New Fed chair, Base's Azul upgrade, corporate earnings: Crypto Week Ahead

Your look at what's coming in the week starting May 11.

What to know:

Crypto Week Ahead is a comprehensive list of what's coming up in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, as well as the major macroeconomic events that will influence digital asset markets.

U.S. Federal Reserve changes, inflation data and earnings dominate the week’s calendar, with markets weighing bitcoin’s BTC$80,814.36 newfound strength against a packed macro slate.

“The market is entering a phase where liquidity is becoming more selective rather than purely speculative,” Jake Seltzer, CEO of Quantix Finance, told CoinDesk in an emailed statement. “Bitcoin continuing to strengthen at these levels is important because it’s reinforcing confidence across the broader digital asset market, particularly among institutional allocators that were previously sitting on the sidelines.”

This week will see inflation data coupled with earnings from many crypto companies.

“Near term, markets will still be driven by macro conditions, ETF flows, and global liquidity, so volatility is expected,” Seltzer said. “But structurally, the industry feels much healthier than previous cycles.”

Seltzer said capital is starting to favor “real infrastructure, sustainable yield models, and platforms with actual risk management behind them rather than short-term narratives alone.”

That shift will also put infrastructure in focus. Azul, an upgrade for the Base blockchain, is expected to go live on mainnet, Ronin is set to move back to Ethereum, and several DAOs are voting on treasury, recovery and MEV-related proposals as the ecosystem recovers from the largest exploit of the year to date.

What to Watch

(All times ET)

• Crypto
  • May 11: U.S. Senate expected to hold a procedural vote on Kevin Warsh’s Federal Reserve nomination package.
  • May 13: Base Azul expected to go live on mainnet.
  • May 14: U.S. Senate Banking Committee markup scheduled for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025.
  • May 15: Jerome Powell’s term as Federal Reserve Chair officially ends; his board term continues until Jan. 31, 2028.
• Macro
  • May 12, 01:00 a.m.: Germany Inflation Rate Final for April YoY est. 2.9% (Prev. 2.8%); MoM est. 0.5% (Prev. 1.2%)
  • May 12, 05:30 a.m.: India Inflation Rate YoY for April est. 3.8% (Prev. 3.4%); MoM (Prev. 0.26%)
  • May 12, 07:30 a.m.: U.S. Core CPI MoM for April est. 0.4% (Prev. 0.2%); YoY (Prev. 2.6%)
  • May 12, 07:30 a.m.: U.S. CPI MoM for April est. 0.6% (Prev. 0.9%); YoY (Prev. 3.3%)
  • May 13, 07:30 a.m.: U.S. PPI MoM for April est. 0.4% (Prev. 0.5%); YoY (Prev. 4.0%)
  • May 13, 07:30 a.m.: U.S. Core PPI MoM for April (Prev. 0.1%); YoY (Prev. 3.8%)
  • May 14, 01:00 a.m.: U.K. GDP Growth Rate Q1 Prel. QoQ (Prev. 0.1%); YoY (Prev. 1.0%)
  • May 14, 07:30 a.m.: U.S. Retail Sales MoM for April (Prev. 1.7%)
  • May 14, 07:30 a.m.: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for period ending May 9 (Prev. 200K)
  • (Prev. 11)
  • May 15, 08:15 a.m.: U.S. Industrial Production MoM for April (Prev. -0.5%)
  • May 17, 09:00 p.m.: China Industrial Production YoY for April (Prev. 5.7%); Retail Sales YoY (Prev. 1.7%); Fixed Asset Investment YTD YoY (Prev. 1.7%); Unemployment Rate (Prev. 5.4%)
• Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data where available)
  • May 11: MARA Holdings (MARA), post-market, –$0.45
  • May 11: CleanSpark (CLSK), post-market, -$0.23
  • May 11: Circle Internet Group (CRCL), pre-market, $0.17
  • May 11: Exodus Movement (EXOD), post-market, $0.01
  • May 11: Bakkt (BKKT), post-market, -$0.10
  • May 11: Sharplink (SBT), pre-market, $0.01
  • May 12: EToro Group (ETOR), pre-market, $0.69
  • May 12: Coincheck Group (CNCK), post-market, -$0.01
  • May 12: TON Strategy Company (TONX), pre-market, -$1.42
  • May 13: Bitgo Holdings (BTGO), post-market, -$0.01
  • May 14: Bullish (BLSH), pre-market, $0.16
  • May 14: Rumble (RUM), post-market, -$0.09
  • May 14: Gemini Space Station (GEMI), post-market, -$1.13
  • May 14: Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR), pre-market, -$0.33
  • May 14: Applied Materials (AMAT), post-market, $2.66

Token Events

• Governance votes & calls
  • 1inch DAO is voting to allocate $155,000 USDC for its 2026 public policy and regulatory advocacy program, funding trade group memberships and direct U.S. lawmaker engagement. Voting ends May 11.
  • Compound DAO is voting to contribute about 1,860 ETH to the DeFi United rsETH recovery effort. The funds will be sourced exclusively from the attacker's recovered position on Compound rather than the broader treasury, ensuring the DAO does not profit from the exploit. Voting ends May 11.
  • Balancer DAO is voting to distribute a one-time 500,000 USDC airdrop to veBAL holders as compensation for discontinued incentives, replacing a planned six-month payout. Voting ends May 12.
  • GnosisDAO is voting to let holders burn GNO for a pro-rata share of the treasury's liquid assets and a synthetic claim token for illiquid investments. Voting ends May 12.
  • QuickSwap DAO is voting to integrate the MEV-X Homelander plugin to capture backrunning MEV from its liquidity pools and redistribute the profits back to the protocol and its liquidity providers. Voting ends May 12.
  • ShapeShift DAO is voting to formalize its Treasury Signer role as a paid position of $1,000 per month in FOX and update the selection committee's rules for appointing signers privately. Voting ends May 13.
  • Decentraland DAO is voting to remove the peer.kyllian.me catalyst node following its owner's removal from the Security Advisory Board. Voting ends May 14.
• Unlocks
  • May 12: Avalanche (AVAX) to unlock 0.31% of its circulating supply worth $16.55 million.
  • May 15: Connex (CONX) to unlock 1.49% of its circulating supply worth $17.99 million.
  • May 16: Arbitrum (ARB) to unlock 1.71% of its circulating supply worth $13.23 million.
• Token Launches
  • May 11–17: First full week of Pump.fun's revised tokenomics.
  • May 12: Ronin officially moves back to Ethereum.

Conferences

• May 11-14: Digital Assets Forum (Bermuda)
• May 12–14: Finance Magnates Singapore Summit (Singapore)
• May 13: Binance Online (Online)
• May 13-14: Digital Assets Summit (London)
• May 13–14: ETHCluj 2026 (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
• May 13–14: Digital Assets Week USA (New York)
• May 14–15: Kenya Blockchain & Crypto Conference (KBCC 2026) (Nairobi)

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