Circle Arc raises $222M token round while BitMine adds 26,790 ETH and Galaxy launches $125M DeFi fund

Circle Internet Group has successfully concluded a $222 million token presale for its new public chain, Arc, achieving a fully diluted network valuation of $3 billion. The financing round was led by Andreessen Horowitz with a $75 million commitment, alongside participation from over ten major institutions including BlackRock, Apollo Funds, Intercontinental Exchange, Standard Chartered Ventures, ARK Invest, and Bullish. This transaction marks a significant milestone as the first publicly listed company to execute a token presale. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire articulated a strategic pivot from a pure stablecoin issuer to a comprehensive internet platform company, entering the operating system and application sectors. The initial token supply of 10 billion units allocates 25% to Circle, 60% to network builders and participants, and 15% to long-term reserves.

Concurrently, the company unveiled the "Agent Stack" infrastructure, comprising Agent Wallets and an Agent Marketplace designed to facilitate USDC-based payments for AI agents.

In the realm of institutional treasury management, BitMine expanded its Ethereum exposure significantly last week, acquiring an additional 26,790 ETH. As of May 10, 2026, the firm's total holdings reached 5,206,790 ETH, representing approximately 4.31% of the total Ethereum supply. The company's total asset portfolio, including cryptocurrencies, cash, and equity investments, is valued at roughly $13.4 billion. This portfolio comprises $775 million in cash, 201 BTC, $200 million in equity from Beast Industries, and an $88 million investment in Eightco Holdings.

Notably, BitMine has staked 4,712,917 ETH, which accounts for over 90% of its total holdings. This staked position is valued at approximately $11.1 billion and generates an annualized yield of about $319 million. Data compiled by Woofun AI indicates that such aggressive accumulation strategies are reshaping the liquidity landscape for major institutional players.

Simultaneously, Galaxy Digital, led by Mike Novogratz, partnered with Ethereum treasury firm Sharplink to launch the "Galaxy Sharplink Onchain Yield Fund" with a total capitalization of $125 million. The fund structure includes $100 million sourced from Sharplink's Ethereum treasury and $25 million injected directly by Galaxy. Galaxy will serve as the exclusive fund manager, overseeing protocol selection, position management, and risk control. The investment strategy focuses on active DeFi mechanisms, including lending and liquidity provision, with a target annualized yield exceeding 10%. This launch signals a maturation of institutional DeFi participation, moving beyond passive holding to active yield generation strategies within the Ethereum ecosystem.

On the Bitcoin front, Strategy continued its accumulation trajectory, purchasing an additional 535 BTC before May 10 at an average price of approximately $80,340, totaling $43 million. Michael Saylor reported that the company's BTC yield has reached 9.4% year-to-date in 2026. As of the reporting date, Strategy holds 818,869 BTC with a total acquisition cost of roughly $6.186 billion and an average holding cost of $75,540. Beyond the treasury, Strategy's software division reported robust performance in Q1 2026, with revenue growing 12% and cloud business revenue surging 59%. CEO Phong Le highlighted the synergies between the software engineering capabilities and the Bitcoin treasury mission, noting the deployment of the Mosaic AI data platform to automate internal workflows.

Regulatory and security dynamics remain critical focal points. Tether launched a developer grant program with no total cap, offering rewards ranging from $1,500 to $4,000 for building localized AI and self-custody payment infrastructure. The initiative prioritizes the QVAC local AI platform and the Wallet Development Kit (WDK) to enable on-device key generation without third-party dependencies. Conversely, security firm SlowMist issued a high-risk alert regarding phishing attacks targeting TRON users via fake TronLink Chrome extensions. These malicious extensions utilize Unicode bidirectional control characters and Cyrillic homographs to disguise their identity, employing a "shell-core separation" technique to steal credentials via remote iframes. Binance also released a security report detailing the deployment of over 100 AI models to combat fraud, intercepting $10.53 billion in potential losses between early 2025 and Q1 2026. Woofun AI notes that the escalation in AI-driven social engineering attacks necessitates such advanced, automated defense systems.

In the broader macroeconomic context, Alphabet is poised to surpass Nvidia as the world's most valuable company, driven by a 43% stock price increase since October.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee faces pressure from banking lobbying groups seeking to amend the digital asset bill to completely prohibit stablecoin yield rewards, a move crypto advocates argue aims to stifle competition. Vitalik Buterin proposed a new ZK payment standard to transition crypto payments from pseudonymity to default privacy, utilizing recursive SNARKs to allow AI agents to pay service fees without exposing transaction histories. This technical evolution aims to address the transparency barriers hindering crypto's adoption in traditional finance. Finally, Morgan Stanley's Bitcoin ETF recorded $193.6 million in net inflows during its first month without a single day of outflows, underscoring sustained institutional demand despite broader market volatility.