Crypto Daily is our column tracking crypto market trends, offering timely insights and valuable updates to keep you informed.

BTC Retreats to $102K

A sharp pullback in crypto markets late Monday triggered over $500 million in long liquidations, erasing earlier gains as bitcoin (BTC) slipped from weekend highs and traders reacted to de-escalating U.S.-China trade tensions.

Coinbase to Join S&P 500 Next Week in Crypto-Market Milestone

Coinbase Global Inc., the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, will be added to the S&P 500 Index in the latest milestone for the booming digital-asset industry.

The company will replace Discover Financial Services in the index prior to the start of trading on May 19, S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a press release. Shares of Coinbase were up 10.3% in overnight trading.

Trump’s Bitcoin Mining Venture to Go Public in Gryphon Deal

A Bitcoin-focused venture tied to the Trump family is to go public as part of a merger agreement with Gryphon Digital Mining.

American Bitcoin Corp., which is majority owned by Hut 8 Corp. and partly backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., will be acquired by Gryphon in an all stock merger transaction, Hut 8 said in a statement Monday. Shares of Gryphon jumped as much as 460% to $2.93, while Hut 8 increased 17% to $16.31.

Launched in March, American Bitcoin is focused exclusively on Bitcoin mining and strategic Bitcoin reserve development. The company was formerly known as American Data Centers Inc., an entity formed by a group of investors including the Trump sons. It also plans to hold a large amount of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, emulating Michael Saylor’s Strategy.

Trump Memecoin Issuer Launches Loyalty Program, Reward Points

President Donald Trump’s memecoin issuer is launching a loyalty program, according to its website and social media account.

Users are encouraged to connect their self-custodied wallets to the site to join a leaderboard and earn Trump Reward Points and badges. “Join the Trump Community! Have FUN!” the Website said. Specifics of the program weren’t provided.

The move comes as some large holders of the Trump memecoin dumped their balances Monday after a competition to win time with the president ended. They had been encouraged to register with the Trump memecoin website and to keep average holdings up, with the top 220 promised a dinner with Trump on May 22. The competition ended Monday, when more than 20 of the top 220 holders had zero or near-zero balances, according to the site’s leaderboard.

Strategy’s Bitcoin Buying Pattern Coincides With Price Increase

The timing and scale of Strategy’s almost weekly Bitcoin purchase announcements has some market observers wondering whether the most visible buyer of the cryptocurrency is driving the price of the digital asset higher.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy said Monday that it bought $1.34 billion of Bitcoin from May 5 through May 11, a week in which the price of Bitcoin jumped by around 9%.

Four of the six $1 billion-plus purchases this year by the dot-com-era software maker turned leveraged Bitcoin proxy coincided with positive moves in the price of the token, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Conversely, there was no buying in the three weeks in which Bitcoin fell the most.

South Korean Central Bank Wades into Presidential Candidates’ Stablecoin Row

The South Korean central bank has entered the political furore surrounding stablecoins, insisting it should have the final say over the issuance of a KRW-pegged coin.

Stablecoins have become a “political hot potato” ahead of next month’s presidential elections, South Korean media outlets wrote on May 12.

Aju Kyungjae quoted the Bank of Korea (BOK) as stating that it alone should have the legal authority to approve plans to launch a won-based stablecoin.

Bitcoin Spot ETF Flow

The overall net inflow of the US Bitcoin spot ETF on Tuesday was $5.10 million. The total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $119.69 billion, and the ETF net asset ratio (market value compared to total Bitcoin market value) is 5.87%.

The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest net inflow on May. 12 was iShares Bitcoin Trust, with a net inflow of $69.41 million. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest net outflow on May. 12 was Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, with a net outflow of $32.93 million. , according to SoSoValue.