ETH slipped below $2,000 over the past 24 hours for the first time since early 2025, trading at $1,972.82 after a 13.4% decline over the past month. The move coincided with $241M in long liquidations and rising derivatives activity, with open interest cited at $12.5B and $32.69B from separate datasets. DeFi metrics also weakened, including Aave loans at $8B (down 14% in a month) and Ethereum-based DeFi holdings at $41.78B versus over $91B in August 2025.

On May 26, 2026, OpenZeppelin founder Manuel Aráoz said he now views all DeFi as unsafe, arguing AI coding agents can surface vulnerabilities faster than defenders can patch them. He cautioned that even established protocols such as Aave, Sky Protocol, and Compound could be exposed, while other commentators argued many exploits still hinge on human errors and centralized control points. DeFi exploits eased in May, with 14 attacks taking a bit over $44M, even as broader 2026 losses were estimated at $285M and $437.4M across different threat categories.

Hyperliquid said it will introduce native oracles and “canonical” on-chain resolutions for HIP-4 outcome markets, shifting settlement away from third-party oracle and voting systems. The platform also moved HIP-4 liquidity to USDC and said outcomes will be handled through validator-run software tied into chain operations.

Strategy paused its usual Monday Bitcoin purchase again and said it will redirect resources toward bond-related balance sheet actions. The company pointed to a planned repurchase of $1.5B of debt due in 2029, while it reported no new STRC sales over the past week as the preferred stock traded below its ATM level. MSTR shares slipped to $159.89 and BTC was last cited at $77,216 as investors weighed dividend obligations and funding questions.

Ethereum posted a new on-chain activity record over the past 30 days, with daily transactions topping 3.62M at the end of April. Lower fees after the Glamsterdam upgrade—down 78%, with simple transfers as low as $0.004—appear to be enabling a surge in address-poisoning and dusting activity that puts user wallets at higher risk.

RAIL, Railgun’s native token, climbed above $4.51 to mark a new 2026 high before pulling back to $4.05 amid higher volatility. Trading volume reached $7.5M—about 10 times typical levels—and the token is up more than 128% year to date. The move coincided with renewed attention on crypto privacy and expectations that wallet integrations could broaden Railgun usage.

HYPE, Hyperliquid's native token, surged to a new all-time high of $61.68 during U.S. trading hours as volumes reached a three-month peak. The move came alongside rising interest from whales and wallets associated with Grayscale and Bitwise, while derivatives activity expanded with open interest pushing above $2.1B.

Y Combinator has introduced a set of "crypto deals" that bundles partner tools for startups in its new application batch, as well as for selected hackathon and meetup participants. The package covers items such as wallets, node and API access, gas credits, fiat on-ramps and swap features, plus on-chain data, analytics, and audit services, with separate tiers that include $10K in network-expense support over two years and additional discounts for funded teams.

Wintermute said ETH has been under heavier pressure amid rising inflation and broader macro uncertainty, arguing it is not ideally positioned for a more chaotic crypto cycle. Over the past week, ETH fell about 10% and hovered near the $2,100 area after sustained selling, while derivatives positioning weakened. Sentiment indicators also deteriorated, with open interest down by $1B to $12.4B and Binance metrics pointing to a more fearful market tone.