Happy Friday, Maestros!

This week, our spotlight is on Starknet and the launch of strkBTC, the first Bitcoin-backed asset with built-in privacy and full DeFi access on Starknet.

Meanwhile, Kevin Warsh is confirmed as the new Fed chair, the Clarity Act clears the Senate Banking Committee, Bitcoin ETFs hit $1 billion in inflows in under two weeks, MARA liquidates $1.5 billion in BTC to pivot toward AI, and 75% of global hashrate unites behind the Stratum V2 open standard.

strkBTC is now live in Maestro's Garden solver, enabling swaps between strkBTC, native BTC, and wBTC. Routes are open. Start trading on Garden today.

Want to make your Bitcoin productive? Whether you're looking to lend or borrow, apply here to get started!

💡Spotlight: Starknet

Starknet is a ZK rollup scaling layer built on Ethereum. It uses zero-knowledge proof technology to process transactions off-chain and settle them on Ethereum, giving developers access to smart contract programmability with lower fees and faster throughput. Their latest release changes how Bitcoin moves in DeFi.

🧠 In One Line

Starknet just launched strkBTC, a Bitcoin-backed asset that lets BTC holders bring native Bitcoin onto Starknet, shield their balances for privacy, and put their Bitcoin to work in DeFi.

🔍 Why It Matters

Bitcoin on-chain has always meant full transparency. Every balance, every transaction, visible to anyone. strkBTC changes that. Users bridge native BTC in, hold a fully backed asset on Starknet, and can shield their balances and transfers from public view. Privacy is optional, compliance is built in, and you can redeem back to native BTC at any time.

⚡ The Strategy

Bridge Access: Native BTC can be brought into strkBTC through Atomiq and Garden, with WBTC routes from other chains also supported.

Wallet Integration: Privacy features are built directly into Ready X and Xverse. No new apps, no new learning curve.

DeFi Activation: Once on Starknet, strkBTC can be used across Vesu for lending and Ekubo for liquidity, with active incentives running post-launch. Liquid staking is also live through Endur.

Privacy Layer: Through shielding, users can hide selected balances and send private transactions. A third-party auditor holds viewing keys for regulatory purposes, so privacy is real but not a dead end for compliance.

📌 Investor Takeaway

strkBTC is the first Bitcoin-backed DeFi asset to take institutional privacy seriously. If the federation model matures as planned, it opens BTCFi to a class of capital that has been sitting on the sidelines purely because of on-chain visibility concerns. Watch adoption from treasury managers and large OTC desks as the real signal.

🚀 Why It’s Trending

AI-powered tools can now de-anonymize Bitcoin transactions in seconds. For institutions posting collateral or executing large strategies on a public ledger, that is a real problem. strkBTC launched directly into that demand. STRK surged 50% intraday on launch day and the broader privacy coin sector moved with it. Bitcoin privacy has gone from niche debate to institutional requirement almost overnight.

📰 Recent News

• May 12, 2026: strkBTC goes live on Starknet with shielded balances, private transfers, and full DeFi access. A full user guide covering bridging, wallets, and incentives published alongside the launch.

• May 7, 2026: The strkBTC Federation announced, made up of Twinstake, NEAR Intents, Luganodes, UTXO, and Xverse.

• April 2026: Starknet v0.14.2 launched, introducing the native proof verification that made strkBTC possible. Atomiq and Garden confirmed as the primary bridge routes shortly after.

🔮 The Future

Anonymous swaps on Ekubo and avnu are coming next, extending strkBTC from private balances into private execution. After that, the STRK20 privacy framework rolls out to every ERC20 on Starknet. Maestro is already positioned inside this infrastructure. strkBTC is live in Maestro's Garden solver, with swaps open between strkBTC, native BTC, and wBTC today.

Learn more: Starknet.io/

🚀 Featured Stories

Clarity Act Clears Senate Banking Committee. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act passed the Senate Banking Committee today with bipartisan support and now advances to the full Senate. Simultaneously, the House Ways and Means Committee held a closed-door session on the Digital Asset PARITY Act, which would defer staking taxes and eliminate capital gains on stablecoin payments under $200. The most consequential single day for U.S. crypto legislation in years.

Kevin Warsh Confirmed as Federal Reserve Chair. The Senate confirmed Warsh 54-45, the closest Fed chair vote in the modern era. He has argued rates can come down and called for regime change at the Fed. Powell stays on as a board governor through 2028. Warsh chairs his first FOMC meeting June 16.

Bitcoin ETFs Hit $1 Billion in a Week. Spot Bitcoin ETFsma recorded their strongest weekly inflows in four months, with $1.28 billion entering in the first 12 days of May alone. BlackRock's IBIT led the recovery. ETFs are now absorbing roughly ten times the daily mining output, creating sustained structural demand pressure.

MARA Sells $1.5B in Bitcoin to Pivot Toward AI. Marathon Digital Holdings liquidated a significant portion of its Bitcoin treasury to cut debt and redirect capital toward AI infrastructure and data center services. A growing signal that publicly traded miners are rethinking their core business model as post-halving economics tighten.

75% of Global Hashrate Joins Stratum V2 Working Group. even major mining pools including Foundry, AntPool, F2Pool, and MARA Pool joined the Stratum V2 working group, collectively representing roughly 75% of Bitcoin's global hashrate. The protocol returns block construction decisions to individual miners, a meaningful step toward decentralization of the mining layer.

📣 Join the Conversation on X

Starknet has rolled out strkBTC, a ZK-powered Bitcoin wrapper that lets users shield balances for fully private transfers and unshield anytime, all while settling back to Bitcoin and staying inside the same wallet.

A holder fed old PC files into Claude (Anthropic’s AI) and successfully regained access to a wallet containing ~$400k in BTC that had been dormant since university days.

MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin buying machine is in hyperdrive, purchasing roughly $13 million of BTC every 60 seconds. The “BTC printer” is running at full speed.

The Democratic Party just announced they won’t block any Bitcoin or crypto-related legislation, marking a major bipartisan shift in U.S. politics and sending bullish waves through the community.