The Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate Banking Committee have each published separate draft bills outlining rival regulatory frameworks for digital assets. The Agriculture draft would expand CFTC authority over digital commodities and spot markets, requiring intermediaries to register as exchanges or brokers. The Banking draft introduces an SEC-supervised "ancillary assets" category and establishes a pathway for tokens to exit securities classification once decentralization criteria are met.

XRP gained approximately 12% in 24 hours to reach $2.52 after the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation added five spot XRP exchange-traded funds to its active and pre-launch database. The DTCC listing marks a procedural step in fund preparation but does not confirm SEC approval or trading availability. Market participants view the development as a potential signal for institutional access, though regulatory clearance remains pending.

Bitcoin's blockchain activity has declined sharply in 2025, with daily transaction fees dropping from approximately 4.7 BTC in January to just over 2 BTC in May—a 56% decrease. Average block size has contracted by around 10% since the first quarter, settling near 1.53 MB. Despite reduced network congestion, Bitcoin maintains price levels above $110,000, though miners now depend more heavily on block subsidies as fee income diminishes.

Mastercard is in advanced negotiations to acquire Zero Hash, a regulated crypto-settlement platform, for approximately $1.5 to $2 billion, according to Reuters. Zero Hash processes tokenized fund flows for issuers including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton across twenty-two blockchains. The acquisition would integrate stablecoin settlement capabilities into Mastercard's global payments network, enabling T+0 settlement while maintaining regulatory compliance.