In the third week of May 2025, the virtual asset market showed a slight increase, with a strong upward trend observed in certain items. Bitcoin closed at $103,749, up 0.5% from the previous week, effectively moving within a range, while Ethereum surged 15.5% to $2,548.
The increase in Ethereum's price was significantly influenced by Vitalik Buterin's noted need for simplifying Ethereum's design and clarifying its direction more straightforwardly, as well as the fact that the Pektra upgrade served as a bounce trigger against excessive declines, improving supply and demand.
In the spotlight this week were the U.S. April Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement and the U.S.-China tariff reductions. The CPI rose 2.3% compared to the same period last year, slightly below expectations (2.4%), marking the lowest level of deceleration since February 2021. President Trump, immediately after the CPI announcement, said, "There is no inflation," again pressuring the Federal Reserve for interest rate cuts. The market interpreted this as a relief of the Federal Reserve's tightening burden and reacted positively to risk assets overall.
However, some experts point out that the actual impact of tariff increases has not yet been fully realized, stating that a "cautious optimism" is necessary at this point. Additionally, the Geneva talks resulted in an agreement between the U.S. and China to temporarily reduce each other's high tariffs for 90 days, which eased trade risks. Nevertheless, key assets, including Bitcoin, appeared to have already priced in this expectation, resulting in only a slight increase in prices.
◇ Nexon launches ‘MapleStory Universe’... Will it be a turning point for innovation in Web3 gaming?
Nexon's representative IP 'MapleStory' has made a new appearance as the blockchain game 'MapleStory Universe (MSU)' on May 15. MSU is designed to issue items as NFTs for free trading, featuring a sophisticated economic structure centered on the in-game currency Nesos ($NESO) and governance token $NXPC, which includes the supply of scarce items, demand-based pricing, and a fixed exchange rate system. $NXPC is also listed on major exchanges including Binance, Upbit, and Bithumb, attracting market interest.
MSU aims to directly tackle the problems of traditional Web3 games, such as the collapse of tokenomics, excessive inflation, and a lack of content. By distributing 97% of the total tokens to the community and providing an SDK that allows users to create content and receive rewards, it aims to realize a community-led IP expansion structure. The 'basket system' for trading items in bundles and the fixed exchange rate structure between $NXPC and $NESO are regarded as a tokenomics design to maintain both liquidity and value.
Additionally, MSU has garnered market expectations for seamlessly connecting the strong fandom and content production capabilities of the existing MapleStory IP to the Web3 system. However, there are still substantial challenges, including service restrictions in some areas, including domestic regions, and issues with bots, leading to focused interest in future operational directions.
◇ Paul Atkins, SEC Chairperson: “On-chain asset transition is inevitable... Complete overhaul of issuance, custody, and transaction”
Paul Atkins, Chairperson of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced a new policy direction for the virtual asset market at the fourth crypto regulatory roundtable. The meeting was held under the theme of "the arrival of the on-chain asset era", and Atkins likened the economic potential of tokenized securities to the emergence of the digital music industry, stating, "We will work on regulatory revisions to make the U.S. the world's leading digital asset market.” The SEC outlined specific improvement directions in three key areas: ▲ reform of issuance forms ▲ easing of custody regulations ▲ innovation of transaction structures.
Specifically regarding issuance, the SEC determined that existing securities registration forms like Form S-1 are unsuitable for virtual assets and announced plans to establish dedicated registration forms and exemption systems. In the custody sector, it mentioned plans to abolish the much-debated accounting regulation (SAB 121) and to lower industry entry barriers through the refinement of self-custody and specialized broker-dealer systems. For transactions, it is also considering the introduction of a 'super app' model that enables the integrated trading of securities and non-securities, along with regulatory revisions of Alternative Trading Systems (ATS).
Chairperson Atkins emphasized, "We will not stifle innovation through regulation as in the past," and highlighted the need to establish a reasonable regulatory framework that can encompass the issuance, custody, and transaction of digital assets within the existing system. This announcement is significant in that it could serve as a turning point for the U.S. crypto market to leap forward again on a foundation of institutionalized trust.
☞ CrossAngle is
providing essential operational solutions and trust-based community building services based on on-chain data targeted toward companies and foundations adopting Web3. Operating the crypto data intelligence platform Jangle, the Jangle research team is creating content to show trends in the virtual asset investment industry based on global virtual asset information and data.