The XRP Ledger community is nearing an operational deadline: in less than 36 hours, nodes and validators running versions older than XRPL 3.1.3 are expected to be cut off from the network. Vet (@Vet_X0) urged infrastructure providers, DEXs, and NFT marketplaces to upgrade, noting that only 40% of the network had updated at the time of the warning. The issue affects service operators rather than everyday XRP holders, and access should resume once affected servers update.

XRP Ledger payment activity spiked between May 19 and May 22, when XRPScan data shows the count of payments between accounts rose from about 766,051 to more than 1.22 million. Over the same window, payment volume moved only from roughly 434.9 million to 486.2 million, leaving the scale of the jump under scrutiny. Separately, Ali Martinez said large XRP transactions over $1 million fell from 157 to 67 by May 23, while XRP traded in a $1.3–$1.4 range.

Hedera has rolled out a five-week AI agent bounty on the HBAR Network, offering $500 to $1,500 per task and asking builders to ship agents that execute real on-chain transactions. Santiment data shows Hedera ranked #2 in notable development activity over the past 30 days, while HBAR remains below $0.09 despite a 1% 24-hour rise and $36.52 million Monday volume. Chart commentary points to support near $0.088–$0.089, with $0.143 as a key upside level and $0.078 cited as a lower Bollinger Band area if support fails.

$ESPORTS dropped more than 92% on 25 May, erasing over $110m in market value as commentators pointed to heavy token transfers and exchange deposits ahead of the move. The price slid from around $0.69 to nearly $0.05 in one daily candle, with liquidations above $6m including more than $5.2m in longs. The project team had not publicly addressed the allegations at the time of writing.

On May 25, 2026, Mysten Labs co-founder and CPO Eman Abio said the gas-fee market is a flawed pricing model for crypto, arguing it forces unrelated activities to compete for the same scarce resource. He pointed to a Stripe projection that an AI-agent-driven internet may need 1 billion transactions per second, far beyond current chain capacity, while stating Sui plans to ship a free payments SDK this year to support agentic on-chain payments without restrictions.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson is reviewing governance designs from more than 11,000 DAOs as ADA trades in a $0.23–$0.26 consolidation range ahead of key votes. A quantum-security research funding proposal is expected to be rejected, with around 87% of Delegated Representatives opposed. Traders are watching whether price can reclaim $0.30, while $0.24 remains the main support level.

HYPE printed a new all-time high of $64.60 on May 24 on Binance, extending its weekly gain to about +40%. Social sentiment peaked earlier on May 21 at 402 when price was $58.66, then fell 72% to an average 113 even as HYPE rose another 9%, creating a divergence traders are watching around the $250 target.

XRP is hovering around $1.35–$1.36 as market depth on Binance falls to its lowest level since 2020, leaving the token trading in a tight $1.35–$1.40 band. With thinner order books, spreads can widen and relatively small orders may trigger larger moves, especially after XRP slipped from highs above $1.50. CME is scheduled to introduce 24/7 XRP futures trading on May 29, a development that could add to short-term volatility.