Crypto Market Fear Subsides Significantly, Today's Fear and Greed Index at 45

On May 19th, per the Financial Times, hedge fund D1 Capital Partners is poised to be one of the biggest winners next month when SpaceX goes public. Several Wall Street firms are set to pocket massive returns. Sources indicate that if SpaceX launches its IPO at the projected $1.75 trillion valuation, the stake owned by Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital Partners could be worth roughly $20 billion. D1 is among the few hedge funds that made early bets on SpaceX back when an initial public offering felt like a far-off fantasy. The fund, led by Sundheim, first invested in SpaceX in 2020, at a time when the aerospace firm was valued at around $36 billion. Its SpaceX holdings make up a large chunk of its total assets and have been a huge driver of its gains. The fund currently oversees roughly $35 billion in assets. Last year, Sundheim told investors he has no plans to sell any of his holdings, “even though we’ve received significant and substantive inquiries.” Operating under the radar, hedge fund D

May 19: According to market sources, the labor union at South Korea’s Samsung has narrowed some of its differences with the company’s management. (FXStreet)

May 19: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin dropped a deep dive on the current state and future of formal verification tech. He argues that pairing formal verification with AI will emerge as the “ultimate form of software development” — and a critical way to protect network security from powerful AI-driven threats. Vitalik explains that formal verification’s core boils down to turning code correctness into a mathematical theorem that computers can check automatically. This ensures software security via mathematical proofs, not just traditional testing or manual audits. He says this approach works especially well for cases where the “goal is far simpler than how you build it” — like quantum-resistant signatures, STARK proof systems, Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus algorithms, and ZK-EVM. These are exactly the core tech components for Ethereum’s next phase of upgrades. That said, Vitalik admits formal verification isn’t a cure-all. Common pitfalls include checking only parts of

May 19: The Crypto Fear & Greed Index from Alternative Data fell to 25 (down from yesterday’s 29), slipping back into the "extreme fear" territory. Its average reading last week was 49. **Note:** The index ranges from 0 to 100, composed of six weighted metrics: Volatility (25%), Market Volume (25%), Social Media Hype (15%), Market Surveys (15%), Bitcoin Dominance (10%), and Google Trends Analysis (10%).

MAY 19 – Per a Reuters report, Meta has shared an internal memo outlining a restructuring plan set to launch on May 20. The company plans to cut its global workforce by 10% and roll out a fresh round of organizational overhauls to streamline its AI operations. Janelle Gale, Meta’s chief people officer, said 7,000 employees will be moved to new AI-focused projects, while select management positions will be eliminated. Post-adjustment, most teams will operate under a flatter structure, organized into smaller "pods/cohorts" to boost efficiency and give teams greater autonomy. This shake-up is part of Meta’s 2024 AI transformation strategy, centered on key initiatives including Applied AI Engineering (AAI), the Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA), and Central Analytics, with the ultimate goal of developing AI agents that can complete tasks independently. Earlier this year, Meta already closed 6,000 open roles; this latest round of layoffs and role adjustments will collectively impact r

On May 19, Ethereum Foundation researchers Carl Beek and Julian Ma announced their resignations Monday—adding to the recent wave of high-profile departures from the organization. Beek, a 7-year Foundation veteran, worked on Beacon Chain development and helped guide Ethereum’s shift to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism back in 2020. Ma, who spent roughly four years at the Foundation, focused on mechanism design, cryptoeconomics, and protocol scalability; he co-authored the FOCIL proposal (EIP-7805) to strengthen anti-censorship capabilities and pushed the Fast Confirmation Rule, cutting bridging confirmation time between Layer 2 networks and Ethereum’s mainnet to 13 seconds. In recent months, the Ethereum Foundation has seen a steady stream of exits: former Co-Executive Director Tomasz K. Stańczak, 7-year team member Josh Stark, protocol staffers Barnabé Monnot and Tim Beiko have all left, plus Alex Stokes, former Co-Head of Protocol, took a temporary leave of absence this mon