On May 15th, according to updated data on the official website of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Huobi HK's application for a virtual asset trading platform license submitted to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission was withdrawn on May 14th.

A government entity responsible for managing trust funds in Wisconsin, USA, disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it holds over 2.4 million shares of BlackRock's iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IBIT) and over 1 million shares of Grayscale's Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), valued at approximately $100 million and $64 million, respectively. The filing suggests that the Wisconsin Retirement System may be investing in cryptocurrencies through these asset management companies.

LayerZero CEO Bryan Pellegrino stated on social media that up to 100,000 addresses have been identified as witches. Previously reported on May 4th, LayerZero officials stated that all witch users were given a chance to self-report within the next 14 days and those who did would receive an expected distribution of 15%.

On May 14th, the Ethereum Foundation announced that the fifth round of the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship (EPF) program is officially open for applications, with a deadline of May 26th.

According to a report on stablecoins released on May 7, Deutsche Bank analyzed 334 currencies linked to stablecoins and found that 49% of stablecoins had failed during their median lifespan of about eight to ten years. The analysts concluded that most anchored assets in the cryptocurrency field will experience significant "turbulence" caused by speculative sentiment and ultimately suffer some form of decoupling event. Deutsche Bank analysts also pointed out that Tether's reserve transparency was lacking and described the company's solvency as "doubtful".

MakerDAO stated on X platform that the supply of DAI increased from $4.4 billion to $5.4 billion within 60 days. In addition to the growth in supply, DAI set a new record in April with on-chain transaction volume reaching $636.72 billion. The Dai Savings Rate (DSR) also showed positive momentum, steadily increasing over the past few months with total deposits exceeding $2 billion last week.

Ripple Labs and the US SEC have made new progress in their legal battle, with the SEC submitting its final reply in the remedies phase of the lawsuit. In response to the recent brief on remedies, the SEC questioned Ripple's claim that the blockchain startup's behavior was not reckless, despite the court previously rejecting this "fair notice" defense, but Ripple's legal status should not have "broad uncertainty". The SEC also questioned whether Ripple might maintain its original position in the future, although Ripple has not violated any rules since the XRP lawsuit was launched in 2020. According to the remedy brief, Ripple attempted to downplay its responsibility while emphasizing its cooperation with the SEC since the XRP ICO in 2013. However, the SEC emphasized that under the law, even if Ripple has not engaged in any violations since 2020, the next violation is still expected to be possible. (Cointelegraph)

Privacy Layer 1 network Swisstronik has announced on social media that it has completed a $5 million seed round of financing. Two investors, Constantin Guggi and Anton Polianski, have joined the team as co-founders and executives.

Chris Rhine, the Managing Director of Galaxy, stated at the "Institutionalization of Digital Assets" roundtable at Token2049 in Singapore: The original cryptocurrency investors are very concerned about decentralization, but when you really want to expand a technology, you need to provide protection for users. My view is that to truly make cryptocurrencies mainstream, more centralization needs to be introduced.

Several Ethereum liquid staking providers, including Rocket Pool, StakeWise, Stader Labs, Diva Staking, and Puffer Finance, have committed to or are in the process of committing to a self-limit rule that promises not to own more than 22% of the Ethereum staking market. This move is aimed at ensuring the decentralization of the Ethereum network. The proposal was put forward by Ethereum core developer Superphiz in May 2022, and the self-limit was set at 22% because at least four major entities would have to collude for the chain to reach finalization.