According to DB News, the DOJ is cleared to sell 69,370 $BTC($6.58B) confiscated from Silk Road.

**May 9** — A Swiss initiative to add Bitcoin to the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) official reserves has failed, falling short of the signatures needed to trigger a nationwide referendum. The campaign aimed to amend the Swiss Constitution, mandating the SNB hold BTC alongside its gold and foreign exchange (forex) reserves. Under Swiss rules, initiators needed 100,000 valid signatures in 18 months to force a vote—but they only gathered roughly half that target, leading them to abandon the proposal. Supporters framed Bitcoin as a “neutral reserve asset” that could hedge against risks tied to U.S. dollar (USD) and euro (EUR) holdings. Currently, USD and EUR assets make up about three-quarters of the SNB’s forex reserves. The SNB, however, explicitly opposed the plan last year, noting Bitcoin’s poor liquidity and extreme volatility fail to meet central bank reserve requirements.

On May 9, Binance released a research report noting that emerging market users made up 77% of the platform’s total users by 2026—up from 49% in 2020. The report also points out that more users are now using crypto exchanges for savings, payments, and investments, not just trading. Binance adds that globally, 1.3 billion adults still lack access to financial services, 4.7 billion can’t get credit, and around 1.4 billion depositors in low-income countries earn no interest on their savings. In this space, crypto platforms are filling the gaps left by traditional finance. The report finds that roughly 36% of emerging market users put at least half their assets into stablecoins. Binance notes this reflects how stablecoins are viewed as a savings tool. It also highlights that stablecoin cross-border transfer fees can be as low as $0.0001 with near-instant settlement—a big edge over traditional SWIFT remittances, which average over $20 per transfer.

Xinhua News Agency reported on May 9 that the U.S. Central Command stated on social media that the U.S. military continues to maintain a naval blockade against Iran. Since April 13, it has rerouted 58 merchant vessels and immobilized four ships to prevent them from entering or leaving Iranian ports.

On May 9, Chrome will automatically download a several-gigabyte AI model file to users’ devices **without their awareness**—for local anti-fraud, page summarization, and AI functionality support. While Google claims running AI locally boosts privacy and security, many **crypto users** question the lack of transparency and explicit authorization. Analysts note that as browsers increasingly become the **primary gateway** for crypto wallets, on-chain transactions, and DApps, the browser itself has evolved into a critical part of the crypto security ecosystem. Industry insiders warn that while deeper AI integration may improve phishing site detection, it will also expand the browser’s attack surface—including risks like malicious plugins, fake transaction pages, and wallet hijacking. The article notes that going forward, crypto users may need to manage their browser environments **the way they protect hardware wallets**: isolating browser configurations, limiting extension permission

**May 9 Update: "Copy Fail" Linux Kernel Vulnerability Raises Crypto Industry Risks** "Copy Fail" — a recently disclosed local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Linux kernel — has affected numerous mainstream Linux distributions since 2017. Researchers note that an attacker with standard user privileges can quickly obtain root superuser access using roughly 10 lines of Python code. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added the flaw to its *Known Exploited Vulnerabilities* list. Given the crypto ecosystem’s heavy reliance on Linux (including exchanges, validation nodes, mining pools, hosted wallets, and cloud-based trading systems), the vulnerability has drawn significant industry attention. Analysis indicates that if exploited to compromise affected servers, attackers could steal private keys, take control of validation nodes, gain administrative access, or launch ransomware attacks. While the flaw does not directly impact blockchain pr

Xinhua News Agency reported on May 9 that Ibrahim Azizi, chairman of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, warned in a social media post the same day that governments should not back the U.S.-driven Iran agreement — or face “serious consequences.” “The Strait of Hormuz is a vital lifeline,” Azizi wrote. “Don’t close the door on this vital lifeline with your own hands.”