Iran Fires Missile at UAE, Prompting Partial Airspace Closure

On May 5th, Alphabet—Google’s parent company—will raise at least €9 billion via a record-breaking euro bond issuance. (FX168)

May 5: Brent crude fell to $110/bbl, down 2.08% intraday, per Bitget market data. WTI crude dropped below $104/bbl, with a 2.10% daily decline. News: U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth said two U.S. commercial ships and a Navy destroyer have safely transited the Strait of Hormuz, with hundreds of global vessels still waiting to pass. “The two commercial ships, plus the destroyer, safely transited the strait—proving the waterway is open,” Hegseth stated. “We know Iran is embarrassed by this. They claim to control the strait, but that’s not the case.”

On May 5, S&P 500 futures extended gains to a midday high of 0.5%. (Jinse)

On May 5, a16z announced the launch of its $2.2 billion fifth crypto fund, Crypto Fund 5, which will invest in blockchain startups across all stages over the next decade. Partner Chris Dixon, among others, noted that while current market sentiment is relatively low and venture capital (VC) funding has partially shifted toward AI, the crypto industry’s “fundamentals are at a historical high,” positioning it well for long-term value creation. The fund will focus on practical applications built on crypto infrastructure—including stablecoins, payments, financial services, and decentralized systems—while also targeting niche areas like perpetual contracts, on-chain lending, prediction markets, and asset tokenization. a16z noted that the stablecoin market has grown to roughly $320 billion and continues to expand in cross-border payments and everyday transactions. As AI systems grow more complex and trust concerns intensify, the value of crypto networks for providing transparency and

On May 5, Chiara Scotti, Deputy Governor of Italy’s Central Bank, said Europe should assess whether extending the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) to tokenized payments is feasible to keep the euro at the center of the digital financial system. Scotti noted SEPA’s scalability, standardization, and interoperability make it a critical foundation for tokenized payments. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) is pushing forward several related initiatives: the distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based settlement pilot “Pontes,” slated to launch in Q3 2026, and the long-term roadmap for a tokenized financial system, “Appia,” targeted for completion by 2028. The ECB has repeatedly flagged risks tied to stablecoins, arguing widespread use could trigger bank deposit outflows, erode banks’ lending capacity, and pose a potential threat to euro currency sovereignty. Officials emphasized tokenized central bank money could serve as key infrastructure to enable tokenized deposits and stabl

On May 5th, reports indicate that despite Polymarket being banned by the Netherlands’ gambling regulator in February this year, local users still access prediction market trading via alternative platforms. Investigations show platforms like Kalshi, Hyperliquid, and Interactive Brokers continue offering such services to Dutch users. The Netherlands’ gambling authority (Kansspelautoriteit) has previously noted similar platforms could face regulation and penalties. Some platforms even offer prediction contracts for Dutch local events—like football leagues and elections—signaling active expansion into the market. Meanwhile, the regulator acknowledges blocking measures can still be bypassed, including via VPNs. Overall, prediction markets are seeing a global push for stricter regulation. Countries including the Netherlands, Brazil, and several European nations have taken action to ban or penalize unlicensed platforms, though industry compliance and regulatory oversight issues remain h