Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Hyperliquid (HYPE) is trading under pressure, testing support around $64.00 at the time of writing on Tuesday. This drawdown follows a limited upswing near $68.00 the previous day, undermining the short-term technical outlook.

Hyperliquid falters amid deteriorating sentimentHYPE’s near-term bearish bias aligns with the persistently weak sentiment in the broader crypto market, as evidenced by the Fear & Greed Index in the Fear Territory at 15 on Tuesday, up only slightly from 12 the day before. This translates to a lack of appetite for risk assets, limiting gains and rebound potential.

Crypto Fear & Greed Index | Source: AlternativeReflecting the prevailing bearish sentiment across the broader crypto market, Hyperliquid’s Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem has seen its Total Value Locked (TVL) decline to $5.74 billion as of Monday, down from $6.12 billion on June 18.

TVL represents the aggregate value of assets deposited within a protocol’s smart contracts by network participants eyeing rewards on their HYPE holdings.

A persistent decrease in TVL signals waning investor confidence, prompting participants to scale back their exposure. Conversely, a consistent uptick in TVL would signal renewed bullish sentiment, as investors demonstrate greater willingness to allocate capital to the protocol’s smart contracts.

Hyperliquid DeFi TVL | Source: DefiLlamaIn the meantime, retail demand is gaining momentum, triggering a steady increase in the Hyperliquid perpetual futures Open Interest (OI). CoinGlass data show the OI rising to $2.7 billion on Tuesday, from $2.4 billion the day before. If sustained, demand for HYPE derivatives could absorb spot market selling pressure and help steady the rebound above $70.00.

Hyperliquid futures OI | CoinGlassPrice analysis: Hyperliquid bulls step up to defend key supportHyperliquid trades near $65.00, holding a mildly bullish near-term bias as it remains above the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). The spot price trades over the short and medium-term EMAs at $64.44 and $64.53, respectively, while the longer-term 200-day EMA at $62.63 offers a deeper layer of trend support, suggesting the recent recovery is backed by a constructive underlying structure.

Momentum remains relatively supportive, with the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram in positive territory on the daily chart. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovers near 53 on the same chart, indicating steady buying interest without stretching into overbought conditions.

HYPE/USDT 4-hour chartOn the downside, immediate support lies near the clustered band of short and medium-term EMAs at $64.53 and $64.44, where a pullback could attract dip buyers as long as HYPE defends this zone. A deeper slide would expose the 200-day EMA at $62.63 as the next key floor area, whose loss would materially weaken the bullish bias and open the door to a broader corrective phase. Potential buy-the-dip demand could moderate the losses at the current level or near the 200-day EMA, paving the way for gains toward the descending trendline resistance at $67.50 and the next key psychological barriers at $70.00 and $75.00.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)

Open Interest, funding rate FAQs Higher Open Interest is associated with higher liquidity and new capital inflow to the market. This is considered the equivalent of increase in efficiency and the ongoing trend continues. When Open Interest decreases, it is considered a sign of liquidation in the market, investors are leaving and the overall demand for an asset is on a decline, fueling a bearish sentiment among investors.

Funding fees bridge the difference between spot prices and prices of futures contracts of an asset by increasing liquidation risks faced by traders. A consistently high and positive funding rate implies there is a bullish sentiment among market participants and there is an expectation of a price hike. A consistently negative funding rate for an asset implies a bearish sentiment, indicating that traders expect the cryptocurrency’s price to fall and a bearish trend reversal is likely to occur.

Getting money onto a blockchain is the step where most users stop. Not because they lack funds. They already hold balances on Coinbase, Binance, OKX, and dozens of other platforms. The problem is the process: withdraw from an exchange, copy a wallet address, pick the right network, confirm the fee, wait. Most people abandon it somewhere in that chain.

Mesh removes it. A single integration connects a product to hundreds of exchanges and wallets across more than 100 digital assets, and Mesh handles authentication, routing, and transfer underneath, so a user never has to move funds manually

Any app built on Movement can embed Mesh, let a user connect an account they already hold on an exchange or wallet, and pull that balance onchain in a couple of taps.

What Mesh builtMesh is the first global crypto payments network, backed by Dragonfly, Paradigm, and Coinbase Ventures at a $1 billion valuation, connecting hundreds of exchanges, wallets, and blockchains into a single system. The closest comparison is Plaid, but for crypto accounts. It connects a financial app to your bank account; Mesh does the same for exchanges and wallets. One integration gives a product access to all of them, and Mesh orchestrates the rest - connection, authentication, transfer - so the product never manages separate connectors.

Mesh also handles any-to-any conversion: a user can hold MOVE on an exchange and receive a stablecoin on Movement, with the conversion handled automatically. What someone holds and what a product needs never have to match.

Over the past five years, Mesh has built integrations with hundreds of platforms, and that reach matters for Movement because every connected account is a potential funding source for every app on the network.

Motion Wallet ships with Mesh firstMotion Wallet is Movement's self-custodial wallet. Keys stay on the user's device. It ships with the Mesh integration first. A user opens Motion Wallet, connects an exchange account through Mesh, and funds their wallet in a few taps. The same integration pattern is open to every partner building on Movement.

Full CEX deposit support on Movement is targeted for Q3 2026. The integration takes one to three weeks once Movement network support is live across exchanges.

Why this fitsRemittances to low and middle-income countries reached $685 billion in 2024. Those transfers settle in seconds on Movement. But before any of that happens, money has to get onto the network. Movement is where it goes once it does.

Most users in the markets where Movement's partners are building already hold a balance on an exchange. They have the money. They do not have a way to move it into an app without going through a cumbersome withdrawal process. Mesh changes that.

The markets Mesh is expanding into next in  Latin America, Asia, and Europe; are the same markets Movement's partners are building in. Supporting Movement means balances already sitting on exchanges can fund the products those partners are building for those markets.  It puts Movement Network's settlement infrastructure at the end of a funnel that starts on every major exchange.

Move is for Money.

This post is informational only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation of any digital asset, security, financial instrument, investment product, or stablecoin, or financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Mesh's products and services are operated solely by Mesh, subject to Mesh's terms and applicable law. Products built on Movement Network by independent partners are operated by those partners subject to their own terms, eligibility criteria, and jurisdictional availability, and may not be available to US persons or in jurisdictions where prohibited. Product descriptions reflect publicly available information and have not been independently verified. Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations and are not guarantees.

Pump.fun has pulled the plug on its Tokenized Agent launch option, effective immediately. The Solana-based token launchpad says community feedback made the decision clear: too many ways to launch a token was creating toxic player-versus-player dynamics that were hurting everyone involved.

The feature lasted roughly three and a half months. Tokenized Agent launched on March 13, 2026, and was deprecated on June 30, 2026.

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What Tokenized Agent actually did The Tokenized Agent feature let token creators set up AI agents that would take revenue generated by those agents and funnel it back into the token through automated buybacks and burns. Creators could customize the whole thing using a skills.md file, tweaking buyback ratios and burn mechanics to fit their project’s specific needs.

The smart contracts powering these agents operated independently of pump.fun’s direct control. Once set up, they ran on their own.

One important detail: existing tokens that already used the Tokenized Agent feature won’t be affected. Tokens currently in the bonding curve or already migrated to PumpSwap will continue functioning as normal. This is a forward-looking change, not a retroactive one.

A broader simplification push Pump.fun has framed this deprecation as the first step in a larger effort to streamline the platform.

What this means for investors The Tokenized Agent feature offered utility for AI-focused projects looking to build sustainable tokenomics through systematic buybacks and burns. Projects that were planning to use this mechanism now need to find alternative approaches.

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

For years, Michael Saylor’s company was the poster child for corporate Bitcoin maximalism. Buy Bitcoin. Hold Bitcoin. Buy more Bitcoin. Repeat until the heat death of the universe.

That narrative just took a significant hit. Bitcoin dropped more than 3% to approximately $58,000 after Strategy Inc, formerly MicroStrategy, unveiled a new “Digital Credit Capital Framework” that authorizes up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales.

What Strategy actually announced The framework introduces a Bitcoin monetization program that gives Strategy the flexibility to sell up to $1.25 billion worth of its holdings. Alongside that, the company authorized up to $2 billion in repurchases of digital credit securities and common stock.

Strategy also bumped the dividend on its STRC preferred shares from 11.5% to 12%. In English: the company needs more cash to service its preferred stock obligations, and it’s willing to sell some Bitcoin to get it.

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Saylor framed the whole thing as a “flexible capital tool” designed to maximize Bitcoin holdings per share over the long term. The company currently holds around 847,363 BTC, purchased at an average price of roughly $75,680 per coin. The authorized sales represent a relatively small slice of that stash.

The market’s verdict was swift Bitcoin’s 3% slide to $58,000 came almost immediately after the announcement. The decline didn’t happen in a vacuum. It arrived alongside broader crypto market weakness, including ETF outflows and persistent macroeconomic headwinds that have been weighing on risk assets for weeks.

Strategy’s own stock and preferred shares have been under severe pressure, hitting multi-year lows even as Bitcoin traded in the $58,000 to $62,000 range. With the company’s average purchase price sitting near $75,680, the current market price means Strategy is sitting on unrealized losses across its massive position.

That math creates a feedback loop that critics have been warning about. When Bitcoin drops, Strategy’s balance sheet deteriorates. When Strategy’s balance sheet deteriorates, its ability to raise capital cheaply erodes. When it can’t raise capital cheaply, it has fewer options for servicing its obligations, which brings us right back to selling Bitcoin.

The company insists that the framework doesn’t obligate immediate sales.

Why this matters beyond one company Strategy isn’t just any Bitcoin holder. With 847,363 BTC, it is by far the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin on the planet. Its accumulation strategy, funded through a creative mix of equity raises, convertible notes, and preferred stock offerings, essentially became an investment thesis unto itself.

The timing is also notable. Bitcoin has been struggling to maintain momentum above $60,000 amid a broader risk-off environment. Adding even the possibility of institutional selling into a market already dealing with ETF outflows is the kind of catalyst that tends to accelerate moves to the downside rather than cushion them.

Saylor has been remarkably consistent in his public conviction about Bitcoin. His stated goal with this framework is to enhance liquidity and preserve Bitcoin exposure, not abandon it. And $1.25 billion against a position worth tens of billions at current prices is, mathematically, not a liquidation event.

For anyone holding Bitcoin or Strategy-related securities, the key variable to watch is whether the company actually executes sales under this framework and at what pace. With Bitcoin trading roughly $17,000 below Strategy’s average cost basis, the margin for error has gotten uncomfortably thin.

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

COINTELEGRAPH: AI's power crunch turns Bitcoin miners' grid access into an asset

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HashKey Exchange, a Hong Kong-based regulated digital asset exchange, has officially activated customer funds accounts through DBS Bank to begin fiat transfer services. The initiative permits improved fiat deposits, settlements, and withdrawals for corporate and institutional users. As per HashKey Exchange’s official press release, the move broadens its banking infrastructure with the integration of the virtual account service of DBS Bank. The development focuses on enhancing fund detection, reconciliation, and overall transfer management.

📢 HashKey Exchange has activated customer funds account with DBS Bank @dbsbank, enhancing fiat deposits, withdrawals and transaction settlement services.

We have also integrated DBS Bank’s same-name virtual account service, enabling same-name deposits, fund identification and…

— HashKey Exchange (@HashKeyExchange) June 30, 2026 HashKey Exchange Improves Fiat Settlement Framework with Exclusive DBS Bank Integration The activation of the DBS Settlement Account underscores Hashkey Exchange’s endeavors to deliver compliant and secure financial infrastructure for the wider digital asset markets. The newly activated consumer funds account through DBS Bank unveils enhanced fiat settlement functionalities for HashKey customers. Additionally, the account will enable seamless processing of transfer settlements, deposits, and withdrawals. In this respect, it will create a relatively effective connection between the next-gen digital asset services and conventional banking systems.

The news comes after HashKey Exchange’s development of a robust corporate account in partnership with DBS Bank last year. By expanding this collaboration to consumer fund settlement infrastructure and management, both entities are fortifying the operational model backing institutional-scale digital asset transfers. The DBS Settlement Account’s activation is set to provide automated reconciliation and improved payment tracking capabilities.

Apart from that, the service offers clearer detection of incoming capital by letting users deposit under their names. It also minimizes the complexities related to manual reconciliation procedures. Additionally, the integration is anticipated to benefit corporate and institutional consumers that organize high-frequency transfers, complicated financial operations, and large-value transactions. Thus, the provision of transparent capital tracking and seamless settlement processes, the move can elevate operational efficiency along with backing stronger risk management and compliant practices.

Reinforcing Commitment to Deliver Secure Digital Asset Transfer Infrastructure According to HashKey Exchange, the partnership with DBS Bank for the latest service is broadening its span beyond fundamental corporate banking activities. The joint effort now covers areas like fiat withdrawal and deposit processing, settlement, and consumer fund segregation services. While discussing this development, HashKey Exchange Business Group’s CEO, Haiyang Rui, asserted that the move represents a crucial step in advancing transfer efficiency as well as reconciliation convenience. Overall, the initiative reaffirms HashKey Exchange’s commitment to offering a more effective, transparent, and secure setting for digital asset transfers.

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Umair Younas is a cryptocurrency-related content writer linked with this work since 2019. Here, at Blockchainreporter, he serves as a news and article writer. He is a crypto, blockchain, NFTs, DeFi, and FinTech enthusiast. He has strong command over writing authentic reviews about brokers and exchanges and he has collaborated with our education team to write educational content as well. He has a dream to raise awareness among people about digital currencies. His works are well-researched and brimmed with information hence they provide fresh insights. Stay tuned to his posts if you want to stay up-to-date with the crypto-verse.

The US spot Bitcoin ETF market just had its worst month on record. June 2026 closed with $4.06 billion in net outflows, surpassing the previous monthly low of $3.56 billion set in February 2025.

The month featured seven consecutive days of net redemptions at one point, with a single-day peak outflow of $696.3 million.

BlackRock’s IBIT absorbed roughly $1.3 billion in withdrawals across just five days.

By the close of June, total assets under management across US spot Bitcoin ETFs sat at $72.82 billion.

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Daily outflows continued through the final week of the month. June 29 alone saw $231 million in net redemptions.

Bitcoin’s price dropped below $60,000 during June, hitting a year-to-date low of $58,190. That represents a decline of nearly 30% from where Bitcoin started 2026.

June did not happen in a vacuum. A 12-to-13 day outflow streak that began in mid-May and stretched into early June had already totaled around $4.4 billion before the calendar officially flipped.

2026 also marked the first calendar year in which net flows for US spot Bitcoin ETFs have turned negative overall. These products launched in January 2024.

Even with the dollar outflows at record levels, Bitcoin holdings within ETF vehicles remained close to historical peaks when measured in BTC terms.

Corporate treasury buyers continued purchasing Bitcoin during the June dip, which provides some counterbalancing demand that does not show up in ETF flow data.

BlackRock’s IBIT remains the dominant product by assets despite the outflows. The concentration of redemptions in IBIT over that five-day stretch is partly a function of its size.

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

COINTELEGRAPH: Bitcoin price risks drop below $58K as US dollar hits 40-year high against yen

Canaccord Genuity analyst Joseph Vafi trimmed his price target on Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) from $163 to $130 on June 30, while keeping his Buy rating intact.

The stock has dropped 41% in June 2026 alone, closing lower in 11 of the previous 12 months.

What the numbers actually say Vafi’s revised $130 target implies roughly 40% upside from MSTR’s recent trading range of $82 to $93. The previous target of $163 was set just weeks earlier, on June 3, 2026. For context on just how far expectations have shifted: earlier targets on MSTR reached as high as $474 in 2025.

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Other analysts on the Street are considerably more bullish. Consensus estimates for MSTR range from $276 to $350, which means Canaccord’s revised target sits well below the pack.

Strategy’s Bitcoin position is enormous, and that is both the asset and the risk As of June 22, 2026, Strategy holds 847,363 BTC in its corporate treasury, making it the largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder in the world. The company acquired that Bitcoin at an average cost of approximately $66,385 per coin.

The company has funded its Bitcoin accumulation through a combination of equity issuances and debt, a strategy that works beautifully in a rising Bitcoin market and becomes a serious liability when prices stall or fall.

What this means for investors watching MSTR Canaccord maintaining a Buy rating despite the target cut sends a specific message: this is a valuation adjustment, not a thesis abandonment.

The divergence among analysts is worth paying attention to. When consensus estimates range from $276 to $350 and one firm is sitting at $130, something is genuinely uncertain about how to value this company.

Watch how Strategy manages its financing over the coming months. MSTR’s ability to continue acquiring Bitcoin depends on its access to equity and debt markets, which tends to become more challenging when a stock is down 41% in a single month.

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

Anchorage Digital has announced an integration with Binance to bring off-exchange settlement to institutional crypto traders, giving clients access to the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume without surrendering custody of their assets.

The partnership, powered by Atlas — Anchorage Digital’s suite of settlement infrastructure — marks the first off-exchange settlement implementation within that platform. Under the arrangement, institutions can trade on Binance while their assets remain in segregated custody at Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States.

The structure mirrors how institutional trading works in traditional financial markets, where custody and execution are kept separate. In those markets, assets are held with a custodian and transferred only at final settlement — never sitting on the balance sheet of the trading venue. Crypto has long lacked that separation, requiring institutions to pre-fund exchange accounts and accept counterparty exposure to the venue itself.

“Institutions need crypto market structure that reflects the standards they already rely on in traditional finance,” said Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital in a note to Bitcoin Magazine. “Off-Exchange Settlement, powered by Atlas, is designed to separate custody from execution, helping institutions access exchange liquidity while keeping assets in secure custody.”

The arrangement also allows institutions to pledge both crypto assets and USD accounts as collateral, enabling capital deployment while satisfying trading margin requirements — an approach consistent with workflows at traditional financial firms.

Binance has been building out its institutional infrastructure over the past several years, expanding triparty banking and collateral management offerings for professional clients. The Anchorage Digital integration extends that effort.

“Working with Anchorage Digital gives institutional clients another way to access Binance liquidity while managing custody and collateral through a model that is more familiar to traditional financial markets,” said Catherine Chen, Head of VIP & Institutional at Binance.

Crypto adoption and off-exchange settlement Atlas is designed to support a range of institutional workflows beyond off-exchange settlement, including trading, lending, collateral management, and other capital markets functions. 

Anchorage Digital says the platform is built for the current phase of institutional crypto adoption, where firms entering the market have compliance, custody, and operational requirements that earlier crypto infrastructure was not designed to meet.

Anchorage Digital is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, KKR, GIC, and Visa, and carries a valuation of $4.2 billion. 

In addition to Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., the company operates through Anchorage Digital Singapore, licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Anchorage Digital NY, which holds a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services.

Micah Zimmerman

Micah first discovered Bitcoin in 2018 but remained a skeptic on the sidelines for too long. Since 2021, he has covered crypto and business and now works as a news reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.

On-chain payments continue to accelerate

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With the clock continuing to tick down on the possibility of a successful legislative session for the CLARITY Act, bitcoin seems to be firmly entrenched in another summer doldrums, with the price bouncing along at approximately $60,000 while struggling to find a catalyst toward higher levels. Even with these lower levels dominating crypto conversations and policy debates the institutional pivot toward blockchain, on-chain payments, and tokenized transactions is accelerating in the background. Such adoption is important for a number of reasons, but two in particular should stand out to investors and policymakers alike.

Firstly, and at a more generalized level, the utilization of on-chain payments and tokenized assets by large household financial names is continuing to bring transparency and important debates around compliance and security to the crypto sector. Specifically, the majority of debate and discourse around the CLARITY Act centers around not only the ability of stablecoin issues to provide yield and yield adjacent products, but how these institutions should be regulated. As frustrating as this may be for some proponents, these are critically important decisions if mass market adoption remains the end goal.

Secondly, and arguably equally as important for non-crypto-natives, are the improvements being made to the traceability and transparency linked to on-chain transactions. Traceability and the ability to reverse and/or augments payments and transactions made in error are attributes of modern payments that consumers and institutions alike expect, and making this feature more accessible for crypto transactions is an integral step in achieving wider market share.

Let’s take a look at some of the headlines driving these themes and narratives forward.

Blockchain Traceability Is Becoming a Core Market IssueFor years, blockchain’s transparency was treated as a yes or no topic with transactions either being completely visible on-chain or behind the walled garden of a permissioned network. Chainalysis’ proposed formal framework for defining wallet clusters moves the conversation beyond that oversimplification. The key issue is moving from whether on-chain data can be analyzed in real time across multiple chains and environments to how financial analysts and institutions can leverage this available data.

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By separating address grouping, attribution, and operator, the proposal addresses a weakness that has long existed in blockchain analytics; confidence can be mistaken for proof especially given the lack of authoritative auditing standards. This potential confidence-as-assurance issue has increased as digital assets become more integrated with payments, trading, tax reporting, and anti-money-laundering programs. Crypto markets will not gain institutional trust simply because transactions are recorded on an immutable ledger. Trust depends on whether conclusions drawn from that ledger are reproducible, explainable, and defensible to both crypto-native investors and more recent members of the crypto space. For investors and policymakers, standardized blockchain analytics is rapidly becoming as important as standardized financial reporting.

TradFi Support For Crypto Legislation Comes With A WarningJPMorgan’s support for a federal digital asset framework should be viewed as a meaningful signal, but not as an endorsement of regulation at any cost, especially given the leadership position of JPM both in TradFi circles and the on-chain payment space. The bank’s position is straightforward; innovation should be encouraged, but the economic function (otherwise known as tokenomics) of an asset should determine its oversight. In other words, a tokenized security still functions economically as a security, and should be treated as such.

Building on that thread, another example would be that a platform performing exchange-like functions should face exchange-like responsibilities, and that a stablecoin offering yield-like incentives without bank-level safeguards risks becoming shadow banking under a different label. This approach may frustrate industry participants seeking broad exemptions or changes, but it reflects a reality that policymakers cannot ignore. The next stage of crypto adoption will depend less on ideas related to decentralization and more on whether the market can demonstrate consumer protection, liquidity, transparency, and accountability for how errors are addressed. Regulatory clarity is valuable, but clarity that codifies loopholes will not create durable market confidence, and will simply relocate risk.

On-Chain Deposit Growth Shows Where Institutional Adoption Is HeadingWhile public debate and conversation remains focused on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, the more consequential blockchain story may be unfolding inside regulated financial institutions. J.P. Morgan’s expansion of Kinexys blockchain deposit accounts across eight currencies illustrates how major banks are approaching tokenized money; not as a replacement for banking infrastructure, but rather as an upgrade to existing products and services.

Institutional clients gain access to around-the-clock settlement, programmable treasury capabilities, and potentially more efficient cross-border liquidity while remaining inside a regulated banking environment. This is a different model from relying on privately issued stablecoins or navigating fragmented public blockchain networks. It also reinforces a broader market trend related to the fact that tokenization is increasingly about modernizing deposits, payments, collateral, and settlement rather than simply creating new speculative assets. The competitive question for banks is evolving from earlier conversations linked to whether or not blockchain will affect payments.

The emerging question for institutions is solidifying around just how institutions can implement an on-chain solutions quickly enough to attract mass market users while preserving compliance, control, and client trust.

Bitcoin’s price chart might still look like an EKG readout, but underneath the drama, something quieter and arguably more important is happening. The network’s actual payment infrastructure is getting busier, faster, and bigger.

On-chain transaction counts have been holding steady in the range of 600,000 to over 800,000 confirmed transactions per day. Meanwhile, the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s Layer-2 scaling solution designed to make payments fast and cheap, processed an estimated $1.17 billion across 5.22 million transactions in November 2025 alone.

Lightning grows up The average transaction size on Lightning nearly doubled year-over-year in 2025, climbing from $118 to $223. That shift matters because it signals the network is being used for real commerce and settlement, not just hobbyist micropayments.

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The most dramatic example came in January 2026, when a $1 million payment was routed through Lightning to the exchange Kraken. That single transaction demonstrated that Lightning can handle large-scale transfers, not just the sub-$50 payments it was initially designed to facilitate.

Channel capacity on the Lightning Network reached multi-year highs of over 5,400 BTC by early 2026. Channel capacity is essentially the amount of Bitcoin locked into Lightning’s payment channels, ready to be used for instant transactions. More capacity means the network can handle larger individual payments and greater aggregate volume without bottlenecks.

Base layer stays busy Daily confirmed transaction counts ranging from 600,000 to over 800,000 suggest that on-chain activity remains robust even when prices are volatile. During previous market downturns, on-chain activity tended to crater alongside price. The current pattern breaks that historical tendency.

The growing use of Bitcoin for cross-border remittances is a particularly notable development. Sending money internationally through conventional channels still involves fees that can eat 5-10% of the transfer amount, plus multi-day settlement times. A Lightning transaction settles in seconds for a fraction of a cent.

What this means for investors The doubling of average Lightning transaction sizes is a leading indicator worth watching. If that trend continues, it means Bitcoin’s payment infrastructure is moving upmarket from consumer micropayments to business-to-business settlement and institutional transfers.

For investors evaluating Bitcoin’s fundamental case, the on-chain data tells a story that price charts alone cannot. Transaction counts aren’t declining during volatile periods. Lightning capacity keeps expanding. Average payment sizes are growing. The network is being used for increasingly serious financial activity, from remittances to million-dollar institutional transfers.

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

21h35 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Luc Jose A.

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The institutional investment vehicle market has just received a major warning signal, demonstrating that a single arbitrage by a giant can disrupt the entire capital flow of an industry. While crypto-backed financial products seemed to stabilize approaching the half-year close, a wave of massive withdrawals shook the listed index funds, calling into question the short-term resilience of institutional demand.

In Brief Bitcoin ETFs record an eighth consecutive day of net outflows, largely caused by a $300.38 million withdrawal from BlackRock’s IBIT fund. Ethereum ETFs follow the same trend, despite some capital inflows that partially limit session losses. Investors are not leaving cryptos but redirecting their capital towards ETFs backed by XRP, Solana, and HYPE, which continue to attract positive flows. This fragmentation of institutional investments raises a key question: is this a simple end-of-quarter rebalancing or the beginning of a lasting change in allocation strategies? A Series of Massive Outflows in Bitcoin ETFs The spot Bitcoin ETF sector showed a total net loss of $231.10 million, extending a particularly difficult negative streak for asset managers. This significant financial move indicates an eighth consecutive day of net outflows for these funds, reflecting a strong psychological capitulation among some capital managers.

A detailed analysis of the players shows a behavior divide between different financial issuers :

BlackRock (IBIT) : the fund alone suffered a massive withdrawal of $300.38 million on Monday’s session, acting as the main destabilizing factor ; Grayscale (Bitcoin Mini Trust) : the structure weakened by shedding $22.95 million during the session ; Fidelity (FBTC) : the product recorded a more modest withdrawal amounting to $3.94 million ; The overall balance : transactional activity remained sustained with a volume of $2.13 billion for the day, leaving total net consolidated assets at $73.19 billion. This liquidation trend did not spare the spot Ether ETF sector, which posted a combined negative balance of $30.04 million. Moreover, a BlackRock product, ETHB, suffered the largest loss of the session with $37.55 million in net outflows. Grayscale’s Ether Mini Trust also turned negative with a loss of $5.72 million.

Withdrawals were very partially offset by positive performances of BlackRock’s ETHA (+$5.87 million), Fidelity’s FETH (+$5.25 million), and Grayscale’s ETHE (+$2.10 million). At the end of this session, trading volume on Ethereum ETFs amounted to $547.38 million, maintaining total assets under management at $8.59 billion.

The Rush to Altcoins While BlackRock absorbed these historic withdrawals, fierce resistance formed among other issuers on the market, reflecting unprecedented fragmentation in investor sentiment. Ark & 21Shares’ ARKB leads inflows, capturing $49.97 million, and Grayscale’s GBTC fund experienced a significant rebound with positive inflows of $35.10 million.

Investors also supported Morgan Stanley’s MSBT with $7.26 million, as well as VanEck’s HODL for $3.83 million. This spectacular divergence shows that the lack of love does not affect everyone, but only specific client profiles. The analysis of the situation reveals an undeniable fact: “without IBIT’s massive withdrawals, the Bitcoin ETF market would have appeared much healthier”.

The capital outflow from these two flagship funds immediately represented a diversification opportunity towards altcoin derivative products, which resist the trend. Thus, XRP-backed ETFs generated inflows of $15.34 million, led by Bitwise’s vehicle which captured $11.49 million and Canary’s vehicle with $3.40 million, bringing total net assets of this class to $971.63 million.

Solana funds followed with $5.52 million in net flows, mainly supported by Bitwise’s BSOL for $4.63 million and Fidelity’s FSOL for $892,130. Finally, HYPE ETFs completed this alternative allocation picture by collecting $2.23 million exclusively through Bitwise’s BHYP product, bringing its net assets to $334.70 million.

The Impacts of Institutional Fragmentation In light of these movements, the short-term future of institutional barometers will oblige analysts to split their reading between heavy index management and thematic yield-seeking. The Crypto Fear and Greed index, which remains in the extreme fear zone, shows that small holders are still frozen by macroeconomic uncertainty.

Conversely, the rapid reallocation towards XRP, Solana, or HYPE shows that professional fund managers are not fleeing the sector but actively optimizing their products.

The coming weeks will be decisive to know if the massive outflows at BlackRock represented a technical end-of-quarter rebalancing or the beginning of a structural disengagement of corporate treasuries regarding the two flagship assets.

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Luc Jose A.

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

DISCLAIMER

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

Despite ongoing turbulence in the crypto ETF market putting pressure on many products, funds focused on XRP have stood out as a rare sector where institutional demand remains strong. According to SosoValue data, XRP ETFs attracted a total of $15.34 million in new inflows on the last trading day of June 29.

Bitwise leads the inflowsOf the total daily inflow on June 29, $11.94 million was funneled into Bitwise’s XRP ETF product, making Bitwise the fund with the highest daily inflow in this segment. Market data suggests that Bitwise clients were the main drivers of this positive momentum.

Recognized as a prominent asset manager specializing in digital assets, Bitwise provides institutional investment solutions across the crypto markets.

IndicatorDataTotal XRP ETF inflow on June 29$15.34 millionBitwise daily inflow on the same day$11.94 millionBitwise cumulative net inflow$505.17 millionSince the launch of the Bitwise XRP ETF in November 2025, its cumulative net inflow has reached $505.17 million. Despite a decline in XRP prices in recent months, inflows into the fund have largely continued, highlighting ongoing institutional interest in this product.

On June 29, of the $15.34 million flowing into XRP ETFs, $11.94 million was directed to the Bitwise fund, making it the dominant player for the day.

XRP stands out in ETF performanceOver the past three months, XRP ETFs have outperformed Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the wider group of crypto ETFs in daily performance. The key takeaway here is that while other products have continued to see outflows, inflows to XRP funds have remained stable.

The data indicates that institutional interest in XRP is gaining strength relative to larger market-cap assets. However, this resilience in ETF demand has not translated into equivalent gains in the XRP spot price.

In the past three months, XRP has surpassed both Bitcoin and Ethereum in ETF inflows, maintaining more balanced entries as other major crypto products faced ongoing weakness.

Price impact remains limitedAnalysts note that ongoing demand for XRP ETFs could potentially have a more visible mid-term impact on price. Nevertheless, there remains a noticeable disconnect between institutional fund inflows and actual spot market performance at this stage.

As a result, while robust inflows into XRP ETFs are drawing attention, additional data is needed before a clear price recovery trend can be confirmed.

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.

Tue, 30/06/2026 - 15:21

Ripple has joined an unprecedented consortium of over 140 financial, technological, and crypto heavyweights, including BlackRock, Mastercard, Google, and Visa, to adopt "Open USD."

Cover image via U.Today

Ripple has been included on the list of the 140 financial, technological, and crypto heavyweights that will use a new stablecoin that has been dubbed "Open USD." 

The product, which has been backed by titans of the likes of Mastercard, BlackRock, Google, and Visa, and Stripe, aims to address various bottlenecks that have hampered the growth of the stablecoin market (scalability, governance, and other issues). 

 Open Standard, an independent entity, will be responsible for issuing and operating the new stablecoin, meaning that it will not be controlled by a single corporate issuer. 

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A new stablecoin model? The current stablecoin ecosystem often burdens large-scale businesses with prohibitive minting and redemption fees. At the same time, third-party issuers hoard the lucrative yield generated by the underlying cash reserves.

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The new stablecoin is specifically addressing these bottlenecks. Participating businesses will be able to mint and redeem Open USD entirely free of charge. The earnings generated by the stablecoin will be shared by all of the partners. What is notable is that the consortium model also prevents unilateral changes to the protocol. 

TradFi, big tech, and cryptoRipple has notably aligned with traditional payment giants like Mastercard, Visa, and American Express, as well as institutional banking heavyweights like BlackRock and BNY. 

The project also boasts the backing of major tech platforms such as Google, DoorDash, and Shopify, alongside crypto-native firms like Coinbase, Fireblocks, and Solana.

Open USD will offer Ripple a highly liquid rail for cross-border settlement and decentralized finance operations. 

It remains to be seen how Ripple's USD (RLUSD), Ripple's own highly regulated stablecoin with a market cap of $1.4 billion, will fit into this. 

Mastercard has noted that it will require "trusted networks, broad participation, and collaboration across the industry."

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Cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez has released his latest roadmap for XRP, blending on-chain data with technical indicators to assess the token’s outlook. According to Martinez, XRP breached the crucial $1.06 support level, a move that signals the potential for a deeper downward trend in the market.

Loss of $1.06 support highlights further riskData on price distribution reveals that more than 830 million XRP tokens have changed hands around the $1.06 mark. This level had previously served as one of the strongest defense zones for buyers. As of June 30, XRP’s price slipped below this heavy-volume area, dropping to $1.03 and intensifying pressure on the technical outlook.

With this break, many investors who took positions near $1.06 are now in the red. This creates a potential resistance region, as rising prices could encounter increased selling pressure from holders seeking to break even. Martinez also notes that bullish signals observed on the daily chart have weakened due to this latest development.

Ali Martinez emphasizes that unless XRP reclaims the $1.06 level, any rebound could amount to little more than a temporary pause rather than a lasting reversal.

Whale selling diverges from retail activityMartinez points to a significant divergence among XRP holders. Large wallet investors—so-called whales—have opted to sell in line with the broader market’s declining liquidity, while smaller investors continue to try to absorb the selling pressure.

The number of daily active addresses on the XRP network has surged by roughly 50%, approaching 40,000. This uptick indicates ongoing interest from individual investors. Nonetheless, such heightened participation has not been enough to alter the overall bearish price outlook on its own.

Glossary: The TD Sequential indicator is a technical analysis tool used to spot short-term exhaustion and possible reversal points in price movements. It does not issue directional signals by itself and is typically used alongside support, resistance, and volume metrics for confirmation.

On the daily chart, TD Sequential flashed a local rebound signal that has kept some optimism alive in the short term. However, Martinez cautions that without a move back above $1.06, the potential impact of this signal remains limited.

Two main downside targets emerge on weekly chartIn the weekly timeframe, XRP has encountered resistance at the upper band of its long-term ascending channel. Martinez’s latest analysis indicates that the failure to maintain $1.06 spotlights two main downside targets.

The first target sits at $0.80, which corresponds to the middle region of XRP’s trading channel and hosts a significant volume block. The second, more critical target is $0.70—a level where global trend support coincides with areas of previous accumulation.

Martinez’s roadmap suggests the likelihood of continued decline has increased, with weekly candle closes serving as the key determinant for market direction. Should selling by whales persist and retail holders capitulate, XRP could face an additional correction approaching 30%.

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.

Ripple (XRP) is holding above the key $1.00 psychological support level at the time of writing on Tuesday, even as the market endures a protracted downturn that began in mid-June.

The drawdown underscores the prevailing risk-off mood across the crypto space. However, XRP is seeing renewed momentum, highlighted by a sharp uptick in on-chain activity and consistent institutional inflows.

XRP network activity risesThe XRP Ledger (XRPL) is witnessing a notable surge in network activity, with daily new wallet creations approaching 5,000, a level not seen in the past three months, according to Santiment data. This uptick suggests that despite sustained price pressure near the $1.00 mark, investor engagement remains resilient, with participants capitalizing on this key psychological support.

XRP Ledger network activity | Source: SantimentMarket sentiment is also turning increasingly positive around the $1.00 level, with bullish commentary now outnumbering bearish remarks by 3.7 to 1, underscoring the level’s appeal as a dip-buying opportunity.

“Part of this optimism comes from XRP’s familiar rebound history, ongoing ETF and institutional narratives, and the idea that larger holders have continued building exposure even during ugly price action,” Santiment analysts stated.

XRP spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), on the other hand, continue to post inflows defying the current bearish outlook in the crypto market. Inflows into US-listed ETFs steadied above $15 million on Monday, bringing cumulative deposits to $1.48 billion and net assets under management to $972 million.

The sustained uptake of XRP ETFs shows that institutions see a bullish picture and are willing to increase exposure even as prices falter near the psychological support level of $1.00.

XRP ETF flows | Source: SoSoValuePrice analysis: XRP sustains bearish outlookXRP trades at $1.04, keeping a clear bearish near-term tone as it sits well below the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $1.20, $1.31 and $1.52 respectively. The Bollinger Bands show spot trading beneath the middle band at $1.12 and relatively close to the lower band support at $1.00, hinting at persistent downside pressure.

At the same time, momentum indicators reinforce this capped structure, with the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram slightly negative on the daily chart and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovering near 32, suggesting weak demand with a modestly oversold bias rather than a decisive reversal.

XRP/USDT daily chartOn the topside, initial resistance emerges at the Bollinger middle band near $1.12, followed by clustered EMA resistance from the 50-day at $1.12 and the upper Bollinger band around $1.24, before a more substantial barrier at the 100-day EMA at $1.31 and the broader bearish cap imposed by the 200-day EMA at $1.52.

Looking down, the immediate focus is the pivot around the current trading area near $1.04. A daily close below this level would open the way toward the Bollinger lower band support at $1.00, where buyers could attempt to stabilize price before any meaningful recovery attempt toward the overhead moving averages.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)

Crypto ETF FAQs An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is an investment vehicle or an index that tracks the price of an underlying asset. ETFs can not only track a single asset, but a group of assets and sectors. For example, a Bitcoin ETF tracks Bitcoin’s price. ETF is a tool used by investors to gain exposure to a certain asset.

Yes. The first Bitcoin futures ETF in the US was approved by the US Securities & Exchange Commission in October 2021. A total of seven Bitcoin futures ETFs have been approved, with more than 20 still waiting for the regulator’s permission. The SEC says that the cryptocurrency industry is new and subject to manipulation, which is why it has been delaying crypto-related futures ETFs for the last few years.

Yes. The SEC approved in January 2024 the listing and trading of several Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Funds, opening the door to institutional capital and mainstream investors to trade the main crypto currency. The decision was hailed by the industry as a game changer.

The main advantage of crypto ETFs is the possibility of gaining exposure to a cryptocurrency without ownership, reducing the risk and cost of holding the asset. Other pros are a lower learning curve and higher security for investors since ETFs take charge of securing the underlying asset holdings. As for the main drawbacks, the main one is that as an investor you can’t have direct ownership of the asset, or, as they say in crypto, “not your keys, not your coins.” Other disadvantages are higher costs associated with holding crypto since ETFs charge fees for active management. Finally, even though investing in ETFs reduces the risk of holding an asset, price swings in the underlying cryptocurrency are likely to be reflected in the investment vehicle too.

Ripple has unveiled a proposed lending protocol for the XRP Ledger that would allow financial institutions to borrow digital assets without selling their holdings, expanding the network’s institutional finance capabilities.

Summary

Ripple has proposed an XRP Ledger lending protocol for institutional borrowers and lenders. The system lets institutions borrow digital assets without selling token holdings. The proposal now awaits XRP Ledger validator approval after devnet testing. According to a proposal published by Ripple, the new XRP Ledger Lending Protocol is designed to fill what the company describes as a missing piece in blockchain-based finance. While tokenization has simplified the issuance and transfer of digital assets, Ripple argues that lending, collateral management, and credit infrastructure have not advanced at the same pace.

The proposal would support lending markets for tokenized U.S. Treasuries, money market funds, stablecoins, commodities, private credit, and other real-world assets on the XRP Ledger. 

Rather than embedding credit decisions into blockchain code, Ripple said lenders and borrowers would negotiate loan terms and complete compliance checks off-chain before transactions move to the network for execution.

Credit decisions stay off-chain while loan servicing moves on-chain Ripple said the protocol separates institutional credit assessment from blockchain settlement. Once a loan has been approved, the XRP Ledger would automate operational tasks including interest calculations, repayment schedules, loan servicing, and default management.

According to Ripple, this structure was intentionally designed to keep underwriting and regulatory requirements under the control of financial institutions while using the blockchain for standardized execution. The company said this approach mirrors how traditional financial markets separate credit decisions from settlement infrastructure.

The proposal introduces two core building blocks. A Single Asset Vault would pool a single token for lending, while a dedicated Lending Protocol would manage loan origination, servicing, and repayment. Ripple said separating custody from lending infrastructure follows the model already used in conventional capital markets.

As one example, Ripple said a payment provider holding reserves of RLUSD could obtain short-term liquidity through the protocol while waiting for cross-border transactions to settle. According to the company, doing so would allow institutions to avoid liquidating reserve assets or relying on higher-cost bank credit facilities.

Institutional access depends on validator approval Compliance remains a central part of the proposal. Ripple said both lenders and borrowers would need to complete identity verification before participating, with access controlled through permissioned credentials rather than open participation.

The company also proposed assigning first-loss capital at the lending facility level instead of distributing losses equally across all participants. According to Ripple, this structure is intended to create a clearer framework for allocating credit risk.

The lending framework has not yet become part of the XRP Ledger. Ripple said the technical specifications, published as XLS-65 and XLS-66, still require approval from XRPL validators before they can be activated on the main network. Until then, developers and infrastructure providers can begin testing the proposed system on the XRPL devnet.

The proposal arrives days after Ripple drew attention through another institutional finance connection. As previously reported by crypto.news, Elon Musk’s X has begun rolling out X Money to a limited group of Premium+ users using traditional banking infrastructure provided by Cross River Bank, a Ripple banking partner.

Although some members of the XRP community speculated that the relationship could eventually support blockchain-based payments or stablecoin services, neither X nor Cross River Bank has announced plans to integrate XRP or other cryptocurrencies into the payment platform.

For now, X Money operates entirely through conventional banking rails despite Musk previously suggesting crypto features could be added to the platform’s financial services in the future.

Recent discussions within the XRP community have centered on whether Ripple’s new dollar-pegged digital asset, RLUSD, might push XRP into the background. Some argued that with a stable dollar-based option taking the spotlight in enterprise and internal payments, the need for the more volatile XRP could decline.

On chain data reveals a different storyAnalysts at Evernorth examined this concern and, drawing on data from Dune Analytics, concluded that RLUSD has not replaced XRP. Instead, they found it acts as a complementary force supporting XRP’s position within the XRPL ecosystem. Evernorth describes itself as the largest independent XRP treasury.

Rather than RLUSD and XRP excluding each other within the same sphere, we observe a clear division of labor: RLUSD offers stable, dollar-based settlement, while XRP continues to serve as a bridge for transfers between various assets.

In April, only 17 percent of RLUSD’s volume was found on XRPL, while the majority operated on Ethereum. Latest figures, however, reveal a dramatic shift: that share now sits at 52 percent, indicating a strong migration of transaction flow toward XRPL over recent months.

Additionally, RLUSD’s share of transactions within XRPL has grown notably. In just under a year and a half, its volume rose from under 1 percent to 12 percent. According to analysts, this trend does not reflect a loss of interest in XRP. Instead, it suggests that investors and users are increasingly conducting dollar-based transactions actively around XRP within the XRPL environment.

Task sharing replaces rivalry between RLUSD and XRPAnalysts likened this structure to traditional currency markets. In global finance, the US dollar often serves as the common link for transactions across currencies. A similar setup, they suggest, is developing in Ripple’s ecosystem, where RLUSD acts as a stable benchmark and XRP facilitates rapid switching between assets.

Direct trades between RLUSD and XRP have totaled $900 million over the past six months. This robust growth marks the emergence of a deep dollar market on XRPL that did not exist before. Data also shows that RLUSD gives businesses a buffer against exchange rate volatility through a clear dollar value, while XRP remains integral when parties to a transaction need a bridge across different assets.

Network fees directly impact XRP supplyThe technical dynamics of this relationship are also significant for XRP. Every transfer, transaction, or RLUSD/XRP order move on XRPL requires a network fee, and this fee is permanently burned, meaning the XRP is taken out of circulation.

Analysts point out a straightforward correlation: as digital dollar usage expands and RLUSD-linked transactions multiply, there is higher movement in the XRP pair, leading to more XRP being burned. This mechanism means RLUSD does not displace XRP but instead generates new liquidity atop it, reinforcing XRP’s native role in the network.

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.

TL;DR

Confirmed XRP network addresses grew at their fastest average pace since March 2026, helping defend the key $1.00 level during a leverage shakeout that flushed long open interest. The key caveat: Highlight that the $1.00 support is psychological and volatile; avoid implying a guaranteed rally from here. For traders, the story matters because it affects how capital, liquidity or confidence is being priced across crypto right now. What Happened XRP Holds $1 Support As Wallet Growth Hits Three-Month High. The update comes from Coindesk, with the core claim checked against XRP Ledger Explorer (XRPScan) Address Charts / CoinGlass Liquidation Database. That matters because this is the sort of story that can quickly become noisy if it is treated as a simple price headline rather than a market-structure development.

Confirmed XRP network addresses grew at their fastest average pace since March 2026, helping defend the key $1.00 level during a leverage shakeout that flushed long open interest. The clean read is not that one data point should dominate the whole market, but that the latest signal gives traders a better sense of where risk appetite is shifting. In a market still being driven by ETF flows, leverage, treasury decisions and rotating altcoin liquidity, context is doing a lot of work.

Why It Matters For Crypto Traders XRP’s $1 level is simple, visible and psychologically important. The stronger part of the story is that wallet growth reportedly improved while leverage was being flushed from the market. That gives traders something more useful than a round-number headline: it shows whether network participation is holding up while speculative positioning resets.

The practical takeaway is that this is not just about the headline asset. These stories tend to spill across related trades: Bitcoin treasury names can affect altcoin sentiment, ETF flow data can shape institutional positioning, and token-specific network metrics can change how traders think about support, demand and supply. When liquidity is thin, those second-order effects can matter almost as much as the original news.

The Caveat To Keep In Mind Highlight that the $1.00 support is psychological and volatile; avoid implying a guaranteed rally from here. That is the line readers should keep front and center. Crypto markets are very good at taking a narrow data point and turning it into a sweeping narrative within minutes. The better read is usually more measured: this is a signal, not a guarantee.

For example, an outflow does not automatically mean long-term holders have lost conviction. A governance warning does not mean a network is broken. A token unlock does not mean every released coin is being dumped at market. And a derivatives shift does not mean price must follow in a straight line. The useful part is understanding what the signal says about positioning, confidence and incentives.

What To Watch Next The next step is to watch whether the data keeps confirming the story. If the same pattern appears across follow-up flows, on-chain metrics, open interest, governance dashboards or official filings, it becomes a more durable market theme. If it fades quickly, it may end up looking like a short-term positioning scare rather than a structural shift.

That distinction is especially important in the current market. Traders are still trying to work out whether capital is truly leaving crypto, rotating into safer crypto assets, or simply sitting in stablecoins waiting for a cleaner entry. This story adds one more piece to that puzzle, but it should be read alongside broader liquidity, macro and derivatives conditions.

This report is based on information from Coindesk and XRP Ledger Explorer (XRPScan) Address Charts / CoinGlass Liquidation Database.

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

Despite XRP’s ongoing weakness, some analysts believe that the possibility of a long-term rally remains on the table. With months of sideways movement in the market leading to a loss of confidence, their assessments suggest that holding on to key support levels could turn the outlook around for the popular cryptocurrency.

Critical support range for XRPCrypto analyst Crypto Tolga argues that rising pessimism around XRP could be setting the stage for a powerful breakout in the long run. According to Tolga, this cycle is unfolding differently from previous ones, with the $0.65 to $0.70 band standing out as the most critical support zone for XRP.

If XRP manages to maintain the $0.65 to $0.70 range as the cycle’s main bottom, Crypto Tolga foresees the potential for one of XRP’s strongest rallies to date.

According to the analyst, as long as this region remains intact, the long-term target of $18 may come back into focus. When compared to XRP’s current price of around $1.06, the $18 mark would represent a surge of approximately 1,600%.

While this projection appears highly ambitious, it is supported by expectations of improved market conditions, growing institutional adoption, and expansion within the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Widely associated with Ripple, the XRP Ledger is an open-source blockchain infrastructure used for payments and asset transfers.

Previous price cycles and market structureAnalysts’ cautiously optimistic views are also reinforced by XRP’s historical price behavior. In the past, the asset has demonstrated sharp upward moves following extended periods of consolidation. This has led some investors to anticipate that a similar break could occur once again.

Mini glossary: Open interest refers to the total amount of outstanding positions in futures contracts that have not yet been settled. On-chain activity describes transfer, wallet interactions, and network usage data directly on the blockchain.

Recent market data also supports this cautious optimism. A noticeable drop in open interest in futures trading suggests that leveraged traders have been exiting the market. Despite this, XRP has managed to remain above the psychologically important $1.00 mark.

$1.10 as a decisive short-term thresholdMeanwhile, a rise in on-chain activity suggests demand is being driven largely by spot buying. Many analysts view this dominance of direct purchases over speculative leverage as a sign of a healthier, more sustainable market structure.

XRP must first overcome the $1.10 resistance for optimism to take hold in the market; a convincing break above this level could help kickstart a fresh upward move.

In the near term, $1.10 is being watched as the most critical technical threshold. Unless this barrier is breached, XRP is likely to continue trading within a defined range as buyers look to build momentum for another attempt higher. Conversely, if the $0.65 to $0.70 support zone remains intact and the overall cryptocurrency market turns bullish, analysts expect that XRP could gain much broader room to move over the long run.

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.

The ETH/BTC ratio prices Ethereum in Bitcoin instead of dollars, stripping out the market-wide move so you can see which of the two is actually winning. Here is what the ratio measures, how to read it, what drives it, and why it has fallen to multi-year lows.

Summary

The ETH/BTC ratio is the price of one ether expressed in bitcoin, a single number that shows whether Ethereum is outperforming or underperforming Bitcoin regardless of what the dollar price of either is doing. A rising ratio means ether is gaining on bitcoin, often a sign of risk appetite and a healthier environment for altcoins; a falling ratio means bitcoin is winning, usually a sign of caution and bitcoin dominance. As of mid-2026, the ratio sits near multi-year lows around 0.026, reflecting Ethereum’s deep underperformance against Bitcoin, down sharply from levels near 0.08 in 2021 and 0.15 in 2017. The ratio is driven by the tug-of-war between Ethereum-specific forces (ETF flows, staking, layer-2 activity, supply dynamics, competition from other chains) and Bitcoin-specific forces (halving cycles, ETF and treasury demand). It is a relative-strength gauge and a regime signal, not a price target, and it can stay depressed or elevated for years, so it should inform context rather than dictate trades. Table of Contents

What the ratio actually measuresWhy traders watch itHow to read a rising or falling ratioA worked exampleWhere the ratio has been, and where it is nowWhat drives the ratio up and downHow to use the ratio without overreading itFrequently Asked Questions The ETH/BTC ratio is the price of one ether (ETH) measured in bitcoin (BTC) rather than in dollars, and it is one of the most useful single numbers in crypto for understanding which of the two largest assets is actually winning. When you look at Ethereum’s price in dollars, you are seeing two things mixed together: how Ethereum is doing, and how the entire crypto market is doing, because almost everything in crypto moves loosely with Bitcoin and with the broad risk environment.

The ETH/BTC ratio removes the second factor. By pricing Ethereum directly in Bitcoin, it cancels out the market-wide move that both assets share and isolates Ethereum’s performance relative to Bitcoin alone. If both assets rise 20% in dollars, the ratio does not move, because neither outperformed the other. If Ethereum rises while Bitcoin is flat, the ratio rises, and you learn something the dollar chart obscured: capital is favoring Ethereum over Bitcoin right now.

That makes the ratio a lens, not just a number, and learning to read it changes how you see the market. This guide explains what the ETH/BTC ratio is and how it is calculated, why traders watch it, how to interpret a rising or falling ratio, what the ratio has done historically and where it sits now, the forces on each side that push it up or down, a worked example you can follow step by step, and how to use it sensibly without overreading it.

The aim is to give you a durable mental model rather than a snapshot, because the specific level will change, but the way the ratio works will not. None of this is trading advice; the ratio is an analytical tool, and like any tool, it can mislead if used in isolation. Used well, though, it is one of the clearest windows into the single most important relationship in the asset class, the one between its two dominant coins.

What the ratio actually measures Start with the mechanics, because they are simple and the simplicity is the point. The ETH/BTC ratio is calculated by dividing the price of ether by the price of bitcoin, using the same currency for both, so the units cancel and you are left with a pure ratio. If ether trades at $1,550 and bitcoin trades at $60,000, the ratio is 1,550 divided by 60,000, which is about 0.0258, usually written as 0.026. That number tells you that one ether is currently worth about 2.6% of one bitcoin. You can read it directly: at a ratio of 0.026, it takes roughly 38 ether to equal one bitcoin in value.

Most charting platforms quote the pair as ETHBTC or ETH/BTC, and many crypto exchanges let you trade the pair directly, buying ether with bitcoin or the reverse, which is part of why the ratio is so closely watched, it is a live, tradable market, not just a derived statistic.

What the ratio measures, conceptually, is relative strength. It answers a question the dollar price cannot: between the two largest assets in crypto, which is the market choosing right now? Because Bitcoin and Ethereum share most of the same macro drivers, interest rates, risk appetite, regulatory news, dollar liquidity, comparing them to each other holds those shared factors roughly constant and exposes the difference that is specific to each asset. A dollar chart of Ethereum during a broad sell-off shows Ethereum falling, but it cannot tell you whether Ethereum fell more or less than Bitcoin.

The ratio can. If Ethereum fell harder than Bitcoin, the ratio dropped even as both went down, revealing that within the decline, capital preferred the relative safety of Bitcoin. That is the core value of the metric: it separates Ethereum’s own story from the market’s story, and in doing so it often reveals the direction of capital rotation that the dollar price hides.

Why traders watch it The ratio matters because it functions as a regime indicator for the broader market, not just for Ethereum. In crypto, there is a long-observed pattern in which capital rotates in a rough sequence: money flows into Bitcoin first during the early, cautious phase of a rally, then rotates into Ethereum as confidence grows, and then spreads out into smaller altcoins as risk appetite peaks.

Because Ethereum sits in the middle of that sequence, the largest and most established asset after Bitcoin, the ETH/BTC ratio often acts as a barometer for where the market is in that cycle. A rising ratio, with Ethereum gaining on Bitcoin, frequently signals that risk appetite is building and that the environment is turning favorable for altcoins broadly, since Ethereum tends to lead the alt market. A falling ratio, with Bitcoin winning, usually signals the opposite: caution, a flight toward the relative safety of Bitcoin, and a harder environment for smaller tokens.

This is why traders treat the ratio as a piece of market-structure information instead of just a fact about two coins. When the ratio is trending up, many interpret it as confirmation of an “altcoin season” or “ETH season,” a period when capital is willing to move out the risk curve and non-Bitcoin assets outperform. When it is trending down, the read is “Bitcoin season” or rising “Bitcoin dominance,” a period when Bitcoin absorbs the market’s attention and capital while alts bleed against it. Portfolio decisions follow from this framing: a trader who believes the ratio is turning up might tilt toward Ethereum and altcoins, while one who sees it falling might rotate toward Bitcoin or cash.

The ratio also serves as a sanity check on narratives. If commentators are loudly predicting an Ethereum breakout but the ETH/BTC ratio keeps falling, the market is voting against the narrative in the most direct way available, by pricing Ethereum lower against Bitcoin quarter after quarter. Watching the ratio keeps a trader honest about what is actually happening versus what is being talked about.

How to read a rising or falling ratio Reading the ratio is mostly about direction and context instead of any single absolute level. A rising ETH/BTC ratio means ether is appreciating relative to bitcoin, whether because ether is rising faster than bitcoin, falling more slowly, or rising while bitcoin falls. In all of those cases the message is the same: on a relative basis, the market is favoring Ethereum.

Sustained increases in the ratio tend to coincide with periods of broad risk appetite, strong Ethereum-specific catalysts, and outperformance across the altcoin complex, since Ethereum often pulls the alts along with it. A falling ratio carries the opposite message: bitcoin is winning the relative contest, the market is leaning toward caution and Bitcoin dominance, and altcoins are generally struggling against bitcoin even if they are flat or rising in dollar terms.

The crucial discipline is to read the ratio in context instead of as a standalone buy or sell signal. The same ratio level can mean very different things depending on the trend and the backdrop. A ratio of 0.026 reached on the way down, after months of Ethereum underperformance, signals weakness and momentum against Ethereum. The same 0.026 reached on the way up, after a period of Ethereum gaining, would signal the opposite, recovering relative strength.

Direction and trend matter more than the absolute figure. It also helps to watch the ratio across multiple timeframes: a short-term bounce in the ratio within a long-term downtrend is a different and weaker signal than a multi-month trend change. And because the ratio is relative, it is silent about absolute price. The ratio can rise while both assets fall in dollars, if Ethereum falls less, which is relative outperformance during an absolute loss, useful to know but not the same as a gain. Reading the ratio well means always holding two questions at once: which asset is winning the relative contest, and what is the absolute market doing underneath that contest.

A worked example Make it concrete with numbers you can follow. Suppose ether is trading at $1,550 and bitcoin at $60,000. Divide 1,550 by 60,000 and you get 0.0258, so the ETH/BTC ratio is about 0.026, and one ether is worth roughly 2.6% of one bitcoin, or equivalently it takes about 38 ether to equal one bitcoin. Now run three scenarios from that starting point to see how the ratio responds to relative moves.

In the first scenario, both assets rise 25% in dollars: ether to about $1,938 and bitcoin to $75,000. The ratio is 1,938 divided by 75,000, which is still about 0.0258. Despite a large dollar gain in both, the ratio did not move, because neither outperformed the other, exactly the information the dollar chart would have hidden.

In the second scenario, ether outperforms: ether doubles to $3,100 while bitcoin stays at $60,000. The ratio becomes 3,100 divided by 60,000, or about 0.052, a doubling of the ratio. This is the signature of Ethereum outperformance, and a trader watching only the ratio would see it climb from 0.026 to 0.052 and read a strong shift of capital toward Ethereum, the kind of move associated with an ETH-led alt rally. In the third scenario, the market falls but Ethereum falls harder: bitcoin drops to $48,000 (down 20%) while ether drops to $1,085 (down 30%).

The ratio is 1,085 divided by 48,000, or about 0.0226, a decline from 0.026. Here both assets lost money in dollars, but the ratio fell, telling you that within the sell-off, capital preferred bitcoin and Ethereum bore more of the damage. These three cases show the ratio’s whole purpose in miniature: it ignores the shared move and reports only the relative winner, which is the piece of information that dollar prices alone cannot give you.

Where the ratio has been, and where it is now History gives the current level its meaning, and the history of ETH/BTC is a story of a long round trip. In Ethereum’s earlier years the ratio climbed dramatically as Ethereum established itself as the clear number-two asset and the home of smart contracts, decentralized finance, and much of crypto’s developer activity. It reached its highest levels around mid-2017, near 0.15, when one ether was worth about 15% of a bitcoin, a peak of Ethereum’s relative strength driven by the initial-coin-offering boom that ran on Ethereum.

The ratio then fell sharply, recovered into the 2021 cycle to peak around 0.08 as decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens drove enormous activity on Ethereum, and has since entered a prolonged decline. As of mid-2026, the ratio sits near multi-year lows around 0.026, with ether near $1,550 against bitcoin near $60,000, a level that reflects a sustained stretch of Ethereum underperforming Bitcoin.

The reasons for the long decline are worth understanding because they explain why the ratio is where it is instead of simply that it is low. Several forces have weighed on Ethereum’s relative strength. Bitcoin has captured an enormous wave of institutional demand through spot ETFs and corporate-treasury adoption, a clean, simple “digital gold” narrative that has pulled capital toward Bitcoin specifically. Ethereum, meanwhile, has faced intensifying competition from faster, cheaper chains, with much of the speculative and developer energy that once flowed to Ethereum moving to rivals, which has diluted the “Ethereum is the only smart-contract platform that matters” thesis that powered its earlier outperformance.

Ethereum’s own narrative has also been harder to summarize than Bitcoin’s, shifting across staking, scaling through layer-2 networks, and supply dynamics in ways that are powerful but complex, and complexity is a disadvantage in a market that rewards simple stories. The result is a ratio that has spent a long time grinding lower, which is the context any reader should hold when they see the current figure: it is not a momentary dip but the late stage of a multi-year trend, which is exactly why it is so closely watched for signs of a turn.

What drives the ratio up and down To anticipate the ratio instead of just observe it, you have to understand the forces on each side, because the ratio is a tug-of-war between Ethereum-specific and Bitcoin-specific drivers. On the Ethereum side, the factors that tend to push the ratio up include strong inflows into Ethereum ETFs, which signal institutional demand specifically for ether; growth in staking, which locks up supply and can tighten the available float; rising activity on Ethereum and its layer-2 networks, which supports the case that the network is being used; and periods when Ethereum’s supply dynamics turn deflationary, reducing net issuance. Broadly, anything that strengthens Ethereum’s relative narrative or tightens its supply relative to Bitcoin tends to lift the ratio. When these forces are strong and Bitcoin lacks an equally strong catalyst, capital rotates toward Ethereum and the ratio climbs.

On the Bitcoin side, the factors that push the ratio down include the four-year halving cycle and its associated demand narratives, large institutional inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, corporate-treasury accumulation of Bitcoin, and any environment in which the market wants the relative safety and simplicity of Bitcoin over the complexity of Ethereum and altcoins. Risk-off conditions generally favor Bitcoin and pull the ratio down, because in a cautious market capital concentrates in the most established, most liquid, most narratively simple asset, which is Bitcoin.

The overall risk environment is the backdrop to both sides: in risk-on periods, capital is willing to move out the curve toward Ethereum and the ratio tends to rise, while in risk-off periods it retreats toward Bitcoin and the ratio tends to fall. This framework explains why the ratio has been weak: Bitcoin has enjoyed powerful, simple, institution-friendly catalysts in ETFs and treasuries, while Ethereum’s catalysts have been real but more diffuse, and much of the market has been in a cautious, Bitcoin-favoring posture. A durable turn in the ratio would require Ethereum-specific demand to outweigh Bitcoin’s, which is exactly what traders watch the ratio to detect.

How to use the ratio without overreading it For all its usefulness, the ratio is easy to misuse, and using it well means respecting its limits. The most important discipline is to remember that the ratio is a relative-strength gauge, not a price target or a guaranteed mean-reverting signal. A common error is to look at a depressed ratio and assume it must bounce back toward old levels, treating the multi-year average as a magnet.

There is no rule that forces the ratio to revert. It can stay depressed for years if Ethereum continues to underperform, just as it can stay elevated during a strong Ethereum cycle, and betting on reversion simply because the ratio looks low has cost many traders dearly through long stretches of continued underperformance. The ratio describes the current balance of relative strength; it does not promise that the balance will swing back on any particular schedule.

The second discipline is to never trade the ratio in isolation. It is one input among many, most powerful when combined with an understanding of the absolute market environment, the specific catalysts on each side, and your own time horizon. The ratio tells you which asset is winning the relative contest, but it says nothing about whether the whole market is heading up or down in dollars, which is what actually determines whether you make or lose money in absolute terms.

A rising ratio in a collapsing market still means losses; a falling ratio in a soaring market can still mean gains. The ratio is best used to inform allocation tilts and to read market structure, for example to judge whether the environment favors Ethereum and alts or Bitcoin, instead of as a standalone entry or exit trigger. Treat it as a compass that shows direction of relative capital flow, not a clock that tells you when to act, and it becomes one of the more reliable instruments in a crypto analyst’s toolkit. Misread as a precise timing signal or a guaranteed reversion bet, it becomes a trap. The metric is honest; the overreading is the danger.

Frequently Asked Questions What is a good ETH/BTC ratio? There is no single “good” level, because the ratio is a relative measure whose meaning depends on trend and context instead of any fixed number. Historically the ratio has ranged from highs near 0.15 in 2017 and 0.08 in 2021 down to multi-year lows around 0.026 in 2026. A higher ratio reflects stronger Ethereum performance against Bitcoin, and a lower one reflects Bitcoin dominance, but neither is inherently “good” or “bad,” it depends on which asset you favor and where you are in the cycle. What matters more than the absolute level is the direction: a rising ratio signals Ethereum gaining, a falling ratio signals Bitcoin winning. Read the trend and the backdrop, not a target number.

How do you calculate the ETH/BTC ratio? Divide the price of ether by the price of bitcoin, using the same currency for both so the units cancel. For example, if ether is $1,550 and bitcoin is $60,000, the ratio is 1,550 divided by 60,000, which equals about 0.0258, usually written as 0.026. That means one ether is worth roughly 2.6% of one bitcoin, or that it takes about 38 ether to equal one bitcoin. Most charting platforms display the pair directly as ETHBTC or ETH/BTC, so you rarely need to calculate it by hand, and many exchanges let you trade the pair directly, which is why it behaves as a live market instead of just a derived statistic.

What does a rising ETH/BTC ratio mean? A rising ratio means ether is appreciating relative to bitcoin, whether because ether is rising faster, falling more slowly, or rising while bitcoin is flat or falling. The shared message is that the market is favoring Ethereum over Bitcoin on a relative basis. Sustained increases often coincide with broad risk appetite and outperformance across altcoins, since Ethereum tends to lead the alt market, which is why a rising ratio is frequently read as a signal of “ETH season” or a building altcoin rally. The key caveat is that a rising ratio describes relative strength only; it says nothing about whether the overall market is going up or down in dollar terms.

Why has the ETH/BTC ratio been falling? The long decline reflects a tug-of-war that Bitcoin has been winning. Bitcoin has captured a powerful wave of institutional demand through spot ETFs and corporate treasuries, supported by a simple “digital gold” narrative. Ethereum has faced intensifying competition from faster, cheaper chains that drew away speculative and developer activity, while its own narrative, spanning staking, layer-2 scaling, and supply dynamics, has been harder to summarize than Bitcoin’s. A generally cautious, risk-off market has also favored Bitcoin’s relative safety. The combination pushed the ratio to multi-year lows near 0.026 by mid-2026. A durable turn would require Ethereum-specific demand to outweigh Bitcoin’s catalysts.

Can the ETH/BTC ratio predict altcoin season? It is one of the more useful indicators for it, but not a precise predictor. Because Ethereum sits between Bitcoin and smaller altcoins in the typical rotation of capital, the ETH/BTC ratio often acts as a barometer: a rising ratio suggests capital is moving out the risk curve toward Ethereum and, by extension, toward altcoins, while a falling ratio suggests retreat toward Bitcoin. Many traders treat a sustained uptrend in the ratio as confirmation that an altcoin season is building. However, it is a relative-strength gauge, not a guarantee, and it should be combined with other signals and an understanding of the absolute market, instead of treated as a standalone forecast of when alts will run.

Should I trade based on the ETH/BTC ratio? The ratio is best used as an analytical and allocation tool instead of a standalone trading trigger, and this is not trading advice. It is most valuable for understanding market structure, judging whether the environment favors Ethereum and altcoins or Bitcoin, and informing how you tilt a portfolio, instead of as a precise entry or exit signal. Two cautions matter most: do not assume a low ratio must revert to old highs, because it can stay depressed for years, and never read it in isolation, because it says nothing about whether the overall market is rising or falling in dollars. A rising ratio in a falling market still means losses. Use it as a compass for relative strength, combined with other analyses.

This article is educational information, not financial or investment advice. Price levels and ratio figures reflect approximate values as of June 2026 and change continuously. Cryptocurrency is volatile, and you can lose money. Do your own research and consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decision.

Survey: 88% of enterprises plan to adopt stablecoins within the next year, with cross-border payment costs reduced by an average of 35%.

Payment infrastructure company Cybrid has released a new survey report indicating stablecoins are rapidly gaining traction in enterprise payment scenarios. The survey found that 42% of participating enterprises already use stablecoins for cross-border payments, while 88% said they are likely or very likely to adopt stablecoins within the next 12 months—only 2% of firms stated they will continue to rely entirely on traditional payment systems. According to the report, enterprises using stablecoins save an average of 35% on cross-border payment costs, with firms processing over $100 million in monthly payments achieving an average cost reduction of 47%. Payroll and contractor payments represent the most prominent use case, followed by supplier payments, customer payments, investment and revenue management, and treasury management, among others. Additionally, 71% of respondents identified a clear regulatory framework as the primary factor driving further mainstream adoption of stablecoins, outranking considerations such as infrastructure provider credibility and system integration. The survey was conducted from April to May this year, covering 468 senior executives from tech, financial services, and e-commerce sectors in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

3 hours ago

FalconX secures EU MiCA license, allowing it to offer compliant crypto services to institutional clients in Europe.

Institutional digital asset broker FalconX announced it has obtained the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), enabling it to provide compliant digital asset trading, custody, liquidity and related institutional services across the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). FalconX stated that this license allows it to operate across EU member states under a unified regulatory framework, eliminating the need for individual country-specific licenses. Currently, the firm serves over 2,000 institutional clients worldwide, including asset management firms, hedge funds, banks and family offices, with cumulative transaction volumes exceeding $2.5 trillion and over $8 billion in institutional financing disbursed. FalconX noted that as the MiCA regulatory framework is fully implemented, institutional clients’ demand for compliant trading, custody and liquidity services continues to grow, and regulatory credentials are becoming a key competitive advantage in Europe’s digital asset market.

3 hours ago

Guo Wengui sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a fraud case involving over $1 billion.

A US court has sentenced Miles Guo (also known as Ho Wan Kwok) to 30 years in prison. In 2024, a jury convicted Guo on multiple charges including racketeering, fraud, and money laundering, with his formal sentencing now issued. Prosecutors stated that Guo defrauded over $1 billion from global victims through a series of related scam schemes spanning five years. Notably, in 2021, he promoted the cryptocurrency project Himalaya Coin (H-Coin), claiming the tokens were backed by 20% gold reserves and promising to cover all investors’ losses, raising approximately $500 million in total. Additionally, the court previously ordered the forfeiture of nearly $900 million in Guo’s illegal proceeds, as well as his luxury mansion in New Jersey and multiple high-end vehicles. Guo had close ties to Steve Bannon, a former senior advisor to US President Donald Trump; Bannon was arrested in 2020 aboard Guo’s yacht.

3 hours ago

The first-half 2026 funding rankings have been released, with Kalshi and Polymarket raising a combined $1.8 billion.

According to statistics, the 14 largest global funding rounds in the first half of 2026 raised a total of $4.3 billion, with prediction markets, AI, and payment sectors drawing the most investor interest. Specifically, prediction market platform Kalshi topped the list with a $1.2 billion funding round, while Polymarket secured $600 million—together, the two raised $1.8 billion, accounting for over 40% of the total capital of the top 14 rounds. In the AI space, Replit, Exa AI, and OpenRouter closed funding rounds of $400 million, $250 million, and $113 million respectively. For blockchain projects, Canton Network, Arc, and Morpho raised $355 million, $222 million, and $175 million respectively. Meanwhile, payment, RWA, infrastructure, and compliance projects including Rain, Slash, Goldcom, Alpaca, and Elliptic also featured on the list.

3 hours ago

Open Standard launches stablecoin Open USD, with over 140 institutions including Visa, BlackRock, and Coinbase participating.

Open Standard has announced the launch of Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin for global fund flows, noting that over 140 enterprises have joined its ecosystem, including financial, payment, and crypto industry players such as Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, American Express, BlackRock, BNY, DBS, Coinbase, OKX, MetaMask, Aave, Ripple, Fireblocks, Solana, and Polygon. According to the introduction, Open USD follows three core design principles: supporting zero-cost, large-scale minting and redemption for enterprises; returning all reserve asset yields to partners after deducting a small management fee; and being governed by a board of directors composed of independent firm Open Standard and its partners, rather than controlled by a single issuer. Open Standard states that Open USD will officially launch later this year, with the goal of building an open, low-cost, high-throughput stablecoin infrastructure with a sharing economy mechanism to meet the needs of the internet economy and global enterprise-level payments.

3 hours ago

Pump.fun is discontinuing support for its tokenized agent issuance feature, stating it will focus on optimizing retail user trading experience.

Pump.fun announced it will immediately cease support for its Tokenized Agent token issuance feature. The feature will no longer be available for new token launches, though projects that have already activated it will remain unaffected. The platform noted that over recent months, consistent community feedback has pointed out that excessive issuance options have sparked unnecessary user vs. user (PVP) competition. Moving forward, Pump.fun will prioritize issuance models and product features that explicitly enhance retail trading experiences.

3 hours ago

TL;DR

Confirmed that the 25-delta put-call options skew has shifted positive for early July expiries, showing options traders are paying more for short-term downside protection. The key caveat: Avoid claiming options skew guarantees a price decline; portray it as a gauge of trader sentiment and hedging. For traders, the story matters because it affects how capital, liquidity or confidence is being priced across crypto right now. What Happened Ethereum Options Traders Pay Up For Downside Protection As Skew Turns Cautious. The update comes from Tokenpost, with the core claim checked against Deribit Options Metrics Dashboard / Block Scholes reports. That matters because this is the sort of story that can quickly become noisy if it is treated as a simple price headline rather than a market-structure development.

Confirmed that the 25-delta put-call options skew has shifted positive for early July expiries, showing options traders are paying more for short-term downside protection. The clean read is not that one data point should dominate the whole market, but that the latest signal gives traders a better sense of where risk appetite is shifting. In a market still being driven by ETF flows, leverage, treasury decisions and rotating altcoin liquidity, context is doing a lot of work.

Why It Matters For Crypto Traders Options markets are useful because they show what traders are willing to pay to protect against specific outcomes. When short-dated Ether skew moves toward puts, it says desks are paying up for near-term downside cover. It does not predict the future, but it does show where the market feels exposed right now.

The practical takeaway is that this is not just about the headline asset. These stories tend to spill across related trades: Bitcoin treasury names can affect altcoin sentiment, ETF flow data can shape institutional positioning, and token-specific network metrics can change how traders think about support, demand and supply. When liquidity is thin, those second-order effects can matter almost as much as the original news.

The Caveat To Keep In Mind Avoid claiming options skew guarantees a price decline; portray it as a gauge of trader sentiment and hedging. That is the line readers should keep front and center. Crypto markets are very good at taking a narrow data point and turning it into a sweeping narrative within minutes. The better read is usually more measured: this is a signal, not a guarantee.

For example, an outflow does not automatically mean long-term holders have lost conviction. A governance warning does not mean a network is broken. A token unlock does not mean every released coin is being dumped at market. And a derivatives shift does not mean price must follow in a straight line. The useful part is understanding what the signal says about positioning, confidence and incentives.

What To Watch Next The next step is to watch whether the data keeps confirming the story. If the same pattern appears across follow-up flows, on-chain metrics, open interest, governance dashboards or official filings, it becomes a more durable market theme. If it fades quickly, it may end up looking like a short-term positioning scare rather than a structural shift.

That distinction is especially important in the current market. Traders are still trying to work out whether capital is truly leaving crypto, rotating into safer crypto assets, or simply sitting in stablecoins waiting for a cleaner entry. This story adds one more piece to that puzzle, but it should be read alongside broader liquidity, macro and derivatives conditions.

This report is based on information from Tokenpost and Deribit Options Metrics Dashboard / Block Scholes reports.

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

SharpLink has expanded its Ethereum treasury with another 10,000 ETH purchase even as the cryptocurrency has remained on course for its third consecutive quarterly decline.

Summary

SharpLink bought another 10,000 ETH for $16.1 million, increasing its Ethereum holdings to 886,725 ETH. Ethereum is on track for its first-ever third consecutive quarterly loss despite continued treasury accumulation. Bitmine now holds more than 5.7 million ETH, adding to institutional buying as analysts watch the $1,500 support level. According to a company press release, SharpLink acquired the latest 10,000 ETH at an average price of $1,611 per token, spending approximately $16.1 million on the purchase.

The transaction increases the company’s total Ethereum holdings to 886,725 ETH and follows a $75 million capital raise completed through a registered stock offering.

SharpLink continues building its Ethereum treasury Alongside the latest crypto purchase, SharpLink stepped up its capital management efforts by repurchasing more than 2.13 million shares of its common stock, SBET, at an average price of $4.69 per share.

The company said it has now bought back over 4.07 million shares since August 2025. Despite those moves, SBET shares were trading around $4.72 at the time of writing, down nearly 4% on the day.

Source: Yahoo Finance Recent corporate developments have also added to the company’s profile. Earlier this week, SharpLink joined the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes, extending its presence in major U.S. equity benchmarks while continuing to increase its Ethereum reserves.

SharpLink is not the only listed company expanding its exposure to Ethereum. As crypto.news reported on Monday, Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine purchased another 27,084 ETH during the past week, lifting its holdings to more than 5.7 million ETH.

Based on the company’s figures, those reserves now account for about 4.7% of Ethereum’s estimated circulating supply of 120.7 million ETH, bringing Bitmine closer to its previously stated target of holding 5% of the network’s supply.

Earlier this month, crypto.news also examined the implications of treasury companies accumulating increasingly large portions of Ethereum. The report noted that sustained buying could reduce the amount of ETH available for trading, although concentrated ownership may create additional risks if companies later need to fund operations through debt, equity issuance, or asset sales during weaker market conditions.

Ethereum remains under pressure despite corporate buying Even as treasury companies continue adding to their holdings, Ethereum (ETH) has struggled to regain upward momentum. At the time of writing, ETH traded near $1,560, down about 1% on the day and roughly 25% for the quarter.

Ethereum price chart — June 30 | Source: crypto.news Current market performance also places Ethereum on track to record its third straight quarterly loss, a result that would be the first such streak in the asset’s history if the quarter closes at current levels.

Some analysts nevertheless see the recent weakness as a key technical test rather than a definitive breakdown. According to crypto analyst Ted Pillows, Ethereum could stage a relief rally next month if it manages to hold support around $1,500.

The analyst’s chart also outlined the downside risk if that level fails. Under that scenario, Ted Pillows said Ethereum could fall toward $1,400 or lower, underscoring that price direction in the coming weeks may depend on whether buyers continue defending the current support zone despite ongoing accumulation by treasury firms.