Here’s what happened in crypto today

Written by Cointelegraph⁠, Staff Writer. Reviewed by Bryan O’Shea⁠, Staff Editor. Written by Cointelegraph⁠, Staff Writer. Reviewed by Bryan O’Shea⁠, Staff Editor. Here’s what happened in crypto todayLatest NewsPublishedMay 16, 2026<!–>

Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.

Today in crypto, THORChain has launched a recovery portal following a $10 million exploit, the US CLARITY Act’s path to becoming law could be at risk as Democratic lawmakers demand stronger ethics provisions in the final bill. Elsewhere, Polish lawmakers approved a Ministry of Finance-backed crypto bill to implement the European Union’s MiCA framework in a 241–200 vote after repeated vetoes.

THORChain confirms $10M exploit, rolls out recovery portal for affected users

THORChain has confirmed a $10 million exploit and launched a recovery portal, giving affected users a self-custodial path to revoke malicious token approvals and submit refund claims backed by a treasury-provisioned refund pool of equal size.

In a Saturday post on X, THORChain Foundation introduced the recovery portal, saying that “affected users are now able to check what they will be paid as compensation following the exploit.”

The portal, citing a PeckShield post-mortem, claims that the attack was detected at 02:14 UTC on May 11, when node operators flagged anomalous outbound transactions. Trading and outbound signing were paused within eight minutes. In total, attackers drained 36.75 BTC, worth around $3 million, and approximately $7 million in tokens across BNB Chain, Ethereum and Base, hitting 12,847 wallets across four chains.

THORChain’s recovery portal. Source: THORChain

Affected users have 21 days to submit claims. The refund window closes on June 4, after which any unclaimed allocation rolls over to the protocol’s insurance fund.

Ethics concerns cloud CLARITY Act vote

Democratic lawmakers are warning they may not support the CLARITY Act in the full Senate unless the bill includes stronger ethics provisions around elected officials’ ties to the crypto industry.

The Senate Banking Committee advanced the market structure bill with bipartisan support on Thursday, but several Democrats tried and failed to add amendments addressing conflicts of interest. Their concerns centered partly on President Donald Trump’s crypto ties, including his memecoin and his family’s World Liberty Financial business.

That could complicate the bill’s path forward. Republicans still need Democratic votes to clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, and at least one Republican also said more work remains before final passage.

The bill has not yet been scheduled for a full Senate vote, though the White House is reportedly aiming to have it signed into law by July 4.

Source: Cynthia Lummis

Polish lawmakers back revised crypto bill after repeated vetoes

Polish lawmakers approved a government-backed bill Friday to bring the country’s crypto market under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework, after President Karol Nawrocki twice vetoed earlier versions.

The vote took place on Friday during the 57th sitting of the Sejm in Warsaw, where lawmakers adopted the legislation in a 241–200 decision, according to official parliamentary records.

Backed by the Ministry of Finance, the approved bill (No. 2529) designates the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) powers to oversee market participants, impose administrative sanctions and temporarily block accounts and transactions.

Source: Sejm RP

The vote marks the third attempt by the government to pass a crypto bill following two earlier presidential vetoes, with lawmakers favoring the state-backed approach over three competing draft bills.

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

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• Banking
• United States
• Stablecoin
• Poland
• MiCA
• Hackers
• DeFi
• Industry

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