Bitcoin and Ethereum Reserves Plummet as GENIUS Act Heads to Senate
The Senate prepares to debate the GENIUS Act this week, a landmark bipartisan bill to regulate payment stablecoins and establish clear federal oversight. At the same time, deeper on-chain data and institutional forecasts are painting a bullish picture for crypto’s next chapter. Here’s a comprehensive look at the developments driving markets today.
GENIUS Act Scheduled for Senate Floor Debate
After clearing the Senate Banking Committee by a wide bipartisan margin, the GENIUS Act now moves to the full Senate, with floor debate set to begin tomorrow evening or Wednesday. Senate Republican leaders aim to secure final passage before Memorial Day. The bill would require one-to-one reserves in high-quality assets, enact stringent anti-money-laundering standards, and split oversight between state regulators for smaller issuers and federal regulators for large-scale stablecoin providers.
Industry reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong hailed it as a “significant victory for cryptocurrency innovation,” while White House Advisor Bo Hines emphasized its role in reinforcing the U.S. dollar’s global primacy. Trump administration crypto and AI advisor David Sacks called it a major win that finally lays the legal groundwork for stablecoins to flourish.
Dramatic Drop in Exchange Reserves Signals Accumulation
On-chain analytics show a five-year decline of 1.7 million BTC and 15.3 million ETH from centralized exchanges—leaving just 7.1 percent of Bitcoin and under 5 percent of Ethereum supplies on exchanges, the lowest levels in years. This structural shift reflects growing long-term holding behavior, reduced sell-side pressure, and stronger foundations for future price support.
Institutional and Analyst Price Forecasts
Bullish price targets continue to roll in. 21Shares analyst Matt Mena projects Bitcoin could reach $138,500 by year-end, fueled by expanding ETF adoption and corporate treasury allocations. Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes remains ultra-bullish, anticipating Bitcoin at $250,000 by December and $1 million by the end of President Trump’s term, with an altseason set to kick off this summer and Ethereum outpacing Solana over the next 18–24 months.
Solana’s Biggest Protocol Upgrade: Alpenglow
Solana spin-out Anza has proposed “Alpenglow,” the most significant change to the Solana core protocol to date. Its new Votor consensus mechanism allows nodes to run dual parallel votes, promising to slash block times to 100–150 milliseconds and improve network throughput—an ambitious step toward Solana’s next generation of performance.
SEC Delays and DeFi Integrations
Regulatory uncertainty persists as the SEC once again postponed decisions on Solana ETF applications from Fidelity and Canary Capital. Meanwhile, BlackRock’s newly formed BUIDL fund connected to the Euler lending protocol on Avalanche, marking the first major DeFi integration for the firm and underscoring growing institutional interest in on-chain yield strategies.
Notable Crypto Incidents and Innovations
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Data Theft Investigation: The U.S. Justice Department is probing a leak of Coinbase customer data stemming from bribed contractors in India, highlighting ongoing security concerns.
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StraitsX XSGD Launch: A Singapore-dollar stablecoin backed by DBS and Standard Chartered has debuted on the XRP Ledger to enhance cross-border settlements.
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Lido’s Node-Operator Framework: Lido unveiled its Auxiliary Proposer Mechanism to help validators safely adopt innovations like Proposer-Builder Separation and pre-confirmation without sacrificing decentralization.
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Pump Fun Manipulation: Bot networks on “Pump Fun” exchanges have been faking 60–80 percent of token volumes to manufacture hype, deceiving retail buyers.
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Dough Finance Fallout: Founders of the hacked platform launched a new venture backed by Trump associates, leaving defrauded investors largely uncompensated and sparking fraud litigation.
Broader Market and Economic Signals
While the S&P 500 historically sees only two down-months between May and July, retail traders poured $4.1 billion into U.S. equities in the first three hours of yesterday’s session—a record influx. In China, the central bank trimmed loan prime rates for the first time in seven months to spur growth. Meanwhile, global policy uncertainty has hit an all-time high, U.S. consumer delinquencies are at historic levels, and fund managers have offloaded Treasuries at the fastest pace in over two decades.
Conclusion
As stablecoin legislation advances, on-chain metrics confirm a tightening supply among major chains, and protocol innovations accelerate, the stage is set for continued crypto market expansion. Yet ongoing regulatory delays, security breaches, and macroeconomic uncertainties underscore the need for careful navigation. Investors and developers alike will watch this week’s Senate debate as the GENIUS Act promises to shape the digital-asset landscape for years to come.
