With Strive pivoting to daily dividends, the Celsius case winding down, and the CLARITY Act clearing committee; BTC returns to $81K for consolidation as the market seeks macro balance. Today’s cryptocurrency market showed rebound resilience amid continued volatility. Bitcoin successfully returned above the $81K level and is now consolidating around this area, helping broader market sentiment recover. According to the latest liquidation data, total liquidations across the market reached USD 275 million over the past 24 hours, with short liquidations amounting to USD 154 million. This shows that the market’s upward momentum has placed clear pressure on short positions. Although the rebound in U.S. inflation data has weighed on expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, which has caused crypto assets to lag the Nasdaq to some extent, positive geopolitical signals have provided structural support. These include the recent meeting between China and the United States, potential easing in U.S.-China AI chip trade, and Trump’s disclosed holdings in a Bitcoin mining company. Across sectors, DeFi performed particularly strongly, with a daily gain of more than 5%, which helped offset the short-term weakness in the AI sector. The market is now closely watching Bitcoin’s short liquidation zone above $85K and Ethereum’s consolidation around $2,300. Investor sentiment remains in the Fear zone, but it has improved significantly from the previous day. The market is now entering a key phase as it seeks a new balance in macro liquidity conditions.

Crypto Markets Overview

Today’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index rose from 34 yesterday to 43, while the sentiment level remained at Fear. This reflects that investors are still cautious during the price rebound. Bitcoin is currently trading around and above $81K, with a 24-hour gain of about 2.20%, while Ethereum rose 0.80% and moved closer to the $2,300 level. From the liquidation data, if Bitcoin further breaks above $85,265, the cumulative short liquidation intensity on major CEXs will reach USD 1.193 billion. Conversely, if Bitcoin falls below $77,360, long liquidation risk will reach USD 2.407 billion. Ethereum’s total futures open interest fell by 6.28% over the past 24 hours, with total open interest now at USD 32.663 billion. Market analysis indicates that Bitcoin’s current performance is still constrained by the repricing of Federal Reserve easing expectations. Inflation returning to 3% has pushed the market to reassess the scope for rate cuts in 2026. Even so, the DeFi sector gained strong momentum from ETF-related positive developments, with projects such as Hyperliquid standing out. Overall market structure shows that existing capital is rotating rapidly across different sectors.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

Strive Announces Transition Into a Daily Dividend Company and Clears All Debt in Q1

Bitcoin-focused asset management company Strive recently released its first-quarter 2026 earnings report. Although volatility in Bitcoin’s market price caused an unrealized net loss of USD 265.9 million on its holdings, the company announced that it had successfully repaid all long-term notes and is now operating debt-free. Strive plans to convert its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock, ticker SATA, into a daily dividend model starting June 16 this year, with an expected annualized dividend rate of 13%. The dividend payments will mainly be funded by income generated from its Bitcoin treasury strategy. This move makes Strive the first public company to implement a daily dividend system and further develops the corporate Bitcoin treasury strategy first popularized by Michael Saylor. As of now, Strive holds a total of 15,009 Bitcoin, with an asset value of approximately USD 1.22 billion at current prices. The company’s CEO said that a debt-free balance sheet will allow Strive to show stronger resilience during Bitcoin volatility. This innovative digital credit distribution model is also receiving strong market attention. Compared with other competitors, its flexible capital allocation strategy may offer stronger competitiveness during a bear market consolidation phase.

Former Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Sentenced to Time Served for Conspiracy to Manipulate Token Price

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued its ruling in the criminal case involving Roni Cohen Pavon, the former chief revenue officer of the collapsed crypto lending platform Celsius. Judge John Koeltl sentenced him to time served and one year of supervised release. Cohen Pavon previously pleaded guilty to four charges, including conspiracy to manipulate the price of the CEL token and fraud. The case was tied to the collapse of Celsius in 2022, which caused billions of dollars in user losses. Former CEO Alex Mashinsky, who was indicted alongside him, was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay USD 48 million in penalties. Cohen Pavon received a comparatively lenient sentence due to his cooperation with the investigation and his conduct after his 2023 arrest. He also agreed to pay more than USD 1 million in restitution and the USD 40,000 fine. Court documents noted that Cohen Pavon said before sentencing that he would spend the rest of his life fulfilling his family responsibilities and taking accountability for his actions. This marks another step toward the conclusion of the multi-year legal fallout from the crypto credit crisis. At the same time, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm still faces a possible retrial on money laundering and sanctions violation charges. This shows that regulators and courts continue to pursue accountability for past misconduct in the crypto industry.

Crypto Market Structure Bill CLARITY Passes Senate Committee

The closely watched Crypto Market Structure Bill, known as the CLARITY Act, made major progress on May 15 after passing the Senate Banking Committee and formally moving to the full Senate vote stage. The bill is designed to define the securities status of crypto assets, regulate trading platform registration, and provide legal protections for the DeFi sector. Prediction market Polymarket currently places the probability of the bill becoming law this year at more than 70%. Although the merger of the Banking Committee version and the Agriculture Committee version is progressing smoothly, the bill still needs to clear the 60-vote cloture threshold in the full Senate. At present, all 51 Republican senators are broadly expected to support the bill, which means at least seven Democratic senators still need to cross party lines to prevent the bill from being delayed indefinitely. Once this key motion passes, the final vote will only require a simple majority of 51 votes before the bill moves to a conference committee for text coordination between the two chambers. If the bill is ultimately signed into law by President Trump, it will provide a clearer regulatory framework for U.S. digital commodity spot and derivatives markets. This would carry long-term significance for reducing legal uncertainty among institutional investors and supporting the industry’s continued compliant development.

Trending Tokens:

• $BSB (Block Street)

Block Street is positioned as a key coordination layer in the real-world asset (RWA) sector, aiming to address the pain points of cross-chain liquidity and settlement fragmentation. The protocol has raised $11.5 million from notable investors including Hack VC and DWF Ventures, with a focus on building decentralized financial infrastructure for tokenized stock utility. The project recently emphasized that the next stage of RWA development will depend on how fragmented trading venues are connected to meet the needs of both trading-oriented and yield-oriented users. By providing decentralized lending and leverage opportunities on BNB Chain, Block Street aims to address core challenges around pricing and capital efficiency in the digital securities market. Under the leadership of Mike Wu and Hedy Wong, the project continues to gain market attention as the narrative shifts toward integrated market infrastructure.

• $OPN (Opinion)

Opinion is reshaping the social exchange model for human perspectives by developing dynamic opinions and continuous prediction markets. The project recently completed a major UI update with the launch of Light and Dark Mode, designed to support different trader preferences and improve the platform experience. Backed by $25 million in funding from institutions including Jump Crypto and Amber Group, the protocol is currently expanding its first product, AlphaOrBeta, to empower digital identity. Operating within the BNB Chain ecosystem, the project is designed to convert social interaction into measurable value exchange. This institutional focus on the SocialFi narrative highlights a growing trend in which human sentiment is treated as a tradable asset class with real-time utility.

• $STAR (Starpower)

Starpower is building a decentralized energy network designed to connect and coordinate energy-consuming devices, including electric vehicle chargers and batteries. The protocol uses Solana infrastructure and usage-based algorithms to optimize device charging and discharging patterns, thereby improving energy efficiency. Its core team including founders Darcy.MetaLattice and Laser Ding has raised $4.5 million from leading investors such as Framework Ventures and Alliance. This DePIN initiative addresses volatility in energy systems by offering a collectively coordinated solution for reducing electricity costs. As environmental and energy-focused blockchain solutions gain momentum, Starpower stands out for its practical application in stabilizing power grids through decentralized hardware integration.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only and doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.