The Blockchain Bulletin May 15: CryptoPunks Moves to Nonprofit

Hey folks! Welcome to the latest edition of the Blockchain Bulletin, where we bring out valuable insights taking place in the market within 24 hours. In a notable move, the Infinite Node Foundation announced on May 13 its acquisition of the intellectual property rights to CryptoPunks. Sold by Yuga Labs, which originally acquired the collection from Larva Labs in 2022, the deal places one of the most historically significant NFT projects in nonprofit hands. Created in 2017 by Matt Hall and John Watkinson, CryptoPunks is a 10,000-piece pixel-art collection credited with kickstarting the modern digital art movement. In a significant moment for the fintech sector, eToro officially debuted on the Nasdaq under the ticker ETOR on May 14. The IPO was priced at $52 per share, surpassing the expected $46–$50 range, and raised $620 million through the sale of 11.92 million shares. The offering values the cryptocurrency trading platform at approximately $4.2 billion. Based in Israel and founded in 2007, eToro had previously attempted to go public via a SPAC merger in 2022 at a $10.4 billion valuation, which was ultimately canceled. This IPO marks the company’s first successful listing and places it among a small group of U.S.-listed crypto-adjacent firms alongside Coinbase and various mining operators.Related: Animoca Plans to Launch US IPO as Trump Boosts Crypto MarketEthereum is experiencing renewed strength following a breakout rally that lifted its price from $1,800 to nearly $2,700 over the past several days. As of press time, ETH is trading at $2,548, down 3.89% over the past 24 hours, but still holding above its 50-day and 100-day moving averages. The recent uptrend broke a multi-month downtrend channel, hinting at a possible structural shift in market sentiment. Though it briefly touched $2,725 on May 13 before a minor pullback, likely from short-term profit-taking, the 200-day EMA at $2,703 now serves as a key resistance level to watch. Strong trading volume continues to underscore active buying interest and market conviction.Andrew Peel, who led Morgan Stanley’s digital asset markets, has stepped down to launch a new tokenization venture in Zug, Switzerland. Peel has been a key advocate for integrating crypto into traditional banking and cited growing institutional support, including the success of spot Bitcoin ETFs, as validation of crypto’s staying power. The upcoming startup will focus on on-chain infrastructure for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, a space Peel believes is poised for convergence with traditional finance. “As RWAs move onchain, TradFi will follow,” he commented.In a strategic move, Synthetix has proposed a $27 million token swap to reacquire Derive (formerly Lyra), offering a 27:1 exchange ratio. If approved, the deal would involve issuing 29.3 million SNX tokens, inflating the current supply by 8.6%. The acquisition would bring Derive’s front-end expertise and real-world asset functionality back into Synthetix’s ecosystem, enhancing its mainnet derivatives infrastructure in time for the upcoming Synthetix V4 release.Related: Dubai Finance Partners with Crypto.com for Crypto PaymentsVanEck has launched its Onchain Economy ETF (NODE), now trading on the Cboe, thereby providing investors with exposure to blockchain-related companies like miners, exchanges, and fintech firms, without actually holding cryptocurrencies. In another development, FalconX prime brokerage has tied up with Standard Chartered for banking and FX services for institutional crypto clients. This initiative will first fly in Singapore, with subsequent launches in Asia, the Middle East, and the U.S., bridging major infrastructure gaps between digital and traditional finance.The post The Blockchain Bulletin May 15: CryptoPunks Moves to Nonprofit appeared first on Cryptotale.