「BTC OG Insider Whale」 to Continue Accumulating HYPE Spot and BTC Longs

On May 21, Tom Lee noted in a post that the current selling pressure on Ethereum (ETH) stems mainly from rising oil prices. Reacting to the just-released April Federal Reserve meeting minutes, he said that if inflation remains above the 2% threshold, the Fed may need to consider further policy tightening. Lee added that ETH is displaying its strongest historical negative correlation with oil prices. High oil prices stoke inflation expectations, boost the probability of Fed interest rate hikes, tighten monetary liquidity, and weigh on crypto assets. Since the outbreak of the Iran war, oil price volatility has been highly synchronized with the Federal Reserve’s 2026 rate hike and cut expectations. Resolutions to the conflict will directly impact oil prices and could potentially ease the macro pressure facing ETH.

On May 21, the Avalanche Foundation established an independent Selection Committee for its "Research RFP Program," the foundation announced. The committee includes Ava Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer, Avalanche Foundation Chief Investment Officer Matias A., Chief Economist Eric Lu, plus external academic experts: Duke University Professor Campbell Harvey, University of Florida Professor Fahad Saleh, and Columbia University Professor Agostino Capponi. The "Research RFP Program" is now open for applications, with submissions centered on two main areas: cryptocurrency asset pricing and valuation, and validator economics and network security. Proposals will be evaluated based on five criteria: relevance to the research theme, methodological rigor, novelty of contribution, feasibility, and team qualifications.

May 21: The Iranian Ambassador to France announced that Iran and Oman are currently in discussions to permanently impose a toll for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Countries will be required to pay the fee if they wish to reopen access to the waterway.

On May 21, Bitget market data showed that Arm (ARM.O) rallied over 10%, with its market capitalization crossing the $300 billion threshold for the first time.

May 21 – Digital asset technology firm Securitize is advancing its business combination with Cantor Equity Partners II, a Nasdaq-listed SPAC trading under the ticker symbol CEPT, as part of its plans to go public via the transaction. Securitize founder and CEO Carlos Domingo noted that the company has already turned a profit in the asset tokenization space through partnerships with several financial institutions. He added that the SPAC deal will accelerate Securitize’s growth, enabling the issuance and trading of a broader range of tokenized assets beyond just stablecoins.

On May 21st, per Onchain Lens monitoring, HYPE has reached a new high, with on-chain FOMO buying remaining relentless. A newly created address just withdrew 198,535 HYPE from Bybit, worth $11.62 million.