US Department of Justice Seizes $200K in Crypto Linked to Hamas

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has raised concerns about President Trump's family ties to the crypto industry, particularly regarding a $2 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates. The deal involves a stablecoin backed by U.S. Treasuries and co-founded by Eric Trump and Zach Witkoff.

Vitalik Buterin has proposed replacing Ethereum's Virtual Machine with RISC-V to simplify the protocol and potentially make operations up to 100 times faster. This transition aims to decrease costs, maintenance, bugs, and increase participation in protocol research.

A $8.8 billion blockchain and digital assets project in the Maldives will be financed by a Dubai family office managing assets for Qatari royal Sheikh Nayef bin Eid Al Thani. The investment, exceeding the country's GDP, aims to diversify the economy and ease debt obligations over five years. MBS Global Investments will lead the initiative, creating an International Financial Centre to boost job opportunities.

The father of a crypto millionaire was rescued by French authorities after being held hostage and demanded a ransom in cryptocurrency. The victim was found in a rental property, and five suspects were arrested during the operation led by specialized units.

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1025, preventing state treasurers from investing up to 10% of funds in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This veto marks Arizona as the sixth state to reject a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve proposal.

Bitcoin's price rose to $97,000, up 0.4% in 24 hours, hitting $97,800, its highest since late February. Altcoins like XRP and Solana saw minor declines. The U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs in April, surpassing expectations, while traders anticipate the Fed to maintain rates.

Riot Platforms reported a 13% increase in revenue for the first quarter, reaching $161.39 million, driven by a 100% surge in Bitcoin mining income. Despite a net loss of $296.4 million, the company's Bitcoin mining yields remained stable, with 1,530 Bitcoin mined.

Epic Games' antitrust case against Apple led to the tech giant loosening restrictions on developers offering apps with non-standard purchasing methods or digital collectibles in the U.S. Apple updated its App Store guidelines after a court ruling found it violated an injunction, allowing developers to direct users to third-party websites for purchases.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is gathering feedback on crypto assets to establish clearer legislation for intermediaries, staking, lending, borrowing, and DeFi. This initiative aims to enhance market integrity and consumer protection in the growing crypto industry.

Metaplanet plans to issue interest-free bonds to EVO FUND, raising funds to purchase Bitcoin. The company aims to reach 21,000 BTC by 2026, with the option for early bond repayments.