On May 8, the global crypto market capitalization slipped 1.2% to $2.73 trillion, with total trading volume of $106.29 billion. Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $79,783.4, down 1.81%, maintaining a dominance of 58.4%; Ethereum (ETH) fell 2.07% to $2,284.5, representing 10.1% of the market. The Fear & Greed Index dropped sharply to 38 (Fear) from 47 (Neutral) the previous day, driven by profit-taking, elevated volatility, and macro uncertainty.
Top Gainers: Nillion Soars 68%, dYdX and Siren Climb
Nillion (NIL) led the market with a 68.02% surge to $0.07236, fueled by $245.99 million in trading volume. dYdX (DYDX) jumped 33.15% to $0.1966 on $68.9 million volume. Siren (SIREN) skyrocketed 21.21% to $0.9882, with $73.44 million traded. Test (TST) rallied 28% to $0.02457, Ondo (ONDO) gained 8.98% to $0.3475, and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) rose 8.08% to $0.07295. Billions Network (BILL) edged up 3.26% to $0.07286.
Top Losers: SKYAI Drops 25%, Morpho and DOGE Weaken
On the downside, SKYAI (SKYAI) plunged 25.84% to $0.5648 on $145.35 million volume. Morpho (MORPHO) declined 5.91% to $2.09, while Dogecoin (DOGE) fell 4.16% to $0.1065. Stablecoin market cap stood at $318 billion, up 0.1% in 24 hours. The DeFi sector recorded a $57.2 billion market cap, down 0.1%, representing 2.1% of the total market.
Institutional & Regulatory Moves: Tether Blacklists, Block Raises Guidance, Wall Street Hires
Tether blacklisted 384 addresses on Ethereum and Tron over 30 days, freezing approximately $515 million in assets, mostly on Tron. Block lifted its full-year gross profit forecast to $12.3 billion, citing AI tools improving efficiency at Cash App and Square. BlackRock submitted comments to the OCC arguing that stablecoins could enhance payments and enable real-time settlement under proper regulation. Major Wall Street banks including JPMorgan, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Fidelity are increasing crypto job hires, prioritizing traditional finance expertise over crypto-specific skills.
ETF & DeFi: Bitwise Fund, 21Shares Canton ETF, Aave Proposal Passes
Bitwise launched the USCC tokenized crypto carry fund with Superstate, managing over $267 million in assets across BTC, ETH, XRP, and SOL strategies. The 21Shares Canton Network ETF, the first ETF offering direct exposure to the $5.6 billion Canton Coin, debuted on Nasdaq under ticker TCAN. Aave's governance proposal to recover DeFi United's Mantle DAO from the rsETH incident passed quorum, receiving 110.1 million MNT votes. Coinbase reported Q1 revenue fell 31% to $1.41 billion, with expenses rising $394 million, resulting in a $394 million loss tied to Morgan Stanley ETrade restructuring. BitMine holds 5.1 million ETH (~4.29% of supply), with 85% staked, projected to generate over $300 million annual revenue, though its buyback and accumulation pace may slow. Security researcher ZachXBT offered a $10,000 bounty for information on LAB token market manipulation allegations involving exchanges Bitget, Binance, OKX, and Bybit, with Vova Sadkov implicated.