Crypto Morning Brief: U.S. Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair; a16z Becomes Largest Donor to U.S. Midterm Elections
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Crypto Morning Brief: U.S. Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair; a16z Becomes Largest Donor to U.S. Midterm Elections
Jupiter partners with Bitwise to launch an institutional-focused, standalone USDe lending market on Solana.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: TechFlow
Yesterday’s Market Highlights
U.S. Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair
According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair by a narrow 54–45 vote—the smallest margin in the history of Fed chair confirmations. Warsh will officially assume office upon completion of White House signing procedures, succeeding current Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends this Friday (May 15).
The appointment is viewed as one of the most contentious Federal Reserve leadership transitions in decades and a critical test of the Fed’s political independence. Market attention centers on Democratic concerns that Warsh may align with Donald Trump to push for rapid interest rate cuts.
U.S. EIA Crude Oil Inventories for Week Ending May 8: –4.306 Million Barrels, vs. Expected –2.051 Million Barrels
U.S. EIA crude oil inventories for the week ending May 8 declined by 4.306 million barrels, compared to an expected decline of 2.051 million barrels and a prior reading of –2.313 million barrels.
U.S. April PPI Annual Rate Hits Over-Three-Year High
The U.S. April PPI annual rate came in at 6%, the highest since December 2022 and above the market expectation of 4.9%.
Fidelity International’s First Tokenized Fund FILQ Receives Moody’s Highest AAA–mf Rating
According to The Block, Fidelity International’s first tokenized fund—the Fidelity USD Digital Liquidity Fund (FILQ)—has received Moody’s Ratings’ highest possible rating, AAA–mf. Launched on May 6, FILQ operates under the same low-volatility net asset value (NAV) money market investment strategy as its underlying fund, which manages nearly $7 billion in assets. Sygnum provides the tokenization infrastructure, while Chainlink delivers official daily NAV data sourced from JPMorgan, enabling investors to subscribe to and redeem shares 24/7 using stablecoins. The fund’s tokens are issued as ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum.
YZi Labs Announces Graduating Cohort of 25 Teams for EASY Residency Season 3, Spanning Onchain Finance, AI, and RWAs
YZi Labs has announced the graduating cohort of 25 teams from its flagship incubation program, EASY Residency Season 3. Selected projects span onchain financial market structure, AI agents, verifiable intelligence, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, prediction markets, privacy-compliant infrastructure, and onchain financial consumer access points.
The 25 projects include: Bank of AI—identity and payment infrastructure for BNB Chain AI agents; Brief Tech—a legal evidence indexing tool for litigation workflows; Cournot—an AI probabilistic output verification and reasoning platform; Dapital—a financialized social network and trading platform; Flap—programmable token issuance infrastructure; GEMINT—a blockchain-based marketplace for collectibles and intellectual property assets; LayerV—an onchain options and structured products platform; LunarBase—a CEX-grade onchain liquidity platform; L7—a multi-market agent capital acquisition platform; Möbius—a DeFi unified margin layer; Nemesis—a permissionless margin trading protocol; Newsliquid—an AI agent-driven automated financial decision execution layer; Openstocks—a DeFi platform offering tokenized exposure to private markets; PokerFi—an onchain poker skill-game options market; Polysights—automation and intelligent infrastructure for prediction markets; Renaiss—RWA liquidity infrastructure for physical collectibles; TermMax—a fixed-rate decentralized lending platform; 0xBow—a compliance-oriented digital asset privacy infrastructure; Functor—a self-hosted authorization layer for AI agent workflows; Isaac—a new Sharia-compliant, interest-free stablecoin bank for Muslim markets; MARGIN X—a BNB Chain onchain prime brokerage platform; Orbswap—an N-dimensional AMM enabling frictionless stablecoin swaps; SilentSwap—a compliance-oriented cross-chain privacy swap protocol; Taco AI—an AI agent trading and automation infrastructure for crypto markets; and Vibe.fun—an onchain event-driven derivatives platform.
Jupiter Partners with Bitwise to Launch Institutional-Only USDe Lending Market on Solana
According to The Block, Solana infrastructure provider Jupiter has partnered with Fluid and Bitwise to launch an institutional-only USDe lending market on Jupiter Lend. This marks the first time an institutional asset manager has co-designed a market on Jupiter Lend. The market is isolated from Jupiter Lend’s existing liquidity layers to mitigate potential risks to institutional capital; Fluid provides lending and collateral infrastructure support. The launch offers USDe holders a yield-generating channel. USDe, issued by Ethena Labs, launched in early 2024 and briefly became the third-largest stablecoin by mid-2025.
Solana’s P-Token Upgrade Goes Live on Mainnet, Boosting Transaction Efficiency Up to 20x
According to SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor), Solana’s P-Token upgrade has officially gone live on mainnet. The upgrade reduces token instruction computation costs by approximately 96% and unlocks 12–13% additional block space without altering block limits—enabling up to a 20x improvement in transaction efficiency.
Charles Schwab Officially Launches Crypto Accounts for Retail Clients, Enabling Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading
Charles Schwab is rolling out its Schwab Crypto™ accounts to retail clients. Starting today, select clients can trade Bitcoin and Ethereum directly on the Charles Schwab platform and manage them alongside their other investment products.
a16z Emerges as Largest Donor in Current U.S. Midterm Election Cycle, Disclosing Over $115 Million in Federal Contributions
According to The New York Times, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and its co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have disclosed over $115 million in federal contributions during this midterm election cycle—surpassing George Soros ($102.9 million), Elon Musk ($85 million), and Jeff Yass ($81.8 million)—making a16z the largest known political donor in this cycle.
This represents a significant increase from a16z’s ~$63 million in contributions during the 2024 election cycle. Notably, on November 6, 2024—the day after the U.S. general election—a16z contributed over $23 million to major cryptocurrency industry super PACs, signaling a clear long-term strategic political agenda.
French Crypto Hardware Wallet Firm Ledger Suspends U.S. IPO Plans Amid Unfavorable Market Conditions
According to CoinDesk, French crypto hardware wallet company Ledger has suspended its planned U.S. initial public offering (IPO) due to unfavorable market conditions. Sources indicate Ledger had previously targeted a valuation of ~$4 billion and engaged Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Barclays as IPO advisors—but has not yet filed any registration documents with the SEC. The company may now pivot toward private fundraising. Earlier, Kraken similarly paused its IPO citing market conditions, while publicly listed BitGo’s stock price has fallen ~36% from its IPO price, reflecting broad cooling of crypto firms’ enthusiasm for U.S. listings.
Ethereum Application Developer Consensys Delays IPO Plans Amid Challenging Market Conditions
According to CoinDesk, Ethereum application developer Consensys has delayed its planned initial public offering (IPO) following a notable downturn in crypto markets in February 2026. Sources say Consensys had originally intended to confidentially file its S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) around late February—typically the first formal step in the IPO process. A Consensys spokesperson declined to comment on market speculation. The report notes that although increased regulatory clarity in the U.S. has prompted several crypto firms to pursue listings, prolonged market weakness has already led Kraken and Ledger to suspend their IPO plans.Market Data
Recommended Reading
Interview with Bitget CEO Gracy: Printing “Misunderstandings” on Culture Bags, Responding to the World with Humor
https://www.techflowpost.com/zh-CN/article/31546
This is an exclusive interview with Bitget CEO Gracy, covering her personal growth journey, corporate strategy, insights into the crypto industry, and perspectives on future trends. She recounts her transformation—from navigating public scrutiny to professional advancement—and details Bitget’s concrete initiatives and future roadmap across global expansion, the UEX strategy, the RWA wave, the IPO Prime program, and AI technology adoption.
New Interview with CZ: 76 Days in Prison, One Presidential Pardon—I Still Devote 80% of My Energy to Blockchain
https://www.techflowpost.com/zh-CN/article/31553
This article provides a detailed account of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s (CZ) in-depth interview with CNBC crypto trader Ran Neuner. Topics covered include CZ’s incarceration experience, the presidential pardon process, family relationships, business reflections, views on wealth and legacy, and insights into the crypto industry and future technologies. It also discusses CZ’s new book, *Financial Freedom*, and his outlook on blockchain, AI, and cryptocurrencies.
Anthropic Rejects Chinese Think Tank’s Request to Access Its Most Advanced AI Model, Mythos—U.S.–China AI Rivalry Escalates
https://www.techflowpost.com/zh-CN/article/31549
This article reports that representatives from a Chinese think tank requested access to Anthropic’s latest AI model, Claude Mythos, during a closed-door conference in Singapore—but were denied. The incident triggered high-level concern at the U.S. National Security Council. Claude Mythos is considered “digital weapon-grade” technology, primarily used for cybersecurity, and is currently accessible only to roughly 40 U.S. and U.K. institutions. China has been excluded and designated a “strategic competitor.” With former President Trump planning a visit to China—potentially including AI-related discussions—the U.S. hopes to open communication channels on AI with China, though it remains skeptical about Beijing’s true intentions.
SK Hynix Called a “Traitor to Capitalists”—Samsung Employees Stage Major Strike
https://www.techflowpost.com/zh-CN/article/31547
This article discusses Samsung Electronics’ anticipated 18-day large-scale strike scheduled for May 21, following failed labor negotiations, which could disrupt global DRAM and NAND production capacity and reduce Samsung Electronics’ full-year operating profit by over ₩40 trillion. The union demands that 13% of the semiconductor division’s operating profit be included in the annualized profit-sharing agreement, whereas management has offered only a one-time bonus—leaving the two sides deadlocked. As AI supply chain talent scarcity revalues specialized roles, internal profit distribution will become a key issue for companies over the coming years.
Eight Days Until Samsung’s 40,000-Worker Strike—Retail Investors on Reddit Target Micron for “$1,300”?
https://www.techflowpost.com/zh-CN/article/31559
Negotiations between Samsung Electronics and its union have collapsed, triggering an anticipated 18-day strike involving 40,000 employees starting May 21. This has drawn market attention to memory chip supply chains—particularly Micron Technology’s stock, which surged ~140% over the past month. Reddit communities view Micron as the “purest play” on the Samsung strike, citing its U.S.-based manufacturing facilities and absence of Korean labor risks. However, significant risks remain: if the strike is resolved quickly, Micron’s stock could face sharp correction. Additionally, memory chip market cyclicality and reassessment of strike-related risk premiums pose further downside risks.
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