLARITY Act, attempting to secure concessions from Democrats on at least two outstanding issues, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement.Senator Cynthia Lummis stated that the two sides have reached consensus on "99% of the content" of the bill and expressed hope that Democrats would continue to resolve the remaining issues after the bill clears the committee. Otherwise, if another incident similar to FTX occurs in the future, "they have only themselves to blame."According to reports, Democratic Senators Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego have been pushing for a compromise on ethics and conflict-of-interest provisions related to the president's family before the committee review, making it a condition for their support of the bill.Additionally, some Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about provisions in the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), which aims to prohibit non-custodial software developers from being prosecuted under money transmission laws.Sources say that while both sides had made substantial progress on ethics and conflict-of-interest issues, disagreement over amendments to the BRCA ultimately led to the collapse of negotiations. The market now widely expects the upcoming committee markup to be distinctly partisan.
According to the SEC’s official website, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul S. Atkins delivered a speech on May 8 at the Special Competitive Study Project’s AI+ Expo, outlining the SEC’s regulatory approach toward AI and on-chain financial markets. Atkins stated that the SEC will advance several regulatory initiatives targeting on-chain markets, including: establishing rules defining “exchanges” for on-chain trading systems; clarifying the applicability of definitions for “brokers” and “dealers” to on-chain activities; delineating the scope of the “clearing agency” definition as it applies to on-chain clearing and settlement activities; and issuing regulatory guidance for activities related to “crypto vaults.” Regarding AI regulation, Atkins emphasized that the SEC will not mandate specific AI models for firms but will uphold its core mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation—while requiring firms to take responsibility for the outputs of their deployed AI tools. Atkins also urged Congress to promptly send the CLARITY Act to the President for signature, thereby providing long-term regulatory certainty for digital asset markets through legislation. He warned that driving innovation offshore would repeat the FTX debacle and harm U.S. investors.
the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released a report stating that crypto exchanges are increasingly offering banking-like services, such as lending and yield-bearing products (Earn), but lack the regulatory oversight and deposit protection found in traditional financial systems, posing systemic risks.The report states that these high-yield products are essentially more akin to "unsecured loans." User assets are often used by platforms for high-risk operations such as lending, trading, or market making, while users only hold a claim against the platform. If the platform encounters problems, users are directly exposed to solvency risks.The BIS also noted that major crypto platforms have evolved from simple exchanges into "multi-functional intermediaries," integrating the functions of banks, brokerages, and exchanges, but with insufficient transparency and risk isolation mechanisms. The collapses of Celsius Network and FTX are typical examples of this structural risk. Additionally, the report mentions the crypto market flash crash in October 2025, which triggered approximately $19 billion in forced liquidations, highlighting the risk of cascading effects under high leverage and opaque structures. (CoinDesk)