Ukraine considers strategic BTC reserves, Ethereum launches trillion-dollar security plan.

Bitcoin

Ukraine Considers Establishing Strategic Bitcoin Reserves

The Ukrainian government is preparing legislation to establish a national strategic Bitcoin reserve. It is reported that Ukraine currently holds approximately 46,351 BTC, worth about 4.8 billion USD. These Bitcoins mainly come from donations during the war, asset seizures, and fundraising activities. Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak stated that the relevant bill has entered the final drafting stage and is expected to be submitted to parliament for review soon. The bill aims to formally incorporate Bitcoin into the national financial strategy. Previously, the Ukrainian parliament had passed a bill on virtual assets, but it was withdrawn under pressure from the president's office and the State Securities Commission. Currently, the National Securities Commission has proposed 80 amendments to improve the legal framework for cryptoassets. This move by Ukraine marks the increasing importance of cryptocurrencies in its national financial strategy.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF saw a net outflow of $478.7 million this week

According to TraderT monitoring, the net outflow of the US spot Bitcoin ETF this week is 478.7 million dollars.

American fast-food chain Steak 'n Shake now supports Bitcoin payments

According to the official X account of Steak 'n Shake, its stores now support Bitcoin payments, with the caption "The revolution is underway," signed "Steaktoshi," in tribute to Satoshi Nakamoto, symbolizing the embrace of the digital currency wave by traditional fast-food brands. Last week, it was reported that the American fast-food chain Steak'n Shake will accept Bitcoin payments at all its locations starting from May 16.

Luxury watch manufacturer Top Win partners with Sora Ventures to implement Bitcoin reserve strategy

Luxury watch manufacturer Top Win has officially changed its name to AsiaStrategy and announced a partnership with Sora Ventures to implement a Bitcoin reserve strategy. Sora Ventures founder Jason Fang will join the board of AsiaStrategy and serve as co-CEO. This move marks another publicly listed company joining the Bitcoin reserve trend, similar to the business model of MicroStrategy( before Strategy). AsiaStrategy stated that it will continue its luxury watch manufacturing business while simultaneously developing a Bitcoin accumulation strategy.

Blockchain company Coinsilium raises £1.25 million to establish Bitcoin reserves

The UK blockchain company Coinsilium Group announced that it has raised £1.25 million and plans to establish a Bitcoin reserve vault.

NASDAQ-listed company Heritage will accept Bitcoin and Dogecoin as payment methods

Whisky manufacturer Heritage Distilling (NASDAQ: CASK) announced that it will implement a cryptocurrency financial strategy, accepting Bitcoin and Dogecoin as payment methods and holding them as strategic assets. The plan is led by the board's technology and cryptocurrency committee, chaired by Matt Swann.

Ethereum

Ethereum Foundation Announces Launch of "Trillion Dollar Security Plan"

The Ethereum Foundation announced the launch of the "Trillion Dollar Security Initiative" on May 14, 2025, aimed at comprehensively enhancing the security performance of the Ethereum ecosystem to support the global economic infrastructure. The initiative will conduct a thorough assessment of the security status across various layers of the Ethereum technology stack, implement key improvements, and strengthen security communication. The project is led by Fredrik Svantes and Josh Stark, with support from three experts in the field of blockchain security. The Ethereum Foundation also calls on community members to provide feedback through designated channels and participate in this security upgrade initiative.

1confirmation founder: optimistic about the long-term value of L2 to Ethereum

Nick Tomaino, the founder of 1confirmation, emphasized the positive impact of L2 solutions on Ethereum (ETH) in a social media post, pointing out that application chains provide autonomy for developers while also bringing value to Ethereum. He stated that L2 has multiple benefits: distributing ETH, expanding the network effects of EVM developers, burning ETH through activities, and mentioned that "most people still believe the false narrative that L2 success is detrimental to ETH."

Ethereum Fusaka upgrade is set to introduce PeerDAS aimed at reducing costs between L2 and validators

After the successful deployment of the Pectra upgrade, Ethereum core developers have turned their attention to the next major upgrade "Fusaka," which is planned to go live by the end of 2025. It has been confirmed that a proposal involving PeerDAS will be included, aimed at reducing the operational costs of Layer 2 scaling solutions and validators. PeerDAS (Peer-to-Peer Data Availability Sampling) is a data availability sampling mechanism that allows nodes to verify availability without having to download the complete data, thereby improving network efficiency and reducing resource consumption. This mechanism is expected to further optimize Ethereum's scaling capabilities, enhancing the network's scalability and decentralization features. It is reported that the specific content of the Fusaka upgrade is still under discussion, but developers have reached a consensus on the introduction of PeerDAS.

Xiao Feng: The Ethereum Foundation should not stay away from the Chinese market and suggests setting up an office in Hong Kong

According to news from Wanwu Island's ThreeDAO official account, Xiao Feng, the founder of Wanxiang Blockchain, suggested in a private conversation with Vitalik that the Ethereum Foundation establish an office in Hong Kong. Xiao Feng pointed out that blockchain developers are mainly concentrated in the English-speaking and Chinese-speaking worlds. Losing the Chinese market means losing an important global developer resource. Vitalik stated that the Ethereum Foundation's development efforts in Berlin are mainly engaged in underlying technology work, and that the underlying technology of Ethereum has now matured, with only optimization space remaining. Xiao Feng stated that he once half-jokingly told Vitalik: "We have the 11th Blockchain Conference in Shanghai in October. If you come and get arrested, I'll sit in jail with you." He then pointed out that this was just a joke and emphasized that, in fact, China's technical departments, government agencies, and developer community hold a respectful attitude towards Ethereum technology, suggesting that the foundation should not stay away from the Chinese market.

Ethereum Co-founder: Ethereum is a substitute for Bitcoin, not a competitor

At the Consensus 2025 conference, Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio stated that Ethereum "is not meant to be a competitor to Bitcoin, but rather an alternative." He reflected on Ethereum's early development, saying, "We could feel it was rising." Di Iorio initially entered the crypto space by advocating for Bitcoin and met Vitalik Buterin during a Bitcoin meetup in Toronto in 2012. He emphasized, "Ethereum has the potential to eventually surpass Bitcoin in market capitalization... Considering the number of use cases and the value that Ethereum can create, I believe it has that opportunity."

In April, the trading volume of stablecoins on the Ethereum chain reached $908 billion, setting a new historical record

According to Techinasia, in April 2025, the trading volume of stablecoins on the Ethereum chain reached a historic high of $908 billion, highlighting their growing application in the financial sector. Within this growth trend, USDC stood out with a trading volume exceeding $500 billion in the past six months. Other stablecoins, such as DAI and USDS, also showed active trading dynamics, indicating that the stablecoin market is exhibiting a trend of diversification. Corporate giants like Meta and Stripe are currently exploring or launching stablecoin-based payment solutions. Despite facing competition, Ethereum remains the preferred blockchain platform for stablecoin applications, driven by the continuous growth in transaction volume and strong corporate interest.

Other Projects

The DeFi platform Exponential supported by Paradigm launches the cross-chain yield optimizer YO

According to The Block, the DeFi platform Exponential, backed by crypto venture capital firm Paradigm, has launched a cross-chain yield optimizer called YO. The platform integrates yield opportunities from protocols such as Morpho and Pendle across the Base, Ethereum, and Solana chains through a standardized risk framework and automated strategies. Its core innovation lies in the "single vault multi-chain deployment" model, which simplifies operations for beginners while enhancing efficiency for professional users. Exponential completed a $14 million seed round financing in 2022, led by Paradigm, with follow-on investments from Haun Ventures and others. The institutional-grade DeFi risk assessment system developed by the team over several years has become the infrastructure for YO, currently allowing users to automatically obtain the optimal risk-adjusted returns across multiple chains through a single deposit.

DeFi rating project Exponential launches DeFi platform YO, providing services for beginners and professionals

The DeFi rating project Exponential, supported by Paradigm, has launched a yield optimization DeFi platform called YO, aimed at serving both beginners and professionals. The company stated that the platform is designed to significantly simplify DeFi by eliminating fragmentation and automatically searching for the "best" opportunities to earn yields on Base, Ethereum, and Solana. According to previous reports, on October 3, 2022, the DeFi rating project Exponential announced the completion of a $14 million seed round financing, led by Paradigm, with participation from Haun Ventures, FTX Ventures, Solana Ventures, Polygon, Circle Ventures, and over 80 angel investors.

Abstract may launch an official cross-chain bridge

According to a preview image released by Abstract Chain developer @0xCygaar, Abstract may launch an official cross-chain bridge.

Allora and Mind Network launch the first privacy-preserving price oracle FHE TrustPrice Index

On May 16, it was reported that Mind Network has reached a strategic cooperation with Allora Network to jointly launch the first privacy-protecting price oracle for DeFAI scenarios - FHE TrustPrice Index. In addition, Mind Network has open-sourced the Mind Voter prototype codebase, demonstrating the core working mechanism of the system through the encryption, submission, and aggregation process of BTC price, and providing a reference solution for developers to build FHE-compatible proxies.

Mastercard will collaborate with MoonPay to launch a new stablecoin payment card

Mastercard has partnered with cryptocurrency payment company MoonPay to launch a stablecoin payment card service for 150 million merchants worldwide. This service is based on the technological framework of the stablecoin payment company Iron, which MoonPay acquired in March of this year, and will automatically convert to fiat currency during transactions.