The Whale Evaded has once again shorted $40.32 million worth of BTC, with a liquidation price of $77,413.63.

May 26 – Iran’s state television is reporting that recent claims from some foreign media outlets about a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Iran and the U.S. are “pure fabrication and completely baseless.” The network noted that some media sources had alleged just hours earlier they’d obtained the final draft of the Iran-U.S. MOU, which was said to include terms for opening the Strait of Hormuz, launching nuclear talks, and unfreezing Iran’s blocked funds. But all these claims are false, per the state TV report. Tracking data from PolyBeats shows that on the prediction market Polymarket, the probability of the U.S. and Iran reaching a permanent peace agreement plummeted in the short term over multiple recent dates. Currently, the odds of such a deal being reached by May 31 stand at 26%, while the likelihood of it happening by June 30 is 56%.

Binance Alpha will launch Citrea (CTR) on May 26 at 21:00 UTC+8. Users who hold at least 211 Alpha points are eligible to join the first-come, first-served airdrop, where they will receive 1,090 CTR tokens.

May 26 update from BlockBeats: Following the launch of OpenAI U Perpetual Futures pre-IPO trading on Binance, the platform’s "estimated per-share price" briefly spiked to $1,630, and is currently trading at $1,600—putting OpenAI’s projected post-listing market capitalization at $1.6 trillion. Separately, on Hyperliquid ecosystem’s trade.xyz trading platform, OpenAI’s current "estimated per-share price" stands at $1,378, translating to a $1.378 trillion post-listing market cap. This means Binance is charging a roughly 16% premium over trade.xyz’s pricing. Earlier this month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman noted that even if the company files for an IPO quickly, it may not go public immediately. The firm’s earliest listing target is September, though the timeline remains flexible. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are among the investment banks assisting OpenAI with drafting its IPO prospectus. According to PolyBeats’ monitoring of prediction market Polymarket, the odds of OpenAI going pu

According to monitoring from DeepChain Beating via t.me/OneMillion_AI, insiders have revealed that ByteDance is offering discounted stock options tied to its Seed AI division to employees globally. This marks ByteDance’s first issuance of equity for a specific business unit, and the incentive plan allows employees to share in the Seed division’s growth without being diluted by the performance of ByteDance’s other lines of business. Insiders added that ByteDance opened up subscriptions to its “Beanie Stock” program for Seed division employees worldwide this month, with a share price of $13. Since the stock was granted at roughly $10 per share at the end of last year, its value has climbed nearly 30%.

On May 26, Bitcoin’s expected volatility plummeted to a nine-month low. The Bitcoin VIX Index—which tracks 30-day expected volatility derived from option prices—dropped to 36.11, hitting its lowest level since September last year and nearing the 2023 low point. Weak trading activity, paired with speculative capital shifting away from Bitcoin to other assets, has eased demand for options as a protective hedge. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s price has pulled back to levels close to its September 2023 lows, with the broader crypto market entering a "breather" phase. Market sentiment remains relatively calm, and short-term volatility is expected to stay suppressed at low levels moving forward.

OKX announced on May 26 that it will delist the MAJOR/USD and MAJOR/USDT trading pairs on June 2, and the J/USDT trading pair on June 5. All corresponding trading services for these pairs will be suspended effective May 30.