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Top Stories of The Week
Bitcoin to $1M by 2028 as Hayes tells Europe to ’get your money out’
Bitcoin has two strong tailwinds that will help propel it to seven digits in a few years, according to former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes.
For Hayes, shifting capital controls worldwide and US Treasury “devaluation” means that Bitcoin will become the go-to safety net for investors everywhere.
He summarized:
“Foreign capital repatriation and the devaluation of the gargantuan stock of US Treasurys will be the two catalysts that will power Bitcoin to $1 million sometime between now and 2028.”
SEC hacker sentenced to 14 months in prison
A federal judge sentenced Eric Council Jr., who participated in posting a fake announcement on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account saying it would approve spot Bitcoin ETFs, to 14 months in prison.
Following a May 16 hearing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department announced that Council would serve 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
“Schemes of this nature threaten the health and integrity of our market system,” said Jeanine Pirro, interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia. “SIM swap schemes threaten the financial security of average citizens, financial institutions, and government agencies.”
Ex-UFC champ Conor McGregor touts Irish Bitcoin reserve in presidential bid
UFC fighter turned Irish political hopeful Conor McGregor has endorsed the idea of building a Bitcoin reserve in his country to give more “power back to the people.”
“Crypto in it’s origin was founded to give power back to the people. An Irish Bitcoin strategic reserve will give power to the people’s money,” McGregor wrote to X on May 9.
The former UFC champion said he would discuss his plans in more detail in an upcoming X spaces, prompting responses from some of the Bitcoin industry’s most prominent leaders.
Coinbase drops 7% on customer breach, SEC probe into user numbers
Coinbase stock dipped after news broke of a cyberattack that exposed customer data and an ongoing US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation over misstated user numbers in 2021.
The double whammy of bad news rattled investors as company stock (COIN) slid 7% in a fall to $244 in after-hours trading on May 15, according to Google Finance.
Coinbase has since confirmed the report from The New York Times, which stated the SEC has been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures, an inquiry that began during the Biden administration and has continued under the Trump administration.
90% of institutions ‘taking action’ on stablecoins: Fireblocks survey
A report from enterprise-grade digital assets platform Fireblocks shows that 90% of institutional players are using or exploring the use of stablecoins in their operations.
The report, published May 15, surveyed 295 executives across traditional banks, financial institutions, fintech companies and payment gateways. Almost half of the respondents (49%) said they already use stablecoins in payments, while 23% are conducting pilot tests and another 18% are in the planning stage.
Only 10% of institutions surveyed said they were undecided about stablecoin adoption.
“The stablecoin race has become a matter of avoiding obsolescence as customer demand accelerates and use cases mature,” Fireblocks wrote.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $103,452, Ether (ETH) at $2,573 and XRP at $2.32. The total market cap is at $3.30 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are dogwifhat (WIF) at 38.38%, Form (FORM) at 22.82% and Raydium (RAY) at 15.14%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) at 12.47%, Bitcoin SV (BSV) at 12.19% and Celestia (TIA) at 11.52%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“Foreign capital repatriation and the devaluation of the gargantuan stock of US Treasurys will be the two catalysts that will power Bitcoin to $1 million sometime between now and 2028.”
Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX
“The discussion around the president’s support for a certain memecoin or two and other efforts does add a certain level of challenge to the effort to get Democrats and Republicans aligned on the right way to regulate the [spot market], but I have confidence that the Senate and the House are going to sort all that out.”
Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase
“For whatever reason, there is a perception that’s out there that crypto is an asset that is untraceable, and that really lends itself to criminals acting in a certain way.”
Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CEO of Chainalysis
“I’m traveling. I’m on a plane. Everybody in the world is trying to hoard Bitcoin right now. Everybody. I hear it from sovereign wealth funds. I hear it from the wealthiest families. I hear from the biggest companies.”
Eric Trump, second-eldest son of US President Donald Trump
“So as an investor, I always advocate people investing in a wide spectrum of tokens and ventures.”
Dan Morehead, CEO of Pantera Capital
“My forecast for 2045 is 13 million a Bitcoin. I would think in the four to eight year time frame. Certainly, in 10 years we should be at a million. So one million in 10 years you know 10X that or more in 20 years.”
Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman at Strategy
Top Prediction of The Week
Altcoins are on the verge of ‘most powerful rally’ since 2017 — Analyst
The altcoin market cap, excluding Ether, added $126 billion in Q2, sparking enthusiasm from analysts who have been waiting for an altseason. Crypto analyst Javon Marks noted a breakout that could rival the explosive 2017 bull run.
In a recent post on X, Marks highlighted a chart comparing the TOTAL3 index (total market cap of altcoins excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum) against the US money supply, suggesting that altcoins may be on the verge of a significant rally.
A rise in TOTAL3 against the US money supply suggests that altcoins are gaining value relative to the total liquidity in the US economy, reflecting increased investor interest and capital inflow to altcoins.
FUD of The Week
Violent crypto robberies on the rise: Six attacks that targeted investors
As cryptocurrency gains in popularity and price, some criminals are taking to violent measures to steal funds from high-profile crypto holders.
Jameson Lopp’s GitHub repository, which logs such incidents, has recorded 22 “$5 wrench” attacks on crypto holders in 2025 alone. The moniker comes from the crude and violent methods perpetrators use to compel crypto holders to hand over their bags.
In many cases, local law enforcement can intervene before anyone is harmed and funds are lost. But there is a growing trend of increasingly violent and successful attacks, some of which have resulted in permanent harm and even death.
The most recent incident in Paris, France, compelled the French Ministry of the Interior to hold a meeting to address the rising trend.
New Zealand man arrested in $265M crypto scam tied to FBI probe
A man from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, has been arrested in connection with an FBI-led investigation into a global cryptocurrency fraud operation that allegedly stole $450 million New Zealand dollars ($265 million).
According to New Zealand Police, the man is one of 13 individuals charged after authorities executed search warrants across Auckland, Wellington, and California over the past three days.
The charges stem from allegations that members of an organized criminal group manipulated seven victims to obtain large amounts of cryptocurrency, which was then laundered through multiple platforms between March and August 2024.
AI scammers are now impersonating US government bigwigs, says FBI
Deepfake-assisted hackers are now targeting US federal and state officials by masquerading as senior US officials in the latest brazen phishing campaign to steal sensitive data.
The bad actors have been operating since April, using deepfake voice messages and text messages to masquerade as senior government officials and establish rapport with victims, the FBI said in a May 15 warning.
“If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior US official, do not assume it is authentic,” the agency said.
If US officials’ accounts are compromised, the scam could become far worse because hackers can then “target other government officials, or their associates and contacts, by using the trusted contact information they obtain,” the FBI said.
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
Danger signs for Bitcoin as retail abandons it to institutions: Sky Wee
Will Bitcoin serve the unbanked, or just the mega-rich, asks Sky Wee: “Bitcoin doesn’t need Wall Street. But Wall Street needs Bitcoin.”
Binance Wallet ‘killing’ MetaMask and airdrops, Chinese RWA tokens: Asia Express
Binance Wallet is crushing the competition and “ruining” airdrops, Chinese firm approved for RWAs in Hong Kong.
Pranksy: Inside the anonymous life of an NFT legend — NFT Collector
Legendary collector Pranksy bought $600 ETH to buy CryptoKitties in 2017 — and has been so successful trading he’s never had to buy ETH again.
Editorial Staff
a16z snubs crypto, Mango Markets exploiter found guilty and Worldcoin L2: Hodler’s Digest, April 14-20
The Cyprus SEC extends FTX Europe license suspension, a16z snubs crypto investment and Worldcoin launches blockchain: Hodler’s Digest
Read more
Attack of the zkEVMs! Crypto’s 10x moment
“ZK is the only way to get to like 100,000 TPS so that you can get to the levels where something like Visa replaces its underlying protocol with a blockchain.”
Read moreArthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins ‘powerful rally’ looms: Hodler’s Digest, May 11 – 17