🌎 Cryptocurrency Market Update: Do Kwon’s Legal Battle, Market Turbulence, and Regulatory Challenges

Last week, Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon made headlines, while spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a bearish trend. Ethereum is also facing regulatory scrutiny.

Do Kwon’s Legal Battle

A court in Montenegro rejected Do Kwon’s appeal against his extradition to South Korea. Despite this, Montenegro’s prosecutor’s office criticized the decision, claiming it was illegal. U.S. authorities are also seeking to appeal the extradition ruling. Recent reports suggest that Do Kwon’s extradition may be put on hold, allowing the Terra founder to be released from prison after serving his sentence for possession of illegal documents.

Market Turbulence and Investor Sentiment

The cryptocurrency market witnessed bearish consolidation, resulting in a $140 billion loss in market capitalization. Bitcoin led the decline with a 4% drop, closing the week at $65,000. Despite this, industry leaders like Binance’s CEO Richard Teng and MicroStrategy remained optimistic about Bitcoin’s future, with predictions of reaching $80,000 and continued investment in the asset.

The stablecoin market surpassed $150 billion, indicating increased buying power among market participants. New meme coins like SLERF gained traction, with one Solana-based token raising $10 million in a pre-sale before the funds were burned.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs Outflows

Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw record outflows of $2.9 billion last week, followed by $742 million this week. The consecutive outflows led to an 8% drop in the broader crypto market, with outflows exceeding $836 million.

Ethereum Regulatory Challenges

The Ethereum Foundation faced investigation by a “state authority” amid rumors of pending Ethereum spot ETF launches. The U.S. SEC postponed decisions on VanEck and Grayscale’s ETF filings to May 23 and May 30, respectively.

Global Regulatory Actions

Recent enforcement actions included the arrest of an altcoin issuer in South Korea for a $16.1 million fraud and the arrest of a British citizen in the UK over a $6 billion Chinese scam.