Blockchain investigator ZachXBT alleged that Bitget founder Shawn Liu is effectively running the exchange behind the scenes, while CEO Gracy Chen serves as a public-facing figure. He also signaled a coming escalation targeting what he calls a "Chinese CEX cartel," and said his claims had not been publicly addressed by Bitget or Liu at the time of writing.

Ten newly created wallets withdrew 100 million LAB tokens from Bitget in a 12-hour span, valued at about $480 million and equal to 32.26% of circulating supply. The transfers add to an ongoing manipulation probe after LAB rose from roughly $0.70 to nearly $3.30 on May 2 and later drew a $10,000 bounty tied to alleged market-making activity.

A bipartisan group of U.S. House lawmakers will meet behind closed doors on May 14, 2026, to debate proposed changes to crypto taxation, including rules for staking, trading, and small payments. The discussion centers on the Digital Asset PARITY Act, which would allow staking taxes to be deferred for up to 5 years and remove capital gains tax on qualifying stablecoin purchases under $200. The meeting is scheduled for the same day the Senate Banking Committee is set to vote on the CLARITY Act.

A wallet linked to Bitforex founder Garrett Jin sent a total of 577,896 ETH—about $1.35B—to Binance across four days ending May 11, 2026. The ETH was reportedly accumulated about eight months earlier via a BTC-to-ETH swap when ether traded at $4,591, and with ETH near $2,330 the position is down roughly 49%. Onchain records also indicate the wallet still holds around 9,343 BTC, valued at about $757M.

On May 11, the TRUMP meme coin team's allocation wallet routed 7 million TRUMP tokens (about $17.22 million) into Bitgo custody, after first sending 4.915 million TRUMP to an intermediate address. The transfer follows earlier deposits to Bitgo in January 2025 totaling $31.45 million and $23.18 million that were later followed by price declines.

Macro investor Raoul Pal says the chances of a Bitcoin “supercycle” by the end of 2026 have increased, arguing that debt monetization and a record global capex boom could drive a multi-year bull market. He reiterates a $450,000 per BTC scenario tied to central banks adding liquidity, while noting his view is probabilistic rather than certain. Bitcoin was trading around $81,000 after falling from a 2025 high above $124,000.

On Mother's Day 2026, bitcoin reached a daily high near $81,700, compared with about $8 on the same holiday in 2011. The year-by-year snapshot highlights sharp cycles and a Mother's Day peak of $104,000 in 2025 after spot bitcoin ETFs were approved in early 2024, while 2026 still marks the second-highest Mother's Day level in its history.

U.S. consumers owed $1.33 trillion in credit card debt on May 9, 2026, setting a new record alongside a weakening household savings backdrop. In Q1 2026, the personal savings rate was 4.0% and the average APR on revolving card balances was 21.00%, highlighting rising borrowing costs. Bitcoin supporters argue the data point strengthens the case for BTC's fixed supply as an alternative narrative to debt-heavy finance.

Ethereum's portion of global DeFi total value locked (TVL) fell from 63.5% in January 2025 to 53% by May 2026, even as it still holds about $45.50 billion in TVL. Over the same period, Solana (6.76%), BNB Chain (6.55%), Bitcoin (6.16%), Tron (6.01%), Base (5.31%), and Hyperliquid (1.82%) increased their shares, leaving non-Ethereum chains at roughly 47% combined. A May 9 post from Base creator Jesse Pollak highlighted the multichain ambition, writing, "bring every financial instrument onchain."