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

May 18th: Tom Lee, Chairman of BitMine—Ethereum’s largest treasury—weighed in on why Ethereum (ETH) has faced recent selling pressure, naming rising oil prices as the primary headwind. “ETH is showing its strongest historical negative correlation with oil right now,” Lee said, calling that the biggest drag on the crypto. Over the past six weeks, as oil prices have climbed, ETH’s price has fallen. A related chart plots oil prices inversely: the higher crude goes, the more downward pressure ETH faces. That means once oil starts reversing and falling, ETH’s price should rally in turn. Lee emphasized this is just short-term tactical market noise, not a lasting shift. He added ETH’s real long-term growth drivers are asset tokenization and agentic AI—two structural tailwinds that are already firmly in place. As a result, he projects ETH will deliver even stronger performance by 2026.

SEOUL, South Korea – Jeong Tae-ho, Secretary-General of the Finance and Economy Planning Committee of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party, stated that virtual asset taxation was already delayed once, so it should be implemented as scheduled. After the ruling party submits its Virtual Asset Taxation System Reform Bill, internal discussions will be launched, and feedback will be gathered to refine the system—aligning with the South Korean government’s policy to impose regular taxes on virtual asset transfers and leases starting January 2027. A number of key Democratic Party figures have recently issued similar signals, creating a confrontation with the main opposition People Power Party. The People Power Party advocates abolishing the tax and has already submitted its own legislation on the issue. The relevant bill is expected to enter formal discussions in the tax subcommittee after November this year, with a final conclusion slated for announcement by the end of the year.

On May 18, a South Korean court ruled that if Samsung’s union fails to comply with the court order, it will be fined roughly 100 million South Korean won per day. Earlier, the same court partially granted Samsung Electronics’ request for an injunction against the union’s planned strike, leading to expectations the walkout will likely not move forward. Samsung Electronics’ union initially planned an 18-day general strike starting on May 21. The core motivation for the action is to secure a larger share of profits from the company’s AI semiconductor business, with the union targeting 2026—what’s projected to be a record-high profit year for the unit. The union’s demands include removing the cap on performance bonuses, earmarking 15% of the company’s operating profit for performance bonus funds, and formalizing and making the bonus process transparent. They are also asking for a 7% base salary increase to narrow the wage gap with competitor SK Hynix. Samsung’s management, however, is on

On May 18, investor fears of accelerating inflation triggered a global bond market sell-off, pushing yields on U.S. long-term Treasuries to their highest levels in nearly three years. U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressuring Iran to reach an agreement to avoid a potential military conflict, and this pressure has kept oil prices climbing. As a result, the yield on the 30-year Treasury note rose by 4 basis points to a peak of 5.16% at one point—its highest level since October 2023. The yields on the 10-year and 2-year Treasury notes touched 4.63% and 4.10% respectively, marking their loftiest levels since February 2025. Across the Pacific, Japan’s 30-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yield surged 20 basis points to 4.2%, hitting its highest point since the bond’s introduction in 1999. Bond traders frequently view the 5% yield threshold on the U.S. 30-year Treasury as a key "line in the sand"—a level they believe will draw bargain hunters into the market. Gunit Chadha, Head of U

May 18th — On-chain data analyst Murphy noted that the evolving relationship between cost basis and price behavior is one of the most effective frameworks for tracking Bitcoin’s (BTC) bottom structure formation, with the "1-3 month short-term holder cost basis" (1-3m_RP) serving as the most reliable reference. He explained that every bear market bottom formation in prior cycles was accompanied by a gradual shift in this short-term holder cost basis (marked by the yellow line), citing these historical examples: - During 2015-2016, BTC first broke above its short-term holder cost basis and then traded around that level for an extended period. - In 2019-2020, BTC made an aggressive breakout above this cost basis before entering a small bull market. - In 2022-2023, BTC broke above the short-term holder cost basis, retraced twice to find support, and rebounded higher afterward. In the current cycle, BTC broke above the short-term holder cost basis on April 15 and has held above that level c

May 18 — Samsung Electronics’ stock price rose 6% as concerns over a strike eased, per market data. Earlier, a South Korean court partially approved Samsung Electronics’ request for an injunction to block the union’s planned strike action.