Bank of America disclosed in its Q1 13F filing that it has about $53 million in cryptocurrency ETF exposure, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as the largest position. The filing shows its IBIT stake rose to about $37 million, roughly 70% of the bank's crypto-related holdings, while it also kept allocations to other spot Bitcoin products.

Intesa Sanpaolo reported $235 million in crypto assets as of March 31, 2026, rising from $100 million at end-2025, while several European peers rolled out trading, custody, and stablecoin initiatives. BBVA enabled 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum trading in its Spanish app, BPCE opened crypto access via Hexarq with a stated reach of 12 million clients, and a 12-bank group formed Qivalis to pursue a euro-denominated stablecoin.

EURR, the euro-pegged stablecoin from StablR, dropped about 20%, after which USDR no longer traded in its usual relationship with EURR. The move followed claims of a suspected smart-contract exploit, with on-chain investigator ZachXBT flagging an incident estimated at $3 million. The divergence highlights stress in liquidity and redemption confidence that typically keep stablecoins near their pegs.

On-chain investigator ZachXBT said two contracts tied to European stablecoin issuer StablR may have been drained in a live exploit worth about ~$10M, pushing EURR and USDR more than 20% below their pegs. He identified the main wallet address and listed seven additional addresses he linked to the incident. Roughly two hours after his first alert, he said he helped freeze a six-figure amount while the exploit was still ongoing.

Heightened geopolitical tension and a more defensive risk tone have weighed on crypto, with Bitcoin down about 5.6% over the past week and altcoins broadly softer. Liquidations totaled nearly $941.76 million in 24 hours, led by roughly $871.44 million in long wipes versus about $70.31 million on shorts. The backdrop also included Brent crude climbing toward the $103–105 region and weekly ETF outflows of nearly $1.26 billion for Bitcoin and roughly $215 million for Ethereum.

In a May 22, 2026 research note, Grayscale said Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, and Canton Network are well placed to benefit if U.S. market-structure rules become clearer, including possible passage of the CLARITY Act. The firm pointed to likely institutional demand tied to tokenized assets, DeFi activity, stablecoins, and compliance-oriented blockchain infrastructure.

Galaxy Digital and BitGo are in Delaware Chancery Court over a $1.2 billion acquisition agreement signed in May 2021 and terminated by Galaxy in August 2022. BitGo is seeking at least the $100 million reverse breakup fee and says damages could be higher, while the judge has not issued a final ruling as of May 23, 2026.

Kevin Warsh was sworn in as chair of the US Federal Reserve on Friday, and analyst Lawrence Lepard argues Warsh is more likely to cut interest rates than raise them. Traders are positioned the other way: the federal funds target rate is 350–375 basis points, and futures imply nearly 68% odds of a 25 basis points (BPS) hike or more by December 2026. The debate has kept investors focused on how a policy shift could affect risk assets such as Bitcoin and other crypto.