Stablecoin Payment Platform UnblockPay Completes $4.5 Million Seed Round Funding, Led by Prelude

On May 3, cryptocurrency lending platform Nexo said in a post that the number of wallets holding **100+ BTC** is steadily increasing—signaling "smart money" is flowing back into the Bitcoin market. Data shows addresses holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC have accumulated roughly 41,000 BTC over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s price has surged above its "True Market Mean" average ($78,100) for the first time since January this year. Market analysts note that ongoing accumulation by large on-chain addresses may reflect a rebound in risk appetite among institutions and long-term holders.

On May 3, Galaxy Digital’s Head of Research Alex Thorn published an article noting that after discussions in Las Vegas with Bitcoin developers, researchers, and quantum computing proponents, the industry is gradually reaching a partial consensus on the “Quantum Computing and Bitcoin” issue. Thorn said the majority view supports leaving Satoshi Nakamoto’s early P2PK addresses untouched—arguing this could undermine Bitcoin’s core property rights principle. He noted Satoshi holds roughly 1.1 million BTC spread across 22,000 addresses, not in a single “super vault”; the main large-value risk comes from entities like exchanges, which can proactively upgrade to quantum-resistant addresses. He also stated the industry broadly backs early research into Bitcoin’s post-quantum cryptography (PQC) schemes—including development, testing, signature aggregation, and protocol discussions. Even if this work ends up just being kept as a backup, it’s meaningful, he added. However, Thorn cautione

**May 3** U.S. President Trump on Friday accused Tehran’s leadership of being divided, hindering progress on a deal to end the nine-week-old conflict that’s sparked a global energy crisis. He said he couldn’t agree to Iran’s “request,” but some traders saw this as a negotiation tactic—not a full abandonment of peace efforts. Separately, reports that Tehran sent a new proposal to Washington via Pakistan also helped push oil prices lower. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (per original text: “Aragchi”) said Iran is ready to keep up diplomatic efforts with the U.S., but added its armed forces remain “highly vigilant.” WTI crude dropped nearly 3% on Friday, settling around $103 a barrel, while posting a roughly 7% weekly gain. The S&P 500 extended its record rally Friday, notching its fifth straight week of gains, boosted by strong earnings from tech giants. **Upcoming U.S. Economic Data** - Wednesday, 8:15 p.m.: April ADP Employment Change - Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

On May 3, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a restraining order against Arbitrum DAO, barring it from transferring approximately $71 million worth of ETH assets frozen following the KelpDAO hack. The plaintiff is seeking to use these assets to enforce an unpaid judgment related to North Korea’s history of terrorism, kidnappings, and other cases. Court filings show the plaintiff has applied to serve legal notice on Arbitrum DAO via alternative methods and classifies the entity as a liable "partnership organization." The court also noted Arbitrum DAO has a Security Council governed by ARB token holders, with authority to act in emergencies. If members decline to cooperate, they could face legal consequences including contempt of court. Market participants view the case as a potential landmark example of the U.S. judicial system directly impacting DAO governance structures, again underscoring compliance pressures on DeFi protocols within real-wo

**OPEC+ Draft: 7 Nations Agree to 188k BPD June Output Hike (3rd Consecutive Monthly Increase)** A draft OPEC+ statement dated May 3 shows seven member states have agreed to raise June oil production targets by ~188,000 barrels per day (bpd)—marking the third straight monthly output increase. The move signals the group is prepared to boost supply post-conflict. Sources note the UAE withdrew from the organization earlier this week, but OPEC+ will proceed with the output hike plan. The seven countries at Sunday’s meeting: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia and Oman. OPEC’s latest monthly report (from last month) revealed March OPEC+ output averaged 35.06 million bpd—down 770,000 bpd from February. Iraq and Saudi Arabia led the cuts, driven by export constraints. The draft calls for the seven members to reconvene on June 7.

**May 3 — On-chain data indicates a Morgan Stanley address executed two separate Bitcoin purchases totaling 286.693 BTC yesterday, with funds sourced from a Coinbase Prime address. The firm’s total BTC holdings now stand at 2,620 BTC.** **Previously reported by BlockBeats: On April 24, Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) — the asset management arm of Morgan Stanley — launched the stablecoin reserve portfolio fund MSNXX. Tailored exclusively for stablecoin issuers, this U.S. government money market fund aims to offer a regulated, secure storage solution for the reserve funds backing their tokenized fiat currencies.**