Latest blockchain news: May 2026

May was a relevant month for blockchain infrastructure. At Stakely, we moved forward in institutional staking, supported a new mainnet launch as a genesis validator, and expanded the networks available in our Staking App.

Across the wider ecosystem, one trend stood out clearly: networks are working to reduce friction, improve interoperability, and build stronger infrastructure for users, builders, and institutions.

These are the top blockchain news from May 2026.

A new alliance with Colossus Digital to drive institutional staking

In May, we announced our partnership with Colossus Digital, a collaboration designed to make staking more accessible, secure, and scalable for institutions.

Through this integration, Colossus Digital clients can access Stakely’s staking services from an institutional environment, with a strong focus on custody, operational security, and efficiency. We shared the full details in our article about the new alliance between Stakely and Colossus Digital to drive institutional staking.

Pharos launched its Pacific Ocean mainnet, with Stakely as a genesis validator

Pharos Network launched its Pacific Ocean mainnet in May, marking an important milestone for a network focused on financial applications, RWAs, and institutional use cases.

At Stakely, we participated as a genesis validator and co-organized an in-person event in Madrid with Pharos Network to celebrate the launch alongside builders, partners, validators, and active members of the Web3 ecosystem. You can read more about the launch in our article on Pharos Network’s Pacific Ocean mainnet and the event organized by Stakely in Madrid.

New networks available in the Stakely Staking App: Pharos and Sui

We also expanded the networks available in the Stakely Staking App with two new additions: Pharos and Sui.

This allows users to stake PROS and SUI through a simpler experience while keeping control of their assets. This expansion reinforces one of our key product lines: making native staking more accessible without compromising security or the non-custodial nature of the experience.

We reactivated faucets for Solana and Pharos

In May, we reactivated the SOL mainnet faucet and enabled the PROS faucet on Pharos mainnet to support users, builders, and communities that need small amounts of tokens to operate, test, or interact with the network.

It may seem like a small piece of infrastructure, but faucets remain useful for reducing friction, especially in growing ecosystems where onboarding users and developers matters.

Ethereum moved forward with Glamsterdam preparation

Ethereum continued preparing its next major upgrade, Glamsterdam. In May, the Ethereum Foundation published new Protocol Cluster updates, including a multi-client Glamsterdam devnet, testing around ePBS, and work related to scaling Ethereum L1 capacity more sustainably.

For validators and infrastructure operators, Glamsterdam is not just another technical upgrade. It introduces relevant changes in how Ethereum organizes block production, load management, and preparation for higher gas limits. The Ethereum Foundation summarized these developments in its Protocol Cluster Updates: May 2026.

Solana and Google Cloud introduced Pay.sh

Solana Foundation launched Pay.sh in collaboration with Google Cloud, a payment gateway that allows agents and applications to access APIs and pay per use with stablecoins on Solana.

This move reinforces a trend we are seeing across several ecosystems: blockchain infrastructure is becoming more directly connected to payments, automation, and agent-based services. In its announcement about Pay.sh and its collaboration with Google Cloud, Solana presents it as a way to connect autonomous agents with enterprise infrastructure through programmable payments.

Sui enabled gasless stablecoin transfers

Sui launched gasless stablecoin transfers in May, a feature designed to allow users and businesses to send stablecoins without needing to hold SUI to pay transaction fees.

This is especially interesting from an adoption perspective: removing the need to hold the native token for a basic transfer reduces one of the most common sources of friction in crypto user experience. Sui introduced the feature in its announcement about gasless stablecoin transfers.

Celestia v8 reached Mainnet Beta

Celestia activated its v8 upgrade on Mainnet Beta in May, introducing changes related to cross-chain transfers, ZK-based message verification, and validator commission limits.

To avoid duplicating the full analysis, here is the key point: for TIA stakers and validators, the most relevant change is that the upgrade updates the validator commission range, making validator selection and commission monitoring even more important. We covered the details in our article on Celestia v8 and its implications for TIA validators and stakers.

Starknet introduced the federation supporting strkBTC

Starknet moved forward with its BTCFi strategy through strkBTC, a representation of Bitcoin within the Starknet ecosystem. In May, it introduced the federation responsible for operating the infrastructure that supports minting, burning, and bridging BTC and strkBTC between Bitcoin and Starknet.

The interesting point here is not just “bringing BTC to another network”, but how the infrastructure is designed to move Bitcoin liquidity into programmable environments with clear rules and without federation members taking custody of users’ assets. Starknet explained the model in its article on the federation supporting strkBTC infrastructure.

Cosmos published its 2026 technical roadmap

Cosmos shared its Cosmos Stack roadmap for 2026, with a focus on performance, connectivity, enterprise tooling, and developer experience.

Among the most relevant priorities are improving throughput, reducing block times, advancing IBC connectivity, and strengthening components designed for enterprise environments. For an ecosystem like Cosmos, where many networks rely on a shared stack, these improvements have an impact beyond a single chain. The team detailed these priorities in the Cosmos Stack Roadmap for 2026.

If May made anything clear, it is that the next phase of blockchain adoption will not depend only on new networks or new narratives. It will depend on more reliable infrastructure, simpler experiences, and staking models that are ready for both users and institutions.

At Stakely, we continue working in that direction: operating validators, expanding supported networks, building useful tools for communities, and making it easier for more users, companies, and institutions to participate in staking securely and non-custodially.