Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

In recent days, the cryptocurrency market has seen a wave of rebound buying, creating distinct technical patterns among three major assets. While attempts at recovery in Dogecoin and Bitcoin have so far been limited, XRP’s daily chart has shown a noteworthy RSI divergence—a potential early sign of a reversal. Despite these movements, trading volumes across all three cryptocurrencies remain insufficient to confirm a strong market rebound.

Dogecoin’s recovery lacks strong volumeDogecoin has managed to bounce from its local low around $0.07, clawing back some recent losses. However, the technical outlook suggests this is more of a brief relief rally than the beginning of a lasting trend reversal. Low trading activity remains the weakest link in Dogecoin’s latest upward attempt.

Despite modest gains in recent sessions, purchasing interest in Dogecoin lags behind levels seen during past recoveries. Historically, significant Dogecoin rallies have coincided with clear spikes in trading volume. The current situation indicates that buyers have yet to return to the market in force.

The latest green candles on Dogecoin’s chart have formed with relatively low participation, leading analysts to view the move as a temporary reaction rather than a sustained rally.

DOGE continues to trade below all major moving averages, maintaining a bearish technical structure. Even if a short-term bounce materializes, strong selling pressure is expected between $0.08 and $0.09. Since the May peak, Dogecoin’s price action has consistently set lower highs and lower lows, a classic hallmark of a downtrend.

XRP’s bullish RSI divergence stands outXRP has delivered one of the most notable technical signals in recent weeks. Even as its price touched a new local low near $1.05, the RSI indicator did not confirm the drop. This setup, known in the market as a bullish divergence, is often interpreted as an early hint of a potential reversal.

Glossary: RSI, or Relative Strength Index, is a momentum indicator. When price makes a new low but RSI does not, this divergence can signal weakening selling pressure.

This pattern suggests that while sellers can still push XRP to short-term lows, the downside momentum appears to be fading. Nonetheless, the broader trend has yet to turn positive. XRP continues to trade beneath all major moving averages, with the 50-day exponential moving average now acting as the nearest dynamic resistance.

XRP’s bullish RSI divergence is currently the most promising positive signal on its chart, though a meaningful reversal will require both a breakout above resistance and strong trading volume.

Should XRP reclaim ground above the 50-day average, the $1.20 to $1.30 range may come back into play. This area aligns with the 100-day moving average and former support-turned-resistance levels. For now, however, normal trading volumes indicate that the latest recovery has yet to attract broad-based buying.

Bitcoin’s cautious recovery keeps sentiment in checkBitcoin has rebounded from its recent low near $59,000, but current price action fails to confirm a strong trend reversal. The end of June’s sharp sell-off offered the market a brief respite, but the wider technical picture still calls for caution rather than optimism.

The break of the trendline that had supported April and May’s climb triggered a sharp wave of liquidations, erasing much of the preceding gains. While rapid drops can sometimes lead to short-lived rebounds, most analysts do not see the latest move as evidence of a lasting turnaround. Notably, the strongest trading volumes of recent weeks have taken place during sell-offs, indicating distribution rather than accumulation.

For Bitcoin to signal a more reliable comeback, it must first reclaim the 50-day exponential moving average around $63,000, followed by the 100-day average near $66,000. Until these levels are recovered, the current upswing will be viewed as a technical relief rally within a broader downtrend.

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.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.

Tether has confirmed that USDT will return to Bitcoin as a native asset through the RGB protocol, with the launch expected within weeks after more than eight years of protocol development.

Summary

Tether is preparing to launch native USDT on Bitcoin through the RGB protocol, with the rollout expected within weeks. The RGB integration will allow USDT to move over Bitcoin and the Lightning Network with native addresses, improved privacy, and lower transaction friction. UTEXO said the launch will bring USDT back to Bitcoin after years of development that allowed Tron to dominate stablecoin transfers. According to an exclusive interview published by Bitcoin Magazine, Tether is working with software company UTEXO to issue USDT natively on Bitcoin using RGB protocol version v0.11.1, bringing the stablecoin back to the blockchain where it originally launched in 2014 through the Omni-Mastercoin Layer.

The rollout is being led commercially by UTEXO, which describes itself as the issuer and distributor of Bitcoin-native USDT in partnership with Tether. Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, UTEXO co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk said the company had spent years building the technology needed to make the launch possible with Tether’s support.

RGB brings USDT to Bitcoin and Lightning Built around Bitcoin’s UTXO model, RGB combines client-side validation with the Lightning Network to let users send and receive USDT through native Bitcoin addresses while enabling instant off-chain payments with compatible wallets. According to Bitcoin Magazine, the design also improves privacy because Bitcoin creates fresh addresses for transactions instead of relying on reusable account addresses commonly seen on networks such as Ethereum, Tron and Solana.

The publication added that routing payments through Lightning leaves fewer traces on the public blockchain, while UTEXO’s direct integration with Tether reduces the number of intermediaries involved in issuing and moving the stablecoin.

“We built Utexo so that USDT could move on Bitcoin the way money is supposed to move: instantly, privately, with no surprises on costs,” Ihnatiuk told Bitcoin Magazine, adding that businesses integrating the platform would have more control over transaction costs through its APIs.

Bitcoin Magazine reported that UTEXO has also developed software components needed for commercial adoption, including APIs, a software development kit, user interface tools, and a live mint bridge that allows users to move USDT across multiple blockchains with deterministic low fees through direct integration with Tether. The RGB protocol itself was developed by Bitfinex Research and Development Strategist Federico Tenga.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Bitcoin-native USDT through RGB is expected to launch within weeks, possibly during July, with wallets, including Tether Wallet, planning support alongside integrations from cryptocurrency exchanges. Ihnatiuk described the release as bringing USDT “back home” to Bitcoin, adding that its success would be important for establishing Bitcoin as a settlement layer for digital assets.

UTEXO targets Tron-dominated stablecoin market RGB has been under development since at least 2016, but repeated delays meant the protocol was not ready during the 2017 cryptocurrency bull market. Bitcoin Magazine said this allowed Tron to become the dominant blockchain for USDT transfers, particularly across developing markets, where it continues to process much of the stablecoin’s activity.

Speaking to the publication, Ihnatiuk argued that users currently face several layers of costs when swapping between Bitcoin and USDT through existing services, including wallet fees, swap provider charges and slippage. He said placing both Bitcoin and USDT on the same settlement layer through Lightning could enable near-instant swaps without the additional costs commonly associated with third-party services.

The report also noted that Tron users must typically maintain TRX solely to pay network fees, creating extra friction for transactions. By comparison, running USDT directly on Bitcoin removes the need for a separate fee token while relying on Bitcoin’s long-established security model.

Historically, RGB traces its origins to Peter Todd’s single-use seals proposal in 2014 before being formalised by Giacomo Zucco and Riccardo Casatta in 2016. Bitcoin Magazine said Tether had explored the protocol years earlier, but adoption was delayed as development progressed under previous teams.

The upcoming rollout follows several Bitcoin-focused products introduced by Tether this year. In April, the companyopen-sourced its Bitcoin-focused Mining Development Kit, giving miners a programmable software layer to manage Bitcoin ASIC fleets and automate operations, while more recently it introduced the self-custodial tether.wallet application with support for Bitcoin, Lightning and USDT.

Morningstar: Samsung Electronics' revenue expectations may disappoint investors.

Morningstar analyst Jing Jie Yu said investors may feel somewhat disappointed with Samsung Electronics' revenue outlook. He noted that the company’s projected operating profit is in line with market expectations, but its revenue forecast of 171 trillion won is slightly below the consensus. This underperformance is likely due to DRAM price increases falling short of expectations, which may have spooked investors who were increasingly betting on a structural rally in memory chip prices. As investors grew more cautious, Samsung Electronics’ stock closed down 6.9%, trimming its year-to-date gain to just under 150%.

8 minutes ago

Citi assigns SpaceX a "Buy" rating, with a target price of $200.

Citigroup initiates coverage on SpaceX (SPCX.O), assigning a Buy rating and setting a target price of $200.

8 minutes ago

He Yi: Binance Earn has cumulatively distributed over $1.2 billion in yields to stablecoin holders.

Binance co-founder He Yi stated in a social media post that "A key metric I’ve long focused on is the value created for users. Since 2022, Binance Earn has cumulatively distributed over $1.2 billion in yields to stablecoin holders. In the long run, the real opportunity lies not only in providing users with market access, but also in helping them continuously generate value from their assets."

8 minutes ago

Strive CEO: No need to sell the company's reserve Bitcoin holdings even if Bitcoin falls to 1 cent.

Strive CEO Matt Cole said in an interview that even if Bitcoin falls to 1 cent and remains at that level for 18 months, Strive will face no issues, does not need to take any action, and will not have to sell a single BTC. No price level will trigger a forced liquidation for Strive.

8 minutes ago

US stock storage sector is generally down in pre-market trading, with Western Digital falling more than 6%.

According to BIT (bit.com) market data, the US stock market's storage sector is seeing broad pre-market declines, with Seagate Technology (STX) down 4.96%, Western Digital (WDC) down 6.14%, SanDisk (SNDK) down 5.43%, and Micron Technology (MU) down 5.46%.

8 minutes ago

Nansen has integrated Hyperliquid perpetual contract trading, supporting smart money and on-chain data analysis.

According to official announcements, blockchain analytics platform Nansen has officially launched Hyperliquid Perpetual (Perp) trading functionality, now available to all web and mobile users. Users can execute Hyperliquid perpetual trades directly within Nansen while tracking on-chain activities of Smart Money, whale addresses, and prominent investors, with real-time access to key metrics including funding rates, long-short position ratios, and wallet-level position distributions—enabling an integrated "research-to-trade" experience. Nansen added that the platform has also launched the Hyperliquid Perps Leaderboard, which supports filtering by Smart Money, whales, and top traders, and sorting by performance over the past 7 days, 30 days, or all-time, helping users quickly identify top-performing wallet addresses. Additionally, users can deposit funds from external wallets within the app, bridge assets from connected Solana or Base wallets to Hyperliquid, and receive asset transfers directly from other Hyperliquid addresses. Beyond trading features, Nansen has expanded its data coverage of the Hyperliquid ecosystem, including on-chain activity monitoring for HyperFND and the Hyperliquid Data API. Users can track real-time active HyperEVM addresses, contract deployments, and ecosystem growth, while development teams can access real-time Smart Money perpetual positions, unrealized profit and loss (PnL), account health, full transaction history, and performance data via the API—supporting quantitative analysis, strategy development, and application building.

8 minutes ago

South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone, have announced they have added the Solana-based memecoin Bonk (BONK) to their delisting watchlist. This decision raises questions about BONK’s future in the South Korean market and serves as a significant risk warning for investors.

Exchanges have announced that BONK has been added to a “delisting watchlist.” Such lists typically indicate that the asset will be more closely examined in terms of its project structure, market performance, liquidity, regulatory risks, or investor protection. The review process may result in the token continuing to be traded, or it may be delisted entirely from exchanges.

The fact that major South Korean platforms with high trading volumes, such as Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone, are simultaneously taking a similar step for BONK increases the significance of this development for the market. This is because South Korean exchanges can sometimes have a decisive influence on trading volume and price movements, especially in the altcoin and memecoin markets.

Bonk has emerged as one of the best-known memecoin projects in the Solana ecosystem, attracting attention with its strong price increases in the past. However, the inherently high volatility of memecoins can lead to closer monitoring by exchanges. Its inclusion in the delist watchlist indicates that BONK is now considered to be in a higher-risk category.

Experts say that in such situations, investors should focus not only on price movements but also closely monitor official announcements from exchanges, the reasons for the review process, and potential delisting schedules. While BONK’s inclusion on the watchlist is considered a development that could create selling pressure on the token in the short term, the final decision will depend on the exchanges’ subsequent review results.

*This is not investment advice.

Follow our Telegram and Twitter account now for exclusive news, analytics and on-chain data!

Semiconductor stocks beat both Big Tech and crypto in the first half of 2026. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gained 102%, while the Magnificent Seven fell 2% and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 33%, according to Deutsche Bank and CoinGecko data.

Wall Street banks now disagree about the second half. Goldman Sachs expects investors to keep backing chipmakers, while Morgan Stanley argues the trade has already started to unwind.

How Semiconductors Beat Big Tech and Crypto in H1 2026Deutsche Bank’s half-year scoreboard ranked the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index as the best-performing major asset in the world. The benchmark gained 102% between January and June, according to a chart shared by Schaeffer’s Investment Research.

Korea’s chip-heavy KOSPI followed with an 89% gain, while Japan’s Nikkei added 35%. In contrast, the Nasdaq rose just 13% and the S&P 500 slightly under 10%.

The Magnificent Seven, the group that carried US markets for two years, ended the half 2% lower.

H1 2026 returns by asset, showing semiconductors beat Big Tech and crypto / Source: BeInCryptoCrypto fared even worse. Bitcoin slid 33% in the first half, falling from roughly $87,500 to below $59,000, CoinGecko data shows. Ether (ETH) dropped 47%, and Solana (SOL) fell 41%. Traditional hedges offered no shelter either, as gold slipped 7% and silver lost 18%.

ETF flows tell the same story. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF climbed 72%, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF gained 99%, while the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF declined slightly.

Meanwhile, a shortage of memory and storage has led chipmakers to raise prices as the industry approaches $1 trillion in annual revenue.

SOX vs MAGS / Source: TradingviewGoldman Backs the Earners While Crypto Trades Like a SpenderGoldman Sachs derivatives specialist Brian Garrett explained the divergence in a client note last week, as reported by Stocktwits.

“One of the reasons for the decrease in Mag7 exposure seems almost too simple as it’s been hiding in plain sight for months. The market is rightly rewarding the names that earn (capex beneficiaries, semiconductors, etc) while at the same time questioning the names that spend (hyperscalers).”

Hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Google pour hundreds of billions of dollars into data centers. Markets increasingly treat that spending as a cost without a proven payoff.

Meanwhile, companies that sell chips, memory, and equipment recognize revenue today.

That logic hits crypto hardest. Bitcoin earns nothing from the AI buildout, so it traded alongside the spenders rather than the earners. The pressure intensified after Michael Burry’s bubble warning sent memory stocks sliding this month.

The same split appeared inside the crypto market. Render (RNDR) gained 17%, and NEAR Protocol (NEAR) added 18% in the first half, while most majors fell over 30%, per CoinGecko. Both tokens sell exposure to computing power, the scarcest resource of this cycle. However, the pattern is not universal, as Bittensor (TAO) and Fetch.ai (FET) still declined.

H1 2026 crypto returns, AI compute tokens vs majors / Source: BeInCryptoBitcoin miners occupy the middle ground. Riot Platforms keeps selling BTC while funding its AI pivot, and rival miners chase similar data center deals.

Morgan Stanley Sees the Chip Trade TurningMorgan Stanley strategist Michael Wilson argued on Monday that chip momentum is fading as investors rotate toward hyperscalers, Bloomberg reported. The Philadelphia index has dropped almost 14% from its June record, though it remains 123% higher since September.

Cracks appeared before July. A blowout Micron forecast failed to sustain the rally, and the KOSPI triggered circuit breakers in June. Wilson, therefore, favors hyperscalers in the near term and expects them to soften spending plans.

JPMorgan strategist Mislav Matejka believes the rally will broaden beyond technology in the second half.

“AI is unlikely to be the only story in town.”

For crypto, this debate matters more than it appears. If capital exits the crowded chip trade and hunts laggards, Bitcoin ranks among the largest liquid laggards available. The token trades near $61,626 after a weekend short squeeze briefly lifted it toward $64,000.

Still, no major bank has named digital assets as the next rotation target. The coming weeks will show whether hyperscaler earnings confirm the turn, and whether any freed capital finds its way back to crypto.

The US government owns a pile of Bitcoin it seized from criminals. It created an official reserve to hold it. And now, more than a year later, nobody in Washington can figure out who’s actually allowed to manage the thing.

Treasury officials are questioning whether they even have the legal authority to oversee the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a standoff that has delayed critical evaluations and sparked discussions about handing the whole operation to the Commerce Department.

A reserve without a manager President Trump signed Executive Order 14233 on March 6, 2025, establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The core idea was straightforward: Bitcoin seized through criminal and civil forfeiture proceedings would be held as a national strategic asset, never to be sold.

The executive order came with a built-in timeline. Agencies had 30 days to provide a full accounting of their Bitcoin holdings and review their transfer authority. The Treasury Secretary was supposed to deliver an evaluation within 60 days.

None of that has happened on schedule. As of early July 2026, the Treasury’s 60-day evaluation remains undelivered, more than a year past its deadline.

The bottleneck is a surprisingly fundamental question: does the Treasury Department actually have the legal authority to hold Bitcoin? Treasury officials have raised concerns that existing statutes may not clearly grant them the power to custody and manage digital assets acquired through enforcement actions.

Advertisement

That legal ambiguity has created a bureaucratic vacuum. Both Treasury and Commerce are now locked in an interagency dispute over which department should control the reserve, with neither side willing to take ownership of a responsibility that might not legally be theirs.

Congress tries to break the stalemate Lawmakers have noticed the paralysis and are attempting to fix it the old-fashioned way: with legislation.

The BITCOIN Act, one of the more prominent proposals, would formally codify the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under Treasury’s jurisdiction. It includes holding requirements stretching up to 20 years, essentially turning the reserve into a long-duration sovereign asset with a no-sell mandate baked into law rather than just executive action.

A separate bipartisan effort, the American Reserve Modernization Act, was introduced in May 2026. That proposal takes a broader approach to addressing how the federal government should administer reserves that include digital assets.

Neither bill has reached a definitive resolution. The legislative limbo matters because executive orders are inherently fragile. A future president could modify or revoke Executive Order 14233 with a signature. Congressional codification would give the reserve a more durable legal foundation.

Why the custody question is harder than it sounds Federal agencies have well-established procedures for managing traditional seized assets: cash, real estate, vehicles, even gold. The legal frameworks governing those assets were built over decades.

Bitcoin doesn’t fit neatly into any of those boxes. It’s not a currency under most existing statutes. It’s not a commodity in the way the Treasury typically handles them. And the operational requirements for securing it, think multisig wallets, cold storage protocols, key management, don’t map onto anything the federal government has done before.

The reserve primarily draws from Bitcoin forfeited through criminal proceedings. That means the inflow of assets is unpredictable, tied to the pace and outcomes of law enforcement actions rather than any deliberate acquisition strategy.

What this means for investors The current stasis means the reserve exists in a legal gray zone where its long-term administration remains uncertain.

On the bullish side, congressional efforts to codify the reserve suggest bipartisan recognition that Bitcoin has a permanent role in federal asset management. If either the BITCOIN Act or the American Reserve Modernization Act passes, it would establish a formal regulatory framework for government-held Bitcoin.

On the cautious side, the government’s inability to resolve basic jurisdictional questions after more than a year raises legitimate concerns about operational capacity.

Investors should keep an eye on two things: whether Congress passes legislation before the current session ends, and whether the Treasury-Commerce jurisdictional dispute gets resolved through interagency agreement or requires a presidential directive to break the deadlock.

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

Bitcoin climbed 10% as investor confidence improved. (Photo illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Bitcoin prices climbed over the first several days of July, rising amid greater confidence in the digital asset.

The cryptocurrency’s price increased from approximately $58,250.00 on July 1 to nearly $64,000 on Monday, July 6, according to Coinbase data from TradingView.

Several analysts mentioned a lackluster U.S. jobs report, as well as the effect its data had on expectations for the Federal Reserve’s short-term policy moves, as playing a key role in these price movements.

Many investors are hoping that the Federal Open Market Committee will be more aggressive in loosening monetary policy now that Kevin Warsh has become the new head of the central bank.

“Cheap money is good for Bitcoin,” Sifling, wealth manager for Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, noted via email. “It always has been.”

He offered additional input on the upward climb that bitcoin enjoyed this month, stating that “The rally started with a hint. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh suggested AI productivity gains might help cool inflation, and traders took it as a sign that rate cuts are coming.”

“Then a lousy jobs report (57,000 new jobs, about half what economists expected) made those bets look even better,” added Sifling.

Eric Swartz, founding general partner of institutional crypto investment fund Panther Hollow Ventures, also commented on how Fed expectations have impacted bitcoin prices so far this month.

MORE FOR YOU

“Right now Bitcoin is trading like a pure rates asset,” he said via email. “The rally from the high‑$58Ks to almost $64K is basically the market pulling forward Fed‑easing expectations after a soft jobs report.”

Seller ExhaustionSifling cited another factor that caused bitcoin to rally this month, stating that sellers became fatigued by the rising prices.

“The other half of the story is that sellers simply ran out of steam,” he stated via email.

“When Bitcoin slipped below $58,000 on July 1, over a billion dollars in leveraged bets got wiped out,” said the analyst.

“Prices snapped back, shorts got squeezed, and suddenly the chart looked very different.”

DECRYPT: American Bitcoin Corp Boosts BTC Treasury to Over $500 Million Worth

WSJ: Bitcoin Treasury Corporation Provides June Update on Normal Course Issuer Bid

Jul 6, 2026, 9:40 p.m.

3 min read

The White House says the administration is still figuring out the best approach for a bitcoin reserve. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)Summary

President Donald Trump's White House says the administration is still trying to "evaluate the best structure" for building a bitcoin reserve at the federal level.The process has reportedly been complicated by the uncertainty over where to house it — potentially in either Treasury or Commerce departments, according to a Bloomberg report.Congress still hasn't gotten any closer to producing the legislation that White House advisers have said would be needed to back up the final effort.The White House acknowledges that the process for setting up a long-term stockpile of bitcoin BTC$64,183.61 is still being worked out 16 months after President Donald Trump ordered his administration to build the reserve, and a report from Bloomberg suggests that the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce are both being considered as homes.

Trump had issued an executive order in March of 2025 to get the work started on what he called a strategic reserve for bitcoin and a separate stockpile of several other cryptocurrencies. The federal agencies have since examined what crypto holdings the U.S. has (and has declined to share that number), and they've been devising a plan for building the funds, which Bloomberg reported on Monday has been made more complicated by the two departments both making a case to run them.

“President Trump campaigned on a vision of cementing America as the global capital of cryptocurrency and other cutting-edge technologies," said White House spokeswoman Liz Huston in a statement sent to CoinDesk. "To deliver on the president’s vision, the Trump administration continues to evaluate the best structure for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.”

The White House's chief crypto adviser, Patrick Witt, and his predecessor in that role had both said that they'll need Congress to fully back up the formation and activation of the crypto funds. Presidential orders don't carry the weight of law, and no legislation has yet advanced, though such efforts have simmered among lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives, And if Republicans lose the majority in the House or both chambers in this year's midterm elections, it's unlikely such a bill will formalize Trump's concept anytime soon.

Read More: Those who cheered U.S. Bitcoin reserve have spent year watching Trump's order languish

Even if the administration works out the structure for the funds, it's unclear whether they'll be able to pull the lever to officially put its bitcoin holding — estimated at more than 300,000, or about $21 billion — into that virtual vault.

The government's bitcoin holdings would be a long-term investment. Trump and his administration has called it a strategic reserve, though it doesn't fit the usual definition of that phrase, because it's meant to be held for a long period and not doled out during market emergencies.

When Trump issued the order, he asked his administration to come up with ways to acquire more bitcoin without using taxpayer money. Several ideas have since been floated, though if they'd started buying the asset when Trump called for it, they'd have bought at $93,000, and BTC has dropped by about a third since then to today's price just above $64,000.

Related Assets

12345678910

Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness

Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

Jun 30, 2026

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

Why it matters:

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

Why Is The Bitcoin Reserve Plan Facing New Questions? President Donald Trump’s plan for a strategic bitcoin reserve is facing legal and jurisdictional questions, slowing one of the administration’s most visible crypto policy proposals.

The reserve was laid out early in Trump’s presidency as part of a wider plan to make the US a more active player in digital assets. The initial structure focused on bitcoin already owned by the government through criminal or civil forfeitures, alongside a separate digital asset stockpile. The order also directed the Treasury Department and Commerce Department to explore budget-neutral ways to acquire bitcoin without adding costs for taxpayers.

The complication now centers on whether the Treasury Department can legally manage the reserve. That question matters because government-held bitcoin sits at the intersection of asset custody, fiscal authority, forfeiture law, and broader federal balance sheet management. A reserve that is politically simple to announce can be harder to place inside the legal machinery of government.

The issue has also opened a jurisdictional debate. Conversations have reportedly shifted toward whether the reserve could instead sit inside the Commerce Department. That would move the project away from the department most directly associated with federal finances and into an agency more closely tied to industrial policy, innovation, and economic competitiveness.

What Is The Legal Issue Around Holding Bitcoin Indefinitely? One of the core questions is whether the government can hold bitcoin indefinitely, especially given the asset’s volatility. Bitcoin acquired through forfeiture is usually tied to law enforcement outcomes, not a long-term national reserve strategy. Turning seized assets into a permanent strategic holding may require clearer legal authority than simply transferring custody between agencies.

The problem is not only operational. A strategic reserve implies that the government is choosing to hold bitcoin as a policy asset rather than liquidating it as forfeited property. That changes the purpose of the holding and raises questions about who has the authority to make that decision, how the reserve would be valued, and what rules would govern future sales or acquisitions.

Volatility adds another layer. Unlike gold or foreign currency reserves, bitcoin can move sharply over short periods. A large federal holding could create political pressure during market declines, especially if the reserve’s value falls after the government chooses not to sell. It could also create questions over whether the government is influencing the market by holding, transferring, or acquiring bitcoin.

A White House spokesperson said the administration is still reviewing the structure. “President Trump campaigned on a vision of cementing America as the global capital of cryptocurrency and other cutting-edge technologies,” Liz Huston said. “To deliver on the President’s vision, the Trump administration continues to evaluate the best structure for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.”

Investor Takeaway The reserve plan remains politically important for bitcoin, but the delay shows that federal crypto policy still depends on legal plumbing. A strategic bitcoin reserve cannot move from campaign promise to market catalyst until custody, authority, and long-term holding rules are resolved.

Why Does The Agency Choice Matter? Whether the reserve sits inside Treasury or Commerce could shape how markets interpret the policy. A Treasury-managed reserve would frame bitcoin more like a sovereign financial asset, closer to the language of reserves, fiscal management, and government balance sheet strategy.

A Commerce-led structure would carry a different message. It would frame bitcoin more as part of a technology and competitiveness agenda, tied to crypto industry growth, digital asset infrastructure, and US leadership in blockchain markets. That may make the plan easier to defend politically, but it could also raise questions over whether Commerce has the right tools to manage a volatile financial asset.

The agency question also affects accountability. Investors will want to know who controls custody, who sets policy for sales or transfers, whether the reserve can acquire more bitcoin, and whether Congress needs to approve any expansion beyond forfeited assets. Without those details, the reserve remains more of a policy direction than an executable market structure.

The administration had previously suggested that more details could come quickly. In April, White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said he expected a major announcement on next steps within weeks. That announcement has not materialized, and the legal review now explains why the timeline has stretched.

Can Congress Turn The Reserve Into Law? Lawmakers are already working on bills that would codify Trump’s executive order and give the reserve a firmer legal foundation. One proposal from Sen. Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Nick Begich would build on the order and include language for acquiring 1 million bitcoin over 5 years using budget-neutral strategies.

That legislative route could solve part of the problem. If Congress clearly authorizes a bitcoin reserve, defines the responsible agency, and sets rules for acquisition and custody, the administration would have a stronger basis for implementation. It would also reduce the risk that the reserve is challenged as exceeding executive authority.

But legislation would also raise the political stakes. Buying or holding bitcoin at a national scale would invite debate over taxpayer exposure, market risk, and whether the government should favor one digital asset over others. Even if acquisitions are described as budget-neutral, lawmakers would still need to address opportunity cost, valuation, custody security, and oversight.

For bitcoin investors, the reserve remains a potentially powerful long-term narrative, but not yet a near-term certainty. The government already owns bitcoin through forfeitures, and the administration wants to turn that position into a strategic asset. The unresolved question is whether existing law allows that shift, or whether Congress must first create the legal framework for a federal bitcoin reserve.

COINTELEGRAPH: Strategy sells $216M Bitcoin, Bollinger bullish on BTC: Hodler's Digest, June 29-July 6, 2026

XRP outperformed both Bitcoin and Ethereum in daily trading activity on South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, highlighting its continued appeal among local traders.

Over the past 24 hours, Upbit recorded a total trading volume of $493.74 million. During this period, XRP led all assets with $52.33 million in trades, accounting for nearly 10% of total exchange activity.

By contrast, Bitcoin posted $42.14 million in volume, representing 8.54% of the total. Meanwhile, Ethereum followed with $24.3 million, or 4.92% of overall trading activity.

Notably, the data shows that XRP maintained a clear lead over the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap on the exchange during the reporting window. 

XRP Surpasses Bitcoin and Ethereum in Volume on Upbit South Korean Traders Continue to Favor XRP Beyond the latest figures, XRP’s strong performance on Upbit reflects a broader and persistent trend in South Korea’s crypto market.

Earlier this year, XRP trading activity on Upbit surged sharply, including a notable 289% spike in volume within a single hour. During the same period, Binance recorded a smaller 128% increase, underscoring the intensity of Korean market participation.

In addition, large-holder activity has reinforced this demand. In May, an unknown investor withdrew 6.3 million XRP from Upbit. Around the same time, on-chain data showed whales moving $135 million worth of XRP off exchanges within a week, a pattern often associated with long-term accumulation. 

Overall, XRP’s ability to outperform Bitcoin and Ethereum on Upbit highlights its unusually strong foothold in South Korea’s trading ecosystem.

XRP Extends Recovery After Market Sell-Off Meanwhile, XRP continues to recover from last month’s broader market downturn, which briefly pushed its price down to $1.01.

Since then, XRP has rebounded to around $1.14, marking a 12.87% gain. Despite this recovery, global trading activity has cooled, with XRP’s overall volume falling 31% over the past 24 hours to about $1.21 billion.

Nonetheless, momentum remains cautiously positive. XRP has climbed 0.23% over the past day and roughly 9.5% over the past week, as buyers gradually re-enter the market. XRP currently ranks as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency globally, with a market cap of about $70.79 billion. 

Interestingly, spot flow data from CoinGlass shows that investors are steadily withdrawing XRP from exchanges. Over the past seven days, investors have removed $30.38 million worth of XRP from trading platforms. In addition, they have pulled a total of $147.5 million over the past month, according to CoinGlass data.

These consistent outflows suggest that more investors are moving XRP into long-term holdings rather than keeping it on exchanges for trading.

DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

XRP Binance Scarcity Index Hits 2-Year High: What Does It Mean for Price?

MSTR, COIN, and HOOD are among the US stocks to watch this week as crypto momentum returns. The action came after new digital asset gains amid the support of crypto and Bitcoin by President Donald Trump. 

The total crypto market rose 1.38% to $2.2 trillion in 24 hours. Bitcoin price surged higher to over $64,000, with Ethereum trading over $1,800. Dogecoin price soared near $0.08, with XRP, SOL, and ADA seeing a slight recovery

Trump Endorses Crypto and Bitcoin, Saying He Is a Big Crypto Guy Trump made the remarks on July 6 while answering questions from the media. He was asked whether Bitcoin could be added to Trump Accounts, a savings program for children. 

Trump replied, “I’ve become a big crypto guy…I’m a fan.” His remarks assisted in overturning previous pressure on Bitcoin and turning it sharply upwards in the session.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸PRESIDENT TRUMP IS ASKED IF $BTC WILL BE INCLUDED IN TRUMP ACCOUNTS

Trump didn’t directly confirm it, but doubled down on crypto:

“I’ve become a big crypto guy… if we don’t have it, China’s going to have it.”

He says that Bitcoin has “a lot of life,” framing crypto… pic.twitter.com/SwZnY1EC0u

— CryptosRus (@CryptosR_Us) July 6, 2026

The recovery brought crypto-related stocks back into the spotlight. Strategy is still pegged to Bitcoin mood, and Coinbase could benefit as more people trade. Robinhood also stands to benefit if retail crypto demand improves this week.

Strategy (MSTR) Strategy (MSTR) traded at $100.77 at Monday’s close. The US stocks to watch bounced back after an intra-day decline to around the $95 mark, with buyers defending the lower price. 

Strategy also traded 3588 Bitcoin worth around $216 million, raising cash amid new market volatility. The sale came as Bitcoin sentiment strengthened short-term following Trump renewing his crypto support. Investors however were still under pressure of preferred-stock commitments and losses in digital assets. 

MSTR stock In terms of technicality, MSTR should have more than $100 to maintain momentum. A break above $102 could target $105, while weakness below $100 may expose $97.50 and $95 again.

Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) ended at 168.87, gaining 2.05% as Us stocks equities attracted renewed interest. Hours later, the COIN stock was up by a little to 169.27 with a gain of 0.24% as buyers kept the stock close to the session highs. 

The intraday COIN stock depicted initial weakness, as it fell to the $160 support zone, but then it recovered with a bang. 

COIN stock The momentum later improved in the afternoon, driving the price above the $167.50 and close to the $170 resistance zone. An obvious stop above $170 would open up to $172.50 and 175 this week. However, failure to hold $167.50 may expose $165.48, followed by $162.50 support. 

Robinhood Markets (HOOD) Robinhood Markets (HOOD) closed at $117.55 on July 6, gaining 4.28% during regular trading. The US stock is resistant to around $117.49, where the buyers could not resist the late-session strength. Any recovery of that level would open a move to $120 in the ensuing sessions. 

HOOD stock Meanwhile, $112.73 remains the first support area after the pullback. If selling continues below $109.82, HOOD could retest the $105 zone. Traders may watch the Us stock sentiment after Trump’s fresh pro-Bitcoin comments boosted market attention this week.

Strategy sells 3,588 Bitcoin for $216M to fund dividendsMichael Saylor's Strategy sold 3,588 Bitcoin (BTC) to fund preferred stock dividend payments and replenish its cash reserves.

Strategy sold the Bitcoin for $216 million, reducing its total holdings to 843,775 Bitcoin, according to a Monday 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

This included 1,363 Bitcoin sold at an average price of $59,256 between last Monday and Tuesday, and 2,225 Bitcoin sold at an average price of $60,773 between Wednesday and Sunday.

Strategy disclosed the sale of 32 Bitcoin in early June, as its first reported Bitcoin sale since the 2022 tax-loss transaction.

Before Strategy disclosed its latest Bitcoin sale, Bernstein said the company was unlikely to be forced to sell its holdings, citing its liquidity position and cash reserve coverage.

Bernstein's report said Strategy had 17 months of cash to cover dividend obligations and interest payments. It added that the company remained a net buyer of Bitcoin and served as a strong "balancing force" in a market where leading US Bitcoin miners are net sellers due to their pivot to AI.

Donald Trump says ‘nothing wrong’ with $1.4B crypto windfall while in officeUS President Donald Trump has responded to criticism of his 2025 financial disclosures, showing that he earned $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures while in office.

In a Thursday interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen, Trump said that there was “nothing illegal” and “nothing wrong” with profiting from his crypto investments as president. He claimed that other people were responsible for his investments and he didn’t “even know who they are,” not directly answering questions about perceived conflicts of interest as president.

Trump’s comments followed the release of his 2025 financial disclosure report by the US Office of Government Ethics, showing that he took in more than $2 billion from his businesses and investments, about $1.4 billion of which was connected to crypto projects like his memecoin and family’s platform World Liberty Financial. Many advocacy organizations have characterized the investments as a “grift” allowing the president to influence related legislation like the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act.

Trump disclosed that his memecoin generated about $636 million, World Liberty sales about $588 million and $197 million from equity in a stablecoin venture.

TrumpUS senator calls for ban on elected officials issuing memecoinsSenator Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the US lawmakers behind negotiations for a digital asset market structure bill in Congress, has proposed barring elected officials and the president from issuing or sponsoring their own tokens, citing President Donald Trump’s and First Lady Melania Trump’s memecoins.

In a Friday notice, Gillibrand said that Congress should support measures barring elected officials and their spouses from “issuing or sponsoring their own digital assets.” The New York lawmaker said that the proposed restriction would include any US president and their spouse, but did not specifically mention extending the provision to the office of the vice president or other members of their families. 

“This is a commonsense requirement that should get broad bipartisan support – public officials and their spouses should not be issuing memecoins,” said Gillibrand. “We cannot let self-dealing destroy an opportunity to strengthen consumer protections, crack down on illicit finance, and expand economic opportunity for the millions of Americans our financial system has left behind.”

GellibrandVitalik Buterin shares top priorities for new 'Lean Ethereum' strawmap Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has named quantum resistance, scalability and privacy as three of Ethereum's top priorities under a new "Lean Ethereum" strawmap, which lays out the network's technical direction for the remainder of the decade. 

In a post to X on Saturday, Buterin said the collection of upgrades will roll out over the next three to four years, touching nearly every layer of Ethereum in a transformation he compared in scale to the September 2022 Merge, which shifted the network away from energy-intensive mining. 

“Quantum safety has shifted up a LOT in priority,” he said, adding that finalizing a quantum-safe solution for blobs has “become urgent.” Enhancing privacy is another priority, Buterin said, stating that it has become a “first class goal.”

Dankrad Feist, a former Ethereum Foundation researcher behind the payments-focused layer-1 Tempo blockchain, praised the new plan but argued the 3-4 year timeline is too slow, stating that AI could help developers ship the upgrades within a year. 

Financial companies join forces for US dollar stablecoin, keeping reserve earningsMore than 140 companies have reportedly signed onto a US dollar-pegged stablecoin project that allows them to “receive all of the earnings” from its reserves.

In a Tuesday notice, Open Standard said it was launching the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin, a US dollar-pegged coin supported by financial companies including Visa and Mastercard, as well as crypto companies Coinbase, Ripple, OKX and Bybit. The project will allow businesses to mint OUSD “at no cost and with no artificial limits on volume,” and keep earnings from the coin’s reserves.

“When Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, Coinbase and Google coordinate on a new stablecoin, the signal is unmistakable,” said Rhino.fi co-founder and CEO Will Harborne. “Open USD is the first launch with a real chance to win share from USDT and USDC, because reserve revenue flows back to everyone who holds it. But that same incentive is what drives fragmentation at scale.”

As the week continued, some of the signatories denied making any firm commitments to the consortium.

OUSDWinners and losersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $64,039, Ether (ETH) at $1798, and XRP (XRP) is at $1.14. The total market cap is at $2.12 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are MemeCore (M) at 105%, Lighter (LIT) at 39%, and ether.fi (ETHFI) at 29%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Venice Token (VVV) at -13%, Stable (STABLE) at -10% and Audiera (BEAT) at -5%.

Top Prediction of the WeekBollinger Bands creator eyes Bitcoin bear-market end, 'W'-shaped reversalJohn Bollinger, creator of the Bollinger Bands volatility indicator, believes he has spied a “W”-shaped double bottom on BTC/USD on the charts.

“$BTC has seen a series of bullish patterns broken, evidence of the power of the downtrend,” he commented in X posts on Friday.

 "Will this 'W' be the one that breaks the trend?"

“W”-shaped reversals involve two swing lows with a rejected rebound in between, with price ultimately breaking through that rejection level to form a new uptrend.

Bollinger has been bullish on BTC for some time. In early May, he revealed a new long position via his Bitcoin investment vehicle.

As Cointelegraph reported, an increasing number of price indicators are flashing signals not seen since the last bear market in 2022. Despite this, market participants broadly believe that the next macro bottom is still to come and is due in Q3 or later.

Top FUD of the weekTim Draper says Arkham got Bitcoin wallet attribution ‘wrong’Billionaire investor and longtime Bitcoin bull Tim Draper said blockchain analytics company Arkham incorrectly linked him to a wallet involved in a large Bitcoin transfer to Coinbase Prime.

“It just wasn’t me. I haven’t touched it. Arkham has it wrong,” Draper told Cointelegraph, adding that he still expects Bitcoin to reach $250,000 within one year.

The statement came after blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported Friday that a wallet “possibly linked” to Draper had transferred 1,000 Bitcoin worth about $62 million to Coinbase Prime, citing data from Arkham.

Draper is best known in the crypto community as one of Bitcoin’s earliest high-profile investors, having won a US Marshals Service auction for nearly 30,000 Bitcoin seized by US authorities from Silk Road-related holdings in 2014. The holdings are now worth $1.9 billion, meaning Draper selling could have a big impact on Bitcoin's.

Bitcoin profit and loss ratio falls to 43-month lowBitcoin’s realized profit and loss ratio has fallen to a 43-month low of -0.35, a figure that signals extreme market-wide loss conditions but has historically coincided with market bottoms, blockchain analytics platform CryptoQuant said.

The Bitcoin realized P&L ratio — which measures the net percentage of Bitcoin (BTC) in profit or loss relative to total supply — hasn’t fallen this low since December 2022, shortly after FTX shockingly collapsed and sent Bitcoin below $16,000.

“Historically the indicator has marked BTC bottoms with extreme precision,” CryptoQuant said on Thursday. In 2015 and 2019, the Bitcoin realized P&L ratio also fell below -0.35 before price rallies followed. 

The data could lift market sentiment, which has repeatedly fallen to near-record lows during the course of Bitcoin’s latest 50% drawdown from $126,080, set in October. Market sentiment has risen cautiously over the last 10 days, with Bitcoin up more than 7% since tanking to a near two-year low of $58,190 on June 25.

Upbit says it only expressed interest in future OUSD participationSouth Korean crypto exchange Upbit said it is not participating in the issuance of Open USD, after its operator Dunamu was named among more than 140 businesses involved in the new stablecoin initiative. 

“Upbit has only indicated our potential willingness to consider taking part in the future expansion of the OpenStandard ecosystem,” an Upbit spokesperson told Cointelegraph. 

The clarification follows similar pushback from Samsung Electronics and other South Korean companies listed by Open Standard. 

According to a Friday report by ChosunBiz, Samsung said it had not held formal discussions with the project and did not know what role it was expected to perform. Meanwhile, Shinhan Financial Group and KBank reportedly said they had only indicated that they would consider the initiative. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Open Standard for comments but did not receive a response before publication. 

Top Cointelegraph Features of the Week
The biggest blockchain upgrades still to come in 2026From Ethereum’s Glamsterdam and Solana’s Alpenglow, to proposed post quantum security changes for Bitcoin, 2026’s key crypto upgrades are some of the most significant in years.

Has Strategy’s capital overhaul put an end to ‘death spiral’ fears?Has Strategy’s new capital overhaul defused the fears swirling around STRC, or has it simply bought more time before the next bout of stress?

From Bitcoin critics to blockchain believers: The 5 biggest crypto backflipsFrom crypto hater Nouriel Roubini launching the Technodollar to Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff putting out tokenized gold, meet the skeptics who are now cashing in on crypto.

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Dogecoin price traded near $0.077 on Monday as the meme coin held its recent rebound. The token stayed in a tight weekend range after gaining more than 5% over the past week. The crypto market sentiment also improved, with the total market cap rising 1.04% to $2.19 trillion in 24 hours.

Trump Says He Is a Big Crypto Guy The wider crypto market turned higher after President Donald Trump repeated his support for digital assets. Speaking at a news conference,

Trump said, “I’ve become a big crypto guy, I’m a fan.” He made the comment when asked whether Bitcoin could enter Trump Accounts.

The crypto is very powerful, and the industry is huge, Trump also said. He concluded that Bitcoin is being used by many even though its full capacity is yet to be felt. His comments provided traders with a new boost following a poor opening of the session on Monday.

Donald Trump on Bitcoin:

“I’ve become a big crypto guy, I’m a fan.” 👀

Whether you like him or not.

Bitcoin is now impossible for politicians to ignore.

That’s a very different world to the one we were living in just a few years ago.

This says a lot about the direction… pic.twitter.com/mWEFVBgG3u

— That Martini Guy ₿ (@MartiniGuyYT) July 6, 2026

Bitcoin price had earlier dropped more than 2% after Strategy released a new regulatory filing. The disclosure indicated that the Bitcoin treasury company had disposed of an approximate of 216 million BTC. This sale strained the market feeling since Strategy has always been regarded as a large corporate Bitcoin holder.

Nonetheless, Bitcoin price has since recorded an upward trend following the remarks made by Trump to boost market sentiment. The asset rose 1.66% to $63,716 over 24 hours. Ethereum, XRP, and Solana price also gained minimally as traders reverted to first-mover crypto.

The improved tone also favored Dogecoin price but was in a small price band. The meme coin remained near the level of $0.0770, indicating that buyers were defending the new recovery.

Dogecoin Price Eyes Recovery as Whale Holdings Rise to 73.85B DOGE Dogecoin derivatives were trading with mixed conditions with the volume increasing by 31% to $1.26 billion. Nevertheless, the open interest decreased by 0.32% to $1.04 billion with little new leverage. The balances that increased to 73.85 billion tokens were in large wallets of over 1 billion DOGE. 

Source: Coinglass Yet whale activity cooled, with transactions falling to 12 on Sunday. In the meantime, profitable supply increased to 38.51, and active addresses approached 50,000, which is a positive sign of a network recovery following a period of weakness.

Will DOGE Price Recover After Trump’s Crypto Comments Lift Sentiment? The DOGE price surged to $0.07648 on the four-hour, gaining 0.30% during the latest session. The relocation was in response to the recent market pressure as buyers defended the $0.075 support area. 

A fall below that level might subject DOGE to the $0.070 support area.

In the meantime, the RSI was close to 51.52, which indicated a neutral momentum following the recent rebound.

The Chaikin Money Flow remained positive at 0.08, indicating small capital flows into DOGE. 

Nevertheless, the present arrangement continues to support a recovery attempt in case buyers have this base.  

Source: Tradingview The initial upside target is close to $0.08, and here DOGE had met resistance before. A clear move above that level could target at $0.085. A stronger breakout could push long-term DOGE projection toward $0.09 in the coming sessions, after Trump’s Crypto comments lifted sentiment.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

As Ethereum and Cardano face steep declines, investors are increasingly exploring AI-focused blockchain projects such as Stargate LLM.

Summary

Ethereum and Cardano remain under pressure as Stargate LLM promotes its AI-focused crypto presale to investors. Stargate LLM highlights its AI token presale as Ethereum and Cardano continue searching for market support. AThe project is gaining attention amid prolonged weakness in Ethereum and Cardano prices. Ethereum spent 2025 in the room with the majors, trading near $5,000 and trading places with Bitcoin as the asset every altcoin measured itself against. It’s now sitting at $1,700, down 66% in less than a year, still searching for a floor. 

Cardano’s story is quieter but just as brutal: a 40% drop in June alone dragged it to territory it hasn’t traded at since 2020, even as whales keep buying the exact dip that’s scaring everyone else out. Neither of these declines happened because the technology broke. They happened because capital moved somewhere else, and it’s worth asking where.

The honest answer this year is AI, a sector on track to more than double into a $1.2 trillion market by 2030, pulling in investment on a scale crypto’s current downturn simply isn’t matching. Stargate LLM is where that rotation is actually landing: a presale still in its early batches, priced at $0.0005 against a $0.025 launch target, a 50X gap that ETH and ADA buyers would need years of recovery to even approach.

Stargate LLM: Positioned for the AI capital rotation While ADA and ETH search for support levels, Stargate LLM is running a presale built around the opposite dynamic: escalating price batches designed to reward early entry rather than punish it. The presale runs across ten batches, starting at $0.0005 and climbing through $0.0015, $0.002, $0.0025, $0.003, $0.003, $0.0035, $0.0045, and $0.007, before reaching $0.0125 in the final batch, building toward a $0.025 launch price target. That structure puts Batch 1 participants at a 50x price ratio to the launch target, a stark contrast to buying ETH or ADA today and hoping for a bounce back toward levels they’ve already visited before.

This is why Stargate keeps surfacing on lists of the best crypto to buy now: it isn’t asking investors to bet on a recovery. It’s offering ground-floor pricing into a sector, AI, that’s growing independently of the broader crypto market’s current weakness. Of the fixed 150 billion coin supply, 96% is allocated to community, ecosystem, and presale participants, with staking rewards, governance votes, and Proof of Usage rewards built into the coin’s utility from day one.

For anyone scanning the market for the best crypto to buy now while ETH and ADA remain stuck in drawdowns, Stargate’s presale batches represent a structurally different kind of entry point, priced for early participation rather than recovery speculation. 

Ethereum price: Stuck below $1,900 support The Ethereum Price picture through early July remains bearish across nearly every timeframe. ETH is trading near $1,700, roughly 66% below its August 2025 all-time high of $4,951.66, and sits below its 20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day exponential moving averages, a technical setup showing sustained weakness rather than a temporary dip. The 14-day RSI near 29 places Ethereum close to oversold territory, and while some analysts point to ETH spot ETF inflows and continued protocol development as longer-term positives, near-term price action tells a story of consolidation, not recovery. Vitalik Buterin’s own sale of ETH holdings earlier in 2026 added further pressure during the slide. Ethereum’s fundamentals as a smart contract platform remain intact, but the immediate technical structure offers little for investors looking for near-term upside.

Cardano News: Whale buying meets falling activity The biggest Cardano News this week is a split between accumulation and decline. ADA closed June at $0.1453, down nearly 40% for the month, even as wallets holding 10 million to 100 million ADA grew their share of supply from 37.66% to 38.13%, signaling whale conviction despite the drop. But on-chain activity tells a weaker story: daily transactions fell to around 17,400, a 45-day low, and smart contract transactions dropped sharply from a June 5 peak near 26,000. 

A separate exploit drained roughly $2.4 million in ADA from 374 addresses in late June, though EMURGO has confirmed a recovery path for affected wallets. Support sits near $0.1435, with resistance at $0.1596, leaving ADA in a fragile technical position heading into July.

The bottom line Ethereum and Cardano will likely recover eventually; they usually do. But “eventually” isn’t a strategy, and right now both are stuck defending support levels with no clear catalyst in sight, while an entirely different sector is pulling in capital at a pace neither can currently match. That’s the actual choice in front of anyone deciding where to put money this month: wait for two established assets to rebuild what they’ve lost, or get positioned early in a category still building its floor upward instead of downward. Stargate LLM’s presale, running Batch 1 at 50X below its launch target, is built specifically for that second option. ADA and ETH aren’t going anywhere. The question is whether the next twelve months belong to them catching back up, or to whoever got into AI before the rotation finished.

For more information, visit the official website, buy Stargare, X, and Telegram.

Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.

The crypto market has entered July with a more stable tone after several months of heavy selling. Bitcoin has managed to reclaim the $61,000 range, while major altcoins are attempting to establish stronger support levels ahead of the second half of the year.

Although uncertainty remains, many investors are beginning to reposition their portfolios for the next market cycle.

Some continue favoring established blockchain ecosystems, while others are allocating capital toward earlier-stage AI projects. Among the names attracting the most attention are Binance Coin (BNB), HyperLiquid (HYPE), and MemeToro ($MT), alongside other projects that continue expanding despite challenging market conditions.

1. Binance Coin (BNB) BNB continues proving why it remains one of the strongest large-cap cryptocurrencies.

The token is currently trading between $562 and $590, comfortably holding above the important $580 support zone despite broader market weakness. Although it remains roughly 55% below its all-time high of $1,370, network activity has stayed consistent.

Several developments continue supporting long-term confidence.

BNB Chain developers are preparing for the upcoming Osaka hard fork, which aims to improve gas efficiency while introducing a new AI software development kit for builders. Combined with Binance’s regular token burn mechanism, the ecosystem continues expanding even during slower market conditions.

Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick recently noted that while short-term consolidation between $550 and $620 remains likely, the bank continues maintaining a long-term $1,050 target based on the network’s deflationary design and growing utility.

2. MemeToro ($MT) MemeToro ($MT) represents one of the leading AI-focused presales currently available.

Rather than building around one blockchain product, the platform combines artificial intelligence with automated memecoin creation, decentralized prediction markets, SocialFi participation, behavioral finance, and staking inside one ecosystem.

Its AI Agent continuously monitors online discussions, market narratives, cultural trends, and social activity before autonomously supporting fair no-code token launches.

Users can also participate in decentralized prediction markets covering cryptocurrencies, politics, sports, entertainment, and global events using both $MT and BNB.

This broader ecosystem has helped distinguish MemeToro ($MT) from many traditional meme-focused projects.

3. HyperLiquid (HYPE) HyperLiquid remains one of the most closely watched Layer-1 ecosystems entering the second half of the year.

The project is currently navigating a $645 million Core Contributor token unlock, an event many traders expected to create heavy selling pressure.

However, the network’s buyback model continues helping absorb new supply.

Approximately 99% of daily trading fees are routed into automated token buybacks through the Assistance Fund, creating ongoing demand during periods of increased volatility.

The ecosystem has also benefited from institutional participation.

Three US spot HYPE ETFs have already attracted more than $300 million in cumulative inflows, helping reinforce market confidence despite short-term uncertainty.

4. Bitcoin Although technically not an altcoin, Bitcoin continues influencing every major investment decision across the crypto market.

The asset has stabilized between $61,000 and $63,000, recovering from its previous decline toward $58,200. Analysts continue watching the 20-day EMA near $62,450, which remains the key resistance level before any broader move toward $66,600.

Meanwhile, exchange outflows remain elevated, suggesting long-term holders continue accumulating despite cautious institutional sentiment.

5. Ethereum Ethereum completes the list despite its difficult first half of the year.

The network entered July near $1,570 after recording its first-ever stretch of three consecutive negative quarters. Even with weaker price performance, Ethereum remains the largest smart contract ecosystem and continues attracting developers across decentralized finance, tokenization, and blockchain infrastructure.

Many long-term investors continue viewing current prices as part of a broader accumulation phase rather than a structural decline.

MemeToro Keeps the Momentum High in Stage 3 Unlike the established cryptocurrencies on this list, MemeToro is still progressing through its public presale.

The project has currently raised $62000+ toward its $79480 Stage 3 target. Each $MT token remains priced at $0.00154, with future presale stages introducing scheduled price increases.

The token has a fixed supply of 1.2 billion, with 71% allocated directly to public participants. Investors can join the official presale using BNB, ETH, USDT, USDC, or a bank card.

Beyond the presale, holders gain access to the platform’s AI-powered ecosystem, including automated memecoin creation, decentralized prediction markets, SocialFi participation, behavioral finance tools, and 35% APR staking rewards.

Which Projects Stand Out This Month? July presents investors with several different opportunities depending on their strategy.

BNB continues benefiting from steady ecosystem development and upcoming network upgrades, while HyperLiquid combines institutional ETF support with one of the strongest buyback models currently operating in crypto. Ethereum remains a long-term infrastructure leader despite recent weakness.

MemeToro ($MT) offers a different opportunity by giving investors access to an AI-powered ecosystem before exchange listings begin. Get your $MT tokens before the price changes.

More Information on MemeToro ($MT) Presale Here:

Website: https://memetoro.com/

X: https://x.com/memetoro_mt

Telegram: https://t.me/memetoro_mt

Follow our Telegram and Twitter account now for exclusive news, analytics and on-chain data!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Bitcoin’s blockchain is fully transparent, publicly recording every transaction, amount, and address, while Zcash offers optional shielded transactions using zk-SNARK zero-knowledge proof cryptography. Both cryptocurrencies share a 21 million coin supply cap and a halving mechanism, but Zcash allocates a portion of block rewards to ecosystem development funding. Approximately 30% of all circulating ZEC is held in shielded pools as of mid-2026, up from roughly 8% in 2024, signaling genuine growth in privacy adoption. Zcash’s market cap reached nearly $10 billion in 2026, making it the largest privacy coin and overtaking Monero, though still a fraction of Bitcoin’s market value. Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 mining algorithm, while Zcash uses Equihash, originally designed to resist ASIC mining hardware but now also supporting ASIC miners. The most fundamental difference between Bitcoin and Zcash is how each network handles transaction privacy. Bitcoin operates a fully transparent blockchain. Every transaction, wallet address, and amount transferred is permanently visible on the public ledger. Blockchain analysis services like Chainalysis can link wallet activity and trace fund flows across the entire Bitcoin network.

Zcash uses zero-knowledge proofs, specifically a construction called zk-SNARKs, to enable shielded transactions. The Zcash documentation describes two address types: transparent t-addresses that function identically to Bitcoin addresses, and shielded z-addresses that encrypt sender, receiver, and transaction amounts. Transactions between two z-addresses are fully private, while transactions involving t-addresses remain publicly visible.

Edward Snowden has stated that Bitcoin’s lack of privacy represents its biggest structural weakness. BeInCrypto reported his remarks in November 2025, where he argued that Bitcoin was failing as an electronic cash system because cash is largely intended to be anonymous. This perspective gained traction as blockchain surveillance tools became more sophisticated through 2025 and 2026.

CryptoTimes reported that approximately 30% of all circulating ZEC sits in shielded pools as of mid-2026, up from roughly 8% in 2024. The publication noted that this growth matters for two reasons: it signals genuine privacy adoption rather than speculative holding, and it effectively removes those coins from liquid trading markets.

Supply Economics and Mining Algorithm Differences Bitcoin and Zcash share the same supply cap of 21 million coins, and both employ proof-of-work consensus with periodic halving events. Bitcoin launched in January 2009 and has completed four halvings. Zcash launched in October 2016 and follows a similar halving schedule with roughly four-year intervals.

The mining algorithms differ significantly. Bitcoin uses SHA-256, which is now dominated by specialized ASIC mining hardware produced by companies like Bitmain. Zcash uses Equihash, an algorithm originally designed to be ASIC-resistant and favor GPU mining.

However, ASIC miners for Equihash now exist, and the Zcash community voted against ASIC-resistant protocol updates in 2018, citing security concerns, as documented by Commodity.com.

Zcash diverges from Bitcoin in its funding model. A portion of each mined block reward is allocated to ecosystem development funds. During the first four years, 10% of block rewards went to the Founders’ Reward fund distributed among the Electric Coin Company, the Zcash Foundation, and initial investors.

This structure ensures ongoing protocol development but reduces the share of rewards available to miners compared to Bitcoin.

Analysis: Bitcoin’s lack of a development fund creates a decentralization advantage in governance but introduces dependency on voluntary contributions and corporate sponsorship for protocol maintenance. Zcash’s funded approach guarantees development resources but introduces a risk of governance centralization.

The trade-off reflects fundamentally different philosophies about how open-source monetary networks should sustain themselves.

Institutional Adoption and Market Position in 2026 Bitcoin holds a dominant position in institutional adoption. Spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024 and pulled in $87 billion since inception, according to Plisio research. Bitcoin’s market cap sits near $1.5 trillion, and it trades on every major exchange with deep derivatives markets.

The Motley Fool noted that Iran’s parliament named Bitcoin specifically as an accepted settlement asset for its Strait of Hormuz toll system in late March 2026.

Zcash occupies a different market position entirely. Its market cap reached approximately $10 billion in 2026 after a 1,200% rally from pre-halving lows, CryptoTimes reported. Multicoin Capital co-founder Tushar Jain disclosed the firm had been building a significant ZEC position since February 2026.

Grayscale filed to convert its Zcash Trust into a spot ETF, which held 391,103.89 ZEC worth approximately $99.4 million as of March 2026.

The Bitcoin Foundation reported that the privacy coin sector’s total market capitalization surpassed $30 billion by mid-2026, with over 70 exchange delistings and bans occurring across the EU, Dubai, Japan, and South Korea over the prior five years.

Despite these restrictions, Zcash’s opt-in privacy model has made it more palatable to institutions than Monero’s mandatory privacy, according to Investing News coverage.

Analysis: The institutional gap between Bitcoin and Zcash reflects regulatory reality more than technological merit. Bitcoin’s transparency enables compliance with anti-money laundering frameworks, while Zcash’s optional privacy creates a middle ground. Grayscale’s ETF filing represents the first test of whether regulators will approve a privacy-coin investment product for U.S. retail investors.

Regulatory Implications Regulatory risk remains Zcash’s primary structural challenge. Multiple exchanges have restricted or delisted privacy coins due to AML compliance concerns. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework and travel rule implementations have intensified scrutiny of privacy-preserving transactions. 

Zcash’s selective disclosure feature, which allows users to share transaction details with auditors while maintaining default privacy, may offer a compliance pathway that fully opaque protocols cannot match.

What’s Next? Zcash is actively developing quantum-resistant protections under its FCMP++ upgrade and working on quantum recovery mechanisms for shielded funds. Grayscale’s spot Zcash ETF application remains pending with the SEC. 

Bitcoin’s institutional adoption trajectory continues, driven by ETF inflows and sovereign-level recognition. The two assets serve fundamentally different use cases: Bitcoin as a transparent reserve asset and Zcash as a privacy-preserving transaction layer. All price projections are speculative and should not be treated as financial guidance.

FAQs What is the main difference between Zcash and Bitcoin?
Bitcoin records all transactions publicly on a transparent ledger, while Zcash offers optional shielded transactions using zk-SNARK cryptography that hides sender, receiver, and amounts.

Do Zcash and Bitcoin have the same supply cap?
Both cryptocurrencies cap their maximum supply at 21 million coins and use proof-of-work consensus with periodic halving events that reduce mining rewards approximately every four years.

What mining algorithm does Zcash use, compared to Bitcoin?
Bitcoin uses SHA-256 dominated by ASIC miners, while Zcash uses Equihash, originally designed for GPU resistance but now also supporting ASIC mining hardware after a community vote.

Is Zcash fully private by default in all transactions?
Zcash privacy is optional; users choose between transparent t-addresses that work like Bitcoin and shielded z-addresses that encrypt transaction details using zero-knowledge proofs.

Can institutions invest in Zcash as they invest in Bitcoin?
Institutional Zcash access remains limited compared to Bitcoin, though Grayscale filed to convert its Zcash Trust into a spot ETF in 2026, holding approximately $99.4 million.

Why have exchanges delisted privacy coins like Zcash in some regions?
Exchanges in the EU, Japan, South Korea, and Dubai restricted privacy coins due to anti-money laundering compliance concerns, though Zcash’s optional privacy model faces fewer restrictions.

What percentage of Zcash supply is held in shielded pools?
Approximately 30% of circulating ZEC sits in shielded pools as of mid-2026, a significant increase from roughly 8% in 2024, indicating growing privacy adoption among users.

References Zcash Documentation, ‘Zcash Basics’ CryptoTimes, ‘What Is Zcash? How the Leading Privacy Coin Works,’ May 2026 BeInCrypto, ‘Could Zcash Overtake Bitcoin in the Privacy Era?,’ November 2025 The Motley Fool, ‘Better Store of Value: Bitcoin vs. Zcash,’ April 2026

Germany’s seized Bitcoin stash is back at the centre of the market conversation after wallets linked to the country’s Federal Criminal Police Office moved another large tranche of BTC toward major exchanges.

For more details, visit the official Arkham platform.

TL;DR Arkham-tracked wallets tied to Germany’s BKA have continued sending Bitcoin to exchanges.The flows are being watched closely because exchange deposits can signal potential selling pressure.The story is less about one transfer and more about how much supply the market can absorb. The important detail is where the coins are going. Transfers to Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, and other exchange-linked destinations are not the same as cold-storage reshuffling. They usually make traders ask whether more supply is about to hit the order books.

A Government Wallet Becomes A Market Signal State-held Bitcoin does not move like ordinary whale supply. The wallets are visible, the balances are large, and the market tends to react before anyone can say with certainty whether coins have actually been sold. That is why the German wallet has become one of the most watched addresses in crypto this week.

The selling risk comes at an awkward time for Bitcoin. Spot ETF demand has been choppy, macro traders are still watching rate-cut expectations, and older supply events such as Mt. Gox repayments are also sitting in the background. Put together, the market is dealing with a cleaner version of an old problem: even bullish structure can wobble when too much BTC appears to be heading toward exchanges at once.

What Traders Should Watch The next question is whether these transfers become actual sell orders, and whether buyers are deep enough to absorb them without a sharper move lower. Exchange inflows alone do not prove a sale has happened, but they do tighten the window between potential supply and market impact.

For now, the BKA-linked wallet is not just an on-chain curiosity. It is a live supply story, and Bitcoin traders will keep watching every move until the exchange flows slow down or the market proves it can take the pressure.

This report is based on wallet data from Arkham Intelligence.

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

For most of 2026, gold, silver and Bitcoin have been a painful place to put money.

The reason is not hard to find: a fast-shifting outlook for Federal Reserve policy.

The year opened with hopes for rate cuts. Then the war in Iran sent energy prices surging, revived inflation, and flipped the market’s bet from lower rates to higher ones.

For gold, silver and Bitcoin, assets that pay no yield and rise or fall on the path of interest rates, that shift was brutal.

Now, almost in unison, all three are rebounding again, for the very same reason they lost it, only in reverse.

An Oil-Driven DisinflationThe Cleveland Fed’s inflation nowcast now shows negative month-over-month readings for both June and July, with headline consumer prices running at minus 0.06% and minus 0.22%, respectively.

WTI crude has slumped to around $68 a barrel, back to where it traded at the end of February before the war began.

That collapse has a clear source.

Since the United States and Iran agreed in mid-June to halt fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that had been largely closed since February, Gulf supply has flooded back.

Saudi Aramco just cut the official price of its flagship Arab Light grade to Asia for August by $11 a barrel, swinging it from a $9.50 premium to a $1.50 discount over the regional benchmark, as reported by Bloomberg on Monday.

It was the biggest reduction in at least 26 years and far deeper than the $8 cut analysts had expected.

The Hike Narrative May Lose Its FuelOn the surface, the hawkish case is still standing.

The U.S. economy is expanding at around 2%, with recent core inflation prints in the 3%-4% annualized range, which, on its own, argues for tighter policy.

“The question for hikes seems to be one of when, not if,” said Enrique Díaz-Alvarez, chief economist at Ebury.

Underneath, the data has moved the other way.

The U.S. economy added just 57,000 nonfarm payrolls in June, well short of the roughly 110,000 economists expected, with prior months revised lower.

Traders moved quickly. Odds of a September rate hike, tracked via CME FedWatch, slid from around 66% to near 53%, and the policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield eased toward 4.13%.

At the European Central Bank’s Sintra forum, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation expectations “have come down in recent weeks,” reinforcing the softer tone.

The New York Fed’s May survey put one-year inflation expectations at 3.5%, versus 3.1% three years out, a gap that Ed Yardeni reads as a sign that households see today’s price pressure as temporary rather than structural.

Futures markets had been pricing a rising chance of hikes into year-end, with a nearly one-in-five probability of a target range as high as 4.00% to 4.25% by December.

That pricing is now eroding.

Why Gold, Silver And Bitcoin Are The Unwind Trade22V Research’s strategist Jordi Visser laid out the mechanics.

“If the Fed-hike positioning unwinds, it’s good for gold, silver, and Bitcoin,” Visser said.

The logic runs through positioning. When the market prices in high rates, the opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset rises, and Treasurys look more appealing.

When those rate-hike odds unwind, the calculation reverses just as fast. A dovish repricing hands back exactly what a hawkish one took away.

Gold and Bitcoin are now moving almost in lockstep, their 60-day correlation at 0.92, a sign the two are trading as a single macro expression of the same rate view.

What’s Next? The relief rally in Bitcoin, gold and silver rests on one assumption: that the disinflation is real and durable. It may not be.

The drop is almost entirely energy. Core inflation, which strips out food and fuel, remains firm, with the Fed’s preferred core PCE gauge last at 3.4%, and average hourly earnings still running around 3.5% year-over-year.

That keeps Warsh’s inflation-first Fed in a policy box. The decisive data point is the June CPI report due July 14.

For now, the takeaway is simple: the trade that punished gold, silver and Bitcoin all year has begun to reverse, and its staying power hinges on upcoming data.

Photo: Shutterstock

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.

Why Did Strategy Sell Bitcoin? Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for approximately $216 million last week, marking a notable shift for the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder as it used part of its crypto reserve to fund preferred stock distributions and rebuild its dollar liquidity buffer.

The company said in an SEC filing that it sold 1,363 BTC for $80.8 million between June 29 and June 30 at an average price of $59,256 per bitcoin. It sold another 2,225 BTC for $135.2 million between July 1 and July 5 at an average price of $60,773.

The proceeds were used to pay distributions on preferred stock and replenish part of the company’s USD reserve, which stood at $2.55 billion as of July 5. The move follows Strategy’s recent adoption of a Digital Credit Capital Framework, which requires its dollar reserve to be used only for preferred stock dividends and interest payments.

For investors, the sale matters because Strategy has long been treated as a one-way corporate bitcoin accumulator. The latest filing shows the company is now prepared to monetize part of its holdings when its capital structure requires liquidity, even while it remains heavily exposed to bitcoin.

How Large Are Strategy’s Remaining Bitcoin Holdings? Strategy still holds 843,775 BTC, worth around $52.3 billion at current prices. The company acquired those holdings at an average price of $74,476 per bitcoin, for a total cost of about $63.7 billion, including fees and expenses, according to co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor.

That leaves the company with holdings equal to more than 4% of bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap. It also leaves Strategy carrying roughly $11.4 billion in paper losses at current prices, based on the difference between the market value of its bitcoin and its aggregate purchase cost.

The latest sale does not meaningfully reduce Strategy’s dominant position among corporate bitcoin holders. It does, however, change how investors may read the company’s treasury strategy. Bitcoin is no longer only an asset being accumulated. It is also a liquidity source tied to preferred dividends, interest obligations, reserve coverage, and potential buybacks.

Strategy said it recorded an $8.32 billion loss on digital assets during the second quarter, including an $8.31 billion unrealized loss and a $0.9 million realized loss. Because the market value of its bitcoin fell below its purchase cost at quarter-end, the company also said it will fully offset the related deferred tax benefit with a valuation allowance.

Investor Takeaway Strategy remains a leveraged bitcoin proxy, but the sale introduces a new investor question: whether bitcoin will be used more often as a funding tool when preferred stock obligations, credit securities, or reserve targets require cash.

What Does The Digital Credit Framework Change? Strategy’s new Digital Credit Capital Framework gives its balance sheet a more formal liquidity structure. The company’s board-approved policy requires the USD reserve to cover at least 12 months of preferred stock dividends and interest payments. The reserve rose to $2.55 billion from $1.4 billion a week earlier.

The company also authorized a $1 billion Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program covering STRC, STRF, STRD, and STRK, with STRC expected to be the initial priority. A new STRC Dividend Policy gives management discretion to review the dividend rate monthly based on market conditions, bitcoin prices, credit spreads, reserve coverage, and other factors.

STRC had previously been a key funding tool for Strategy’s bitcoin acquisitions and currently carries an annualized rate of 12%. But it has struggled to regain its $100 par value since mid-May, limiting its usefulness as a funding channel for fresh bitcoin purchases. STRC closed at $87.87 on Thursday after previously falling to $71.25 as bitcoin dropped below $60,000.

Strategy also approved a separate $1 billion Class A common stock repurchase program, which will not be funded from the USD reserve. In addition, it introduced a BTC Monetization Program that allows the company to sell bitcoin to raise up to $1.25 billion for the reserve, preferred stock dividends and interest payments, or repurchases of digital credit securities and common stock. The full capacity remained available as of July 5, the company said.

Does The Sale Create New Risk For Bitcoin Markets? The formal bitcoin sale policy introduces a more complex market profile for Strategy. The company has historically been viewed as a major source of corporate bitcoin demand. A policy that allows bitcoin sales means it can also become a source of supply when balance sheet needs require cash.

Analysts at JPMorgan described the shift as creating “avoidable two-way risk” because Strategy may now act as both a buyer and seller of bitcoin. That does not imply forced selling is imminent, but it changes the market’s reading of Strategy’s role. Its treasury model is now tied not only to bitcoin conviction, but also to credit spreads, dividend obligations, reserve policy, and investor demand for its securities.

Other analysts have argued that forced selling remains unlikely because of Strategy’s balance sheet position. The company has still bought about 175,000 BTC for roughly $14 billion so far in 2026, keeping it far ahead of other public companies that have adopted bitcoin treasury models.

Per Bitcoin Treasuries data, 197 public companies have adopted some form of bitcoin acquisition strategy. Tether-backed Twenty One, Metaplanet, MARA, and Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company make up the rest of the top 5, with 43,514 BTC, 43,000 BTC, 36,303 BTC, and 30,021 BTC, respectively.

Investor Takeaway The market risk is not that Strategy has abandoned bitcoin. The risk is that its capital structure now makes bitcoin sales part of the toolkit, which could weigh on sentiment during periods of weak prices, stressed credit spreads, or pressure on preferred securities.

How Are Markets Reading Strategy’s Shift? Bitcoin dropped about 2% on Monday after the filing. Strategy shares were also down in pre-market trading, although the stock had gained 21.1% overall last week following the Digital Credit Capital Framework announcement. The stock closed Thursday at $100.77 but remains sharply lower over the past year.

The market reaction shows the tension in Strategy’s model. Investors may welcome a larger reserve, a more formal credit framework, and buyback capacity, but bitcoin sales challenge the company’s long-running accumulation narrative.

Saylor continued to frame bitcoin as the company’s central asset, posting another acquisition tracker chart with the caption, “Bitcoin is digital energy.” He also argued that bitcoin’s next growth phase will be driven less by protocol changes and halving cycles and more by institutional capital, credit markets, and financial infrastructure around the network.

That argument remains central to Strategy’s investment case. The company is trying to turn bitcoin holdings into a broader capital markets structure supported by preferred stock, credit securities, reserves, buybacks, and selective monetization. The immediate test is whether investors view that as financial discipline or as a sign that the bitcoin treasury model is becoming harder to manage when prices fall below cost basis.