BizwavemediaPersonal Finance and Crypto Updates

Toncoin surged by more than 30% and meme coins across the TON ecosystem rallied after Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov said his company would become the network’s driving force.

Telegram is stepping in as the network’s largest validator and shifting its focus toward core technical development. A revamped ton.org, fresh developer tools, and performance upgrades are all expected within two to three weeks.

Toncoin climbed from $1.37 to $1.84 within 24 hours, pushing its market value to $4.5 billion. Over the same period, trading volume jumped 600% to more than $630 million.

Meanwhile, the combined market capitalization of TON-based meme tokens ballooned by 67% in a single day, per CoinGecko.

Notcoin, a tap-to-earn token that gained traction through Telegram mini-apps, climbed 26%. Dogs, a community-driven meme token native to TON, popped over 90%.

While a 90% jump in Dogs sounds remarkable, it occurred after the token had already given up the vast majority of its earlier gains. Dogs is still down around 96% from its peak, while Notcoin is roughly 98% below its all-time high of about $0.029, trading near $0.0004.

Smaller-cap tokens posted stronger moves. Morfey exploded nearly 1,000%. Resistance Duck jumped 645%. Cubigator rallied 390%.

Optimism that briefly sent Bitcoin above $80,600 overnight evaporated as news broke of Iranian missiles targeting a US Navy vessel near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s state-linked Fars news agency said the US Navy vessel ignored warnings from the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and was struck by two missiles and forced to turn back.

The allegation comes as President Trump announced “Project Freedom,” a mission set to begin Monday to guide stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command said it would support the effort with 15,000 military personnel, more than 100 aircraft, along with warships and drones.

Iran’s military warned that US entry into the Strait could trigger attacks after the mission was announced.

Axios reported that a senior US official denied the claim that any US vessel was hit.

Since the US-Iran conflict escalated on February 28 with the launch of Operation Epic Fury, Bitcoin has experienced intense volatility. While the digital asset hit a historic record of $126,186 in late 2025, its post-conflict range has been defined by a low near $60,000 in February and a recent recovery toward psychological resistance at $80,000.

At press time, the leading crypto asset was trading near $79,000 as investors weigh geopolitical risks against strong institutional ETF inflows.

Last week, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $163 million in net inflows, per Farside Investors. Friday alone brought in approximately $630 million, making up for sizable outflows earlier in the week.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which processes virtually every securities transaction in the US and custodies more than $114 trillion in assets, announced today that it will begin facilitating live trades of tokenized assets in July, with a full commercial launch of the service planned for October.

The initiative brings together more than 50 financial firms from both traditional finance and digital assets. Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and Charles Schwab are participating alongside crypto-native firms like Kraken, Anchorage Digital, Ondo Finance, and Fireblocks.

The effort follows regulatory clearance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Last December, DTCC’s subsidiary Depository Trust Company received a No-Action Letter from the SEC allowing it to tokenize traditional custodial assets.

The service will run on approved blockchains for three years and provide digital assets with the same legal rights and protections as their traditional equivalents. Covered assets include the Russell 1000, major index ETFs, and US Treasury bills, bonds, and notes.

DTCC said the move supports an increased transition to digital markets, enabling innovations such as 24/7 trading, improved collateral efficiency, and programmable finance, while linking traditional and decentralized liquidity.

“As a global leader in financial services, DTCC continues to galvanize a broad cross-section of industry leaders to facilitate ongoing, robust dialogue that drives widespread digital assets adoption and advances innovation,” Frank La Salla, DTCC President and CEO, said in a statement.

“Our vision is coming to fruition: launching our tokenization service and successfully bridging TradFi and DeFi. We believe tokenization will significantly change how markets work and operate, bringing new levels of liquidity, transparency and efficiency to investors,” he stated.

As of May 4, 2026, the real-world asset (RWA) sector is valued at around $25 billion, per DefiLlama. DeFi’s participation in RWAs totals $1.97 billion in TVL, while perpetual futures open interest is around $2.4 billion. The ecosystem currently consists of 163 issuers.

In terms of composition, bonds lead by a wide margin at over $15 billion, followed by precious metals at $5.6 billion and private credit at $2.6 billion. Public equities contribute $838 million, with smaller but expanding allocations across digital assets and other categories.

The market has shown steady expansion since 2022, with growth accelerating rapidly through 2024 and 2025.

Bitcoin knocked on the $80K door over the weekend, got briefly turned away, then showed up again Monday morning with more conviction. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is trading near $80K after a 2.3% weekly gain, and the broader market signals suggest this isn’t just a weekend fluke.

What’s more interesting than the price action itself is the story underneath it. BTC dominance, the share of total crypto market cap that Bitcoin commands, has climbed to 61%. That’s a level the market hasn’t seen since November 2025, and it tells you something important about where capital is flowing right now.

The numbers behind the move

Bitcoin’s 24-hour gain of 1.1% looks modest on paper. But zoom out to the weekly timeframe and that 2.3% climb paints a steadier picture of accumulation rather than a single speculative spike.

The rest of the market is barely keeping pace. Ethereum is up 0.7% over 24 hours, hovering around $2,345. Solana is essentially flat at $84 with a 0.1% daily move. XRP is holding at $1.40.

Here’s the thing: when Bitcoin dominance rises to 61% while altcoins tread water, that’s typically a sign of a “risk-off” rotation within crypto. Capital isn’t leaving the market. It’s just moving to the asset investors trust most when they’re nervous.

The Fear and Greed Index reinforces that reading. It currently sits at 40, firmly in “Fear” territory. Last week it was 47, which registered as “Neutral.” So sentiment has gotten meaningfully more cautious in just seven days, even as Bitcoin’s price moved higher.

In English: people are buying Bitcoin specifically because they’re worried, not because they’re euphoric. That’s a very different dynamic than what you see during blow-off tops.

Ethereum ETFs break a drought

Perhaps the most underappreciated data point in today’s market is what’s happening with Ethereum ETFs. After six consecutive months of outflows, the bleeding has finally stopped. Ethereum exchange-traded funds recorded $356M in net inflows, a meaningful reversal that could signal shifting institutional sentiment toward the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Six months is a long time to watch money walk out the door. For context, Ethereum has struggled to maintain investor interest since its spot ETF products launched with considerably less fanfare than their Bitcoin counterparts. The fact that institutional capital is trickling back in, even modestly, suggests that ETH at $2,345 might be starting to look like value rather than a falling knife to some allocators.

Bitcoin ETF inflows, meanwhile, continue to be the primary engine behind the $80K retest. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been the single most important structural change to crypto markets since their approval in January 2024. They created a pipeline for traditional finance capital to flow into Bitcoin without touching a wallet or an exchange, and that pipeline keeps humming.

The combination of strong BTC ETF demand and a nascent Ethereum ETF recovery is worth watching. If both products are attracting capital simultaneously, it could signal that the institutional appetite for crypto exposure is broadening rather than just rotating between assets.

What this means for investors

A 61% Bitcoin dominance reading has historically been a double-edged sword. On one hand, it reflects confidence in Bitcoin as a store of value. On the other, it usually means altcoin season is not on the immediate horizon. When Bitcoin is vacuuming up this much market share, smaller tokens tend to underperform until the dominance cycle peaks and capital flows back down the risk curve.

The top-performing crypto category over the past seven days was DeFi, and even that showed essentially 0.0% growth. That’s not a typo. The best-performing sector in crypto right now is basically flat. Everything that isn’t Bitcoin is running on a treadmill.

For traders, the $80K level is the obvious line in the sand. Bitcoin has now tested it multiple times, and the Monday bounce after Sunday’s pullback suggests there’s genuine buying interest rather than just thin weekend liquidity creating noise. A clean break above $80K with volume would likely open the door to retesting prior highs. A rejection, especially one accompanied by declining ETF inflows, would be a red flag worth respecting.

The Fear and Greed Index at 40 is actually somewhat encouraging from a contrarian perspective. Markets rarely top out when the crowd is scared. They top out when everyone is convinced prices can only go up. We’re nowhere near that sentiment extreme right now.

One risk to monitor: the gap between Bitcoin’s strength and altcoin weakness could widen further before it narrows. If you’re heavily allocated to alts, the current dominance trend is working against you regardless of whether Bitcoin breaks higher or not.

The Ethereum ETF reversal at $356M is noteworthy but not yet definitive. One positive month after six negative ones is a start, not a trend. Investors would be wise to watch whether those inflows accelerate or fade in the coming weeks before reading too much into the data.

Bottom line

Bitcoin is doing what Bitcoin does during uncertain times: absorbing capital while the rest of the market waits for direction. The $80K retest, rising dominance, and continued ETF demand paint a picture of an asset that institutional investors are increasingly treating as a portfolio staple rather than a speculation. Whether that’s enough to push through resistance or just enough to hold the line, the next few weeks should make clear.

GameStop’s reported intention to make an offer for eBay sent several meme coins inspired by the gaming retailer sharply higher within 24 hours.

On-chain data shows that Solana-based token GME (GME) rallied about 54% to $0.00092 in a single day, while Roaring Kitty (KITTY) surged roughly 55%, rising from $0.00038 to $0.00059.

On the stock market, shares of GameStop rose 6% at Friday’s close and gained another 4% in after-hours trading following the news, as eBay finished flat before jumping about 12% late, per Yahoo Finance.

The prospective deal, reported by The Wall Street Journal, forms part of CEO Ryan Cohen’s ambitious effort to build a $100 billion-plus industry giant. GameStop’s market capitalization is about $12 billion, while eBay’s stands at $46 billion, roughly four times larger.

GameStop has a $9 billion cash war chest built through years of aggressive cost-cutting and operational restructuring.

The brick-and-mortar gaming chain turned meme stock darling made its first Bitcoin purchase last May and later pledged nearly all of it to Coinbase Credit as collateral for a covered-call strategy, selling options to generate premium income while capping its upside.

The BTC stash was worth around $512 million when GameStop announced the purchase and had declined sharply as crypto markets retreated.

Digital shift pressures core retail business

GameStop’s core retail business is shrinking amid ongoing pressure from the industry’s shift toward digital downloads. The firm reported its fiscal 2025 revenue standing at approximately $3.6 billion, down from $5.2 billion in fiscal 2023.

GameStop accelerated store closures in the past two years. The retailer shut 727 stores in the US in 2025, bringing total closures to over 1,300 across two fiscal years and cutting its store base from 2,915 to 1,598.

GameStop reported net income of approximately $418 million in fiscal 2025, marking a turnaround from prior losses. Aggressive cost-cutting, including over $200 million in reduced operating expenses, has reshaped the business into a leaner operation.

Profitability is now supported less by traditional retail and more by interest earned on its roughly $9 billion cash reserves, alongside growth in higher-margin categories such as collectibles, which remain one of the few expanding segments of its retail business.

The Ethereum Foundation sold 10,000 ETH for approximately $23 million through an over-the-counter transaction with Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the foundation disclosed Friday.

0/ Today, the Ethereum Foundation finalized the terms of a 10,000 ETH sale at an average price of $2,292.15 via OTC.

For this sale, our OTC counterpart was @BitMNR.

— Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) May 1, 2026

The sale, executed at an average price of $2,292 per token, will fund core operations including protocol research and development, ecosystem programs, community grants and other foundation activities.

Bitmine has participated in three OTC purchases from the foundation this year, including a 10,000 ETH deal last week. Led by Thomas “Tom” Lee, the company has accumulated around 4.2% of Ethereum’s total supply, putting it roughly 84% of the way toward its 5% ownership target.

Sometimes called the “MicroStrategy of Ethereum,” Bitmine sets itself apart by building a validator network rather than simply holding ETH as a treasury asset.

The company has staked around 3.7 million ETH valued near $8.8 billion via its MAVAN platform, according to its latest update. It also owns roughly $91 million in Eightco Holdings and continues to see high trading liquidity supported by prominent institutional investors while advancing its long-term accumulation strategy.

The Ethereum Foundation has allocated 70,000 ETH to staking to strengthen its treasury position. It currently holds more than 82,500 ETH, worth around $190 million, according to data from Arkham Intel.

Toto shares surged Friday after the Japanese toilet maker reported record annual earnings and unveiled plans to expand production of semiconductor components, turning the washlet brand into one of the stranger AI infrastructure plays in global markets.

Shares jumped more than 18% to ¥6,425 after Toto said operating profit rose to ¥53.8 billion for the year ended March 31, up from ¥48.5 billion a year earlier. Net sales increased to ¥737.4 billion from ¥724.5 billion, with both figures reaching record highs despite weaker conditions in parts of its housing equipment business.

The rally was driven by Toto’s advanced ceramics division, which makes electrostatic chucks used in NAND memory chip production. Sales in the business climbed to ¥67.4 billion, while operating profit rose to ¥28.9 billion, fueled by demand for electrostatic chucks and ceramic components used in semiconductor manufacturing.

That puts the maker of Japan’s best known bidet toilets directly inside the AI supply chain. NAND memory demand has strengthened alongside data center expansion, giving investors another way to bet on the compute buildout without buying the usual chip names. Toto said it plans to step up investment in electrostatic chucks as it sees sustained demand from data centers and AI related applications.

The company expects another year of record profit in fiscal 2027, supported by semiconductor demand and new investment in chip related components. That outlook helped overshadow weaker international housing equipment operations and concerns over its core toilet and bathroom fittings business.

The market reaction shows how hot the AI trade remains. Investors are still rewarding companies with exposure to chips, memory, data centers, and compute infrastructure, even when those companies are better known for toilets, shoes, cosmetics, or food ingredients than semiconductors.

Allbirds offered an even more extreme example earlier this month. The struggling shoe company said it would pivot toward AI computing infrastructure, rebrand as NewBird AI, raise $50 million through convertible financing, and use the funds to buy GPUs.

Its shares surged more than fivefold after the announcement, even though the company had recently sold its brand and footwear assets for $39 million and had lost about 99% of its market value since its 2021 Nasdaq debut.

The Allbirds move triggered skepticism because the company gave few details on its AI strategy and had no obvious operating history in cloud infrastructure. Business Insider reported that several market professionals compared the pivot to past bubble era rebrands, when companies attached themselves to hot market narratives to revive investor interest.

Toto’s case is more grounded. Its advanced ceramics business already sells real components into semiconductor manufacturing, and its chip related unit is now a major profit contributor.