![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-488.jpeg\"\n)
\n Former Goliath Ventures CEO Christopher Alexander Delgado pleaded guilty to his role in a crypto investment scheme that prosecutors said raised at least $400 million from investors.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said Goliath promised investors monthly returns generated through digital asset liquidity pools between January 2023 and January 2026.
Prosecutors said the funds were instead used to pay earlier investors, process withdrawals, fund luxury spending and finance business events.
Delgado pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as well as wire fraud and money laundering. Under the plea agreement, he admitted the scheme caused at least $250 million in investor losses and agreed to forfeit an extensive portfolio of luxury assets purchased with investor funds.
According to the DOJ, Delgado agreed to surrender eight properties, 11 vehicles, 30 watches, over 50 luxury bags and wallets, at least 29 pieces of jewelry and bank accounts and crypto wallets. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each fraud count and up to 10 years for money laundering.
Delgado's sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 8.
\n \n
Excerpt of the plea agreement. Source: DOJ
The plea follows Delgado’s television appearance and public apology to investors. On May 12, Delgado appeared in an interview with Florida television station WFTV. At the time, he said investors had placed their trust in him and that he had failed them, saying he had voluntarily returned to the US and was cooperating with authorities.
Delgado said only about $160,000 remained in the company’s bank account at the time of his arrest and said that other former colleagues were involved in the operation.
Related: Florida man pleads guilty for promoting $1.8B ‘HyperFund’ crypto fraud
The case also drew scrutiny of the financial institutions that processed Goliath funds. On March 12, investors filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, alleging that the bank ignored suspicious transactions and allowed Goliath to collect investor funds through its accounts.
The lawsuit claimed that about $253 million passed through a JPMorgan account, including about $123 million later transferred to Goliath's wallets at Coinbase. A separate federal complaint also identified flows through Bank of America and directly to Coinbase wallets.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Former Goliath Ventures CEO Christopher Delgado admitted to fraud and money laundering in a scheme that took in at least $400 million and caused at least $250 million in investor losses. ", "published": "2026-07-01T09:20:49+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "ponzi-scheme" }, { "slug": "fraud" }, { "slug": "law" }, { "slug": "united-states" }, { "slug": "department-of-justice" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "goliath-ceo-guilty-400m-crypto-ponzi-case", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273301" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Taiwan’s legislature passes crypto, stablecoin regulations", "leadText": "Taiwan’s legislative branch has passed the nation’s first crypto and stablecoin rules, which aim to integrate the country with the global crypto market.", "author": { "slug": "jesse-coghlan" }, "bodyText": "Taiwanese lawmakers on Tuesday passed a law to establish a regulatory framework for crypto, which includes licensing and rules for stablecoins.
Taiwan's financial watchdog, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), said that the Legislative Yuan passed the law requiring all virtual asset service providers, or VASPs, to get approval from the regulator to operate.
The law also says stablecoins issued in the country must get approval from the central bank and the FSC, and issuers must maintain sufficient reserves with a trustee and undergo regular audits.
The law is the first to regulate crypto and stablecoins in Taiwan, bringing it in line with other governments in the region, such as Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, that have long passed laws to regulate the sector in a bid to attract the industry.
The FSC said the bill further strengthens the protection of traders’ rights and that issuing stablecoins will help Taiwan integrate with the international market and secure a place in the global crypto market.
\n
Source: Cointelegraph
Taiwan’s rules outline seven types of VASPs, including exchanges, trading platforms, custodians and lenders, which will all be subject to rules for internal control and audits, cybersecurity systems, crypto listing and delisting rules, customer asset segregation and financial reporting.
The rules outlaw crypto-based fraud and price manipulation, with violators facing between three and 10 years in prison and fines ranging from about 10 million New Taiwan dollars ($300,000) to 200 million New Taiwan dollars ($6.3 million).
Those caught operating a VASP or issuing a stablecoin without a license face up to seven years in prison and fines of up to 100 million New Taiwan dollars ($3.1 million), Taiwan’s national news agency, CNA, reported on Tuesday.
Related: US ban on stablecoin yield could see others fill the void: Ledger exec
The implementation date of the bill is still to be determined, and the law will take effect only after it is published by the government’s executive branch.
The FSC said VASPs that complete anti-money laundering registration before the bill is implemented, and institutions that provide related services under the agency, should apply for a license within 12 months after the bill is implemented.
CNA reported that lawmakers also passed a resolution asking the FSC to propose a plan within a year outlining how the crypto industry can provide derivative crypto commodity services, with the aim of providing diversified investments and improving the sector’s health.
Asia Express: Japanese pension fund tips 1% in crypto, G7 urges action on NK hackers
", "description": "Lawmakers in Taiwan have passed the country’s first crypto and stablecoin laws, which the nation’s finance regulator hopes can secure Taiwan as a hub for crypto.", "published": "2026-07-01T07:15:48+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "taiwan" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "taiwans-legislature-passes-crypto-regulation-licensing-laws", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273293" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Anthropic to bring back Fable 5 as US lifts export controls", "leadText": "Claude Fable 5 will be redeployed with a new set of classifiers designed to identify and block a broader range of cybersecurity-related tasks. \n", "author": { "slug": "martin-young" }, "bodyText": "Artificial intelligence company Anthropic is set to restore public access to its most powerful AI models, Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5, weeks after they were pulled offline under a directive from the US government.
Anthropic’s two latest models have been restricted from public access since June 12, when the government applied export controls following a report in which researchers bypassed Fable 5’s safeguards, forcing Anthropic to pull all access to the models immediately. The government lifted those restrictions on Wednesday, stated Anthropic.
“After a series of productive conversations with the US government, we’re redeploying the model with a new set of classifiers to target and block more cybersecurity tasks,” Anthropic said.
The suspension of the models raised concerns about state control over frontier AI technology and set a dangerous precedent, according to experts and technologists. The export controls also highlighted White House concerns about a potential national cybersecurity threat if these powerful models were jailbroken and used for malicious purposes.
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said on X on Wednesday, “Over the past two weeks, we have worked closely with Anthropic to analyze and approve Fable 5 to ensure alignment across the US Government and to strengthen America’s leadership in AI.”
Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said on X that government priority remains to “get the best [AI] tech deployed as quickly and safely as possible.”
Related: AI researcher claims he's already bypassed Anthropic's Fable 5 guardrails
The restrictions came after the government became aware of a report in which Amazon researchers found a method of bypassing Fable 5’s safeguards, prompting the model to identify several software vulnerabilities.
In a blog post, Anthropic argued this wasn’t a risk unique to Fable 5, as weaker models could also identify the same vulnerabilities and produce the same exploit.
Anthropic has also begun drafting a consensus framework with Amazon, Microsoft, Google and other partners in its Project Glasswing — a collaboration announced in April to safeguard against AI cybersecurity threats — for “assessing the severity of AI jailbreaks.”
\n
Anthropic’s cybersecurity safety classifiers and how jailbreaks interact with safety classifiers. Source: Anthropic
The company is also scaling up collaboration with the US government on AI model testing and safeguards. “This will include pre-release access to models and safeguards for evaluation, information sharing on jailbreaks and misuse, and dedicated resources for joint research,” it stated.
A well-known AI researcher claimed to have jailbroken Fable 5 within 48 hours of its launch in June, before the government restrictions, and shared screenshots showing how he bypassed the model’s safety guardrails.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa... faster than crypto
", "description": "Anthropic is restoring Fable 5 and Mythos 5 access after the US lifted export controls tied to a cybersecurity jailbreak report. ", "published": "2026-07-01T07:14:32+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "us-government" }, { "slug": "ai" }, { "slug": "cybersecurity" }, { "slug": "ai-and-hi-tech" } ], "slug": "anthropic-reactivates-newest-ai-models-after-us-govt-lifts-restrictions", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273289" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Here’s what happened in crypto today", "leadText": "Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, Web3 and crypto regulation.", "author": { "slug": "cointelegraph" }, "bodyText": "Today in crypto, Taiwan’s lawmakers passed the country’s first crypto and stablecoin laws, Strategy’s new Bitcoin capital framework drew Wall Street support even as traders question long-term demand risk and Cathie Wood's ARK Invest capitalized on the crypto market downturn, buying shares in Coinbase, Circle and Bullish.
Taiwan’s lawmakers on Tuesday passed a law to establish the country’s first regulatory framework and licensing regime for crypto and rules for stablecoins, requiring all crypto platforms to get approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to operate.
The law outlines that stablecoins issued in the country must get approval from the central bank and the FSC, and issuers must maintain sufficient reserves with a trustee and undergo regular audits, which the FSC said would help Taiwan integrate with the international market and secure a place in the global crypto market.
Crypto fraud and price manipulation carry punishments of up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 200 million New Taiwan dollars ($6.3 million). Those caught operating a VASP or issuing a stablecoin without a license face up to seven years in prison and fines of up to 100 million New Taiwan dollars ($3.1 million).
Lawmakers also passed a resolution asking the FSC to propose a plan within a year outlining how the crypto industry can provide derivative crypto commodity services, with the aim of providing diversified investments and improving the sector’s health.
Michael Saylor’s Strategy won support from some Wall Street analysts after unveiling a new capital framework, but the changes also sparked debate over the company’s long-term Bitcoin strategy and sustainability.
Benchmark Equity Research on Monday reiterated its Buy rating on Strategy’s Class A stock MSTR and maintained a 12-month price target of $570, according to a report reviewed by Cointelegraph.
Strategy's common Class A stock, MSTR, rose 12.6% to about $92.70 on Monday, while its STRC preferred shares climbed 12.2% to around $83.70, according to TradingView and Yahoo Finance.
However, both stocks edged lower in premarket activity on Tuesday as some investors and industry observers remained skeptical about the durability of the new capital model.
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-1782.png\"\n)
\n Source: TradingView
Tech-focused asset manager ARK Invest has capitalized on the recent crypto market downturn, buying a combined $43.5 million worth of shares in crypto firms such as Coinbase and Circle over the past three trading days.
Data from ARK Invest shows the asset manager bought another 122,544 shares in Coinbase (COIN) worth about $18.6 million since Thursday, while adding another 169,777 shares in Circle (CRCL) worth roughly $12.9 million over the same time frame.
The firm also purchased nearly $5.2 million worth of shares in crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH) and added another $5.12 million in brokerage firm Robinhood (HOOD), which has pushed aggressively into the crypto tokenization space in recent months. It also bought $1.69 million worth of shares in crypto-friendly bank SoFi Technologies (SOFI) on Monday.
ARK’s purchases come as investors have turned bearish on these crypto-related stocks. CRCL, COIN and BLSH have fallen 27.6%, 16.9% and 26.3%, respectively, over the past month. During that time, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped to a near two-year low of $58,190 while confidence that the CLARITY Act will pass before the US midterm elections in November has faded.
\n
Most of the newly purchased shares were added to the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), the firm’s flagship fund, followed by the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW).
", "description": "Today in crypto: Taiwan passed the nation's first crypto and stablecoin laws, Strategy's new Bitcoin plan got a Wall Street endorsement but raised concerns among some, and ARK bought Coinbase, Circle and Bullish shares.", "published": "2026-07-01T07:00:00+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "business" }, { "slug": "taiwan" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "what-happened-in-crypto-today", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "110589" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Trump earned more from crypto than real estate in 2025, filings show", "leadText": "Memecoin sales and royalties made the most money for Trump last year, more than all of his golf courses combined. \n", "author": { "slug": "martin-young" }, "bodyText": "US President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures generated more income for him in 2025 than his real estate and resort businesses, according to his latest financial disclosures.
Donald Trump’s annual financial disclosure report was released by the US Office of Government Ethics on Tuesday, revealing more than $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures last year.
The filings show Trump has profited substantially from an industry that he’s simultaneously regulating, which critics say creates a conflict of interest. In 2025, his administration pushed pro-crypto policy, a friendlier regulatory environment and executive orders favorable to digital assets, while his family’s ventures generated vast income as crypto markets surged to an all-time high.
In a statement to the media, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said Trump had “proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world."
"Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest," she added.
According to the 927-page disclosure, the licensing and sale of memecoins such as Trump Coin (TRUMP) generated the most income for Trump, with about $635 million coming from “royalties” in a “license agreement with Celebration Coins.”
Meanwhile, the Trump family’s DeFi platform, World Liberty Financial, was the second-biggest earner, generating about $588 million from “proceeds from token sales.”
The disclosure also revealed that Trump earned $197 million from selling equity in a stablecoin venture.
\n
This combined crypto income dwarfs the second category, real estate and resorts, with the president reporting more than $290 million in income related to revenue from his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, and various golf clubs and resorts he owns.
The filing also shows Trump owns more than $50 million of Bitcoin (BTC) and between $5 million and $25 million in Ether (ETH) stored in cold wallets, along with USDC (USDC) and USD Key (KEY).
\nSource: Galaxy Digital
The Trump Organization said in a statement that “the breadth and depth of this filing further underscores our commitment to transparency,” according to Reuters.
“At nearly 1,000 pages, it represents one of the most comprehensive financial disclosure reports ever submitted and demonstrates a level of financial transparency unmatched in presidential history.”
Related: Donald Trump has 10 days to decide on housing bill with CBDC ban
Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, called it an “obscene crypto grift” in a statement on Tuesday,
“Trump’s personal profit interest has now aligned him with the crypto industry, paving the way for dangerous legislation that will facilitate mass rip-offs and even threaten financial system stability,” said Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman as he called on Congress to take action.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Trump’s 2025 ethics filing showed crypto ventures earned $1.4 billion, more than triple his real estate income.\n", "published": "2026-07-01T05:01:09+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "investments" }, { "slug": "donald-trump" }, { "slug": "defi" }, { "slug": "memecoin" } ], "slug": "trump-earned-more-from-crypto-than-real-estate-in-2025-filings-show", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273285" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Director of ‘47 Ronin’ who gambled Netflix funds on crypto gets 30 months", "leadText": "Carl Rinsch will serve two and a half years in prison for taking money meant for a Netflix show to buy Dogecoin, stocks and luxury goods.", "author": { "slug": "jesse-coghlan" }, "bodyText": "Hollywood director Carl Rinsch has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for defrauding Netflix out of $11 million, which he spent on crypto, stocks and luxury goods.
A Manhattan federal court on Monday sentenced Rinsch, known for directing the 2013 film “47 Ronin,” starring Keanu Reeves, to 30 months in prison after he was convicted in December on charges including fraud and money laundering.
“Rinsch orchestrated a scheme to steal millions by seeking $11 million from a subscription streaming service, falsely claiming that money would be used to finance a television show that he was creating,” Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement Monday.
“Instead of using the money to make the show, Rinsch made risky bets on highly speculative stock options and cryptocurrency, and spent millions of dollars on luxury goods for himself,” Clayton added. “Today’s sentence sends a deterrent message: fraud will not be tolerated.”
Rinsch’s sentence was far below the maximum possible prison time of 90 years he was facing for his seven total charges, to which he pleaded not guilty. His defense also argued that he suffered from mental health issues.
The sentence brings to a close a 15-month saga after Rinsch was arrested in March 2025 for defrauding what prosecutors referred to in court documents as “Streaming Company-1,” which multiple reports have identified as Netflix.
\n
Source: US Attorney SDNY
According to a March 2025 indictment and a November 2023 New York Times report on a confidential arbitration proceeding between Netflix and Rinsch, the company initially gave Rinsch $44 million for his sci-fi show “White Horse,” later renamed “Conquest,” but he asked for more funds to finish the show, prompting Netflix to wire an additional $11 million in March 2020.
Rinsch used $10.5 million from the fresh funding to gamble on the stock market and quickly lost about half of it in a few weeks by trading options on pharmaceutical companies and the S&P 500.
Rinsch transferred more than $4 million in remaining funds to crypto exchange Kraken and went all in on the memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE), a bet that ultimately generated around $27 million when he liquidated in May 2021, according to an account statement seen by The Times.
\n
Carl Rinsch giving an interview in 2013 for his feature directorial debut film 47 Ronin. Source: YouTube
With the DOGE winnings, Rinsch then spent about $10 million on personal expenses and luxury goods, including $1.8 million on credit card bills, $1 million on lawyers to sue Netflix, $3.8 million on furniture and antiques, $2.4 million on five Rolls-Royces and a Ferrari, and $652,000 on watches and clothes, according to the indictment.
Related: Onchain, in court: What happened in crypto legal news this week
Rinsch never finished the show or returned the funds Netflix provided to complete it.
Rinsch was convicted of one count each of wire fraud and money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, along with five counts of making monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, each carrying a maximum of 10 years.
Prosecutors asked the court in a mid-June sentencing memo to give Rinsch five years in prison after he argued for a sentence without prison time.
Rinsch’s defense said he suffered from mental health issues, with friends and family members writing to the court to say that his behavior changed around the time of the offenses. Keanu Reeves also wrote to the court in support of Rinsch.
In addition to his two-and-a-half-year prison term, Rinsch was sentenced to three years of supervised release, $11 million in forfeiture and $700 in mandatory special assessments.
Magazine: China’s 107 Bitcoin memory thief, Bithumb CEO booked: Asia Express
", "description": "Carl Rinsch was sentenced to 30 months in prison after he took $11 million from Netflix in 2020 and gambled some of it on crypto.", "published": "2026-07-01T04:47:30+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "fraud" }, { "slug": "court" }, { "slug": "hollywood" }, { "slug": "netflix" }, { "slug": "scams-and-cybercrime" } ], "slug": "47-ronin-director-who-gambled-netflix-funds-on-crypto-gets-30-months", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273281" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "UK crypto investors sue Binance, Changpeng Zhao for $200M", "leadText": "One Binance customer said he lost the equivalent of more than $132,000 from the crypto exchange’s derivatives offerings before restrictions were imposed on Binance.", "author": { "slug": "brayden-lindrea" }, "bodyText": "Almost 1,700 UK investors are reportedly suing Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao for 150 million British pounds ($200 million), alleging the crypto exchange offered and sold crypto derivatives without regulatory approval.
The law firm representing the investors, KP Law, said Binance’s leverage tokens, futures contracts and options offerings breached the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and that these products continued to be offered after the Financial Conduct Authority banned such products from being offered to retail customers in January 2021.
“There appeared to be no effective barrier preventing UK customers from accessing them,” the law firm said.
Binance told Cointelegraph it would “defend against these claims through the appropriate legal process” and it “remains committed to its obligations to users and to operating in accordance with applicable law.”
\n
The lawsuit adds to a growing list of legal and regulatory challenges for the crypto exchange, including recently failing to secure a Markets in Crypto-Assets-compliant license from a European Union member state before the July 1 deadline.
Binance has also been facing allegations that it facilitated $850 million in transactions tied to a sanctioned Iranian financier that flowed to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The crypto exchange strongly denied the allegations.
One of the affected customers, Tomas Sutas, was a financial controller who allegedly invested more than $132,400 into Binance’s derivatives products before the value of his investments was wiped out, the Financial Times reported.
Reuters also reported that multiple UK users lost “tens of thousands of pounds” through the products.
Related: Australia’s crypto travel rule is coming into effect: Here’s what's changing
KP Law said it is still identifying the full scope of affected customers.
“While the precise number of UK customers affected is not publicly known, Binance is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, meaning that a substantial number of users could potentially have been exposed to these issues.”
Binance’s operations in the UK became heavily restricted in June 2021 when the FCA informed Binance Markets Limited that it couldn’t operate in the region without written consent.
Reuters noted that the lawsuit was filed in the London High Court.
The Binance-affiliated Nest Exchange and “persons unknown” were also named as defendants.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Nearly 1,700 British investors have sued crypto exchange Binance and its founder for allegedly offering illegal crypto derivatives products in 2021. ", "published": "2026-07-01T03:30:07+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "law" }, { "slug": "changpeng-zhao" }, { "slug": "united-kingdom" }, { "slug": "derivatives" }, { "slug": "binance" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "uk-crypto-investors-sue-binance-changpeng-zhao-for-potential-200m-payout", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273277" }, { "category": { "slug": "features" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Has Strategy’s capital overhaul put an end to ‘death spiral’ fears?", "leadText": "Strategy's latest plan includes MSTR and STRC buybacks, expanded cash reserves and even potential Bitcoin sales. Will it be enough to defuse the overheated “death spiral” fears?", "author": { "slug": "christina-comben" }, "bodyText": "With Bitcoin plunging below $60,000 and Strategy’s share price down by more than 70% from the high, some crypto investors are questioning if Strategy could become this cycle’s Terra/LUNA — a highly leveraged bet on crypto market structure that explodes under stress.
The company's response? A new capital framework released on Monday aimed at addressing investors’ fears.
The package includes up to $1 billion in buybacks for MSTR, up to $1 billion in buybacks for STRC and related securities, an increase in STRC’s dividend to roughly 12%, and a cash buffer expansion to $2.55 billion.
Of particular note for a company famed for its maximalist approach to Bitcoin, Strategy also said it may sell up to $1.25 billion in BTC holdings if required to meet dividend or debt obligations.
Markets responded positively to the news, with both STRC and MSTR shares rallying more than 12% in after-hours trading. STRC is currently trading at $84.86, a significant improvement on the $72.06 it was trading at on June 26.
\nSTRC share price rallied by over 12% in after-hours trading. Source: Yahoo Finance.
But is the plan enough to assuage fears that STRC’s structure — famously cooked up by executive chairman Michael Saylor with the help of an LLM — could expose Strategy to a “death spiral” of reflexive funding risks during periods of market stress?
STRC is part of Strategy’s capital structure linked to its broader Bitcoin treasury strategy. It sits between traditional equity and debt-like instruments, offering investors yield while maintaining exposure to the company’s Bitcoin holdings.
Related: Strategy's MSTR may plunge 80% if it repeats this dot-com-era fractal
Strategy describes STRC as a perpetual preferred stock paying a 12% annual dividend on a $100 par value, funded from its cash reserve and Bitcoin-linked capital framework.
While the structure is designed to provide financing flexibility without issuing traditional debt, analysts have questioned whether its stability depends on continued investor demand in secondary markets, particularly during periods of Bitcoin volatility or tighter liquidity conditions.
By contrast, Strategy's common stock is called MSTR and it represents an equity ownership stake in Strategy along with voting rights. The fate of the two securities is closely aligned, but they are different. Similarly, Strategy's position as the largest buyer of Bitcoin (and perhaps in future as a seller) means its fate is closely intertwined with the price of Bitcoin at present.
Perpetual goldbug and Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff has repeatedly called out Strategy’s model, pointing out that it “can’t sell Bitcoin without crashing the price of Bitcoin. Even if Strategy merely stops buying Bitcoin, that change alone would crush the market.”
\nStrategy describes STRC as a short-duration, high-yield credit. Source: Strategy
Yet Taran Dhillon, head of digital assets at Kula, told Cointelegraph that “Bitcoin volatility alone is unlikely to break a structure like Strategy's.”
He said that a more meaningful test is “whether Bitcoin remains under pressure while access to capital becomes progressively more expensive or difficult.”
Some argue that Strategy’s entire fundraising and equity model is inherently reflexive, compounding both upside and downside cycles. The same flywheel that amplifies gains in bull markets can accelerate losses during the bear, when falling Bitcoin and share prices collide with weaker demand.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse made that exact point on CNBC this week. "Financial engineering does not drive long term value," he said.
Kyle Rodda, senior analyst at Capital.com, told Cointelegraph that Strategy effectively operates as a momentum-driven Bitcoin accumulation vehicle, in which capital raises funds for Bitcoin purchases that, in turn, support the company’s valuation. However, he warned that the dynamic can reverse under stress.
“Strategy's business definitely compounds momentum in both directions,” Rodda said, adding that in weaker conditions, rising funding costs and declining investor appetite can reinforce downward pressure.
Related: Grayscale's Pandl says Strategy should sell $3B Bitcoin to restore confidence
He also argued that secondary market liquidity is a structural dependency, meaning large-scale selling or refinancing pressures could have wider spillovers into Bitcoin markets themselves.
Among Bitcoiners, Charles Edwards, the founder of Capriole Investments, is one of Strategy’s most hawkish commentators of late.
He compared stressed conditions in digital asset treasury companies to broader crypto deleveraging events, warning that feedback loops can accelerate losses when leverage and sentiment deteriorate.
“Anyone else getting LUNA 2022 vibes on MicroStrategy?” he posted on June 26.
\nComparing Strategy to Terra/LUNA. Source: Charles Edwards
While the bearish sentiment around Strategy piles up on X, Dhillon told Cointelegraph that stress would likely first appear in funding conditions, pointing to widening discounts, higher yields, and reduced issuance capacity as early warning signals.
In his view, Strategy's Bitcoin holdings are less relevant than whether the company can continue refinancing or rolling capital efficiently during periods of market stress.
And while failure of STRC to maintain its "peg" of $100 has caused much consternation, STRC isn't pegged to $100 in the way a stablecoin is pegged to the value of $1. The yield simply gets more attractive the further the price falls under $100, which in theory, should see buyers push the price back to $100 at some point.
A Bitfire Research report shared with Cointelegraph said that STRC’s recent price dislocations should not be interpreted as structural failure.
The firm argued that de-pegging events are largely driven by sentiment and liquidity conditions rather than changes to Strategy’s underlying fundamentals or solvency profile.
“Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) faces no near-term insolvency risk,” the firm wrote.
Strategy supporter Adam Livingston, a Bitcoin advocate and author, ran what he described as a “three-year MSTR stress test” under extreme conditions, including a 55% Bitcoin drawdown, closed capital markets, and sustained cash burn requiring large Bitcoin sales to meet obligations.
Related: CryptoQuant warns on Strategy's dividend coverage as cash reserve falls 38%
In his model, Strategy’s senior claims expand sharply in Bitcoin terms, while the company’s “common equity Bitcoin exposure” (CEBE) compresses significantly. He described this as “CEBE getting annihilated”, falling from 138,161 sats per share to 7,884 sats per share at the trough of the simulation.
\nDeath spiral? This model says no. Source: Adam Livingston
The model assumes no new Bitcoin purchases or equity issuance during the downturn, with approximately 115,727 BTC sold over the three years to service obligations before stabilization conditions return.
Despite the severity of the drawdown, Livingston’s model ultimately shows Strategy surviving the cycle, ending with over 700,000 BTC remaining on its balance sheet and a recovering net asset structure once market conditions normalize.
The new framework represents the most explicit attempt yet by Strategy to address concerns around liquidity and reflexivity risk.
Key components of Strategy's June 29 8-K filing that aim to restore confidence in the company, include buybacks for MSTR shares and STRC and a big focus on expanding cash reserves to pay dividends. The nuclear option of selling up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin holdings to pay dividends is included partly as a way to assure markets Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor will reluctantly sell assets if he's forced to.
Related: Bitcoin price is down over 40% since STRC launched: Is Strategy 'fine'?
\nStrategy's 8-K filing, June 29. Source: US Securities and Exchange Commission
Dhillon said the framework “meaningfully improves” transparency around how Strategy would respond under stress, with the expanded $2.55 billion reserve and clearer Bitcoin monetization plan helping strengthen investor confidence.
But Schiff pointed out that the current market cap of MSTR is $30 billion, while the current value of its Bitcoin is $50 billion. “Until MSTR’s market cap rises above the value of its Bitcoin, any Bitcoin bought by issuing MSTR shares creates a negative Bitcoin yield,” he said.
While the framework strengthens Strategy’s ability to manage short-term stress, it does not eliminate its reliance on capital markets to sustain its broader Bitcoin accumulation strategy.
As Dhillon told Cointelegraph, the key test will be whether funding conditions remain accessible during periods of market stress, rather than Bitcoin price action alone.
He added that the update clarifies Strategy’s capital allocation playbook, and gives management a more defined order of operations, which makes its overall strategy more credible.
For critics like Rodda, the underlying concern persists. Strategy’s structure remains exposed to feedback loops if liquidity tightens across both equity and credit markets.
While Strategy’s move introduces clearer liquidity buffers, buybacks, and contingency options, including potential Bitcoin sales, the debate over structural reflexivity has not yet been fully resolved.
The question now is not whether STRC is inherently fragile in theory, but whether Strategy’s expanded toolkit can withstand a prolonged period of capital market stress, and whether investors still want exposure to a vehicle that amplifies Bitcoin’s cycles and adds risk, rather than simply tracking them.
Magazine: Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030, says veteran trader Peter Brandt
", "description": "Has Strategy’s new capital overhaul defused the fears swirling around STRC, or has it simply bought more time before the next bout of stress?", "published": "2026-07-01T00:11:09+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-price" }, { "slug": "peter-schiff" }, { "slug": "shares" }, { "slug": "microstrategy" } ], "slug": "does-strategys-new-capital-plan-put-an-end-to-death-spiral-fears", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "Analysis" } ] }, "id": "273273" }, { "category": { "slug": "markets" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Bitcoin just $5K away from ‘best investment opportunity’ of bear market", "leadText": "Bitcoin's recent selloff brought it within 10% of its realized price — a line that has marked the bottoming zone in Bitcoin's previous bear markets.", "author": { "slug": "william-suberg" }, "bodyText": "Bitcoin (BTC) is fast approaching a buying level that analysts describe as a top “investment opportunity.”
Key points:
Data from onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant shows that BTC/USD is less than 10% away from its aggregate realized price.
Realized price is the average price at which the BTC supply last moved onchain, and currently sits at around $53,300. BTC/USD has not traded below it since the end of its last bear market in 2022, according to data from TradingView.
“Looking back, every recurring bear market has brought a bleak period when Bitcoin fell below its realized price, and that has been the best Bitcoin investment opportunity,” CryptoQuant contributor Crypto Sunmoon commented.
\nBTC/USD one-week chart with realized price data. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Realized price comes in various iterations, reflecting the aggregate cost basis of various Bitcoin investor cohorts.
Market participants, however, are eagerly awaiting the return of the broader cost basis, given its role as a potential bear-market bottom marker.
“If that moment comes again, where price falls below the realized price, invest for the new cycle,” CryptoQuant suggested.
In recent months, PlanB, the pseudonymous creator of the Stock-to-Flow BTC price models, has listed a drop below the realized price as one of two key conditions that must be met to secure a trend reversal.
Related: Bitcoin price risks drop below $58K as US dollar hits 40-year high against yen
The other, closing candles below the 200-week moving average (WMA), began several weeks ago.
“Market is 50/50 on if February $60k was the bottom, or the bear will continue,” he wrote in an X post at the start of June.
“IMO data is telling us that we have not seen bottom formation yet, and that there is a >50% probablility that we go lower (below 200wma $61k or realized price $53k).”\n
Bitcoin realized price data. Source: PlanB/X
In a later post, PlanB added that Bitcoin would “likely bottom below” the realized price.
Continuing on realized price, commentator Aaron Bennett said that a drop to the key level was still possible despite the presence of institutional holders who were absent from previous bear markets.
“I'd be surprised if we don't touch this, or go below it for a few weeks,” he told X followers last week.
", "description": "Bitcoin analysis says that just like previous bear markets, BTC will \"likely bottom below\" its realized price, currently near $53,000.", "published": "2026-06-30T22:49:08+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-price" }, { "slug": "markets" }, { "slug": "predictions" }, { "slug": "market-analysis" } ], "slug": "bitcoin-is-just-a-5k-drop-away-from-its-best-investment-opportunity-analysis", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "Markets News" } ] }, "id": "273269" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Massachusetts AG files amended lawsuit against Kalshi over sports betting after court ruling", "leadText": "The amended complaint, granted by a judge on Tuesday, included allegations that Kalshi targeted users under 21 years old through social media and marketing on university campuses.", "author": { "slug": "turner-wright" }, "bodyText": "Prediction markets platform Kalshi’s legal battle against Massachusetts will continue after a judge ruled that state authorities could add allegations against the company over sports betting.
In a Tuesday filing in Suffolk County Superior Court, Associate Justice Peter Krupp allowed state authorities to file a 71-page amended complaint, building on a filing alleging that Kalshi engaged in sports wagering in violation of state laws.
The amended complaint included allegations that Kalshi “targets those under 21 years of age and does little to stop them from using its platform,” citing the company’s marketing to university campuses and presenting images in ads of people who “appear to be younger than 21 years old.”
“Kalshi allows anyone who is at least 18 years old to create an account and wager on sports events by purchasing event contracts,” alleged Massachusetts authorities.
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-30-at-40328-pm.png\"\n)
\n Source: Massachusetts Superior Court
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced the lawsuit against Kalshi in September 2025, alleging that the company needed to be licensed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to comply with state laws on online sports wagers. In January, a judge granted a preliminary injunction barring Kalshi from offering sports event contracts as the case was under review.
Related: US senators push to end CFTC ‘assault’ on state oversight of prediction markets
The Massachusetts case is just one of many involving state-level authorities and prediction markets companies like Kalshi and Polymarket, who offer users the ability to trade using event contracts on a variety of outcomes related to sports, politics and current events.
While Kalshi has been blocked from offering sports bets in some jurisdictions, it also has support from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which in April filed a brief in Massachusetts arguing the agency had “exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets. The CFTC, under Chair Michael Selig, has claimed that event contracts on the platforms amount to “swaps” covered by the Commodity Exchange Act and were not subject to state regulation.
“Congress has entrusted the CFTC with the sole authority to regulate commodity derivatives markets, including prediction markets,” said Selig. “To any state that seeks to nullify federal law and seize authority over these markets, I say again: we will see you in court.”
Cointelegraph reached out to Kalshi for comment but did not receive an immediate response. Following the initial complaint in September, a spokesperson said that the company was “ready to defend” itself in court.
While one of the cases between a prediction markets platform and US state authority could ultimately reach the US Supreme Court given the arguments over federal and state laws, some groups are looking to Congress for solutions.
Earlier this month, national gaming and tribal organizations and labor groups called on US senators to add language “that explicitly prohibits event contracts tied to sports and casino-style gaming” to the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The bill, under consideration in the Senate, is expected to give the CFTC more regulatory authority over digital assets.
Magazine: Does ‘Paper Bitcoin’ mean there’s an unlimited supply of BTC?
", "description": "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will continues its case against prediction markets platform Kalshi in state court after a judge allowed an amended complaint with new allegations.", "published": "2026-06-30T22:44:48+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "cftc" }, { "slug": "court" }, { "slug": "sport" }, { "slug": "regulation" }, { "slug": "kalshi" }, { "slug": "prediction-markets" } ], "slug": "massachusetts-lawsuit-kalshi-sports-betting", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273265" }, { "category": { "slug": "markets" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Bitmine Ether buys eclipsed by $345M ETH ETF outflows: Is sub $1.5K next?", "leadText": "Tokenization and RWA TVL growth highlight Ethereum’s fundamentals, but stagnant DApps and spot ETF outflows keep the pressure on ETH price. \n", "author": { "slug": "marcel-pechman" }, "bodyText": "Key takeaways:
Ether (ETH) has failed to sustain prices above $1,600 since Thursday, following the broader cryptocurrency market's downtrend. Lower oil prices created a positive tone that fueled investors’ hopes for more expansionist monetary policy. That setup favors stocks and pushes bond yields higher.
Traders now fear that ETH will not hold the $1,500 support level for long. Spot Ether ETF outflows void the impact of accumulation from Ether treasury companies.
\n
ETH/USD (orange) vs. Total crypto market cap (blue). Source: TradingView
Ether price has declined 31% since May and underperformed the total cryptocurrency market capitalization by 8% over that period. US-listed Ether ETFs saw $345 million in net outflows since June 17, which more than offset the $182 million in ETH accumulation from BitMine Immersion (BMNR US) and Sharplink (SBET US) during the same period.
Several factors appear to have held back investor appetite, including regulatory uncertainty in the United States. Meanwhile, the stock market continues to draw attention thanks to strong earnings and lower inflation expectations.
The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act has awaited a Senate vote since May 15. The bill ends regulation-by-enforcement and clarifies which tokens count as securities. Yet it has faced pushback from lawmakers over provisions regarding stablecoin yields and anti-money-laundering standards.
Democratic lawmakers voiced ethical concerns about the Trump family’s ties to crypto and its role in the World Liberty Financial platform. Most view the CLARITY Act as a positive catalyst for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. So ongoing uncertainty around approval hurts institutional demand for ETH.
The artificial intelligence sector now competes with blockchain for data processing as cloud providers deliver services through agentic architectures. Enterprise software leader SAP (SAP DE) has integrated autonomous, modular AI agents natively across multi-vendor clouds, enabling peer-to-peer collaboration.
Ether investors also feel disappointment from stagnant Ethereum network fees and decentralized applications (DApps) revenues. As a result, ETH supply becomes inflationary, staking yields remain limited, and fewer incentives exist for ecosystem growth, since part of DApps' revenue flows back to users.
\n
Ethereum monthly network chain fees vs. DApps revenue, USD. Source: DefiLlama
Ethereum network fees reached only $10.7 million in June, down from $24.4 million in April. DApps revenue hit $51.7 million in June, down from $64.8 million two months earlier. Top contributors included Sky (formerly Maker) at $12.7 million, Titan Builder at $7.2 million, and Chainlink at $4.6 million.
Ethereum supporters argue that tokenization remains in its early innings. The long-term growth potential should create enough blockchain demand to support a much higher ETH valuation.
Related: Ether treasury Sharplink bought $62.4M ETH last week
\n
Ethereum real world assets (RWA) active market capitalization, USD. Source: DefiLlama
While real world assets (RWA) show real promise, the $14.5 billion in tokenized market cap on Ethereum has yet to spark meaningful DeFi activity. With a 2.7% staking yield and weak onchain metrics, the odds of ETH breaking below $1,500 remain in play.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested public comment on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) investing in novel asset classes or using new investment strategies, as the agency reviews how such products should be regulated.
The consultation seeks feedback on whether existing rules adequately address novel ETFs, how such funds should be regulated and whether changes to the registration process are needed as new products enter the market.
According to the regulatory agency, the request focuses on funds investing in innovative asset classes or employing new investment strategies, where it is evaluating whether existing regulations remain appropriate.
The public comment period will remain open for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register, giving market participants an opportunity to weigh in before the SEC considers potential regulatory changes.
Exchange-traded funds have grown rapidly in recent years, with assets under management increasing from about $4 trillion in 2019 to more than $12 trillion at the end of 2025, according to the SEC.
Related: Spot Bitcoin ETFs bleed $1.7B as outflow streak hits four weeks
The request follows another recent consultation by US market regulators. Last week, the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sought public feedback on harmonizing portfolio margin rules across securities and derivatives markets.
In recent months, crypto ETF issuers have increasingly expanded beyond simple price-tracking products, introducing funds tied to staking, stablecoin reserves and more specialized investment strategies.
In June, ProShares introduced the GENIUS Money Market ETF, a Treasury-focused fund designed around reserve assets permitted under the GENIUS Act for payment stablecoins, while Grayscale launched the Hyperliquid Staking ETP, offering exposure to HYPE (HYPE) while seeking to generate staking rewards.
Bitcoin investment products are becoming more specialized as well. BlackRock proposed an options-based Bitcoin income ETF in January, followed by Goldman Sachs in April with a fund combining spot Bitcoin products and covered-call strategies.
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-30-at-20356-pm.png\"\n)
\n BlackRock’s Bitcoin Premium Income ETF filing. Source: SEC.gov
Earlier this month, Franklin Templeton proposed two ETFs that would systematically reinvest stock dividends into Bitcoin-linked investments, combining US equities with a rules-based Bitcoin allocation. The proposed funds would gain Bitcoin (BTC) exposure through instruments including exchange-traded products, futures, options and Bitcoin-backed depositary receipts.
ETF issuers are also experimenting with portfolios that combine digital assets with traditional asset classes. In January, Bitwise launched an actively managed ETF pairing Bitcoin with gold, precious metals and mining equities.
Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves
", "description": "The SEC is seeking public feedback on regulating novel ETFs as issuers introduce increasingly sophisticated crypto investment products.", "published": "2026-06-30T21:38:51+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "gold" }, { "slug": "sec" }, { "slug": "united-states" }, { "slug": "regulation" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-etf" }, { "slug": "etf" }, { "slug": "genius-act" } ], "slug": "sec-seeks-public-comment-on-regulating-novel-etfs", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273257" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Financial companies join forces for US dollar stablecoin, keeping reserve earnings", "leadText": "The project, supported by Visa, Mastercard and many crypto companies, could be in a position to challenge Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, currently the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization.", "author": { "slug": "turner-wright" }, "bodyText": "More than 140 companies have signed onto a US dollar-pegged stablecoin project that allows them to “receive all of the earnings” from its reserves.
In a Tuesday notice, Open Standard said it was launching the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin, a US dollar-pegged coin supported by financial companies including Visa and Mastercard, as well as crypto companies Coinbase, Ripple, OKX and Bybit. The project will allow businesses to mint OUSD “at no cost and with no artificial limits on volume,” and keep earnings from the coin’s reserves.
“When Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, Coinbase and Google coordinate on a new stablecoin, the signal is unmistakable,” said Rhino.fi co-founder and CEO Will Harborne. “Open USD is the first launch with a real chance to win share from USDT and USDC, because reserve revenue flows back to everyone who holds it. But that same incentive is what drives fragmentation at scale.”
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-30-at-13958-pm.png\"\n)
\n Source: Open Standard
Because it’s backed by so many high profile companies, the coin could be in a position to challenge Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, currently the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization. The share price of Circle Internet Group dropped by more than 16% on Tuesday to $63.63.
Related: Business use of stablecoins set for growth surge: Cybrid report
According to Open Standard, OUSD will launch “later this year.” The current size of the stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama, is more than $312 billion and projected to reach up to $4 trillion by 2030.
In a Tuesday X post following the announcement, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said that the company welcomed “continued innovation and competition in the space,” adding that it would soon expand support for US dollar-pegged and non-US dollar stablecoins.
“[We] look forward to remaining laser-focused on building the best stablecoin infrastructure possible and driving more customer and partner success,” said Allaire.
US President Donald Trump signed a bill to establish a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, called the GENIUS Act, into law last year. Many experts expect that the legislation, awaiting federal authorities finalizing regulations for implementation, could pave the way for the stablecoin market to grow as companies potentially begin issuing and accepting digital assets more easily.
Magazine: Does ‘Paper Bitcoin’ mean there’s an unlimited supply of BTC?
", "description": "The company behind the Open USD stablecoin, expected to launch sometime in 2026, said it would allow firms to keep the earnings from reserves and mint at no cost.", "published": "2026-06-30T20:31:41+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "coinbase" }, { "slug": "visa" }, { "slug": "stripe" }, { "slug": "payments" }, { "slug": "mastercard" }, { "slug": "stablecoin" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "financial-companies-us-dollar-payment-stablecoin", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273253" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Nasdaq brings proprietary market data onchain through Pyth", "leadText": "The partnership extends distribution of Nasdaq's TotalView market data to blockchain applications and other software platforms through Pyth's marketplace.", "author": { "slug": "nate-kostar" }, "bodyText": "Nasdaq has selected Pyth, an onchain financial data network, to distribute its proprietary market data to blockchain applications and other software platforms.
The partnership initially covers Nasdaq TotalView, the exchange’s depth-of-book data feed, which includes every displayed buy and sell order across all price levels as well as order imbalance data around the opening and closing auctions. The feed is widely used by professional traders because it provides a more complete view of market liquidity than standard market quotes by displaying the full order book.
According to Pyth, the marketplace gives software applications access to first-party market data through a single integration. The company said the service is intended for blockchain applications, digital asset exchanges, prediction markets, trading systems and other software platforms.
Nasdaq joins a group of publishers on Pyth that includes exchanges Euronext and OTC Markets, electronic trading platforms Tradeweb and Kalshi, market data provider Exchange Data International, Singapore Exchange’s SGX FX and the US Department of Commerce.
Related: Coinbase lets users transfer stock portfolios as exchange expands beyond crypto
Nasdaq’s partnership with Pyth is the latest in a series of moves by established exchange operators to expand their digital asset businesses through cryptocurrency products, blockchain infrastructure and new market services.
In March, Nasdaq has expanded its tokenization efforts through a partnership with crypto exchange Kraken and its infrastructure affiliate Backed to develop infrastructure linking traditional equities with blockchain networks. The initiative builds on the exchange operator’s broader push to integrate tokenized assets with traditional market infrastructure.
The following month, the SEC approved Nasdaq’s proposal to list Bitcoin index options tied to the Nasdaq Bitcoin Index, paving the way for trading pending approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Nasdaq also partnered with CME Group to launch cryptocurrency index futures tracking a basket of seven digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP, expanding its regulated crypto derivatives lineup.
Other exchange operators have pursued similar initiatives. ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, partnered with crypto exchange OKX in May to launch perpetual futures tied to its Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate oil benchmarks, marking the first product announced under the companies' broader partnership.
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-30-at-115604-am.png\"\n)
\n Source: OKX
Later, ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher called on regulators to allow traditional exchanges to offer 24/7 onchain perpetual futures, arguing regulated venues should be able to compete with crypto-native platforms already offering the products.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Nasdaq will distribute its proprietary TotalView market data through Pyth, making the network one of the first onchain platforms to carry the exchange’s market data.", "published": "2026-06-30T19:46:29+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "kraken" }, { "slug": "nyse" }, { "slug": "nasdaq" }, { "slug": "data-exchange" }, { "slug": "data" }, { "slug": "okx" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "nasdaq-brings-proprietary-market-data-onchain-through-pyth", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273249" }, { "category": { "slug": "markets" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Bitcoin price risks drop below $58K as US dollar hits 40-year high against yen", "leadText": "Bitcoin faced downside pressure as the US dollar hit its highest levels against the Japanese yen since 1986, while BTC price analysis revealed \"capitulation\" by 2025 top-buyers.", "author": { "slug": "william-suberg" }, "bodyText": "Bitcoin (BTC) fell toward $58,000 around Tuesday’s Wall Street open as the clock ticked down to a brutal quarterly close.
Key points:
Data from TradingView showed downside gaining the upper hand as volatility increased into the US session.
\nBTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
With $60,000 increasingly looking lost as support, commentators saw the tussle between bulls and bears continuing on short time frames.
“Open Interest pumping, noticed some large longs entering on this dip, it's about to get spicy,” commentator Exitpump wrote in fresh analysis on X.
\nBTC/USD order-book data. Source: Exitpump/X
Trader Killa eyed a repeat of weekly price patterns, in which Mondays formed the swing low or high of the following week.
https://x.com/KillaXBT/status/2071953116916842981
“$BTC Keeps consolidating in this price range. Marginally higher lows and equal highs,” trader Daan Crypto Trades continued.
“Look out for whichever direction breaks first, I think a quick move should follow after that seeing how compressed this is becoming.”\n
BTC/USDT perpetual contract one-hour chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X
Bitcoin thus reinforced its divergence from US stocks with total Q2 losses nearing 20%.
By contrast, trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted the S&P 500 was up 14% over the quarter, marking its best performance since 2020.
“This would mark the 2nd-largest quarterly gain since the 2008 Financial Crisis recovery,” it added in an X post alongside data from Bloomberg.
“At the same time, the Nasdaq 100 is up +25%, on track for its strongest quarter in 5 years. This would also mark the Nasdaq 100's 2nd-best quarterly performance in 25 years.”\n
US stocks performance comparison. Source: The Kobeissi Letter/X
Kobeissi described an “accelerating” global stocks rally, with the US providing the impetus.
In a potential headwind for crypto, the US dollar hit new multidecade highs against the Japanese yen, increasing the odds of government intervention.
USD/JPY reached 162.50 on the day, its highest since the mid 1980s.
\nUSD/JPY 12-month chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
“Whether it’s Japan, India, South Korea or MSTR, It’s the same problem,” analyst and YouTube personality George Gammon summarized to X followers on the day.
“You’ve got dollar liabilities and not enough dollars. So you sell assets to get dollars putting downward pressure on the asset. Yen, Rupees, Won, or Bitcoin.”
In new research, onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant warned of a fresh round of Bitcoin investor “capitulation.”
Related: BTC price RSI prints key 2026 signal: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week
At sub-$70,000 levels, contributor Crypto Sunmoon warned that those who had bought BTC around all-time highs were now selling at a loss.
“Since the break below $70K, exchange inflows have risen sharply, with the majority of this volume consisting of coins held for roughly six to twelve months, coins most likely accumulated near the cycle highs,” they wrote in a Quicktake blog post.
“This pattern is consistent with capitulation among cycle-top buyers, as holders appear to be cutting losses rather than continuing to hold through the drawdown.”\n
Source: CryptoQuant
CryptoQuant data showed onchain movements increasingly involving coins that last moved around all-time highs, along with increasing inflows to exchanges.
“For some, this will be a painful stretch. That said, capitulation events of this kind among cycle-top investors have historically coincided with long-term bottom formation, a pattern observed in both the 2018 and 2022 cycles,” Crypto Sunmoon added.
", "description": "Bitcoin is \"about to get spicy\" as open interest spikes and $58,000 reappears on the horizon as BTC price analysis flags \"capitulation\" by those who bought the top.", "published": "2026-06-30T19:17:56+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-price" }, { "slug": "markets" }, { "slug": "market-analysis" } ], "slug": "bitcoin-price-slumps-to-near-58k-as-us-dollar-hits-40-year-high-against-yen", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "Market Update" } ] }, "id": "273245" }, { "category": { "slug": "features" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "AI’s power crunch turns Bitcoin miners’ grid access into an asset", "leadText": "Bitcoin miners have the power sites AI companies need, but turning old mining campuses into real data center revenue is no easy pivot.", "author": { "slug": "artem-g" }, "bodyText": "By the end of 2025, the power capacity tied to artificial intelligence data centers worldwide had reached about 29.6 gigawatts (GW), enough to run all of New York state at peak demand, according to Stanford University’s annual report on the AI industry.
The report, released in April, suggests that compute itself is abundant and getting cheaper. Permitted, grid-connected, ready-to-draw electricity is in high demand, but the sources to power it are much harder to come by. One industry has spent the past decade quietly building exactly that infrastructure for a different reason: Bitcoin mining.
\n
AI data center power capacity reached about 29.6 GW by the end of 2025, comparable to New York state at peak demand. Source: Stanford University
The economics of chips are moving in the opposite direction. Stanford said the cost of GPU computation has dropped more than 99% since 2006, while leading chips now perform far more work per watt than they did a decade ago. But efficiency gains have not reduced total demand. They are instead poured back into larger models rather than banked as savings, keeping the pressure on the power grid.
\n
The cost of GPU computation has fallen more than 99% since 2006, even as total power draw climbed. Source: Stanford University
Stanford estimates that the most demanding training runs, including for systems such as Llama 4 Behemoth, have pulled upward of 100 megawatts (MW), comparable to a small power plant. Capacity dedicated to AI has risen some 200-fold in three years, from under a gigawatt in 2022, and data center electricity use is projected to keep rising through 2030.
The squeeze is geographic as much as numerical. The United States hosts 5,427 data centers, more than 10 times any other country, according to Stanford.
Chips can be ordered and delivered in months, but energizing a site, with its substation, interconnection approval and cooling, takes years.
Counted across full systems rather than the accelerators alone, AI’s cumulative power demand through 2024 reached an estimated 9.4 GW, close to the national electricity use of Switzerland or Austria and about half the estimated draw of Bitcoin mining.
\n
Estimated all-in AI power demand (through 2024) sits near half of Bitcoin mining's. Source: de Vries-Gao, Stanford University
But Bitcoin miners cannot just hand their machines to an AI lab. Mining ASICs (the chips that solve Bitcoin calculations) do one narrow job and are useless for training or inference. What does transfer is everything around the chips, such as the energized sites, power contracts, grid hookups and the shells to cool dense racks.
A Bitcon miner that already has a grid connection has infrastructure ready to fill the gaps for the AI developers, and renting that capacity beats starting over. Miners also tend to sit where AI wants to be anyway, in cheap-power US states like Texas and the Gulf Coast.
Mining economics is itself a numbers-crunching game. JPMorgan recently estimated Bitcoin’s all-in production cost at about $78,000 per coin, well above BTC’s market price of around $53,400 at the time of writing, down by more than 34% year-to-date, according to CoinGecko.
\nBitcoin is down by around 34% in 2026. Source: CoinGecko
Cointelegraph previously reported that hashprice had fallen below breakeven for many miners, putting about 20% of the industry in unprofitable territory.
Some major contracts between miners and AI infrastructure operators followed. In November 2025, Iren signed a five-year GPU cloud deal with Microsoft worth about $9.7 billion, served from a 750-megawatt campus in Childress, Texas. In December, Bitcoin miner Hut 8 signed a 15-year, $7 billion lease with Fluidstack for 245 megawatts at its River Bend site in Louisiana, with the payments backstopped by Google.
TeraWulf reported $12.8 billion in contracted high-performance computing (HPC) revenue and now earns more from leasing than mining. Core Scientific has expanded its CoreWeave agreement to $10.2 billion over 12-year terms. Across the listed miner sector, CoinShares counts more than $70 billion in announced AI and HPC contracts, but much of the value is years out. Hut 8's River Bend site, for example, is not due to start commissioning until the second quarter of 2027.
Related: TeraWulf doubles AI revenue but posts $427M quarterly loss as mining income declines
Investors have nonetheless rewarded the shift. Hut 8 stock jumped about 20% in premarket trading the day its lease was announced, Reuters reported, and across the sector, valuations are increasingly tied to compute pipelines rather than the Bitcoin price alone. Indeed, CoinShares said the miners with HPC contracts were trading at 12.3 times the value of their 12-month revenue vs 5.9 times for pure play miners. CoinShares' projects listed miners could derive as much as 70% of revenue from AI by the end of 2026, up from roughly 30% in Q1.
However, the conversion is far from cheap, and is not just a matter of plug-and-play. CoinShares estimates that mining infrastructure costs about $700,000 to $1 million per MW, while AI-grade, liquid-cooled infrastructure can cost $8 million to $15 million per MW. Hyperscalers also demand power density, redundancy and uptime guarantees that many mining facilities were never designed to provide.
Related: Celsius-linked Bitcoin miner Ionic Digital seeks Nasdaq direct listing amid AI pivot
Miners are covering that gap with debt and new capital raises. Iren had already disclosed about $3.75 billion in convertible note debt at the end of March, then raised another $3 billion through a new convertible note sale in May.
The sector is also leaning on a small group of hyperscalers and AI infrastructure buyers. If demand cools, customers renegotiate or projects slip, miners that have torn out ASICs may have fewer options to fall back on.
Whether that shift away from BTC mining pays off remains an open question. Signing multibillion-dollar AI contracts is one thing, but delivering the earnings investors expect is another.
For now, the market is placing a premium on miners making the transformation rather than those that simply produce new BTC. If AI demand continues to outpace electricity supply, those assets could prove more valuable than the machines they were originally built to support. If not, some of today’s biggest AI plans could prove to be costly bets, rather than real second acts for former Bitcoin miners.
Magazine: Bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI, so why is the hashrate near ATHs?
", "description": "AI data centers are straining power grids, turning Bitcoin miners’ energized sites into valuable infrastructure for HPC and cloud deals.", "published": "2026-06-30T18:44:31+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "technology" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-mining" }, { "slug": "ai" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "bitcoin-miners-ai-data-centers-power-infrastructure", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "Analysis" } ] }, "id": "273241" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Crypto companies have spent $189M so far on 2026 US election cycle: Report", "leadText": "The crypto industry, Big Tech and gambling interest groups are betting big on politicians in the 2026 primaries and elections, with almost $300 million shelled out so far.", "author": { "slug": "turner-wright" }, "bodyText": "The US consumer advocacy group Public Citizen on Tuesday reported that the cryptocurrency industry had contributed $189 million toward the 2026 election cycle, following its 2024 playbook.
According to a report released Tuesday, the nonprofit organization said that about 37% of all corporate contributions in the 2026 US election cycle could be traced to crypto companies, totaling about $189 million so far, with more than four months until the November election.
While the watchdog group said that the crypto-aligned political action committee (PAC) Fairshake was responsible for spending more than $82 million so far, the MAGA Inc. Super PAC, largely backed by Crypto.com, had spent more than $56 million.
“These super PACs prioritize the interests of their business backers over either major political party or any candidate,” said Public Citizen. “Following the crypto playbook, they are set up to engage in both Democratic and Republican primaries and to support or attack candidates of either major party in the general election.”
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-30-at-104820-am.png\"\n)
\n Source: Public Citizen
Fairshake and its affiliates Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress are backed by cryptocurrency companies Coinbase and Ripple, and reported a $193 million war chest as of January. Entities aligning with industry interests have also been formed since 2024, including the Fellowship PAC backed by Cantor Fitzgerald.
Altogether, the PACs’ combined spending has already exceeded that in 2024, when companies contributed $170 million toward electing what it considered “pro-crypto” candidates to Congress.
Related: Senate leaders push for July passage of CLARITY Act
Cointelegraph reached out to a Fairshake spokesperson for a comment on the report but did not receive an immediate response.
Colorado voters head to the polls today in primaries for Republican and Democratic candidates, with the state’s 8th congressional district potentially being influenced by crypto PAC spending.
The You Can Push Back Super PAC backed by Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen reportedly spent $1 million on media to support Democrat Manny Rutinel. The committee’s last big bet — $3.3 million — was on Democrat Alex Bores in New York’s 12th Congressional District. He lost his primary last week to Micah Lasher, who had criticized Larsen’s involvement in the race.
Magazine: SBF will never get a pardon, Trump peace deal boosts Bitcoin: Hodlers Digest June 14-21
", "description": "According to a Public Citizen report compiling FEC data, the crypto-aligned Fairshake was responsible for spending more than $82 million to support candidates in 2026, building on its efforts in the previous election cycle.", "published": "2026-06-30T18:19:17+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "politics" }, { "slug": "united-states" }, { "slug": "voting" }, { "slug": "elections" }, { "slug": "regulation" }, { "slug": "companies" } ], "slug": "crypto-companies-spent-2026-us-election-cycle-public-citizen", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273237" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Business use of stablecoins set for growth surge: Cybrid report ", "leadText": "The majority of businesses surveyed are likely to use stablecoins within the next 12 months, while regulatory clarity remained the biggest barrier to wider adoption.", "author": { "slug": "nate-kostar" }, "bodyText": "Business use of stablecoins is poised to surge in the next 12 months as adoption of the digital currency goes mainstream, according to a new report from payments infrastructure firm Cybrid.
The report found 42% of businesses surveyed are already using stablecoins for cross-border payments and 88% of respondents said they are likely or very likely to use stablecoins within the next 12 months. Still, only 2% identified as committed users of traditional payment rails.
Businesses using stablecoins reported average cross-border payment cost savings of 35%, with companies processing more than $100 million in monthly payment volume reporting average savings of up to 47%, according to the survey.
\nSource: Cybrid report
The global stablecoin market cap is now at $307.64 billion, led by Tether's USDT, at $184.7 billion, and Circle's USDC, at $73.51 billion, Coingecko data shows. Fueled by recent legislation, GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoins have reached a market cap of more than $76 billion. That established the first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins in the United States.
The report is based on a survey of 468 executives and business leaders conducted between April 28 and May 4.
Payroll and contractor payments were the most common stablecoin use case among respondents, followed by supplier payments, customer payments, investment and yield generation, vendor payments, and treasury and liquidity management.
Regulatory clarity was also a top factor respondents said would increase their confidence in expanding stablecoin use, with 71% identifying it as more important than trusted infrastructure providers or integration with existing systems.
Respondents came from the technology, financial services and ecommerce sectors in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, including C-suite executives, finance and treasury managers, and payments and operations leaders.
Related: Breez launches Bitcoin-to-stablecoin payments across more than 30 blockchains
Separate industry data points to the same trend. In June, payments infrastructure provider Paybis said business customers accounted for nearly 98% of stablecoin payout volume processed through its platform during the first four months of 2026, up from 36% in 2023.
Paybis also cited McKinsey research estimating that business-to-business transactions accounted for roughly 60% of the $390 billion in global stablecoin payment volume recorded in 2025.
Companies have continued expanding infrastructure to support growing business demand. In May, Falcon Finance debuted the dollar-backed stablecoin fUSD through Anchorage Digital Bank's federally regulated issuance platform, targeting institutional trading, collateral and treasury workflows.
On Monday, BNY expanded its digital asset custody platform to support Circle's USDC, allowing institutional clients to store, transfer, mint and redeem the stablecoin directly through the bank.
\nSource: DefiLlama
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto
", "description": "Cybrid found 42% of businesses surveyed already use stablecoins for cross-border payments, while 41% plan to adopt them within a year. ", "published": "2026-06-30T17:34:31+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bny-mellon" }, { "slug": "enterprise" }, { "slug": "stablecoin" }, { "slug": "genius-act" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "42-of-businesses-surveyed-use-stablecoins-for-cross-border-payments-cybrid-report", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273233" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "MetaMask launches stablecoin yield account with card spending", "leadText": "MetaMask launches Money Account it says offers up to 4% variable APY on mUSD stablecoin balances and card spending, with DeFi-powered yield via vaults, excluding the UK and sanctioned jurisdictions.", "author": { "slug": "helen-partz" }, "bodyText": "Update, June 30, 6:13 pm UTC: This article has been updated to correct the availability of MetaMask Money Account. Consensys said the Money Account is unavailable in the United Kingdom and sanctioned jurisdictions, not the European Union.
MetaMask, a self-custodial wallet developed by Consensys, is launching a new product that it says lets users earn yield on its MetaMask USD (mUSD) stablecoin and spend it via a card exclusively on the Monad blockchain.
The company on Tuesday announced the launch of Money Account, a product it says offers up to 4% variable annual percentage yield (APY) on eligible stablecoin deposits in supported jurisdictions.
“Your balance earns the moment you add funds, and you can spend the moment you need to,” Consensys CEO Joe Lubin said in a statement seen by Cointelegraph.
The launch comes amid ongoing debate over yield-bearing stablecoin products in the US, where the CLARITY Act includes provisions restricting the payment of interest or yield on payment stablecoins when tied to holding.
Money Account generates yield through decentralized finance (DeFi) lending strategies rather than issuer-paid interest, MetaMask senior director of product Johann Bornman told Cointelegraph.
The system relies on two entirely separate mechanisms, separating how the stablecoin is backed from how yield is generated, Bornman said.
\n
A preview of MetaMask’s Money Account. Source: ConsenSys
The first mechanism involves stablecoin backing. Bridge, a Stripe company, holds US dollar reserves and short-term Treasury bills that back mUSD on a 1:1 basis. Under this structure, the issuer does not pay any yield to holders.
The second mechanism is the DeFi yield layer. When users deposit into a Money Account, funds are routed through onchain vault provider Veda, which allocates capital into established lending protocols such as Aave and Morpho.
“Simply put, mUSD’s reserve backing and the yield users earn are structurally separate,” Bornman said, adding: “The yield doesn’t come from the issuer, it comes from DeFi protocol activity.”
The Money Account is rolling out globally on Tuesday, except in the United Kingdom and sanctioned jurisdictions, Bornman said.
As MetaMask operates a self-custodial wallet, the platform itself does not require Know Your Customer checks, but KYC is required for any features that interact with regulated services, including fiat on-ramps and the MetaMask Card.
Related: Trezor adds native USDt, USDC yield via Morpho integration
“Money Account itself does not require KYC, users can hold mUSD and earn yield with the click of a button,” Bornman said. “Where KYC is required, those checks are carried out by third-party providers that operate those regulated services, not by MetaMask,” he added.
The launch comes less than a year after MetaMask officially launched its wallet-native mUSD stablecoin in September 2025.
\n
MetaMask USD (mUSD) market capitalization since launch. Source: CoinGecko
The stablecoin’s market capitalization briefly peaked above $100 million shortly after launch before slipping below $30 million, according to CoinGecko data.
At the time of writing, mUSD’s market cap stood at $32 million, placing it among smaller US dollar-pegged stablecoins by market size.
Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves
", "description": "MetaMask introduces Money Account enabling yield on its mUSD stablecoin and global card spending via DeFi vaults on Monad with up to 4% APY.", "published": "2026-06-30T15:00:00+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "consensys" }, { "slug": "defi" }, { "slug": "metamask" }, { "slug": "self-custody" }, { "slug": "yields" }, { "slug": "industry" }, { "slug": "monad" } ], "slug": "metamask-money-account-musd-stablecoin-yield", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273205" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "OKX launches AI marketplace for autonomous agent economy", "leadText": "OKX launched a beta marketplace for the agentic economy, enabling AI agents to autonomously find work and collaborate with other agents.", "author": { "slug": "zoltan-vardai" }, "bodyText": "Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has rolled out the beta launch of its marketplace for artificial intelligence (AI) agents.
The OKX AI platform enables users to list their own AI agents, enables AI agents to find work, transact autonomously and build an onchain reputation, according to a Tuesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
The platform connects two marketplaces: An agent marketplace where builders can earn income by listing their AI agents for services and a task marketplace where agents post work and find other agents for their tasks.
Agentic AI is expected to drive a 24-fold increase in token consumption, that is units of compute, by 2030 as consumers and enterprises adopt the technology, Goldman Sachs Research said last month. OKX is the latest crypto platform to venture into AI infrastructure, following similar initiatives from Coinbase, MetaMask and Nansen.
The marketplace will remain in beta until “consistent, repeat usage patterns” emerge among users, with trading, onchain activity and research tasks expected to become the primary early categories on the platform, a spokesperson for OKX told Cointelegraph.
“OKX is economic infrastructure for agentic commerce. Nobody is combining identity, reputation, payments, and a skills marketplace into one platform,” explained the spokesperson.
\n
OKX AI agent marketplace. Source: OKX.ai
AI agent builds will be paid in Stablecoins, initially Tether's USDT (USDT) and Paxos' Global Dollar (USDG). Payments will settle through escrow-based contracts for complex work or instant pay-per-call transactions for standardized services.
Disputes will be resolved by a staked network of evaluators, instead of a central entity. All types of tasks will contribute to the same onchain reputation of AI agents, which is managed through the OKX Agentic Wallet.
The marketplace launches with support from companies including Amazon Web Services (AWS), AltLayer, CertiK, the Ethereum Foundation, the Solana Foundation, Opentensor Foundation and StraitsX.
The onchain reputation and escrow system is built to create trust in AI agents by tracking their work history. Agents with no track record or a history of failed or disputed work will be less likely to get hired by other agents.
For larger projects, payment sits in escrow until the task is completed and verified, which aims to “limit” the damage a bad actor can cause in a single transaction.
A spokesperson for OKX said that the onchain reputation system will prevent agents from hiring other malicious agents, especially as more transaction history accumulates.
The spokesperson said the platform is working on additional defense layers, including more sophisticated dispute resolution and an anomaly detection system against coordinated bad-actor behavior.
Cryptocurrency platforms are venturing into autonomous AI infrastructure. On June 12, Coinbase launched a tool that allows AI agents to make payments and trade crypto on behalf of users.
Days earlier, MetaMask launched a self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet that enables AI agents to transact across decentralized finance protocols within user-defined spending and security limits, as reported by Cointelegraph on June 8.
In January, crypto analytics platform Nansen launched autonomous cryptocurrency trading tools that enabled users to execute trades through natural language prompts, instead of traditional charts or order books.
Related: Not every AI agent needs its own cryptocurrency: CZ
Agentic payment activity on Coinbase’s Base network topped 100 million transactions on June 3, signaling that machine-to-machine payments have moved beyond the proof-of-concept.
\n
Cumulative agentic transfer volumes on Base. Source: Chainalysis
The x402 protocol allows software agents to make onchain payments directly through web requests.
Magazine: ‘Accidental jailbreaks’ and ChatGPT’s links to murder, suicide
", "description": "OKX launched a beta marketplace for the AI agent economy, enabling AI agents to autonomously find work and collaborate with other agents.", "published": "2026-06-30T14:39:39+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "marketplace" }, { "slug": "cryptocurrency-exchange" }, { "slug": "ai" }, { "slug": "defi" }, { "slug": "okx" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "okx-ai-marketplace-autonomous-agent-economy", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273229" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Strategy's new plan divides industry observers even as MSTR, STRC climb", "leadText": "Strategy’s new Bitcoin capital framework draws Wall Street backing from Benchmark with a $570 per share target even as traders question long-term demand risk.", "author": { "slug": "helen-partz" }, "bodyText": "Michael Saylor’s Strategy won support from some Wall Street analysts after unveiling a new capital framework, but the changes also sparked debate over the company’s long-term Bitcoin strategy and sustainability.
Benchmark Equity Research on Monday reiterated its Buy rating on Strategy’s Class A stock MSTR and maintained a 12-month price target of $570, according to a report reviewed by Cointelegraph.
Strategy's common Class A stock, MSTR, rose 12.6% to about $92.70 on Monday, while its STRC preferred shares climbed 12.2% to around $83.70, according to TradingView and Yahoo Finance.
However, both stocks edged lower in premarket activity on Tuesday as some investors and industry observers remained skeptical about the durability of the new capital model.
With its latest capital framework update, Strategy authorized potential Bitcoin (BTC) sales of up to $1.25 billion to raise capital instead of relying solely on issuing stock or debt.
The amount is equal to roughly 21,082 BTC at current prices, according to CoinGecko, or about 2.5% of the company's total holdings of 847,363 BTC.
\n
Source: TradingView
While Strategy has long described itself as a long-term accumulator of Bitcoin, the move is not the first time it has sold the biggest cryptocurrency. The company sold 32 BTC for $2.5 million in May 2026 and previously sold 704 BTC in 2022 as part of a tax-related transaction strategy, later repurchasing a similar amount of BTC.
Benchmark argued the new framework addresses the main concerns investors had raised following weeks of volatility, giving the company more flexibility to manage its capital structure.
In the report, the research analysts said the changes transform Strategy from a "one-way" Bitcoin accumulation vehicle into an active manager of both sides of its balance sheet.
\n
Source: Benchmark Equity Research
"The upshot is that Strategy is now an active manager of both sides of its capital structure, an approach that we view as a significant positive for its shareholders," Benchmark's analysts wrote.
Related: Grayscale's Pandl says Strategy should sell $3B Bitcoin to restore confidence
Investor Simon Dedic said the move could mark a local bottom, suggesting that recent concerns around the company’s structure may have been overdone. The Moonrock Capital founder and managing partner also suggested some of the recent selling pressure may have come from Strategy preparing liquidity in advance of the update.
Not everyone viewed the new framework as a positive. Trader and investor Scott Melker said Strategy appears to be making the changes investors wanted to see, including building a larger cash reserve and adopting a more flexible capital strategy.
However, he cautioned that "only time will tell" whether the new framework restores investor confidence, adding that Strategy has been the market's main Bitcoin buyer.
Arca chief investment officer Jeff Dorman said that Strategy may need to sell about $2 billion to $3 billion worth of Bitcoin to eliminate a “constant overhang” on the market.
\n
Source: Jeff Dorman
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also criticized the company's approach, arguing that "financial engineering doesn't drive long-term value." He told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" that Michael Saylor's team "wasn't focused on the right stuff" and that the strategy had "hurt the overall market."
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Strategy shares rose after unveiling a new Bitcoin capital framework, but premarket weakness and investor debate raised questions over sustainability.", "published": "2026-06-30T14:14:47+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-price" }, { "slug": "stocks" }, { "slug": "microstrategy" }, { "slug": "michael-saylor" } ], "slug": "strategy-new-plan-split-community-mstr-strc-climb", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273225" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Theo becomes first crypto-native investor in Fidelity tokenized fund", "leadText": "The onchain capital markets platform allocated $20 million to Fidelity International's tokenized liquidity fund as tokenized Treasury products continue to attract institutional capital. ", "author": { "slug": "nate-kostar" }, "bodyText": "Theo, an onchain capital markets platform, has invested $20 million in Fidelity International's USD Digital Liquidity Fund (FILQ). Theo said the investment makes it the first crypto-native platform to allocate capital to the asset manager's tokenized fund.
Executed through Sygnum, a Swiss digital asset bank that provides regulated banking, custody and tokenization services for institutional clients, the allocation adds FILQ to Theo's institutional tokenized Treasury product, thBILL.
FILQ is a Moody's Aaa-mf-rated tokenized US dollar liquidity fund built on Sygnum's Desygnate platform that invests in diversified short-term money market instruments designed to preserve capital and liquidity. Chainlink provides onchain net asset value and distribution data for the fund through its Runtime Environment, while JPMorgan receives and approves the daily NAV data, according to the release.
Fidelity International managed $1.06 trillion in total assets as of March 31, according to the company, while Theo said its products have processed more than $1 billion in cumulative trading volume across more than 80,000 users in over 60 countries.
RWA.xyz data shows FILQ currently manages about $55.1 million in onchain assets, suggesting Theo's $20 million allocation represents a significant share of the fund.
\nSource: RWA.xzy
Related: Franklin Templeton launches dedicated crypto division after closing 250 Digital acquisition
Tokenized US Treasury products have become the largest segment of the tokenized real-world asset market. According to RWA.xyz, the sector has more than doubled over the past year, growing from about $6.9 billion in distributed value in late June 2025 to approximately $14.6 billion as of late June 2026.
RWA.xyz tracks 83 tokenized Treasury products held by more than 64,000 investors, with offerings from Circle, BlackRock, Ondo, Franklin Templeton and Securitize each managing more than $2 billion in distributed value.
\nTokenized US Treasuries. Source: RWA.xyz
The market's growth has been accompanied by new fund launches and distribution partnerships from traditional financial firms. In May, JPMorgan launched JLTXX, a tokenized government money market fund on Ethereum (ETH) that invests in US Treasury bills and overnight repurchase agreements.
The following month, Franklin Templeton partnered with MoonPay to expand institutional access to its BENJI tokenized money market fund, allowing eligible institutions to move between supported stablecoins and tokenized fund exposure through an onchain trading workflow.
Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves
", "description": "Theo invested $20 million in Fidelity International's tokenized liquidity fund, becoming the first crypto-native platform to allocate capital to the onchain investment product.", "published": "2026-06-30T14:00:00+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "banks" }, { "slug": "asset-management" }, { "slug": "digital-asset-management" }, { "slug": "rwa" }, { "slug": "rwa-tokenization" }, { "slug": "institutions" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "fidelity-tokenized-fund-first-crypto-native-investor", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273157" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Swan's Cory Klippsten sees record Bitcoin holder supply revealing early bottom", "leadText": "The record Bitcoin supply held by long-term holders may suggest that the crypto market bottom will come early, according to Swan’s Cory Klippsten.", "author": { "slug": "zoltan-vardai" }, "bodyText": "The Bitcoin holding level of long-term investors has reached a record high of 14.7 million Bitcoin, which could suggest that the crypto market bottom will come early, according to Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan Bitcoin.
“We're at an all-time high of BTC held in addresses of long-term holders,” Klippsten told Cointelegraph in an interview, which he said has “marked cycle lows historically.”
Bitcoin (BTC) supply held by long-term holders reached 14.7 million BTC on Wednesday, an all-time high that “signals continued conviction” among seasoned investors, according to crypto analytics platform Glassnode.
Klippsten said these figures suggest that Bitcoin may find its cycle bottom earlier compared to previous cycles. That stands in contrast to several other analyses, including Lebit Mining Pool founder Jiang Zhuoer, who predicted that Bitcoin would only bottom between October and December 2026, or about six months after Strategy's Multiple to Net Asset Value (mNAV) found its cycle low.
“MSTR's mNAV has already dropped to 0.72,” approaching the lowest point of 0.7 seen on May 11, 2022, wrote Zhuoer, adding that Bitcoin may bottom with a six-month gap following Strategy’s mNAV, which may result in a cycle low near $42,000 to $44,000.
The mNAV measures a company’s stock market value compared to the intrinsic value of its treasury holdings. Both predictions suggest that Bitcoin’s price may sink lower, offering cheaper entry points for investors.
\n
Cointelegraph's Ciaran Lyons (left) and Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten (right), during an interview. Source: Cointelegraph
Long-term holders restarted their Bitcoin accumulation at the end of 2025, nearly two months after early October's record $19 billion liquidation event.
The supply of Bitcoin held by long-term holders was 16.65 million BTC at publication time, up 14% from 14.6 million BTC on Nov. 26, data provider Coinglass shows.
\n
Bitcoin long-term holder supply chart. Source: Coinglass
Coinglass tracks Bitcoin held by long-term holders, or addresses that held BTC for at least 155 days. Increases in that cohort are often seen as a sign of confidence in Bitcoin’s future value, showing reluctance to sell at current prices.
Related: DeFi TVL drops 39% in 2026 amid market downturn and record hack activity
Other regulatory developments may also influence Bitcoin’s price action, such as the uncertainty about the passage of the CLARITY Act, according to crypto-focused asset manager Grayscale.
If the CLARITY Act doesn’t pass this year, Strategy and other treasury companies may continue to further “deleverage,” causing Bitcoin to “fall moderately further,” wrote Grayscale’s head of research, Zach Pandl, in a Friday report.
On Monday, Galaxy Digital cut its odds of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 to 50%, warning that the US Senate is running out of time to move the crypto market structure bill before its August recess.
The legislation is set for a House of Representatives committee hearing on July 17. The bill aims to establish the first regulatory framework for digital assets in the US, but has faced pushback from the banking industry over allowing yield on stablecoin holdings.
Magazine: Bitcoin, the ‘canary in the coal mine,’ XRP transaction demand falls 91.5%: Market Moves
", "description": "The record Bitcoin supply held by long-term holders may suggest that the crypto market bottom will come earlier than in previous cycles, according to Swan’s Cory Klippsten.", "published": "2026-06-30T13:44:21+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-price" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-analysis" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-regulation" }, { "slug": "predictions" }, { "slug": "grayscale" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-adoption" } ], "slug": "record-bitcoin-holder-supply-early-bottom-swan-ceo", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273221" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "StarkWare unveils Starknet quantum roadmap, says industry has no excuse ", "leadText": "“The crypto industry shouldn’t need wake-up calls from the White House or anyone else,” said StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson.\n", "author": { "slug": "martin-young" }, "bodyText": "Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare has released a quantum-resistant roadmap for Starknet, arguing that other chains will remain exposed if the industry is “too stubborn or stupid” to act.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Starknet framed its three-phased quantum-resistant roadmap as evidence that the crypto industry has no excuse for remaining vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks.
“The tried-and-tested cryptography exists to secure every crypto key in the world, if necessary changes are made, and the only reason anyone will remain vulnerable is if heads remain buried in the sand,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO at StarkWare.
Efforts to quantum-proof blockchains are accelerating as some researchers warn that quantum computing could outpace blockchain’s defenses and cryptographically relevant quantum machines could be ready before 2030.
The Bitcoin community remains divided on how to approach securing old coins against the quantum threat, while other networks are forging ahead with quantum roadmaps.
Ben-Sasson said Starknet can become resistant to quantum attacks by “seizing on its architecture advantage,” pointing to its zero-knowledge STARK (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge) proofs, which are “inherently post-quantum safe.”
“There’s an awful irony in the notion that a young industry born from rejecting the way things have always been done is stalling and procrastinating about making changes for quantum security.”
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Ben-Sasson said that "we are currently in a position where the necessary cryptographic tools to secure our future actually exist."
We aren't waiting for a miracle invention; we have the solutions. It is legitimate for people to hesitate before taking on the human coordination required. That concern is real and valid. But the issue is that if we don't address this, we will have missed the chance.
Related: Trump signs orders for quantum computer, cryptography upgrades
He added that crypto has an “elliptical illusion,” distorting reality around elliptic-curve cryptography, the current standard for securing blockchains.
Believing that this will be quantum resistant is “false confidence” that is leaving the industry “dangerously complacent,” he said.
"The migration paths we're discussing are objectively difficult," he said. "There are hard technical trade-offs, complex governance decisions, and a massive amount of human coordination involved. The changes needed are definitely not trivial, and I fully acknowledge the scale of the task ahead."
“The crypto industry shouldn’t need wake-up calls from the White House or anyone else. We should all be acting and seizing on the best cryptography that exists.”
The first phase involves swapping out some of its current security math (Pedersen hashing) for quantum-resistant versions and adding quantum-resistant signatures.
Phase two focuses on migration tooling that quietly upgrades existing smart contracts to the new quantum-safe standard, without forcing developers to manually rebuild apps.
Phase three covers dependencies that Starknet cannot resolve alone, which largely depend on Ethereum’s quantum upgrade roadmap.
Circle, Ethereum, Solana, Tezos and Algorand have all proposed quantum-proof roadmaps, while the Bitcoin community remains at loggerheads.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "StarkWare's CEO outlined a phased plan to quantum-proof the Starknet network, calling on other blockchain networks to act now. \n", "published": "2026-06-30T13:30:00+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "blockchain" }, { "slug": "quantum-computing" }, { "slug": "zk-stark" } ], "slug": "starkware-ceo-blasts-crypto-complacency-in-quantum-threat-elliptic-illusion", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273181" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Spiko links EU regulated T-bill funds to Coinbase stablecoin rails", "leadText": "Spiko integrated Coinbase Payments into two EU regulated UCITS Treasury funds, enabling USDC and EURC subscriptions and redemption payments through Base.", "author": { "slug": "ezra-reguerra" }, "bodyText": "Investment firm Spiko has integrated Coinbase’s stablecoin payment infrastructure into two regulated EU Treasury-bill funds, allowing eligible investors to fund subscriptions and receive redemption proceeds using USDC and EURC.
Coinbase said Tuesday the integration covers Spiko’s EU T-Bills Money Market Fund and US T-Bills Money Market Fund. Both are structured as Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities, or UCITS. Coinbase Payments will provide the payment, wallet and application programming interface (API) infrastructure, with the transactions settling on Base, Coinbase’s layer-2 network.
The exchange said the products are the first UCITS funds in Europe to accept direct stablecoin payments.
The move into UCITS funds comes as net sales of the assets rebounded in April, the latest data from trade group EFAMA showed on Monday. UCITS saw net inflows of 104 billion euros that month, compared to net outflows of 41 billion euros in March. Net sales reached a new record in 2025, totaling 828 billion euros and surpassing the previous 2021 high of 813 billion euros.
Coinbase described the integration as an example of how stablecoins could reshape payments infrastructure for mutual funds by removing bottlenecks for investors as they enter and exit a product. It positions stablecoins as settlement infrastructure, connecting onchain capital with regulated investment funds.
Investors can submit subscriptions at any time, including weekends and holidays. At the same time, redemption proceeds can be delivered to a stablecoin wallet within minutes after a position is liquidated.
Despite this, round-the-clock stablecoin transfers do not necessarily mean that the underlying fund continuously processes subscriptions and redemptions. Spiko said the Coinbase integration introduces a new payment method rather than changing the funds themselves.
Coinbase said it was preparing a response to Cointelegraph's request for comment but did not provide one before publication.
Related: Coinbase, Kraken and OKX move to swoop up EU users affected by MiCA restrictions
Other asset managers have tested ways to provide 24/7 access to tokenized funds. In February, WisdomTree received approval for round-the-clock secondary trading and instant USDC settlement of its tokenized Treasury fund, with liquidity supplied by its broker-dealer while primary fund processes remained unchanged.
Tokenized money market funds are also increasingly being used as infrastructure beyond subscriptions and redemptions. In February, Franklin Templeton and Binance introduced a program allowing institutions to pledge tokenized fund shares as off-exchange trading collateral while the assets remain in regulated custody
Magazine: China’s 107 Bitcoin memory thief, Bithumb CEO booked: Asia Express
", "description": "Spiko’s regulated Treasury funds now accept USDC and EURC through Coinbase Payments, although fund orders remain subject to daily processing.", "published": "2026-06-30T13:21:03+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "blockchain" }, { "slug": "coinbase" }, { "slug": "europe" }, { "slug": "stablecoin" }, { "slug": "tokenization" } ], "slug": "spiko-coinbase-stablecoin-payments-treasury-funds", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273217" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Solana Company to back Kazakhstan’s $6B crypto megacity ambition", "leadText": "Nasdaq-listed Solana Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan's Alatau City, which seeks to become a key crypto hub in Central Asia. ", "author": { "slug": "felix-ng" }, "bodyText": "Nasdaq-listed crypto treasury firm Solana Company signed an agreement to support the development of Alatau City, Kazakhstan’s planned digital-first megacity.
The company signed a memorandum of understanding to advise and help build Alatau City’s blockchain and crypto infrastructure during the Alatau City Roadshow in Shenzhen and Hong Kong in June, which reportedly secured 30 cooperation agreements with a combined investment potential of over $6 billion.
“We look forward to deepening this partnership and expanding the Solana ecosystem's footprint across the region,” said Solana Company chair and CEO Joseph Chee.
The deal further pushes Kazakhstan into Solana’s corner. Last year, Kazakhstan launched Central Asia’s first Solana Economic Zone in the country’s capital of Astana with the Solana Foundation.
The Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) launched its first Solana ETF last week, giving investors regulated exposure to Solana (SOL) through one of the biggest stock exchanges in Central Asia.
The Solana Foundation also signed a memorandum of understanding with Alatau City to develop its blockchain capabilities during the China roadshow.
The collaboration between Solana Company and Alatau City will cover four areas: digital asset treasury, blockchain infrastructure, accelerating the institutional adoption of blockchain and platform development.
Alisher Abdykadyrov, CEO of the Alatau City Authority, said the MOU will also see Solana Company participate in the development of the Alatau Crypto Cluster, a dedicated pilot zone and special economic area in the upcoming city where crypto will be permitted for everyday transactions.
The Alatau City megaproject was first unveiled to an international audience by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in May 2024. The city is still primarily in early development and planning stages.
\n
The village of Zhetygen, pictured in March 2023, before it was designated a city and renamed to Alatau. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Planners envision it as a fully integrated smart city with low-altitude aircraft, robotaxis and autonomous drones handling urban transportation and deliveries, with hydrogen energy powering its economy.
During the Solana Summit Kazakhstan 2026, Arman Tastanbekov, deputy CEO of the Alatau City Authority, said that Alatau City would be built with artificial intelligence, digital identity and blockchain technology from the beginning.
It hasn’t come without its challengers, however, with Kazakhstan’s National Bank and Financial Monitoring Agency reportedly expressing concerns about the constitutional changes required to support a crypto-based economy, The Diplomat reported in March.
Other independent news reports suggest that the current residents of Alatau City are still dealing with a lack of gas, water, electricity and internet connectivity, suggesting the futuristic city is still far from reality.
Cointelegraph reached out to Alatau City for comment.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Solana Company signed an agreement to help build blockchain infrastructure for Kazakhstan's planned Alatau City, a digital-first megacity backed by more than $6 billion in potential investment.", "published": "2026-06-30T12:00:00+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "investments" }, { "slug": "kazakhstan" }, { "slug": "smart-city" } ], "slug": "solana-company-to-back-kazakhstans-6b-crypto-megacity-ambition", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273177" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "ESMA MiCA warning puts Binance EU service changes under scrutiny", "leadText": "ESMA said EU crypto clients must be served through a MiCA-authorized entity as Binance faces questions over its servicing model in the region after the MiCA deadline.", "author": { "slug": "helen-partz" }, "bodyText": "European Union crypto clients should be served through a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)-authorized legal entity after the bloc’s July 1 transitional deadline, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) told Cointelegraph, adding to questions over how global exchanges can keep servicing users in the region.
Crypto asset service providers (CASPs) must hold MiCA authorization to serve clients across the EU and European Economic Area, an ESMA spokesperson told Cointelegraph on Monday.
“EU clients should be serviced through a MiCA-authorized entity,” the ESMA representative said, adding that MiCA protections apply only to the legal entity that is licensed in the EU.
The clarification came shortly after Binance told its users it was adjusting services in certain EU countries, including Poland, France, Spain and Italy, as part of its MiCA transition. Binance said users in other countries would not need to take action if they were not based in a jurisdiction where the exchange operates through a local registered entity, saying in those cases that “no action is required at this time.”
The ESMA said CASPs based outside the EU cannot provide their services to local customers unless they fall under the “narrow exemption” of reverse solicitation provided by Article 61 of MiCA.
Article 61 allows a non-EU crypto company to serve an EU client without a MiCA license only when the client initiates the relationship entirely on their own, without any solicitation, marketing or promotion by the company.
However, the regulation makes clear that the exemption does not apply if a third-country company solicits clients in the EU.
"MiCA established that where a third-country firm solicits clients or prospective clients in the Union [...] it shall not be deemed to be a service provided on the client's own exclusive initiative," an ESMA spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
\nExcerpt from ESMA's list of examples of solicitation by third-country companies. Source: ESMA
The regulator also cited its official solicitation guidelines, which include activities such as operating websites, mobile apps, social media, online advertising, sponsorships and influencer campaigns targeting EU users.
Screenshots of Binance customer support messages circulating on social media appeared to suggest that some EU users could be serviced through Binance’s Abu Dhabi Global Market entity.
Yuriy Brisov, a lawyer at Digital & Analogue Partners, said an Abu Dhabi license has no effect under MiCA because the jurisdiction is treated as a third country, alongside markets such as the United States or Singapore.
\nSource: Satoshi Club
"Being regulated in Abu Dhabi does nothing for Binance under MiCA," Brisov said. "When Binance says some EU users are serviced through the ADGM entity, in MiCA terms that means a non-EU company is serving those users,” he added.
Related: Germany leads MiCA crypto authorization race as Europe’s deadline looms
Brisov said that the reverse solicitation exemption was designed for isolated cases where an EU customer independently approaches a non-EU company, not for maintaining an existing customer base built through years of marketing.
Binance did not respond to repeated Cointelegraph requests for clarification on whether any EU users would be serviced through its ADGM entity after the MiCA deadline.
Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026
", "description": "ESMA says EU crypto users must be served through a MiCA-authorized entity and points to Article 61's narrow reverse solicitation exemption.", "published": "2026-06-30T11:25:48+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "europe" }, { "slug": "esma" }, { "slug": "european-union" }, { "slug": "binance" }, { "slug": "mica" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "esma-challenge-binance-serving-certain-eu-users-post-mica", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273209" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Michigan judge blocks Kalshi from allowing residents to place sports bets", "leadText": "A Michigan Judge has temporarily blocked Kalshi from offering sports betting contracts to residents, escalating the state-federal fight over prediction markets and gambling laws.", "author": { "slug": "zoltan-vardai" }, "bodyText": "A Michigan judge temporarily blocked prediction market Kalshi from allowing residents to place bets on sporting events, after the state's attorney general accused the platform of violating gambling laws.
Kalshi was hit with a temporary restraining order from Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who said the platform would be fined $120,000 for each day it fails to comply with the order’s geolocation requirements, according to a Monday court filing. The order lasts for 14 days and expires on July 13.
Aquilina wrote that Michigan residents would suffer irreparable harm from being “exploited by Kalshi's sports betting operation masquerading as an investment opportunity.”
The move adds to the growing regulatory scrutiny on prediction market sports betting. It makes Michigan the second US state to enact a court-ordered ban on Kalshi’s sports event contracts, after Nevada issued a temporary ban on Kalshi earlier in March.
On June 17, Kentucky sued five prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing them of operating unlicensed sports betting platforms. More than a dozen other states have taken prediction market operators to court.
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sued several states, arguing that federally regulated event contracts fall under its exclusive authority.
Cointelegraph has approached Kalshi for comment on how the platform will respond to the verdict.
\n
State of Michigan vs. Kalshi, court filing. Source: Law360
Sports betting activity has been rising on prediction markets since the beginning of the FIFA World Cup.
Daily taker volume, which measures contracts bought or sold by traders filling existing orders, reached a record $713 million on June 20, according to Dune data. The milestone came more than a week after the World Cup started on June 11.
\n
Daily prediction market taker volume. Source: Dune
Looking at monthly prediction market volume, sports betting was the leading category on the two largest prediction markets, rising 40% to $9.5 billion on Kalshi and 175% to $5.3 billion on Polymarket, Defirate data shows.
A June 11 Bernstein report predicted that the 2026 FIFA World Cup would generate more than $3 billion in incremental sports betting handle and between $5 billion and $10 billion in additional consumer prediction market volume.
Related: Kalshi in early IPO talks with investment banks: Report
The World Cup winner contract alone has generated over $3.5 billion in trading volume on Polymarket, according to platform data.
\n
World Cup Winner event contract. Source: Polymarket
The growing betting activity helped Polymarket emerge as an onboarding layer for new cryptocurrency users, as about 60% of World Cup bettors interacted with the blockchain for the first time during their prediction market entry, according to a Bitget Wallet study of 857,000 users, shared with Cointelegraph.
Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026
", "description": "A Michigan Judge blocked Kalshi from offering sports betting contracts to residents, making it the second US state to enact a court-ordered ban on the platform.", "published": "2026-06-30T10:08:26+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "law" }, { "slug": "football" }, { "slug": "united-states" }, { "slug": "court" }, { "slug": "regulation" }, { "slug": "polymarket" }, { "slug": "kalshi" }, { "slug": "prediction-markets" } ], "slug": "michigan-judge-blocks-kalshi-sports-bets", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273201" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Celsius-linked Bitcoin miner Ionic Digital seeks Nasdaq direct listing amid AI pivot", "leadText": "The Celsius-linked Bitcoin miner is seeking a Nasdaq direct listing as it repurposes mining infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing workloads.", "author": { "slug": "ezra-reguerra" }, "bodyText": "Bitcoin miner-turned-AI infrastructure company Ionic Digital has filed for a Nasdaq direct listing that could give former Celsius creditors a public market for shares they received through the bankrupt lender’s restructuring.
Registered stockholders may sell up to 10.8 million Class A shares under the proposed IOND ticker, according to a registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
Ionic was formed in 2024 to acquire Celsius Mining’s assets through the bankrupt lender’s restructuring. In the filing, Ionic said it started repositioning itself in 2025 from a pure-play Bitcoin miner into a broader digital infrastructure company serving artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.
The proposed direct Nasdaq listing will not raise new capital for Ionic, according to the filing. Instead, the listing will establish a public market for existing shareholders, including former Celsius creditors who received Ionic shares through the bankruptcy plan.
Ionic’s AI pivot revolves around its 234-megawatt Ward County property in Texas, originally developed for Bitcoin mining. In October 2025, the company leased the site to AI infrastructure provider Nscale under a 126-month agreement representing nearly $2 billion in contracted revenue.
Ionic said the agreement could be expanded to include an additional 89 MW if the company secures the required capacity and approvals. This potentially increases its contracted revenue to about $2.6 billion, according to the company.
Related: Celsius’ Mashinsky gets permanent trading ban in CFTC settlement
The shift has started to appear in Ionic’s financial results. The company recorded $44 million in digital infrastructure leasing revenue in the first quarter of 2026, while Bitcoin mining revenue fell 82% year over year to $7.4 million as it repurposed Ward County and reduced the number of active miners, according to its SEC filing on Monday.
\n
Ionic Digital’s reported revenue. Source: SEC filing
The filing follows Ionic’s completion of a $400 million equity private placement on Friday. Ionic said the proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, while its CEO, Andy Stewart, said the funds would support the continued development of its digital infrastructure assets.
Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves
", "description": "Ionic Digital filed for a Nasdaq direct listing as the Celsius-linked Bitcoin miner pivots toward AI infrastructure after a $400 million raise.", "published": "2026-06-30T09:16:46+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "nasdaq" }, { "slug": "sec" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-mining" }, { "slug": "ai" }, { "slug": "celsius" } ], "slug": "ionic-digital-nasdaq-direct-listing-ai-pivot", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273193" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Australia’s crypto travel rule is coming into effect: Here’s what's changing", "leadText": "From July, crypto exchanges operating in Australia will prompt for additional information on all outgoing and incoming transfers.", "author": { "slug": "jesse-coghlan" }, "bodyText": "Crypto exchange users in Australia will soon face stricter rules on all transfers as the country’s travel rule is set to come into force on Wednesday, aligning it with similar rules in the EU, US and UK.
From July, all crypto sent and received on locally-regulated crypto exchanges will require users to provide additional information, such as the name of the person the crypto is being sent to or received from, and the name of the platform.
Gabby Lewis, the head of fraud and financial crime at Swyftx, told Cointelegraph that for most exchange users, “the impact should be very limited. They’ll provide the required details once, and then these will be saved for future use.”
The rules are set to bring Australia in line with other countries that have implemented the travel rule for years, which the Financial Action Task Force, an international policy-making body, first extended to crypto in 2019.
Crypto users have long expressed concern that the rule would impact the anonymity of the technology and the risks of data linking crypto transfers to personal information being leaked.
However, Lewis said that the “travel rule isn't crypto-specific. It already applies across financial services and has been implemented in areas including Singapore, the United States, New Zealand and the UK. Australia is now following suit.”
The rule aims to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and scams by increasing the traceability of crypto transfers. It will be enforced by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), the country’s financial intelligence agency.
Transfers from a regulated crypto exchange to a self-custodial address, such as a cold storage wallet, will also prompt a user to verify and declare that they are the owner of that address.
“We’re generally talking about a quick confirmation that the wallet is theirs,” Lewis said. “The additional steps mainly come into force for transfers that involve another party or another exchange.”
Australia’s travel rule has no minimum value threshold, meaning a transfer of any size will require an exchange to gather information, aligning it with countries including France, the Netherlands and Japan that have no minimum.
\n
Source: Sam Green
Other countries have set minimum reporting thresholds, such as the US, which only collects information on transfers starting at $3,000.
Some crypto exchanges operating in Australia have already begun to implement the travel rule, such as Kraken, which started on March 31, and CoinJar, which started on Tuesday.
Related: Australia passes digital asset bill bringing crypto platforms under licensing
Crypto users online have recently given mixed reactions to the rule, which the Australian parliament passed into law in 2024.
“With these new rules, you can forget about sending crypto anonymously,” a Reddit user wrote earlier this month.
“New travel rule is insane,” another Reddit user wrote earlier in June. “Thinking of moving everything to cold storage instead now.”
In response, one Reddit user said that “the regulated platforms were never anonymous.”
“This is less of a problem than you're making it out to be unless you're involved in activities the authorities would be interested in already,” another user wrote.
Magazine: Crypto scammers face death, Aussie CGT makes Asian hubs attractive: Asia Express
", "description": "Australia will implement a travel rule for crypto starting Wednesday, with regulated exchanges required to ask for additional information on all transfers to and from their platforms.", "published": "2026-06-30T07:29:02+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "law" }, { "slug": "australia" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "australias-crypto-travel-rule-takes-effect-on-july-1-whats-changing", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273189" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Cathie Wood’s ARK adds $43.5M in crypto stocks amid market dip", "leadText": "ARK Invest's biggest crypto stock purchases over the past three trading days were Coinbase and Circle, whose shares have fallen 17% and 27.6%, respectively, over the past month.", "author": { "slug": "brayden-lindrea" }, "bodyText": "Tech-focused asset manager ARK Invest has capitalized on the recent crypto market downturn, buying a combined $43.5 million worth of shares in crypto firms such as Coinbase and Circle over the past three trading days.
Data from ARK Invest shows the asset manager bought another 122,544 shares in Coinbase (COIN) worth about $18.6 million since Thursday, while adding another 169,777 shares in Circle (CRCL) worth roughly $12.9 million over the same time frame.
The firm also purchased nearly $5.2 million worth of shares in crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH) and added another $5.12 million in brokerage firm Robinhood (HOOD), which has pushed aggressively into the crypto tokenization space in recent months. It also bought $1.69 million worth of shares in crypto-friendly bank SoFi Technologies (SOFI) on Monday.
ARK’s purchases come as investors have turned bearish on these crypto-related stocks. CRCL, COIN and BLSH have fallen 27.6%, 16.9% and 26.3%, respectively, over the past month. During that time, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped to a near two-year low of $58,190, while confidence that the CLARITY Act will pass before the US midterm elections in November has faded.
\n
Most of the newly purchased shares were added to the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), the firm’s flagship fund, followed by the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW).
Related: Kiwoom eyes Bithumb stake as Korean brokerages push into crypto: Report
The ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) was also topped up with crypto-related stocks.
ARK also added to its positions in Elon Musk’s SpaceX (SPCX) and software intelligence platform Palantir (PLTR) over the past three trading days.
Over the same period, ARK reduced positions in Alibaba (BABA), Roku (ROKU), Strata Critical Medical (SRTA) and several other companies.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "ARK Invest has purchased $43.5 million worth of shares in Coinbase, Circle and other crypto companies over the past three trading days, taking advantage of the latest market dip.", "published": "2026-06-30T06:49:50+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "coinbase" }, { "slug": "circle" }, { "slug": "stocks" }, { "slug": "asset-management" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "cathie-woods-ark-scoops-up-43m-worth-of-crypto-stocks-amid-market-dip", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273185" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Bitmine lifts Ether holdings to 5.7M as it joins Russell 1000", "leadText": "Bitmine purchased about $43 million worth of Ether last week as it entered the Russell 1000 Index, bringing it closer to its goal of owning 5% of ETH’s supply.", "author": { "slug": "jesse-coghlan" }, "bodyText": "Ether treasury company Bitmine Immersion Technologies added more than 27,000 Ether to its holdings last week as the firm joined the Russell index tracking the largest 1,000 US companies.
Bitmine said Monday that after its latest $43 million purchase, it held just over 5.7 million Ether (ETH) bought at an average price of $1,569 per token and held 4.7% of the ETH supply of 120.7 million tokens, closer to its goal of owning 5% of Ether’s supply.
Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said the past week “was a challenging one for crypto investors as ETH fell by 8%, even as Ethereum witnessed notable positive developments such as the creation of Ethlabs, and even the Bank of England softened its stance around stablecoins.”
The latest Ether purchase adds to Bitmine’s lead as the largest public corporate holder of Ether. Meanwhile, its inclusion in the Russell 1000 means more investor demand for Bitmine shares, as many mutual funds, ETFs and pension funds track the Russell 1000 and must buy the stock once it's added.
Related: Bitmine eyes dividend-paying preferred shares, echoing Strategy’s playbook
“Being added to the Russell 1000 is expected to add hundreds and possibly thousands of additional institutional investors as equity owners of Bitmine," Lee said.
Lee had said in May, when Bitmine was first considered for the Russell index, that up to 25% of the market cap of a stock included in the index is held by passive index funds.
Shares in Bitmine (BMNR) gained 1.7% Monday to end trading at $13.80, but the company’s stock has slid 9% over the past trading week alongside Ether.
\n
Shares in Bitmine rose Monday, stemming losses over the past trading week. Source: Google Finance
Meanwhile, rival crypto treasury firms Sharplink and Forward Industries, along with crypto exchange Gemini and crypto services firm Galaxy Digital, were also added to the Russell 3000 Index on Friday, which tracks the largest 3,000 US companies.
Ether fell below $1,600 last week, with Lee commenting that “it is not surprising to see 'window dressing' leading to investors reducing their holdings in assets that have fallen in the past three months.”
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Bitmine said it now owns 4.7% of Ether’s supply after its latest $43 million purchase, which came the same week it entered the Russell 1000 Index.", "published": "2026-06-30T05:03:33+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "business" }, { "slug": "stocks" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "bitmine-lifts-ethereum-holdings-to-57m-as-it-joins-russell-1000", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273173" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Sovereign funds see Bitcoin discount as entry point: MidChains CEO", "leadText": "It sends “a very clear signal” to other institutions that may be sitting on the sidelines and looking at these larger funds as leaders, said MidChains CEO Basil Al Askari.\n", "author": { "slug": "martin-young" }, "bodyText": "Sovereign wealth funds have been accumulating spot Bitcoin, a sign that Bitcoin’s current price level is becoming attractive to institutional investors, according to MidChains CEO Basil Al Askari.
While there has been a slowdown in retail crypto market participation, the opposite is being seen on the institutional and corporate side, Basil Al Askari said on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction podcast on Monday.
“I would be able to confirm that one, at least one, and possibly in the coming weeks, two sovereign wealth funds have been accumulating spot Bitcoin specifically,” he said.
A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund, typically capitalized by a country’s reserves, so the move signals state-level conviction, not just private speculation. Sovereign wealth funds collectively control more than $13 trillion globally.
Al Askari, who heads MidChains, a regulated crypto trading platform focused on retail and institutions based in Abu Dhabi, said this low price point is seen very much as an “entry level for a lot of those mega funds” that have the patience to accumulate over an extended period of time.
\n
The potential impact on Bitcoin’s price is not going to be a massive cascade on the market immediately, he said, but it sends “a very clear signal” to other institutions that may be sitting on the sidelines and looking at these larger funds as leaders, seeking a “way to experiment and start to get involved” with Bitcoin.
Related: Bullish Bitcoin RSI divergence has analysts calling for 2022-style bear market bottom
“I do think this is what will happen, is that over the longer term period, we'll start to see Bitcoin becoming more and more scarce as a result of larger holders with much longer time horizons on their holding periods as far as looking at investments.”
Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company invested $437 million in BTC via BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shares in February 2025, while Bhutan's Druk Holding and Investments is one of the earliest and most direct sovereign holders of the asset, but it has been selling some this year.
Coinbase’s head of institutional strategy, John D’Agostino, told CNBC earlier this month that the dip is being welcomed by institutional investors.
“I just got off a plane from the Middle East, and I can tell you that the family offices in the UAE and the government and sovereign funds that are putting the effort into buying this asset class are not unhappy at being able to buy it at a discount,” D’Agostino said.
The current situation has been mixed, with sustained US spot BTC exchange-traded fund outflows exceeding $4.1 billion so far this month. Meanwhile, corporate treasuries, primarily Strategy, which has scooped up 3,657 BTC this month, continue to accumulate.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa... faster than crypto
", "description": "UAE sovereign wealth funds have been buying spot Bitcoin at a discount, signaling growing institutional confidence, says MidChains CEO.\n", "published": "2026-06-30T04:53:34+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "uae" }, { "slug": "cryptocurrency-investment" }, { "slug": "institutions" } ], "slug": "sovereign-funds-see-bitcoin-discount-as-entry-point-midchains-ceo-says", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273169" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "SEC wins $5.4M judgment in NanoBit crypto fraud case", "leadText": "The SEC alleged that NanoBit’s crypto trading platform was fake and that hundreds of thousands of dollars in investor funds were misappropriated.", "author": { "slug": "brayden-lindrea" }, "bodyText": "The US Securities and Exchange Commission has won its fraud suit against crypto platform NanoBit Limited, nearly two years after the agency accused it of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from at least 18 investors between 2023 and 2024.
The announcement by the SEC on Monday came nearly two weeks after the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against four entities and two individuals tied to the NanoBit fraud case on June 16.
The SEC alleged that NanoBit’s operators impersonated financial professionals in WhatsApp groups to trick investors into depositing funds on the fake platform. Instead, the funds were allegedly diverted to scheme participants, the SEC said.
The case is another example of the SEC’s continued crackdown on crypto-themed fraud under the Trump administration, even as the agency has softened its regulatory approach to crypto companies and revised what it considers to be a securities offering.
On May 29, the SEC charged a Texas man with allegedly running a fraud scheme that raised more than $12 million from roughly 150 investors by falsely claiming to use AI-powered trading bots to generate guaranteed returns.
In April, the SEC also charged crypto executive Donald Basile and two companies he controlled for raising roughly $16 million from hundreds of investors through false claims tied to a crypto token called Bitcoin Latinum.
The New York court found that the defendants violated US securities laws and issued permanent injunctions against them, prohibiting them from engaging in the issuance, purchase or sale of securities.
Related: Crypto scammers exploit World Cup ticket demand, TRM warns
NanoBit was ordered to pay a $1.18 million fine, disgorgement of more than $532,000 for the ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest of nearly $81,200, totaling nearly $1.8 million.
NanoBit’s affiliates — Radiant Horizons, Sweet Karma and Zhao Deli — were each ordered to pay a $1.18 million fine, while one of the scheme’s main orchestrators, Jiajie Liu, was ordered to pay about $120,000 in penalties, disgorgement and prejudgment interest.
In the September 2024 complaint, the SEC alleged that NanoBit investors were solicited on social media, such as Instagram, before being added to the WhatsApp groups.
Investors were allegedly shown a fake dashboard depicting rising returns, creating the illusion that their funds were growing.
It allegedly persuaded investors by falsely claiming that its affiliate, NanobitUS Securities, was an SEC-registered broker, while also promoting fake initial coin offerings (ICOs) promising substantial returns.
However, “no transactions took place on the NanoBit platform and investors’ funds in fact went to scheme participants who wired more than $2 million to bank accounts in Hong Kong and misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of investors’ crypto assets,” the securities regulator alleged.
The SEC alleged that investors who sought to withdraw funds were met with excuses and asked to pay large fees, while others were removed from the WhatsApp groups for questioning the platform’s legitimacy.
Magazine: The end of anonymity? AI could unmask crypto’s hidden identities
", "description": "The SEC has resolved its fraud case against crypto platform NanoBit Limited, which was ordered to pay $5.4 million worth of fines for allegedly stealing funds from at least 18 investors between 2023 and 2024.", "published": "2026-06-30T04:06:34+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "fraud" }, { "slug": "scams" }, { "slug": "cryptocurrency-investment" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "sec-wins-54m-judgment-in-nanobit-crypto-fraud-case", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273165" }, { "category": { "slug": "features" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Singapore's Hyperliquid warning, Indonesia's FinFluencer license: Asia Express ", "leadText": "Hyperliquid follows Bybit onto Singapore's \"naughty\" list, Indonesia's new scheme to certify social media influencers promoting crypto: Asia Express.", "author": { "slug": "andrew-fenton" }, "bodyText": "The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state's central bank and financial regulator, has added decentralized perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid to its Investor Alert List.
The entry, added on Friday, includes the Hyper Foundation website and the Hyperliquid trading app.
The Investor Alert List is a consumer protection measure that identifies entities that may be wrongly perceived as licensed or regulated by MAS. Inclusion on the list does not constitute a ban or enforcement action.
MAS added crypto exchange Bybit to the list on June 17 and KuCoin and Bitget also appear.
Hyperliquid said that it has never claimed to be licensed or authorized by MAS and that nothing about its permissionless infrastructure has changed.
\nDon't look at this if you are in Singapore. (Hyperliquid)
Indonesia’s financial regulator has introduced certification requirements for influencers who recommend crypto and other digital financial assets, as the country expands oversight of financial promotions on social media.
Under Financial Services Authority Regulation No. 6 of 2026, announced Wednesday, individuals recommending digital assets must obtain competency certifications unless they are already subject to a separate licensing requirement.
Influencers may recommend only digital assets listed on authorized exchanges, while any service provider they recommend must also be licensed. Marketing campaigns must be conducted through regulated financial services businesses, which are responsible for the promotional content, and distributed through their official communication channels.
Indonesia joins a growing number of jurisdictions tightening oversight of financial influencers, also called finfluencers, with Australia and the United Kingdom introducing broader rules for investment promotions and the Philippines adopting crypto-specific marketing restrictions.
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb was order to pay a $136,000 fine after it was found to have breached personal information protections rules when it sent user data overseas.
In a Thursday notice, the country's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said that its investigation into Bithumb found that the exchange had “transferred personal information overseas without the separate consent of the data subjects during the process of order book sharing and virtual asset transfer with overseas virtual asset exchanges.”
The incident was connected to Bithumb sharing its Tether (USDT) order books between September and November 2025 with BingX, despite obtaining consent to share the data with Stellar, as well as sharing user information with 13 overseas exchanges.
\nSource: PIPC
Japan’s SBI Holdings has signed agreements to acquire full control of crypto exchange Bitbank through a 46.7 billion Japanese yen ($289 million) transaction, advancing a deal first disclosed in May that would create the country's biggest crypto exchange.
SBI expects the transaction to close around October, subject to regulatory clearance.
The acquisition would expand SBI’s regulated crypto exchange footprint and customer base, giving it another potential distribution channel for the stablecoins, tokenized assets and onchain financial products.
Bitbank's daily trading volume has hovered below $50 million for most of the last four months, CoinGecko data showed. Volume is dominated by the BTC/JPY pair (39.5%), followed by XRP/JPY and ETH/JPY (both at 19.7%).
SBI said combining Bitbank with SBI VC Trade would give the group about 1.1 trillion yen in assets under custody and roughly 2.92 million crypto accounts, meaning the combined business would rank first among Japanese crypto exchanges.
Chainlink has joined a working group with European and South Korean banking organizations to explore the use of stablecoins for foreign exchange (FX) settlement.
The protocol has announced Project Pangea alongside South Korean digital asset infrastructure company FairSquareLab, the Unified Korea Alliance (UniKA) — a consortium that includes more than a dozen Korean commercial banks — and Qivalis, a euro stablecoin consortium backed by 37 European banks.
Project Pangea aims to bring together financial institutions across Europe and South Korea to evaluate direct, atomic swaps of euro- and South Korean won-denominated stablecoins using Chainlink’s data infrastructure alongside FairSquareLab’s onchain foreign exchange settlement technology.
The initiative is another example of financial institutions evaluating stablecoins for wholesale financial infrastructure rather than consumer payments. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the global foreign exchange market processes roughly $9.6 trillion in daily trading volume.
South Korea’s financial regulator folded token securities infrastructure into a broader overhaul of the country’s capital markets, alongside plans for faster settlement, longer trading hours and greater use of artificial intelligence.
On Tuesday, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it had launched a capital market infrastructure review meeting to coordinate reforms across government agencies and market operators. According to the FSC, plans for token securities will be further discussed separately through a public-private council before being linked to the wider initiative.
The initiative includes a roadmap for shortening the securities settlement cycle, expected by October, and a Korea Securities Depository (KSD) system for settling over-the-counter trades in unlisted shares and fractional investment products by the end of 2026.
Stablecoin issuer Circle and Japan's largest investment bank Nomura have reportedly partnered to enable instant foreign exchange settlement for Japanese companies as early as 2027.
The service would enable companies to convert yen into dollar-denominated stablecoins for cross-border transactions and instant settlement, reducing delays caused by banking hours and time zone differences, Nikkei reported on Thursday.
The partnership would bring one of the world's largest dollar stablecoins into Japan's corporate foreign exchange market, expanding the use of stablecoins for business-to-business cross-border settlement.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has given digital asset businesses another three months (to September 30) apply for licenses required under its updated regulatory guidance.
The extension applies to businesses seeking an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license, as well as companies that may require market or clearing and settlement authorizations.
The regulator said it has received about 30 license applications since updating its digital asset guidance in October 2025 to clarify that many crypto products are financial products under the law and require an AFSL.
It noted its recent court victory against BlockEarner emphasized that point.
Update, June 30, 10:49 am UTC: This article has been updated to include comments from Brickken's Edwin Mata and Coinbase's Katie Harries.
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its landmark crypto regulatory framework, marking the completion of its crypto roadmap seeking to bring digital assets under the regulator's purview.
Significant new elements include mandatory licensing for crypto firms, capital stress-testing requirements, improved market manipulation and insider trading rules, as well as simplified capital requirement standards for stablecoin issuers, according to a Tuesday press release shared with Cointelegraph.
The licensing window for crypto companies will open from September until Feb. 28, 2027, before the regime goes live on Oct. 25, 2027.
The new framework means that crypto companies in the UK will be held to “similar standards” as other financial service providers in the country, wrote David Geale, executive director of payments and digital finance at the FCA, adding:
“We’ve created a framework that doesn’t force firms to choose between regulatory certainty and room to innovate – this regime means they can have both in a stable, competitive home to build and grow.”
Cryptocurrency firms, including trading platforms, custodians, stablecoin issuers, staking companies and other intermediaries, must obtain FCA authorization to operate in the UK under the new framework.
The framework comes nearly a month after the regulator concluded its consultation window on the guidelines for the country’s future crypto regime on June 3.
The draft marks a significant step in moving the UK crypto market from an “enforcement-led environment into a full financial services regime,” illustrating the FCA's efforts to make crypto firms operate akin to “regulated financial institutions,” Edwin Mata, lawyer and CEO of tokenization platform Brickken, told Cointelegraph.
\n
Overview of FCA crypto regime, next steps and savings provisions. Source: FCA
Katie Harries, Coinbase's head of policy in Europe, praised the final rules for helping preserve access to “global liquidity” and the “innovative licensing structure,” but highlighted two pressing issues. She told Cointelegraph:
“While the FCA has made welcome changes to its prudential framework, it is an open question as to whether these changes have gone far enough to ensure the cost of doing business in the UK is not materially higher vis-a-vis other jurisdictions. ”
She added that the UK's future approach to DeFi regulation was her second concern, as earlier proposals amounted to a “de facto ban on centralised platforms providing access to DeFi applications.”
Crypto firms with existing authorization under the money laundering regulations will not have their licenses automatically converted and will have to obtain new authorization.
Certain companies already operating in the UK may continue specified activities for a limited period as they seek authorisation under the framework’s transitional “savings provisions.”
The FCA said that pre-application support meetings for companies will be available starting next month.
The regulator will set out its policy statements during a webinar on July 17. It will also publish a further policy statement in September to establish how the regulatory perimeter applies to cryptoasset activities.
Related: Aave Labs’ Push gains UK FCA crypto registration
The FCA has maintained the core stablecoin framework but made minor adjustments, including simplifying the backing asset composition requirement by no longer requiring estimated redemption forecasts, adding requirements for statutory trust over reserves and removing unallocated backing fund accounts.
The guidelines will also require issuers to offer specific withdrawal rights to users, permit a 5% excess to be held in the backing asset pool and allow limited intragroup custody subject to safeguards.
The FCA noted that this establishes a “baseline regime for stablecoin issuance” and added that it will consult with the Bank of England later this year on how the the agency's rules will apply to stablecoin issuers recognized as systemic by HM Treasury.
\n
New guidelines for stablecoin issuance. Source: FCA
Later this year, the FCA will also host a separate consultation on decentralized finance (DeFi) guidance and operational resilience guidelines for firms using distributed ledger technology (DLT).
It also plans to consult on updates to the Financial Crime Guide relevant to crypto asset firms.
“We’re going to continue to work on DeFi,” said Matthew Long, director of payments & digital assets at the FCA, adding that they are seeking a case-by-case approach as “true DeFi” with “no identifiable person undertaking the activity” will fall out of the scope of the regulation.
Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026
", "description": "The UK’s financial regulator has published its crypto regulatory framework, setting the authorization deadline for cryptocurrency firms for February 2027.", "published": "2026-06-30T00:01:00+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "law" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-regulation" }, { "slug": "uk-government" }, { "slug": "united-kingdom" }, { "slug": "web3" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "uk-crypto-rules-2027-fca-authorization-deadline", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273129" }, { "category": { "slug": "markets" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Bitcoin faces critical test as bulls aim to hold $60K: Did BTC bottom?", "leadText": "Bitcoin’s loose hold on $60,000 and soft futures markets raise questions about whether BTC has bottomed.", "author": { "slug": "cointelegraph" }, "bodyText": "Bitcoin (BTC) trades at an important inflection point as retail investors are selling, big institutions are on hold despite the discounted valuation and the market is paused at $60,300, awaiting the next significant move. The situation reveals two very different investor groups making opposite bets.
Retail investors sell, TradFi watches
The general mood is fearful, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index sitting at 36 out of 100, indicating fear but not total panic. This number masks a sharp divide. In June alone, investors pulled $4.4 billion from US spot Bitcoin ETFs — the worst month this year. At the same time, Strategy continues to buy BTC, although the pace and size of its purchases have slowed. While ETF flows and Bitcoin treasury accumulation are not in a buying phase, a majority of corporate BTC treasuries have not reduced their existing positions.
\n
Spot Bitcoin ETF net flows. Source: SoSoValue.com
Leverage unwinds, but slowly
The aggregate open interest in Bitcoin futures contracts across all exchanges is $19.92 billion. Two weeks ago, it was $20.1 billion. This unwinding — when traders close positions to reduce risk — is happening in an orderly way, not in a panic.
The borrowing costs for holding long positions have dropped from 0.25% to 0.12%, suggesting that the worst of the forced selling is over. However, longs are still paying to hold their positions, meaning traders believe in a recovery but aren't willing to bet their full account on it.
The current danger zone is $58,800, Bitcoin's low for the day. If the price breaks below this level, the next $500 million worth of traders holding long positions could be forced to close their trades, sending Bitcoin toward $56,000. That move may extend the selling pressure into next week.
\n
Bitcoin open interest, funding rate. Source: Hyblock
The market is waiting, not acting
When fresh capital flows into Bitcoin, volume spikes and the action shows up in the data. Right now, it doesn't, as trading volume is down, and open interest changes are small. This suggests the market is in an indecisive phase where retail traders may be done selling, but nobody is confident enough to buy in size yet. That's not surprising.
Related: Bitcoin balances $60K tightrope as US stocks rebound on fresh Iran peace deal hopes
MicroStrategy, which has accumulated Bitcoin for corporate reserves, did buy 3,600 Bitcoin in June for $236 million, betting on a recovery. But overall, institutions are holding rather than aggressively buying. This pause could break in either direction: lower (if one more wave of sellers emerges) or higher (if confidence returns).
For Bitcoin to move meaningfully higher, it needs to reclaim $62,000. The risk is real: a macro news event at any point in the week, like the June employment report or the resumption of military action in Iran, could weigh on investor sentiment and tip BTC back under the $60,000 handle.
US President Donald Trump has about 10 days to decide whether or not to sign bipartisan housing legislation containing a ban on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) into law after saying he planned to prioritize a controversial voting bill.
According to reports, House Speaker Mike Johnson sent the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to Trump’s desk on Monday, kicking off a 10-day timeline for the president to decide whether to ignore, sign or veto the bill under the US Constitution, excluding Sundays. The bill, passed by the House of Representatives last week, included language barring the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a CBDC “or any digital asset that is substantially similar” until the end of 2030.
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-29-at-40428-pm.png\"\n)
\n Donald Trump signing executive orders on Monday. Source: The White House
Trump reportedly called the legislation a “yawn” and sarcastically referred to the situation as a “big deal.” He canceled the signing ceremony for the bill on Wednesday, saying that Republicans in Congress should focus on passing the SAVE America Act. The legislation would require voters to provide proof of US citizenship in person to register, potentially disenfranchising millions of people.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act received significant bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans, with members of both parties lauding progress ahead of Trump’s potential signature. Sponsored by Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat-led legislation included a CBDC ban in an attempt to garner support from Republicans and the White House.
Related: Senate leaders push for July passage of CLARITY Act
“We should be celebrating a bipartisan housing law,” said Warren on Monday. “Instead, we have a call to action. Mr. President: sign the damn bill.”
The US Senate broke on Friday for state work periods, with lawmakers expected to return by July 13. The chamber’s calendar gives lawmakers about four weeks to address the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act before another state work period in August.
Trump said in March that he would “not sign other bills” until the SAVE America Act was passed, but also made a social media post signaling that he supported CLARITY. Should the president veto the bill, Congress could override his action with a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Magazine: SBF will never get a pardon, Trump peace deal boosts Bitcoin: Hodlers Digest June 14-21
", "description": "A bipartisan housing bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, is on Donald Trump’s desk after passing the House of Representatives last week with a provision banning a US CBDC until 2030.", "published": "2026-06-29T22:34:08+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "law" }, { "slug": "politics" }, { "slug": "white-house" }, { "slug": "donald-trump" }, { "slug": "cbdc" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "cbdc-ban-housing-bill-donald-trump", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273149" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Senate leaders push for July passage of CLARITY Act", "leadText": "Lawmakers in the US Senate are on state work periods until July 13, giving them only four weeks to address a cryptocurrency market structure bill before another break and possible delays due to campaigning for elections.", "author": { "slug": "turner-wright" }, "bodyText": "The path of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a bill intended to establish comprehensive guidelines for cryptocurrency regulation, remains uncertain with the US Congress set to break for another state work period in a matter of weeks.
Since passage in the US House of Representatives in July 2025, the CLARITY Act has faced several hurdles advancing in Congress, from industry pushback on stablecoin rewards to lawmakers’ concerns about ethics. The bill passed the Senate Agriculture Committee in January and the Senate Banking Committee in May along party lines, setting it up for consideration in the full chamber.
However, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday canceled the signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a housing bill that received bipartisan support in both chambers and contained a ban on a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Trump said that he would not sign the bill until Republicans in Congress passed the SAVE America Act, legislation requiring voters to provide proof of US citizenship in person to register, adding in March that he would “not sign other bills” until it was passed.
The move by the president leaves the future of the CLARITY Act in doubt despite earlier statements signaling he supported the bill. If Trump vetoes the legislation, Congress could override him with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers. According to the US Constitution, if a president doesn’t sign or veto a bill within 10 days while Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law.
Related: Galaxy cuts CLARITY Act odds to 50% as Senate floor time narrows
On Monday, Republican leaders in the Senate, including banking committee chair Tim Scott and majority leader John Thune, said that they were pushing for the chamber to pass CLARITY in July. Lawmakers are scheduled to be out of Washington, DC and on state work periods until July 13, giving them four weeks to address the bill before a monthlong state work period in August.
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-29-at-20537-pm.png\"\n)
\n Source: Senator Tim Scott
“We’ve been negotiating on the CLARITY Act hardcore since last Labor Day, and it’s been an arduous process,” said Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the bill’s proponents, in a Fox Business interview last week, adding:
“We’re still working a little bit on DeFi, we’re working [on] illicit finance, we’re working a little bit on ethics [..] We’re finally to the point where we’re going to put out the text over the July 4th, and give people one last really thorough look at the bill, and then we’re moving in July.”
Republicans hold a slim majority in the US Senate, where they will need some support from Democrats should they hold a vote on CLARITY next month. Many Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for ethics provisions in the bill, citing the Trump family’s ties to the crypto industry through the president’s memecoin and his sons’ involvement in the World Liberty Financial platform and a Bitcoin mining company.
Should Republicans not meet the 60-vote threshold in the Senate before August, many experts expect that lawmakers dealing with reelection campaigns could delay the passage of CLARITY, potentially pushing the legislation to the next session of Congress in 2027.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto
", "description": "Republican senators are doubling down on efforts to pass a cryptocurrency market structure bill before the chamber breaks for state work periods, but they will need some Democratic votes.", "published": "2026-06-29T20:59:31+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "cryptocurrencies" }, { "slug": "law" }, { "slug": "politics" }, { "slug": "congress" }, { "slug": "senate" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "senate-leaders-july-passage-clarity-act", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273145" }, { "category": { "slug": "markets" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Bitcoin put-call ratio hits 1-year high: Are bears preparing for drop to $55K?", "leadText": "Rising demand for put options and persistent ETF outflows highlight Bitcoin's weakness despite lower oil prices.\n", "author": { "slug": "marcel-pechman" }, "bodyText": "Key takeaways:
Bitcoin has failed to reclaim the $61,000 mark since Thursday, despite optimism fueled by lower crude oil prices following the US and Iran's 60-day ceasefire agreement. Demand for downside Bitcoin price protection jumped to unusually high levels, prompting traders to question whether $55,000 is the next target.
\n
Deribit Bitcoin options premium put-to-call ratio. Source: Laevitas
The premium paid on Bitcoin put (sell) options on Deribit totaled $115 million on Friday, 7 times the $16 million paid on call (buy) options. The imbalance was the highest in over 12 months, signaling extremely low demand from bulls. However, such data does not necessarily signal conviction from bears.
\n
Bitcoin 30-day options delta skew (put-call) at Deribit. Source: Laevitas
The Bitcoin options delta skew stood at 19% on Monday, meaning market makers are unwilling to hold downside price exposure. This setup hints at fear, although that has been the norm for the past 4 weeks. Data aligns with growing demand for bearish hedging as Bitcoin price struggles to sustain levels above $60,000.
Bitcoin’s weakness can be partially pinned to investors’ discomfort with MicroStrategy (MSTR US) ability to pay dividends and debt maturing in 2027. The company reacted on Monday by announcing an additional $1.2 billion in cash from recent share sales and setting aside $1.25 billion in Bitcoin for eventual sale.
The measures taken by Strategy ease some short-term concerns but also create anxiety about Bitcoin’s supply and demand dynamics. Even if no sales occur over the next couple of months, bears are more comfortable knowing that Strategy has no incentives to issue MSTR shares given the current 17 months of dividend coverage.
Related: Grayscale's Pandl says Strategy should sell $3B Bitcoin to restore confidence
In contrast to Bitcoin investors’ pessimism, momentum in the US stock market has shifted favorably after inflationary pressure eased, with crude oil prices dropping to their lowest levels in 4 months. Additionally, a Goldman Sachs report projected 22% annual earnings growth for S&P 500 companies, easing concerns about excessive valuations.
\n
Source: X/KobeissiLetter
Retail investors appear to be rotating out of gold and Bitcoin into semiconductor stocks, according to ‘The Kobeissi Letter’ analysis. Data collected by Bloomberg has shown over $20 billion in cumulative inflows in semiconductor exchange-traded funds (ETFs), triggering an 81% rally in iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX US) and 60% gains in VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH).
\n
US-listed Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds weekly net flows, USD. Source: SoSoValue
The 7 consecutive weeks of net outflows from the US-listed Bitcoin spot ETFs have shattered bulls’ hopes of a strong bounce from the $58,050 lows on June 25. Regardless of whether the sell-off can be attributed to the rotation into tech stocks, sentiment is unlikely to improve while Bitcoin spot ETFs continue to see strong net outflows.
A retest of $55,000 should not be dismissed, but the increased demand for downside hedging in Bitcoin options should not be interpreted as growing confidence among bears.
[Correction, June 30, UTC 12:52 - Corrects Bybit executive's comments in eighth paragraph.]
Cryptocurrency exchanges already approved to operate in European Union member states under the soon-to-be enforced Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework are incentivizing users from companies that failed to gain license approval.
With MiCA restrictions set to be enforced starting on July 1, executives of cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase and OKX have taken to social media to sway users from soon-to-be unauthorized companies, like Binance and Bybit Global.
The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, said that it would restrict services for EU-based users after withdrawing its MiCA application last week. Bybit Global on Monday said access to services for users in the European Economic Area “will be progressively limited” starting on July 1, though its Bybit EU arm is authorized to operate under MiCA through its Austrian licensee.
As of Monday, regulators in EU member states had approved 244 total licenses for crypto companies under MiCA. Of those, about a quarter (57) came from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin. Authorities in Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Romania had not issued any licenses as of Friday.
Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, said on Monday that the exchange would offer 8% on new deposits, suggesting that Binance and Bybit users transfer their funds. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on Friday that the company would offer a 5% transfer bonus for users before July 13, about two weeks after MiCA takes effect. Kraken, also authorized under MiCA, offered a $1.1 million prize draw for euro deposits.
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-29-at-114235-am.png\"\n)
\n Source: OKX CEO Mingxing “Star” Xu
Under MiCA, crypto companies offering services to EU-based users in 27 countries must be licensed as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) by a regulator in one of the member states. While many exchanges, including Coinbase, FalconX, Kraken and OKX, have obtained licenses to operate after the June 30 deadline, the absence of others could significantly impact the region's crypto market.
Related: Binance faces EU service limits next week as MiCA rules take effect
While Bybit moves to limit its services in the EEA, the company is ramping up business in the Middle East.
Derek Dai, Bybit’s head for the Middle East and North Africa, said at a Tel Aviv event on Sunday that the company was stepping up efforts to build in the region.
\n![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/1782672185598.jpeg\"\n)
\n Bybit MENA head Derek Dai (left) and Collider partner Eylon Aviv (right) at Sunday's event in Tel Aviv. Source: Cointelegraph
“Our business strategy for MENA has been to differentiate marketing and business plans to make sure that each group of customers are well served,” said Dai. “We are creating halal products that meet the needs of more conservative customers in a number of the Arabic countries while focusing on derivative products that are of interest to younger investors in Morocco who are starting to develop their trading skills and interests.”
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
Bitcoin (BTC) struggled near $60,000 around Monday’s Wall Street open as bulls increasingly risked a support/resistance flip.
Key points:
Data from TradingView showed an ongoing battle to regain control of $60,000, with BTC price strength again failing to keep pace with US stocks.
\nBTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index both started the week in the green amid renewed optimism of rescuing the US-Iran peace deal.
In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump wrote that Iran had "requested a meeting,” which would take place in Doha, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday.
\nS&P 500 four-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Commenting on the latest events, trading company QCP Capital nonetheless cautioned over the potential for oil prices to rebound — a key potential headwind for crypto.
“While both countries appear to have agreed to stand down for now, the situation remains uncertain. That said, oil prices have remained largely stable in the low $70s, suggesting cautious optimism that tensions may ease,” it wrote in its latest Market Color analysis.
“However, this relatively muted market reaction also leaves significant upside risk for oil prices should supply recovery prove slower than expected.”\n
CFDs on WTI crude oil four-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
On Friday, WTI crude fell below $68 per barrel for the first time since early March, but was back above the $70 mark at the time of writing.
“U.S. markets are also set to be closed on Friday, while the situation between the U.S. and Iran remains fluid, leaving volatility likely to stay elevated, partly driven by thinner liquidity conditions, similar to what we saw over the past weekend,” QCP added.
Bitcoin market participants thus sat on the sidelines as “choppy” price moves defined low-time-frame market action.
Related: BTC price RSI prints key 2026 signal: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week
“Chopping around in this range at the previous June lows. The ~$60K region keeps capping price as we have some marginally higher low wicks below,” trader Daan Crypto Trades wrote in his latest X analysis.
“The longer price spends moving around in this region, the bigger the following move upon a range break will be. Eyes on $58K & $61K.”\n
BTC/USDT one-hour chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X
In its latest Market Pulse bulletin, onchain analytics platform Glassnode said that buyers “have so far lacked the conviction required to establish a sustained recovery, leaving price range-bound near local lows.”
“Beneath the surface, the market remains in a phase of structural adjustment as capital continues to contract and participants adopt a more defensive posture,” it reported.
“Spot markets are still experiencing persistent net selling despite an increase in trading activity, suggesting that available liquidity is being used primarily to distribute rather than accumulate Bitcoin at current prices.”\n
Bitcoin price momentum data (screenshot). Source: Glassnode
While noting “more balanced” onchain data, Glassnode added that a shift toward supply ownership by more speculative investors increased the potential for price volatility.
“Taken together, Bitcoin appears to be stabilizing around the $60K region, but with spot order flow, derivatives positioning, and institutional demand all remaining defensive, a sustained recovery is likely to require a meaningful return of buyer conviction,” it concluded.
", "description": "Bitcoin diverges from US stocks again as BTC price support at $60,000 stays absent despite US-Iran peace hopes boosting equities to start the week.", "published": "2026-06-29T18:44:49+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-price" }, { "slug": "markets" }, { "slug": "market-analysis" } ], "slug": "bitcoin-fails-60k-reclaim-as-us-stocks-rebound-on-new-iran-peace-hopes", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "Market Update" } ] }, "id": "273137" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "BNY adds USDC minting and redemption to institutional custody platform ", "leadText": "The move deepens BNY's partnership with Circle and builds on the bank's role as the primary custodian of USDC reserves. ", "author": { "slug": "nate-kostar" }, "bodyText": "BNY has expanded its Digital Asset Custody platform to let institutional clients store, transfer, mint and redeem Circle's USD Coin, making it the first stablecoin supported on the platform.
The new capabilities allow BNY clients to convert US dollars into USDC and redeem the stablecoin back into dollars directly through the bank while also storing and transferring USDC on its custody platform. BNY said it plans to expand the service to additional stablecoins and digital cash workflows over time.
The expansion builds on BNY's existing role as the primary custodian of the assets backing USDC, extending its relationship with Circle beyond safeguarding reserve assets to include client-facing stablecoin services.
According to BNY, the custodian bank oversees $59.3 trillion in assets under custody and administration and serves more than 90% of Fortune 100 companies. USDC is the world's second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with more than $73.8 billion in circulation, according to DefiLlama data.
In May, BNY partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Finstreet and the ADI Foundation to develop institutional custody services for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), with plans to later support stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.
\nSource: DefiLlama
Related: Breez launches Bitcoin-to-stablecoin payments across more than 30 blockchains
BNY's announcement is the latest in a series of stablecoin-focused products launched by major financial institutions in recent months, as traditional banks and asset managers expand services supporting reserve management, custody and blockchain-based payments.
In May, JPMorgan filed to launch a tokenized money market fund that would allow stablecoin issuers to hold reserve assets in a regulated investment vehicle while earning interest. The Ethereum-based fund is designed to invest in US Treasury bills and overnight repurchase agreements that back payment stablecoins.
Earlier this month, State Street launched a government money market fund for stablecoin issuers, offering a vehicle to hold reserve assets in compliance with the GENIUS Act. The fund invests in US government securities and repurchase agreements and counts State Street Bank and Anchorage Digital among its initial investors.
Other large financial institutions are pursuing stablecoin strategies as well. In July 2025, Bank of America said it was exploring stablecoins to modernize its payments infrastructure, while in January, Fidelity Investments launched a US dollar-backed stablecoin, FIDD, after receiving conditional approval to operate a national trust bank.
The stablecoin market is valued at approximately $313 billion, according to DefiLlama, with Tether's USDT accounting for about 60% of the market.
\nSource: DefiLlama
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "BNY has added USDC custody, minting and redemption services to its digital asset platform, expanding its partnership with Circle for institutional clients.", "published": "2026-06-29T17:10:09+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "circle" }, { "slug": "bank-of-america" }, { "slug": "bny-mellon" }, { "slug": "state-street" }, { "slug": "stablecoin" }, { "slug": "jpmorgan-chase" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "bny-adds-usdc-minting-and-redemption-to-institutional-custody-platform", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273125" }, { "category": { "slug": "features" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "From Bitcoin critics to blockchain believers: The 5 biggest crypto backflips", "leadText": "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Here are five crypto skeptics who have reluctantly embraced the opportunity of making loads of money with blockchain.", "author": { "slug": "christina-comben" }, "bodyText": "The road from believing “crypto is a scam” to “Bitcoin is a legitimate asset class” is a long way to travel, fraught with many a twist and turn.
Yet against all the odds, a surprising number of high-profile skeptics have undertaken the journey unscathed and, perhaps more remarkably, without ever admitting they were wrong.
The very naysayers who once warned of a “crypto apocalypse” have begun preaching the virtues of blockchain rails and launching tokenized products of their own.
From Bitcoin exchange-traded funds to tokenized gold, here are five of the biggest crypto backflips.
Larry Fink may be the archetypal born-again crypto convert. In 2017, the BlackRock chief executive cast Bitcoin as an “index of money laundering,” nicely capturing mainstream finance’s view at the time of a market they believed was dominated by wild speculation and dubious flows.
As a side note: people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. While money laundering in crypto was estimated at $82 billion in 2025, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that roughly $800 billion to $2 trillion is laundered the old fashioned way each year.
Related: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF sees near-record outflows as BTC dips below $75K
It's not entirely clear why Fink decided to recalibrate but by 2020 he started acknowledging its potential, in 2023 he was actively defending BlackRock's crypto push, and today BlackRock has become one of the most important institutional access points to Bitcoin via spot ETFs, helping pull the asset into the heart of the regulated investment universe.
In his annual shareholder letters, Fink now waxes lyrical about tokenization and writes impassioned OpEds about how it is set to transform the financial system.
If Fink is a born-again believer, Jamie Dimon sits squarely in the reluctant and still skeptical camp.
The JPMorgan chief has called Bitcoin a “fraud,” crypto investors “stupid,” and warned that BTC will blow up on more than one occasion, not to mention using Congressional hearings as a platform to reiterate his distaste for the asset.
But watch what he does, not what he says as JPMorgan has quietly become one of Wall Street’s biggest blockchain infrastructure providers.
The world’s largest bank has built out its Onyx division, rolled out JPM Coin, experimented with linking bank infrastructure to crypto wallets, and developed tokenized collateral platforms to move cash and securities around more efficiently.
Oh sure, Dimon still trashes Bitcoin in public, but JPMorgan now sells many of the rails that make institutional digital asset markets viable.
Peter Schiff hasn’t softened his rhetoric as prices and adoption grow. If anything, each Bitcoin rally only amplifies his warnings about bubbles, “greater fools,” and inevitable collapse. It's a highly effective form of advertising for Schiff's beloved gold industry.
\nPeter Schiff's infamous “greater fools” comment. Source: Peter Schiff
Yet even the perpetual goldbug has edged into the digital asset world by launching a tokenized gold platform, T-Gold.com, in December 2025, that uses blockchain to represent vaulted bullion as transferable tokens.
The product lets users buy physical gold and silver stored in segregated vaults and receive digital tokens representing specific quantities of the metals, with ownership recorded on a blockchain.
Related: Tucker Carlson presses Peter Schiff on Bitcoin as new global reserve currency
For Schiff, this is not apostasy but reinforcement: a way to tell crypto-native investors “you can keep the rails, but swap the asset for something with thousands of years of monetary history instead.”
Nouriel Roubini, once known in crypto circles as “Dr. Doom,” might seem like an unlikely candidate for any kind of crypto conversion.
He has spent years describing most digital assets as “useless,” warning of a “crypto apocalypse,” and cataloguing the sector’s governance failures, conflicts of interest, and investor harm.
Yet this week, he published a whitepaper co-authored with Atlas Capital and announced USAFi, a tokenized instrument marketed as a regulated permissionless security, designed to embody what he calls the “Technodollar.”
\nUSAFi whitepaper. Source: Atlas AI Labs
Roubini insists this is “not a reversal,” telling Cointelegraph he “remains skeptical of unbacked crypto assets whose value depends primarily on speculation rather than fundamentals.”
The Technodollar, he argued, is about “modernizing the financial system through regulated, asset-backed digital instruments that can be trusted by institutions and individuals alike.”
He added that he still believes most crypto assets “suffer from excessive speculation, weak governance, conflicts of interest, and insufficient investor protections.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Donald Trump belongs in a category of his own. The same politician who once said Bitcoin “seems like a scam” and warned that it could undermine dollar hegemony later rebranded himself as the “crypto president.”
Trump has flirted with nonfungible token drops, launched his own meme coin and one for his wife, and pitched himself as the defender of domestic crypto innovation against overreaching regulators (all while reportedly pocketing over $2.3 billion from his various crypto endeavors since 2024).
\nTrump promised to end Joe Biden's war on crypto. Source: Vivek Ramaswamy
He may not be able to tell you the difference between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake, but he does understand his constituencies.
Related: Trump crypto company's USD1 stablecoins backing UFC event bonuses
The crypto industry has matured into an important voting bloc, and its donors are increasingly strategic. What matters is the ability to read a room full of HODLers and say the right words about freedom, innovation, and firing Gary Gensler.
Born-again converts like Fink have reframed crypto and tokenization as extensions of their existing mission, encouraged by clear demand and the opportunity to graft new fee streams onto enormous asset management franchises.
The reluctant skeptics, on the other hand, have tried to draw bright lines between “bad crypto” and “good digital finance,” and the opportunists, well, they’ve learned that even a shallow embrace of digital assets can unlock both support and riches.
Of course, whether these moves represent genuine intellectual evolution or a simple instinct to follow the money remains to be seen. But perhaps the bigger question is: which crypto skeptic will be the next to see the light? Is it too much to hope that Warren Buffett will review his famed opinion about Bitcoin that it is "rat poison squared?"
Magazine: Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030, says veteran trader Peter Brandt
", "description": "From crypto hater Nouriel Roubini launching the Technodollar to Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff putting out tokenized gold, meet the skeptics who are now cashing in on crypto.", "published": "2026-06-29T14:30:00+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "cryptocurrencies" }, { "slug": "peter-schiff" }, { "slug": "jamie-dimon" }, { "slug": "donald-trump" }, { "slug": "nouriel-roubini" }, { "slug": "jpmorgan-chase" }, { "slug": "blackrock" }, { "slug": "institutions" } ], "slug": "from-bitcoin-critics-to-blockchain-believers-the-5-biggest-crypto-backflips", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "Opinión" } ] }, "id": "273065" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Strategy unveils capital framework to preserve Bitcoin exposure, pay dividends", "leadText": "Michael Saylor’s Strategy unveiled a capital framework allowing Bitcoin sales to fund dividends, a $2.55 billion reserve and buybacks while raising STRC payout to 12%.", "author": { "slug": "helen-partz" }, "bodyText": "Strategy is adopting a new capital framework that allows it to monetize part of its Bitcoin holdings to fund dividends, build cash reserves and repurchase securities while maintaining its long-term Bitcoin strategy.
In a Monday 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Strategy introduced its “Digital Credit Capital Framework,” which includes a Bitcoin monetization program and changes to its STRC preferred stock dividend policy.
The company has raised the STRC annual dividend rate to 12% from 11.5% and authorized separate buyback programs for preferred securities and its Class A MSTR common stock. Strategy said it may sell Bitcoin (BTC) to raise as much as $1.25 billion to increase its cash reserve, pay dividends and debt costs, as well as fund stock buybacks.
The filing comes amid a volatile stretch that has seen the value of MSTR shares slide almost 50% year-to-date while the price of STRC on Friday dropped as low as $71.25, a 28.75% discount to par, according to TradingView data. Grayscale's research head Zach Pandl last week said Strategy should sell $3 billion in Bitcoin to cover its cash obligations.
Ahead of Monday's Nasdaq open, investors had bid up MSTR share price more than 5.5%.
A key part of the new framework is the company's cash reserve, which it said has grown to $2.55 billion, or enough to cover about 17 months of preferred stock dividends and interest payments.
Under the new policy, the reserve can only be used for those payments and must be maintained at a minimum of 12 months unless the board approves otherwise.
\n
Source: Michael Saylor
Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor said the existing cash reserve, combined with the $1.25 billion Bitcoin monetization capacity, gives Strategy up to $3.8 billion in dividend coverage, or nearly 26 months.
Related: Grayscale's Pandl says Strategy should sell $3B Bitcoin to restore confidence
“Strategy expects to remain disciplined in its use of MSTR issuance, particularly when the stock trades at or near 1x mNAV,” Saylor added.
The biggest public Bitcoin treasury company also reported that it did not acquire any BTC during the week ended Sunday, leaving its holdings unchanged at 847,363 BTC purchased for a combined $64.1 billion, at an average of $75,651 apiece. At last look, traders were paying about $60,018 to buy the token.
The company has added a net 3,625 BTC so far in June after buying 3,657 BTC and selling 32 BTC earlier in the month.
\n
Source: SEC
At the same time, the company disclosed raising around $1.15 billion in net proceeds by selling 12.67 million MSTR shares.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Michael Saylor’s Strategy introduced a new capital framework that permits Bitcoin monetization to support dividends, reserves and buybacks alongside STRC changes.", "published": "2026-06-29T14:12:23+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "bitcoin" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-price" }, { "slug": "stocks" }, { "slug": "microstrategy" }, { "slug": "michael-saylor" } ], "slug": "strategy-capital-framework-preserve-bitcoin-exposure", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273121" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Breez launches Bitcoin-to-stablecoin payments across more than 30 blockchains", "leadText": "The new SDK feature lets developers route payments from Bitcoin balances to recipients in USDC and USDT without requiring users to hold stablecoins. ", "author": { "slug": "nate-kostar" }, "bodyText": "Bitcoin infrastructure company Breez has added a feature to its developer toolkit that lets users send USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT) across more than 30 blockchain networks directly from a Bitcoin balance, without first converting or holding stablecoins.
According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the feature uses the Lightning Network alongside automated conversion to route payments from Bitcoin (BTC) to USDC or USDT before delivering funds to the recipient's preferred blockchain.
When a user enters a recipient's wallet address, the Breez SDK identifies the destination blockchain, calculates a conversion route and displays the amount, network and fees before the payment is confirmed. The transaction is then routed through liquidity providers, including Flashnet and Boltz, which convert the sender's Bitcoin into stablecoins and deliver it on the recipient's chosen blockchain.
Roy Sheinfeld, CEO of Breez, told Cointelegraph the feature does not require USDT or USDC to be issued on the Lightning Network. Instead, it relies on "interoperability" to let users spend from a Bitcoin balance while recipients receive stablecoins on supported blockchain networks.
Breez said users continue holding Bitcoin until they initiate a payment, while recipients receive stablecoins on their preferred blockchain without requiring the sender to manage separate stablecoin balances. The feature is non-custodial and initially supports only outbound stablecoin payments, with support for receiving stablecoins from external blockchain networks planned for a future release.
The feature is designed to allow developers to add stablecoin payments without integrating multiple blockchain networks or requiring users to manage separate Bitcoin and stablecoin balances.
Related: Credit unions managing $25B in assets join stablecoin infrastructure program
The launch comes as companies expand Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, a layer-2 payment network designed to make Bitcoin transactions faster and less expensive, into new financial and commercial applications.
In February, Secure Digital Markets, an institutional trading and lending desk, completed a $1 million Bitcoin payment to Kraken over the Lightning Network in less than half a second, demonstrating the protocol's potential for high-value institutional transfers. The transaction illustrated how Lightning is increasingly being tested for use cases beyond small retail payments.
That same month, Bitcoin infrastructure company Voltage introduced a US dollar-settled revolving credit line that embeds business credit into Lightning payment flows, allowing companies to settle repayments in either US dollars or Bitcoin. The product is intended to enable businesses to access working capital using Lightning for payments, without holding crypto on their balance sheets.
Event platform Satlantis also launched a Bitcoin-native ticketing platform with embedded Lightning wallets, allowing organizers to sell tickets and accept BTC alongside traditional payment methods.
In March, Tether-backed Bitcoin infrastructure startup Ark Labs in a $5.2 million funding round to develop technology supporting stablecoin issuance, transfers and settlement on Bitcoin.
Lightning adoption has continued to grow. A February report from River estimated the network surpassed $1 billion in monthly transaction volume in late 2025, up from around $12 million in 2021.
\nLightning Network transaction volumes continue to grow. Source: River
Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves
", "description": "Breez has added a feature to its Bitcoin payments SDK that lets users send USDC and USDT from a Bitcoin balance across more than 30 blockchain networks without holding stablecoins.", "published": "2026-06-29T14:00:00+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "circle" }, { "slug": "payments" }, { "slug": "bitcoin-payments" }, { "slug": "lightning" }, { "slug": "tether" }, { "slug": "stablecoin" }, { "slug": "industry" } ], "slug": "breez-bitcoin-wallets-send-usdc-usdt-without-holding-stablecoins", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "272989" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Prediction-market operational consolidation could spur M&A wave: Bernstein ", "leadText": "Bernstein says platforms are bringing exchange, clearing and brokerage infrastructure in-house, setting up potential deals while increasing antitrust and regulatory risks.", "author": { "slug": "ezra-reguerra" }, "bodyText": "Prediction-market operators are bringing trading infrastructure in-house, a rapid shift that could trigger a wave of acquisitions across crypto platforms, sportsbooks, brokerages and standalone exchanges, according to analysts at Bernstein.
In a research report on Monday, Bernstein said the industry is going through “operational consolidation,” with major platforms moving to control more of the prediction-market stack.
“Every consumer platform that matters has merged the front and back end of the prediction-market stack,” they said. This includes distribution, brokerage, exchange and clearing. That convergence had placed businesses that historically operated in separate industries within a single competitive landscape.
Bernstein pointed to Robinhood routing major World Cup contracts through Rothera, the exchange it jointly owns with Susquehanna, and DraftKings launching DKeX and moving volume away from CME and Crypto.com infrastructure. The firm also cited Coinbase’s acquisition of The Clearing Company and its launch of event contracts as evidence that consumer platforms are seeking to control more of the prediction-market stack.
Owning the infrastructure allows platforms to retain fees that previously flowed to outside partners, making acquisitions a faster route to distribution, licenses, or completing missing parts of the stack. However, the same convergence that strengthens the case for consolidation could also heighten state and federal scrutiny by further blurring the regulatory boundary between financial trading and gambling.
\n ![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-465.jpeg\"\n)
\n
Timeline of acquisitions. Source: Bernstein
Bernstein said regulatory scrutiny remains one of the main barriers to larger integrations across the prediction-market sector.
While combining crypto platforms with brokerages, sportsbooks and exchanges could improve margins and reduce reliance on outside partners, Bernstein said such deals could attract antitrust scrutiny and deepen disputes over whether sports event contracts should be regulated as financial derivatives or gambling products.
Related: About 60% of World Cup bettors on Polymarket are first-time crypto users
That could further stoke the jurisdictional conflict already playing out across several states. Minnesota enacted what the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) described as the first outright ban on prediction markets, while Illinois adopted legislation requiring platforms to obtain a state license before offering sports event contracts.
![\"\"\n](\"https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/screenshot-2026-06-29-21809-pm.png\"\n)
\n Valuation of online sports books compared to leading prediction markets.
Source: Bernstein.
Kalshi challenged both states’ restrictions, arguing that federally regulated exchanges fall under the CFTC’s exclusive authority.
The growing resistance suggests that consolidation may make commercial sense but remain difficult to execute until regulators and courts settle where federal derivatives oversight ends and state gambling authority begins.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
", "description": "Bernstein says prediction-market integration could fuel M&A across crypto, betting and brokerage platforms, though regulatory clashes may slow deals.", "published": "2026-06-29T12:21:37+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "united-states" }, { "slug": "regulation" }, { "slug": "policy" }, { "slug": "prediction-markets" } ], "slug": "prediction-market-consolidation-ma-wave-bernstein", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273113" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Vitalik Buterin says obfuscation could unlock private onchain crypto voting", "leadText": "Vitalik Buterin said indistinguishability obfuscation could eventually support private, collusion-resistant onchain voting without trusted committees, though the technology remains impractical.", "author": { "slug": "ezra-reguerra" }, "bodyText": "Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a technical essay outlining how cryptography could one day enable people to vote privately onchain without relying on a trusted group to manage ballots or reveal the result.
In a blog post on Monday, Buterin said a cryptographic approach called indistinguishability obfuscation (iO), combined with blockchain infrastructure, could support private and collusion-resistant voting with “almost no trust assumption.” The approach would replace threshold committees, which jointly decrypt voting data, with protected programs designed only to reveal the outcome.
Private onchain voting remains dependent on groups of operators safeguarding information and behaving honestly. Removing that dependency could make decentralized governance harder to manipulate, reduce the risk of insider interference and allow voters to participate without exposing how they voted, according to Buterin.
However, Buterin said the technology remains impractical. He said the most conservative constructions require what he described as “galactic” amounts of computation. He said faster approaches rely on less-tested security assumptions, which means that the idea presents a more long-term research direction rather than a deployment-ready system.
\n
Source: Vitalik Buterin
According to Buterin, iO is a form of cryptography that turns software into a protected program. People can run the program and receive the intended output, but they cannot inspect its internal code or extract the data stored inside it. Buterin described the concept as hiding the code rather than the information being processed.
For onchain voting, Buterin said an obfuscated program could contain the logic needed to process encrypted ballots and reveal the final tally without exposing individual votes, essentially removing the need for a threshold committee whose members collectively hold the keys required to decrypt the result.
Buterin said blockchains would still play a key role because an obfuscated program cannot prevent itself from being copied or independently maintain changing information.
Related: Ethereum whale who shorted October 2025 crash opens $19.7M ETH short position
Buterin previously connected iO with private voting in his Ethereum roadmap published in October 2024. He said the approach could provide stronger privacy and resistance to coercion. His latest essay expands on that earlier proposal by examining how the underlying cryptography could be constructed, the security assumptions it requires and the technical barriers preventing it from becoming practical.
In April 2025, Buterin proposed a more immediate privacy roadmap for Ethereum, calling for privacy tools to be integrated into existing wallets. The proposal also advocated for stronger protections against data collection by infrastructure providers that wallets use to access Ethereum.
Buterin also drew funding from his personal holdings to fund privacy-preserving technologies. On Jan. 30, he earmarked 16,384 Ether (ETH), worth about $45 million at the time, to fund initiatives focused on privacy, open infrastructure and self-sovereign tools.
Magazine: Japanese pension fund tips 1% in crypto, G7 urges action on NK hackers: Asia Express
", "description": "Vitalik Buterin outlined how advanced cryptography could enable private onchain voting without trusted committees, though the technology remains far from practical.", "published": "2026-06-29T11:53:39+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "ethereum" }, { "slug": "privacy" }, { "slug": "vitalik-buterin" }, { "slug": "dao" }, { "slug": "voting" } ], "slug": "vitalik-buterin-private-onchain-voting-obfuscation", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273109" }, { "category": { "slug": "latest-news" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "Germany leads MiCA crypto authorization race as Europe’s deadline looms", "leadText": "MiCA crypto licensing data shows 244 approved companies across EU and EEA jurisdictions, led by Germany with France and the Netherlands also among top hubs ahead of July 1 cliff.", "author": { "slug": "helen-partz" }, "bodyText": "Update 2:00 pm UTC, June 29: Added comment from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework is producing uneven crypto licensing across member states and European Economic Area (EEA) jurisdictions, with Germany leading approvals under the new regime that takes effect on Wednesday.
Data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) interim register, compiled on Friday, shows Germany has 57 MiCA-authorized crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), accounting for about 23% of the 244 total licenses issued.
France follows with 26 companies, or roughly 11% of all approvals, placing it alongside the Netherlands as the bloc’s second-largest hub for MiCA licensing.
The pattern suggests that although MiCA is designed to create a single European crypto market, implementation remains fragmented across national regulators ahead of the July 1 transitional deadline.
While Germany leads overall MiCA licensing, France has recently accelerated approvals, accounting for the largest share of last-minute authorizations.
According to ESMA interim data, France issued five CASP approvals between June 18 and June 22, the most during that window. In total, 11 approvals were issued across EU and EEA jurisdictions during the period, with Malta following France with two authorizations.
\n
MiCA CASP licenses issued during the period from June 18-25, 2026. Source: ESMA
France’s authorizations include CASPs such as Bpifrance Investissement, RCUBE Asset Management, Paymium, Leonod and Meria.
Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) told Cointelegraph that the relatively high number of MiCA authorizations is partly driven by the country’s large financial sector, including a high number of credit institutions that can provide crypto asset services under MiCA.
It also pointed to Germany’s pre-existing national licensing regime, which allowed some CASPs to use simplified authorization pathways under MiCA transition rules, potentially accelerating approvals.
Related: Binance faces EU service limits next week as MiCA rules take effect
A spokesperson at BaFin also said it is difficult to predict whether Germany will maintain its dominant share of CASP authorizations as MiCA implementation progresses, noting that outcomes will depend on market developments, innovation trends and the volume of pending applications across member states. The representative added that approvals in other EU countries are expected to increase over time and broadly align with the size of national financial sectors.
Five EU member states, including Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Romania, have not issued any MiCA licenses as of June 26, according to ESMA interim register data.
Greece stands out after Binance applied for authorization in the country but later withdrew its application, shifting its eventually licensing plans to another MiCA jurisdiction.
\n
European jurisdictions ranked by the number of approved CASPs under MiCA as of Friday. Source: ESMA
Poland is also notable, with delays in MiCA implementation legislation followed by three reported presidential vetoes, leaving the country without an active licensing framework by the time of the EU deadline.
In contrast, Italy dominated ESMA’s non-compliant CASP register as of Friday, accounting for an overwhelming majority of entries with 160 out of 162, while the Netherlands and Slovakia recorded one each, linked to MEXC and LWEX, respectively.
Additional reporting by Yohan Yun.
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", "description": "MiCA authorization data shows uneven rollout across EU and EEA jurisdictions with Germany leading approvals and five member states yet to issue licenses.", "published": "2026-06-29T11:48:20+01:00" }, "tags": [ { "slug": "france" }, { "slug": "europe" }, { "slug": "greece" }, { "slug": "germany" }, { "slug": "mica" }, { "slug": "regulation" } ], "slug": "mica-licenses-cluster-germany-total-reach-244", "postBadge": { "postBadgeTranslates": [ { "title": "News" } ] }, "id": "273105" }, { "category": { "slug": "markets" }, "postTranslate": { "title": "BTC price RSI prints key 2026 signal: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week", "leadText": "Bitcoin prepped an \"interesting\" RSI divergence into the Q2 and June candle close as analysis compared $60,000 to the $30,000 mark in the 2022 bear market.", "author": { "slug": "william-suberg" }, "bodyText": "Bitcoin (BTC) nears the end of June and Q2 2026 threatening to lose $60,000 support. Can RSI divergences save bulls?
Key points:
A classic BTC price leading indicator continues to boost the odds of a recovery as June comes to an end, TradingView data shows.
\nBTC/USD one-week chart with daily, weekly RSI. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
As Cointelegraph reported, relative strength index (RSI) cues across multiple time frames are locking in bullish divergences with price.
“$BTC is printing a bullish RSI divergence while a potential double bottom forms,” Bitcoin whale Gerla, owner of the Gerla trading group, told X followers about the four-hour chart on Sunday.
“This is getting interesting.”\n
BTC/USD four-hour chart with RSI data. Source: Gerla/X
The sense of anticipation is increasing across the trading community, with pseudonymous trader and commentator Heisenberg noting a key divergence between Bitcoin’s latest macro lows and previous dips in 2026.
“Small sample size but still noteworthy. Notice the last two oversold RSI divergences (in orange) formed bottoms,” they wrote alongside a chart on X.
“The last two recent drops (in blue) had no RSI divergences... UNTIL NOW... Is this the one?”\n
BTC/USD one-day chart with RSI data. Source: Heisenberg/X
RSI divergences have accompanied some of the most significant trend changes in Bitcoin history, including the end of its previous bear market in late 2022.
Bitcoin saw modest upside as the week began after sealing a weekly close below $59,500 — its first since September 2024. $60,000 is now increasingly acting as resistance, with bulls unable to exert significant momentum.
\nBTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
“Quite funny enough, this is not a bad start of the week for Bitcoin as it bounces upwards,” crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe responded in his latest X analysis.
“We need to see way more momentum, and a clear break above $61,000, however, the bullish divergence is there and shouldn't be ignored.”\n
BTC/USDT 12-hour chart with RSI, volume, MACD data. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/X
With the monthly and quarterly closes approaching, trader Killa suggested that upcoming BTC price action would be particularly significant within the long-term trend.
“A few more days and $BTC reaches my 5th pivot. For the past 18+ months, we've consistently seen major directional shifts around this point at the start of each month,” the explained on Monday.
“Whether it's a pivot low or a pivot high, this is a key time to start paying close attention.”\n
BTC/USD chart. Source: Killa/X
Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass puts June losses for BTC/USD at nearly 19% — the worst since the 2022 bear market and the sharpest of the year so far.
BTC/USD monthly returns (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass
On the fate of $60,000, meanwhile, commentator Exitpump argued that patience was required.
“Significant support and resistance levels rarely break on the first attempt. They usually require a lot of time, effort, and repeated tests before finally giving way,” they wrote at the weekend.
“60K now reminds me of 30K in 2022.”\n
BTC/USDT one-week chart. Source: Exitpump/X
Bitcoin spent several months interacting with the $30,000 mark in mid-2022 before finally losing it as support, putting in its bear-market low around five months later.
To the upside, Exitpump expected that a “full blown bull market will be back” once $86,000 reappears.
A mixed bag of US macro data makes for a “short but busy” four-day trading week to end Q2.
Wednesday will see the latest Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) report from the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) — a potential tailwind for crypto markets.
This continues its breakout from a multiyear downtrend, and estimates see bullish data continuing with a score of around 54, albeit with a potential mild decrease versus last month.
\nUS manufacturing PMI data (screenshot). Source: ISM
Another focus is the labor market as the market reacts to various employment numbers, including the June nonfarm payrolls report on Thursday.
“We have a short but busy week ahead,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter summarized in a thread on X.
Kobeissi noted that the week would start with a reaction to geopolitical developments as the US and Iran agree to discuss their fragile peace agreement.
“This week also marks the end of Q2 2026 with earnings season on the horizon,” it added.
In the latest edition of its regular newsletter, The Market Mosaic, trading resource Mosaic Asset Company suggested that seasonality could boost stocks next.
“The S&P 500 is about to enter one of the best months of the year for calendar seasonality,” it explained.
“While weakness in the back half of June is common, July ranks as the best performing month based on data going back nearly 100 years.”\n
S&P 500 seasonality data. Source: Mosaic Asset Company
Bitcoin has seen mixed correlation activity versus equities in recent months, with even crypto-industry analysis calling the BTC-tech stock relationship “overblown.”
“$BTC vs S&P 500 back at the level it held during the Yen Carry trade blowup and the initial June low,” trader Daan Crypto Trades observed this weekend, referring to BTC price downside triggers over the past year.
“If you believe in people trading relative values or ratios on different assets, then you will see that this is an important level to hold for $BTC relative to stocks. Because down here there is not much support left until you're at the late 2023 pre spot ETF rally levels.”\n
BTC/USD vs. S&P 500 one-week chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X
While a copycat move by Bitcoin in the face of a stocks rebound is anything but guaranteed, history favors a return to strength as July begins.
Recent research by trader and analyst Rekt Capital reveals that in previous years, July price performance tends to offer a counterpoint to what occurred in June.
“If history repeats for Bitcoin, then the pattern may be as follows for next couple of months: June ends as a red month, July could be green in response, And August could therefore be red to cancel out July's upside completely,” he told X followers last week.
\nBTC/USD quarterly returns (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass
CoinGlass data confirms the divergence between June and July moves, with only three exceptions since 2013. Among them is 2025, when BTC/USD finished both months in the green.
So far this year, the pair is down 18.4% in June, its worst performance since the 2022 bear market.
As Cointelegraph reported, Rekt Capital believes that the latest bear trend still has months left to play out, with new lows possible as a result before a long-term floor is in. A chart uploaded to X put the bear market as 71% complete as of June 22.
\nBTC/USD one-month chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X
Opinions still differ when it comes to whether Bitcoin has already seen its bear-market bottom.
Related: Bitcoin falls under $60K, but traders anticipate 15% bounce
As Cointelegraph continues to report, market participants broadly agree that more progress is required before a convincing downtrend reversal enters.
In its latest research, onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant adds to that consensus — but with an early silver lining for Bitcoin bulls.
“Bitcoin is starting to show the first clear sign of a deeper market clean-up,” contributor I. Moreno wrote in a QuickTake blog post on Sunday.
Moreno referenced a lesser-known onchain indicator, the UTXO Block P/L Count Ratio Model. This compares the aggregate profitability of blocks of unspent transaction outputs, or UTXOs.
“In simple terms, it measures how broad the market’s profit base is beneath price. When the ratio is high, most UTXO blocks remain in profit. That usually reflects a market still carrying a large amount of unrealized gains, which also means higher distribution risk,” the post explains.
“When the ratio collapses toward the lower range, the opposite happens: profitability compresses, losses become more widespread, and the market starts moving into a more advanced reset phase.”\n
Bitcoin UTXO Block P/L Count Ratio. Source: CryptoQuant
The Ratio currently measures 5.9, marking its lowest level since 2022 and one of its lowest on record. Moreno called it “Bitcoin’s first bottoming flag” of the current bear market.
“The main takeaway is that BTC is finally showing evidence of a meaningful internal clean-up. But if history is a guide, the market may still need to absorb more stress before the bearish phase can fully exhaust itself,” he concluded.
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