The broader crypto market slid from mid-May highs near $2.75–$2.80 trillion to around $2.48 trillion between May 24 and May 30, wiping out more than $300 billion in value. Trading activity stayed elevated with $89.65 billion in 24-hour volume, while liquidations over the past 24 hours totaled $282.08 million, led by $80.99 million in BTC and $59.20 million in ETH. On May 29, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs posted $148.8 million in net outflows, adding to a wider pullback of more than $1.2 billion as leverage and risk appetite cooled.

The UK has sanctioned 18 crypto platforms, banks, and financial networks allegedly used by the Kremlin-backed A7 payment network to bypass restrictions, with claims they processed over $90 billion in 2025. The measures place the entities on the UK Consolidated List and require UK-based businesses to freeze related assets and block transactions tied to the listed firms.

On Friday, May 29, crypto ETF flows stayed negative overall as bitcoin ETFs logged a 10th consecutive day of net outflows totaling $125.31 million and ether ETFs posted $17.91 million in outflows. At the same time, demand rotated into select altcoin products, with XRP ETFs taking in $11.88 million, HYPE ETFs adding $9.50 million, and Solana ETFs gaining $1.32 million.

A federal judge directed Circle to blacklist Zama's confidential USDC (cUSDC) contract on Friday night, and the block took effect at 1:08 a.m. UTC on Saturday, freezing 12,606,386 USDC. The action stems from a May 28 class action tied to Overnight Finance, with Zama CEO Rand Hindi saying the contract was "caught in a crossfire" and that the team is investigating and pausing related confidential wrappers.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on May 29, 2026 that US authorities had quietly seized roughly $1 billion in digital assets tied to Iran. He linked the seizures to “Operation Economic Fury,” launched in March 2025, and contrasted the figure with earlier public totals of $500 million in late April and $344 million earlier that month.

On May 30, an on-chain whale known as Evaded closed short positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum, booking about $1.77 million in profit. Hours later, the trader shifted into equities with 10x leveraged longs totaling roughly $31.5 million, buying 41,400 MSFT long shares and 56,600 ORCL long shares. The move followed a volatile stretch of rapid flips between bullish and bearish crypto bets in May.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the Reagan National Economic Forum that the Treasury has seized about $1B in Iranian crypto by "grabb[ing] the wallets." He also referenced an April action in which $344M in Iranian crypto was seized after cooperation with Tether. The remarks reignited debate over whether Bitcoin and other crypto assets can function as a non-sovereign hedge against state enforcement.

On May 30, 2026, Goldman Sachs raised its 2026 year-end S&P 500 target to 8,000, citing continued corporate earnings strength. The call sits 6.4% above the index's last close of 7,519.12 and includes a 2026 EPS forecast of $340, implying 24% year-over-year growth. The bank also said AI infrastructure-linked firms are expected to contribute about half of the index's earnings growth this year.