Key takeaways:

Ethereum is forming a bull flag on the daily chart, with a potential breakout to $4,000.

If Ethereum’s network activity and total value locked continue to grow, ETH price may see further gains.

Ether’s price printed a “bull flag” on the daily chart, a technical chart formation associated with strong upward momentum. Could a strengthening technical setup and increasing transaction fees signal the continuation of ETH’s rally toward $4,000?

Ethereum transaction fees rising is bullish

Marketwide recovery, fueled by Bitcoin’s rise to new all-time highs and improving macroeconomic conditions, saw Ether’s (ETH) price rise by nearly 56% to an eight-week high of $2,734 on May 23, from a low of $1,750 on May 6. 

This strength in price is reflected in onchain activity, with Ethereum’s daily transaction count rising by 37% over the last 30 days. These levels were last seen in January 2024, when the hype around the approval of US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs pushed ETH price above $4,000 for the first time since December 2021.

Ethereum daily transaction count. Source: CryptoQuant

Ethereum’s daily average transaction fees also skyrocketed, reaching a 90-day high of 0.0005 ETH ($1.33) on May 22. 

Ethereum: Fee per transaction. Source: Source: CryptoQuant

High transaction count and fees suggest that more users are interacting with the network, whether for DeFi, NFTs, or other DApps. It suggests high network activity, often correlating with increased interest and market confidence. 

Related: Ethereum holders back in profit as ETH price enters ‘crucial area’ for $3K breakout

Historically, Ether’s price has surged during high-usage periods. For example, during the 2021 DeFi boom, fees spiked to as high as 0.015 ETH due to high demand. 

As such, high utilization periods with high fees indicate growth in network activity or bullish sentiment, as more ETH is needed for gas, pushing its price upward.

Increasing TVL supports ETH price bulls

The increase in Ethereum’s network activity is also evident when analyzing the total value locked (TVL) on the network’s smart contracts. 

Ethereum’s TVL has risen to $65.3 billion on May 23 from $45.26 billion on April 22, an increase of over 44% in almost 30 days.

Ethereum TVL and transaction count. Source: DefiLlama

Positive signs include a 51% increase in deposits on Pendle, a tokenization protocol, and 48% growth on Ether.fi and EingenLayer.

Ethereum remains the undisputed leader by TVL, with a market dominance of 54%. In comparison, Solana’s dominance stands at 8%, and BNB Chain commands only 5% dominance in TVL among layer-1 chains.

Total value locked market share (%). Source: DefiLlama

In addition, US-listed spot Ether ETFs saw a total of $249 million in net inflows between May 13 and May 22, adding to demand-side tailwinds.

Spot Ethereum ETF flows data. Source: SoSoValueEther’s bull flag hints at $4,000

ETH price has formed a bull fag chart pattern on the daily chart, as shown below.  

A bull flag pattern is a bullish setup that forms after the price consolidates inside a down-sloping range following a sharp price rise.

ETH/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The flag resolved after the price broke above the upper trendline at $2,550 and could now rise by as much as the previous uptrend’s height. This puts the upper target for ETH price just below $4,000, up 56% from the current price.

Crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe said that the ETH price needs to hold the $2,400 support to increase the chances of moving toward $3,500 and beyond.

Source: Michael van de Poppe

As Cointelegraph reported, Ether’s uptrend is likely to continue toward $3,600 in May if key support levels hold.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

The bounty offer to recover stolen funds from Sui-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Cetus closely resembles a successful strategy used by a Solana project three years ago.

It turns out that Cetus shares the same development team as Crema Finance, a Solana-based DeFi project that suffered a $9-million hack in 2022 but recovered most of the funds by negotiating with its hacker. Now, Cetus is relying on the same strategy.

Cetus is asking the hacker to return all but $6 million, or 2,324 Ether (ETH), of the stolen funds in exchange for a promise not to pursue legal action. The protocol lost $223 million to an exploit on May 22.

The size of the bounty has sparked backlash from users, with many calling for a formal compensation plan instead. Several community members argue that even if funds are recovered, most of the damage has already been done — especially to holders of the CETUS token, which plummeted in value following the incident.

Meanwhile, Sui validators are also under fire for their role in freezing the funds. The move is aimed at aiding recovery, yet critics say it exposes centralization risks in the network.

CETUS immediately dropped around 35% following the hack. Source: CoinGeckoSui’s Cetus devs have a phantom exchange on Solana

A similar negotiation strategy used by the Cetus team on Sui was successfully employed years ago to recover funds for Crema. The Solana project hasn’t posted on its X account since March 2023, and its trading platform now sees negligible volume, but it still didn’t end well for the hacker.

Crema suffered an approximately $9-million hack in 2022. Much like the Cetus case, the Crema hacker was offered a deal to return the funds while keeping $1.6 million in exchange for not reporting the attack to law enforcement.

Cetus offers a $6-million reward and exemption from further legal action from the project if the remaining funds are returned. Source: SuiVision

The hacker is believed to have been caught and sent to prison. In April 2024, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York sentenced Shakeeb Ahmed to three years in prison for hacking two separate cryptocurrency exchanges. One was identified as Nirvana Finance, while the other was not named.

Related: Which senators invest in crypto? 11 lawmakers have blockchain-related investments

The details of the unnamed exchange’s case match Crema’s hack, including the exact date of the exploit and the terms of the agreement. 

Norbert Bodziony, founder of Nightly App, claims the Cetus team was behind Crema Finance.

Crema Finance suffered a hack in July 2022. Source: Norbert Bodziony

Bodziony declined to disclose how he learned of the relationship to Cointelegraph but added that the connection is “commonly known” in Sui’s developer circles. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Cetus to confirm the connection between the two projects, but the team had not responded by publication.

Cointelegraph has separately learned that both projects are founded by Henry Du.

Save Cetus; centralize Sui

Sui’s validators have collectively blocked transactions from the hacker’s addresses, effectively freezing $162 million of the stolen funds on Sui. Around $63 million had already been bridged to Ethereum before these controls were implemented.

Although the coordinated effort has been effective in preventing the funds from being laundered, the cryptocurrency community has criticized Sui for being too centralized.

“SUI’s validators are colluding to CENSOR the hacker’s TXs right now! Does that make SUI centralized? The short answer is YES; what matters more is why? The ‘founders’ own the majority of supply & there are only 114 validators!” Justin Bons, founder of Cyber Capital, wrote on X.

Some users challenge Bons’ claim, arguing that decentralization doesn’t mean a free-for-all. Source: Squatch/Justin Bons

As Bons pointed out, Sui has just 114 validators — far fewer than its more established smart contract peers. Ethereum has over 1 million validators, while Solana has 1,157.

Meanwhile, members of the Sui community defended the move, arguing that this is how real-world decentralized chains should function.

“Decentralization isn’t about standing by while people get hurt, it’s about the power to act together, without needing permission,” said one member of the Sui community.

Related: WLFI’s DeFi credentials under fire after Sui partnership

Following the hack, Sui developers committed code for a proposed function that would have allowed specific transactions to bypass all signing and safety checks by adding them to a whitelist. 

While the function could have been used to help recover stolen funds, it also raised concerns about centralized control and the erosion of decentralization. The code was ultimately not merged and is not live on the network.

SUI’s price has also been damaged by the Cetus exploit. Source: CoinGeckoSui and Cetus backlash contrasts recent hacks

The Cetus exploit has spotlighted the persistent security challenges in DeFi while raising deeper questions around who holds the reins in supposedly decentralized networks like Sui.

The team’s $6-million offer to the hacker mirrors the playbook it used with Crema — but this time, the crypto community isn’t as forgiving. With CETUS tanking, trust fractured and validators freezing funds, critics are asking whether Sui’s decentralization is more appearance than reality.

The debate over decentralization isn’t unique to Sui. When Bybit lost $1.4 billion in a February hack linked to North Korean state actors, security experts and users urged platforms like THORChain and eXch to block the funds. 

In that case, THORChain received some backlash for not stepping in, which is the exact opposite of what Sui is being criticized for now.

As of now, the hacker hasn’t accepted Cetus’ offer. Two Ethereum wallets tied to the exploiter still hold over $60 million in ETH, with no movement at the time of writing. The Sui addresses remain paralyzed.

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story

Digital asset lender Ledn is transitioning to fully collateralized Bitcoin lending and discontinuing support for Ethereum, in moves designed to consolidate its BTC-focused business and further safeguard client assets against credit risks.

In adopting a full custody structure for Bitcoin (BTC) loans, Ledn will no longer lend out client assets to generate interest, the company disclosed on May 23. Instead, Bitcoin collateral will remain under full custody by Ledn or one of its designated funding partners. 

“This means assets aren’t rehypothecated, reused, or loaned out to generate yield,” Ledn co-founder and CEO Adam Reeds told Cointelegraph.

Reeds said the move brings the company back to its roots and aligns more closely with Bitcoin’s founding principles.

“Bitcoin was created as a direct response to the risks of fractional reserve banking and unchecked use of client assets to generate interest,” said Reed, adding:

“Traditional finance relies on constantly reusing client assets to create leverage and, ultimately, inflation. Bitcoiners instinctively reject that model. That’s why we’ve moved away from this approach entirely. 

Reed told Cointelegraph that the company is ending support for Ether (ETH) as “part of a broader strategic shift,” as Bitcoin represents over 99% of Ledn’s client activity.

“Rather than fragmenting the platform to chase marginal volume, we’re going all-in on Bitcoin and simplifying our stack to reflect what our clients actually value,” said Reed.

Founded in 2018, Ledn has emerged as one of the largest lenders in the digital asset space with a loan book value of $9.9 billion, according to Galaxy Research. The company enables Bitcoin holders to borrow against their assets, giving them access to liquidity without having to sell their holdings or trigger a taxable event.

This approach is commonly used by wealthy investors, who take out low-interest loans against stocks, real estate, and other assets to access cash.

Bitcoin’s price has reached new all-time highs above $111,000. Instead of selling their assets for cash, long-term investors can borrow against their holdings. Source: Cointelegraph

Related: ‘Before Bitcoin, my most successful investment was shorting the Bolivar’ — Ledn co-founder

Digital assets are disrupting TradFi

Bitcoin’s genesis block was mined in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008, offering the world a sound money alternative to the inflation-prone fiat monetary system. 

Bitcoin now thrives within traditional finance, especially after the successful launch of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in 2024.

Institutional investors have embraced the spot Bitcoin ETFs, as evidenced by the continued surge in cumulative inflows. Source: Farside

While financial institutions are increasingly embracing Bitcoin, some members of the banking lobby are reportedly concerned about other blockchain innovations disrupting their business models. 

Specifically, the banking lobby is “panicking” over yield-bearing stablecoins, which can pay higher interest rates and other financial incentives that traditional banks have largely abandoned, according to New York University professor Austin Campbell. 

Referring to banks as a “cartel,” Campbell said financial institutions rely on fractional reserves to maximize profits while offering depositors minimal interest. 

Magazine: Danger signs for Bitcoin as retail abandons it to institutions: Sky Wee

Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has pushed back against a report in The Wall Street Journal, calling it a “hit piece” filled with inaccuracies and negative assumptions. 

In an X post, Zhao criticized the publication’s portrayal of his alleged involvement with World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance project backed by a business entity affiliated with US President Donald Trump. Trump’s sons — Eric and Donald Jr. —are involved in the management of the company.

Zhao said the WSJ article portrayed him as acting as a “fixer” for the WLF team and its co-founder Zach Witkoff during foreign trips. 

The article suggested Zhao facilitated introductions and meetings for WLF leaders during foreign trips, including a visit to Pakistan that reportedly resulted in a memorandum of understanding with a local official.

“I am not a fixer for anyone,” Zhao said, firmly denying that he connected Pakistani official “Mr. Saqib” with WLF or organized any engagements abroad. “They had known each other way back, whereas I only met with Mr. Saqib for the first time in Pakistan.” 

Source: Changpeng ZhaoWSJ reports on Steve and Zach Witkoff

Zhao’s response follows a WSJ investigation highlighting a complex string of diplomatic and business interests involving WLF. 

The report raised concerns about the blurred lines between public duties and private interests and focused on diplomatic and business dealings involving WLF co-founders Steve Witkoff and his son, Zach Witkoff. Steve Witkoff serves as the US Special Envoy to the Middle East under the Trump administration, while Zach Witkoff has been involved in securing a reported $2 billion crypto deal.

The report raised questions about whether diplomatic efforts overlapped with private crypto ventures, and implied Zhao may have been attempting to curry favor with the Trump administration

On May 6, Zhao confirmed that he is seeking a pardon from the Trump administration for his earlier money laundering conviction. 

The report also highlighted that WLFI, which raised over $600 million in token sales, does not disclose the names of all its investors aside from some publicly known ones like Tron founder Justin Sun, who attended Trump’s memecoin dinner on May 22. 

Trump hosted the dinner for the largest investors of his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin. Sun, Magic Eden CEO Jack Lu and BitMart CEO Sheldon Xia were among attendees and shared photos of the event.

Related: Binance scores legal win as UK court partially dismisses Bitcoin SV lawsuit

Zhao claims the WSJ report is an “attack” on crypto 

Zhao claimed the WSJ submitted a list of questions containing what he described as “wrong and negative assumptions.” He and his public relations team responded by pointing out several factual inaccuracies, he said, but concluded that the article was “built on a flawed narrative.”

Zhao slammed the WSJ, calling it a “mouthpiece” for anti-crypto forces in the United States. He said the forces behind the publication want to hinder efforts to make the US a crypto capital. 

“They want to attack crypto, global crypto leaders and the pro-crypto administration,” CZ claimed, saying the article is part of a broader effort to stifle the industry’s growth in the US.

This is not the first time Zhao has clapped back at the WSJ recently. In an April 11 report, the publication cited anonymous sources alleging that Zhao agreed to testify against Tron founder Justin Sun as he settled with US prosecutors. 

CZ dismissed the report, saying that people who become government witnesses don’t go to prison and are protected. CZ also claimed that someone paid WSJ employees to smear his name.

Magazine: Crypto scam hub expose stunt goes viral, Kakao detects 70K scam apps: Asia Express

Cetus is offering a $6 million white hat bounty in an effort to recover $220 million in stolen digital assets, while emergency responses from the Sui Network have raised concerns about decentralization.

Sui-native decentralized exchange (DEX) Cetus was exploited for over $220 million worth of cryptocurrency on May 22. However, Cetus managed to freeze $162 million of the stolen funds shortly after.

Cetus has since offered a white hat bounty of up to $6 million for the exploiter for returning the stolen 20,920 Ether (ETH), worth over $55 million, along with the rest of the stolen funds currently frozen on the Sui blockchain.

“In exchange, you can keep 2,324 ETH ($6M) as a bounty, and we will consider the matter closed and will not pursue any further legal, intelligence, or public action,” Cetus wrote in a message embedded in a blockchain transaction on May 22.

A bounty offer to the hacker. Source: Suivision

However, Cetus will “escalate with full legal and intelligence resources” if these assets are off-ramped or sent to cryptocurrency mixers and not returned promptly.

A white hat bounty is offered to ethical hackers who seek protocol vulnerabilities to prevent future exploits.

Related: Exponential currency debasement: ‘You don’t own enough crypto, NFTs’

Cryptocurrency hacks soared to $90 million across 15 incidents in April, a 124% increase from March when hackers stole $41 million worth of digital assets.

Crypto stole in April 2025. Source: Immunefi

Meanwhile, the industry is still recovering from the largest crypto hack, which saw Bybit exchange lose over $1.4 billion on Feb. 21, 2025.

Related: Bitcoin hits new all-time high of $109K as trade war tensions ease

SUI considers emergency white list function to override transactions

Meanwhile, GitHub activity shows the Sui team has considered implementing an emergency whitelist function that would allow certain transactions to bypass security checks, potentially to recover funds linked to the hack.

Mysten, Sui, white list function. Source: GitHub

“It appears that the Sui team asked every validator to deploy patched code so they could take away @CetusProtocol hacker’s $160 million via an unsigned tx,” said Chaofan Shou, a software engineer at Solayer Labs.

However, an unnamed Sui engineer told Shou that “validators held off deploying this and currently they are only denying tx that involves hacker’s objects,” he said in a May 22 X post.

The move has sparked criticism among decentralization advocates, who argue that the ability to override transactions contradicts the principles of a decentralized permissionless network.

Despite widespread criticism in the crypto community, some saw the rapid response as a sign of progress, not centralization.

“This is what real world decentralization looks like. Not just powerless, but responsive and aligned with the community,” said pseudonymous crypto sleuth Matteo, adding that decentralization “isn’t about standing by while people get hurt, it’s about the power to act together, without needing permission.”

Magazine: Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins ‘powerful rally’ looms: Hodler’s Digest, May 11 – 17

Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange operating on its own layer-1 blockchain, has submitted formal comments on 24/7 derivatives trading to the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

In a May 23 X post, Hyperliquid Labs announced that it has “submitted two comment letters to the [CFTC] in response to its recent Requests for Comment on perpetual derivatives and 24/7 trading.” The team behind the decentralized exchange (DEX) added:

“We commend the CFTC for its proactive engagement on these topics, understanding of which is fundamental to the evolution of global markets.”

Hyperliquid stated that it is committed to the advancement of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The team also claimed that its implementation “exemplifies how core DeFi principles can be put into practice to enhance market efficiency, market integrity, and user protection.”

Source: Hyperliquid

Related: CFTC exodus: Fourth commissioner to depart ‘later this year’

CFTC’s 24/7 derivatives plans

Hyperliquid’s remarks follow CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger recently saying that crypto perpetual futures contracts could receive regulatory approval in the US “very soon.” Perpetual crypto futures “can come to market now,” she said.

“We’re seeing some applications, and I believe we’ll see some of those products trading live very soon,” Mersinger said. She also added that it would be “great to get that trading back onshore in the United States.”

Perpetual futures contracts are a type of derivative that allows traders to speculate on the price of a crypto asset without owning it, similar to traditional futures, but with no expiration date. Such contracts remain open indefinitely and are kept in line with the spot market price using a funding rate mechanism, where payments are exchanged between long and short positions at regular intervals.

Related: CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEO

Crypto derivatives are a busy area

The crypto derivatives market has recently been swarming with announcements of product launches, acquisitions and regulatory developments. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently said the exchange will continue to look for merger and acquisition opportunities after acquiring crypto derivatives platform Deribit.

Armstrong’s remarks followed Coinbase’s agreement to acquire Deribit, one of the world’s biggest crypto derivatives trading platforms. Europe is seeing just as much hustle in the crypto derivatives industry as the Americas are.

Major crypto exchange Gemini has also recently received regulatory approval to expand crypto derivatives trading across Europe. Elsewhere, DeFi platform Synthetix will also venture further into crypto derivatives, with plans to re-acquire the crypto options platform Derive.

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story

Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange operating on its own layer-1 blockchain, has submitted formal comments on 24/7 derivatives trading to the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

In a May 23 X post, Hyperliquid Labs announced that it has “submitted two comment letters to the [CFTC] in response to its recent Requests for Comment on perpetual derivatives and 24/7 trading.” The team behind the decentralized exchange (DEX) added:

“We commend the CFTC for its proactive engagement on these topics, understanding of which is fundamental to the evolution of global markets.”

Hyperliquid stated that it is committed to the advancement of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The team also claimed that its implementation “exemplifies how core DeFi principles can be put into practice to enhance market efficiency, market integrity, and user protection.”

Source: Hyperliquid

Related: CFTC exodus: Fourth commissioner to depart ‘later this year’

CFTC’s 24/7 derivatives plans

Hyperliquid’s remarks follow CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger recently saying that crypto perpetual futures contracts could receive regulatory approval in the US “very soon.” Perpetual crypto futures “can come to market now,” she said.

“We’re seeing some applications, and I believe we’ll see some of those products trading live very soon,” Mersinger said. She also added that it would be “great to get that trading back onshore in the United States.”

Perpetual futures contracts are a type of derivative that allows traders to speculate on the price of a crypto asset without owning it, similar to traditional futures, but with no expiration date. Such contracts remain open indefinitely and are kept in line with the spot market price using a funding rate mechanism, where payments are exchanged between long and short positions at regular intervals.

Related: CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEO

Crypto derivatives are a busy area

The crypto derivatives market has recently been swarming with announcements of product launches, acquisitions and regulatory developments. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently said the exchange will continue to look for merger and acquisition opportunities after acquiring crypto derivatives platform Deribit.

Armstrong’s remarks followed Coinbase’s agreement to acquire Deribit, one of the world’s biggest crypto derivatives trading platforms. Europe is seeing just as much hustle in the crypto derivatives industry as the Americas are.

Major crypto exchange Gemini has also recently received regulatory approval to expand crypto derivatives trading across Europe. Elsewhere, DeFi platform Synthetix will also venture further into crypto derivatives, with plans to re-acquire the crypto options platform Derive.

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story

Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms have a major cost advantage over traditional banks when it comes to onboarding new users, according to Anton Bukov, co-founder of decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator 1inch.

Speaking at a panel during Dutch Blockchain Week on May 22 in Amsterdam, Bukov said traditional banks spend between $100 and $300 per user to verify documents and set up accounts. Online banks, he said, spend about $20 to $30. In contrast, DeFi requires almost nothing beyond a smartphone and internet access.

“Onboarding to DeFi literally costs zero,” Bukov said. “You don’t need brick-and-mortar infrastructure or lengthy verification processes. Just connect and transact.” 

Bukov said that this gives DeFi an edge over traditional financial institutions in reaching the 1.4 billion unbanked people who remain excluded from traditional finance due to high onboarding expenses.

1inch co-founder Anton Bukov at the Dutch Blockchain Week. Source: CointelegraphReaching 1.4 billion unbanked users

“That’s why we have 1.4 billion people on the planet who are unbanked. No one’s going to invest those hundreds or tens of dollars into them because they will never return to them,” Bukov added. 

Unlike traditional finance, which has high barriers to entry, Bukov said DeFi allows the unbanked to become a part of the global economy and engage in real-life transactions using stablecoins like Tether’s USDt (USDT). 

With lower barriers to entry, DeFi becomes a tool for financial inclusion. Bukov said DeFi will continue to reach users who never had access to traditional banking as internet access expands globally. 

“You can just get a phone, access to the internet, and you can exchange your chicken for USDT,” Bukov said, highlighting how easily DeFi enables participation in the global economy. 

Related: Animoca’s Yat Siu says student loans can supercharge DeFi growth

DeFi allows access to global liquidity 

Apart from financial inclusion, Bukov said that the real value of crypto lies in how it gives access to global liquidity. The 1inch co-founder said crypto is evolving into an independent economic zone, where hundreds of billions flow through decentralized protocols. 

“Crypto isn’t just about adopting stablecoins or building national digital currencies,” Bukov said. “It’s a growing global liquidity hub.”

He said that this liquidity is dynamic and allows financial experimentation, yield strategies and cross-border capital movement. 

Bukov added that countries that align their regulations to enable easier access to this global liquidity can tap into economic opportunities and cooperation. “The more countries trade with each other, the more they succeed. Crypto works the same way,” he said. 

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story

Some of the biggest banking companies in the US are reportedly exploring a team-up to launch a crypto stablecoin.

Companies owned by JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have discussed the possibility of jointly issuing a stablecoin, The Wall Street Journal reported on May 22, citing people familiar with the matter.

Other financial institutions linked to the potential stablecoin include Early Warning Services, the parent company of digital payments network Zelle, and the payment network Clearing House.

The discussions are still in the early stages, and a final decision on the project could change depending on the regulatory environment and the demand for stablecoins.

A JPMorgan spokesperson told Cointelegraph the company had no comment. Bank of America, CitiGroup, and Wells Fargo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On May 20, the US Senate voted 66-32 in favor of advancing discussion on the stablecoin-regulating Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. 

The bill outlines a regulatory framework for stablecoin collateralization and mandates compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws. The bill is now headed to debate on the Senate floor.

Earlier this week, White House crypto czar David Sacks said he expects the bill will be passed and that it will receive bipartisan support.

However, high-ranking Democrats plan to amend the bill to include a clause prohibiting President Donald Trump and other US officials from profiting from stablecoins.

Trump and his family launched the crypto platform World Liberty Financial, which created the USD1 stablecoin in March. Critics argue that President Trump stands to personally benefit from passing favorable stablecoin regulation.

Related: World Liberty Financial brushes off oversight concerns from Congress

Stablecoin demand surges

The demand for stablecoins has been on the rise, with nation states adopting and institutions wanting to incorporate stablecoins.

The total market capitalization of stablecoins has shot up to $245 billion from $205 billion at the start of the year, representing a 20% increase.

Earlier this week, it was reported that yield-bearing stablecoins now account for nearly 4.5% of the entire stablecoin market, with a circulating supply of $11 billion.

Austin Campbell, a New York University professor and founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting, said the American banking lobby is “panicking,” as stablecoins can disrupt the traditional banking business model.

Earlier this month, it was reported that tech giant Meta is exploring ways to incorporate stablecoin payments into its platforms.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight