Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

[PRESS RELEASE – Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, July 9th, 2024]

In a step forward for the derivatives ecosystem on Arbitrum, two prominent DeFi projects, GMX and Gains Network, have unveiled bids to integrate their platforms into Kwenta’s upcoming perpetuals marketplace. Kwenta, the leading perpetual futures exchange on Optimism, expanded its reach earlier this year by launching the Base network, reflecting a larger plan to connect derivatives liquidity across multiple chains. This announcement follows the recent approval of a grant from the Arbitrum DAO aimed at supporting Kwenta’s initial expansion to the Arbitrum network.

Product Offerings from GMX and Gains Network GMX and Gains Network have submitted their proposals to integrate their liquidity into Kwenta’s platform. These integrations aim to enhance the trading experience for Kwenta users by providing access to additional markets and liquidity, while taking advantage of Kwenta’s UX-focused roadmap, which includes allowing traders to log in with traditional web2 credentials and sponsoring gasless transactions.

GMX v2, Arbitrum’s flagship perpetual futures AMM (Automated Market Maker), built on the initial success of their v1 product by being the first to integrate Chainlink Data Streams, a low latency product from the leading oracle provider aimed at high-performance applications. The lower fees and wider selection of markets available on GMX v2 allowed the offering to quickly grow in popularity with onchain traders.

Gains Network, known for its gTrade platform, offers a wide variety of trading pairs, including cryptocurrencies, forex, and commodities, supported by their decentralized oracle network. Gains Network’s innovative approach to perpetual futures provides traders access to up to 150x leverage on a growing list of nearly 200 markets.

Strengthening the Arbitrum Ecosystem The integration of GMX and Gains Network into Kwenta’s perpetuals marketplace is expected to drive growth in the onchain perpetuals space by allowing users to easily access advanced DeFi products from Kwenta’s easy-to-use UX layer. While retail-focused applications have made huge steps forward in allowing users to quickly access the best prices for token swaps and bridging, onchain leverage has remained a complex product for more sophisticated DeFi enthusiasts.

This strategic expansion brings Arbitrum’s most popular derivatives trading venues under a single platform, providing a simple and familiar experience for traders new to onchain products. Kwenta’s roadmap promises to build on these quality of life features, allowing users to interact with multiple protocols in a single application.

Looking Ahead Kwenta is currently inviting community feedback on these proposals as it moves towards finalizing its perpetuals marketplace. The potential integrations with GMX and Gains Network align with Kwenta’s mission to provide a superior decentralized trading experience. With these developments, Kwenta is aims to become a leading venue for DeFi derivatives trading on Arbitrum.

About Kwenta Kwenta is an onchain derivatives marketplace on Optimism, Base, and Arbitrum. The platform offers easy-to-use tools to access deep liquidity and low fees onchain, while users retain full custody of their funds. With over $50 billion in trading volume through its community-governed platform, Kwenta is committed to developing tools that bring DeFi to everyone.

For more details, users can follow Kwenta’s governance discussion channels on Discord.

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Synthetix is looking to regain control over its most popular front-end, with Kwenta driving $60 billion in volume over four years.

Synthetix, the veteran DeFi protocol, is looking to acquire Kwenta, a derivatives exchange that spun out of Synthetix in 2020.

On Oct. 29, a proposal outlining plans for Synthetix to acquire Kwenta, the top project within Synthetix’s ecosystem by trade volume, was published to the governance forums of both Synthetix and Kwenta.

Should both projects pass the proposals, Kwenta would be rebranded as a new incarnation of Synthetix Exchange, Kwenta’s treasury would be absorbed into the Synthetix treasury, and the Kwenta subdao would dissolve with governance over the front-end handed over to Synthetix’s Spartan Council.

Acquisition termsThe deal would comprise Synthetix purchasing 532,375 KWENTA — the token’s entire circulating supply — with roughly 9.05 million ($13.2 million) newly minted SNX tokens, resulting in SNX’s supply inflating by 2.8%.

The deal would be closed at a ratio of one Kwenta to 17 SNX, equating to a 19% discount compared to the price ratio of KWENTA/SNX based on a 30-day moving average. Synthetix said the discount reflects the disparity between the two assets’ trade volume, with SNX driving $20 million in daily volume on major centralized exchanges compared to just $100,000 for KWENTA.

As such, Kwenta acknowledges that it is currently “difficult for tokenholders to access the value for their assets,” meaning the token migration would benefit holders through deeper liquidity.

Following approval, a token migration contract would allow KWENTA holders to burn their assets in exchange for SNX vesting contracts. All SNX received by KWENTA holders would be subject to a three-month lockup and subsequent nine-month linear vesting schedule.

Synthetix told The Defiant that all remaining SNX that have not entered circulation are currently held by the Kwenta and Synthetix treasuries, and will be burned should the proposal go through.

Synthetix ExchangeIn 2020, Synthetix divested its Synthetix Exchange front-end in a bid to revamp itself as a liquidity provision protocol powering a diverse ecosystem of front-end integrations.

However, Synthetix now describes this move as a “strategic error” that created distance between the project end users, in addition to fostering poor economic models for front-end integrations. Despite Kwenta driving more than $60 billion worth of trade in the past four years, the project said it has struggled to establish a sustainable business model for the mid-long term.

“Synthetix lost control of the point where customers most interact with their perp engine, and the commercial model has historically not proven to be sustainable for front-ends,” Synthetix said. “This strategic acquisition will ensure Synthetix is closer to the end customer, so it can build better perp products, which will benefit all integrators… Reuniting Synthetix and Kwenta is the solution to offering a competitive perps product.”

Synthetix said the move would also realign the strategic objectives of it and Kwenta, noting that differences in roadmap priorities have previously resulted in delays for Synthetix shipping upgrades.

Synthetix added that it will continue to work closely with other front-ends and products that leverage its perp engine despite the acquisition.

The price of SNX is up 2.7% over the past 24 hours, while KWENTA is down 5% over the same period.

Table of contents

Synthetix recently unveiled USDx, a stablecoin and collateral instrument for Synthetix on the Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution called Arbitrum. USDx is the stablecoin in the Arbitrum ecosystem that is supposed to provide better liquidity and collateral for the platform. 

https://twitter.com/synthetix_io/status/1852386578594738528?s=46

Synthetix’s liquidity providers, popularly called LPs, can mint USDx by their deposits in Arbitrum pools on zero-interest loans. This setup enables LPs to access more DeFi opportunities on Arbitrum, making USDx a strategic instrument in the Synthetix universe.

Ensuring Stability Through Over-Collateralization For price stability, USDx is over-collateralized by staking the deposited funds to Synthetix liquidity pools. When the collateral for a position declines to the minimum required ratio, that position is closed out. This mechanism guarantees that USDx stays safely collateralized at all times, thus preventing its value from suffering the effect of shifting market situation. The over-collateralization mechanism is supposed to make the USDx a stable asset for its users and mitigate the fluctuations within the ecosystem.

USDx Powers Synthetix Perps on Kwenta In addition to this, USDx has been assigned as the reference currency for Synthetix perpetual futures (Perps) on Kwenta, one of the most used decentralized derivatives. PnL for traders is separated in USDx to help make trading more seamless on Arbitrum. The 1inch aggregator allows users to trade USDx for any other asset on the Arbitrum blockchain. Also, LPs offering liquidity to the USDx/USDe pool on Curve Finance earn fees on 1inch trade routing, with the claimed variable annual percentage rate (vAPR) for the USDe+USDx pool on Convex Finance above 16%.

Expanding Options with 81 Perp Markets This rollout includes USDx but also 81 new Perp markets and four collateral choices to improve trading on Kwenta. Besides USDx, the available collaterals include Wrapped Bitcoin (tBTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ethena USD (USDe), which would ensure more convenience and variety for users. In this manner, working on these new assets has allowed the derivatives liquidity protocol to expand its target audience and help improve the general depth of Arbitrum’s DeFi market.

For instance, the public can try these offerings on Kwenta through the App and see the future of USDx in the Synthetix Arbitrum ecosystem. This growth is an achievement that puts the derivatives liquidity protocol on the list of players in the decentralized finance on Layer-2 solutions.

AUTHOR

With over five years of experience in crypto, blockchain, and tech content, Ishtiyaq makes complex topics easy to understand. He simplifies blockchain and digital currency concepts for a wide audience, ensuring that beginners and experts alike can grasp key ideas. His clear and engaging writing helps readers stay informed about the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the crypto space. Whether explaining blockchain technology, digital assets, or DeFi, Ishtiyaq breaks down complicated ideas into simple, digestible content. His goal is to help people navigate the fast-changing world of cryptocurrency with confidence, clarity, and a deeper understanding.

Synthetix Acquires Kwenta to Strengthen DeFi Ecosystem Control

The Synthetix Exchange relaunch coincides with multi-collateral perps going live on Base.

Synthetix has relaunched Synthetix Exchange following its acquisition of Kwenta last month.

On Dec. 17, Synthetix announced it had relaunched Synthetix Exchange. The rebooted platform boasts an updated user interface and support for multi-collateral perpetuals (MCPs) on the Base Layer 2 network.

“Synthetix Exchange will become one of our new flagship products alongside Synthetix Leverage Tokens, providing a world-class trading experience with low fees and deep liquidity,” Synthetix said.

The Synthetix Exchange relaunch is coming as the project moves through its Reboot roadmap. Synthetix also launched a new website and is readying to launch leveraged tokens next year after acquiring the TLX leveraged token protocol last week.

“After two successful acquisitions, Synthetix now has two new trading products for users, a bold departure from the previous strategy of providing back-end liquidity and infrastructure to derivatives platforms,” Synthetix said.

Kwenta acquisitionSynthetix shifted to a strategy of providing liquidity for third-party ecosystem projects in 2020, leading to the creation of Kwenta when Synthetix divested Synthetix Exchange.

In October, Synthetix proposed acquiring Kwenta by purchasing the entire KWENTA supply with newly minted SNX at a ratio of one KWENTA to 17 SNX. Synthetix described its decision to spin out the exchange as a “strategic error,” noting that despite Kwenta driving more than $60 billion worth of trades in four years, the project struggled to establish a sustainable business model.

“Synthetix lost control of the point where customers most interact with their perp engine, and the commercial model has historically not proven to be sustainable for front-ends,” Synthetix said.

The proposal passed both project’s governance processes, paving the way for the finalization of the acquisition on Nov. 7.

Multi-collateral perps on BaseSynthetix first launched MCPs on Arbitrum in October, following the deployment of Synthetix v3 on the network in June.

MCPs allow users to use multiple digital assets as collateral to back leveraged perps positions. The Synthetix v3 liquidity layer went live on Base in April, initially supporting just USDC as collateral. The launch of MCPs also integrates support for cbBTC, WETH, cbETH, and wstETH as collateral.

On Dec. 10, Synthetix launched a four-week incentives program for liquidity providers on Base. The program offers weekly rewards in SNX and USDC, a 50% increase in v3 trading fee distributions to 60%, and bolstered stataUSDC yields. The program seeks to bolster Synthetix liquidity on Base amid the launch of MCPs.

Synthetix will also offer incentives to bootstrap the adoption of leveraged tokens next year.

[PRESS RELEASE – New York, USA, April 10th, 2024]

In a significant strategic move, Zebec Protocol and its ZBC token have transitioned to a new name The Zebec Network and corresponding ZBCN token ticker to better represent the business’s expanded product portfolio and the robust infrastructure network that underpins it. ZBCN to start trading on exchanges today, post automatic migration.

Key details for the ZBC to ZBCN Token Swap

Swap Period: April 10th to May 10th

Supply Stability: No new supply to be introduced into the market

Token Split: A 1:10 token split aims to expand network utility and improve accessibility.

Consistent Tokenomics:  ZBCN retains ZBC’s governance, utility, vesting, and lock-up schedules. ZBCN Tokenomics reference

Migration Rationale and Organizational Growth 

Zebec has evolved, consolidating multiple protocols and integrating a variety of blockchain-enabled payment and payroll products into a unified network. This integration significantly boosts the network’s utility, supporting real-world asset (RWA) payment flows, data, and physical infrastructure (DePin).

Sam Thapaliya, Founder and CEO of Zebec, stated, “Our transition to ZBCN and rebranding to The Zebec Network mark critical steps in expanding our capabilities and enhancing our market presence. ZBCN is better suited for our growing infrastructure, diverse use cases, and the increasing transaction volumes.”

The move to ZBCN is expected to enhance liquidity, encourage wider market participation, and improve scalability. It aligns with Zebec’s strategic vision of creating an inclusive financial ecosystem, paving the way for future innovation and strategic partnerships in the blockchain sector. This transition reflects Zebec’s commitment to adapting its business and technology to meet evolving market demands and user needs.

Token holders are assured of a smooth transition, with the company committed to ensuring a seamless conversion experience from ZBC to ZBCN, thereby preserving and enhancing contributors and token holders value. migration.zebec.io

About Zebec Zebec is a decentralized infrastructure network for real world value flows. Founded in 2021, Zebec has attracted $35 million in investments by Circle, Coinbase, Solana Ventures, Breyer Capital, Republic, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others.

Today, Zebec Network powers RWA payments, data and physical infrastructure (DePin), servicing hundreds of companies in web2 and web3 economies, integration blockchain into everyday lives.

Press contact: [email protected]

Disclaimer: This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. It is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or financial guidance. Readers should conduct their own research and consult with financial experts before making any investment decisions.

Published: January 23, 2024

Last Updated: January 22, 2024

Visual Capitalist report identifies the top Bitcoin mining countries shifting towards greener energy. The U.S., China, and Kazakhstan reported renewable energy shares of 22.5%, 30.2%, and 11.3%, respectively. Iceland, Paraguay, and Norway lead the way in renewable energy, though they host over one percent of the global Bitcoin mining network. Recently, X user known as Seth, a pro-Bitcoin portfolio manager, called attention to the growing eco-friendly mining landscape of Bitcoin, with more miners shifting towards renewable energy sources for Bitcoin.

Seth cited a report by Visual Capitalist that studies the countries with the most environmentally sustainable ecosystems for Bitcoin mining, including China and the United States.

Visual Capitalist noted that Bitcoin miners’ decisions on where to establish their presence are influenced by factors such as the regulatory environment, electricity costs, and the average outdoor temperature. 

In the context of mean annual temperature, the top 10 Bitcoin mining countries include the U.S., China, Kazakhstan, Canada, Russia, Germany, Malaysia, Ireland, Singapore, and Thailand.

Furthermore, the report highlighted that these top 10 countries in Bitcoin mining collectively contribute to 93.8% of the entire network’s hash rate. The U.S., China, and Kazakhstan have the most significant mining shares.

According to the report, Bitcoin miners consume around 348 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. Notably, the U.S., China, and Kazakhstan reported renewable energy shares of 22.5%, 30.2%, and 11.3%, respectively. Kazakhstan’s relatively low renewable share was attributed to its heavy reliance on coal, which accounts for 60% of its energy mix.

In contrast, China also relies on coal for a substantial portion of its electricity. Still, its overall renewable share is higher due to its rapid wind and solar power expansion.

Meanwhile, the report indicated that countries like Iceland, Paraguay, and Norway lead the way in renewable energy. However, collectively, they hosted just over one percent of the global Bitcoin mining network.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is for informational and educational purposes only. The article does not constitute financial advice or advice of any kind. Coin Edition is not responsible for any losses incurred as a result of the utilization of content, products, or services mentioned. Readers are advised to exercise caution before taking any action related to the company.

Ethereum Whale’s $1.7 Billion Exit from Aave Triggered stETH Depeg 

Ethereum liquid staking protocol Kelp DAO says its restaked Ether token has been restored with a five-week recovery effort after the protocol suffered a $293 million exploit by North Korea’s Lazarus Group on April 18.

Kelp DAO posted to X on Monday that the final tranche of 20,373.7 Kelp DAO restaked ETH (rsETH) tokens was sent to the LayerZero smart contract responsible for locking, minting, burning and releasing rsETH during cross-chain transfers. 

“This closes the operational part of the rsETH recovery plan,” Kelp said. Several crypto protocols contributed funds to help restore rsETH’s backing under the DeFi United initiative.

Source: Stani Kulechov

The Kelp DAO hack in April caused a ripple effect throughout the crypto lending market that disrupted billions of dollars in liquidity and resurfaced concerns about the interconnectedness of decentralized finance protocols.

Aave was one of the hardest hit as the Kelp DAO attacker put a large portion of the stolen 116,500 rsETH up as collateral on its lending platform to borrow wrapped Ether, leaving $190 million in bad debt and triggering a wave of withdrawals.

The Kelp DAO hack was one of 25 crypto hacks in April, which saw a combined $630 million worth of losses, the worst month since February 2025, when crypto exchange Bybit was hacked for a record $1.5 billion.

The first tranche of 25,000 rsETH was transferred on May 13, allowing rsETH bridging between the Ethereum mainnet and the blockchain’s layer 2 networks to reopen. 

Kelp reopened withdrawals for rsETH the following day and said on Tuesday that rsETH mints, redemptions and rewards operations “have been running normally.”

Aave’s TVL bleed stops, but has not recoveredThe Kelp DAO exploit contributed to Aave’s total value locked falling from $26.4 billion to below $14 billion, losing its long-held position as the largest DeFi protocol by TVL.

DefiLlama data shows that net outflows from Aave’s lending markets have eased over the past month.

However, Aave’s TVL has shown no signs of recovery, hovering between the $13.9 billion and $15.1 billion mark since about a week after the incident took place.

Source: Aave’s change in TVL in 2026. Source: DefiLlama

Magazine: The legal battle over who can claim DeFi’s stolen millions 

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

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Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.

Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.

5 minutes ago

Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.

According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.

5 minutes ago

Two whales opened a short position worth approximately $90 million on the S&P 500.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, two whale addresses are building short positions on the S&P 500, with a combined position of approximately $90 million. Details are as follows: Whale address "0x469" has opened 6,500 S&P 500 short positions, using 20x leverage, valued at around $48 million, with a liquidation price of $8,413.66. Whale address "0x4ff" has opened 5,686.66 S&P 500 short positions, using 7x leverage, valued at around $42 million, with a liquidation price of $8,358.13.

5 minutes ago

Binance's Shanghai leverage contract fee rate surges to 0.66%

Market data shows South Korea's SK Hynix rose over 10% intraday. The funding rate for Binance's SKHYNIX/USDT contract pair jumped to 0.668%, equivalent to an annualized rate of 723%, signaling the market is gripped by FOMO-driven long positions.

5 minutes ago

US-listed optical module stocks rallied broadly in after-hours trading, with MRVL surging over 5%.

According to Bitget market data, driven possibly by Micron’s better-than-expected financial results, U.S.-listed optical module stocks rose broadly in after-hours trading, with COHR up 4%, LITE up 3%, AAOI up 5%, NOK up 3.1%, and Marvell (MRVL) up 5.17%.

5 minutes ago

Vice President of Strive: Strategy's STRC Has Essential Differences from the Luna/UST Model

Strive Vice President Joe Burnett wrote in an article that prior to the TerraUSD collapse, roughly $18.7 billion in UST was in circulation, backed by just $3.1 billion in Bitcoin reserves, and UST allowed immediate redemptions. Currently, Strategy holds around $51.5 billion in Bitcoin, corresponding to a circulating STRC supply of approximately $10.5 billion, while STRC is not an immediately redeemable asset. He stressed that the two differ significantly in collateral structure, asset coverage ratio, and redemption mechanism, noting "they are clearly completely different models."

5 minutes ago

Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.

Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.

5 minutes ago

Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.

According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.

5 minutes ago

Two whales opened a short position worth approximately $90 million on the S&P 500.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, two whale addresses are building short positions on the S&P 500, with a combined position of approximately $90 million. Details are as follows: Whale address "0x469" has opened 6,500 S&P 500 short positions, using 20x leverage, valued at around $48 million, with a liquidation price of $8,413.66. Whale address "0x4ff" has opened 5,686.66 S&P 500 short positions, using 7x leverage, valued at around $42 million, with a liquidation price of $8,358.13.

5 minutes ago

Binance's Shanghai leverage contract fee rate surges to 0.66%

Market data shows South Korea's SK Hynix rose over 10% intraday. The funding rate for Binance's SKHYNIX/USDT contract pair jumped to 0.668%, equivalent to an annualized rate of 723%, signaling the market is gripped by FOMO-driven long positions.

5 minutes ago

US-listed optical module stocks rallied broadly in after-hours trading, with MRVL surging over 5%.

According to Bitget market data, driven possibly by Micron’s better-than-expected financial results, U.S.-listed optical module stocks rose broadly in after-hours trading, with COHR up 4%, LITE up 3%, AAOI up 5%, NOK up 3.1%, and Marvell (MRVL) up 5.17%.

5 minutes ago

Vice President of Strive: Strategy's STRC Has Essential Differences from the Luna/UST Model

Strive Vice President Joe Burnett wrote in an article that prior to the TerraUSD collapse, roughly $18.7 billion in UST was in circulation, backed by just $3.1 billion in Bitcoin reserves, and UST allowed immediate redemptions. Currently, Strategy holds around $51.5 billion in Bitcoin, corresponding to a circulating STRC supply of approximately $10.5 billion, while STRC is not an immediately redeemable asset. He stressed that the two differ significantly in collateral structure, asset coverage ratio, and redemption mechanism, noting "they are clearly completely different models."

5 minutes ago

Why Millions in Crypto Spending Failed to Move Illinois Primary Voters

Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.

Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.

5 minutes ago

Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.

According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.

5 minutes ago

Two whales opened a short position worth approximately $90 million on the S&P 500.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, two whale addresses are building short positions on the S&P 500, with a combined position of approximately $90 million. Details are as follows: Whale address "0x469" has opened 6,500 S&P 500 short positions, using 20x leverage, valued at around $48 million, with a liquidation price of $8,413.66. Whale address "0x4ff" has opened 5,686.66 S&P 500 short positions, using 7x leverage, valued at around $42 million, with a liquidation price of $8,358.13.

5 minutes ago

Binance's Shanghai leverage contract fee rate surges to 0.66%

Market data shows South Korea's SK Hynix rose over 10% intraday. The funding rate for Binance's SKHYNIX/USDT contract pair jumped to 0.668%, equivalent to an annualized rate of 723%, signaling the market is gripped by FOMO-driven long positions.

5 minutes ago

US-listed optical module stocks rallied broadly in after-hours trading, with MRVL surging over 5%.

According to Bitget market data, driven possibly by Micron’s better-than-expected financial results, U.S.-listed optical module stocks rose broadly in after-hours trading, with COHR up 4%, LITE up 3%, AAOI up 5%, NOK up 3.1%, and Marvell (MRVL) up 5.17%.

5 minutes ago

Vice President of Strive: Strategy's STRC Has Essential Differences from the Luna/UST Model

Strive Vice President Joe Burnett wrote in an article that prior to the TerraUSD collapse, roughly $18.7 billion in UST was in circulation, backed by just $3.1 billion in Bitcoin reserves, and UST allowed immediate redemptions. Currently, Strategy holds around $51.5 billion in Bitcoin, corresponding to a circulating STRC supply of approximately $10.5 billion, while STRC is not an immediately redeemable asset. He stressed that the two differ significantly in collateral structure, asset coverage ratio, and redemption mechanism, noting "they are clearly completely different models."

5 minutes ago

Amid the ongoing downturn, recent analysis shows that every major Bitcoin bear market has ultimately found a bottom following a black swan event.

For context, black swan events cause sudden, largely unexpected crises that trigger sharp panic selling across the market, including Bitcoin. However, once the initial turmoil subsides, markets have historically transitioned into recovery phases.

Major Crises Have Historically Marked Bitcoin’s Cycle Bottoms Over the years, the crypto market has endured several black swans. Notably, the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange in 2014, the COVID-19 market crash in 2020, and the implosion of FTX in 2022 all coincided with major Bitcoin cycle lows. Although Bitcoin initially reacted negatively to each event, it later staged powerful recoveries. 

Bitcoin Black Swan Events Mt. Gox Collapse Marked Bitcoin’s First Major Capitulation The hack and subsequent collapse of Mt. Gox, then the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, represented one of the industry’s earliest black swan events. Hackers stole approximately 850,000 BTC from the platform, forcing it into bankruptcy in 2014.

The incident appeared to mark the final capitulation phase of Bitcoin’s early bear market. Following the collapse, Bitcoin eventually surged more than 12,804%, climbing to roughly $24,500 during the subsequent bull cycle.

COVID-19 Crash Triggered a Historic Recovery Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a sharp selloff across global financial markets in March 2020, and Bitcoin was no exception. The leading cryptocurrency plunged to around $3,800 as investors rushed to de-risk their portfolios.

However, the panic was short-lived. As liquidity returned to markets, Bitcoin began a historic rally, soaring more than 1,692% to reach nearly $69,000 by late 2021.

FTX Implosion Marked the 2022 Cycle Bottom Another defining black swan event emerged in late 2022 when cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed. The failure sent shockwaves throughout the digital asset industry, driving Bitcoin down to approximately $15,500 amid widespread fear and uncertainty.

Yet that low marked the bottom of the cycle. From there, Bitcoin recovered more than 715%, eventually surpassing $126,000 in 2025.

Investors Search for the Next Market Catalyst With Bitcoin once again trading in bearish territory, investors are asking whether another black swan event could be required to mark the next major bottom and ignite a new expansion phase.

The asset has already retreated significantly from its recent highs, and market observers view the current period as a potential inflection point. As a result, the next major macroeconomic or industry-specific catalyst could determine whether Bitcoin enters another sustained rally or remains locked in an extended consolidation phase.

Recent Selloffs Have Yet to Produce a Definitive Bottom Since reaching its all-time high in October 2025, Bitcoin has faced several sharp corrections that some investors initially viewed as potential black swan events. These include the October 10 market crash, the geopolitically driven sell-off in February, and the dip this month caused by the Strategy 32 BTC sale.

However, unlike previous cycle-defining crises, none of these events has been followed by the explosive recovery pattern seen after Mt. Gox, COVID-19, or FTX.

At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $64,097, up 0.3% over the past 24 hours. Despite the daily gain, the cryptocurrency remained down 2.3% over the previous week and 14% over the past month, highlighting the continued uncertainty surrounding the market’s next major move.

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

Gold ETFs are back in focus as bullion holds firm near key levels. Gold price hovered above $4,190 per ounce on Monday, with buyers pushing the metal close to the $4,200 zone. The shift was indicative of a new demand with traders responding to heightened intraday movement.

The crypto market rose 1.63% to $2.23 trillion in 24 hours. Bitcoin price was trading over 65,000, and Ethereum hovered at $1753.

US-Iran war risks keep Gold ETFs in focus as investors seek safety from geopolitical tensions and possible oil price shocks.

The focus on the U.S. CLARITY Act, which is aimed at signing by July 4, 2026, also kept the markets watchful. 

🇺🇸 ONLY 9 DAYS LEFT FOR CLARITY ACT JULY 4TH DEADLINE

Bipartisan negotiators are set to meet for a final round of talks on the CLARITY Act before Congress goes into its August recess.

They are working on:
• SEC vs CFTC jurisdiction
• Token classification rules
• Stablecoin… pic.twitter.com/btvUSUgiPp

— CryptoGoos (@cryptogoos) June 21, 2026

The bill would help define crypto stocks and the market more strictly and diminish regulatory uncertainty. That has the potential to open additional institutional capital in the world of digital assets and associated markets.

Gold ETFs and Gold Price Outlook Before the Next Rally Gold ETFs have seen a sharp correction recently. Within the last month, some funds dropped by over 7% on the basis of evolving rate expectations by the investors. 

Nevertheless, the price of Gold ETFs is still up by an average of 47% in the last year, indicating good long-term demand.

GOLD price The technical structure of gold is still favorable as long as the prices are above $4,185. The short-term resistance is around $4,200 and $4,250. 

An explicit separation above $4,250 might lead to the exit towards $4,300. Should the momentum continue to increase, GOLD could eventually hit $4,500.

On the negative side, support is close at $4,190. A break below that level could expose $4,180, followed by $4,170 and $4,150.

SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) The SPDR Gold Shares is one of the most monitored Gold ETFs within the market. GLD providing investors exposure to physical gold but without storage. It is also highly liquid, so it is popular among institutions and active traders.

SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) is the largest gold-backed ETF, offering exposure to bullion without physical storage. GLD is currently trading close to $385.74 and the intraday volume of the stock is approximately 1.4 million shares. The fund has about $141.67 billion in assets and charges a 0.40% expense ratio.

iShares Gold Trust (IAU) iShares Gold Trust is another major gold-backed fund. Similar to GLD, IAU tracks the gold itself, but it tends to attract cost-conscious investors. Its cost of less can render it interesting as a long-term exposure to gold.

IAU iShares Gold Trust (IAU) ETF is a cheap investment in physical gold. Recently, IAU had a net asset of about $66.5 billion, and its closing price was around $81.38 and traded more than $6.5 million shares a day. Its long-term exposure to gold is cheaper with an expense ratio of 0.25% than GLD.

SpaceX Bull 2X ETF The SpaceX Bull 2X ETF is different from traditional Gold ETFs. It is not a tracker of bullion or gold. Instead, it focuses on leveraged exposure to SpaceX shares and seeks to move twice the daily of SpaceX shares before fees.

SpaceX Bull 2X ETF (LOFF) is a leveraged ETF constructed to appeal to short-term traders interested in the increased exposure to SpaceX. 

The fund targets 200% of SpaceX’s daily move, not long-term returns. Recently, LOFF has been trading around 26.63 and its volume is approximately 720,437. It has a net expense ratio of approximately 0.95%.

A trader has opened a 20x long on 1,653 BTC. Bitcoin is currently trading at $63.5K. A known high-frequency trader, identified as 0x50b3, has captured the market’s attention after opening a massive 20x-leveraged long position in 1,653.8 BTC, valued at around $105.77 million. The move comes amid heightened interest in BTC’s short-term price direction, with traders closely monitoring large leveraged bets for clues about market sentiment.

What makes this position particularly noteworthy is the trader’s recent performance. Since June 2, 0x50b3 has executed 100 trades, reportedly closing 93 of them in profit. The impressive 93% win rate has helped generate more than $6 million in realised gains, making the latest Bitcoin position difficult for market participants to ignore.

Its Potential Impact on Market Sentiment Large leveraged positions often influence traders’ psychology when opened by accounts with a proven record of success. A single trade can boost bullish emotion and promote greater market involvement, even though it cannot predict Bitcoin’s future course. 

However, because even small price fluctuations can result in large gains or losses, the use of 20x leverage draws attention to the increased risks involved.

Price Action of Bitcoin: Where is it Heading?  Bitcoin has failed to escape the bearish zone. Currently, it is trading within the $63,587 range, with the daily trading volume having surged by over 27.86%, reaching the $24.1 billion mark. The Coinglass data has reported that the BTC market has seen a 24-hour liquidation of $92.53 million. 

If the bearish grip strengthens, the BTC price may fall to a support range at $63,428. Additional pressure on the downside could trigger the death cross to take place and send the price even lower. Upon the BTC market taking a bullish turn, the price could climb and find the resistance at the $63,649K level. With the uptrend gaining more traction, the golden cross would emerge, pushing the price higher. 

Will Bitcoin Momentum Weakens Further?  The MACD line is below the zero line while the signal line remains above it; the short-term momentum of BTC has weakened. This setup can be viewed as a warning sign of weakening market strength. In addition, the CMF indicator at -0.05 exhibits slight selling pressure. Bitcoin’s capital outflows are marginally exceeding the inflows. It does not show strong distribution or heavy selling activity.

Besides, BTC’s daily RSI at 41.92 infers a weak bearish tone. It remains above the oversold zone, with the downtrend not extreme. The momentum is subdued, and a strong trend has yet to develop. Also, the BBP value at -824.21 points to a very strong bearish pressure. This level suggests that the bears are dominating, with buyers showing little strength to reverse the prevailing downward move.

Crypto Market Highlights

Humanity Protocol Under Pressure: Will the 24% Drop Open the Door to More Losses?

Content Writer | Crypto Enthusiast | Bridging Literature and Blockchain

Crypto Bloodbath? Not for DEXE, Altcoin Explodes 70% as Shorts Get Crushed

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

A major trader on Hyperliquid risks losing a giant XRP position worth more than $30 million in one fell swoop. According to data from the analytics platform Onchain Lens, the address "0xf79C...9BbD" opened a long position of 27.9 million XRP using 20x leverage, while the total value of the open notional position is estimated at $30.9 million. 

However, because of the high leverage, the liquidation price is set at $0.92. 

At the moment, the trade is already bringing the investor major losses. The current price of the asset has dropped to around $1.10, causing the floating unrealized loss on XRP to exceed -$672,000.

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Account "0xf79C...9BbD" overview on Hyperliquid, Source: HyperbotThe situation is worsened by the fact that the trader is also holding another large position — a long Bitcoin position of 809.9 BTC, worth $50.6 million, also with 20x leverage. At the moment, the total weekly loss across the entire portfolio stands at -$3,400,520, while the available free margin on the account has been completely depleted. 

This leaves the trader without the ability to defend the positions unless new funds are deposited.

Calculation for a July reversalDespite the critical situation, the investor's actions may have a clear statistical basis. According to historical price data from CryptoRank, XRP is currently showing a decline of -17.3%, making this June one of the worst in the coin's history.

However, historical statistics show that July has almost always sided with buyers. Over the past 13 years, XRP's average July return has stood at a steady +10.2%, while the median return is +10.8%. 

Moreover, exactly one year ago, in July 2025, the asset posted a powerful gain of +35%.

XRP price action over the year since July 2025, Source: TradingViewApparently, the whale consciously took an extreme risk at the end of June, betting on surviving the local storm and catching the traditional July market reversal. If this plan works and the market recovers by at least the standard historical July median, the current million-dollar losses could turn into a colossal profit. 

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If the median growth of +10.8% materializes, the XRP price would rise from the current $1.10 to around $1.22, potentially bringing the whale a net profit of around $3.32 million.

This amount would not only fully cover the current paper loss of -$672,000, but also more than double the trader's initial collateral, or margin, adding about $2.65 million in net profit on top.

However, the trader has critically little time left for this triumphant plan to play out. Should the market decline continue in the coming days and XRP reach the $0.92 mark before the start of the next month, the paper position worth more than $30 million will be fully liquidated by the platform, wiping out all deposited margin before the position ever gets the chance to benefit from the historically favorable period.

Key Takeaways BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes forecasts Bitcoin could drop to approximately $40,000 over the next half-year Speculative capital flowing into AI investments is constraining cryptocurrency growth in the near term Hayes maintains protective put spreads while keeping substantial long-term Bitcoin positions MicroStrategy’s recent acquisition of 520 BTC pushed prices temporarily above $65,000 Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance and increasing rate hike probabilities weigh on Bitcoin momentum Bitcoin currently hovers near $62,000, confronting headwinds from various market forces. Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX, has articulated a near-term pessimistic outlook while simultaneously maintaining conviction in long-term appreciation.

Arthur Hayes: Bitcoin's Bottom Is Probably Around $40,000

On June 12, 2026, during an interview with @elliotrades, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes @CryptoHayes shared his prediction for Bitcoin's bottom. When asked about the ultimate bottoming price and timeframe, Hayes… pic.twitter.com/ggfdyXHzEO

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 23, 2026

In a June 12 conversation, Hayes projected that Bitcoin will find its floor around $40,000 sometime within the coming six months. This represents approximately a 35% decline from present levels. To protect against this downside scenario, he has established put spread positions.

Yet Hayes clarifies that his overall portfolio remains significantly overweight Bitcoin for the long haul. His year-end projection places Bitcoin between $200,000 and $250,000. “If I’m wrong it doesn’t matter… I’m long, I’m still happy either way,” he remarked.

The AI Trade Is Capturing Speculative Capital According to Hayes, artificial intelligence investments have captured the incremental speculative funds during this market cycle. Capital seekers looking for inflation protection have pivoted toward AI equities instead of cryptocurrency assets.

He recently trimmed positions across multiple digital assets, including Hyperliquid, Near, and Zcash. Part of this capital has been reallocated to U.S. Treasury bills as he awaits more favorable entry points.

“AI is the fastest horse and has proven itself to be the fastest horse,” Hayes commented during a June 22 Bankless podcast appearance.

Hayes’ Thesis: Bitcoin Thrives When AI Collapses Hayes contends that the AI infrastructure expansion could evolve into a credit bubble surpassing the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. He highlighted excessive data center expenditures, reciprocal revenue arrangements, and financing secured by rapidly obsolescing semiconductor hardware.

GPUs are being leveraged through multi-year debt instruments despite accelerating technological advancement cycles. This temporal mismatch between asset depreciation and debt obligation creates systemic vulnerability.

Should this structure collapse, Hayes anticipates governments will deploy massive monetary stimulus programs. “The Fed can’t print Moore’s law,” he stated. He projects the resulting monetary response could propel Bitcoin toward $1 million.

Hayes also identified Ethereum as among the most attractive large-capitalization opportunities currently available. He indicated he would favor Ether over Bitcoin purely from a technical analysis perspective, given its failure to reclaim previous peak valuations.

MicroStrategy Accumulation Meets Fed Tightening MicroStrategy acquired an additional 520 Bitcoin this week while simultaneously increasing cash holdings by $300 million to reach $1.4 billion total. This purchasing activity briefly lifted Bitcoin above the $65,000 threshold.

QCP analysts noted the acquisition likely occurred through a dilutive equity offering mechanism. Wintermute observers highlighted that MicroStrategy’s accumulation pace has decelerated as capital costs escalate.

The Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark rate within the 3.50% to 3.75% corridor while eliminating forward guidance suggesting future cuts. The median 2026 rate forecast increased to 3.8%. Market pricing now assigns 37% probability to a December rate increase, elevated from 24% one month prior.

Market participants are focused on Thursday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation data release. JPMorgan projects institutional investors may reallocate $165 billion from equities into fixed income by month-end, potentially marking the largest such rotation in four years.

Wintermute characterized the present environment: “This is a market stabilizing beneath the surface on lighter positioning and cleaner leverage, not one finding new buyers.”

Key Takeaways MSFT has declined approximately 22% since the start of the year, underperforming other mega-cap technology stocks The company unveiled seven proprietary AI models at Build 2026, decreasing dependency on OpenAI partnerships Azure experienced roughly 39% constant currency growth in Fiscal Q3 2026, while AI revenue reached a $37 billion annual run rate Planned capital expenditures of $190 billion for calendar 2026 are driving free cash flow toward neutral levels Analyst consensus stands at Strong Buy with a mean price target of $562.56, suggesting approximately 50% potential gains Shares of Microsoft have tumbled roughly 22% during 2026, currently hovering near $373.94. This performance marks the company as the laggard among major technology giants. Since its peak last autumn, the software titan has witnessed more than $1 trillion evaporate from its market capitalization.

Microsoft Corporation, MSFT

However, compelling evidence suggests the market may have overreacted.

The Redmond-based company has been strategically pivoting its artificial intelligence approach to reduce exclusive reliance on OpenAI. During the Build 2026 developer conference, Microsoft unveiled seven in-house AI models spanning reasoning capabilities, software development, visual content creation, speech synthesis, and audio transcription.

The lineup features MAI-Thinking-1, MAI-Code-1-Flash, MAI-Image-2.5, MAI-Voice-2, and MAI-Transcribe-1.5. Notably, MAI-Thinking-1 represents the company’s inaugural reasoning model, constructed on a 35 billion active parameter mixture-of-experts framework with a 256K token context window.

According to Microsoft, these proprietary models achieve enterprise-grade performance at approximately one-tenth the cost of rival solutions.

Cloud Platform Momentum Continues Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure posted approximately 39% constant currency expansion during the third fiscal quarter of 2026, surpassing both internal projections and analyst forecasts. Total cloud revenue reached $54.5 billion, representing 29% year-over-year growth, while the Intelligent Cloud segment generated $34.7 billion.

The company’s artificial intelligence business achieved a $37 billion annual revenue run rate, marking 123% year-over-year acceleration.

Management indicates that customer demand continues to outstrip available infrastructure capacity, a dynamic expected to persist through at least December 2026. While this capacity constraint limits Azure’s growth trajectory, it simultaneously validates robust market appetite.

Capital Intensity Concerns Investor anxiety centers primarily on infrastructure investment levels. The company has outlined approximately $190 billion in capital expenditures for calendar 2026, a commitment that compresses adjusted free cash flow near breakeven.

Jefferies analyst Brent Thill notes that Microsoft maintains “no self-imposed ceiling” on capital spending relative to free cash flow generation. This represents a significant strategic posture.

To support this infrastructure expansion, Microsoft recently finalized a two-decade agreement with Chevron for natural gas power supply to an extensive West Texas data center campus. Initial power delivery from this arrangement isn’t anticipated until 2028.

Copilot functionality is receiving expanded prominence. The company is establishing it as an enterprise AI orchestration layer through its “Copilot Super App” framework, integrating Chat, Cowork, Code, and Autopilots. The inaugural Autopilot feature, Scout, operates as a persistent personal assistant across Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft 365 applications.

Financial Metrics and Analyst Sentiment At present trading levels, Microsoft commands a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of approximately 22x, beneath the sector median of roughly 35x. Its price-to-operating cash flow multiple stands at about 16x, likewise below the sector median of 18x.

Wall Street maintains predominantly bullish positioning. TipRanks data shows 35 analysts assign Buy ratings to MSFT, one recommends Hold, and zero advocate Sell. The consensus 12-month price objective stands at $562.56.

CEO Satya Nadella has actively countered pessimistic AI narratives, stating to The Wall Street Journal: “You can’t say, hey, all white-collar jobs are gone and this could even be a weapon.”

MAI-Code-1-Flash, among Microsoft’s compact models, allegedly delivered impressive programming benchmarks using merely 5 billion parameters. MAI-Transcribe-1.5 accommodates 43 languages and operates five times faster than competitive transcription platforms.

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

TL;DR

Ripple USD Gets Featured in Japan's Two-Tier Stablecoin System: Licensed exchange SBI VC Trade launched Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin for retail users with strict limits, operating alongside JPYSC, an unlimited yen stablecoin engineered for B2B corporate clearing.Bitcoin Split Over Freezing Satoshi's Coins: Investor Fred Krueger backed the BIP-110 proposal to block inactive crypto wallets to prevent quantum computing risks, drawing fierce pushback from Blockstream CEO Adam Back, who denounced it as a technically defective path to a failed network fork.Shiba Inu (SHIB) Set for July Rally: Following a 17.5% decline in June, SHIB is tightly compressed at a rock-solid five-year support floor of $0.00000450, positioning the asset for a historically backed July seasonal reversal (median +8.92%).Crypto Market Outlook: Bitcoin faces severe base-layer congestion from the Runes protocol and massive institutional ETF outflows ($4.4 billion in 30 days), dragging the BTC price to local support ahead of a major macro liquidity test this Friday.Ripple's dollar and SBI's unlimited yen: Japan launches a two-tier stablecoin systemJapan's financial sector has recorded a double precedent in digital assets after licensed exchange SBI VC Trade, a subsidiary of giant SBI Holdings, officially launched trading in Ripple's RLUSD dollar stablecoin. The asset has gone down in history as the first registered "Electronic Payment Instrument No. 4" in Japan.

The entry of the U.S. stablecoin into the Japanese market comes with strict regulatory frameworks from the Financial Services Agency (FSA). At launch, trading is taking place with zero fees, but strict limits apply to retail investors: the maximum size of a single transaction is capped at the equivalent of 1 million yen, and transfers are available exclusively on the Ethereum network.

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To protect local traders, the exchange has introduced automatic refund mechanisms for excess amounts when daily limits are exceeded and has committed to fully freezing token deposits in the event of a strong deviation from the U.S. dollar.

SBI VC Trade regarding historic Ripple USD (RLUSD) listing, Source: X.comAt the same time as Ripple's retail debut, SBI Holdings Group has rolled out infrastructure for large capital by issuing JPYSC, the first yen stablecoin classified as an "Electronic Payment Instrument No. 3." The product, developed jointly with Singapore's Startale Group, uses a trust bank structure to manage reserves.

Unlike RLUSD, JPYSC was created for the B2B sector and has no transaction limits, opening the possibility of multibillion-yen interbank settlements and commercial clearing inside the country.

As of today, a two-tier system of digital settlements has de facto started operating in Japan. While retail users are getting familiar with the dollar-based RLUSD under strict limits, the corporate sector has received unlimited yen in the form of JPYSC to optimize large commercial flows.

Fred Krueger calls for freezing Nakamoto's coins to save BitcoinAs of June 2026, a fierce ideological dispute has continued in the Bitcoin community. The latest escalation came after well-known investor Fred Krueger publicly supported the technical proposal BIP-110 and the accompanying initiative to forcibly block old, inactive crypto wallets. The main target of this measure would be around 1 million BTC that have remained untouched at the addresses of the network's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Supporters of BIP-110, now joined by Krueger, propose giving owners of "dormant" addresses a fixed period to move their coins, after which inactive wallets would be blocked. The stated motive is security: early Bitcoin addresses use older algorithms that could become vulnerable to quantum computers in the future.

The initiative has met strong resistance from key developers, while Blockstream CEO and cypherpunk legend Adam Back continues to call the idea technically defective, stressing that the project has no support either among miners or in the broader ecosystem.

i guess you've been living under a rock. but FYI it's stupid, so technically defective as to be an IQ test. there's neither technical nor ecosystem consensus. they have flag day so it'll just fork off and fail. https://t.co/uEzRLYVCGD

— Adam Back (@adam3us) June 24, 2026 According to Back, any attempt by activists to implement these rules would only lead to a blockchain split and the creation of a stillborn fork — a copy of the network that would immediately lose value.

The main intrigue of the conflict is the blow to Bitcoin's fundamental value: its resistance to censorship. If the community creates a precedent and blocks Satoshi's coins in the name of security, it would destroy the main economic argument about the inviolability of property in a decentralized network.

If the code allows assets to be taken away from the creator, then in the future they could be frozen for any user at the request of regulators.

Price chart and seasonality point to a July rally for SHIBShiba Inu (SHIB) is approaching the end of the first month of summer 2026 on the verge of a historic turning point. After an exhausting six-month decline, the coin is trapped in an extremely narrow price range near five-year lows, around $0.0000045.

This month, the Shiba Inu token has lost another 17.5% of its value, but technical calm on the chart and historical statistics by CryptoRank hint at preparation for a July reversal. 

On one hand, large sales are pressing the price down. On-chain data recorded how one early investor moved 3.8 trillion tokens worth around $20.7 million to exchanges, while the community's coin burn rate dropped by 74%.

On the other hand, the current level is a rock-solid support zone below which no real market for SHIB has existed over the past five years. The volume profile shows that this is exactly where the strongest interest from long-term buyers is now concentrated.

Depending on which force prevails, the market is considering two potential outcomes for the token's price action in the near term:

Bull Case: Buyers successfully hold the defense at $0.00000450, driving a 50% rebound toward the nearest resistance at $0.00000680.Bear Case: The critical $0.00000450 support fails, causing the asset to capitulate into the uncharted territory of early 2021.Shiba Inu (SHIB) monthly returns in USD, Source: CryptoRankThe main trigger for a possible jump is the seasonal factor. Historically, June has always been a disastrous month for SHIB, with an average decline of 14.8%, while July has traditionally acted as a lifeline, with median returns of +8.92%. The market is pricing this scenario as a chance for a "relief rally" after a difficult spring.

From a technical point of view, the ultimate resolution of these scenarios will come in the next few days. The market remains highly compressed, meaning the breakout from the current wedge will likely set the definitive trend for the rest of the summer.

Crypto market outlook: ETF outflows push Bitcoin to critical supportThe crypto market, led by Bitcoin, continues to go through deep capitulation due to sustained institutional capital flight, extreme network congestion, and rising regulatory roadblocks across the U.S. and the European Union.

Key checkpoints:

Record institutional ETF drainage: Regulated crypto vehicles recorded their fourth consecutive day of net outflows. Yesterday alone, spot Bitcoin ETFs shed $113.78 million, and Ethereum ETFs lost $82.35 million, with 30-day rolling Bitcoin ETF outflows hitting a record $4.4 billion — the worst capitulation period since inception.Bitcoin network hits a two-year traffic high: On-chain activity has surged to more than 820,000 transactions per day, driven entirely by a massive revival of the Runes protocol. This surge in token standard activity now consumes 25% of all network transaction fees, severely congesting the base layer as BTC tests the local $62,200–$62,700 zone.Political and regulatory gridlock in the U.S.: House hearings on the CLARITY Act are set for July 17, but the bill has completely stalled in the Senate over ethical clauses and Section 604 guidelines. Due to these legislative disputes, Polymarket has aggressively downgraded the probability of the bill passing in 2026 to just 42%.The next macro trigger: On Friday, June 26, the market faces a dual liquidity test with the release of the U.S. PCE inflation index and the quarterly expiration of $10.6 billion in BTC and ETH options. Any further macro pressure will heavily test the $60,000–$62,000 support cluster, risking a cascade toward the $54,000–$58,000 zone. You Might Also Like