[News Brief] May 12, morning | Final text of the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Clarity Act to be released today

Final text of the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Clarity Act to be released today

Pete Rizzo said on X, citing remarks from a White House reporter, that the final text of the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Clarity Act is expected to be released today.

The bill is intended to clarify regulatory standards for digital assets in the United States, and the market is closely watching provisions related to exchanges, issuers, and regulators.

Trump nominee Kevin Warsh clears procedural Senate vote for Fed chair process

According to PANews, Kevin Warsh, nominated by President Trump to serve as the next Federal Reserve chair, has passed a key procedural vote in the Senate.

The Senate could vote as early as Tuesday to confirm Warsh to a 14-year term as a Federal Reserve governor, followed by the confirmation process for a four-year term as Fed chair. The vote on the chairmanship could come as early as Wednesday.

Jerome Powell's term ends this Friday. If confirmed, Warsh could preside over his first Federal Open Market Committee meeting on June 16–17.

U.S. Senate Banking Committee to vote on Clarity Act on May 14

According to PANews, investment bank TD Cowen said the U.S. Senate Banking Committee is expected to vote on the Clarity Act, a crypto market structure bill, on May 14.

Jarrett Seiberg, managing director at TD Cowen, said the vote would not mean final passage of the bill but would instead move the debate to the full Senate. He noted that stablecoin yield, ethics, and conflict-of-interest provisions remain key sticking points.

Even if the bill passes the Banking Committee, it must still be merged with legislation from the Senate Agriculture Committee and then secure 60 votes on the Senate floor. Seiberg said it will not be easy for Congress to reconcile competing interests among Coinbase and the crypto industry, banks, and other stakeholders.

He added that ethics provisions related to crypto businesses linked to President Trump's family are a major wildcard. Seiberg had previously projected that the bill's passage could be delayed until 2027, with final rule implementation potentially not occurring until 2029.

Trump convenes national security team meeting to review possible resumption of military action against Iran

Axios reported, citing three U.S. officials, that President Trump has convened a meeting of his national security team to review the possible resumption of military action related to Iran.

According to the report, Trump wants an agreement to end the conflict, but military options are back under discussion as Iran has not accepted key demands related to its nuclear program.

U.S. officials said options under review include striking certain targets that have not yet been attacked. Expected attendees include Vice President Vance, U.S. envoy Witkoff, Secretary of State Rubio, Defense Secretary Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Kraken parent Payward seeks new funding at $20 billion valuation

Kraken parent company Payward is seeking to raise new funding at a $20 billion valuation, CoinDesk reported, citing sources.

According to Odaily and WuBlockchain, the funding is intended to support the company's initial public offering preparations and business expansion. Kraken declined to comment.

Kraken has recently accelerated expansion efforts through acquisitions including stablecoin payments firm Reef, digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial, and retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader.

Circle raises $222 million in Arc token presale

According to PANews, major crypto developments from May 11–12 include Circle's Arc token presale, Strategy's additional BTC purchases, and Bitmine's expanded ETH holdings.

USDC issuer Circle raised $222 million in a presale of the native token for its new public blockchain, Arc. The network was valued at approximately $3 billion on a fully diluted basis, with participation from a16z crypto, BlackRock, ICE, and SBI Group.

Strategy purchased 535 BTC for about $43 million between May 5 and May 10, 2026. The company now holds a total of 818,869 BTC, with an average purchase price of $75,540 per BTC.

Bitmine bought an additional 26,659 ETH last week, bringing its total holdings to 5,206,790 ETH. Of that amount, about 4,712,917 ETH is currently being staked.

SharpLink is working with Galaxy Digital to launch a $125 million on-chain yield fund. In separate first-quarter results, SharpLink reported a net loss of $686 million due to ETH price fluctuations and accounting treatment effects.

Tether minted an additional 1 billion USDT on the Tron network. FTX and Alameda unstaked 199,263 SOL worth about $19.4 million.

Payward, the parent company of exchange Kraken, is reportedly seeking new funding at a $20 billion valuation. The company had previously confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the SEC in preparation for a public listing.

Bitcoin mining firms CleanSpark and MARA each disclosed large net losses. Both companies are maintaining mining operations while also pursuing transitions toward AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the confirmation process is underway for Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee to be the next Federal Reserve chair. Markets are monitoring the impact that a leadership change at the Fed, tariffs, and geopolitical risk related to Iran could have on risk assets.

Tron-based TRC20-USDT supply surpasses 89.3 billion, hits all-time high

PANews reported on May 12 that the supply of TRC20-USDT on the Tron network has surpassed 89.3 billion, setting a new all-time high.

So far this year, 8 billion additional USDT has been issued on the Tron network. The number of TRC20-USDT holding accounts has exceeded 74.15 million, while cumulative transaction count has surpassed 3.36 billion.

Tron's total number of accounts has recently risen above 380 million. According to crypto payment card analytics platform PaymentScan, global crypto card transaction volume exceeded $650 million in April 2026, with the Tron network maintaining the top spot at a 32% market share.

TRC20-USDT is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether on the Tron network. It is widely used across major exchanges and payment services due to its low fees and fast transfer speeds.

Ondo Global Markets TVL surpasses $1 billion

According to Odaily, Ondo Finance said the total value locked (TVL) of Ondo Global Markets has exceeded $1 billion.

Ondo Global Markets is a platform for trading tokenized stocks and ETFs, and the company said it is the first in the sector to reach the $1 billion TVL milestone.

The platform has been live for less than eight months, and its TVL has doubled since January 2026. Cumulative trading volume is about $18 billion.

According to RWA.xyz data, Ondo Global Markets holds over 70% market share in the tokenized equities issuance market.

Google identifies zero-day vulnerability using AI to bypass two-factor authentication

Google's Threat Intelligence Group said it confirmed that hackers developed and exploited a zero-day vulnerability that uses AI models to bypass two-factor authentication.

According to Odaily, Google said the vulnerability was found in a popular open-source web administration tool and that this marks the first confirmed case of an AI-assisted zero-day vulnerability being developed and used in a real-world environment.

Google's report said the flaw stemmed from a logic error in which the software incorrectly trusted conditions that allowed two-factor authentication to be bypassed. Unlike conventional scanners, the AI analyzed the software's intended behavior and identified logical inconsistencies.

Google said it worked with the relevant parties to patch the vulnerability before attackers could launch large-scale attacks.

Address linked to Ondo Finance team receives 150 million ONDO and sends part to exchanges

Odaily, citing AI monitoring, reported that an address linked to the Ondo Finance team recently received 150 million ONDO, worth about $63.88 million, from a team address.

Over the past eight hours, the address transferred about $9.157 million worth of ONDO to exchanges. Another 21.71 million ONDO was moved to a multisignature address, where no further transfers or selling activity have yet been observed.