Enjin Coin (ENJ) is a protocol aiming to create and manage virtual goods using Blockchain technology on the Ethereum Blockchain. In this article, you can find answers to two frequently asked questions: What is Enjin Coin (ENJ) and how to buy Enjin Coin (ENJ) with TRY.
What is Enjin Coin (ENJ)?Enjin Coin is a protocol aiming to create and manage virtual goods using Blockchain technology on the Ethereum Blockchain. Enjin Coin provides developers with tools to seamlessly create and integrate digital assets, addressing long-standing issues of high fees and fraud in the transfer of in-game items and collectibles.
Enjin Coin offers software development kits (SDKs) that allow developers to create and manage digital assets on the Ethereum Blockchain. These SDKs enable developers to mint customizable assets and register them on smart contracts, leveraging the advantages of cryptocurrency such as speed, cost-effectiveness, and security.
At the heart of the ecosystem is the ENJ coin, the main network asset. Every in-game item created on the Enjin Coin platform is assigned a value in ENJ coin, providing a unified currency for transactions within the gaming ecosystem.
The primary use of Enjin Coin is to allow users to manage and store virtual goods for games. These products can range from in-game currencies to tokens representing unique game items. Enjin Coin facilitates the creation, exchange, and destruction of these items through a streamlined process.
Enjin Coin offers a native smart wallet that serves as a central hub for users to store and trade their digital assets. The wallet allows users to value their inventory across multiple games, trade with other users, and sell their digital products for ENJ coin, enhancing accessibility and liquidity within the Enjin Coin ecosystem.
How to Buy Enjin Coin (ENJ) with TRY?Binance TR is the most suitable cryptocurrency exchange for investors in Turkey who want to buy Enjin Coin (ENJ). On Binance TR, where you can quickly create an account, more than 100 cryptocurrencies, including ENJ, can be bought and sold. Follow these steps to buy Enjin Coin (ENJ) with TRY on Binance TR.
How to Open an Account on Binance TR?Opening an account on Binance TR is quite easy. Go to trbinance.com and continue from the “Create Account” step. In the first step of account creation, you will be asked to enter basic information such as email address, phone number, name-surname, date of birth, nationality, and T.C. identity number.
After entering the requested information completely and correctly, an email/SMS verification will be done to confirm the information. After completing this process, you will proceed to the second step, identity verification (KYC).
How to Verify an Account on Binance TR?Identity verification on Binance TR is one of the security procedures that must be completed before starting cryptocurrency trading and during account creation. This process is also necessary to protect both the user and the cryptocurrency exchange. You can choose to complete the verification process from your phone or the official Binance TR website. Note that you will also need your mobile phone to verify your identity from the website.
On the Binance TR website, hover over the “Profile” option at the top right, click on “Identity Verification and Limits” from the drop-down menu, and then click on “Verify”. After this step, you will need to scan the QR code that appears with your phone’s camera and continue the process on your phone. If you cannot scan the QR code, click on the “Copy URL” option to send the identity verification address to your phone via SMS.
When you enter the address on your phone or scan the QR code, a screen like the one below will open on your phone. From here, first tap on the “Identity” option to continue.
Then a screen like the one below will appear. To continue the verification process, first select the document type that suits you.
After selecting the document type, you can continue by tapping on the “Upload front side” option. After taking a photo of the front side of the document according to the document type you selected, tap on the “Upload back side” option and take a photo of the back side of the document and upload it. Make sure that the images are clear and the information in the photos you take can be easily read when taking photos of the front and back sides of your ID card or driver’s license.
Then you can continue by tapping on the “Selfie” option. At this point, your phone’s front camera will open, and you will need to scan your face. After the camera opens, make sure your face fills the camera area as much as possible.
After completing all these steps accurately and completely, your identity verification process will be completed in a short time.
How to Deposit TL on Binance TR?You can easily deposit TL into your Binance TR account from all banks. You can deposit and trade TL 24/7 from your Vakıfbank, Ziraat Bankası, İş Bankası, Akbank, Fibabanka, Şekerbank, and Türkiye Finans accounts without interruption. For other banks, you can deposit up to 50,000 TL 24/7 with FAST. Deposits over 50,000 TL from other banks are processed during EFT hours.
To deposit money into your Binance TR account, first go to trbinance.com, hover over the “Wallet” option at the top left of the main page, and click on the “Deposit” option from the drop-down menu.
Then a page like the one below will open, and you can continue the deposit process by selecting the bank you prefer. If the bank you prefer is not yet integrated with Binance TR, you should continue by clicking on the “Other Banks” option.
In this example, we will continue using Vakıfbank, but the process is the same for all other banks. When you click on the Vakıfbank option, you will see an account name and IBAN address where you can make a transfer, EFT, or FAST to that bank. Now, all you need to do is transfer the amount you want to deposit into your Binance TR account using the information displayed on the page of the bank you chose.
After your bank completes the transfer process, the funds you sent will automatically be reflected in your Binance TR account wallet.
How to Buy ENJ Coin with TL on Binance TR?After the deposit process, you can proceed to the TL to ENJ coin purchase step by clicking on the “Buy-Sell” option in the top left menu of the Binance TR website.
After clicking on this option, the page below will open. By typing “ENJ” in the search section on the right side of this page and clicking on the ENJ/TRY option from the results, you can go to the TL to ENJ purchase page.
Now the ENJ trading page below will open. In this page, in the area marked with a red box, you need to enter the price at which you want to buy ENJ in the first box and the number of ENJ you want to buy in the second box. After entering the amount, you can complete your purchase by clicking the “Buy ENJ” button.
What is Binance TR?Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, officially launched its platform Binance TR for cryptocurrency investors in Turkey in 2020. The cryptocurrency exchange, headquartered in Istanbul, can be accessed at trbinance.com.
Binance TR offers both fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto trading services by leveraging Binance’s technology, security measures, and liquidity provided through the Binance Cloud infrastructure. Users in Turkey can seamlessly deposit and withdraw Turkish lira (TRY) directly through bank channels and trade various cryptocurrencies with TRY trading pairs via Binance TR.
Users are supported with Binance’s core functionalities, gaining access to market-leading spot trading liquidity, a powerful matching engine, advanced security protocols, custody solutions, and risk controls through Binance TR.
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.
PANews reported on April 16th that, according to SoSoValue data, expectations of a US-Iran ceasefire boosted market confidence, leading to a general rebound in the crypto market. The GameFi sector performed particularly well, rising 5.38% in the last 24 hours. Among them, Enjin Coin (ENJ) surged 50.96%, and ImmutableX (IMX) rose 9.13%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) rose 0.07%, fluctuating narrowly around $74,000; Ethereum (ETH) rose 0.73%, remaining above $2,300.
In other sectors, Layer 2 rose 3.39% in the last 24 hours, with Starknet (STRK) up 8.36%; PayFi rose 2.31%, with XRP (XRP) up 2.87%; Meme rose 2.08%, with SPX6900 (SPX) up 6.63%; AI rose 1.75%, with Siren (SIREN) up 18.99%; DeFi rose 1.35%, with EdgeX (EDGE) up 13.05%; Layer 1 rose 0.88%, with Algorand (ALGO) up 3.59%; and CeFi rose 0.66%, with Gate (GT) up 2.60%.
Physical gold prices climbed to their highest level in a month as safe-haven demand spiked amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
At the same time, the move into bullion is spilling into digital markets. On-chain data shows a surge in the accumulation of tokenized gold assets.
Gold Prices Advance as Investors Seek SafetyGold rose 2% on March 2, reaching an intraday high of $5,394 per ounce, its highest level since January 30. At press time, the price had adjusted to $5,363.7.
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Gold Price on March 2. Source: TradingViewThe catalyst was direct: US and Israeli strikes on Iran sparked safe-haven flows into precious metals across global markets. Monday’s flare-up injected additional momentum into the precious metal’s broader rally. Gold has delivered notable returns, rising approximately 65% in 2025 alone.
For crypto participants, the timing mattered. With digital asset markets simultaneously experiencing renewed volatility, tokenized gold offered a path to preserve gold exposure without relying on traditional finance rails.
Major Purchases Highlight Tokenized Gold DemandOn-chain analytics firm Lookonchain identified an inactive wallet that spent $1 million USDC to buy PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) tokens. The address, labeled 0x1C70, performed multiple swaps over several hours and still holds $4 million USDC.
“The wallet still holds 4M USDC and may buy more,” Lookonchain said.
Additionally, an Ethereum whale rotated holdings from ETH into XAUT while accepting a realized loss. OnchainLens reported that the wallet (0x744b) swapped 1,000 ETH, valued at $1.94 million, for 358.49 XAUT at $5,413, incurring a loss of over $60,000.
“Over the past 2 years, the whale received 1,645 ETH for $3.26 million and still holds 645 ETH ($1.25 million),” the post read.
Meanwhile, London-based asset manager Abraxas Capital Management’s gold holdings also rose. An on-chain analyst, citing data from blockchain intelligence platform Arkham Intelligence, reported that the firm received 28,723 XAUT tokens, valued at $151 million, from Tether’s treasury. The transfer marked the largest XAUT transaction recorded in the past three weeks.
“Interesting fact: Heka Funds (Abraxas Capital) is one of Tether’s largest and most important institutional clients. At one point, it held 1.5% of the total USDT supply. Among Tether’s publicly disclosed on-chain address clusters, it currently ranks as the second-largest entity by interaction volume,” the analyst added.
The increase in tokenized gold accumulation corresponds with greater interest in alternative stores of value within crypto. Investors may favor gold-backed tokens for price stability and potential gains linked to metals markets, while risking less from the volatility typical of many digital assets.
BeInCrypto recently reported that the tokenized gold sector has recorded significant expansion, with its market capitalization now exceeding $6 billion. Furthermore, according to CoinGecko, daily trading volumes for both XAUT and PAXG surpassed $1 billion yesterday, signaling strong investor demand.
Whether this is a temporary flight to safety or marks a sustained move toward commodity-backed digital tokens remains a question as March 2026 progresses and more on-chain data emerges.
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PANews reported on March 30 that, according to Cointelegraph, Walmart-owned OnePay added SUI, Polygon, and Arbitrum to its cryptocurrency portfolio last Thursday. In the preceding days, the platform had already listed 10 tokens, including Solana, Cardano, BitcoinCash, and PAXGold, bringing the total number of newly added cryptocurrency tokens to more than ten.
OnePay launched its cryptocurrency service in January of this year, initially offering only Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. Ron Rojany, General Manager of OnePay's Core Applications and Crypto Business, stated that the platform will cautiously expand into crypto assets, prioritizing asset demand, liquidity, regulatory clarity, and long-term usability, focusing on meeting users' actual needs rather than chasing popular assets. OnePay positions itself as a US version of WeChat, a super app that already offers high-yield savings, credit cards, loans, and other banking services. Its digital wallet can be used for payments at Walmart physical stores and on the Walmart website.
US officials: Israel has withdrawn troops from parts of the buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
A U.S. State Department official said Israel has withdrawn from parts of the buffer zone in southern Lebanon, describing the move as a "goodwill gesture" toward the Lebanese government.
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CBRS trades below IPO price post-earnings: Erases all gains six weeks after listing, two smart money firms net $5.8 million from first-day IPO shorts.
According to Hyperinsight monitoring, Cerebras (CBRS), the AI chip firm previously dubbed "Nvidia’s strongest challenger", saw its stock price fall in stages after reporting its first quarterly results since going public, as negative guidance overshadowed better-than-expected performance. The stock has dropped roughly 22% since the earnings release and officially broke below its IPO price today. On-chain whales are overall bearish. CBRS trades at $184 on the Hyperliquid platform, down 7.7% in 24 hours. Large-scale short positions (million-dollar level) total around $11.62 million, 2.39 times the long positions ($4.87 million). Two major short positions were placed precisely at high levels as early as the IPO day or even before the IPO: - Whale 0xe0ff: Shorted at $284.51 on May 14 with a 3x leveraged position of $6.13 million, generating an unrealized profit of $3.24 million (+104%); - Whale 0x9996: Shorted at $275.92 on May 11 with a 5x leveraged position of $5.48 million, generating an unrealized profit of $2.64 million (+162%). It is learned that both addresses currently hold short positions in both CBRS and SPCX, and have recorded substantial unrealized profits, preferring to place short positions at high levels before or on the day of major stock listings. With the realization of negative earnings news in this round, the combined unrealized profit of the two positions is around $5.88 million. Currently, the average entry price of CBRS short whales is around $275, and the current price is over 30% lower than that. The nearest short liquidation line is at $200.13, about 7% away from the current price.
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Multiple high-performing domestic public mutual fund products have tightened their purchase restrictions.
E Fund Management announced in its latest filing that the E Fund Information Industry Select Fund, managed by Zheng Xi, has cut its purchase limit to 10,000 yuan. The same purchase limit reduction to 10,000 yuan applies to another fund under his management, E Fund Information Industry Fund, while E Fund Global Growth Select Hybrid Fund (QDII) has lowered its purchase limit to 10 yuan. In addition, Guolianan Preferred Industry Fund, Harvest Tech Innovation Fund, and Principal Performance-Driven Fund have also announced purchase limits or adjustments to their limits recently. Jin Zicai, a fund manager closely watched by the market, imposed additional purchase limits on multiple public offering funds under his management, with the four funds involved cutting their purchase limits to 500 yuan starting June 23. Purchase limits on high-performing funds likely stem from multiple considerations: they can avoid return dilution caused by short-term concentrated subscriptions, and proactive limits during overheated market conditions also send risk warning signals to the market. As the first half of the year draws to a close, such moves have become increasingly frequent. Overall, Wind data shows that since June alone, 19 funds with year-to-date net asset value returns exceeding 90% have suspended large subscriptions or adjusted their purchase caps. (Source: Cailian Press)
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The US stock market's optical communication sector rises across the board in pre-market trading, with Corning up 9.28%.
According to Bitget market data, the U.S. stock market's optical communication sector saw broad pre-market gains, with MRVL rising 4.99%, LITE up 3.24%, Nokia up 3.11%, Corning up 9.28%, and AXTI up 6.69%.
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US-listed AI chip stocks saw mixed pre-market performance, with Qualcomm surging 13%.
According to Bitget market data, U.S. AI chip stocks posted mixed pre-market performance: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) surged 13%, Intel (INTC.O) rose nearly 6%, AMD (AMD.O) gained nearly 4%, and Google (GOOG.O) declined 1.4%.
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Micron Technology surges 18% in pre-market trading on US stocks
According to Bitget market data, the US stock storage sector is seeing broad pre-market gains. Micron Technology (MU.O) jumps 18% in pre-market trading, as its strong earnings significantly exceeded expectations, with multiple major banks raising the stock’s target price. SanDisk (SNDK) rises 12.25%, Western Digital (WDC) gains 12.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) climbs 8.63%.
A new form of digital gold inches closer to debut as NatGold Digital announced on June 2 that its NATG token is ready for European market availability across all 30 European Economic Area member states — following the filing of its MiCA White Paper with the Central Bank of Ireland in April and its subsequent publication under Article 9 of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation on May 7, 2026, per the company’s official press release.
The announcement marks the most significant milestone yet for NatGold Digital, a Miami-based company pursuing what it calls “digital gold mining” — a patent-pending process that tokenizes the intrinsic value of verified, in-ground gold resources rather than physical gold held in a vault.
The distinction is fundamental. Where conventional gold-backed tokens like PAX Gold represent title to stored bullion, NATG represents certified ownership of gold that has not yet been extracted — a structure NatGold positions with its own tagline: “Not Gold. Not Bitcoin. The Natural Evolution of Both.”
BTC's price trends to the downside on the daily chart. Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview Digital Gold On The Blockchain: The MiCA Filing And What It Means The NATG MiCA White Paper was notified to the Central Bank of Ireland on April 3, 2026 — NatGold’s chosen EU regulatory anchor — and published in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on May 7. Per the press release, acceptance of the filing does not constitute approval or endorsement of NATG by any competent authority, nor should it be interpreted as a recommendation or assessment of the token’s merits — standard MiCA disclosure language that applies to all asset-referenced token issuers operating under the regulation’s notification framework.
The specific date of NATG’s European market availability will be announced separately, per the announcement. Under MiCA’s asset-referenced token framework, NATG would be accessible to eligible market participants across all EEA member states under the passporting provisions that allow a single national filing to unlock EU-wide distribution.
Andrés Fernández, CEO of NatGold Digital Ltd., said in the press release that NATG was designed from the beginning as a globally relevant digital asset, and that the international response to the company’s pre-market reservation program reinforced that the NatGold model speaks to audiences well beyond any single country or market.
The Demand Already Documented The pre-market figures provide context for the European ambition. NatGold’s reservation program, which closed to new participants on February 25, 2026, attracted 17,466 individuals across 162 countries reserving a combined 133,518 NATG tokens — representing more than $469 million in gross demand at the prevailing Baseline Intrinsic Value of $3,518 per token at time of closing, per NatGold’s official website.
The institutional infrastructure supporting the launch was completed on May 22, when NatGold announced the engagement of High Ridge Trust as independent custodian — the final component of the NATG tokenization ecosystem ahead of market launch, per an earlier PR Newswire announcement. Karen J. Wendel, President of High Ridge Trust, described the custody structure as designed to support operational integrity and institutional confidence across the ecosystem, per the May 22 release.
This development marks a pivotal moment for the nascent sector’s approach to commodity-backed digital assets in Europe, such as Gold. A MiCA-compliant gold token backed by certified in-ground resources — rather than vaulted bullion — entering 30 markets simultaneously represents a genuinely novel financial product test within the EU’s new regulatory framework, one that could expand how institutional and retail investors access gold exposure in the digital economy.
Cover image from Grok, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview
Today, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) released a document addressing the regulatory, supervisory, and oversight challenges raised by global stablecoins. The document, although only consultative in nature, reveals disturbing plans for a globally coordinated move against stablecoins of all varieties.
The FSB makes ten high-level recommendations addressed to central banks and G20 authorities at the jurisdictional level. More specifically, they recommend a unified global approach to the supervision and regulation of the fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies.
Furthermore, the FSB suggests to authorities that, if they can’t control and regulate fully decentralized stablecoins, they should consider banning them.
FSB Raises Regulatory Alarms Against Global Stablecoins The FSB’s primary focus is on the potential risks that stablecoins could pose to global financial stability, especially those targeted at retail investors. These fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies represent a risk to the financial stability of emerging markets and developing economies, read the document.
Moreover, the FSB argues that global stablecoins could pose significant governance challenges to central banks. The Board seems especially concerned with the macro-financial problems that could arise if, over time, citizens in both advanced and emerging market economies begin favoring stablecoins over existing fiat currencies.
The guidance is aimed at both advanced and emerging economies. Authorities in advanced economies are primarily concerned with stablecoins designed in a decentralized nature, seeing risks in their reliability as a store of value.
Jurisdictions in emerging market economies, meanwhile, express greater concern about foreign-currency-linked stablecoins substituting national currencies, retail deposits, or safe assets. They’re afraid that this could exacerbate bank runs and disintermediate the traditional financial institutions.
According to the FSB, another potential issue is that under distressed macroeconomic conditions—much like the current coronavirus pandemic—global stablecoins could essentially become a sort of a hybrid retail repo market for U.S. Dollars.
If left unchecked, global stablecoins could have a destabilizing effect on capital flows and local fiat exchange rates—especially so in emerging market economies, argued the international regulator.
Source: Financial Stability Board Who Is the Financial Stability Board? It is important to note here that, even though the FSB lacks formal legal power, its recommendations are still influential. One of its primary mandates is to monitor the systemic implications of financial technology innovations and the systemic risks arising from disruptions to central bank operations.
The Board is hosted and funded by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Its members are representatives of ministries of finance and central banks from all G20 member states, plus ten international organizations, including the IMF, BIS, ECB, the World Bank, and the European Commission.
In practice, the regulator holds a tremendous amount of clout.
The objective of the FSB’s recommendations is to help authorities determine how to mitigate the potential financial risks caused by “global stablecoins,” or GSCs.
More alarming, it includes “other crypto assets that could pose risks similar to some of those posed by GSCs because of comparable international reach, scale, and use,” perhaps alluding to Bitcoin.
This isn’t the first reference to drastic action from the FSB. The regulator was asked to come up with specific recommendations on stablecoins back in February.
Recommendations on Stablecoins to Governments and Central Banks The Board makes ten recommendations concerning the regulation of stablecoins, in the aforementioned document. Among them are a couple that may cause alarm in the cryptocurrency community.
“Authorities should have the ability to mitigate risks associated with or prohibit the use of certain or specific stablecoins in their jurisdictions where these do not meet the applicable regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements.”
The FSB recommends that relevant authorities should utilize necessary powers to regulate, control and even prohibit any and all activities related to operating, issuing, managing, providing custody, and the trade or exchange related to global stablecoins.
This could be dire for the likes of Tether and other international stablecoin operators. To make things clear, the FSB defines a global stablecoin as having “ potential reach and adoption across multiple jurisdictions and the potential to achieve substantial volume.”
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“Authorities should apply regulatory requirements to GSC arrangements on a functional basis and proportionate to their risks.”
Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank (ECB) refers to this principle as “the golden rule of supervision,” otherwise known as the “same business, same risk, same rules” approach.
This means that cryptocurrency issuers can no longer operate in a gray zone. Stablecoins will now have to play on a leveled playing field, adhere to the same rules as banks, e-money issuers, and large payment processors.
If central banks determine that particular GSC arrangements fit the definition of a “systemically important payment system,” then they’ll also fall under the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures or PFMI.
“Authorities should ensure that there is comprehensive regulation, supervision and oversight of the GSC arrangement across borders and sectors. Authorities should cooperate and coordinate with each other, both domestically and internationally…”
The FSB is stressing the need for global unison in their approach to regulating and supervising stablecoins. The reason why this discussion is taking place at the highest levels of global economic governance is to mitigate possible risks of “regulatory arbitrage.”
In other words, this is the international banking cartel’s way of saying: If someone wants to operate a stablecoin arrangement out of Panama—sure, go ahead. But, they can only sell these stablecoins to Panamanian citizens.
“Authorities should ensure that GSC arrangements have in place a comprehensive governance framework with a clear allocation of accountability for the functions and activities within the GSC arrangement.”
Decentralized and Centralized Stablecoins Both Affected The FSB goes on to explain that the degree of decentralization in GSC arrangements shouldn’t really matter in terms of the demand for regulation, supervision, and oversight.
At the same time, they imply that only permission-based stablecoins should be permitted to operate:
“Fully permissionless ledgers or similar mechanisms could pose particular challenges to accountability and governance and may not be suitable if regulators cannot be assured that appropriate regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements are satisfied.”
If the G20 adopts FSB’s views on this, it could also mean the end of Ethereum-based permissionless stablecoins. The entire DeFi sector shouldn’t be expected to fare much better, either.
“Authorities should ensure that GSC arrangements have in place robust systems for safeguarding, collecting, storing and managing data.”
This is simply the FSB saying that GSC businesses should give the G20 authorities “timely and unobstructed access to relevant data and information” on all stablecoin transactions and users. This it the same way traditional banks operate.
The critical question here is whether stablecoins running on permissionless blockchains are even able to do that.
Do wallet addresses and blockchain transactions count as relevant data and information?
Along the same lines, the FSB proposes that authorities should have the “ability to require a GSC arrangement to be governed in a manner that facilitates effective regulation and supervision, including by prohibiting fully decentralized systems.”
“Authorities should not permit the operation of a GSC arrangement in their jurisdiction unless the GSC arrangement meets all of their jurisdiction’s regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements, including affirmative approval (e.g. licenses or registrations) where such a mechanism is in place.”
In the broader context of the document, “operation of a GSC arrangement” can mean anything from registering a GSC legal entity to the sale of stablecoins to retail investors.
In that regard, if Tether, for example, wants to continue issuing USDT to citizens of G20 member states (or most of the world), they would need to obtain licenses and register with the relevant authorities in each and every G20 country. Given Tether’s current approach towards compliance, this may not prove practical.
The CTO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, told Crypto Briefing:
“We welcome the Financial Stability Board’s recognition of the role of stablecoins in the global economy, and its consideration of financial technology innovation in the digital asset space.”
For stablecoin businesses like Tether, Circle, Paxos, Binance, and others this could prove dire because the costs of compliance with the above provisions are enormous. This could, more or less, leave banks as the only source of fiat-backed digital currency.
Potential Market Impact on Cryptocurrency In terms of tangible legislation, the FSB’s recommendations, and its consequent impact on Bitcoin, will likely play out over the course of a few years.
In the meantime, it can be expected that central banks will increase cross-border cooperation to achieve greater supervision over stablecoin issuers and dealers.
Through this, the G20 aims to eliminate all feasibility of regulatory arbitrage and diminish what’s left of the regulatory wiggle room still remaining for stablecoin businesses.
As said by Richy Qiao, Chief Business Officer of decentralized stablecoin Ampleforth:
“This is something we’ve expected for a while. Large stablecoins that are centralized or tied to the financial system only work, until they matter. The FSB’s recommendations are inevitable and could result in the future of the entire crypto ecosystem coming under the control of those who control these types of regulated fiat-backed assets.”
Long-term Implications for Bitcoin and DeFi Stablecoins play a leading role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The five largest stablecoins account for two-thirds of all trading volume, despite representing less than 4% of the market capitalization for public ledger tokens.
Rather than moving from crypto to fiat in a bank account, which is regulated and cumbersome by the industry’s standards, it’s instead possible to move into a fiat token that runs on a public blockchain. With USD stablecoins dominating the industry, this creates an extra level of efficiency for those in emerging and frontier markets.
With over 75,000 daily active addresses on USDT alone, the genesis stablecoin only lags behind Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of adoption. In sum, the most important effect that stablecoins have had on the cryptocurrency markets is improved liquidity.
USDT on-chain volume by Santiment If the G20 heeds the recommendation put forth by the FSB, the stablecoin ecosystem, as people know it, will face immeasurable peril.
The first-order effect of this would be a dramatic reduction in liquidity for cryptoassets. The friction between a globally inefficient banking system and cryptocurrency exchanges will introduce hurdles in the timely deployment of capital.
Exchanges, market makers, and institutional lenders will bear the brunt of the crackdown. Binance’s top five trading pairs use USDT and represent 57% of the exchange’s volume, at the time of writing.
Given the expected erosion of liquidity, market makers may face diminishing workloads and more risk.
Trading pairs, for instance, would have to take place between two speculative tokens, rather than just one speculative token and one stablecoin pair.
Institutional lenders could see demand for funds dry up. Genesis Capital, an institutional lender, revealed that demand for stablecoins shot up from 9.6% in Q1 2019 to a whopping 37.2% in Q4 2019.
Loans disbursed by asset by Genesis Capital Of all the niches in crypto, DeFi—which has undue reliance on stablecoins—will be hit the hardest.
MakerDAO may have its entire business model come under heavy regulation, Compound could be eviscerated, and many of the other value-add services that leverage stablecoins could lose hard-earned traction generated over the last year.
Nine out of the top ten DeFi protocols, by value-locked, rely heavily on stablecoins in their operations. Moreover, exchanges that take advantage of regulatory arbitrage, like Binance, would be nowhere near their current size without stablecoins.
The other global stablecoins that are likely to fall under intense scrutiny if these recommendations are accepted include Facebook’s Libra, Bitfinex-associated Tether, and Circle’s USD Coin.
However, given the circumstances, this may prove favorable for exchanges, like Coinbase, who have gone great lengths to operate under the grace of U.S. regulators. It may also have the effect of pushing altcoin trading further into the sights of regulators, with more strenuous “anti-money laundering” and “know your customer” requirements, added Qiao.
The impact on the cryptocurrency ecosystem should not be understated. The entire crypto industry would be impacted if stablecoins were outlawed, Bitcoin included.
Pushing private stablecoins out of the game would make the implementation and adoption of central bank digital currencies much easier. As a result, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think the G20 will favor this proposal.
In some ways, the industry is getting what it asked for—regulatory clarity. Central banks are finally shining a light on the regulatory gray zones that exist in the cryptocurrency markets. Though, this light may be a bit brighter than many would have asked for.
Reporting aided by analysis from Ashwath Balakrishnan. Interviews and supplemental quotes by Liam Kelly and Mitchell Moos.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Stefan Stankovic. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
The trajectories of the crypto giants seem more uncertain than ever. Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to attract attention, between hopes and doubts. The former is still perceived as a store of value, but its technical resistances slow down enthusiasm. The latter, a driver of innovations and uses, attracts institutions more. Yet, neither clearly dominates. The question remains open: which of these pillars will truly emerge victorious from this new wave of attention and capital?
In brief Bitcoin draws attention due to its scarcity, monetary role, and a record illiquid supply of 14.3 M BTC. Ethereum attracts institutions thanks to staking, DeFi, and its innovative uses. Dogecoin prepares the first US DOGE ETF, supported by an active community. Tether and MicroStrategy strengthen their institutional weight, one via gold, the other via the S&P 500. Bitcoin dominates the buzz, Ethereum gains institutions’ trust In the buzz of crypto conversations, bitcoin maintains a central place even as the market has fallen into a fear zone. Santiment notes it sparks intense debates about its investment potential, market behavior, adoption stages, and even its comparison to gold. The focus is on its scarcity, utility, and role as a digital monetary network. Discussions range from long-term holding strategies to timing advice, highlighting growing involvement from governments and institutions.
Fundamental signals confirm ongoing interest in bitcoin. Illiquid supply has reached a record 14.3 million BTC, and more than 70% of coins are stored in dormant wallets, evidencing strong long-term investor confidence.
Ethereum is not left behind. Discussions highlight its role in flash tokens and its utility in staking, gaming, and DeFi. Institutions and large wallets accumulate quietly, reinforcing the idea that ETH is becoming the preferred asset for more diversified institutional exposure.
While bitcoin still attracts traders by its aura and volatility, ether weaves another narrative: that of a structural tool of the ecosystem.
Dogecoin, Tether and MicroStrategy blur the crypto market cards The battle is not only between BTC and ETH. Dogecoin bursts onto the scene with a historic project: launching the first US DOGE ETF. According to Santiment, Dogecoin grabs attention for several reasons. The announcement of the upcoming launch of the first DOGE ETF in the US sparked keen interest.
Simultaneously, the company Thumzup, supported by Trump, is expanding mining operations with 3,500 additional rigs. The Dogecoin price holds around 0.21 dollars, supported by an active community and growing institutional interest.
Key figures to remember 14.3 million BTC now illiquid; Over 70% of bitcoins stored without notable activity; Dogecoin targets its first ETF in the United States; Tether holds over 8.7 billion dollars worth of gold. Meanwhile, MicroStrategy remains at the heart of debates with its potential inclusion in the S&P 500 index. This would make the company an unprecedented institutional exposure lever to BTC. Finally, Tether surprises by diversifying its empire. With more than 8.7 billion dollars invested in gold and expansion into refining and trading, the stablecoin giant asserts itself as a strategic player far beyond its initial role.
Meanwhile, MultiversX faces concerns about dilution of its supply and migration of projects to SUI, despite hopes placed in xPortal and xMoney.
Forecasts diverge as much as they multiply. Some predict a seven-figure bitcoin, others a five-figure Ethereum. But others speak instead of an imminent collapse, fueling the idea that unanimity does not exist among financial analysts. The crypto market feeds as much on dreams of grandeur as on fears of a crash.
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La révolution blockchain et crypto est en marche ! Et le jour où les impacts se feront ressentir sur l’économie la plus vulnérable de ce Monde, contre toute espérance, je dirai que j’y étais pour quelque chose
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
TLDR: Polkadot cut annual DOT issuance by 53.6% in March 2026, introducing a hard supply cap of 2.1 billion DOT. Cosmos IBC is live across 115+ networks in 2026, leading Polkadot in real-world cross-chain transaction volume. IBC Eureka launched in April 2025, enabling direct Ethereum-to-Cosmos connections without wrapping assets. Polkadot ranked first in developer commits in 2026, yet its DeFi TVL remains below $300 million ecosystem-wide. Polkadot and Cosmos both solve blockchain interoperability, but through contrasting engineering models. Polkadot ties connected chains to a central Relay Chain for shared security.
Cosmos lets each chain operate independently through IBC, an open messaging protocol. The choice between them depends on whether a project needs built-in security from launch or full operational control over every layer.
Polkadot Moves Toward Defined Scarcity With Tokenomics Overhaul Polkadot’s architecture relies on a hub-and-spoke model centered on its Relay Chain. Connected application chains, called parachains, inherit validation directly from the Relay Chain. This removes the need to build an independent validator network from scratch.
In March 2026, Polkadot cut annual DOT issuance by 53.6% through OpenGov referendums. Issuance dropped from roughly 120 million to 55 million DOT per year.
A hard supply cap of 2.1 billion DOT was introduced for the first time, with circulating supply already at 1.68 billion DOT.
DOT currently trades between $1.1 and $1.3, with a market cap near $2 billion. Polkadot ranked first in developer commits in 2026.
However, DeFi TVL across its ecosystem remains below $300 million, a gap that persists compared to Ethereum and Solana.
Cross-chain messaging through XCMP is still rolling out in phases as of May 2026. Many chains still rely on the older HRMP protocol in the meantime.
Polkadot also replaced competitive parachain slot auctions in 2025 with a governance-based Agile Coretime system.
Cosmos Expands IBC Beyond Its Own Ecosystem in 2025 Cosmos takes a different path by giving each chain full sovereignty. Every zone runs its own validator set through CometBFT and connects to others via IBC. IBC uses light client connections and avoids token wrapping, bridge contracts, and trusted custodians.
IBC Eureka, launched in April 2025, introduced direct connections between Ethereum and Cosmos chains. No asset wrapping is required.
Expansion to Solana and major EVM Layer 2 networks is planned through 2026, positioning IBC as a cross-ecosystem standard.
As of 2026, IBC is live across 115 or more networks. Active examples include Osmosis, dYdX, and Celestia. Each operates as a fully independent chain built on the Cosmos SDK.
ATOM currently trades between $2.06 and $2.11. Projects like dYdX migrated from Ethereum specifically for the execution control that Cosmos provides.
That control comes with a real cost, though — each chain must attract and maintain its own validator set. Cosmos leads in live cross-chain volume today, while Polkadot continues building toward a more tightly integrated long-term structure.
PANews reported on June 2nd that, according to Decrypt, following the CFTC's approval of Bitcoin perpetual contracts last Friday, prediction market maker Kalshi quickly submitted self-certification applications for perpetual contracts on 12 major altcoins, including Ethereum, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, Stellar, Chainlink, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Sui, Shiba Inu, Polkadot, and Hedera. The CFTC stated that while approving the Bitcoin perpetual contract, perpetual contracts for other assets will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis; therefore, Kalshi's applications have not yet been approved.
On June 14, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings show the regulator has formally approved a rule change proposed by NYSE Arca that enables the listing and trading of the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF. An actively managed cryptocurrency ETF, the fund will invest in a basket of digital assets meeting SEC-defined "eligible asset" criteria. While it uses a cryptocurrency index as its benchmark, it will not track that index passively. The filing notes the fund is projected to hold roughly 5 to 15 distinct cryptocurrencies, including major tokens like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), Litecoin (LTC), Polkadot (DOT), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Chainlink (LINK). The SEC filing also reveals the fund may hold stablecoins—primarily USDC—as "tokenized cash" during normal operations to cover expenses and rebalance assets, though these will not count toward its core investment portfolio. The approval notice stresses the product must adhere to NYSE Arca’s rules around anti-manipulation, disclosure, liquidity, and risk management. It also requires the fund to have information barriers (often called "firewalls") and position transparency mechanisms in place to uphold market fairness and prevent insider trading. Analysts say this ETF’s approval further expands cryptocurrency’s footprint within the traditional financial sector, marking the arrival of actively managed multi-crypto ETFs as tradable products under mainstream regulatory oversight.
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One altcoin that helps holders earn yields is seeing its own value soar even as the broader crypto markets try to shake off a recent slump.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Yearn.Finance (YFI) offers lending and trading services so users can optimize their crypto asset earnings.
[adinserter block="1"]
The YFI token’s price jumped by 50% virtually overnight after word spread that Yearn had gone on a major shopping spree buying back its own token.
Yearn says in a tweet to its 159,200 followers,
“Yearn has purchased $7,526,343 worth of YFI from the open market. We got 282.4 YFI (0.77% of total supply) at an average price of $26,651.
More YFI has been bought back in the past month than in the prior year.”
Yearn reports that its treasury now holds over $45 million and intends to do more buybacks in the future.
In the investing world, companies often do buybacks when they believe their shares are undervalued or to reward existing holders by reducing the total available supply.
The move is paying off in a big way for the Ethereum-based protocol. YFI’s price has surged from a weekly low of $18,877 on Wednesday all the way to $28,802 at time of writing, including a nearly 20% rise on the day.
When Yearn first launched in July of 2020, the YFI token was worth around $30, then skyrocketed to a staggering valuation above $90,000 back in May before crashing down to $33,000 within days.
Like most of the crypto markets, YFI has experienced choppy price action in recent months.
The largest Ethereum (ETH) whales in the world are accumulating decentralized oracle network Chainlink (LINK) and several altcoins that prioritize decentralization.
According to blockchain tracker WhaleStats, the top 100 Ethereum whales are currently most interested in a pair of stablecoins and over a half dozen altcoins, with Chainlink in sixth place and seeing an average buy-in of $186,693 for 25,576 LINK tokens.
[adinserter block="1"]
Ethereum whales are also scooping up decentralized derivatives exchange Serum (SRM), spending on average $299,901 for 249,918 SRM tokens.
The wealthy investors are keen on the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, particularly the yield-optimizing protocol Yearn.Finance (YFI). The whales bought three YFI tokens for an average price tag of $25,883.
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Source: WhaleStats Ethereum itself ranks fifth overall with the whales spending an average of $241,251 to accumulate 119 ETH tokens.
They always come back, more inventive, more technical. Hackers have just struck a new blow in the crypto sphere. This time, Yearn Finance is the victim. Outcome: 9 million dollars vanished. Behind the exploit, a bug of rare complexity in the yETH contract. On the surface, a simple swap. In depth, mathematical chaos. And worst of all, this is not an isolated case.
In brief Yearn Finance loses 9 million due to a flaw in a custom swap contract. The technical bug: a division omitted in the calculation of the virtual balance product. The attacker uses temporary contracts to drain assets and obfuscate the trail. A single transaction is enough to pocket 100% of the affected yETH pool liquidity. When arithmetic explodes: a bug worth millions On November 30, a user was able to create 2.35 × 10³⁸ yETH thanks to a subtle flaw in the swap() function of the smart contract. This contract was supposed to maintain a balance rule between tokens. Except a critical division was omitted in the formula. Result: the variable vb_prod ran away. Like a speedometer stuck in overdrive, it deceived the protocol about its own health.
The exploit was confirmed by PeckShield, who alerted in a tweet that nearly 9 million dollars had been lost. Part of the funds — about 3 million in ETH — was sent via Tornado Cash, a famous crypto mixer used to obscure trails. The rest still sleeps in the hacker’s address.
The severity of the bug is not a simple oversight. As Ilia.eth explained on X:
Today’s exploitation of the $yETH pool was not a flash loan type price attack, but indeed a structural collapse of the AMM’s internal accounting. Here is a technical analysis showing how a simple omitted division led to complete protocol drainage.
This flaw painfully recalls the precedent of Balancer, where poor rounding management caused similar chaos. Same cause, same effect: uncontrolled monetary creation followed by a legitimate but destructive withdrawal.
Helper contracts to raze Yearn Finance’s architecture It’s not just the bug that impresses. It’s the attack engineering. In a single transaction, the hacker orchestrated everything: deployment of “helper contracts,” token minting, conversion to ETH, fund transfer, and self-destruction of contracts to erase traces.
According to Blockscout, each helper contract executed a targeted call to the vulnerable function, then sent the ETH to a master wallet before disappearing. A strategy worthy of a heist movie, where the robber erases his digital footprints in the same second he acts.
The key address identified by several analysts is: 0xa80d…c822, currently still holding about 6 million in stETH, rETH, and other Ethereum derivatives.
On X, William Li offers further reading:
The hacker actually did not withdraw all the yETH he created, he only sold part of it in the yETH-ETH pool for 1,000 ETH (about 3 million dollars) — which is far less than the real gain he made (P2).
More than a theft, it is therefore a controlled disintegration of the yETH protocol. And behind the attack, a deep mathematical knowledge, coupled with cold and precise programming talent.
Crypto and trust: when code becomes Achilles’ heel Yearn Finance is far from an amateur project. Yet, the flaw was detected neither by users nor by audits. This is where the matter becomes worrying for the entire crypto market. Because this type of error — a multiplication instead of a division — could exist elsewhere, lurking in other protocols.
The yETH contract structure is a hybrid between Curve and Balancer. Except that instead of recalculating each transaction, it stores an intermediate state (vb_prod) supposed to be updated after each swap. A dangerous practice, according to Ilia.eth:
Storing complex product results (vb_prod) to update them incrementally is extremely risky. Errors accumulate, and the slightest logical bug can remain active indefinitely. It would be better to recalculate invariants from current balances.
The hack revives the debate: should gas economy or rigor be prioritized? One thing is certain: the consequences of a botched trade-off now amount to millions. At Yearn, the time is for remobilization: SEAL911, ChainSecurity, and a post-mortem investigation are already on the front line.
5 key facts about the Yearn Finance exploit November 30, 2025: date of the hack; $9 million: estimated total losses; 2.35 × 10³⁸ yETH: artificially created tokens; Single transaction: the entire attack happened in one block; Helper contracts: deployed, used, then self-destructed. Calculation errors in crypto do not forgive. And for good reason: it’s not another audit that would have avoided the carnage. Balancer, despite 11 security audits, was also emptied by an almost twin bug. A simple multiplication factor can become a weapon of mass destruction when finance becomes programmable. Protocols have short memory, but blockchains never forget.
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La révolution blockchain et crypto est en marche ! Et le jour où les impacts se feront ressentir sur l’économie la plus vulnérable de ce Monde, contre toute espérance, je dirai que j’y étais pour quelque chose
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Getting robbed is one thing. Recovering your property is another. In the crypto universe, where the slightest flaw can turn into an algorithmic heist, you need cool-headedness, solid allies, and a keen nose for the chase. That is exactly what Yearn Finance demonstrated. No time to dwell on it. Battle-ready, the protocol launched a race against time to get back a vanished digital fortune. And the story is worth the detour.
In brief The bug allowed minting 2.3544×10^56 yETH and draining pools in minutes. A crypto alliance managed to recover 857.49 pxETH, equivalent to $2.4 million. The targeted contract was isolated, with no link to other Yearn Finance vaults. The attack used self-destructing contracts and Tornado Cash to mask transactions. Express Rescue: Yearn Finance Recovers $2.4M in the Heart of the Storm When the alert sounded, the scene was already a field of ruins. On November 30, an attacker minted an absurd amount of yETH tokens – precisely 2.3544 × 10^56 units – from an unchecked arithmetic bug. In minutes, nearly $9 million was siphoned from two DeFi pools: yETH and yETH-WETH on Curve.
But Yearn Finance did not let chaos settle in. Immediately, the protocol mobilized a recovery commando. Plume Network, Dinero, SEAL911, and ChainSecurity formed an interoperable “war room” to identify and locate the funds. Result: 857.49 pxETH, equivalent to $2.4M, was recovered, secured, and promised to the affected users.
The tweet from @yearnfi set the tone:
With the assistance of the Plume and Dinero teams, a coordinated recovery of 857.49 pxETH ($2.39m) was performed. Recovery efforts remain active and ongoing. Any assets successfully recovered will be returned to affected depositors.
What this action shows is the growing maturity of DeFi projects. This ability to launch a complex crypto rescue plan amidst turmoil is a resilience marker rarely seen in an industry that often patches leaks after shipwrecks.
Yearn Finance has, in short, given a post-hacking coordination lesson. While some lock themselves in silence, the platform chose openness, collaboration, and action.
Crypto Under Pressure: A Bug, Billions of Tokens, and a DeFi Challenge The exploit was no simple opportunistic theft. It was a precision attack. Using self-destructing helper contracts, the hacker masked their tracks. These small code bits, once their dirty work is done, erase themselves like spies who are never found. A method already seen in the Balancer hack, showing the level is rising.
Fortunately, the targeted contract was custom code. No impact was reported on Yearn Finance’s V2 or V3 vaults. The team hammered this message to reassure its users. In this unstable galaxy that is DeFi, trust is won and regained with every line of code.
But it didn’t stop there. A portion of the stolen funds was sent to Tornado Cash, an anonymization tool well-known among hackers. This anonymizer, now a refuge for suspicious funds, continues to fuel the tug-of-war between ethics, privacy, and traceability in the crypto sector.
However, Yearn Finance did not flee. It took the mic, owned the mistake, announced a post-mortem investigation, and mobilized its partners to strengthen future defenses. A choice praised by the community, which prefers an admission a thousand times over silence.
What this attack reveals is both the sophistication of hackers and the adaptability of protocols. Crypto is under pressure, but crypto learns fast.
In Numbers, Dates, and Key Facts Date of attack: November 30, 4:11 PM EST; Amount stolen: about $9M, including $8M from the yETH pool; Amount recovered: $2.4M (857.49 pxETH); Flaw: unchecked arithmetic bug + helper contracts; Allies mobilized: Plume, Dinero, SEAL911, ChainSecurity. In the crypto industry, memory is sharp. We recall the Curve Finance hacker who, sure of his genius, didn’t hesitate to mock the community after siphoning millions. Yet, this arrogance is often short-lived. Because in the world of code and chains, the union of defenders always fights back.
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La révolution blockchain et crypto est en marche ! Et le jour où les impacts se feront ressentir sur l’économie la plus vulnérable de ce Monde, contre toute espérance, je dirai que j’y étais pour quelque chose
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Bitmine has made its largest Ethereum (ETH) buy of the year during the recent market dip, reaffirming the firm’s bullish outlook on the leading altcoin and continued accumulation strategy.
Bitmine Ramps Up Ethereum Purchases On Tuesday, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest Ethereum treasury, announced its largest purchase since December 2025, having acquired roughly $238 million in ETH over the past week.
In its latest update, the company shared it purchased 111,942 ETH during the recent market pullback, which sent the King of Altcoins below $2,200. Bitmine’s Chairman, Tom Lee, affirmed that last week’s correction represented “an attractive opportunity” to increase the company’s holdings.
“We continue to expect a supercycle ahead for crypto and Ethereum, driven by the dual drivers of Wall Street tokenization and agentic-AI. And thus, we continue to steadily acquire ETH, with Bitmine now owning nearly 5.4 million ETH tokens,” stated Lee.
Now, the company’s crypto and cash holdings have reached $12.3 billion at current prices, comprised of 5,390,404 ETH at $2,134 per token, 203 Bitcoin (BTC), a $200 million stake in Beast Industries, an $95 million stake in Eightco Holdings as part of its “Moonshots” initiative, and total cash worth $444 million.
The latest buy has pushed BitMine’s Ethereum holdings closer to its goal of controlling 5% of ETH’s 120.7 million supply, reaching 4.47% of the supply, 89% of its goal, in just 11 months. As a result, “Bitmine is expected to reach the ‘alchemy of 5%’ sometime in 2026,” the chairman affirmed.
In addition, the company revealed that 4,712,917 ETH of its holdings, worth about $10.1 billion, have been staked. Lee also shared that, “At scale (when Bitmine’s ETH is fully staked by MAVAN and its staking partners), the projected ETH staking reward is $276 million annually (using 2.75% 7-day BMNR yield).”
Analysts Eye $1,850 Support Recently, Lee suggested that Ethereum could rally toward new highs by the end of the year, based on his belief that the “crypto winter is over” and a recovery rally could take place over the coming months.
However, some market observers have warned that a long-term bullish rally is not likely this year. In an X post, analyst Ali Martinez highlighted that ETH has been trading within a broad, multi-year range since 2021.
ETH’s multi-year range. Source: Ali Charts on X After falling back to the channel’s lower half earlier this year, the altcoin recently faced a “clean rejection at the mid-range of this structure,” which coincided with a rejection from the 200-week Simple Moving Average (SMA), signaling weakness.
As the price fails to reclaim this area, the analyst noted that the most critical level to hold remains $1,850, explaining that a weekly close below this support would likely trigger downside acceleration. He suggested that this could open a great opportunity for investors, based on the MVRV Pricing Band:
Right now, the highly watched 0.8 MVRV Pricing Band is sitting right around $1,850. Historically, whenever Ethereum drops below the 0.8 MVRV band, the move is not sustained for very long. (…) History shows that this exact zone represents a high-probability macro accumulation window that builds the ultimate foundation for the next major bull market.
Lastly, he affirmed that to invalidate the bearish scenario, ETH would need two clear triggers: a reclaim of the 200-week SMA, located around $2,500, and a clean break above the 50-week SMA around $3,100.
Ethereum’s performance in the one-week chart. Source: ETHUSDT on TradingView Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
According to historical data, the price of Bitcoin has never posted three consecutive months of positive performance in a bear-market year. This trend is about to continue in 2026, with May looking likely to end in the red for BTC after optimistic performances in March and April, and at the start of this month. Recent on-chain data suggests that short-term investors may also be capitulating amid Bitcoin’s disappointing price action over the past few weeks.
Are BTC’s Short-Term Investors Losing Conviction? In a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, market analyst RugaResearch revealed that a specific cohort of Bitcoin investors moved a significant amount of BTC in the past day. This set of investors is known as the short-term holders, who are famous (or infamous) for being the most reactive in the market.
Specifically, RugaResearch reported that 107,760 BTC within the 1-month to 3-month Spent Output Age Band moved in a single day, the largest value on-chain movement (within this age band) in more than seven months. For context, the Spent Output Age Bands is an on-chain indicator that segments spent transaction outputs into age brackets, showing the proportion of total coins moved and how long they were inactive.
Source: CryptoQuant The 1- to 3-month Spent Output Age Band tracks Bitcoin purchased between late February and late April (from the beginning of BTC’s recovery to around $80,000 last month). RugaResearch said that when this age band witnesses an aggressive move, like the one recently seen, it means that the most recent investors are reacting rather than accumulating.
The crypto pundit spotlighted that the movement of these 107,760 BTC while the Bitcoin price is sub-$74,000 means that a significant portion of the 1-month to 3-month Spent Output Age Band is out of the money — or near breakeven, at best. While it remains to be seen why this move occurred, this shake-up does not suggest conviction among the most reactive set of investors.
RugaResearch wrote:
Exchange inflows tell you if these coins are heading to sell. If they land on exchanges, this flush has legs. If they’re moving to cold storage or OTC desks, it’s redistribution under pressure.
Hence, centralized exchanges’ data is one of the signals to watch in the coming days to decipher the purpose of this move.
Bitcoin Price Momentum Stays Negative For Eight Days At the same time, RugaResearch revealed a worrying trend with the Bitcoin Price Momentum indicator, which has stayed negative since May 22nd. After rising to a nearly one-year high of +20.5% on May 5th, the on-chain metric dropped by 12.9 percentage points about ten days later.
Source: CryptoQuant After flipping to negative a little over a week ago, the Bitcoin Price Momentum currently sits at 4.07%. “When 1m-3m spent output spikes 6.7x overnight while momentum bleeds for 8 straight days, the positioning game shifts,” the market analyst concluded.
As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $73,410, reflecting a mere 0.4% dip in the past 24 hours.
The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
Loopring, the Ethereum layer-2 and layer-3 zero-knowledge rollup, has announced it will sunset its wallet operations by the end of June 2025.
According to the Loopring (LRC) team, the Loopring Wallet will go offline permanently on June 30, with users advised to use the intervening time to withdraw their assets.
“Today, we’re sharing some difficult but necessary news: Loopring Wallet will officially cease its operations by the end of June 2025,” the cryptocurrency platform said in an announcement.
The shutdown of Loopring Wallet means the wallet’s smart user interface, accessible via mobile, will no longer be available after the stated date.
Loopring’s Smart Wallet leverage immutable smart contracts to operate. However, access is facilitated via the accompanying mobile app, and its discontinuation means the app will no longer receive updates and will eventually be delisted from app stores.
The team clarified that the closure of the wallet will not impact or disrupt the functioning of the Loopring layer-2 protocol.
Nevertheless, users are strongly advised to transfer their funds and non-fungible tokens to other wallets. Acting early and within the announced timeline will allow Loopring Wallet users to move their assets smoothly and avoid potential disruptions.
According to Loopring’s update, popular alternatives for asset transfers include MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, and Rainbow Wallet.
Loopring Smart Wallets suffered a security breach in June 2024, with an attacker compromising user wallets by exploiting vulnerability in the two-factor authentication. The incident saw Loopring temporarily suspend Guardian and 2FA-related operations.
Following the latest announcement, the LRC token traded lower, with a 4% dip extending its losses over the past week into double digits. The token hovered near $0.09, down 13% over the last seven days.
If you’re a crypto enthusiast and are looking for an easy way to generate passive income, staking your USDT could be your answer with Loopring. You could enjoy steady, passive income, without the worry of price fluctuations. In this article, I will explain everything you need to know about USDT staking, why Loopring’s AI-powered staking platform is a game-changer, and how you can start earning with it.
Staking your USDT is a low-risk way to increase your crypto with limited concern of a price drop (and craziness). Staking is a great way to quickly earn passive income and is an excellent tool for crypto enthusiasts looking for a capped growth strategy. In addition, staking stablecoins like USDT requires no specification on your institutional risk tolerance. However, it is still important to choose a staking platform that will provide good rates. Always do your research on these platforms to verify their safety and security before instead.
Staking USDT with Loopring 2025: With crypto maturing faster than anyone thought possible, 2025 will be a pivotal year in crypto, particularly in the DeFi (decentralized finance) space. Staking stablecoins like USDT
Low Risk with High Returns: Since USDT is pegged to the dollar, you don’t have to worry as much regarding price crashes for the sake of proportionate returns. Loopring offers fixed returns; for example, 5-12% APY (depending on the platform’s terms) is a consistent way to create passive income. AI Driven Performance: Loopring employs artificial intelligence to track the market for you, to ensure you are maximizing your staking opportunity, so your USDT is always working as hard as possible for you. User Friendly for All Types of Users: Unlike other platforms that require cryptocurrency knowledge or a degree in tech, Loopring has a straightforward user interface that is easy for all users to stake. Additionally, with the crypto sector buzzing in 2025, players like Loopring are bringing DeFi truly into the ecosystem with their technology and customer orientated focus.
Staking USDT using Loopring: A Step-by-Step Guide So you want to get started? Staking USDT using Loopring is as easy as ordering your favorite coffee! Here’s how you can do it:
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Get Some USDT: If you don’t have USDT already, you can purchase some on a reputable exchange like Binance, Kraken, or Coinbase. You can choose fiat (USD) via bank transfer, credit card, or some platforms even let you use Apple Pay. Set Up a Web3 wallet: You will need a wallet like MetaMask or Trust Wallet to interact with the Loopring’s smart contract. Download either wallet, set it up, and send USDT to it. Make sure you keep your private keys safe; think of them as the keys to your crypto house! Connect to Loopring: Visit the Loopring website (make sure it is the correct website so that no one scams you). Connect your wallet by pressing the “Connect Wallet” button. It’s just like logging into your favorite app, just in the crypto world! Choose Your Staking Plan: Loopring offers flexible or fixed staking options. Flexible lets you withdraw anytime, while fixed plans (e.g., 30 or 90 days) often give higher returns. Pick what suits your goals. Stake Your USDT: Enter the amount of USDT you want to stake, confirm the transaction, and pay a small gas fee (Loopring operates on Ethereum or compatible chains, so fees are low thanks to Layer 2 tech). The AI will handle the rest, allocating your funds to the best pools. Watch Your Earnings Grow: Sit back and relax! You’ll see your rewards roll in, either weekly or monthly, depending on the plan. You can track everything on Loopring’s dashboard. That’s it! You’re now earning passive income like a crypto pro.
Plans and Pricing Loopring’s AI-powered automated staking platform offers six USDT staking plans tailored to different investment levels. Whether you’re just starting out or ready to go big, there’s something for everyone. Below, you can explore the plans and pricing of Loopring’s USDT staking platform:
Caption 12.50% Daily Profit: Invest 15 to 100 USDT—great for beginners testing the waters.
13.50% Daily Profit: Stake 100 to 800 USDT to step up your earnings.
14.50% Daily Profit: For 800 to 3,000 USDT, enjoy a solid return.
16.00% Daily Profit: Invest 3,000 to 10,000 USDT for even higher rewards.
17.50% Daily Profit: Stake 10,000 to 30,000 USDT and watch your income grow.
20.00% Daily Profit: Go big with 30,000+ USDT and maximize your returns.
Risks to Consider No investment is ever 100% risk-free, and staking USDT is no different. But don’t worry; Loopring was designed to limit those risks to the greatest extent possible. Keep in mind the following:
Smart Contract Risks: The best smart contracts can still have bugs in them. Loopring staking platform utilizes an automated smart contract for staking, which is innovative, but it is still risky. Even audited contracts can have bugs or exploits, and if a hacker finds a bug and exploits that, they can drain the funds, including potentially any USDT you contributed. Platform Reliability: As a DeFi platform, Loopring has no central authority to lean on if anything goes wrong while you’re staking. You should only ever use platforms that have robust reviews and stay away from anything that feels “too good to be true.” Regulatory Changes: Stablecoins such as USDT have always come under regulatory scrutiny. Loopring operates decentralized (which is why you’re staking through Loopring), but just be mindful of news regarding the reserves that Tether is holding, or local news on regulations of cryptocurrencies in your area. If you stake with a trusted platform such as Loopring, and you utilize basic security (like a secure wallet), you can keep the main risks to a minimum.
That’s it! You’re now earning passive income like a crypto pro. Click here to enter the platform
Disclosure: This is sponsored content. It does not represent Crypto Briefing's editorial views. For more information, see our Editorial Policy.
Numbers are skyrocketing, protocols are exploding, and one wonders: have we already reached the golden age of crypto? Between valuation records, historic loan volumes, and constant innovations, the crypto market seems to be popping champagne week after week. But behind the euphoria, what do the numbers really tell us? And above all, is this rebound healthy and sustainable? We dissected the latest data, and you will see, the devil is in the details.
In Brief CeFi loans reach $17.78B and exceed $35B including DATCO and ETFs. DeFi explodes to $26.47B, but the number of users drops by 27%. Looping strategies artificially inflate borrowing volumes on Ethereum and its Layer-2s. Total crypto loans now exceed $61.76B, a record above the 2021 peak. Is CeFi Coming Back Stronger Than In 2021? Analysis The dollar wobbles, debt soars… and cryptos break records: centralized finance (CeFi), thought to be down since 2023, rebounds spectacularly. Data from Galaxy Research shows $17.78 billion in CeFi loans by the end of June 2025, a 14.66% increase in one quarter. And this figure doesn’t even consider some heavyweights like DATCO or crypto ETF-backed loans.
CeFi Lending market share by quarter – Source: Galaxy Research Including these additional volumes, $12.74 billion of DATCO debt and between $3 to $6 billion of marginal loans on crypto ETFs, the $34.8 billion 2021 record is surpassed.
Galaxy reminds us that:
As of June 30, Galaxy Research recorded $17.78 billion in outstanding CeFi loans. This represents a quarterly growth of 14.66%, or $2.27 billion.
Why this strong comeback? First, more attractive rates thanks to competition. Second, post-2022 caution: players like Ledn have streamlined their offers and secured their collaterals. Finally, company treasuries’ demand is exploding, seeking structured returns.
In short, CeFi is back. Not by ideology, but by efficiency.
DeFi: An Explosion… but Fueled by Incentives? DeFi also hits new heights: $26.47 billion loans by the end of June 2025, a 42.11% quarterly growth. A record number, far surpassing the 2021 peak. But does this really mean adoption?
The dollar value of outstanding loans on DeFi applications has strongly rebounded since Q1, increasing by $7.84 billion (+42.11%) to reach $26.47 billion – a new all-time record.
On the surface, all seems perfect. But one number raises questions: the number of active Ethereum addresses is 27% lower than in May 2021. In other words: more volume, but fewer users. What is happening?
Net borrowing rate of ETH using stETH as collateral – Source: Galaxy Research The answer is one word: looping. On Aave, “liquid leverage” strategies allow borrowing ETH with stETH, restaking it… then repeating. A form of circular leverage.
Galaxy explains: “Users implement “looping strategies” enabling them to arbitrage the yield of their collateral assets against borrowing costs.”
DeFi grows fast but not always healthily. Watch out for incentive bubbles.
DATCO and ETFs: The Trojan Horse of Crypto Debt? Little known to the public, Digital Asset Treasury Companies (DATCO) are changing the game. Using classic debt to buy bitcoin or ether, these companies create massive leverage… often invisible.
Galaxy warns:
Due to the absence of new debt emissions by bitcoin DATCOs, the treasury companies’ debt balance has not changed… [but] June 2028 remains the date to watch with $3.65 billion maturing.
Among the pioneers: MicroStrategy (now Strategy), but also newcomers on Ethereum. And through crypto ETFs like IBIT, investors can also borrow on margin against their shares.
What to remember:
$12.74 billion of DATCO debt: not included in total volumes; Estimated $3 to $6 billion in ETF margins, an invisible leverage; $3.65 billion of DATCO debts maturing in June 2028; Loan-to-market-cap ratio still low, ~1.5% vs 3% for US stocks; CeFi + DeFi + DATCO + ETF = over $61.76 billion in crypto loans It’s clear: raw numbers often underestimate reality.
While markets break record after record, innovation continues at the frontier of the real world. Credefi and Brickken open a new path with permissionless debt for real-world assets. Proof that while numbers blaze, the real crypto revolution is just beginning.
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La révolution blockchain et crypto est en marche ! Et le jour où les impacts se feront ressentir sur l’économie la plus vulnérable de ce Monde, contre toute espérance, je dirai que j’y étais pour quelque chose
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
According to Circle, the asset’s primary goal is to provide institutions with a neutral, highly secure alternative to wrapped Bitcoin. The most popular wrapped Bitcoin token, wBTC, is offered by BitGo and has 119,157 tokens in circulation. Its market cap is at $8 billion. Circle, a stablecoin issuer, has announced its intention to offer a wrapped Bitcoin, positioning itself to compete with BitGo and Coinbase among institutional customers. On Thursday, the asset cirBTC was revealed. It will debut on Ethereum and will be backed 1:1 by bitcoin. It is designed for OTC desks, market makers, and lending protocols.
According to Circle, the asset’s primary goal is to provide institutions with a neutral, highly secure alternative to wrapped Bitcoin. Many banks and other financial organizations have started to invest heavily in Bitcoin and are looking at decentralized finance. Wrapped Bitcoins would make DeFi available on other chains like Ethereum by making the asset usable on other chains.
Tough Competition Ahead The new asset will debut on Ethereum, Circle Mint, and their layer-1 blockchain Arc, according to Circle. The new wrapped Bitcoin from Circle follows in the footsteps of BitGo’s Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and Coinbase’s Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC), which are the market leaders at the moment. With an initial quantity of 88,800 tokens and a market cap of $5.9 billion, Coinbase’s cbBTC debuted in September 2024.
The most popular wrapped Bitcoin token, wBTC, is offered by BitGo and has 119,157 tokens in circulation. Its market cap is at $8 billion. But that’s just half of what it was in November 2021, when Bitcoin reached its all-time high for the cycle.
Wrapped Bitcoin variants have been introduced by a number of cryptocurrency exchanges, including as Kraken (KBTC), Gate (GTBTC), Binance (BBTC), Huobi (HBTC), and OKX (XBTC), but their market capitalization pale in comparison to those of the two front-runners. Based on data provided by CoinGecko, the combined supply of wBTC and cbBTC is around 208,000 BTC.
Highlighted Crypto News Today:
IMF Flags Financial Stability Risks Amid Growing Tokenization Boom
A trader himself, Rossi has 7 years of experience trading in the forex market and the passion for writing has brought him to Newscrypto. He is the perfect combination of market knowledge and writing skills, making him one of the most sought-after writers on cryptocurrency.
The US stock market's optical communication sector rises across the board in pre-market trading, with Corning up 9.28%.
According to Bitget market data, the U.S. stock market's optical communication sector saw broad pre-market gains, with MRVL rising 4.99%, LITE up 3.24%, Nokia up 3.11%, Corning up 9.28%, and AXTI up 6.69%.
1 seconds ago
US-listed AI chip stocks saw mixed pre-market performance, with Qualcomm surging 13%.
According to Bitget market data, U.S. AI chip stocks posted mixed pre-market performance: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) surged 13%, Intel (INTC.O) rose nearly 6%, AMD (AMD.O) gained nearly 4%, and Google (GOOG.O) declined 1.4%.
1 seconds ago
Micron Technology surges 18% in pre-market trading on US stocks
According to Bitget market data, the US stock storage sector is seeing broad pre-market gains. Micron Technology (MU.O) jumps 18% in pre-market trading, as its strong earnings significantly exceeded expectations, with multiple major banks raising the stock’s target price. SanDisk (SNDK) rises 12.25%, Western Digital (WDC) gains 12.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) climbs 8.63%.
1 seconds ago
SBI announced it will acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen.
According to Nikkei News, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings announced on the 25th that it will acquire cryptocurrency exchange platform bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately $288 million). Upon completion of the transaction, SBI Group’s crypto asset custody scale is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen, making it one of the largest operators in Japan’s crypto industry. Per the plan, a subsidiary under SBI Holdings will acquire Bitbank shares from individual shareholders including its founders as early as August this year. Bitbank will then repurchase shares held by existing shareholders MIXI and Ceres by the end of October. If combining data from SBI’s own crypto exchange SBI VC Trade and Bitbank, as of April this year, the two firms had a total of around 2.92 million accounts and total custody assets of approximately 1.1 trillion yen. While different crypto exchanges disclose custody assets at varying time points, among Japan’s major industry competitors, bitFlyer held about 960 billion yen in custody assets as of the end of December 2025, and Coincheck had around 800 billion yen as of the end of March 2025.
The US stock market's optical communication sector rises across the board in pre-market trading, with Corning up 9.28%.
According to Bitget market data, the U.S. stock market's optical communication sector saw broad pre-market gains, with MRVL rising 4.99%, LITE up 3.24%, Nokia up 3.11%, Corning up 9.28%, and AXTI up 6.69%.
1 seconds ago
US-listed AI chip stocks saw mixed pre-market performance, with Qualcomm surging 13%.
According to Bitget market data, U.S. AI chip stocks posted mixed pre-market performance: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) surged 13%, Intel (INTC.O) rose nearly 6%, AMD (AMD.O) gained nearly 4%, and Google (GOOG.O) declined 1.4%.
1 seconds ago
Micron Technology surges 18% in pre-market trading on US stocks
According to Bitget market data, the US stock storage sector is seeing broad pre-market gains. Micron Technology (MU.O) jumps 18% in pre-market trading, as its strong earnings significantly exceeded expectations, with multiple major banks raising the stock’s target price. SanDisk (SNDK) rises 12.25%, Western Digital (WDC) gains 12.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) climbs 8.63%.
1 seconds ago
SBI announced it will acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen.
According to Nikkei News, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings announced on the 25th that it will acquire cryptocurrency exchange platform bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately $288 million). Upon completion of the transaction, SBI Group’s crypto asset custody scale is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen, making it one of the largest operators in Japan’s crypto industry. Per the plan, a subsidiary under SBI Holdings will acquire Bitbank shares from individual shareholders including its founders as early as August this year. Bitbank will then repurchase shares held by existing shareholders MIXI and Ceres by the end of October. If combining data from SBI’s own crypto exchange SBI VC Trade and Bitbank, as of April this year, the two firms had a total of around 2.92 million accounts and total custody assets of approximately 1.1 trillion yen. While different crypto exchanges disclose custody assets at varying time points, among Japan’s major industry competitors, bitFlyer held about 960 billion yen in custody assets as of the end of December 2025, and Coincheck had around 800 billion yen as of the end of March 2025.
In This Article cirBTC Explained: What 'Wrapped Bitcoin' Actually MeansCircle's Institutional Play: Why cirBTC Is Different From WBTCRotation, Not Revolution: How cirBTC Fits Into the Wrapped Bitcoin Market Circle, the regulated financial infrastructure company behind USDC, launched cirBTC on Ethereum on June 8, 2026, adding a new 1:1 BTC-backed wrapped Bitcoin token to a market already anchored by WBTC at roughly $8Bn in market capitalization and Coinbase’s cbBTC at approximately $5.9Bn.
Each cirBTC token is backed by native Bitcoin held in segregated, regulated custody and verified in real time through Chainlink Proof of Reserve. That is a meaningful structural claim in a category where custody transparency has not always been the default.
Here is the central tension this article unpacks: wrapped Bitcoin has existed since 2019, yet most crypto holders have never had to think about it. So why does Circle’s entry into this market matter, and does its regulated approach actually change anything for the people who would use it?
cirBTC is live on @ethereum.
Circle helped establish the institutional standard for dollar collateral with USDC.
Now cirBTC brings that same approach to Bitcoin, bringing 1:1 BTC-backed collateral to institutional DeFi markets with neutrality, transparency, and Circle…
— Circle (@circle) June 8, 2026
cirBTC Explained: What ‘Wrapped Bitcoin’ Actually Means Think of wrapped Bitcoin like a coat-check counter at an exclusive club. You hand over your actual coat – your real Bitcoin – and the attendant gives you a numbered ticket.
That ticket represents your coat inside the venue. You can trade the ticket, use it to get a drink tab, or hand it to someone else. But the coat itself stays safely in the back room, and you can always redeem the ticket to get it back.
That is exactly how tokenized Bitcoin works. Real BTC goes into custody with a regulated entity, in cirBTC’s case, a Circle group company with assets kept explicitly separate from Circle’s corporate holdings. In exchange, an ERC-20 token is issued on Ethereum that represents the BTC at a 1:1 ratio.
The token can then move freely through Ethereum DeFi apps, smart contracts, and lending protocols. When you want your BTC back, you burn the token, and the custodian releases the underlying Bitcoin.
Why does any of this matter? Bitcoin cannot natively run smart contracts or act as collateral inside Ethereum-based lending protocols. Wrapping solves that. It is the bridge that allows Bitcoin’s roughly $1.7 trillion in value to participate in decentralized finance without the underlying asset ever leaving the Bitcoin blockchain.
Chainlink Proof of Reserve is the accountability layer; it continuously verifies on-chain that the number of circulating cirBTC tokens matches the BTC held in custody, so anyone can check the math without relying on a periodic third-party audit.
DISCOVER: Best Meme Coin ICOs to Invest in 2026
Circle’s Institutional Play: Why cirBTC Is Different From WBTC
(SOURCE: CoinGecko)
Circle is not just a crypto startup; it has established USDC as a key player in institutional digital finance and is now applying that compliance to Bitcoin collateral with cirBTC. This new offering aims to set an institutional standard for Bitcoin similar to what USDC achieved for dollar liquidity, emphasizing transparency and regulated custody.
While BitGo’s WBTC, the market leader, has around $8Bn in wrapped Bitcoin, its custodial model has faced scrutiny. Coinbase’s cbBTC, launched in September 2024, reached $5.9Bn in market cap but benefits significantly from Coinbase’s distribution.
cirBTC, however, positions itself with a compliance-focused approach while avoiding competition, appealing to institutions like OTC desks and corporate treasuries that want to leverage Bitcoin as collateral.
Despite its strengths, cirBTC faces challenges, including WBTC’s established liquidity and integrations, as well as cbBTC’s distribution advantages. While Circle’s compliance reputation is strong, it may not be enough to drive DeFi liquidity on its own.
EXCLUSIVE: Earn $10 USDC Via Binance Sign-Up
Rotation, Not Revolution: How cirBTC Fits Into the Wrapped Bitcoin Market $BTC short-term momentum is still bearish.
If we want a potential trend reversal, the first step is to have a clean break of $64k and $66k.
If $BTC doesn't manage to do that within a few days, the bearish momentum is probably going to continue.
I think in that case we… pic.twitter.com/qRIGnNPRLf
— Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) June 9, 2026
The wrapped Bitcoin market is poised for growth rather than disruption. The rise of corporate Bitcoin treasuries has created demand for efficient collateral deployment in institutional DeFi, a need cirBTC aims to meet.
Bull case: Circle’s compliance and USDC distribution position cirBTC well for institutional adoption, especially with integrations into major lending platforms like Aave and Morpho, creating significant liquidity and a unique cross-collateral workflow. This could lead to a substantial market share within 12 to 18 months.
Base case: cirBTC becomes the go-to wrapped Bitcoin product for compliance-focused institutions, while WBTC maintains dominance due to liquidity; cirBTC may serve as a solid third option as overall institutional demand for Bitcoin collateral rises.
Bear case: Slow integration with DeFi protocols and regulatory challenges could hamper cirBTC’s expansion, leaving it a niche product without the network effects needed to compete with established providers.
The competition is heating up as traditional finance explores tokenized products alongside crypto options, making Circle’s reputation as a regulated issuer increasingly important.
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The US stock market's optical communication sector rises across the board in pre-market trading, with Corning up 9.28%.
According to Bitget market data, the U.S. stock market's optical communication sector saw broad pre-market gains, with MRVL rising 4.99%, LITE up 3.24%, Nokia up 3.11%, Corning up 9.28%, and AXTI up 6.69%.
1 seconds ago
US-listed AI chip stocks saw mixed pre-market performance, with Qualcomm surging 13%.
According to Bitget market data, U.S. AI chip stocks posted mixed pre-market performance: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) surged 13%, Intel (INTC.O) rose nearly 6%, AMD (AMD.O) gained nearly 4%, and Google (GOOG.O) declined 1.4%.
1 seconds ago
Micron Technology surges 18% in pre-market trading on US stocks
According to Bitget market data, the US stock storage sector is seeing broad pre-market gains. Micron Technology (MU.O) jumps 18% in pre-market trading, as its strong earnings significantly exceeded expectations, with multiple major banks raising the stock’s target price. SanDisk (SNDK) rises 12.25%, Western Digital (WDC) gains 12.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) climbs 8.63%.
1 seconds ago
SBI announced it will acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen.
According to Nikkei News, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings announced on the 25th that it will acquire cryptocurrency exchange platform bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately $288 million). Upon completion of the transaction, SBI Group’s crypto asset custody scale is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen, making it one of the largest operators in Japan’s crypto industry. Per the plan, a subsidiary under SBI Holdings will acquire Bitbank shares from individual shareholders including its founders as early as August this year. Bitbank will then repurchase shares held by existing shareholders MIXI and Ceres by the end of October. If combining data from SBI’s own crypto exchange SBI VC Trade and Bitbank, as of April this year, the two firms had a total of around 2.92 million accounts and total custody assets of approximately 1.1 trillion yen. While different crypto exchanges disclose custody assets at varying time points, among Japan’s major industry competitors, bitFlyer held about 960 billion yen in custody assets as of the end of December 2025, and Coincheck had around 800 billion yen as of the end of March 2025.
The US stock market's optical communication sector rises across the board in pre-market trading, with Corning up 9.28%.
According to Bitget market data, the U.S. stock market's optical communication sector saw broad pre-market gains, with MRVL rising 4.99%, LITE up 3.24%, Nokia up 3.11%, Corning up 9.28%, and AXTI up 6.69%.
1 seconds ago
US-listed AI chip stocks saw mixed pre-market performance, with Qualcomm surging 13%.
According to Bitget market data, U.S. AI chip stocks posted mixed pre-market performance: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) surged 13%, Intel (INTC.O) rose nearly 6%, AMD (AMD.O) gained nearly 4%, and Google (GOOG.O) declined 1.4%.
1 seconds ago
Micron Technology surges 18% in pre-market trading on US stocks
According to Bitget market data, the US stock storage sector is seeing broad pre-market gains. Micron Technology (MU.O) jumps 18% in pre-market trading, as its strong earnings significantly exceeded expectations, with multiple major banks raising the stock’s target price. SanDisk (SNDK) rises 12.25%, Western Digital (WDC) gains 12.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) climbs 8.63%.
1 seconds ago
SBI announced it will acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen.
According to Nikkei News, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings announced on the 25th that it will acquire cryptocurrency exchange platform bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately $288 million). Upon completion of the transaction, SBI Group’s crypto asset custody scale is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen, making it one of the largest operators in Japan’s crypto industry. Per the plan, a subsidiary under SBI Holdings will acquire Bitbank shares from individual shareholders including its founders as early as August this year. Bitbank will then repurchase shares held by existing shareholders MIXI and Ceres by the end of October. If combining data from SBI’s own crypto exchange SBI VC Trade and Bitbank, as of April this year, the two firms had a total of around 2.92 million accounts and total custody assets of approximately 1.1 trillion yen. While different crypto exchanges disclose custody assets at varying time points, among Japan’s major industry competitors, bitFlyer held about 960 billion yen in custody assets as of the end of December 2025, and Coincheck had around 800 billion yen as of the end of March 2025.
The week opens with crypto markets focused on the macro backdrop: while several protocol-level events are scheduled, developments around the Iran conflict and Fed signaling are likely to remain the dominant drivers.
Reuters reported Sunday that the Pentagon is preparing for possible weeks of ground operations in Iran, though Trump has not approved those plans, and by Monday AP reported he was floating the idea of seizing Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal even as diplomacy was still being discussed. Brent settled last Friday at $112.57, up 4.2% on the day.
BREAKING: President Trump says the US is in “serious discussions with a new and more reasonable regime to end our military operations in Iran.”
Trump also says that if a deal is not made, the US will “blow up and completely obliterate all of their electric generating plants, oil… pic.twitter.com/UAsFbQuWWF
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 30, 2026
Powell is due to speak later Monday, March 30, at Harvard, where markets will look for any signal on how the Fed is assessing the current oil-driven shock. With the Iran conflict pushing energy prices higher, policymakers are facing a familiar trade-off between inflation risks and slowing growth.
As in recent weeks, macro developments are likely to remain the dominant driver for crypto. Any escalation in Iran or a shift in Powell’s forward guidance could quickly feed through into broader risk markets, including crypto assets.
Crypto Events To Watch This Week In crypto land, the AAVE gets the spotlight this week. The project is set to activate Aave V4 on Ethereum mainnet. Aave V4 is already beyond the rumor stage and through the ARFC process, with the forum proposal laying out a “security-first” rollout, conservative risk parameters, and a narrower initial hub-and-spoke setup.
For ETH, the calendar matters less as a one-day catalyst than as a sentiment and narrative checkpoint. EthCC[9] begins March 30 in Cannes and bills itself as the largest and longest-running annual European Ethereum event, running through April 2. The adjacent EthCC Week schedule also includes “The Agora” on March 31, an institutional forum focused on market infrastructure, operational efficiency, and capital deployment.
JUP’s watchpoint is product expansion. Jupiter’s Offerbook is already in private beta, with registration open, and the pitch is unusually direct: “Onchain finance needs onchain credit. Time-based P2P loans, without price-based liquidations.” The product lets borrowers and lenders create fixed-term orders with customizable collateral, APR, loan size, and duration.
SUSHI is lining up a derivatives push. The official Sushi account has set April 2 for perps, while Sushi’s own site already shows a dedicated perps page telling users “Perps on Sushi Coming Soon” and collecting waitlist signups. That matters because perps remain one of the deepest and stickiest revenue arenas in crypto, and Sushi has been framing derivatives as a strategic priority since Sushi Labs outlined its roadmap.
FTX is also back on the radar because cash is about to move. FTX Recovery Trust said it will begin its fourth distribution on March 31, totaling about $2.2 billion for eligible creditors in the convenience and non-convenience classes who completed the required steps, with funds expected via BitGo, Kraken, or Payoneer within one to three business days. The market question is straightforward: how much of that recovered capital, if any, makes its way back into crypto trading once claims are paid.
Based, a Hyperliquid-powered DEX, will launch its token on March 30. The project confirmed its March 30 TGE on X, and KuCoin has already scheduled BASED/USDT trading for 10:00 UTC on Monday, with withdrawals opening a day later. KuCoin describes Based as a non-custodial DeFi “SuperApp” spanning crypto, equities, commodities, and spending rails.
At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.32 trillion.
Total crypto market cap, 1-month chart | Source: ETHUSDT on TradingView.com Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
US-listed AI chip stocks saw mixed pre-market performance, with Qualcomm surging 13%.
According to Bitget market data, U.S. AI chip stocks posted mixed pre-market performance: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) surged 13%, Intel (INTC.O) rose nearly 6%, AMD (AMD.O) gained nearly 4%, and Google (GOOG.O) declined 1.4%.
4 minutes ago
Micron Technology surges 18% in pre-market trading on US stocks
According to Bitget market data, the US stock storage sector is seeing broad pre-market gains. Micron Technology (MU.O) jumps 18% in pre-market trading, as its strong earnings significantly exceeded expectations, with multiple major banks raising the stock’s target price. SanDisk (SNDK) rises 12.25%, Western Digital (WDC) gains 12.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) climbs 8.63%.
4 minutes ago
SBI announced it will acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen.
According to Nikkei News, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings announced on the 25th that it will acquire cryptocurrency exchange platform bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately $288 million). Upon completion of the transaction, SBI Group’s crypto asset custody scale is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen, making it one of the largest operators in Japan’s crypto industry. Per the plan, a subsidiary under SBI Holdings will acquire Bitbank shares from individual shareholders including its founders as early as August this year. Bitbank will then repurchase shares held by existing shareholders MIXI and Ceres by the end of October. If combining data from SBI’s own crypto exchange SBI VC Trade and Bitbank, as of April this year, the two firms had a total of around 2.92 million accounts and total custody assets of approximately 1.1 trillion yen. While different crypto exchanges disclose custody assets at varying time points, among Japan’s major industry competitors, bitFlyer held about 960 billion yen in custody assets as of the end of December 2025, and Coincheck had around 800 billion yen as of the end of March 2025.
4 minutes ago
Bithumb was fined for sharing user data overseas without consent.
South Korean regulatory authorities have ordered cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb to pay a 210 million won (approximately $136,000) fine for sharing user personal information with overseas platforms without user consent. According to an announcement released Thursday by South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), the relevant user data exposure occurred between September and November 2025. At that time, Bithumb transferred user information to overseas platforms while sharing its USDT market order book data. The PIPC also noted that when assisting users with asset transfers to 13 overseas exchanges, Bithumb failed to obtain full and sufficient user consent before sharing personal details including names, wallet addresses, and dates of birth. For the two violations, the PIPC not only imposed the fine but also ordered Bithumb to rectify its processes and management systems related to cross-border transmission of user information.
PANews reported on April 24 that, according to Ember, the hacker who stole approximately $98 million from Balancer last November has recently begun exchanging some of his ETH for BTC via the cross-chain protocol THORChain. Today, the hacker exchanged 7,000 ETH for 204.7 BTC (approximately $15.88 million), and the transaction is still ongoing. Currently, the hacker still holds 15,000 ETH (approximately $34.65 million) on the Ethereum blockchain and 204.7 BTC (approximately $15.88 million) on the Bitcoin blockchain.
US-listed AI chip stocks saw mixed pre-market performance, with Qualcomm surging 13%.
According to Bitget market data, U.S. AI chip stocks posted mixed pre-market performance: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) surged 13%, Intel (INTC.O) rose nearly 6%, AMD (AMD.O) gained nearly 4%, and Google (GOOG.O) declined 1.4%.
4 minutes ago
Micron Technology surges 18% in pre-market trading on US stocks
According to Bitget market data, the US stock storage sector is seeing broad pre-market gains. Micron Technology (MU.O) jumps 18% in pre-market trading, as its strong earnings significantly exceeded expectations, with multiple major banks raising the stock’s target price. SanDisk (SNDK) rises 12.25%, Western Digital (WDC) gains 12.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) climbs 8.63%.
4 minutes ago
SBI announced it will acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen.
According to Nikkei News, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings announced on the 25th that it will acquire cryptocurrency exchange platform bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately $288 million). Upon completion of the transaction, SBI Group’s crypto asset custody scale is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen, making it one of the largest operators in Japan’s crypto industry. Per the plan, a subsidiary under SBI Holdings will acquire Bitbank shares from individual shareholders including its founders as early as August this year. Bitbank will then repurchase shares held by existing shareholders MIXI and Ceres by the end of October. If combining data from SBI’s own crypto exchange SBI VC Trade and Bitbank, as of April this year, the two firms had a total of around 2.92 million accounts and total custody assets of approximately 1.1 trillion yen. While different crypto exchanges disclose custody assets at varying time points, among Japan’s major industry competitors, bitFlyer held about 960 billion yen in custody assets as of the end of December 2025, and Coincheck had around 800 billion yen as of the end of March 2025.
4 minutes ago
Bithumb was fined for sharing user data overseas without consent.
South Korean regulatory authorities have ordered cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb to pay a 210 million won (approximately $136,000) fine for sharing user personal information with overseas platforms without user consent. According to an announcement released Thursday by South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), the relevant user data exposure occurred between September and November 2025. At that time, Bithumb transferred user information to overseas platforms while sharing its USDT market order book data. The PIPC also noted that when assisting users with asset transfers to 13 overseas exchanges, Bithumb failed to obtain full and sufficient user consent before sharing personal details including names, wallet addresses, and dates of birth. For the two violations, the PIPC not only imposed the fine but also ordered Bithumb to rectify its processes and management systems related to cross-border transmission of user information.
A Balancer attacker has converted 21k ETH (about $48.7M) to 617 BTC over three days, leaving only 1k ETH in the hacker’s address. The probability of another $100 million crypto hack by December 31 is at 100% YES on Polymarket.
This conversion is part of the attacker’s ongoing liquidation of stolen funds. The crypto hack market sits at 100% YES with 251 days left until resolution. The certainty reflects how frequently hacks exceeding $100M have occurred, making another one before year-end a near-foregone conclusion.
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The liquidation of this much ETH into BTC has added selling pressure on Ethereum. The probability of Ethereum being above $2,600 on April 26 is at 0.2% YES across multiple sub-markets. That market has minimal daily trading activity at $3 actual USDC, meaning traders are not expecting a price rebound within the next two days.
The hack prediction market has zero volume, so the 100% YES price reflects the near-certainty of resolution rather than active trading. Buying YES at 100¢ offers no return since the market is already priced to certainty.
Watch on-chain investigators like ZachXBT and firms like Chainalysis for further details on the Balancer attacker’s movements. Ethereum’s short-term price will depend partly on whether the remaining 1k ETH gets liquidated and on any additional large ETH outflows tied to this or similar exploits.
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Another Crypto Hack Over 100m December 31
Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31 100% 0.0¢ — View market → Ethereum Above On April 26
Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h April 26 0.2% — — View market → What Price Will Ethereum Hit Before 2027
Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31 1.9% -2.1¢ $13K View market → Updated 4min ago
Behind the rollercoaster-like price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies, there exists another class of coins that promises to offer price stability. Stablecoins attempt to bring in the best of both fiat, as well crypto, and over the past few years, they have gained massive traction, primarily because it is a major source of liquidity in the cryptocurrency market.
Unlike cryptocurrencies, the value of a stablecoin is pegged to a stable real-world asset that can range from commodities to fiat, held in reserve by the stablecoin issuer, bringing in centralization factor to the game. Meaning, there has to be a central authority holding and monitoring the backing of such crypto-assets.
This goes against the very ethos of cryptocurrencies. Along the same lines, Wiess Crypto Ratings’ latest tweet read,
“There’s a big problem with the 1st generation of #stablecoins: Users have to trust a central authority to hold sufficient dollar balances to back the coins they issued.”
Tether is unarguably the biggest stablecoin in the realm. Tether, with a market cap of $4.46 billion, holds a dominance of 11.7% over the entire cryptocurrency market. But in less than four years of its inception, USDT has garnered significant bad press. with numerous scandals and issues under its name.
Speculations alleging Tether manipulated Bitcoin’s price were the most damaging for the space. To top that, last years’ Bitfinex-Tether fiasco has only added to the woes.
Even policymakers are not a big fan of stablecoins, with numerous papers published on how this sector can threaten the monetary systems. Grant Baker, Chief Innovation Officer at STAE and author of the 2019 Blockchain Compliance Paper, was quoted as saying,
“While stablecoins provide shelter for cryptocurrency investors during times of turbulence, they haven’t seen much usage elsewhere. We anticipate this will change when Singapore begins issuing licenses and regulating stablecoin issuers this year. Decentralized stablecoins will likely be a very practical application of blockchain and that’s what we’re focusing on.”
However, even as the crypto-space continues to evolve, dethroning the largest stablecoin by market cap is be a tough job. Nevertheless, there is a growing breed of stablecoins that has made its presence known over the last couple of months.
The rise of crypto-collateralized stablecoins
The most appealing factor is the decentralized notion of this breed. While most popular stablecoins like USDT, USDC, PAX, Gemini Dollar are all fiat collateralized stablecoins, ie., backed by legal tender, crypto-collateralized stablecoins are trustless in nature. They are linked to the reserves of other cryptocurrencies.
Without a central authority, the most prominent decentralized stablecoin is DAI. This stablecoin uses smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to manage the collateral and maintain order. Another token that has gained traction is Synthetix [$sUSD] and it allows the creation of on-chain synthetic assets on the Ethereum blockchain.
Its advantages include transparency, accountability, and efficiency [in using due to the quick process of liquidation into other cryptos],
But, everything has its own pros and cons. A recent blog by DeFi Rate explained the drawback of this emerging class of stablecoins,
“Where fiat-backed stablecoins only need to hold 1:1 reserves in legal tender, this subset of stablecoins often require over-collateralization to account for price volatility. Most commonly, this ratio is set at 150%, meaning that in order to issue $100 worth of $DAI, you will need to post AT LEAST $150 worth of $ETH as collateral.”
There is also a high volatility factor. Additionally, there also may be chances of instant liquidation, meaning, the underlying crypto can be instantaneously liquidated if its price falls below a certain threshold, which is a risky affair for investors.
That being said, the growing trend depicts a more mature crypto-space, despite mounting regulatory threats from agencies across the world.
So far, the past month had seen some of the worst days in Bitcoin’s price history. Following the emerging coronavirus crisis, Bitcoin plunged from a high of over $10K in mid-February, to a current low of $3,600 reached March 12. Since then, the price had recovered to the $6,000 area, but March is not yet over.
The drop affected almost all of the cryptocurrencies and stablecoins were the only ones that saw their market cap increased.
Stablecoins’ Growth Amid The Sell-Offs As the name suggests, stablecoins find a valuable place among all cryptocurrencies because of their “stability”. In a market with generally high levels of volatility, traders can quickly exit their positions from a violently swinging coin and store their funds in a more stable digital asset, pegged to the USD in most cases.
A perfect example of their usage came last week when the market crashed over 50% in one single day. A recent report indicated that during the most significant stages of the sell-off, short term traders turned to stablecoins.
Therefore, even though the total market cap saw its value slashed in half from over $300m a month ago, most stablecoin are on the rise in that manner.
According to data from CoinGecko, USDC, the stable coin backed by Circle, had seen an increase of 55% in its market cap. Until February 27, all USDC was equivalent to $430 million. As of writing these lines, the market cap grew to almost $670 million. Paxos Standard (PAX) saw a minor increase of 9% to a current market cap of $230 million.
The biggest gainer has been BUSD (Binance USD), with an increase of over 100%. It seems rather logical since the coin is available on the leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume – Binance.
You may also like: UK Central Bank Eases Stablecoin Rules Following Market Response Coinbase Urges Congress to Treat Stablecoins Like Cash and Ease Crypto Tax Burdens Peter Schiff Blasts Jamie Dimon’s Push for Bank-Style Rules on Stablecoins Despite the above, True USD, Paxos and Gemini Dollar didn’t notice a significant change in their market cap, and MakerDAO saw a decrease of 30% in its market cap due to the recent instability of the promising project.
Still Far From Tether (USDT) Despite the new additions in the stablecoin market, Tether (USDT) is still well in the lead in this race. It’s the most widely used, and naturally, it has the largest market capitalization of over $4.5 billion. After the latest price crash, Tether is now the 4th biggest cryptocurrency by market cap.
As the majority generally prefer using it, USDT ERC-20 transactions noted an all-time high last year. Ultimately, they utilized almost 25% of the whole Ethereum network.
More recently, USDT ERC-20 balance on cryptocurrency exchanges has more than doubled in the past month, and it’s close to $1 billion.
USDT ERC 20 Balance On Exchanges. Source: glassnode.com However, the emergence of new stablecoins may soon threaten Tether’s dominance over the market. According to a recent report, USDC, PAX, TUSD, and DAI had surpassed USDT in terms of transfer counts at the start of the year.
Bhutan moved $22.4 million in Bitcoin out of sovereign wallets this week, including a direct transaction to institutional market maker QCP Capital. The Himalayan nation’s crypto portfolio has dropped from a $1.4 billion peak to about $412 million.
The outflows continue a pattern of periodic liquidations by the Royal Government of Bhutan, which began mining and holding Bitcoin in 2019. These recent transactions highlight questions facing sovereign crypto strategies amid ongoing market pressures.
Recent Bitcoin Sales and Transaction PatternsBlockchain analytics platform Arkham confirmed the Bitcoin sales. Two major outflows came from Druk Holding Investments (DHI), Bhutan’s sovereign investment arm. The transactions included 184.03 BTC, worth $14.09 million, and 100.82 BTC, valued at $8.31 million, five days earlier. The latter went directly to labeled addresses tied to QCP Capital, a Singapore-based institutional market maker active in derivatives and spot markets.
According to Arkham’s analysis, Bhutan usually sells Bitcoin in roughly $50 million tranches. Historical data shows especially heavy sales between mid and late September 2025, with multiple transactions surpassing $50 million each. The current $22.4 million in weekly outflows is smaller than past sales, suggesting either more measured liquidation or reduced holdings.
Recent Bitcoin transactions from Bhutan’s sovereign wallets show outflows totaling $22.4 million (Arkham)The QCP Capital transaction signals a strategic liquidation rather than distressed selling. Market makers such as QCP enable large block trades without major market disruption. This allows sovereigns to exit positions while minimizing price impact, unlike direct exchange deposits that may trigger sharper reactions.
Bhutan’s Bitcoin Mining Operation and ProfitabilityBhutan’s Bitcoin strategy began in 2019, with DHI launching a mining operation powered by the country’s abundant hydroelectric resources. Arkham estimates that Bhutan has generated over $765 million in Bitcoin profits since its inception, while total energy costs were about $120 million. Hydropower has kept costs low compared with competitors that rely on fossil fuels.
The 2024 Bitcoin halving fundamentally changed mining economics. This event, which occurs about every four years, halves block rewards. The halving essentially doubled the cost to mine one Bitcoin, making operations less efficient. Data indicate that Bhutan mined most of its holdings before April 2024 and then sharply cut back production.
Pre-halving profit margins enabled Bhutan to amass substantial holdings at favorable costs. However, reduced efficiency after halving likely pushed the nation to monetize its reserves rather than continue energy-intensive mining at lower returns. This strategic shift from accumulation to selective selling mirrors a wider industry trend as sector profitability compresses.
Portfolio Decline and Current HoldingsBhutan’s cryptocurrency portfolio has experienced a dramatic contraction. Arkham Intelligence data show DHI’s on-chain assets currently total about $412 million, down over 70% from the $1.4 billion peak. The portfolio consists mostly of 5,700 BTC, with negligible holdings in Ethereum and other tokens.
The portfolio decline is due to ongoing sales and depreciation in the Bitcoin price. Some value erosion came from strategic liquidations for profit or fiscal needs, but broader market conditions during 2025 and early 2026 also contributed. Bhutan’s peak holdings aligned with Bitcoin’s price highs, amplifying the percentage drop as prices corrected.
Transaction history shows DHI’s main exchange partners are Binance—which has $261 million in transferred value, or 68% of activity—and Celsius Network, with $118 million (31%). Smaller amounts moved through Kraken. These exchange interactions, combined with direct transactions with market makers, show a sophisticated approach to treasury management by Bhutan.
The Druk Holding and Investments entity manages these digital assets along with traditional investments as part of Bhutan’s broader diversification strategy. The integration of cryptocurrency into the sovereign treasury positions Bhutan among a select group of nations involved directly in digital asset markets. Whether Bhutan’s continued liquidations indicate a full exit or just portfolio rebalancing remains an open question as observers track sovereign crypto adoption trends.