Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

TL;DR

The supplied setup highlights resistance near the $61,000 area and support/liquidation interest around $58,200.Bitcoin remains compressed inside a relatively tight range while leveraged traders cluster on both sides.The setup remains market-analysis context. Do not predict which side of the range will break first. https://x.com/CryptoDad_DDC/status/2070491689035190665

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Bitcoin range compression and liquidation clusters around key levels Bitcoin Trapped as Liquidation Maps Spot Major Resistance and Support Clusters is one of the market setups traders are watching as crypto attempts to stabilize after recent volatility. The signal is useful because it points to a clear market level, flow, or positioning theme that can be checked against live data.

This setup surfaced through the X/social discovery lane, which is used as an idea sensor only. It should not be treated as a source of record on its own. The relevant data still needs to be checked against market charts, derivatives dashboards, or on-chain records before readers draw conclusions.

What the available data shows The supplied setup highlights resistance near the $61,000 area and support/liquidation interest around $58,200. Bitcoin remains compressed inside a relatively tight range while leveraged traders cluster on both sides.

That matters because crypto markets often move around concentrated liquidity zones, wallet flows, exchange positioning, and broader macro pressure before those signals become obvious in price. The strongest version of this setup is one where the highlighted level or flow continues to hold after live validation.

Why traders are watching this setup The setup gives traders a defined framework rather than a vague bullish or bearish view. For Bitcoin, the key question is whether the current signal reflects durable positioning or a short-lived reaction inside a volatile range.

Market structure remains fragile. Bitcoin direction, liquidity conditions, derivatives positioning, and macro volatility can still override otherwise clean technical or on-chain setups. That is why the signal is best understood as a watchpoint, not a prediction.

Risk and invalidation context Do not predict which side of the range will break first. Liquidity concentration can increase the risk of sharp wick moves in either direction.

If the highlighted level fails, if the wallet flow turns out to be internal custody movement, or if derivatives positioning flips quickly, the interpretation should change. The article should therefore be read as a current market snapshot rather than a guarantee of future price action.

What to verify next The next step is external confirmation. For this setup, the validation path is: Check CoinGlass or Hyblock liquidation heatmaps for active clusters near $58,200 and $61,000. Until that confirmation is reviewed, the setup should remain market-analysis context rather than a confirmed directional forecast.

Traders should also watch liquidity, volume, and daily close structure. Those factors will decide whether this signal becomes a durable theme or another short-lived reaction inside a volatile crypto session.

This report is based on publicly available market and on-chain data.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

TL;DR

Mysten Labs’ Hashi framework aims to bring native Bitcoin collateral into Sui DeFi without synthetic wrappers. The global testnet is expected in July 2026. SwissBorg, Cumberland, Fluid, BitGo and Ledger are listed as institutional backers. Native Bitcoin Utility On Sui: Why This Story Matters Institutions Back Sui’s Hashi to Bridge Bitcoin DeFi as Testnet Launch Approaches has become one of the stronger weekend crypto stories because it sits at the intersection of price action, market structure, and the kind of narrative that traders tend to follow closely when the broader news cycle slows down.

The key point is not simply that hashi enables native Bitcoin collateral in Sui-based DeFi protocols without synthetic wrappers. It is that the development gives the market a fresh way to judge whether the current crypto environment is being driven by genuine network adoption, regulatory progress, liquidity shifts, or short-term speculation.

The Main Details According to the official source material, Hashi enables native Bitcoin collateral in Sui-based DeFi protocols without synthetic wrappers. The report also notes that a global testnet is scheduled for July 2026.

That distinction matters because crypto markets often move first on headlines and only later separate durable developments from short-lived momentum. In this case, the verified boundaries are especially important: Do not state the testnet is already live on mainnet.

Market Context For traders, the story arrives at a moment when crypto assets are still trying to define a clearer direction. Bitcoin remains the anchor for broader sentiment, but altcoin narratives are increasingly being judged on their own fundamentals, including usage, liquidity, compliance, treasury activity, and developer progress.

That makes this development relevant beyond a single token or company. If the underlying trend proves durable, it could help shape how investors evaluate Sui, SUI, Bitcoin, Hashi, DeFi over the coming weeks. If it fades, however, it may become another example of a strong weekend narrative that struggled to translate into sustained market follow-through.

What To Watch Next The next important question is whether the market receives further confirmation from primary sources, dashboards, official announcements, or on-chain data. Follow-up disclosures, exchange data, governance updates, or wallet activity could all help clarify whether this is an isolated headline or the start of a broader theme.

Readers should also watch whether liquidity responds. In crypto, even fundamentally meaningful developments can fail to move prices if traders remain defensive, leverage is being unwound, or capital is rotating into other sectors. That is why this story should be read alongside broader market structure rather than in isolation.

This report is based on information from Sui network data and Mysten Labs documentation.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

Jeremy Grantham, co-founder and chief investment strategist of GMO LLC, during an interview on an episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein in Boston, Massachusetts, US, on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Grantham started one of the world's first index funds in the early 1970s and in 2011 he was included in the 50 Most Influential ranking of Bloomberg Markets magazine. Photographer: Vanessa Leroy/Bloomberg

© 2023 Bloomberg Finance LP

Jeremy Grantham went on CNBC and said his Bitcoin prediction was that it would eventually “dwindle away with a whimper.” Joe Kernen pushed back, the conversation became personal, and the clip quickly traveled across the internet.

That is hardly surprising. Put Jeremy Grantham, Bitcoin, CNBC, a prediction of zero and two strong personalities in the same conversation, and the internet will do the rest. I watched the exchange differently. I was less interested in whether Grantham likes Bitcoin than in whether his prediction was remotely useful to an investor.

He may ultimately be right. Bitcoin may gradually lose relevance, collapse in value, or become a historical reminder of what can happen when speculation, liquidity, and collective belief meet at the same time. Grantham has spent decades studying bubbles, and dismissing his argument simply because you own Bitcoin would be foolish. But when the timeframe is “years and years, decades and decades,” we are no longer talking about an investment call. We are discussing an opinion that can remain technically alive for the rest of someone’s career.

I have spent over 30 years in markets, and “eventually” is one of the most expensive words in investing. You can be completely right about the destination and still lose a fortune on the journey. A bubble can grow larger. An expensive asset can become pricier. A poor business can survive much longer than expected, and a speculative asset can continue attracting capital long after intelligent people have declared it finished.

That is the problem with dramatic predictions. They make excellent television because they sound decisive. Portfolios require something much harder: a valuation, a catalyst, a timeframe, a sensible position size and an honest understanding of what would prove the thesis wrong.

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Grantham’s Bitcoin Prediction Has No Expiry DateEvery speculative boom eventually ends. The difficulty lies in knowing when to sell, how to sell, and at what price to sell. An investor who correctly identifies a bubble five years early may still lose more money than the investor who never recognized it at all. A stock believed to be worth $20 can trade at $50, then $100, before the market finally agrees. A short seller can be fundamentally right and still end up financially ruined if they time it wrong. Timing is a major aspect of an investment thesis. It is part of the thesis. Grantham’s argument allows Bitcoin to decline over decades. That may eventually make the prediction look remarkably perceptive, but it offers almost no guidance to an investor today.

Should Bitcoin be shorted now? If so, how large should the position be? What happens if it doubles first? Would a move to a new high invalidate the argument or merely make the bubble larger? How long should an investor continue funding the position while waiting for the eventual whimper? Those are not technical questions. They determine whether the view can be turned into an actual return. Bitcoin could ultimately disappear and still rise substantially before it does. It could remain volatile, divisive, and difficult to value for decades while attracting institutional investors, governments, and individuals who see it as an alternative monetary asset.

Saying that something eventually goes to zero is easy. The challenge is surviving everything it does before reaching zero.

A Bitcoin Prediction Is Not an Investment ThesisThe investment industry often confuses a memorable opinion with an investable idea, but they are not the same. They are not the same thing. An investable thesis should explain what is mispriced, why the market is wrong, what changes next, and how long that change may take. It should identify the catalyst and the major risks. Most importantly, it should explain what evidence would show that the original analysis has failed. A prediction can avoid all of that. It can remain open indefinitely, which makes it almost impossible to disprove. That is why forecasts work so well on television. The audience remembers the destination but rarely audits the journey. Someone predicts a market crash, the market rises for another five years, and then eventually declines, and the original forecast is presented as a remarkable call.

But what happened to the investor who acted five years earlier? Suppose you agree entirely with Grantham and believe Bitcoin will eventually be worth nothing. How do you profit from that belief? Shorting it exposes you to an asset capable of violent upward moves. Buying put options forces you to choose an expiry date, which is precisely what the original prediction avoids. Refusing to own Bitcoin may be a perfectly sensible portfolio decision, but avoiding an asset is not the same as generating a return from its collapse. You can therefore be philosophically correct and financially unrewarded.

This distinction applies far beyond Bitcoin. Investors have spent years predicting the demise of expensive technology stocks, housing markets, government bonds, currencies, and entire industries. Some of those predictions were directionally correct. Many were too early, too vague, or too difficult to implement to create any value. Markets do not pay for eventual intellectual vindication. They pay investors who identify a mispricing and express it in a way that can survive until the thesis works.

Why This Bitcoin Prediction Makes Great TelevisionThe Grantham–Kernen exchange is spreading because it was not a dry conversation about valuation. It became a confrontation. Grantham represented the traditional bubble investor: skeptical of an asset that produces no earnings, pays no dividend, and generates no free cash flow. Kernen represented the other side: investors who believe that traditional valuation methods cannot dismiss Bitcoin’s scarcity, network, and challenge to conventional money. Both sides believe the other is missing something obvious.

That creates excellent television and even better social media. People are not only debating Bitcoin. They are defending identities, generations, and competing ideas about what money and value actually mean. The strongest media moments reduce complicated issues to opposing camps. Bitcoin is either digital gold or worthless. Grantham is either a wise veteran warning investors again or a permanent bear who fails to understand a new financial system. Real investing is rarely that clean.

I do not need to decide that Bitcoin is either the future of money or destined for zero. I need to decide whether the expected return justifies the risk at the price available today. That is a less dramatic question, but it is the one that matters. The absence of traditional cash flow makes Bitcoin difficult to value, but difficulty does not remove the need for discipline. It increases it. Position size, entry price, liquidity, and the ability to withstand volatility become increasingly important. An investor does not need to accept Grantham’s final conclusion to recognize the risks. Equally, an investor does not need to believe in Bitcoin to understand that aggressively betting against it could be disastrous.

The Better Question Behind Grantham’s Bitcoin PredictionGrantham may eventually be proven right. His criticism of Bitcoin’s utility, volatility, and lack of traditional intrinsic value deserves serious consideration. But the more useful question is not whether Bitcoin will still exist in several decades. The more useful question is what the current price assumes, what could change those assumptions, and whether the likely return compensates investors for the risks. That is the same process I apply to stocks, spinoffs, restructurings, and activist situations. What is the asset worth? Why might the market be wrong? What is the catalyst? Who or what controls the outcome? How much time does the thesis require, and what would show that it is failing? Those questions turn an opinion into a process.

The market loves bold predictions because they produce heroes and villains. Investors should focus on whether they can translate the prediction into a position they can afford to hold. Grantham may be right about the eventual destination. But being right about where something ends means little if you cannot explain what happens next or survive the path required to reach that destination.

That is the difference between commentary and investing. Commentary needs a strong opinion. Investing needs a price, a catalyst, a timeframe, and a clear view of risk.

The Bitcoin prediction of “Eventually” provides none of them.

Ripple CEO Criticizes Saylor’s Bitcoin Strategy While Remaining Bullish on BTC

Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently joined CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" to discuss Bitcoin, touching on its rough year, utility, Strategy's Bitcoin buying strategy, and Ripple's progress in the last year.

The Ripple CEO highlighted an ongoing crypto cycle, saying, "As we have seen, crypto is going to go through its cycles. Many asset classes do that."

According to Garlinghouse, Michael Saylor's approach to funding Bitcoin purchases definitely started something. He believes the challenge is that while it added some excitement on the way up, it is now compounding on the way down as well.

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The Ripple CEO highlighted the priority being on what drives long-term value: "I actually think what should come first is focusing on what's going to drive long-term value. I think that financial engineering does not drive long-term value."

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The Ripple CEO reiterated his longstanding view that the long-term value of any digital asset will be driven by utility. "If it's solving a problem at scale for real customers, you're going to see liquidity, you're going to see demand, you're going to see trust in that asset. Those things compound in a positive way," he stated.

Garlinghouse says he is bullish on Bitcoin, aligning with Warren Buffett's quote: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." "Now is the time, I think, to be greedy," he added.

The Ripple CEO criticized Michael Saylor's Bitcoin buying strategy. "I think team Michael Saylor wasn't focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market." His comments come as the preferred stock at the center of Strategy's model fell to a record low.

Bitcoin is digital goldWhen asked about the current utility of Bitcoin, Garlinghouse stated that it has clearly carved out a place as "digital gold." He mentioned a widely recounted anecdote about the Central Bank of Germany transporting 300 tons of gold, which took two years and billions of dollars to move.

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This case differs from Bitcoin. "If you wanted to move $300 billion of Bitcoin, you could do that in a pretty reasonable, quick way," Garlinghouse stated.

In this regard, Ripple's CEO highlighted a focus on XRP, the company's north star. He further stated that "the utility there is really focused on payments and leveraging the speed and efficiency of that blockchain in a way for institutions."

Ripple is currently seeing tremendous demand, according to Garlinghouse. Last year, partly through acquisitions, Ripple cleared $16 trillion in payments through its prime brokerage business, and the percentage of that which went through a digital asset was close to 0%. The opportunity is to introduce and bring in traditional finance, the Ripple CEO stated.

The broader crypto ETF market has continued to bleed for several weeks, but XRP remains moving in the opposite direction, outpacing other major ETF products in both daily and weekly performance.

According to the latest data showcased by SosoValue, XRP has posted its strongest weekly ETF inflow for the month as of June 26, 2026, as investors show rising interest.

XRP hits 8-week steady inflow streakThe data provided by the source shows that XRP has attracted a total of $22.99 million in inflows, marking the highest weekly influx of new capital for June.

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While the funds have been posting consistent inflows for the past eight weeks, this is the highest inflow the XRP ETFs have posted in the past six weeks.

Considering the sharp rise in ETF inflows amid the prolonged streak of positive performances, it appears that institutional investors are beginning to show heightened confidence in XRP despite the intensifying market uncertainties.

Institutions choose XRP over Bitcoin again Apart from the surge in inflows attracted by the XRP ETFs, their consistent dominance over other crypto ETF products, especially Bitcoin and Ethereum, has continued to draw attention from market participants.

It appears that institutional investors are beginning to look beyond the largest crypto assets and are more willing to venture their funds into XRP-based investment products instead.

Although it is important to note that one strong week does not automatically signal a long-term trend, XRP's dominance over Bitcoin and Ethereum has remained for seven consecutive weeks, positioning it as a major player in the ETF market.

While XRP just saw its highest weekly inflow in about six weeks, Bitcoin has just posted its biggest outflow ever of $1.79 billion.

Brad Garlinghouse was the latest to comment on the hot topic of Strategy, its Stretch stocks, and the impact on the overall crypto market.

Michael Saylor and Strategy weren’t focused on the right features of bitcoin and how to build their own strategy around it, which is now hurting the overall cryptocurrency market, said Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse.

In a recent interview with CNBC, he doubled down that the long-term value of a certain asset is its utility, not just speculative products made to accumulate it, referring to Strategy’s STRC.

They Hurt the Market Ever since Strategy conducted its first BTC sale in four years by the end of May, it has become a hot topic of discussion within the cryptocurrency community despite its subsequent purchases, which were a lot larger. The latest to weigh in on the matter was Ripple’s CEO, who noted that Strategy’s purchases had “added some excitement on the way up and now that’s compounding on the way down as well.”

He focused on STRC, the company’s Stretch stock, which is used to raise funds by promising high yields, and deploy the proceeds to accumulate more bitcoin. Although Saylor has refrained from calling it leverage, Garlinghouse believes that’s exactly what it is, and the market has started to see how it can compound negatively when BTC’s price corrects.

STRC continues to trade 25% below its par price of $100, which Garlinghouse believes is a “pretty damning indictment, and I don’t think it has helped the market.” He added that creating long-term value should be the company’s focus, while “financial engineering” doesn’t.

“Long-term value of any digital asset is going to be driven by utility. If it’s solving a problem at scale for real customers, you are going to see liquidity, you are going to see demand, you are going to see trust in that asset. Those things compound in a positive way.”

He concluded that he remains bullish on bitcoin and believes investors should be greedy in the current market environment, given the asset’s 50%+ correction from its October 2025 top.

XRP in Focus After commenting on how BTC should act as digital gold and how much easier it would be to move funds with Bitcoin rather than the precious metal, Garlinghouse turned his attention to Ripple’s native cross-border token and its utility. He explained that XRP’s utility is focused on payments and “leveraging the speed and efficiency of that blockchain for institutions.”

You may also like: Prediction: Bitcoin Could Bottom Between $42K and $44K This Year MSTR’s Bitcoin Per Share Gets ‘Annihilated’ in Extreme Bear Case: Analyst Massive $11B End-of-Quarter Options Expiry Could Rattle Crypto Markets Today He added that the company has seen “tremendous demand” by clearing $16 trillion in payments in 2025 alone in the prime brokerage business, probably through acquisitions.

“Ripple’s strategy from the beginning has been how to bring traditional finance into the modern architecture of blockchain. And now, through some acquisitions, we have a tremendous opportunity to bring that in.”

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The same streak follows the Ethereum ETFs as mass withdrawals continue to dominate.

The spot exchange-traded funds tracking the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap have continued their highly adverse streak, making it now seven consecutive weeks in the red.

The last five trading days were particularly painful as the spot BTC ETFs recorded their second-worst performance in terms of net flows since their inception two and a half years ago.

Spot BTC ETFs Bleed Hard CryptoPotato has repeatedly reported on the poor performance of the spot Bitcoin ETFs, but the two weeks before the one that ended on June 26 brought some glimmer of hope. Although both were still in the red, the actual withdrawals were more modest, $316 million and $227 million, respectively, down from the $1.72 billion during the first week of June.

However, investors stepped up on the withdrawal button hard once again, pulling out $1.79 billion in total from the funds. This made it the worst week in terms of net flows since late February 2025, when the number stood at $2.61 billion.

The cumulative total net inflows have dropped to $51.61 billion. Recall that the number stood at above $59.30 billion by the middle of May. This means that the ETFs have lost almost $8 billion in less than two months.

If we break the data down to daily net outflows, Thursday stands out as the most painful day with $696 million leaving the funds, followed by $469 million on Wednesday, $444.5 million on Friday, and a more modest $90.66 million on Monday and $68 million on Tuesday.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs Net Flows. Source: SoSoValue The continuous outflows from the ETFs are among the most evident reasons why the underlying asset’s price keeps struggling as it plunged to a new multi-year low of $58,000 a few days ago. Analysts are convinced that the flows have to stabilize before BTC has a chance of a more profound recovery.

You may also like: Bitcoin Didn’t Lose to Gold, the Rotation Story Is Wrong: Analyst Bitcoin Holds Key Price Floor Despite Weak Bullish Signals: Bitfinex Alpha Crypto Institutional Flows Turn Negative as $8B Exits in 30 Days ETH ETFs in Red, Too The landscape around the spot Ethereum ETFs is not that much different, just the scale is smaller. The funds have been in the red for seven consecutive weeks as well, and the net outflows from the past week were a lot higher than the previous two. More specifically, the ETFs bled $15 million during the second week of June and $10 million during the third. During the last one, though, investors took out $273.34 million.

The total net flows have dropped from $12.09 billion in mid-May to well under $11 billion as of Friday’s close. Tuesday and Thursday saw the most net withdrawals, with $82.35 million and $81.87 million, respectively.

Spot Ethereum ETF Flows. Source: SoSoValue Tags:

TL;DR

On-chain records in the supplied pack point to a trader opening high-leverage short exposure across Bitcoin and Ethereum.The reported short exposure includes around 912 BTC and 10,000 ETH, with a combined notional value near $70 million.The setup remains market-analysis context. Do not promote leverage or describe the trade as a strategy readers should copy. https://x.com/EyeOnChain/status/2070519940533350461

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High-net-worth derivatives positioning as a sign of ongoing defensive sentiment Whale Activity Shows High-Leverage Short Positions Re-Opened on Bitcoin and Ethereum is one of the market setups traders are watching as crypto attempts to stabilize after recent volatility. The signal is useful because it points to a clear market level, flow, or positioning theme that can be checked against live data.

This setup surfaced through the X/social discovery lane, which is used as an idea sensor only. It should not be treated as a source of record on its own. The relevant data still needs to be checked against market charts, derivatives dashboards, or on-chain records before readers draw conclusions.

What the available data shows On-chain records in the supplied pack point to a trader opening high-leverage short exposure across Bitcoin and Ethereum. The reported short exposure includes around 912 BTC and 10,000 ETH, with a combined notional value near $70 million.

That matters because crypto markets often move around concentrated liquidity zones, wallet flows, exchange positioning, and broader macro pressure before those signals become obvious in price. The strongest version of this setup is one where the highlighted level or flow continues to hold after live validation.

Why traders are watching this setup The setup gives traders a defined framework rather than a vague bullish or bearish view. For Bitcoin, the key question is whether the current signal reflects durable positioning or a short-lived reaction inside a volatile range.

Market structure remains fragile. Bitcoin direction, liquidity conditions, derivatives positioning, and macro volatility can still override otherwise clean technical or on-chain setups. That is why the signal is best understood as a watchpoint, not a prediction.

Risk and invalidation context Do not promote leverage or describe the trade as a strategy readers should copy. The same trader was reported as recently locking in about $4.4 million in profit before reopening short positions.

If the highlighted level fails, if the wallet flow turns out to be internal custody movement, or if derivatives positioning flips quickly, the interpretation should change. The article should therefore be read as a current market snapshot rather than a guarantee of future price action.

What to verify next The next step is external confirmation. For this setup, the validation path is: Cross-check the wallet address 0xaeaab54bbf65bfd6efed7d2eb68372298e3c2416 on Arkham and derivatives data where available. Until that confirmation is reviewed, the setup should remain market-analysis context rather than a confirmed directional forecast.

Traders should also watch liquidity, volume, and daily close structure. Those factors will decide whether this signal becomes a durable theme or another short-lived reaction inside a volatile crypto session.

This report is based on publicly available market and on-chain data.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

11h10 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Luc Jose A.

Summarize this article with:

The crypto ecosystem is undergoing a deep structural transformation where yesterday’s certainties give way to new macroeconomic realities. Thus, although the community has historically speculated on Ethereum surpassing bitcoin, institutional analysts now turn to a scenario completely ignored by retail investors. The recent evolution of volumes and market capitalizations calls into question the established hierarchy, prompting experts to rethink the position of stablecoins relative to traditional cryptos.

In Brief Tether could dethrone Bitcoin to become the world’s largest crypto according to a Bloomberg Intelligence strategist. The rise of stablecoins challenges the historical dominance of Bitcoin and Ethereum in the crypto ecosystem. A Bitcoin at 10,000 dollars would be the key scenario allowing USDT to take the lead in the market. The tightening of macroeconomic conditions would strengthen the appeal of dollar-indexed assets versus more volatile cryptos. USDT on the path to becoming the world’s top crypto The announcement surprised bitcoin maximalists and DeFi enthusiasts. Tether (USDT) is well on its way to becoming the largest crypto in the world by market size, assures Mike McGlone, senior macroeconomic strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence.

According to the specialist, the rise of tokens indexed to the greenback disrupts the sector’s value order. The expert bases his conclusions on several key observations of market dynamics :

The threat to the historical duopoly : the analyst states bluntly that it “could be just a matter of time before the dollar-backed token surpasses bitcoin, unless the crypto’s most enduring trend reverses: Tether’s assets under management surpassing everything”. He adds that in this race, “only two remain: bitcoin and Ether” ; The power of dollar indexing : he highlights the inherent power of the stablecoin’s technical architecture, explaining that “the technology is impressive, and it has adopted the dollar as a base layer”, implicitly addressing the movement advocating for global dedollarization ; The fragility of alternative protocols : McGlone directly questions the sustainability and fundamental viability of speculative tokens flooding wallets. He wonders what could stop the uncontrolled proliferation of protocols where billions of dollars accumulate on assets backed by no source of actual revenue or financial flows. Recent movements partly confirm this thesis since Tether briefly snatched the second spot from Ethereum in the overall ranking following the general panic. On this subject, the Bloomberg strategist specifies that this precise historic change “could be lasting this time”.

The crash hypothesis : a bitcoin at 10,000 dollars to validate the prophecy For this macroeconomic prediction to become reality, a complete revaluation of current values would be required, which would depend on a historic drop in crypto yields. Mike McGlone firmly holds his bearish forecasts, stating that bitcoin is heading towards a major correction likely to bring it back to the 10,000 dollar level. The technical explanation lies in the emergence conditions of the first crypto.

It developed at a breakneck speed during an exceptional period marked by zero interest rates and massive liquidity injections from central banks. The current monetary tightening imposes on markets an inevitable deleveraging process, which hits assets considered highly speculative.

The gloomy outlook developed by Bloomberg Intelligence is not limited to the blockchain universe but fits into a recession affecting global commodities and traditional stock indices. McGlone notably anticipates a collapse of WTI crude oil around 40 dollars a barrel, triggered by a global correction of U.S. stock markets in the second half. In this systemic purge framework, the on-chain safe haven par excellence mechanically becomes digitized dollar, whose global capitalization remains stable or rises, while volatile assets see their capitalization shrink under massive selling pressure.

Market redefinition: towards a paradigm shift for decentralized finance This institutional reading reveals a major market divide between purely speculative yield seeking and the fundamental need for stability during systemic crises. While the scenario of a bitcoin at 10,000 dollars is still seen by many market operators as extreme, it nevertheless reminds that an asset’s capitalization depends above all on its real liquidity and transactional utility.

In the long term, the transformation of stablecoins into main vectors of value transfer could relegate first-generation assets to a secondary role, thereby redefining the future of digital investments.

The hypothesis of Tether’s dominance invites the community to reconsider the very foundations of decentralization. If the sector’s most powerful token becomes a centralized currency dependent on the U.S. dollar, the original ideal of resistance to censorship and financial sovereignty championed by Satoshi Nakamoto would be deeply altered.

However, other analysts moderate this view, arguing that bitcoin will maintain its status as digital gold thanks to its programmed scarcity, resisting any monetary printing policies. The future will depend on how investors manage to reconcile the security urgency offered by USDT and the long-term value promise carried by bitcoin.

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Luc Jose A.

Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Bitcoin is the largest pool of value in crypto, but on its own, it cannot touch Ethereum’s world of lending, borrowing, and yield. Wrapped Bitcoin is the bridge. This guide explains how WBTC works, the mint-and-burn model behind it, the alternatives, and the custodial risks that set it apart from holding real BTC.

Summary

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum backed 1:1 by real Bitcoin held in reserve by a custodian, letting Bitcoin’s value be used inside Ethereum’s decentralized finance ecosystem. It exists because native Bitcoin cannot operate inside Ethereum smart contracts, so WBTC bridges the largest pool of crypto value into the largest arena for DeFi. WBTC works through a mint-and-burn model run by three parties: custodians who hold the Bitcoin, merchants who handle verification and distribution, and users, all overseen by the WBTC DAO. WBTC tracks Bitcoin’s price and can be used for lending, borrowing, yield farming, and as collateral, but it is not the same as holding native BTC because it adds custodial, smart contract, and bridge risks. Alternatives such as Coinbase’s cbBTC and the more decentralized tBTC offer different custody models, and the choice among them comes down to which trust assumptions you are comfortable with. Table of Contents

Why Bitcoin needs wrappingHow the mint-and-burn model worksWho governs WBTC, and why it mattersA worked example: putting Bitcoin to workWBTC versus native Bitcoin and the alternativesRisks and what to check before wrappingFrequently Asked Questions Wrapped Bitcoin, known by its ticker WBTC, is an ERC-20 token that runs on the Ethereum blockchain and is backed 1:1 by real Bitcoin held in reserve, so that one WBTC is always meant to equal one Bitcoin. Its entire purpose is to solve a fundamental incompatibility in crypto: Bitcoin, the largest and most valuable cryptocurrency, lives on its own blockchain and cannot natively participate in the decentralized finance applications built on Ethereum, because those applications run on smart contracts that Bitcoin’s design does not support.

An enormous amount of crypto wealth sits in Bitcoin, while an enormous amount of programmable financial activity happens on Ethereum, and for years, there was no way to bring the two together. Wrapped Bitcoin is the bridge. By locking real Bitcoin with a custodian and issuing an equivalent Ethereum token against it, WBTC lets Bitcoin holders put their Bitcoin’s value to work inside Ethereum’s ecosystem, lending it, borrowing against it, trading it, supplying it to liquidity pools, and using it as collateral, all without selling their Bitcoin exposure. It was the first widely adopted way to do this, and it remains one of the most integrated.

The idea is simple, but the details are where the important nuances live, and they are worth understanding before using WBTC, because the convenience comes with trade-offs that holding plain Bitcoin does not have. A wrapped token introduces extra parties and extra trust assumptions, and the question of who holds the underlying Bitcoin, and whether you can always get it back, sits at the center of the whole arrangement.

This guide explains what WBTC is, why it is needed, exactly how the mint-and-burn mechanism works, who the custodians and merchants are, and why they matter, a concrete example of using WBTC in practice, how it compares to native Bitcoin and to newer alternatives like cbBTC and tBTC, and the specific risks that come with holding a wrapped asset rather than the real thing. The aim is to let you decide whether wrapped Bitcoin fits your needs or whether plain Bitcoin is the cleaner choice.

Why Bitcoin needs wrapping To understand why WBTC exists, you have to understand a basic limitation of Bitcoin. Bitcoin was designed as a secure, decentralized system for holding and transferring value, and it does that job extremely well, but its scripting language is deliberately limited and is not built to run the complex, self-executing programs known as smart contracts.

Ethereum, by contrast, was built specifically to run smart contracts, and decentralized finance, the ecosystem of lending protocols, decentralized exchanges, and yield platforms, is constructed almost entirely on Ethereum and similar smart-contract blockchains.

The consequence is that Bitcoin, despite being the largest store of value in crypto, simply cannot plug into these applications directly. A Bitcoin holder who wanted to earn yield or use their holdings as collateral in DeFi had no native way to do so.

This is the gap wrapping fills. The core problem is one of interoperability, the ability to use an asset from one blockchain on another, and wrapping is one of the earliest and most widely used solutions to it. By representing Bitcoin as a token that conforms to Ethereum’s technical standards, specifically the ERC-20 standard that Ethereum applications are built to recognize, wrapped Bitcoin makes Bitcoin-linked value fully usable inside the Ethereum environment.

The ERC-20 standard is a set of rules that makes a token fully compatible and interchangeable across Ethereum’s smart contracts, so a wrapped Bitcoin token can be lent, borrowed, swapped, and used as collateral exactly like any other Ethereum token.

Wrapping, therefore, reduces the fragmentation between Bitcoin’s huge liquidity and Ethereum’s rich application layer, turning Bitcoin from an asset that sits outside DeFi into one that can be put to work within it. That is the entire reason wrapped Bitcoin was created, and why it found immediate demand. 

How the mint-and-burn model works The mechanism that keeps wrapped Bitcoin backed 1:1 by real Bitcoin is called mint and burn, and it relies on a three-party system of custodians, merchants, and users.

The custodian is a regulated entity that holds the actual Bitcoin in secure reserve; for WBTC, this role has been played by the digital-asset custody firm BitGo. The merchant is an intermediary, such as an exchange or crypto business, that interacts with users, performs the necessary identity and compliance checks, and distributes the wrapped tokens. The user is the person who wants to convert between Bitcoin and wrapped Bitcoin. These three parties, coordinated by a set of smart contracts, keep the supply of WBTC matched to the Bitcoin held in reserve.

The process works in two directions. To create, or mint, wrapped Bitcoin, a user requests WBTC from a merchant, who carries out know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks to verify the user’s identity. The merchant then sends the corresponding Bitcoin to the custodian, who holds it in reserve and mints an equal amount of WBTC on Ethereum, which makes its way to the user.

To reverse the process, or burn the tokens, a user who wants their Bitcoin back submits a redemption request, the WBTC is destroyed in what is called a burn transaction, and the custodian releases the equivalent Bitcoin from reserve. Because every WBTC in existence is meant to correspond to a Bitcoin locked with the custodian, the token maintains its 1:1 peg, and its price tracks Bitcoin’s price closely.

Importantly, both the minting and the burning are recorded publicly on the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains, so anyone can verify the activity, and the system is periodically subjected to proof-of-reserve checks that confirm the Bitcoin backing actually exists. This transparency is meant to give holders confidence that the wrapped tokens are genuinely backed, though, as the risks section explains, it does not remove the reliance on the custodian.

Who governs WBTC, and why it matters A wrapped token raises an obvious question: who controls the system, decides which custodians and merchants are trusted, and can change how it works. For WBTC, the answer is a decentralized autonomous organization known as the WBTC DAO, a governing body made up of a group of stakeholders that has included prominent names in the crypto space.

The DAO operates through a multi-signature wallet, meaning that changes require the agreement of multiple keyholders rather than any single party, and its members can vote to add or remove custodians and merchants and to make changes to the smart contracts on which the system runs. This governance structure exists specifically to reduce the centralization risk that would come from a single company controlling the entire arrangement, spreading authority across a set of stakeholders instead.

Why this matters became vivid in 2024, in what served as the clearest real-world stress test of WBTC’s governance. The custodian BitGo announced a change to its custody arrangements involving a partnership with another firm, and that change sparked significant concern across decentralized finance because of the new partner’s perceived links to a controversial figure and ecosystem.

The episode mattered because it went to the heart of the trust assumption underlying WBTC: holders were trusting that the Bitcoin backing their tokens was held safely and by parties they considered reliable, and a change in who effectively controlled that custody was enough to shake confidence and prompt many users and protocols to reconsider. It also accelerated the rise of alternative wrapped Bitcoin products with different custody models.

The lesson is that the governance and custody arrangements of a wrapped token are not background details; they are central to its safety, because the whole value of WBTC rests on the Bitcoin being there and being controlled by trustworthy parties. Who governs the system, and how, is therefore something a prospective holder should actually look into rather than take for granted.

A worked example: putting Bitcoin to work A concrete example shows why someone would bother wrapping their Bitcoin in the first place. Imagine a person named Ezra who holds $2,000 worth of Bitcoin and believes in it as a long-term holding, but who also wants to earn a return on that value instead of letting it sit idle. The problem is that the lending protocol Ezra wants to use, which would pay interest on deposited assets, runs on Ethereum, and Ezra’s Bitcoin cannot be deposited there directly because it lives on a different blockchain that the protocol cannot interact with. Without wrapping, Ezra’s only options would be to sell the Bitcoin for an Ethereum-native asset, giving up his Bitcoin exposure, or to leave it earning nothing.

Wrapping solves this. Ezra converts his Bitcoin into wrapped Bitcoin, either by going through a merchant to mint it directly or, more commonly for an ordinary user, by simply swapping his Bitcoin for WBTC on an exchange or decentralized exchange, which avoids the need to interact with the custodians himself. Now holding WBTC, which is an Ethereum token tracking Bitcoin’s price 1:1, Ezra can deposit it into the lending protocol and earn interest, all while his position still rises and falls with the price of Bitcoin. He has kept his Bitcoin exposure and put it to work at the same time. Beyond lending, WBTC opens the same doors that any Ethereum token enjoys: Ezra could supply it to a liquidity pool on a decentralized exchange to earn trading fees, use it as collateral to borrow other assets, or deposit it into yield strategies.

A further practical benefit is speed, since transactions in WBTC settle on Ethereum, which produces blocks far more frequently than Bitcoin, so moving wrapped Bitcoin between Ethereum wallets and applications is quicker than moving native Bitcoin. This is the everyday appeal of wrapped Bitcoin: it lets Bitcoin holders participate in the full range of Ethereum-based finance without selling the Bitcoin they want to keep.

WBTC versus native Bitcoin and the alternatives It is essential to be clear that wrapped Bitcoin is not the same as holding native Bitcoin, even though the two share a price.

With native Bitcoin, the only real question about safety is whether you control your own private keys; if you do, the Bitcoin is yours, secured by the Bitcoin network itself. With WBTC, the question expands considerably, because you are now also relying on the custodian to actually hold the backing Bitcoin, on the integrity of the reserves, on the governance of the system, and on the redemption process working when you want to convert back.

You may hold the WBTC token in your own wallet, but the wrapped asset still depends on institutional actors operating correctly behind the scenes. WBTC tracks Bitcoin’s market value, but it does not inherit Bitcoin’s trust model, and that difference is the single most important thing to understand about it. If your only goal is to hold Bitcoin for the long term and you have no interest in DeFi, native Bitcoin is the cleaner and simpler choice.

The 2024 custody controversy spurred the growth of alternative tokenized Bitcoin products, and they are worth knowing because they offer different trade-offs. One prominent alternative is cbBTC, issued by the exchange Coinbase, which appeals to users who already trust Coinbase’s custody and operate within its ecosystem. Another is tBTC, built by the Threshold Network, which is designed to avoid reliance on a single custodian in favor of a more decentralized model, appealing to users for whom minimizing custodial trust matters more than convenience. 

There are others as well, and the broader point is that the tokenized Bitcoin market has become fragmented, offering distinct choices for different priorities. The decision among them is fundamentally about trust model and use case instead of price, since they all track Bitcoin: choose WBTC for the deepest liquidity and the widest integration across established DeFi protocols, choose cbBTC if you prefer Coinbase’s custody, choose tBTC if avoiding a single custodian is your priority, and choose native Bitcoin if you do not need DeFi at all. Wrapped Bitcoin products are tools for a specific purpose, not upgrades to Bitcoin.

Risks and what to check before wrapping The risks of wrapped Bitcoin all stem from the fact that it adds layers of trust on top of simply holding Bitcoin, and understanding them is essential before wrapping any meaningful amount. The primary risk is custodial centralization. Because the wrapped token is only as good as the Bitcoin held in reserve, the failure of the custodian, whether through a hack, insolvency, mismanagement, or loss of access, could impair the backing and leave holders with tokens that no longer correspond to real Bitcoin.

This is not a theoretical concern: history offers cautionary examples of wrapped or bridged Bitcoin products that became impossible to redeem after the entity backing them failed, turning Bitcoin-backed tokens supposedly into worthless or stranded assets. The custody arrangement is the foundation, and if it fails, everything built on it fails with it.

Several other risks compound the custodial one. Smart contract risk means that bugs or vulnerabilities in the Ethereum-side code, or errors in governance, could affect the token. Bridge risk arises when wrapped Bitcoin is moved onto other networks, such as Ethereum layer-two chains, through additional bridges, since each bridging layer adds another set of trust assumptions and another potential point of failure, and you may encounter bridged representations that wrap an already-wrapped token, compounding the risk further. Governance risk means that the parties controlling the system could make decisions, such as the contested custody change, that holders dislike or distrust. And regulatory risk means that official actions could affect redemptions or lead to address restrictions.

The practical advice that follows from all this is to verify before you wrap: check which specific wrapped token and contract you are holding, understand its custody model and who controls the reserves, confirm that proof-of-reserve attestations are current, and make sure you understand the redemption path back to native Bitcoin.

Reviewing the custodian’s transparency, the governance records, and any reputable audits or incident reports before committing meaningful funds is simply prudent. Wrapped Bitcoin is a useful tool that fills a real gap, but it should never be treated as identical to the Bitcoin it represents, because the trust model behind it is fundamentally different.

Frequently Asked Questions What is Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) in simple terms? Wrapped Bitcoin is an Ethereum token backed one-to-one by real Bitcoin held in reserve by a custodian, so one WBTC is meant to always equal one Bitcoin. It exists because native Bitcoin cannot be used inside Ethereum’s decentralized finance applications, which run on smart contracts that Bitcoin does not support. By locking real Bitcoin and issuing an equivalent Ethereum token against it, WBTC lets Bitcoin holders use their Bitcoin’s value for lending, borrowing, trading, and collateral within Ethereum’s ecosystem, without selling their Bitcoin exposure. It tracks Bitcoin’s price closely because every WBTC corresponds to a Bitcoin in reserve.

How does Wrapped Bitcoin work? It works through a mint-and-burn model involving three parties: custodians who hold the Bitcoin, merchants who handle verification and distribution, and users. To create WBTC, a user requests it from a merchant who performs identity checks, the corresponding Bitcoin is sent to the custodian, and an equal amount of WBTC is minted on Ethereum. To convert back, the user submits a redemption request, the WBTC is burned, and the custodian releases the Bitcoin. Both minting and burning are recorded publicly on both blockchains, and proof-of-reserve checks confirm the backing exists. The whole system is overseen by the WBTC DAO.

Is Wrapped Bitcoin the same as Bitcoin? No, and this distinction is crucial. WBTC tracks Bitcoin’s price and can be redeemed one-to-one for Bitcoin, but it is not the same as holding native Bitcoin. With native Bitcoin, your only real concern is controlling your private keys. With WBTC, you also depend on the custodian actually holding the backing Bitcoin, on the reserves being intact, on the governance functioning, and on redemption working. WBTC shares Bitcoin’s price but not its trust model. If you only want to hold Bitcoin long term and do not need decentralized finance, native Bitcoin is the cleaner, simpler choice.

What can you do with Wrapped Bitcoin? WBTC opens up the full range of Ethereum-based decentralized finance to Bitcoin’s value. Because it behaves like any Ethereum token, it can be lent out to earn interest, used as collateral to borrow other assets, supplied to liquidity pools on decentralized exchanges to earn trading fees, and deposited into yield strategies. This lets a Bitcoin holder earn returns or access liquidity while keeping their Bitcoin exposure, instead of selling. WBTC transactions also settle on Ethereum, which produces blocks far more frequently than Bitcoin, so moving wrapped Bitcoin between Ethereum wallets and applications is faster than moving native Bitcoin.

What are the alternatives to WBTC? The main alternatives are other tokenized Bitcoin products with different custody models. cbBTC, issued by Coinbase, suits users who trust Coinbase’s custody and ecosystem. tBTC, built by the Threshold Network, is designed to avoid reliance on a single custodian in favor of a more decentralized model, appealing to those who prioritize minimizing custodial trust. The tokenized Bitcoin market is fragmented, and the choice among options comes down to trust model and use case instead of price. WBTC offers the deepest liquidity and widest DeFi integration, cbBTC offers Coinbase custody, tBTC offers more decentralization, and native Bitcoin is best if you do not need DeFi.

What are the risks of Wrapped Bitcoin? The main risk is custodial centralization: because WBTC is only as good as the Bitcoin held in reserve, the failure of the custodian through a hack, insolvency, or loss of access could impair the backing, and history includes wrapped Bitcoin products that became unredeemable after their backers failed. Additional risks include smart contract vulnerabilities, bridge risk when WBTC is moved to other networks, governance decisions that holders may distrust, and regulatory actions affecting redemption. Before wrapping, verify which token and contract you hold, understand the custody model and reserves, confirm proof-of-reserve attestations, and make sure you understand the redemption path back to native Bitcoin.

This article is educational information, not financial advice. Wrapped Bitcoin and decentralized finance involve significant risks, including custodial failure, smart contract vulnerabilities, and loss of funds. Details of custodians, governance, and alternatives reflect information available as of June 26, 2026, and can change. Verify the current custody model, reserves, and redemption process of any wrapped token from primary sources, and consider your own circumstances before making any decision.

Solana price climbed 4% to $71.80 in the last 24 hours, extending its lead among major tokens. The move beat Bitcoin’s 1.24% rise to $60,372 and the broader market’s 0.60% gain. 

The crypto market value was close to $2.08 trillion as traders cautiously re-entered altcoins.

SOL is leading the crypto recovery among majors, rising more than 5% in the last 24 hours to become the biggest gainer among the top 10 coins by market cap.

Solana also attracted attention when the open interest increased by 10%, indicating increased futures activity. The growing open interest may indicate new positioning particularly in cases where price gains are followed. Bulls are keeping an eye on SOL, whether it gains enough momentum to revisit the area of $80. 

Sentiment in the following sessions could also be affected by regulatory headlines. Full MiCA enforcement in Europe is forcing crypto firms to secure licenses. The anticipated signing of the CLARITY Act in the United States should minimize the uncertainty around digital assets.

SOL Open Interest Hits $5.24B as Options Demand Jumps Solana derivatives data indicated mixed positioning with traders decreasing volume, but maintaining leverage exposure. The total trading volume declined by 19% to $9.99 billion indicating a poor short term participation. 

Nevertheless, open interest increased 3.30% to $5.24 billion, indicating that positions were still in the market. The activity of options increased, and volume increased 27.79 to $22.27 million.

Source: Coinglass data Options open interest also increased 17.14% to $49.47 million. The data suggests cautious traders are preparing for larger price swings, as market direction remains uncertain near current levels.

Solana ETF Market Sees Outflows as Funds Post Daily Gains According to Sosovalue, Solana ETF products realized a negative net outflow of 3.94 million each day. Total net assets were 755.51 million.

Source: Sosovalue data Bitwise’s BSOL recorded the only daily inflow, adding $1.99 million. It accumulated inflow of $889.86 million, which is the highest of the listed products. The majority of funds closed up, and profits were around 10% daily across the board. The rankings in net assets were still very concentrated.

Solana Price Holds $70 Support: Can Bulls Push Toward $80? The SOL price closed at around $71.93 at the time of writing. SOL rebounded after a solid move up from the $65 level to consolidate. The price recently found itself in an ascending channel before the bull market lost its steam around the $75 level. 

The RSI was at 55.77 indicating balanced strength and an opportunity for further movement. Bullish momentum took a breather as MACD remained slightly positive. 

Source: Tradingview If the  future Solana outlook breaks out above $75, the next price target for Solana may be $80. If volume increases then the broader range may be around $84. But, a decline below $70 could diminish the setup. In that case, Solana price could revisit $68, followed by $65 support.

Strategy’s mNAV falls below 1, its market valuation is now lower than the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

Strategy (MSTR) has seen its modified net asset value (mNAV) fall below 1, indicating the market is currently valuing the company at less than the worth of its Bitcoin holdings. This is unusual for Michael Saylor-led Strategy. For years, investors have priced Strategy at a premium to its Bitcoin reserves, giving the company flexible access to capital when needed—a advantage Saylor and his team have leveraged heavily. Currently, Strategy’s share price has dropped to around $82, roughly 85% lower than its November 2024 all-time high, bringing its enterprise value to approximately $50.4 billion. Meanwhile, with Bitcoin trading at about $60,000, the value of Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings stands at roughly $51.1 billion. That means the market is now valuing the entire company at less than the value of its Bitcoin assets. At this valuation level, issuing new shares would be dilutive for Strategy, as the company would effectively sell equity at a discount to its underlying asset value. While this does not bar Strategy from continuing to issue new shares, raising capital at current valuations could spark more criticism. The firm’s recent Bitcoin purchases have already diluted common shareholders and drawn community backlash. Market concerns have grown that Strategy is increasingly resembling a closed-end fund rather than an operating company. Such vehicles typically trade at a premium to their underlying Bitcoin holdings when demand is strong, but can trade at persistent discounts once investor sentiment weakens. However, unlike traditional closed-end trusts, Strategy still retains multiple tools: issuing debt or equity when it is accretive, redeeming or refinancing securities, generating operating cash flow through its software business, and actively managing its capital structure.

5 minutes ago

Coinbase’s Bitcoin Premium Index has been in negative territory for 40 consecutive days, with purchasing power in the U.S. market remaining sluggish.

According to Coinglass data, Coinbase’s Bitcoin Premium Index has remained in negative premium for 40 consecutive days, currently standing at -0.1569%, reflecting sustained weak purchasing power in the U.S. market. The Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Index measures the gap between Bitcoin prices on Coinbase and the global average market price. A negative premium typically signals heavy selling pressure in the U.S. market, declining investor risk appetite, rising market risk aversion, or capital outflows.

5 minutes ago

This week, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net outflow of $1.7873 billion.

According to data from Farside Investors, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted a combined net outflow of $1.7873 billion this week. Among them, BlackRock’s IBIT saw a net outflow of $1.3035 billion, Fidelity’s FBTC recorded a net outflow of $314.9 million, and Grayscale’s GBTC had a net outflow of $135.3 million. Meanwhile, some ETFs registered net inflows: BTC ETF saw a net inflow of $71.7 million, and MSBT posted a net inflow of $26.2 million.

5 minutes ago

Coinbase has cut its AI spending by nearly half, and is attempting to set open-weight models including GLM 5.2 and Kimi 2.7 as default options.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong published a post stating that to sustain exponential growth in token usage while keeping AI spending stable, the key is not to introduce usage friction or spending alerts, but rather better default models, routing, and caching mechanisms. Coinbase is testing using open-weight models like GLM 5.2 and Kimi 2.7 as defaults via its LLM gateway, while still encouraging engineers to select the right model for each task. He noted that 91% of employees have never hit their usage caps, so instead of lowering quotas and adding alerts, the company shifted to lower-cost default models. For model routing, Coinbase preprocesses prompts in its custom workflow and routes tasks to the most suitable model based on cache hit rates and model pricing. For example, the planning phase may require an advanced model, but using an advanced model during execution would be overkill. The company believes that in the future, humans should not choose models—AI should handle this task automatically. Armstrong also said that cache misses are the easiest way to drive up costs. All of Coinbase’s requests are cache-aware to reuse hot caches as much as possible; for instance, after proper cache implementation, LibreChat’s cache hit rate rose from 5% to 60%. Additionally, Coinbase requires engineers to keep contexts streamlined, including starting new sessions when switching tasks, narrowing file context ranges, and disconnecting unused tools. The goal is not to curb AI usage, but to build infrastructure that can support exponential growth. Through these practices, Coinbase has cut its AI spending by nearly half, while token usage continues to grow.

5 minutes ago

Billionaire Jeremy Grantham: Bitcoin won’t suddenly go to zero, but will quietly fade away.

According to CNBC, billionaire investor and GMO co-founder Jeremy Grantham has once again criticized bitcoin, labeling it a "useless speculative" asset with no intrinsic value, and predicting it will gradually become irrelevant over the next several years or even decades. Grantham said, "It will die out, not with a bang, but quietly." He noted that bitcoin is not a stable form of value, having halved for no clear reason even in a strong economic environment, making it unreliable as a store of value. Grantham also pointed out that gold, even after retreating from its highs over the same period, has still posted solid gains. He added that bitcoin has neither proven itself as a useful speculative asset nor delivered real-world utility. "People don't use bitcoin for serious transactions, nor do they use it to pay for dinner or supermarket groceries; its role is to let criminals transfer funds," he stated. Bitcoin has long been known for severe bear market drawdowns, having dropped at least 70% from its peak in every cycle. Currently, bitcoin is down roughly 52% from its October high, hovering around $60,000, and many investors believe the current price slump could persist for several more months.

5 minutes ago

Binance will list CAP perpetual contracts

According to an official announcement, Binance will launch the CAPUSDT perpetual contract at 19:45 (UTC+8) on June 27, 2026, with a maximum leverage of up to 10x.

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The US military struck Iranian missile and drone storage facilities on June 26, 2026, following a drone attack on a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel, the M/V Ever Lovely, was targeted on June 25, 2026, in one of the most strategically sensitive waterways on the planet.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps did not sit quietly. The IRGC announced it had retaliated by targeting US military positions across the region, accusing Washington of violating previously established ceasefire conditions.

What happened and why it matters The US strikes hit missile and drone storage sites as well as coastal radar installations inside Iran. That last target is significant: coastal radar is what Iran uses to track shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

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This exchange is part of a broader pattern of escalating tit-for-tat actions between Washington and Tehran that has accelerated through 2026, erupting following extensive US-Israeli military operations targeting Iranian military and leadership enclaves in late February 2026.

Bitcoin dropped below $73,000 during the initial US strikes on Iran in May 2026, triggering nearly $1 billion in leveraged liquidations across the market.

Bitcoin as a geopolitical barometer By the time the June escalation unfolded, Bitcoin was already trading in the $61,000 to $62,000 range, a meaningful retreat from the levels it held before the conflict intensified.

The nearly $1 billion in liquidations during the May strikes underscores how leveraged the crypto market remains. Leveraged positions amplify both gains and losses, and when a macro shock hits, margin calls cascade through the system rapidly.

The Strait of Hormuz angle adds an oil price dimension to the equation. If maritime traffic through the strait faces sustained disruption, energy prices climb. Higher energy prices feed inflation concerns, which complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy posture, which in turn affects how investors weigh risk assets including crypto.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

British billionaire investor Jeremy Grantham has argued that Bitcoin will gradually lose its significance over time and that, in the long run, its value could approach zero. Speaking in an interview on CNBC, Grantham described Bitcoin as non-functional and highly speculative.

Sharp criticism directed at BitcoinAs a co-founder of investment firm GMO and well-known for identifying financial bubbles, Grantham reiterated his warnings in his latest assessment of Bitcoin. Instead of a sudden crash, he predicted a slow, prolonged decline in value stretched across several years. Grantham believes this descent will not come with dramatic collapses, but rather through a gradual drop in relevance.

Jeremy Grantham maintains that rather than experiencing a sudden crash, Bitcoin will steadily lose strength over the years and ultimately become irrelevant.

He also dismissed the argument that Bitcoin is a reliable hedge or a robust store of value. Pointing to times when the cryptocurrency’s price halved even amid strong economic conditions, Grantham made clear he does not see Bitcoin as a stable measure of value.

Gold comparison and debate over practical useGrantham highlighted that gold saw a strong rally over the same period and used this comparison to challenge the narrative that Bitcoin offers protection in times of crisis. According to him, Bitcoin’s price swings are pronounced and difficult to predict, undermining its credibility as a safe haven asset.

He further argued that Bitcoin is not used as actual money in everyday economic life. People rarely use it for routine transactions or supermarket shopping, Grantham observed, concluding that Bitcoin’s practical functionality remains highly questionable.

In Grantham’s view, Bitcoin is neither a trustworthy store of value nor a widely used payment mechanism in daily life—leaving its basic function ambiguous.

Criticism of the network structure and underlying valueGrantham also took aim at Bitcoin’s proof-of-work system, which underpins the network’s security. He highlighted the substantial energy consumption required for Bitcoin mining, asserting that this setup fails to create something economically valuable.

Glossary: Proof-of-work is a consensus mechanism where miners use computational power to validate transactions on the blockchain. The Bitcoin network relies on this system, which has sparked debate due to its high energy usage in exchange for network security.

According to Grantham, the Bitcoin ecosystem is driven mainly by price expectations rather than tangible financial fundamentals. He stressed that it does not generate dividends or represent an asset that produces cash flow or has physical backing, arguing that the system is largely based on collective belief.

Grantham’s remarks have reignited longstanding debates over Bitcoin’s practical usage, its effectiveness as a store of value, and the sustainability of its underlying technology. The statements once again spotlight the divide between traditional finance circles and digital asset proponents when it comes to evaluating the fundamental value of crypto assets.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Viewpoint: If AI sales grow strongly, the return on capital expenditure for AI operators is expected to turn positive within 24 months.

Renowned researcher Oguz Erkan’s data analysis indicates that based on current capital costs, operating margins of hyperscale cloud service providers, and depreciation periods, the return on investment (ROI) for AI capital expenditure will turn positive when AI revenue reaches roughly 1.7 to 1.8 times depreciation and amortization. Currently, AI revenue is approximately 1.2 times capital expenditure depreciation. Erkan projects that if AI sales grow robustly, the ROI is expected to turn positive within 24 months.

14 minutes ago

Michael Saylor: Strategy is operational

Michael Saylor issued a statement noting that Bitcoin is operating normally, and so are we (Strategy).

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A renowned Chinese hedge fund manager has warned that global AI stocks have formed a "super bubble".

Two renowned Chinese hedge fund managers have warned that global AI stocks have formed a "super bubble" and are on the verge of bursting. Yang Dong, founder of Ningquan Asset, explicitly warned in the "2026 Semi-Annual Investment Report" released on June 23 that a "super bubble" has formed in global AI stocks, and a crash may be imminent. The report bluntly stated that a large number of hot A-share stocks are very likely to drop by 80% or even over 90% in the future, adding that "if one lacks the ability to pull chestnuts out of the fire and emerge unscathed, taking such risks would be irresponsible to investors." Yang Dong accurately predicted the peak of the 2007 bull market. Separately, Li Bei, founder of Shanghai-based Banxia Investment, noted in her June 21 monthly report "To Banxia Investors" that "the triggering conditions for the AI bubble to burst have emerged." Taking Anthropic's ARR (Annualized Run Rate) as an example, she argued that revenue growth at downstream model companies has slowed significantly, their full-year results are likely to fall well short of market expectations, and a subsequent decline in capital expenditure is highly probable.

14 minutes ago

An address linked to Vitalik has transferred 7,000 ETH, and is likely to deposit the funds into a centralized exchange (CEX).

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a wallet linked to Vitalik, labeled "0xD04", transferred 7,000 ETH (valued at $11.06 million) to a new wallet. Based on the address’s historical transaction records, the ETH is highly likely to be deposited into a centralized exchange (CEX). Earlier, the same wallet transferred 1,300 ETH (worth $31.6 million), which was subsequently deposited into Paxos. The wallet currently holds 20,001 ETH, valued at $31.6 million.

14 minutes ago

Hong Kong government: Regulated stablecoins are expected to launch between mid-year and the second half of this year.

Hong Kong’s government stated in a written response to the Legislative Council that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) granted stablecoin issuer licenses to two bank-backed institutions in April 2026. Per the institutions’ existing business plans, Hong Kong’s regulated stablecoins are projected to launch between mid-year and the second half of this year. The government added that the HKMA has sent notices to unregulated entities conducting stablecoin issuance in the market to clarify legal requirements, and will continue to follow up on related matters; individual cases may be referred to the police or the Department of Justice if necessary. Additionally, the government will submit a bill to the Legislative Council this year to establish a regulatory regime for virtual asset trading, custody, advisory and management service providers.

14 minutes ago

The Israeli military will reduce its forces stationed in southern Lebanon.

According to Israel's Army Radio, the Israeli military will reduce its forces stationed in southern Lebanon and withdraw several combat brigades.

14 minutes ago

In brief Strategy’s flagship preferred stock drifted further away from its $100 par value, setting another record low as Bitcoin’s price steadied. Analysts have grown increasingly fixated on the company’s capital structure, particularly recurring costs tied to Stretch (STRC). As the Bitcoin-buying firm’s stockpile sat $13.1 billion underwater, Michael Saylor emphasized Strategy’s focus on disciplined capital allocation. Strategy’s flagship preferred stock tumbled again on Friday when U.S. markets opened, setting another record low as Bitcoin lingered below the $60,000 mark.

After the opening bell, the dividend-paying product known as Stretch (STRC) swiftly fell to a new low of $71.25 before firming to $75.30, a nearly 0.5% decrease on the day, according to Yahoo Finance. That marked a nearly 25% decline from the level at which STRC is engineered to trade.

The preferred stock’s recent weakness has intensified focus on the Bitcoin-buying firm’s capital structure, with analysts calling on Strategy Executive Chairman and co-founder Michael Saylor to shore up more cash to withstand the company’s recurring costs.

In an X post, Saylor acknowledged that “volatility tests every capital structure,” while emphasizing that the company remains focused on the leading digital asset by market cap, “disciplined capital allocation, credit quality, and long-term value creation.”

Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price has fallen roughly 5% to $60,130, a slight recovery compared to a 21-month low of $58,188 on Thursday, according to CoinGecko. The period has been marked by intense outflows from exchange-traded funds and a looming options expiry, with $10.6 billion worth of positions drawing closer to settlement on Deribit.

On Thursday, Andy Baehr, managing director of asset management crypto trading firm GSR, told Decrypt that market observers are trying to clock Strategy’s cash burn as STRC’s volatility tests the faith of swaths of investors who bought the product likened to a bank account.

“They suspect that Michael Saylor has painted himself into a corner, and that his tablets of commandments may crumble,” he said. “I reckon that most [STRC] buyers did not sign up for a 25% drawdown. They came for yield.”

In less than a year, Strategy has issued more than $10 billion worth of STRC, resulting in what CryptoQuant described this week as ballooning costs. The company had $2.25 billion to manage dividends and debt in January, but since then, its cash cushion has worn relatively thin.

The South Korean analytics platform noted that, as Strategy’s stash of Bitcoin trades underwater, any sales beyond its liquidation of 32 Bitcoin announced earlier this month could crystalize losses for common shareholders and erode shareholder value.

The company’s stock fell as low as $82.33 before momentarily turning positive on the day. At $85.80 apiece, the company’s shares had ticked up roughly 0.5% on Friday.

At Bitcoin's recent price, Strategy’s stockpile of 847,363 BTC was worth close to $51 billion, or around $13.1 billion underwater. 

Nic Carter, founding partner of investment firm Castle Island Ventures, posited in an X post on Thursday that Strategy will need to hike STRC’s dividend for an eighth time since its introduction, assessing the product through the lens of a junk bond investor.

Although STRC currently offers an 11.5% annual dividend, the implied yield becomes higher for investors as it drifts further away from its $100 par value. At its current level, investors are essentially demanding more than 15% returns to gain exposure to the product.

“Because the structure is unsustainable and requires the perpetual monetization of the common equity, which is trading near par,” he added, “it will continue to trade at a discount unless Strategy hikes the yield on STRC to the appropriate range, which is 15-20% in my opinion.” 

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PANews June 27 news, according to SoSoValue data, yesterday (Eastern Time June 26) Bitcoin spot ETF total net outflow was $445 million.

Yesterday's single-day net outflow leader among Bitcoin spot ETFs was Blackrock ETF IBIT, with a single-day net outflow of $445 million. As of now, IBIT's historical total net inflow has reached $60.766 billion.

As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs stands at $72.818 billion, the ETF net asset ratio (market cap as a percentage of Bitcoin's total market cap) has reached 6.08%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached $51.606 billion.

Bitdeer Maintains Zero Bitcoin Holdings, Sells 253.9 BTC This Week

PANews June 27 news, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company Bitdeer released its latest Bitcoin holdings data on X platform. As of the week of June 26, its Bitcoin mining output was 253.9 BTC, but it sold 253.9 BTC in the same period, resulting in a net increase of 0 BTC, and it still maintains zero Bitcoin holdings.

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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has openly challenged Strategy Chairman Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin buying model, stating that financial engineering cannot replace real-world utility. 

His comments come while Strategy continues to accumulate more bitcoin, even when Bitcoin continues to fall close to $58,000.

Ripple CEO Says Saylor Is Focusing on the Wrong StrategySpeaking in a recent CNBC interview, Garlinghouse said that crypto companies should focus on building products people actually use instead of relying on financial engineering to boost Bitcoin holdings. 

“Financial engineering does not drive long-term value.” “The long-term value of any digital asset is going to be driven by utility.”

According to Garlinghouse, assets that provide real-world use naturally attract demand, liquidity, and trust over time. Simply borrowing more money to buy additional Bitcoin does not create lasting value.

He also took direct aim at Michael Saylor’s approach, saying that 

“Team Michael Saylor wasn’t focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market.”

He said this type of financial engineering may generate short-term excitement, but it does little to create lasting value for the crypto industry.

Leverage Is Making Bitcoin Drops WorseFurther, in an interview, Garlinghouse said that the strategy saw gains during Bitcoin’s rally, and it is now creating even more pressure during the market crash.

“I think because they were using leverage… You start to see that in a place that can actually compound negatively.”

He specifically pointed to Strategy’s STRC preferred shares, which now trade roughly 25% below their $100 par value, calling it “a pretty damning indictment.”

He described Bitcoin as “digital gold,” noting that transferring $300 billion worth of Bitcoin can be completed far faster and more efficiently than moving the same value in physical gold.

Ripple Pushes Institutional Blockchain AdoptionWhile praising Bitcoin’s role as digital gold, Garlinghouse pointed out Ripple’s different strategy. He said Ripple is focused on bringing traditional finance onto blockchain through XRP-powered payment infrastructure.

According to Garlinghouse, Ripple processed nearly $16 trillion in payment and prime brokerage volume last year through its expanding financial network.

As of now, Ripple’s XRP is trading around $1.05, seeing a jump of 2.5% in the last 24 hours.

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The cryptocurrency market is ending a turbulent week as the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), fell below the critical $60,000 support level.

According to data from the analytics platform Santiment, Bitcoin is struggling to hold just above this psychological threshold, having experienced a weekly drop of approximately 4.6%. However, the price occasionally falling below $60,000 has fueled bearish sentiment on social media.

Following the sharp market downturn, the community is targeting Michael Saylor and his company MicroStrategy (now Strategy), who hold a massive amount of Bitcoin. The fact that Bitcoin’s price has lost more than 50% of its value since its peak of $126,000 in October has exhausted investors’ patience.

Shareholders and law firms are preparing to initiate legal proceedings following the sharp decline in MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Strategy (STRC) stock. Allegedly, Saylor and his company:

By making Bitcoin investments appear much more profitable than they actually are, By failing to adequately warn investors about the new accounting rules and the massive paper losses that Bitcoin’s high volatility could bring, He is accused of making misleading statements that violated US securities laws. Santiment analysts noted that this anger within the community could be a “scapegoat search” (FUD) stemming from the market downturn, and that the issue was one of the top 3 most talked-about topics on social media throughout the week.

The on-chain charts shared by Santiment reveal a rather interesting and risky paradox in the market:

Small wallets holding 0.01 BTC or less have increased their share of the total Bitcoin supply by 1% in the last 7 weeks. Although “$50,000” scenarios are being discussed on social media, small investors are viewing every dip as a buying opportunity. The large, institutional wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC, which are the main drivers of the market, have sold off approximately 43,241 BTC in the last 7 weeks. The decrease in these wallets, especially in the last 10 days, reached 48,000 BTC. Santiment analysts issued the following warnings regarding the current situation:

“Normally, the scenario we want to see in the market is small investors panicking and big whales buying at the bottom. But right now, the opposite is happening; small investors are buying while big wallets are selling. This selling pressure from big wallets worries me quite a bit.”

In addition, projects such as Decentraland (MANA), Chainlink (LINK), Immutable X (IMX), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) also saw the highest active address and whale transfer activity in the last 90 days.

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PANews June 27 news, according to Bitcoin.com report, Europol recently led a joint operation codenamed "Endgame". The seizure was the result of collaboration among law enforcement agencies in Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. These agencies jointly cracked down on network infrastructure serving criminals, which used SocGholish, Amadey, and StealC — three key "Cybercrime-as-a-Service" (CaaS) malware — to collect victims' information and sensitive data. The law enforcement agencies took action against a total of 326 servers and 142 domains, seizing approximately $47 million worth of illegal cryptocurrency and recovering over 27 million stolen credentials.

AAVE is today's top gainer, surging by double digits to well over $90.

Bitcoin’s price volatility around and just under $60,000 continued at the end of the business week, but the asset has managed to climb above this level as of Saturday morning.

Most larger-cap alts are slightly in the green, with XRP trading above $1.05 and ETH standing close to $1,600. SOL has risen the most from this cohort.

BTC Fights for $60K The business week began on the right foot for the primary cryptocurrency as the asset rebounded from the weekend slump to $62,500 and tapped $65,500 on Monday. However, that was a short-lived attempt for a more profound recovery as the bears were quick to intervene and halt all the progress.

In the following hours, the asset fell to $62,000. It bounced to $63,000, but the next leg down was even more painful. Bitcoin broke below $60,000 for the second time this month and tapped $59,000. After another dead-cat bounce to almost $62,000, the asset plunged even harder on Thursday, dumping to $58,000 for the first time since late 2024.

The latest leg down was strongly related to the adverse price moves observed from Strategy’s MSTR, which also marked a multi-year low of under $80. Nevertheless, BTC has managed to recover some ground from the aforementioned low and now stands at just over $60,000 despite the new attacks in the Middle East.

Its market capitalization has risen to $1.210 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts remains under 56%.

BTCUSD June 27. Source: TradingView SOL, AAVE Pump Ethereum continues to climb gradually after the recent low of $1,510 and now trades close to $1,600 following a minor daily increase. XRP has reclaimed the $1.05 support after a 2% jump since yesterday. Solana’s SOL has gained the most from the larger-cap alts today and sits above $72.

Even more impressive gains come from AAVE, AVAX, and MORPHO. Aave’s token has risen by double digits and sits above $95, while AVAX is north of $6.6. MORPHO has neared $1.80 following a 7% jump.

In contrast, MemeCore continues to drop, losing another 20% of value and struggling below $0.70 as of now.

The total crypto market cap has recovered over $80 billion since the Thursday low and is up to $2.170 trillion.

Cryptocurrency Daily Overview June 27. Source: QuantifyCrypto

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is showing signs of capitulation as bearish sentiment intensifies, but Bitwise’s Ryan Rasmussen argues that long-term investors are still using the weakness to accumulate.

ETFs And Long-Term Allocation ProductsIn an interview with Scott Melker on June 25, Rasmussen said Bitcoin’s latest drawdown below $60,000 has revived familiar "Bitcoin is dead" narratives.

He stressed that similar moments have historically appeared near major cycle lows.

Melker pointed to on-chain data showing that Bitcoin supply held at a loss has reached a record 10.83 million BTC, while long-term holders now control 14.8 million coins.

Rasmussen noted these kinds of metrics are "the types of signals you look for in crypto winters" to assess whether the market is approaching a bottom.

Instead, investors remain overly focused on short-term volatility despite the healthy long-term thesis.

He acknowledged that Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) and Michael Saylor may no longer be able to buy Bitcoin at the same pace but said that was always expected as the asset matured.

The next major source of demand, according to Rasmussen, is likely to come from exchange-traded funds and long-term allocation products.

Commenting on the $6 billion in ETF outflows over past 30 days, Ramussen said "Rotations go around in a circle," and capital could return to crypto once momentum improves.

In a separate Yahoo Finance segment, Melker highlighted that Bitcoin has now been declared dead 472 times since tracking began, with fresh bearish commentary spreading across social media.

He cited examples from Dave Portnoy and other prominent accounts questioning whether Bitcoin is heading to zero.

Melker argued that extreme fear has often marked attractive accumulation zones, noting that repeated Bitcoin obituaries have historically appeared near major bottoms rather than tops.

"Don’t get shaken out by Bitcoin touching a price it hit in 2024," Rasmussen commented, adding that the long-term outlook for crypto remains positive.

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Bitcoin struggled to reclaim the 60,000 dollar mark on Friday as global financial markets continued to face heightened volatility. The daily close below this psychologically significant level—last seen in September 2024—has shifted what was once considered strong support into a resistance zone, raising fresh concerns among investors watching for Bitcoin’s next move.

60,000 dollars emerges as a pivotal resistance level againAccording to TradingView data, the BTC/USD pair continued searching for direction after closing a daily session under 60,000 dollars. Market participants betting on a renewed uptrend now identify a firm break back above 60,000 as a crucial technical milestone to watch in the near term.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets felt mounting selling pressure. Concerns over technology shares were especially acute in South Korea, where circuit breakers were triggered after indexes saw a dramatic 8 percent tumble. In contrast, US equities proved somewhat resilient during the same period, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones managing to hold in positive territory as this report was written.

An unusually eventful day for Bitcoin is underway; the upcoming quarterly options expiry could also have a strong influence on short-term price action, according to traders following the situation closely.

Tech sector weakness stays at the forefrontThe backdrop to market fragility continues to be steep price drops in large-cap technology stocks. However, Micron Technologies offered a glimmer of relief, as its better-than-expected results provided some risk appetite during intraday sessions. Still, the broader picture reveals persistent retracement across many leading tech firms.

Market analysis from The Kobeissi Letter points to the possibility of a wider rebound, noting that several major technology shares have now fallen more than 50 percent from their historic highs. Notably, shares of the leading crypto exchange Coinbase have plunged 69 percent during this correction. The Kobeissi Letter is well regarded for its macro, equity, and commodities-focused research.

Most of the major technology companies are now in a bear market zone, with many stocks registering more than a 50 percent drop from their recent peaks, The Kobeissi Letter highlighted.

Inflation data could prove decisive for risk assetsQCP Capital, in its latest outlook, emphasized that US inflation trends will likely remain a key driver for risk assets. The company noted current estimates for the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index at 3.30 percent and the headline PCE at 3.82 percent. Both figures remain noticeably above the US Federal Reserve’s inflation target.

Glossary: PCE stands for Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, which is one of the Federal Reserve’s preferred measures of inflation. Core PCE excludes more volatile categories like food and energy to better reflect underlying price trends.

The PCE data released for May showed the highest annual increase since mid 2023. Analysts warn this may add further pressure to both equity and crypto markets through shifting rate expectations.

Analysts keep a close eye on the 200 week averageCrypto analyst Michaël Van de Poppe notes that market participants are closely monitoring whether Bitcoin’s downward momentum will persist in the short term. He highlighted the significant position of Strategy—the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, which holds the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin reserves—along with its financing division Stretch, as potential pointers for future price action.

According to Van de Poppe, the sharp pullback in Stretch and Bitcoin’s hesitation near the 60,000 dollar level is not yet a decisive bearish signal. The analyst points to a developing bullish divergence on the daily chart, but stresses that this technical pattern has not been confirmed. For now, the 200 week simple moving average at 62,243 dollars remains the main technical level in focus among investors.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.