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Coinbase set to join S&P 500, becoming the first crypto company added to the benchmark index

Coinbase shares were as much as 10% higher in premarket trading on Tuesday after the news that the company will join the closely watched S&P 500 index.

The crypto exchange will replace Discover in the benchmark index before trading opens on May 19, as the financial services company is in the process of being acquired by Capital One.

With that, Coinbase becomes the first crypto company to join the S&P 500, reflecting how the exchange, and the wider crypto universe itself, has become a bigger part of the US financial system since the company went public in 2021. Last week, bitcoin spiked past the $100,000 price point as traders bought the coins through exchanges and increasingly popular bitcoin ETFs such as Blackrock’s IBIT, which now holds more than 600,000 bitcoin, or some 2.8% of the total supply.

The news also comes a week after Coinbase announced its plans to buy Deribit, the worlds biggest crypto options trading platform, based in Dubai, for a whopping $2.9 billion — the largest crypto deal to date.

This morning’s upward move undoes some of the weakness in Coinbase shares this year, which had dropped ~17% as of yesterday’s close.

With that, Coinbase becomes the first crypto company to join the S&P 500, reflecting how the exchange, and the wider crypto universe itself, has become a bigger part of the US financial system since the company went public in 2021. Last week, bitcoin spiked past the $100,000 price point as traders bought the coins through exchanges and increasingly popular bitcoin ETFs such as Blackrock’s IBIT, which now holds more than 600,000 bitcoin, or some 2.8% of the total supply.

The news also comes a week after Coinbase announced its plans to buy Deribit, the worlds biggest crypto options trading platform, based in Dubai, for a whopping $2.9 billion — the largest crypto deal to date.

This morning’s upward move undoes some of the weakness in Coinbase shares this year, which had dropped ~17% as of yesterday’s close.

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$389M

US Attorney David Metcalf announced Thursday the arrests of Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, alleged senior members of AudiA6, a cryptocurrency money-laundering service believed to be responsible for laundering over $389 million.

The arrests coincided with a coordinated international takedown of AudiA6 and its infrastructure, involving the search of three properties, the seizure of servers and domains connected to the organization, as well as freezing cryptocurrency assets, according to a Department of Justice press release.

Tkachuk and Ledenev were “charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of sting money laundering,” the DOJ said. If convicted, they face a maximum possible sentence of 20 years of incarceration.

Per the criminal complaint, AudiA6 offered services to conceal the origin of cryptocurrency linked to criminal activity, charging fees of up to 5% of the amount laundered.

The two defendants are in custody of Republic of Georgia authorities, and the US Attorney’s Office aims to seek their extradition to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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Solana shoves all in on poker with new partnership

If you’ve got money locked up on-chain and an itch to gamble with it in a new way, has the World Series of Poker got good news for you. The WSOP announced it will integrate solana’s blockchain technology into the tournament through crypto payments firm MoonPay.

At its big summer event, players will have the option to buy into tournaments using crypto directly for the first time. In the WSOP’s Bahamas event in December, winners will be able to receive settlements in stablecoins on solana, reducing friction with international settlements.

Solana’s ecosystem, like the WSOP, constantly challenges conventions and remains laser-focused on the consumer experience, WSOP CEO Ty Stewart said in a statement. Solana’s speed and efficiency mirror the fast-paced energy of our tournaments, and we are excited to showcase their technology to our global audience.

The price of solana dipped slightly today, but has dropped more than 48% in 2026, data from CoinMarketCap shows.

Solana has been a popular network, in part from meme coin trading over the past two years, involving viral animal sensations as well as political figures such as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump as well as Argentine President Javier Milei.

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