Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Handed 12-Year Prison Sentence For Multi-Billion-Dollar Crypto Fraud

XRP makes higher highs as it eyes $2.6 next.XRP Price Predictions to Watch This Week

Key Support levels: $2.3, $2.0

Key Resistance levels: $2.6, $31. Buyers Return

With the overall market heating up, XRP appears ready to make new highs and challenge the resistance at $2.6 next. Its most recent breakout saw the $2.3 level confirmed as support. This forms a solid base from which buyers can continue their rally.2. Key Resistance at $2.6

Even if buyers control the price at this time, they will need to reclaim $2.6 as a key support if they want to take XRP to $3 next. While momentum favors continuation, sellers managed to stop the price at $2.6 back in March. Hopefully, this cryptocurrency will gather sufficient strength in the coming days to break this resistance.3. MACD Turns Bullish

The 3-day MACD turned bullish in early May, but only in the past few days did the momentum pick up. This is encouraging and supports a sustainед rally in the coming weeks that could see XRP revisit $3. Based on this, the bias is bullish with a positive outlook.

Representatives at the world's largest asset management firm, BlackRock, met with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff to discuss staking and options on cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. 

The firm's representatives met with members of the SEC's crypto task force on Friday, according to a memorandum. 

"The topic discussed was approaches to addressing issues related to regulation of crypto assets," according to that memo. 

Firms have been looking to get the SEC's sign-off to allow staking for crypto ETFs over the past few months. BlackRock Head of Digital Assets Robert Mitchnick spoke about the potential of allowing staking for spot Ethereum ETFs in March, adding that there are some "complex challenges" to figure out, but said if so, it could be a "step change upward." Mitchnick attended the SEC's meeting on Friday as well, according to the memo.

BlackRock's representatives spoke with SEC staff about 'considerations for facilitating ETPs with staking capabilities" and also discussed parameters for figuring out positions and exercise limits for options on crypto ETFs, including liquidity thresholds, according to the filing.

The SEC allowed options trading on spot Ethereum ETFs, including those from BlackRock, Grayscale, and Bitwise, last month. 

BlackRock also discussed general standards for approving crypto ETFs. 

The SEC's crypto task force has met with various stakeholders over the past few months as the agency takes a different approach to regulating the digital asset industry compared to years past.

Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler warned that crypto was "rife with fraud and manipulation" and had bad actors in the space. During his time leading the agency, the SEC brought several cases against large crypto firms, and many were later dropped after he left in January. 

President Donald Trump appointed Chair Paul Atkins, who said that he anticipates "huge benefits" from digital assets and plans to work with lawmakers to create a supportive regulatory framework for crypto. The task force, led by Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, is set to hold its fourth roundtable on Monday to discuss tokenization. 

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Amid the ongoing crypto bull run, with Bitcoin surpassing $104,000, the leading cryptocurrency has seen an growing demand among institutional investors, according to an X post from Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan on Friday.

Bitcoin institutional adoption spikes

Matt Hougan shared surprising data, showing that the Bitcoin YTD demand among public companies, ETFs and governments has surpassed the 58,109 BTC new supply by over three times.

TWEET: https://x.com/Matt_Hougan/status/1920854621414977556

Per the post, a total of 227286 BTC is in demand from major buyers. With Bitcoin trading at $103,083 as of press time, according to the latest CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin’s demand has surged past $23 billion as of May 9.

While this signals increasing bullish momentum for Bitcoin, the growing demand is led by public corporations with 161,023 BTC. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and governments also bear 52,077 BTC and 14,006 BTC from the total demand, respectively. 

This significant demand for Bitcoin among institutions further proves Bitcoin's efficiency as a strategic asset for large investment purposes. 

Institutions like Strategy (MSTR), Metaplanet, and MARA Holdings are seen relentlessly doubling down on their Bitcoin stash. While emerging firms are gradually adopting this investment strategy, Bitcoin demand is set for more upsurge, fueling scarcity while driving more surge in the price of Bitcoin.

Supply crunch stuns Bitcoin

This massive imbalance between Bitcoin's new demand and supply suggests that the world's leading cryptocurrency is faced with a supply crunch, indicating that the amount of Bitcoin available for purchase is limited.

Apparently, this signals increased confidence among investors, positioning Bitcoin for further bullish outlook. 

While the scarcity of Bitcoin is one of its most vaunted features, where demand far exceeds the available supply, all indications point at an incoming supply shock. Historically, Bitcoin’s supply shock often drives a significant surge in its price.

While the market is already facing a rapid price uptrend, the Bitcoin supply shock suggests a sustainable bull run for Bitcoin, possibly pushing the asset to reach a new all-time high.

Although investors are always on the watch for a Bitcoin supply crunch for bullish reasons, it is also important to take caution in possible cases of a rapid shift in institutional sentiments.

XRP traders have experienced $18.8 million in liquidations across leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the last 24 hours, according to data from Coinglass.

With XRP struggling to find a clear direction, these sell-offs indicate growing market volatility and uncertainty in the crypto industry, following shifting market sentiments and regulatory developments.

Typically, liquidations occur during periods of high price volatility when the market moves against leveraged positions. In this case, XRP liquidations affected both short and long traders almost equally, with $9.8 million in short positions and $9.01 million in long positions wiped out.

Bybit tops $7.25M XRP liquidations

Crypto platform Bybit recorded the largest XRP liquidations, with a total of $7.28 million. A breakdown of these liquidations shows that $2.58 million were from short positions, while $4.7 million were from long positions. Binance followed, recording total liquidations of $7.08 million.

Notably, 73.5% of liquidated positions on Binance were shorts, indicating that the platform had the largest number of traders betting against XRP’s price rise. In contrast, long positions were the most impacted on OKX, which recorded total liquidations of $2.8 million.

In addition, several smaller exchanges—especially CoinEx, Gate.io, and HTX—each recorded more than $100,000 in liquidations, proving that the sell-offs weren’t limited to top platforms. While their liquidation amounts were smaller, niche derivatives platforms like Bitfinex and BitMEX also recorded forced position closures.

Source: Coinglass" />

XRP liquidations split

With nearly equal amounts on both sides of the market, the liquidation distribution reflects that bias around XRP remains split. However, the dominance of short liquidations on Binance suggests there was a rapid price rally that squeezed out short traders.

During an unexpected price surge, short sellers must buy back their positions, increasing buying pressure and pushing prices even higher in the short term. These liquidations come at a time when investors and regulators are closely watching XRP’s price movement.

On Thursday, U.Today reported that Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had reached a significant agreement in their long-running legal battle.

A group of Democratic senators has reportedly sent a letter to leadership at the US Department of Justice and the Treasury Department expressing concerns about US President Donald Trump’s ties to cryptocurrency exchange Binance and potential conflicts of interest in regulating the industry.

According to a May 9 Bloomberg report, Democratic senators asked Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to report on the steps Binance had taken as part of its November 2023 plea agreement with US authorities, amid reports that Trump and his family had deepened connections with the exchange.

That settlement saw Binance pay more than $4 billion as part of a deal with the Justice Department, Treasury, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and had then-CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao step down.

However, since Trump won the presidency in 2024, many lawmakers have accused the president of corruption from profiting off crypto while being in a position to influence laws and regulations over the industry.

Trump has launched his own memecoin — which earns the project millions of dollars in transaction fees — and offered the top tokenholders the opportunity to attend an exclusive dinner in Washington, DC. His family-backed crypto venture World Liberty Financial also recently announced that an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, MGX, would settle a $2 billion investment in Binance using the platform’s USD1 stablecoin.

“Our concerns about Binance’s compliance obligations are even more pressing given recent reports that the company is using the Trump family’s stablecoin to partner with foreign investment companies,” the senators said in the letter, according to Bloomberg.

Stablecoin bill fails to pass the US Senate

The letter came less than 24 hours after some of the same senators blocked a crucial vote on a bill to regulate stablecoins, named the GENIUS Act. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who reportedly signed the letter and opposed moving forward on the stablecoin bill, suggested the Senate should not be aligned with “facilitat[ing] this kind of corruption” from Trump.

Bessent said the Senate “missed an opportunity” by not passing the stablecoin bill, but did not directly address any of the concerns over Trump’s crypto interests. It’s unclear if or when the chamber could consider another vote on the bill.

In an April 23 report, the nonpartisan organization State Democracy Defenders Action said roughly 40% of Trump’s net worth was tied to crypto. The group noted that the GENIUS Act, in its current version, “would not prevent President Trump from using his executive powers to establish a regulatory environment and enforcement agenda that prioritizes his personal enrichment over the broader interests of US stakeholders.”

Amid the concerns with the stablecoin and proposed market structure bills, Zhao reportedly applied for a federal pardon from Trump. Though the former CEO already served four months in prison, a pardon for his felony charge could allow him to get more involved with the crypto industry through a management position.

A group of Democratic senators has reportedly sent a letter to leadership at the US Department of Justice and the Treasury Department expressing concerns about US President Donald Trump’s ties to cryptocurrency exchange Binance and potential conflicts of interest in regulating the industry.

According to a May 9 Bloomberg report, Democratic senators asked Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to report on the steps Binance had taken as part of its November 2023 plea agreement with US authorities, amid reports that Trump and his family had deepened connections with the exchange.

That settlement saw Binance pay more than $4 billion as part of a deal with the Justice Department, Treasury, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and had then-CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao step down.

However, since Trump won the presidency in 2024, many lawmakers have accused the president of corruption from profiting off crypto while being in a position to influence laws and regulations over the industry.

Trump has launched his own memecoin — which earns the project millions of dollars in transaction fees — and offered the top tokenholders the opportunity to attend an exclusive dinner in Washington, DC.

His family-backed crypto venture World Liberty Financial also recently announced that an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, MGX, would settle a $2 billion investment in Binance using the platform’s USD1 stablecoin.

“Our concerns about Binance’s compliance obligations are even more pressing given recent reports that the company is using the Trump family’s stablecoin to partner with foreign investment companies,” the senators said in the letter, according to Bloomberg.

Stablecoin bill fails to pass the US Senate

The letter came less than 24 hours after some of the same senators blocked a crucial vote on a bill to regulate stablecoins, named the GENIUS Act. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who reportedly signed the letter and opposed moving forward on the stablecoin bill, suggested the Senate should not be aligned with “facilitat[ing] this kind of corruption” from Trump.

Bessent said the Senate “missed an opportunity” by not passing the stablecoin bill, but did not directly address any of the concerns over Trump’s crypto interests. It’s unclear if or when the chamber could consider another vote on the bill.

In an April 23 report, the nonpartisan organization State Democracy Defenders Action said roughly 40% of Trump’s net worth was tied to crypto. The group noted that the GENIUS Act, in its current version, “would not prevent President Trump from using his executive powers to establish a regulatory environment and enforcement agenda that prioritizes his personal enrichment over the broader interests of US stakeholders.”

Amid the concerns with the stablecoin and proposed market structure bills, Zhao reportedly applied for a federal pardon from Trump. Though the former CEO already served four months in prison, a pardon for his felony charge could allow him to get more involved with the crypto industry through a management position.