TL;DR
The S&P 500 closed above 7,200 for the first time, while Big Tech hyperscalers reported Q1 2026 earnings above consensus estimates.
The Federal Reserve held policy rates at 3.50%–3.75%, with four dissents, marking the most divided Federal Open Market Committee since 1992.
WTI crude oil surged to approximately $105 midweek on a Hormuz-related supply shock, before retracing to $101.94 following Iran’s peace proposal, which was subsequently rejected by Donald Trump.
STRC traded below par for a second consecutive week, leading to a halt in ATM issuance and no incremental Bitcoin purchases, while its dividend yield remained at 11.5%.
Despite flat performance across the top 30 assets, TAO outperformed, driven by Bittensor’s subnet expansion upgrade.
Four Pillars raised a Series A round to expand institutional blockchain research and infrastructure capabilities.
Belo raised $14M in a Series A round led by Tether, aiming to scale stablecoin payment infrastructure across Latin America.
Macro Overview
S&P 500 and Nasdaq Rise on Tech Earnings While Dow Lags, PMI and Labor Data Exceed Expectations, Showing Economic Resilience
The S&P 500 closed at 7,230 on Friday, surpassing the 7,200 level for the first time in its history and gaining +0.91% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite reached 25,114 (+1.10% WoW), marking its second consecutive all-time record close. The catalyst was a near-perfect sweep of hyperscaler earnings: Apple reported fiscal Q2 2026 revenue of $111.2 billion (vs. $109.7B estimate) with EPS of $2.01, driving a 3%+ single-day gain. Alphabet’s Google Cloud surged 63% YoY, Meta raised its 2026 capex guidance signaling AI infrastructure confidence, and Amazon’s AWS re-accelerated. Microsoft’s Azure commentary was constructive. The combination of strong earnings and easing Hormuz risk on Friday sealed April as the strongest month for U.S. equities since 2020. The Dow Jones added +0.81% to 41,150 while the Russell 2000 gained +0.76%.
The preliminary Q1 2026 GDP reading came in at +2.0% year-over-year, modestly below the +2.3% consensus but still indicating positive growth momentum. March PCE price index jumped to 3.5% from 2.8% the prior month, reflecting the surging fuel costs from the Iran-Hormuz supply shock. Core PCE (excluding food and energy) rose to 3.2% from 3.0%, remaining well above the Fed’s 2% target.
Weekly initial jobless claims came in at 241K, above the prior 226K, consistent with the stagnating labor market. Average monthly job additions have been slowing to 14,800 over the past six months, below the 175K–200K typical of expansionary periods. The data paints a picture of stagflation, with slowing growth and rising inflation.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted to hold the federal funds rate at 3.50%–3.75% at its April 28–29 meeting, but the 4-dissent vote was the most internally fractured decision in over three decades. Three regional Fed presidents dissented against the easing bias embedded in the policy statement, arguing that oil-driven inflation and geopolitical uncertainty require keeping all policy options open. And one dissented in the opposite direction, favoring a 25-bps cut. Kevin Warsh’s nomination advanced through the Senate Banking Committee. With the history of emphasizing inflation control over growth accommodation, Kevin Warsh has been deemed a hawkish successor. Markets repriced the June cut probability lower in response. Polymarket currently shows a 96% probability for the Fed to remain at the same rate in June.
Oil prices experienced extreme volatility last week as the Strait of Hormuz disruption triggered the largest supply shock in history. WTI crude peaked at $105, while Brent touched $126.41, as exports plummeted to just 4% of normal levels. Prices retreated slightly after Iran submitted a peace proposal, but the US rejected it, maintaining the naval blockade. Elevated energy costs are now directly fueling global inflation and complicating central bank policies. The outlook remains precarious as Goldman Sachs warns that this disruption could persist for months and keep a massive risk premium embedded in energy markets.
Looking ahead, investors will focus sharply on the ISM Services PMI to determine whether consumer-driven economic activity will sustain momentum amid rising inflation and slowing GDP. A softer reading could reinforce stagflation concerns, while resilience would support risk assets. The ADP employment report will serve as a key precursor to the nonfarm payrolls release, providing early signals on labor market strength and wage pressures. Both of which are inputs for Fed policy deliberations. Fed Governor Christopher Waller’s speech will be the first major communication under the Warsh era, making it a pivotal moment to discern any shifts in the Fed’s hawkish stance or indications of policy path adjustments. (1)
DXY
The DXY weakened to 98.211 despite the Fed’s hawkish dissents, as Q1 GDP fell short of expectations and rising oil prices weighed on the dollar’s growth premium. The index found support near 98.00 as Warsh’s nomination advanced, with markets beginning to price a more hawkish Fed trajectory under the incoming chair. (2)
US 10-Year and 30-Year Bond Yields
Yields rose modestly as the FOMC’s 3-dissent reinforced a ‘higher for longer’ narrative. The March PCE jumped to 3.5% added to the inflation premium in longer-dated bonds. Powell’s confirmation of his departure and Warsh’s hawkish stance on incoming kept the yield-curve steepening bias intact. (3)
Gold
Gold retreated consecutively as Big Tech earnings drove risk appetite higher, temporarily reducing safe-haven demand. However, Hormuz geopolitical premium, central bank buying, and capped real yields might still drive the gold price higher. (4)
Crypto Markets Overview
Main Assets
ETH/BTC Ratio
BTC remained largely flat last week, edging up only 0.11%, while ETH declined 1.9%. Spot BTC ETFs recorded net inflows of US$153.9M, whereas spot ETH ETFs saw net outflows of US$82.5M. (5)
Meanwhile, the ETH/BTC ratio fell 1.9% to 0.029. Market sentiment also weakened slightly, with the Fear & Greed Index dropping back into the Fear zone at 40. (6)
Total Market Cap
Crypto Total Marketcap
Crypto Total Marketcap Excluding BTC and ETH
Crypto Total Marketcap Excluding Top 10 Dominance
Total market cap also remained broadly flat last week, edging down only 0.6%. Market cap excluding BTC and ETH followed a similar trend, dipping 1.1%, while altcoin market cap excluding the top 10 declined 1.8%.
STRC Performance
STRC recorded US$882M in trading volume last week, with all trades executed below its US$100 par value. This marked the second consecutive week of trading below par, resulting in no ATM issuance during the week.
Still, Strategy kept STRC’s dividend unchanged at 11.5% for May, marking the third consecutive month at the same rate following earlier increases.
Among Strategy’s financial instruments, STRC accounted for 79% of total trading volume, down from 85% the previous week. The next largest were SATA (Strategy’s variable-rate perpetual preferred stock) at 13.5% and STRK (Convertible perpetual preferred stock) at 3.4%. (7)
With no ATM issuance and at the Strategy’s discretion, no Bitcoin was purchased last week.
Top 30 Crypto Assets Performance
Source: Coinmarketcap and Gate Ventures, as of 4th May 2026
Among the top 30 assets, prices surged 0.1% on average; DOGE, ZCash, and TAO led the gain.
Bittensor rose 14.1% last week, driven mainly by Opentensor’s Robin τ upgrade, which doubles subnet capacity from 128 to 256 and opens 128 new slots for AI builders competing for TAO emissions. (8)
The Key Crypto Highlights
US finalizes stablecoin yield rules under CLARITY Act, advancing toward legislation
The US has released the final stablecoin yield provisions under the CLARITY Act, marking a key step toward broader crypto regulatory clarity and potential passage in 2026. The updated text prohibits crypto firms from offering interest or yield simply for holding payment stablecoins, aligning them more closely with non-interest-bearing payment instruments, while still allowing rewards tied to "bona fide" onchain activities such as network usage or platform engagement. The compromise reflects ongoing tensions between the crypto industry and traditional banking sector, with banks successfully pushing for tighter restrictions to protect deposit competitiveness. (9)
Spain emerges as leading EURC retail market in Europe
Brighty data shows Spain leading retail usage of Circle’s EURC in Europe, accounting for about 36% of EURC transactions and 25% of volume across 2025 and Q1 2026. Average transaction size in Spain was around €49, suggesting EURC is being used more for everyday payments, peer-to-peer transfers and card-based spending rather than large-value transfers. The data offers an early look at euro stablecoin adoption under MiCA, with Spain standing out as an early retail hub while EURC remains small compared with US dollar stablecoins such as USDC and USDT. (10)
Solana clients Anza and Firedancer introduce post-quantum solution Falcon
Solana validator clients Anza and Firedancer have implemented a test version of Falcon, a post-quantum signature solution designed to prepare the network for future quantum threats without materially affecting performance. Falcon-512 is positioned as suitable for high-throughput blockchain use, with Jump Crypto noting that it has the smallest signature size among NIST-selected post-quantum signature standards, helping reduce bandwidth and storage pressure. The move reflects growing industry focus on quantum-resistant cryptography, though Falcon is currently a readiness measure rather than an immediate network-wide migration. (11)
Key Ventures Deals
Four Pillars raises Series A to expand institutional blockchain research and infrastructure
Blockchain research firm Four Pillars has raised a Series A round backed by Pantera Capital and Further Ventures to scale into an institutional-focused blockchain research and infrastructure provider. The firm plans to expand beyond research into a three-part platform including FP Research, FP Validated, and FP Institution. The move reflects growing demand for institutional-grade intelligence and infrastructure as capital flows onchain, with Four Pillars positioning itself as a cross-market interface addressing fragmentation between Asia and global crypto ecosystems. (12)
Liquid raises $18M Series A to build multi-asset leveraged trading platform
Exchange startup Liquid raised $18 million in a Series A round co-led by Neo and Left Lane Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures, K5 Global, SV Angel, AntiFund and Sunflower Capital, to expand its 24/7 leveraged trading platform across crypto, stocks, commodities, prediction markets, FX and private secondaries. Originally launched as a crypto derivatives aggregator, Liquid is positioning itself as a general-purpose exchange for cross-asset retail traders, offering a simplified interface and leverage of up to 200x in certain jurisdictions as crypto-native platforms increasingly move beyond crypto-only trading. (13)
Belo raises $14M Series A led by Tether to scale stablecoin payments across LatAm
Argentine crypto fintech Belo raised $14 million in a Series A round led by Tether, with participation from Titan Fund, The Venture City, Mindset Ventures, G2 and existing investors, to expand its stablecoin-based cross-border money platform across Latin America. Founded in Buenos Aires, Belo combines Argentine pesos, Brazilian real, USDC, USDT and Bitcoin in one wallet, alongside a crypto Mastercard and Pix-enabled payments, aiming to simplify international transfers, FX conversion and local spending. The funding will support expansion into Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay, while deepening its presence in Brazil. (14)
Ventures Market Metrics
The number of deals closed in the previous week was 15, with Infra having 8 deals, Social having 4 deals, DeFi having 2 deals, and Data having 1 deal.
Weekly Venture Deal Summary, Source: Cryptorank and Gate Ventures, as of 4th May 2026
The total amount of disclosed funding raised in the previous week was $167.2M, 4 deals in the previous week didn’t announce the raised amount. The top funding came from the Infra sector with $133.7M. Most funded deals: Fun ($72M).
Weekly Venture Deal Summary, Source: Cryptorank and Gate Ventures, as of 4th May 2026
Total weekly fundraising surged to $167.2M for the first week of May-2026, an increase of 205% compared to the week prior.
About Gate Ventures
Gate Ventures, the venture capital arm of Gate.com, is focused on investments in decentralized infrastructure, middleware, and applications that will reshape the world in the Web 3.0 age. Working with industry leaders across the globe, Gate Ventures helps promising teams and startups that possess the ideas and capabilities needed to redefine social and financial interactions.
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Reference:
S&P Global Week Ahead Economic Preview: https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/2026/05/week-ahead-economic-preview-week-of-4-may-2026
DXY Index, TradingView: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/z1UD772v/?symbol=TVC%3ADXY
US 10 Year Bond Yield, TradingView: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/B9cgEklh/?symbol=TVC%3AUS10Y
Gold Price, TradingView: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/z1UD772v/?symbol=TVC%3AGOLD
BTC & ETH ETF Inflow: https://sosovalue.com/tc/assets/etf/us-btc-spot
BTC Greed and Fear Index: https://alternative.me/crypto/fear-and-greed-index/
Micro Strategy STRC Dashboard: https://bitcoinquant.co/company/MSTR
Opentensor’s Robin τ upgrade: https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/69f7e05ac55c8d1a2ac20598/
US finalizes stablecoin yield rules under CLARITY Act, advancing toward legislation: https://cointelegraph.com/news/go-time-after-clarity-act-stablecoin-yield-compromise-finalized
Spain emerges as leading EURC retail market in Europe: https://cointelegraph.com/news/spain-leading-eurc-retail-market-europe-brighty-data
Solana clients Anza and Firedancer introduce post-quantum solution Falcon: https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-introduces-post-quantum-solution-falcon-on-two-validator-clients
Four Pillars raises Series A to expand institutional blockchain research and infrastructure: https://x.com/FourPillarsFP/status/2048576397288050929?s=20
Liquid raises $18M Series A to build multi-asset leveraged trading platform: https://fortune.com/2026/04/28/liquid-18-million-leveraged-trading/
Belo raises $14M Series A led by Tether to scale stablecoin payments across LatAm: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/04/28/tether-leads-belo-s-usd14-million-raise-to-expand-stablecoin-payments-across-latin-america
