Gate Research Institute: Grayscale Launches AI Asset Zone | Trump Media Group Invests $2.5 Billion to Build Bitcoin Vault

Summary

• BTC fell back after breaking 110,000 USD, with a focus on short-term volatility.
• The ETH/BTC exchange rate has slightly rebounded, with $2,700 serving as a short-term resistance level for ETH.
• Grayscale launched the AI asset segment, including tokens such as VIRTUAL, KAITO, AIXBT.
• Trump Media Technology Group announces the launch of a $2.5 billion Bitcoin treasury plan.
• The SOL supply on CEX has dropped to 27.01 million coins, approaching the lowest point in October 2022.
• Gate Launchpool has launched ELDE, with a total prize pool of 1,000,000 ELDE.

Market Interpretation

Market Commentary

• BTC Market —— After BTC continuously broke through the 111,000 USD mark, it failed to effectively stabilize and experienced a pullback, continuing to consolidate around recent highs in the short term. The daily chart shows a long lower shadow, indicating that buying support remains strong below. There is a demand for profit-taking after breaking the historical high, which makes the market lack momentum for sustained upward movement in the short term. Currently, the support level for BTC is at 107,000 USD, while the resistance level is focused on 111,000 USD. Although ETF net inflows have continued, they have not brought about any significant sustained upward momentum. Overall, BTC is expected to consolidate and oscillate in a high range in the short term.
• **ETH market —— **Recently, the ETH market has fluctuated with the broader market as a whole, trying to break through the $2,700 and $2,600 marks many times but failing to effectively stabilize, and then falling into a range-bound consolidation, which is currently mainly around the $2,500 mark. The ETH/BTC exchange rate continued to fall after a short-term rebound, last trading near 0.025, and its market share continued to increase to 9.7%. Although spot ETF funds continue to net inflow, which supports the market, the fundamental momentum is still insufficient, and ETH has not seen an obvious trend breakthrough for the time being, and it may remain volatile in the short term.
• **Altcoins —— **Recently, the altcoin market has shown a collective pullback after a general increase, with overall performance exhibiting significant volatility. The Altcoin Season Index once rose to 27, but has since fallen consecutively, currently dropping to the range of 23-25, reflecting a decrease in market enthusiasm. Although certain segments remain active, the overall sentiment in the altcoin market is leaning towards caution, and it may continue to maintain a pattern of adjustment and differentiation in the short term.
• Futures Market —— Over the past week, BTC has shown a continuous net inflow trend, demonstrating strong demand from institutional funds. Major ETF products have taken turns contributing to net inflows, and market sentiment appears positive.
• Macroeconomic Data —— Influenced by the easing dynamics of the US-EU trade situation, major global stock indices experienced widespread increases this week. Previously, former US President Trump announced a 50% tariff on EU goods, but following a call with the President of the European Commission, the implementation date for the tariff was postponed to July 9, injecting new momentum into trade negotiations. Overall, global market sentiment is affected by policy uncertainty and liquidity, and volatility may still persist in the short term.
• Stablecoins —— The total market capitalization of stablecoins increased slightly by 0.73% to $247 billion, with more incremental funds flowing in from the over-the-counter market.
• Gas Fee —— With the overall market warming up, Ethereum on-chain trading activities have recently become noticeably more active. As of May 29, the average Gas fee for the day was 3.72 Gwei.

Popular Concepts

This week, Bitcoin is oscillating in a high range, while altcoins are fluctuating without showing a clear collective rise. According to Coingecko data, AI Agents, DID, and DeFi sectors outperformed the market average this week, with increases of approximately 9.7%, 8.7%, and 5.7% over the past seven days, respectively. The commonality among these three major sectors is that they all have a high level of technological or narrative development and belong to recent hot tracks.

AI Agents

AI Agents are becoming a key innovative driving force in the cryptocurrency market. Through intelligent algorithms, data analysis, and automated trading, they optimize decision-making and operational efficiency for market participants. AI Agents can be used for market forecasting, risk management, arbitrage opportunity identification, and even driving the automated governance of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Their high-speed execution capabilities and data processing capabilities give them a competitive edge in highly volatile markets, attracting widespread attention from both institutional and retail investors. — The sector has seen a growth of 9.7% over the past 7 days, with JAM, ARBUS, JOS, and others performing notably.

DID

The DID (Decentralized Identity) sector is an important component of the Web3 ecosystem, aiming to achieve user autonomy over identity data and privacy protection through blockchain technology. DID projects utilize distributed ledgers to provide users with verifiable digital identities, replacing traditional centralized identity management, and are widely applied in areas such as DeFi, NFTs, the metaverse, and cross-chain interactions. Through mechanisms like encryption technology and zero-knowledge proofs, the security and anonymity of identity verification are ensured, promoting data sovereignty and the proliferation of decentralized applications. — In the past 7 days, this sector has seen an increase of 8.7%, with BYB, WCT, LGX, and others performing notably.

DeFi

The DeFi sector is a core area of the cryptocurrency market, providing intermediary-free financial services through blockchain technology and smart contracts. DeFi reshapes traditional finance, covering lending, trading, derivatives, stablecoins, and Yield Farming, emphasizing transparency, accessibility, and decentralization. Protocols like Uniswap, Aave, and MakerDAO attract global users through automation and community governance, promoting financial inclusion. The high yield potential and innovative characteristics of DeFi make it a market hotspot, but it also comes with risks such as smart contract vulnerabilities and high volatility. — In the past 7 days, this sector has risen by 5.7%, with outstanding performances from ZBCN, TRB, SYRUP, and others.

This Week's Focus

Grayscale launches AI asset sector, including VIRTUAL, KAITO, AIXBT, etc.

Grayscale announced the launch of its AI crypto sector on May 28, 2025, as the sixth sector, which includes 20 assets with a total market capitalization of approximately $20 billion, accounting for 0.67% of the crypto market, making it the smallest sub-sector. The financial sector has a market capitalization of $519 billion, ranking third. The AI sector consolidates tokens that originally belonged to other sectors, with the index standards remaining unchanged. Grayscale believes that the AI sector is small in scale, reflecting that the projects are in the early stages.

Grayscale has set up a new AI crypto sector, focusing on 20 assets, with a market capitalization of $20 billion, which is small but highlights the potential of the integration of AI and blockchain. The sector size accounts for only 0.67%, reflecting the early characteristics of AI projects, with huge room for growth but also high risks. Consolidating existing tokens rather than adding them shows a cautious strategy to avoid market bubbles. Compared to the $519 billion in the financial sector, the AI sector is still in its infancy, and short-term speculation may push up prices, but long-term value needs to be supported by technology. Grayscale's move may lead the way for investment, but investors should be wary of the volatility and regulatory uncertainty of early-stage projects, and investors should be cautious in assessing.

Ondo Finance has launched an on-chain securities trading platform that supports public securities trading on Solana.

On May 23, according to SolanaFloor, Ondo Finance announced the launch of the "Ondo Global Markets" platform, which will support on-chain trading of public securities (including stocks) on the Solana blockchain. As competition intensifies for traditional financial markets to migrate to blockchain, the platform plans to deeply integrate with the Solana DeFi ecosystem.

Solana has become the preferred blockchain for RWA tokenization due to its high performance and low costs. In 2025, BlackRock's BUIDL fund migrated from Ethereum to Solana, highlighting the maturity of its institutional-grade infrastructure. Ondo GM's choice of Solana reflects the industry's preference for high-throughput blockchains, especially in securities markets where real-time transactions are necessary.

The support for securities trading is a significant advancement for Ondo Finance in the field of RWA tokenization, providing investors with a low-cost and highly transparent investment channel. The platform utilizes instructive tokenization to retain traditional market liquidity while enhancing on-chain composability through API and DeFi integration, and it is expected to attract more attention and participation from developers, investors, and traditional financial institutions in the future.

Trump Media Technology Group announces the launch of a $2.5 billion Bitcoin treasury plan.

According to Bloomberg, Trump Media Technology Group announced on May 27 that it has signed subscription agreements with approximately 50 institutional investors for a total of about $2.5 billion in private financing. This financing includes about $1.5 billion in common stock and $1 billion in 0% convertible senior secured notes. The raised funds will be used to create a Bitcoin treasury, and the financing is expected to be completed around May 29.

Trump Media & Technology Group's move emulates MicroStrategy, aiming to transform the company into a "Bitcoin-backed enterprise," relying on Bitcoin appreciation to reshape its valuation. At the same time, the plan synergizes with its Truth Social platform ecosystem and resonates with Trump's concepts of "financial freedom" and "America First," politically reinforcing his image as the "crypto president" and accelerating the politicization of crypto assets.

In the short term, the news has boosted the price of bitcoin and crypto stocks, and may encourage more companies, especially politically connected parties, to follow suit. However, TMTG's move poses significant risks: its fundamentals are weak (heavy losses, low revenues), and the huge financing dilutes shareholders' equity, causing the share price to plummet; Bitcoin's price volatility poses a huge threat to its finances; At the same time, the plan deepens the crypto industry's dependence on political resources, raising questions about the transmission of interests and regulatory concerns. Long-term success or failure depends on Bitcoin's movements, TMTG's ability to operate, and U.S. crypto policy.

Highlight Data

SUI native DEX protocol Momentum's cumulative trading volume has surpassed 3 billion USD.

The native DEX protocol Momentum on the SUI chain has exceeded a cumulative trading volume of 3 billion dollars since its launch on March 27, 2025, setting a historical high for the protocol.

Momentum uses the unique ve(3,3) tokenomics model to create a "flywheel effect" through incentive alignment (liquidity providers get 100% emissions and traders enjoy low slippage) to drive a rapid increase in trading volume. The $3 billion transaction volume confirms the efficiency of the model in the Sui ecosystem. Previously, Momentum had managed more than US$500 million in TVL through a multi-signature asset management solution, and the DEX trading volume breakthrough further strengthened its role as the "liquidity engine" of the Sui ecosystem, attracting more protocol integration and cooperation.

The explosive growth of Momentum is a microcosm of the acceleration of the Sui ecosystem's flywheel, validating the synergistic efficiency of its economic model and technological infrastructure, while also providing core impetus for Sui to attract institutional capital and compete for a leading position in the public blockchain space. Recently, Sui has received favorable news such as the VARA license from Dubai and collaboration with Franklin Templeton on RWA, combined with Momentum's data breakthroughs, further strengthening capital confidence. The market has bet on SUI breaking 4 dollars (with bullish options positions increasing by 320% week-on-week), and the valuation model points to a potential space of 20 billion dollars.

The supply of SOL on CEX has decreased to 27.01 million, close to the lowest point in October 2022.

Glassnode data shows that from early March this year to now, the balance of SOL on centralized exchanges has decreased from 37.22 million to 27.01 million, a decline of 27.4%, approaching the lowest point in October 2022.

Recently, SOL has shown a clear trend of decentralization, and the number of coins held by centralized exchanges has continued to decrease, indicating that users are more willing to transfer tokens to the chain or hold them for a long time. This easing of supply-side pressures has provided support for a rebound in prices. Although it spiked near $300 at the beginning of the year and then experienced a sharp pullback to as low as $95, SOL prices have gradually recovered as overall market sentiment has picked up and is now back above $170. Judging from the on-chain data and price performance, SOL's recent trend shows signs of phased bottoming, and with the steady development of the ecosystem, Solana is expected to continue to play a leading role in the mainstream public chain in the next round of market.

TRON's USDT issuance has surpassed 77 billion, surpassing Ethereum to become the largest USDT issuance public chain.

As of May 29, the total market capitalization of stablecoins has surpassed $245 billion. Behind the rapid growth of stablecoins is a battleground of competition among various public chains. As one of the main forms of asset accumulation, stablecoins are not only an indicator of changes in asset liquidity but also an important measure of public chains' market recognition.

The USDT supply on TRON grew from $48.8 billion in 2024 to $77 billion in May 2025. The reason for this is that TRON's low fees and high transaction speeds make it the network of choice for a large number of USDT transactions, especially among retail users and emerging markets. In addition, due to the close cooperation between TRON founder Justin Sun and the Trump family, it also provides more possibilities for Tron's stablecoin prospects. In May, ZackWitkoff, co-founder of the Trump family project WLFI, said that USD1, the dollar stablecoin issued by WLFI, will also be natively issued on the Tron chain.

As the native token of the Tron chain, TRX has shown relatively strong price performance over the past few years, consistently maintaining a position in the top 10 by market capitalization. Since 2024, TRX has accumulated a growth of over 150%, performing relatively well among Layer 1 public chains.

Market Opportunities

Gate New Listing

The new project to pay attention to this week is: Elderglade.

Elderglade (ELDE) is an important innovative project in the Web3 gaming sector for 2025, combining AI, NFTs, and blockchain technology to create a fantasy game universe with deep gameplay, including real-time PvP mobile games and an upcoming MMORPG.

ELDE is the native ecological token of Elderglade, with multiple functions including payment, NFT interaction, staking, and deflation. The current price of the ELDE token is $0.2, with a circulating market capitalization of $16.7 million. The project has registered over 11 million players, with more than 3.7 million on-chain transactions, demonstrating a strong user base and activity.

Technically, Elderglade utilizes AI to dynamically generate maps and character behaviors, breaking hardware limitations through multi-platform access, with huge market coverage potential. After its launch on the Gate exchange in May, trading activity quickly surged. With the launch of MMORPG and expansion into the Asian market, the long-term value of ELDE in the GameFi sector and the demand for its tokens are expected to continue to grow. Here’s how to participate:

Preparation

• Gate account: Register and complete user authentication;
• Recharge Assets: Ensure that there is sufficient ETH or ELDE in the account, as this Launchpool only supports ETH and ELDE;

Participate in Staking

• Time window: Until June 7, 20:00 Beijing time
• Steps to operate: First, log in to Gate and go to the 【Launchpool】 page; second, select the ELDE project and click 【Participate Now】; finally, enter the staking amount and confirm to participate.
• Total Airdrop Volume: 1,000,000 ELDE

Financing Weekly Report

This week, several projects successfully completed financing, involving a wide range of applications in areas such as infrastructure and developer platforms. According to RootData, from May 23 to May 29, a total of 12 projects announced that they had secured financing. Here are excerpts from popular projects:

Conduit

Completed a $36 million Series A financing on May 28, with participation from Dragonfly, DCG, Sound Ventures, Altos Ventures, and others.

As a stablecoin payment company, Conduit is dedicated to helping fintech companies, neobanks, and challenger banks quickly and cost-effectively bring crypto-based products to market, driving decentralized finance (DeFi) into the mainstream. Its core product is a customizable plug-and-play API that enables clients to build innovative crypto products in just a few days, such as high-yield savings accounts. Currently, Conduit's solutions support 14 fiat currencies across 9 countries, including the United States, and by partnering with Circle and LayerZero, they leverage stablecoins to facilitate low-cost, instant B2B international payments, streamlining foreign exchange processing and fund confirmation processes.

Stablecorp

Completed a $1.8 million financing on May 23. Investors include institutions such as Coinbase Ventures and Side Door Ventures. The funds will be used to expand the infrastructure of the Canadian dollar stablecoin QCAD, including establishing on-chain foreign exchange liquidity and payment channel integration.

The company announced that it will simultaneously carry out structural reforms for QCAD, including the establishment of an independent trust, QCAD Digital Currency Trust, to manage reserve assets, the implementation of daily market value reports, monthly reserve proofs, and annual audits. QCAD is currently jointly operated by the crypto asset management company 3iQ and blockchain developer Mavennet Systems, and in 2022, it received an investment of 1.9 million CAD from institutions including Circle Ventures.

Beam

Closed a $7 million funding round led by Castle Island Ventures on May 27. Beam is a fintech company focused on leveraging stablecoin technology to enable fast, low-cost global capital flows.

Beam's goal is to optimize global capital flow through stablecoin technology, reduce the costs and delays of traditional payment systems, and promote the widespread adoption of decentralized finance. The company plans to leverage its latest funding to expand its payment solutions to Latin America, addressing the strong demand for efficient cross-border payments in the region. Beam aims to facilitate faster and more transparent fund transfers within the fintech ecosystem through its smart payment network.

Focus Next Week

token unlock

According to data from Tokenomist, the market will see significant unlocks of some important tokens over the next 7 days (2025.5.30-2025.6.5). The situation for the top 3 unlocks is as follows:

• SUI will unlock approximately $160 million worth of tokens over the next 7 days. These tokens will be allocated to Mysten Labs, early contributors, and community reserves. The largest portion, valued at over $70 million, will be allocated to Series B investors.
• OP will unlock tokens worth approximately $25.2 million in a linear manner over the next 7 days, accounting for 1.9% of the circulating supply; this includes 16.54 million tokens for core contributors, worth about $12.65 million, and 14.8 million tokens for investors, worth about $11.32 million.
• ENA will unlock tokens worth approximately $16.5 million in a linear manner over the next 7 days, accounting for 0.7% of the circulating supply.
  Reference Source

• X, https://x.com/Grayscale/status/1927463971335909625
• defillama, https://defillama.com/stablecoins
• Glassnode, https://glassnode.com/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/zh/launchpool/ELDE?pid=307

Disclaimer Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risks. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products they purchase before making any investment decisions. Gate does not take responsibility for any losses or damages resulting from such investment decisions.