ME News said MyToken data showed that as of May 16 (UTC+8), total liquidations across the crypto derivatives market reached $134 million over the past 24 hours. BTC accounted for $36.9756 million in liquidations, ETH $42.981 million, SOL $2.8633 million and XRP $398,400. (Source: MyToken)

ChainCatcher reports that blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said on X it has identified weeks of pre-attack fund movements linked to the suspected THORChain attacker, spanning Monero, Hyperliquid and THORChain. Chainalysis said that as early as late April, wallets tied to the attacker routed funds through Hyperliquid and Monero privacy bridges to open positions on Hyperliquid, then converted the assets into USDC. The USDC was sent to Arbitrum and later bridged to Ethereum. Part of the ETH was subsequently transferred to THORChain and used as newly staked RUNE for a node Chainalysis identified as the source of the exploit. Afterward, a portion of the RUNE was bridged back to Ethereum and split into four routes. One route led directly to the attacker: following hops through intermediary wallets, 8 ETH reached the final recipient wallet 43 minutes before the attack. The other three routes moved in the opposite direction, with ETH sent back to Arbitrum, deposited into Hyperliquid, and pushed again through the same privacy bridge into Monero. Chainalysis said the last such transfer took place less than five hours before the exploit began. As of Friday afternoon, the stolen funds had not been moved. Chainalysis said the activity shows sophisticated cross-chain laundering capabilities, and the Hyperliquid-to-Monero route could be the attacker's next move.

Chainalysis said on X that wallets believed to be linked to the THORChain attacker had been moving funds across chains for several weeks before the theft, using Monero, Hyperliquid and THORChain. According to the firm's tracing, activity began as early as late April, when associated wallets funded Hyperliquid positions via Hyperliquid and Monero privacy bridges. Those funds were converted into USDC and sent to Arbitrum, then bridged to Ethereum. Part of the ETH was later routed into THORChain as newly staked RUNE for a node Chainalysis identified as the attack source. The attacker later bridged some RUNE back to Ethereum and split it into four routes. One route ultimately led to the attacker: after passing through intermediary wallets, it delivered 8 ETH to the final receiving wallet 43 minutes before the hack. The other three routes showed funds moving in the opposite direction. Between May 14 and May 15, the same wallets bridged ETH back to Arbitrum, deposited it into Hyperliquid and sent it through the same privacy bridge into Monero, with the last transfer occurring less than five hours before the attack started. As of Friday afternoon, the stolen funds had not moved. Chainalysis said the attacker has demonstrated advanced cross-chain laundering tactics, and the Hyperliquid-to-Monero route may be the next step.

Legal fallout from FTX's collapse is widening. Bloomberg reported that on May 14 (local time), a new lawsuit was filed in U.S. federal court accusing Silicon Valley law firm Fenwick & West of playing a "key assisting role" in the implosion. The complaint alleges the firm helped conceal the misuse of customer funds, misleading investors and delaying withdrawals. Filed by multiple FTX victims, the suit seeks about $525 million in damages. Plaintiffs say Fenwick went beyond routine legal work, alleging it helped set up shell entities, designed fund-transfer structures, and assisted with information and communications management systems used to obscure misappropriation. The lawsuit also cites findings from a bankruptcy investigation report, which said Fenwick lawyers were "deeply embedded" in FTX and related-party structures, including work tied to the complex financial arrangements between FTX and Alameda Research. Fenwick has faced earlier claims tied to FTX. In August 2023, a group of customers sued the firm for allegedly aiding FTX's fraud. In 2025, FTX investors again named Fenwick as a core defendant as the litigation broadened into a larger class action. In February 2026, Fenwick reached a preliminary settlement framework with FTX victims, pending court approval.

ChainCatcher reported that scrutiny of cross-chain security has intensified following the KelpDAO attack, which led to roughly $2.92 billion in losses. Around $4 billion in assets have either already moved or are currently migrating from LayerZero to Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). DeFi protocol Lombard is the latest to announce a switch. The project said it will stop using LayerZero and transfer more than $1 billion in Bitcoin-backed assets to Chainlink CCIP, citing a broad internal security review launched after the April attack.

Wise Group plc's Class A ordinary shares started trading on Nasdaq on May 11, 2026, under the ticker "WSE", marking the company's move to a U.S. primary listing while keeping a secondary listing in London. The shares also continue to trade on the London Stock Exchange under "WISE". Delayed data for May 11 showed WSE at $15.40, up $0.90 versus the prior reference price, a gain of about 6.21%. Wise's market capitalization is approximately $15.5 billion. The shift is not a conventional IPO. Wise did not issue new shares to raise capital and did not exit the UK market. Instead, it completed a restructuring that made Wise Group plc the group's new ultimate parent and relocated its primary listing to the U.S. through a dual-listing arrangement. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, Wise reported $243 billion in cross-border transaction volume, $39 billion in customer-held balances, $1.9 billion in transaction revenue, and $2.5 billion in net income. The company served nearly 19 million individual and business customers in fiscal 2026. Wise traces its origins to a peer-to-peer currency matching concept built by two Estonians living in London, Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, aimed at avoiding bank FX markups and opaque fees. The product promise centered on real exchange rates, transparent pricing, and predictable delivery times, an approach that helped the company scale from remittances into broader cross-border money services. Formerly known as TransferWise, the company later dropped "Transfer" to reflect a broader platform strategy spanning consumer transfers, multi-currency accounts, business payments and collections, debit cards, and the Wise Platform, which provides cross-border payment capabilities to banks, financial institutions, and enterprises via integrations. Wise says its network is supported by more than 80 licenses and direct connections to local payment systems in eight markets, enabling transactions in more than 40 currencies. It reports that 75% of payments are delivered within 20 seconds and 96% within 24 hours, with an average fee rate of 0.52%, below the industry's typical 3% to 5% range. Wise first went public in 2021 through a direct listing on the London Stock Exchange. The new Nasdaq primary listing is positioned as a way to broaden the investor base, improve liquidity, create a pathway for inclusion in major U.S. indices, and raise brand visibility in the U.S. Chairman David Wells said the U.S. listing brings Wise closer to the world's deepest and most liquid capital market and aligns with growth opportunities in the United States. The U.S. is central to Wise's strategy both as a high-activity market for cross-border fund flows and as a partnership target for Wise Platform, given the large number of U.S. banks. Wise has said it already serves millions of American consumers and businesses via Wise Account, Wise Business, and Wise Platform, and plans to expand its local presence to reach more U.S. banks, online platforms, and cross-border payment users. The Nasdaq move also changes investor framing. Wise has indicated fiscal 2026 results will be presented in U.S. dollars and under U.S. GAAP, rather than pounds and IFRS, affecting comparability and how U.S. investors assess growth and profitability. Wise Platform represents a longer-term pivot from competing with banks to also supplying banks and platforms with cross-border payment infrastructure. In its Form 20-F, Wise said partners can access instant cross-border transfers, multi-currency accounts, card issuance, and integrations with local payment systems, wallets, and card networks. It cited adoption by Itaú, Mandiri, Nubank, and Monzo, while noting Platform revenue currently contributes less than 10% of total transaction revenue. Wise's stated long-term goal is for Wise Platform to contribute more than 50% of cross-border transaction volume. On U.S. dollar payments, Reuters reported Wise has applied to establish a national trust bank in the United States and plans to seek a Federal Reserve master account. If approved, the structure could reduce reliance on intermediary banks, improve USD payment processing efficiency, and increase control over one of its largest currency flows. Wise also has China-related corridors. Its help center indicates it supports sending RMB to China with receipt options including Alipay, WeChat, UnionPay-related accounts, and bank transfers. For RMB transfers from China, Wise says the service is provided in partnership with a licensed third-party payment institution regulated by the People's Bank of China and is limited to eligible individual accounts meeting identity, employment, and tax record requirements, with funds sent only to overseas accounts or Wise accounts in the sender's own name. Wise's payment instructions reference a "Lakala Reserve Fund Account" as part of local channel and reserve fund arrangements. Corporate governance remains a key issue in the relocation. In 2025, shareholder votes on the restructuring also included an extension of Wise's dual-class share structure, in which Class B shares carry greater voting power than Class A shares. Co-founder Taavet Hinrikus publicly opposed the proposal, citing the bundling of the primary listing move and voting-rights arrangements into a single vote. Shareholders ultimately approved the plan, but the debate highlighted ongoing tensions between founder control, minority shareholder protections, and capital-market preferences. With Nasdaq as its primary market, investors are expected to scrutinize whether Wise can sustain customer growth, keep expanding cross-border volumes, translate customer-held balances and card services into more stable revenue, scale Wise Platform into a meaningful growth engine, and deepen U.S. banking partnerships, while maintaining regulatory compliance across markets. The shift underscores Wise's evolution from a low-cost transfer proposition to a broader cross-border funds network now being priced against U.S. market expectations.

BlockBeats reports that U.S. stocks finished the May 16 session lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.07%, the S&P 500 off 1.24% and the Nasdaq Composite falling 1.54%. Tech shares led declines: Micron Technology sank 6.62%, Intel slid 6.18%, NVIDIA dropped 4.42% and Tesla lost 4.75%. Crypto-related names also retreated, with MSTR down 5.11%, COIN off 7.82%, CRCL down 7.98% and BMNR falling 9.68%. SBET rose 9.19%.

Huo Xing Finance reported on May 16 that global markets this week were hit by a combination of hotter-than-expected inflation data and intensifying geopolitical risks. U.S. April CPI and PPI both topped forecasts, pushing investors to dial back expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. Treasury yields jumped across the curve, with the 30-year yield breaking above 5.1% to its highest level since 2007. With Kevin Warsh formally approved as the next Fed Chair, markets have increasingly priced in a "higher for longer" rate outlook, with some positioning for the possibility of additional hikes down the road. Tensions in the Middle East remained elevated. U.S.-Iran nuclear talks were postponed, while both sides continued to issue tough messaging. Incidents involving vessel attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and changes to shipping routes kept oil prices supported, with WTI briefly topping $103. In the U.K., politics added to market volatility. After a heavy local election setback, Prime Minister Starmer faced mounting pressure inside the Labour Party, with more than 90 MPs calling for his resignation. U.K. stocks, gilts and the currency all weakened, and the pound logged one of its steepest weekly declines in recent months. Across asset markets, the U.S. dollar index rose for a fifth straight week, posting its biggest weekly gain in two months. Gold and silver initially advanced on safe-haven demand before reversing sharply. U.S. equities pulled back on Friday after notching fresh record highs earlier in the period. Elsewhere, India raised its gold import tariff and introduced limits on import volumes to relieve foreign-exchange pressure. South Korea's Samsung Electronics faces the risk of a large-scale strike involving more than 50,000 workers, prompting government intervention to mediate.

U.S. Treasury yields spiked on Friday, curbing appetite for equities as investors worried the prolonged Middle East standoff could add to inflation pressures. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.595%, its highest level since February 2025 and the biggest one-day gain in more than a year. The 30-year yield climbed to 5.127%, posting its highest close since July 2007. U.S. stocks sold off broadly, with all three major indices ending sharply lower. Chipmakers in the U.S. and overseas—after a strong month-long rally—were among the worst performers. The move in rates came as oil prices extended gains, reviving inflation concerns. Trump previously said the U.S. does not need the Strait of Hormuz to remain open, even as energy inventories decline. Risk assets weakened across Asia as well. South Korea's KOSPI sank more than 6%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 also dropped steeply. Japan's 10-year government bond yield closed at its highest level since 1997 after a sharp rise in April producer prices. (Jinshi)