Crypto Market Overview

• BTC (+1.93% | Current Price: 105,229 USDT): BTC traded within a tight range today. It briefly rose above the $107,100 mark before retracing downward. Technically, a minor short-term support near the $104,000 level has been identified. On the daily chart, after a series of gains, BTC has entered a consolidation phase at elevated levels, suggesting potential sideways movements in the near term.
  Last Friday, BTC ETFs experienced total net inflows of $260 million. Notably, BlackRock’s IBIT contributed approximately $130 million, Fidelity’s FBTC received $68 million, and ARK’s ARKB saw inflows of $58 million.

• ETH (-1.90% | Current Price: 2,432 USDT): ETH’s recent upside momentum was primarily fueled by massive position mismatches and short covering. The $2,700 level remains short-term price resistance. ETH’s overall market dominance stands at 8.99%, with the ETH/BTC trading ratio currently at 0.0231.
  Last Friday, ETH ETFs collectively experienced inflows of $22 million, primarily from Fidelity’s FETH ($13.6 million) and Grayscale ETH ($8.6 million).

• Altcoins: Price performance among altcoins has been mixed, lacking a clear unifying narrative. The Altcoin Season Index has dropped from a recent high of 43 down to 24.

• Macro perspective: On Friday, U.S. stocks rallied broadly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.78%, closing at 42,654.74 points and turning positive YTD (+0.26%) after recovering from earlier losses of roughly 14%. The S&P 500 gained 0.7%, marking its fifth consecutive daily gain, while the Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.52%. Regarding U.S. treasury yields, the benchmark 10-year was at 4.44%, while the more Fed-rate-sensitive 2-year yielded 3.97%.
  As of May 19, 10:00 AM (UTC+8), spot gold traded at approximately $3,226.80 per ounce, representing a 24-hour gain of 0.69%.

Trending Tokens on Gate

Kaito KaitoAi (+8.55%, Current Circulating Market Cap: $435 million)

According to Gate market data, the current price of the Kaito token is $1.806, up 8.55% in the past 24 hours.

Kaito is a Web3 InfoFi (Information Finance) platform built around artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology, aiming to address the pain points of fragmented and overwhelmed information in the crypto ecosystem. Its core vision is to serve as an AI-powered oracle for social data and the attention economy within Web3 by integrating social platforms (such as X and Discord), on-chain data, and multimedia content, providing real-time, high-quality market insights and community incentives to DApps, Web3 projects, and users. Through AI-driven search and analytic tools such as Kaito Pro, Yaps, and Kaito Connect, Kaito effectively bridges project teams, content creators, and individual users, solving industry challenges such as slow user growth, dispersed traffic, and low community engagement in Web3 projects.

On the news side, DeFi platform Infinex tweeted that 20% of its Yaprun pool will be allocated to the Kaito AI ecosystem holders, including Genesis NFT holders and KAITO stakers.

Virtuals Virtuals Protocol (+13.22%, Current Circulating Market Cap: $1.256 billion)

According to Gate market data, the current price of the Virtuals token is $1.916, up 13.22% in the past 24 hours.

Virtuals Protocol is devoted to building a “decentralized AI-agent ecosystem” by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology. It aims to provide customizable, revenue-generating, and community-owned AI agents for Web3 gaming, entertainment, and social applications. With the core vision of becoming the foundational AI-agent infrastructure oracle in Web3, Virtuals addresses significant pain points facing Web3 projects related to user acquisition costs, interaction monotony, and governance inefficiencies. Virtuals has launched its AI-agent creation platform, Initial Agent Offerings (IAOs), and Agent Commerce Protocol (ACP), currently serving over 700 projects and millions of users. Through tokenized AI agents, decentralized governance, and cross-platform interactivity mechanisms, Virtuals effectively bridges projects and active user communities.

On the news front, InfoFi AI agent Arbus announced it would halt and upgrade its Genesis Sale on Virtuals, citing strong public demand and interest that warrant a higher valuation for Arbus. Virtuals has committed to donating 42,000 VIRTUAL tokens for sponsorship in this new sale round, which will be airdropped to VIRTUAL token stakers. Additionally, the initial token unlock schedule has been extended from 14 days to 1 month after allocation.

Alpha Analysis

Texas Bitcoin Reserve Bill SB 21 Set for Second Reading in the House on May 20

According to Bitcoin Laws, Texas Bitcoin Reserve Bill SB 21 is scheduled to undergo its second reading in the Texas House of Representatives on May 20. If approved, the legislation may proceed to a third reading and final vote as soon as next week.

The second reading on May 20 represents a critical step before the final vote. If this step passes successfully, a third reading and decisive final vote could occur the following week. Should the bill pass and be signed by the state governor, Texas would become the first state in the United States to establish state-level cryptocurrency reserves.

SB 21 reflects a landmark initiative by U.S. state-level governments to embrace cryptocurrency and demonstrates Texas’s pioneering ambitions in the blockchain space. The voting session on May 20 will be crucial; if successful, Texas could become the first U.S. state holding Bitcoin reserves by June 2. This move would not only significantly impact Texan fiscal policy but could also accelerate crypto acceptance and institutional adoption nationwide and even globally.

PayFi Protocol Huma proposes strategic alliance with JupiterDAO, offering JUP Stakers 1% Token Pre-sale

JupiterDAO revealed that PayFi protocol Huma Finance has proposed a strategic alliance partnership, planning to offer a presale of 1% of the Huma tokens to JUP stakers at a $75 million fully diluted valuation (FDV). Token allocations will be determined proportionally based on staking amounts, and presale participants will enjoy discounts at Series A valuation levels, incentivizing long-term supporters and providing an early participation opportunity.

Meanwhile, the two DAO communities will execute a mutual exchange of tokens equivalent to $250,000 value (JUP and Huma tokens) at equal valuations, aiming at community incentives and liquidity support.

Huma Finance focuses on decentralized PayFi (Payment Finance). This proposed cooperation deepens JupiterDAO’s strategic presence within the Solana DeFi ecosystem and promotes synergy between PayFi and liquidity aggregation. The proposal could significantly boost JUP staking attractiveness, enhance cross-project ecosystem synergies within Solana, and draw close market attention to its upcoming voting results and further developments.

Aptos Announces Five DeFi Projects Selected for Its Liquid Funding Model (LFM) Initiative

The Aptos Foundation has officially disclosed the first five DeFi protocols chosen for its Liquid Funding Model (LFM): Aries Markets, Amnis Finance, PACT, Echo Protocol, and Hyperion. This marks a significant step forward in Aptos’ native DeFi ecosystem, particularly regarding token generation events (TGEs) and infrastructure development.

• Aries Markets: Aptos’ largest integrated DeFi protocol, with TVL growing 11-fold in 2024; provides borrowing, lending, leverage, and asset management, forming a cornerstone of Aptos DeFi activity.
• Amnis Finance: Leading Aptos liquid staking platform, managing more than $178 million TVL and serving over 417,000 staking users; its innovative liquid staking products amAPT and stAPT have significantly enhanced Aptos’ token liquidity, and it was the first LFM participant to achieve a TGE (March 2024).
• PACT Protocol: Global lending market infrastructure supporting more than $1 billion in chain assets, helping drive institutional-grade DeFi adoption.
• Echo Protocol: Aptos’ first Bitcoin-yield protocol built on MoveVM; manages more than $200 million through its aBTC liquid staking utility, bridging BTC liquidity to Aptos assets.
• Hyperion: A hybrid order-book/AMM DEX leveraging Aptos’ high-performance blockchain, offering superior trading experiences for both professional and retail users.

The LFM initiative significantly strengthens Aptos’ support for quality DeFi projects, providing systematical support at crucial TGE stages and solidifying Aptos’ position as a pivotal DeFi hub among emerging blockchains.

Gate HODLer Airdrop

Sale Details

• Project: WhiteRock (Token: WHITE)
• Deadline: May 19, 2025, 16:00 (UTC+8)
• Entry Condition: Free allocation for GT holders (≥ 1 GT)
• Personal Cap: 3,000 GT
• Total Airdrop: 80,000,000 WHITE Tokens

About Project

WhiteRock is a Real-World Asset (RWA) protocol tokenizing traditional financial assets like stocks, bonds, real estate, options, and derivatives onto blockchain infrastructure. It unlocks global liquidity and simplifies investing access by bridging traditional finance and crypto. As the first RWA tokenization protocol licensed by the FSCA, WhiteRock’s revolutionary T+0 settlement replaces the traditional standard T+2 cycle.


References：

• Gate, https://www.gate.io/trade/BTC_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• CoinGecko, https://www.coingecko.com/categories
• Investing, https://investing.com/
• Believe, https://www.believescreener.com/
• CoinMarketCap, https://coinmarketcap.com/cmclaunch/
• Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/is-xrp-price-rally-over-for-now
• Gate, https://www.gate.io/zh/launchpool

Gate Research is a comprehensive platform offering in-depth blockchain and cryptocurrency research, including technical analysis, market reviews, trend forecasts, and macroeconomic insights.

Disclaimer
Investing in cryptocurrency markets involves high risk. Users are advised to conduct their own research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products before making any investment decisions. Gate.io is not responsible for any losses or damages arising from such decisions.