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- GameStop Bids $55.5 Billion for eBay, Putting Its Bitcoin Treasury on the Table
GameStop Bids $55.5 Billion for eBay, Putting Its Bitcoin Treasury on the Table
Plus: 🛑 SEC pumps the brakes on prediction-market ETFs | 💰 a16z crypto closes $2.2 billion Fund 5 | 📱 Telegram takes direct control of TON, token surges 23%
Aakash Girimath
May 05, 2026
Hi! In today’s edition:
🎮 GameStop bids $55.5 billion for eBay in cash and stock, raising questions about whether its $368 million bitcoin treasury will be sold to fund the deal
🛑 SEC delays 24 prediction-market ETFs from Bitwise, Roundhill, and GraniteShares, requesting more detail on product mechanics and disclosures
💰 a16z crypto closes $2.2 billion Fund 5, bringing total committed capital across five dedicated crypto funds to $9.8 billion
📱 Telegram replaces the TON Foundation as the driving force behind TON and becomes its largest validator; token surges 23%
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GameStop Bids $55.5 Billion for eBay, Putting Its Bitcoin Treasury in Play
GameStop submitted a non-binding offer Sunday to acquire eBay for $55.5 billion, or $125 per share in cash and stock. The bid would be funded with $9.4 billion from the company's balance sheet, which includes a $368 million bitcoin position, plus up to $20 billion in debt financing backed by a commitment from TD Bank.
CEO Ryan Cohen told CNBC the deal is "way more compelling than bitcoin," raising the question of whether the company will liquidate some or all of its 4,709 BTC. GameStop recently moved the coins to Coinbase Prime as part of a covered-call options strategy that generates income while maintaining exposure.
GameStop said it now holds a 5% economic interest in eBay through derivatives and direct ownership. If completed, the deal would be one of the largest M&A transactions involving a company with a bitcoin treasury on its balance sheet.
SEC Delays Launch of 24 Prediction-Market ETFs
The SEC has delayed the launch of more than two dozen prediction-market ETFs that were scheduled to begin trading this week, Reuters reported Monday. The regulator requested additional information about product mechanics and disclosures from issuers Roundhill Investments, GraniteShares, and Bitwise, who filed in February.
Under standard rules, ETF filings automatically become effective after 75 days unless the commission intervenes. The SEC stopped the clock just before the deadline expired. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called the delay "likely temporary."
The proposed funds would give retail investors exposure to binary event contracts, including the 2028 presidential election, recession probability, and tech-sector layoffs, without trading directly on platforms like Kalshi or Polymarket. Combined volume on those platforms reached $85 billion in the first four months of 2026.
a16z Crypto Closes $2.2 Billion Fund 5, Bringing Total Committed Capital to $9.8 Billion
Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm closed its fifth dedicated fund at $2.2 billion, bringing total committed capital across the unit's five funds to $9.8 billion. The announcement, authored by managing partner Chris Dixon and three colleagues, framed the raise as a bet on crypto's "quieter moment" between speculative cycles.
The fund is roughly half the size of the firm's $4.5 billion Fund 4 raised in 2022, but a16z said it deliberately shortened the fundraising cycle to respond faster to market shifts. The firm first disclosed its fundraising plans in March, initially targeting around $2 billion.
Dixon cited stablecoins, perpetual futures, prediction markets, and onchain lending as evidence that crypto infrastructure is producing lasting financial utility. Previous a16z crypto portfolio winners include Coinbase, Uniswap, and Kalshi.
JOIN THE UNCHAINED LIVESTREAM TODAY 🎧️
General partner Ali Yahya, one of the co-authors, joins Laura to walk through the calculus behind a smaller fund, what he thinks is actually defensible in crypto right now, and why he believes privacy is the next real moat.
Streams Today at 12 pm ET
Telegram Takes Direct Control of TON, Becomes Network's Largest Validator
Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced Monday that the messaging platform will replace the TON Foundation as the primary driving force behind The Open Network and become its largest validator. Toncoin surged more than 23% to a four-month high on $309 million in daily volume, a 324% jump in trading activity.
Durov said TON transaction fees have already dropped sixfold to near zero, and that the next phase will focus on technical performance. A new ton.org website, updated developer tools, and infrastructure upgrades are expected within two to three weeks. Telegram has staked approximately 2.2 million TON to operate as a leading validator.
The structural shift marks the most significant change to TON's governance since Telegram handed the project to the open-source community in 2020 after settling with the SEC over its original $1.7 billion token sale.
🏛️ FINRA officially approved Securitize for tokenized IPO underwriting and custody, making it the first broker-dealer authorized to custody tokenized securities and facilitate atomic settlement with stablecoins. The milestone enables full-stack onchain IPO infrastructure within a regulated framework ahead of Securitize's planned SPAC listing.
⚡ Base officially adopted Succinct's SP1 zero-knowledge virtual machine to enhance security and achieve 1-day finality, moving the $12 billion Layer 2 toward ZK-based validation. The integration positions Base as the largest Ethereum operator adopting ZK proofs, supporting Vitalik Buterin's "endgame" vision for blockchain scaling.
⚖️ Kraken parent Payward filed a lawsuit alleging that fiat custodian Etana misappropriated $25 million in funds through a "Ponzi-like" scheme, commingling customer assets with company money for risky investments. Etana entered court-supervised liquidation in November 2025 after Colorado regulators issued cease-and-desist orders.
🛡️ DeFi lender Aave asked a federal court to block a $71 million crypto seizure tied to North Korea claims, arguing the frozen ETH belongs to innocent users victimized in April's rsETH exploit. The restraining notice is disrupting DeFi United's effort to return recovered funds to affected protocol users.
₿ Bitcoin scaling layer Citrea launched its CTR token alongside a dual treasury model, allocating 60% of the 10 billion token supply to the community. Users stake CTR for non-transferable xCTR to govern liquidity incentives and network decisions through a gauge-based voting system.
🔒 Ripple will share North Korean threat intelligence with crypto firms through the Crypto ISAC program, helping companies defend against Lazarus Group attacks. The initiative comes as North Korean hackers have stolen over $3 billion from crypto firms since 2017.
🇰🇵 North Korea issued a statement blaming "reptile media" for reports tying the nation to recent crypto thefts, calling cyber theft accusations "absurd slander." The denial comes amid increased attribution of major DeFi exploits to state-sponsored hacking groups.
🏦 DTCC will begin its tokenized asset rollout in July ahead of full launch, receiving feedback from BlackRock, Circle, and other major financial firms. The pilot program will test blockchain-based settlement for traditional securities within existing regulatory frameworks.
💳 Stablecoin startup Rain is worth $1.95 billion and plans to issue cards with Mastercard in a push to woo institutional customers. The company is positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and digital assets for enterprise adoption.
🏦 StanChart's VC arm backed crypto firm GSR at a $1 billion valuation, marking SC Ventures' first external investment in a market maker. The strategic partnership expands Standard Chartered's digital asset capabilities through GSR's institutional trading infrastructure.
💰 Katie Haun raised $1 billion for new venture funds, focusing on AI agents, fintech, and crypto infrastructure. The former Coinbase board member's Haun Ventures continues betting on the convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology.
🇵🇹 Ekiden raised €1.7 million for its blockchain-based trading platform out of Portugal, targeting institutional DeFi adoption. The startup aims to bridge traditional finance with decentralized trading infrastructure for European markets.
🔄 Anonymous cross-chain swap aggregator HoudiniSwap was acquired by Sol Strategies for $18 million, expanding the firm's privacy-focused Solana ecosystem. The acquisition adds diversified revenue streams from cross-chain swapping technology to Sol's portfolio.
