On May 29, 2026, Coinbase said Coinbase Financial Markets began offering U.S. institutional clients regulated access to global crypto derivatives, starting with Deribit options and with perpetual futures planned for a later rollout. The company said crypto derivatives make up about 80% of global crypto trading volume and cited Deribit data showing more than $31 billion in bitcoin options open interest as of May 28.

Santiment said on May 25 and May 26 that the average active XRP trader over the past 30 days was down 47%, placing short-term holders in one of the weakest return zones since late 2020. The firm described the setup as an "extreme undervalued zone" and noted fear-driven sentiment that has historically aligned with rebounds, while XRP also fell nearly 6% over the past week. The report also cited $1.55 million of inflows into XRP-focused investment products alongside $333.71 million of outflows from spot bitcoin ETFs.

On May 26, the U.K. announced a sanctions package aimed at crypto-linked routes allegedly used to move funds into Russia, with measures taking effect immediately. The list includes 18 named exchanges, payment providers, banks, companies, and individuals, and separately highlights targets tied to the A7 network. The action also increases scrutiny on stablecoin infrastructure, including references to A7A5 and USDKG and their related entities.

Bitcoin spot trading volume has dropped sharply across major exchanges, with an 81% decline from October 2025 levels cited in a Cryptoquant analysis dated May 26. Binance volume fell from $198.6 billion to $36.4 billion, while Gate.io dropped 79.6% and Bybit declined 66%. The report argues the slowdown resembles late-2023 conditions and could indicate weakening selling pressure as traders watch for participation to return.

On May 27, President Donald Trump said he wants U.S. digital-asset market structure legislation that would endure across political shifts, and pledged his administration would "never let crypto down." He argued past regulators pushed bitcoin, crypto perpetuals, and innovation offshore, while his administration has brought builders back to U.S. markets and will seek clearer rules for exchanges, derivatives, and token issuance.

Grayscale Research said in a May 27 report that Hyperliquid is an example of DeFi expanding into exchange-scale trading, centered on its perpetual futures venue, its custom layer 1, and the HYPE token. The report highlighted about $1.16 billion routed into HYPE buybacks and pointed to market attention around ETF debut interest, large-holder activity, and trading growth as factors shaping how the token is priced.

On May 26, Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) said it will work with Standard Chartered to broaden fiat access for institutional users on Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Exchange. The rollout adds multi-currency funding rails for AUD, SGD, CAD, CHF, EUR, and GBP to support deposits, withdrawals, and settlement while aiming to reduce FX friction and funding constraints.

On May 26, Binance said it will work with Blockshoals Technologies Inc. under the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission's Strategic Sandbox (StratBox) to test supervised digital-asset services. Blockshoals will act as the SEC-approved local intermediary, while Binance provides technology, security, operations, and compliance systems. The sandbox testing is expected to start in the second half of 2026 and run for at least two years.

Grayscale said on May 26 that Elon Musk’s SpaceX could become the most valuable public company holding bitcoin if it completes an expected IPO in June. SpaceX’s S-1 lists 18,712 BTC under digital assets, while Grayscale expects Strategy to remain the largest public-company holder by BTC amount. The post also points to prediction-market ranges suggesting a $2 trillion–$2.5 trillion debut valuation as key to that ranking shift.