Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Zcash is moving closer to one of its most significant consensus-layer changes in years. The proposed Crosslink upgrade introduces a proof-of-stake (PoS) finality layer that runs alongside the existing proof-of-work (PoW) chain. 

It adds a second consensus mechanism that locks confirmed blocks, making them economically irreversible. This provides additional security against rollback attacks and significantly reduces wait times for certain transactions.

Although Crosslink has not yet been activated on the Zcash mainnet, this guide explains how node operators who want to participate as finalizers can be better prepared for public testing and eventual deployment.

Key Takeaways Crosslink adds a PoS finality layer to Zcash, allowing finalizers to stake ZEC and help secure the network alongside PoW miners. Prospective finalizers should migrate to Zebra, move eligible ZEC into the Orchard pool, and participate in Crosslink Feature Net testing to prepare for deployment. Reliable infrastructure, continuous uptime, and active participation in protocol updates will be essential for operating a Crosslink finalizer node. Understanding Crosslink’s Validator Model This model aims to improve settlement security without abandoning Zcash’s existing consensus foundation.

Crosslink introduces a network of PoS participants known as finalizers that operate alongside miners. While miners continue to produce blocks, validators help ensure finality through a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) mechanism running in parallel with the PoW chain. 

According to Shielded Labs, staking operations, delegation mechanisms, validator roster selection, and reward issuance have already been incorporated into the prototype development roadmap. 

Step-by-Step Process of Preparing Your Node 1. Migrate from Zcashd to Zebra

The Crosslink prototype is built on Zebra, which requires operators running on Zcashd to:

Install the latest Zebra release from the official Zcash Foundation GitHub repository. Sync the Zebra node to the chain tip before switching. Migrate wallet functionality to Zallet. Verify your node reports the correct chain state. The latest Zebra release has upgraded several core cryptography libraries and bumped the minimum supported Rust version, so ensure your build environment meets the current Rust toolchain requirements before compiling from source.

2. Move ZEC to the Orchard Shielded Pool

Staking is tied exclusively to Orchard-pool balances. If your ZEC is sitting in a transparent address or an older Sapling address, it will not be eligible for staking under Crosslink. 

Transfer funds to a unified address beginning with “u1” using Zashi or Zallet, and confirm the balance appears in the Orchard pool. 

Staking uses quantized amounts of 1, 10, or 100 ZEC, so plan your holdings accordingly to avoid locking up funds in amounts that fall between these tiers.

3. Run the Crosslink Feature Net

The first seasonal incentivized testnet allows the community to help test the system while contributing to infrastructure that benefits the Zcash mainnet. Community incentives focus on activities that support the ecosystem.

To join:

Pull the Crosslink-enabled build from the ShieldedLabs/crosslink-deployment GitHub repository. Configure your node to connect to Feature Net peers using the parameters published by Shielded Labs for Season 1. Submit a staking action using the updated transaction version that includes a staking action field. Monitor finality status via the dedicated RPC calls added in Milestone 2, which log warnings when finality stalls. 4. Harden Your Infrastructure

The current focus for Crosslink development is on stability, especially around new networking components for syncing. Finalizer nodes need reliable uptime because BFT consensus requires a minimum quorum of participants to advance the finality layer. Operators should:

Run nodes on dedicated hardware with at least 16 GB RAM and an SSD-backed data directory. Ensure uninterrupted internet connectivity with redundant failover. Monitor the finality-status RPC endpoint to detect and alert on stall conditions. Keep the node software updated across each seasonal Feature Net cycle, as breaking changes to database schemas and serialization formats are expected during the prototype phase. 5. Follow the ZIP Process

Crosslink requires formal Zcash Improvement Proposals (ZIPs) to move from Feature Net to the mainnet. Hardening comes after the productionization phase to finalize ZIPs and complete security audits. These steps are intended to prepare the protocol for a future network upgrade, pending community approval and successful security audits.

Monitor the official ZIPs repository and participate in community sentiment polls, which influence whether Crosslink is scheduled into a future network upgrade.

Potential Challenges for Validators Crosslink introduces new operational responsibilities that traditional PoW miners do not face.

These may include:

Managing delegated stake Maintaining high validator uptime Responding to protocol upgrades Monitoring slashing or penalty mechanisms Balancing security with operational costs Although many design elements are still being finalized, operators should expect validator management to require more ongoing oversight than simply running a standard full node.

Bottom Line To prepare a validator node for the Zcash Crosslink hybrid PoS upgrade, operators should migrate to the Zebra ecosystem, position eligible ZEC in the Orchard pool, participate in Feature Net testing, and maintain reliable infrastructure capable of supporting finality operations. 

While Crosslink is still progressing through testing and governance stages, early preparation can help node operators understand the protocol’s staking and finalization mechanics before deploying on the mainnet. 

If approved, Crosslink could strengthen Zcash’s security model by combining PoW mining with stake-based finality, creating a more resilient network while introducing new opportunities for ZEC holders to participate in consensus.

@sparkdotfi and @Uniswap have joined forces to build what they call a "Stablecoin FX Layer," a shared liquidity network designed to let banks, fintechs, and payment companies move between dollar-pegged tokens without each having to build their own infrastructure from scratch.

Spark deployed approximately $150 million in stablecoin liquidity across two pools on Uniswap v4 to kick off the first phase, with the pools pairing Sky's USDS with Tether's $USDT and PayPal's PYUSD. A Spark spokesperson described the deployment as one of the largest automated market maker liquidity migrations in decentralized finance.

One shared system instead of fragmented poolsThe FX Layer acts as shared liquidity and exchange infrastructure on Uniswap v4, enabling multiple stablecoin issuers to plug into a common system instead of each building and bootstrapping their own liquidity pools, market makers, and inventory management. Spark acts as the orchestration layer, deciding how liquidity is allocated, governed, and coordinated across different stablecoins.

Uniswap and Spark are betting that as the number of stablecoins grows, the market will need the equivalent of a foreign-exchange network to move liquidity between issuers. The issuer landscape is already expanding rapidly, with PayPal's PYUSD, Ripple's RLUSD, Revolut's planned stablecoin, and banking consortiums in Europe and Japan among the projects in development.

The stablecoin market's growth potential frames the urgency: Citi has projected the market could grow from roughly $300 billion currently to $4 trillion by 2030.

DualPool hook to put idle capital to workSpark plans to introduce two additional tools in future phases, a Shared Liquidity Layer and a DualPool hook, both built on Uniswap v4's programmable architecture, with a liquidity hook allowing idle capital to be deployed into approved yield strategies when it is not needed for trades.

Between swaps, DualPool keeps idle stablecoin liquidity in Spark's yield-bearing ERC-4626 vaults, and moves that capital into a Uniswap v4 pool only when it is needed for execution. The DualPool hook will go through a separate security review and testing process before release, with the current deployment using standard Uniswap v4 pools rather than this planned framework.

The project could eventually expand beyond USDS, USDT, and PYUSD as Spark works with additional stablecoin issuers and ecosystem partners. Spark CEO Sam MacPherson summed up the thesis plainly: "It will be defined by the infrastructure that allows hundreds of issuers to operate together at global scale."

Sources:
The Block: Spark, Uniswap build stablecoin FX Layer seeded with $150 million liquidity migration
CoinDesk: Uniswap, Spark aim to build stablecoin FX market as banks and fintechs enter the industry
The Defiant: Spark, Uniswap, and Sky launch $150M liquidity migration to build shared stablecoin FX layer

Stacks has secured a place in Coinbase’s COIN50 Index, the exchange’s flagship benchmark that tracks the 50 largest and most liquid digital assets. STX sits at roughly the 40th position with an index market cap of around $319.6 million and a weight of 0.04%.

What the COIN50 Index actually is Coinbase launched the COIN50 Index on November 12, 2024, as a transparent benchmark for institutional investors looking to gauge the broader crypto market without manually sorting through thousands of tokens.

The index is weighted heavily toward the obvious giants. Bitcoin commands roughly 50% of the total weight, with Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and even Dogecoin rounding out the top positions. The remaining assets, including STX, occupy the long tail with individually small weightings.

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Coinbase also built a perpetual futures contract tied to the COIN50, giving traders a single instrument to express a view on the entire top-50 basket.

A 0.04% weight means Stacks isn’t moving the needle on any portfolio allocation by itself. But inclusion in the index signals that STX meets Coinbase’s liquidity and market cap thresholds, which are the same filters institutional compliance teams use when deciding what’s investable and what isn’t.

Why Stacks matters in the Bitcoin Layer 2 conversation Stacks occupies an unusual niche. It’s a smart contract platform that settles transactions on Bitcoin, effectively giving Bitcoin programmability without modifying Bitcoin’s base layer. The protocol enables mining rewards, staking, and decentralized applications, all anchored to Bitcoin’s security model. Its flagship product in this regard is sBTC, a Bitcoin-backed asset designed to let holders earn yield while keeping their BTC exposure intact.

The protocol also completed an integration with Fireblocks on June 17, 2026, the institutional custody and settlement platform. That integration matters because Fireblocks is the plumbing behind many of the largest crypto funds and trading desks. If an institution can’t custody an asset through its existing infrastructure, it typically won’t touch it. Fireblocks support removes that friction.

What this means for investors STX’s $319.6 million index market cap makes it one of the smaller constituents in the COIN50. Smaller assets in weighted indexes can get dropped during quarterly rebalances if their market cap or liquidity deteriorates. Staying in the index requires Stacks to maintain its current market position, which is far from guaranteed in a sector where rankings shift quickly.

For traders, the COIN50 inclusion creates a subtle but real liquidity benefit. Index-linked products generate baseline trading volume, and market makers who arbitrage the index against its components will naturally add depth to STX order books.

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

In Brief

Posted:

12:05 PM PDT · June 28, 2026

Image Credits:Bloomberg / Getty Images Ford executives said they have hired 350 veteran engineers — some of them were former employees, while others had been working at suppliers — after artificial intelligence and automated systems failed to deliver the desired quality level.

Bloomberg reports the company’s chief operating officer Kumar Galhotra told journalists that Ford had been “relying more and more on automated quality systems” with disappointing results. So the company “brought back technical specialists,” and those specialists “hunt for failure points before a part ever reaches the plant floor.”

Charles Poon, Ford’s vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, added, “Mistakenly we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that that would produce a high-quality product.”

To be clear, this doesn’t mean Ford is abandoning its AI plans entirely. Instead, it’s using the rehired employees — referred to as “gray beard” engineers — to train younger staff and reprogram AI tools.

This rehiring seems to be paying off, with Ford anticipating that it will lead to $1 billion in reduced costs this year. The automaker also claimed the top spot among mainstream brands in the JD Power Initial Quality Survey released this week.

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There's no denying that a slew of artificial intelligence stocks are suddenly on the defensive. Shares of cloud computing powerhouse Amazon are down 14% just since the end of last month. Microsoft's budding recovery effort was recently upended as well. Worries of a bigger reckoning are firming up, and understandably so.

There's one name in the artificial intelligence business, however, that may perform very well this year, even if most other AI stocks hit a wall. That's Dell Technologies (DELL 3.58%). Yes, that Dell.

Dell's simple turnkey solution Plenty of people don't realize that the personal computer maker is in the business of artificial intelligence infrastructure. And for a long time, it wasn't.

Recognizing an opportunity to solve a largely ignored problem, however, in 2024, Dell launched an arm it simply calls the Dell AI Factory, offering corporations and their employees alike a way of utilizing the power of artificial intelligence without requiring AI expertise. And this business got a respectable start, making a measurable impact on that year's top and bottom lines.

Something significant changed last year, though. Following the introduction of AI-optimized servers that integrate with its other tech, Dell was able to offer "end-to-end AI infrastructure to support everything from edge inferencing on an AI PC to managing massive enterprise AI workloads in the data center."

Image source: Getty Images.

And as it turns out, this turnkey option is precisely what the market wanted, if not outright needed. Last year's infrastructure solutions revenue soared 40% to a record-breaking $60.8 billion, led by a surge in sales of artificial intelligence-optimized servers -- growth that persisted and even accelerated in Q1 of this year, when the company reported year-over-year revenue growth of 88%. Indeed, its AI server backlog now stands at $51.3 billion, well up from $43 billion just three months earlier.

What gives? Dell is undoubtedly leveraging its well-respected name within the business computing world. Mostly, though, it's institutional customers like that these AI-optimized servers easily integrate with other Dell-made solutions, and increasingly institutions appreciate the option of moving away from the public cloud and toward private, on-prem infrastructure, which is cheaper in the long run.

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Enough value, resiliency It's a compelling story for anyone looking for their next great artificial intelligence pick and, now, the AI industry's most resilient stocks. But much of whatever outsize performance this ticker is going to dole out for the year may already be in place. Dell shares are up more than 300% just since the end of last year. It could simply move sideways from here and still be one of 2026's top performers.

Nevertheless, keep this unexpected AI infrastructure name on your watch list. Priced at only 20 times next year's expected per-share profit of $22.13 (up 20% from this year's projection), the value already in place here is not only likely to bring a quick end to any pullbacks but also means there should be upside ahead even from its current price.

But the possibility of a broader reckoning for all artificial intelligence stocks? It's nothing to dismiss. It's arguable, however, that Dell's simple, cost-effective AI solutions may be relatively immune to such a headwind. After all, the world's still going to need this tech, even if it needs less of it than initially envisioned.

PANews reported on June 28, data from Token Unlocks shows that tokens such as SUI, EIGEN, and FF will see large unlocks next week, specifically:

Sui (SUI) will unlock approximately 13.72 million tokens at 8:00 a.m. Beijing time on July 1, accounting for approximately 0.34% of circulating supply, worth approximately $9.4 million;

EigenCloud (EIGEN) will unlock approximately 36.82 million tokens at 12:00 p.m. Beijing time on July 1, accounting for approximately 6.15% of circulating supply, worth approximately $8.7 million;

Falcon Finance (FF) will unlock approximately 102 million tokens at approximately 9:00 p.m. Beijing time on June 29, accounting for approximately 3.66% of circulating supply, worth approximately $6.9 million;

Collector Crypt (CARDS) will unlock approximately 28.84 million tokens at 3:00 a.m. Beijing time on June 30, accounting for approximately 6.11% of circulating supply, worth approximately $6.7 million;

GoPlus Security (GPS) will unlock approximately 708 million tokens at 8:00 a.m. Beijing time on July 1, accounting for approximately 15.90% of circulating supply, worth approximately $6.3 million.

After a blockbuster IPO just a few weeks ago, Cerebras (CBRS +7.76%) stock has nosedived recently. The company reported its first-quarter 2026 results on June 24, its first earnings report since going public, and Cerebras shares fell nearly 12%.

Notably, Cerebras' sales outpaced analysts' consensus estimate for the quarter, and its losses narrowed. Usually, that would cause most stocks to rise. But investors are increasingly concerned that the investments AI companies are making may not pay off in the long term. Which is why leading AI companies like Nvidia and Broadcom are seeing their share prices drop lately, too.

Here's what's happening and what Cerebras shareholders should know.

Image source: Getty Images.

Strong revenue results, disappointing margins Some of the results from Cerebras' first quarter were very good, including the company's revenue jumping 94% year over year to $193 million, beating Wall Street's consensus estimate of $181 million. Cerebras' operating loss of $3.5 million was also smaller than expected and a huge improvement over its $19.3 million loss in the year-ago quarter.

But Cerebras shareholders looked past these results and focused instead on management's comments that profitability was declining due to its $20 billion contract with OpenAI. The company's leadership said that to increase capacity for OpenAI, it will rent out some of its systems rather than sell them, which will reduce some of its cloud and services margins this year.

Management said adjusted gross margin will be between 38% and 41% for 2026, compared with 47% in the first quarter. Once it moves away from renting some of its systems and back to selling them, it expects margins to rise again.

While the decline appears to be temporary, Cerebras stock's sell-off after the results were published was telling. Tech investors, in general, are becoming increasingly skeptical that big investments in AI will pay off, and they're scrutinizing declines in profitably.

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Some chip stocks are feeling the pressure right now The pressure on Cerebras' stock is happening against the backdrop of declines for many AI chip stocks. Over the past month, Nvidia shares and Broadcom stock are down about 9%, as of this writing.

While many AI stocks have experienced huge gains over the past few years, some investors fear that the hundreds of billions of dollars being poured into AI may never translate into profits, prompting some to take their current gains and seek safer investments.

Investors aren't wrong to question some of the spending. At some point, there will be a slowdown in tech companies' spending. While no one knows when that will be, some people are concerned that rising inflation could lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than previously expected. Core inflation rose to 3.4% in May, its highest level since October 2023.

Adding to the volatility for Cerebras and many of its peers is the fact that their share prices are already trading at a premium. Cerebras stock has a trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 74, while the tech sector's P/S ratio average is about 10.

There's a classic risk-versus-reward assessment happening among investors right now. And some people are beginning to think that tech companies are taking on too much risk (via AI investments) without enough of the reward (profits).

Cerebras is in a particularly difficult position because its shares are expensive and its profit margins are declining.

Cerebras has promising technology, including large wafers used for AI processing, but shareholders should understand the company's risks. Higher costs are reducing profitability, and any slowdown in infrastructure spending by large tech companies could add pressure.

It's too soon to call an end to the AI chip stock run -- Micron Technology just reported strong third-quarter results, after all -- but Cerebras and other AI investors may want to brace for more turbulent months ahead as AI spending comes under scrutiny.

© Kimberly White / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Artificial intelligence has created an unusual investing environment. Companies willing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars building data centers are being rewarded with enormous growth expectations, while those sitting on the sidelines risk falling behind. The challenge is that AI infrastructure is expensive, and not every company has the balance sheet of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), or Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META). 

Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) is trying to join that elite club by borrowing aggressively to finance its cloud expansion. After its worst one-week stock performance in roughly 25 years, investors are beginning to ask whether the market is finally pricing in the risks as much as the opportunity.

Oracle’s AI Growth Story Is Unlike Anyone Else Oracle’s cloud infrastructure business (OCI) has become one of the fastest-growing AI platforms, driven by demand for GPU clusters and large language model training. According to Oracle’s latest earnings release, the company now has an AI-related backlog of approximately $638 billion, one of the largest in the cloud industry.

Revenue estimates illustrate why investors have been excited.

Fiscal Year Revenue Estimate Growth 2026 $89.9 billion 33% 2027 $128.6 billion 43% 2028 $184.7 billion 44% 2029 $206.2 billion 12% 2030 $230.5 billion 11% Earnings are expected to follow a similar trajectory.

Fiscal Year EPS Estimate Growth 2026 $8.09 5% 2027 $11.01 36% 2028 $15.57 42% 2029 $19.71 27% 2030 $22.27 13% Those numbers explain why Oracle has been willing to take on substantial debt to expand capacity. Management is effectively betting today’s borrowing costs against years of future AI demand.

The problem is that this isn’t the same business model employed by hyperscalers. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta generate tens of billions of dollars annually in free cash flow that can help fund expansion internally. Oracle must rely much more heavily on debt markets.

The Biggest Risk Isn’t the Debt Borrowing itself isn’t necessarily dangerous if the assets produce predictable cash flow. Utilities have operated that way for decades. Oracle’s challenge is concentration.

More than half of its AI backlog is tied to OpenAI. That makes Oracle’s investment case dependent not simply on AI demand remaining strong, but on one customer continuing to honor commitments over many years.

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Granted, OpenAI remains one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world. But customer concentration always deserves a discount because investors lose diversification. If OpenAI’s infrastructure needs change, develops more internal capacity, or shifts workloads elsewhere, Oracle’s return on those massive data center investments becomes less certain.

That’s the risk investors appear to be repricing today.

Is the Market Already Discounting the Risk? With Oracle stock down 57% from its 52-week high — and nearly 24% year-to-date — the sell-off has compressed the stock to roughly 14 times forward earnings and less than 15 times projected 2028 EPS. Those valuation multiples look inexpensive for a company expected to grow revenue more than 40% annually through fiscal 2028.

Here’s how Oracle stacks up against the competition:

Company Primary AI Driver Balance Sheet Advantage Forward P/E Microsoft Azure Massive free cash flow 19.2x Alphabet Google Cloud Net cash position 22.8x Amazon AWS Strong operating cash flow 23.1x Meta Platforms Llama Strong liquidity 15.7x Oracle OCI Debt-funded expansion 13.6x The discount exists for a reason. Oracle is financing growth differently than its larger competitors, and investors are demanding compensation for that added risk.

Key Takeaway In short, Oracle no longer looks expensive. At roughly 14 times forward earnings, much of the financing risk appears reflected in the share price. If Oracle converts even a large portion of its $638 billion backlog into recurring cloud revenue, today’s valuation could prove unusually attractive.

That said, this is no longer a straightforward AI infrastructure story. It has become a wager that OpenAI continues expanding aggressively and fulfills the commitments underpinning much of Oracle’s future growth. Until Oracle broadens that customer base, the stock probably deserves to trade at a discount to its hyperscale peers.

For long-term investors comfortable with customer concentration risk, today’s valuation offers an appealing entry point. For more conservative investors, waiting for evidence that Oracle can diversify its backlog beyond OpenAI may be the more prudent path.

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Many stocks have benefited from the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, not just the "Magnificent Seven" or tech stocks in general. Companies across many other industries have also benefited greatly from the growth bonanza driven by this revolutionary technology.

A prime example of this is EMCOR Group (EME 7.30%). With a $37.3 billion market cap, EMCOR is a fairly large company, but it is hardly a household name. However, this is about to change. Even as shares have surged, the AI data center build-out boom remains in its early stages. This leaves this industrial stock well-positioned to keep winning, and for more investors to take notice.

Image source: Getty Images.

EMCOR Group at a glance Based in Norwalk, Connecticut, EMCOR Group is a provider of construction, engineering, and property management services. Since its formation in 1994, the company has grown into one of the largest names in the space. EMCOR achieved this scale in large part due to the aggressive acquisition of smaller competitors.

That said, the main driver of growth lately hasn't come from roll-up acquisitions or other financial engineering strategies. Rather, chalk it up to the AI data center boom. Between 2023 and 2025, revenues zoomed from $12.6 billion to nearly $17 billion, thanks to robust demand for electrical, mechanical, and other construction work. During this time frame, earnings more than doubled, from $13.37 to $28.30 per share.

This growth wave has yet to slow down. During Q1 2026, EMCOR reported 19.7% year-over-year revenue growth, with quarterly earnings rising 30%. Alongside strong results, management also issued an upward revision to full-year 2026 guidance, raising its revenue guidance from between $17.8 billion and $18.5 billion to between $18.5 billion and $19.3 billion, with earnings per share (EPS) guidance raised from between $27.25 and $29.25 per share to $28.25 to $29.75 per share.

Better yet, some sell-side analysts anticipate an even stronger 2026 performance. For 2026, the high end of analyst forecasts calls for revenue of $19.2 billion and earnings of over $30 per share.

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Why this AI infrastructure stock has more room to run Even as the market has yet to fully catch on, EMCOR's AI growth has already driven the stock higher. Trading at around $175 per share in mid-2023, the stock now trades at around $845 per share. With this big run-up, EMCOR has also climbed toward a premium valuation.

At current prices, the stock trades for around 28.5 times forward earnings. While reasonable compared to other construction stocks, shares may seem at risk of a de-rating due to slowing earnings growth. However, taking a closer look, don't assume this is imminent.

For instance, consider EMCOR's reported earnings growth last quarter, plus the fact that it beat consensus by $0.94 per share last quarter, the latest forecasts appear too conservative. Comps could prove tough in the coming quarters, but as long as growth merely normalizes rather than screeches to a halt, shares will likely sustain a premium valuation and continue to rise in tandem with earnings growth.

AI data center growth could slow, but EMCOR could still maintain elevated growth. Data center construction and electrical work today translates into maintenance and property management work for EMCOR tomorrow. As high growth continues, and the broad market becomes aware of EMCOR's "AI growth" bona fides, shares could reach even loftier price levels. Given this opportunity, it's prime time to make this AI stock a long-term holding and build a position on any major weakness.

Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL has been one of the most impressive mega-cap stories of 2026, climbing to a fresh all-time high of $408.61 as Google Cloud accelerated, its AI roadmap expanded, and investor sentiment around the company reached its strongest point in years. But over the past few weeks, the stock has cooled.

With GOOGL now trading about 15% below that high, the pullback has left investors asking a familiar question: Is this the start of something more concerning, or an opportunity in disguise?

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Alphabet’s Pullback Looks More Like Rotation Than TroubleAlphabet Today

$337.39 -6.32 (-1.84%)

As of 06/26/2026 04:00 PM Eastern

52-Week Range$171.73▼

$408.61Dividend Yield0.26%

P/E Ratio25.74

Price Target$413.13

The decline has been driven more by sentiment and sector rotation than by anything fundamental. A broad AI-related selloff has weighed on the megacap technology names in recent sessions, and Alphabet has not been spared. Adding to the noise, several high-profile AI researchers have reportedly departed Google for rivals, including Anthropic, potentially drawn by pre-IPO equity, raising concerns about talent retention at a critical moment in the AI race.

It is worth keeping this in perspective. None of these developments alters the core earnings power of the business. Alphabet generated $132.17 billion in net income over the trailing 12 months on net margins of nearly 38%, and Q1 2026 results blew past expectations with earnings per share of $5.11 against a $2.64 estimate. The pullback has compressed the forward price-to-earnings ratio to roughly 24, a level that looks reasonable for a company growing the way Alphabet is, and the stock is still up close to 10% on the year.

Bulls Need the $340 Breakout Zone to HoldFrom a technical perspective, while the stock has pulled back considerably from its 52-week high, it remains in a higher-timeframe uptrend. Importantly, the $340 area it is currently finding some support near will be vital in the future, as it is the level it broke out of at the end of May before surging to new all-time highs. If it takes that area out, the 200-day SMA comes into focus, near $320. But if it can bounce from this important zone near $340, a higher low could be marked within this uptrend, and the bulls may look to regain control of the stock.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Price Chart for Sunday, June, 28, 2026

Alphabet’s Bull Case Still Runs Through Cloud and AIBeyond the chart, the fundamental story that drove Alphabet to its highs has not changed. Google Cloud crossed $20 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time in Q1, growing 63% year over year, with a backlog approaching half a trillion dollars. The company is investing aggressively in AI infrastructure, recently raising roughly $85 billion in a heavily oversubscribed debt offering anchored by Berkshire Hathaway, a clear signal that demand for its compute capacity is outstripping supply. And the Other Bets segment, home to Waymo and Wing, continues to scale in the background.

There is also a fresh catalyst on the horizon. Alphabet is set to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average before the open on June 29, 2026, replacing Verizon Communications NYSE: VZ. While index inclusion does not change the fundamentals, it does add a layer of structural buying from funds that track the Dow.

Analysts remain firmly constructive. The consensus rating across 54 analysts is Moderate Buy, with a price target of $413.13, implying nearly 20% upside from current levels. That is a meaningful gap between where the stock trades and where Wall Street believes it is worth.

Alphabet’s Dip: Reason to Worry or Time to Buy?The honest answer is that this pullback looks far more like healthy digestion than the start of a genuine breakdown. The decline has been driven by sector-wide AI rotation and a handful of sentiment-driven headlines, not by any deterioration in Alphabet's actual business.

Health Indicator for Alphabet TradeSmith's Health IndicatorA long-term volatility-based measure designed for securities held 12 months or longer.

Green: Strong and healthy uptrend with normal pullbacks.

Yellow: Significant pullback but still within expected volatility.

Red: Dropped beyond expected volatility; considered unhealthy.

Yellow Zone (6d)

1-Year History

Jun 25 Sep 25 Dec 25 Mar 26 Jun 26

For the last 6 days, GOOGL's financial health has been in the Yellow zone, according to TradeSmith.

One caution worth noting is that the stock's TradeSmith Health Indicator recently slipped into its Yellow Zone after a long stretch in the green, a reminder that the near-term trend has weakened and the $340 level genuinely matters.

For long-term investors, a quality compounder trading 15% off its high, at a reasonable forward multiple, with a major catalyst days away and nearly 20% of implied upside to consensus, is the kind of setup that tends to reward patience. The key, as always, will be whether that $340 zone holds. If it does, this pullback may well prove to be one of the better entry points GOOGL has offered in months.

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The AI boom is creating opportunities across semiconductors, cloud computing, enterprise software, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and automation.

Inside this report, you’ll find 10 companies positioned to benefit as artificial intelligence moves from hype to real-world deployment and becomes a core growth driver for corporate America.

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The NVIDIA logo in this illustration taken June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

SYDNEY, June 29 (Reuters) - Australian AI infrastructure company Firmus Technologies said on Monday it had signed a strategic partnership with Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), opens new tab to help ​provide emerging AI firms with more cost-effective access to ‌computing power.

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Firmus said the deal would see it buy Nvidia infrastructure and sell Nvidia‑powered cloud services to "AI Native" customers, among others, in an agreement that would earn the ​U.S.-listed chip giant product revenue and a share of cloud ​revenue.

The deal will deliver 170,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPU) from ⁠the first quarter of 2027 to the start of 2028, that ​will be located in Batam, Indonesia.

Firmus said it expected to earn ​up to $30 billion in revenue during the first six years of the deal, based on customer commitments.

The Australian-founded company said the deal would make it easier for ​smaller and developing AI firms to access the technology's infrastructure.

"We ​have worked to figure out how to close the gap between the cost benefits ‌that ⁠the large guys have access to, which they do because they have great credit ratings, and the guys that are up and comers," Firmus co-chief executive Tim Rosenfield told Reuters. "This is actually a really ​material way to ​level the ⁠playing field a little bit to give the next a chance to compete with the big guys."

Nvidia ​has participated in Firmus' previous capital raisings making it ​an ⁠investor in the Australian firm, according to Firmus.

Firmus said in April it had raised $1.35 billion over the previous six months, giving it a $5.5 billion post-money valuation. ⁠It ​has appointed investment banks to work on ​a potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rosenfield declined to ​comment on Firmus' IPO preparations.

Reporting by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Kate Mayberry

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Scott Murdoch has been a journalist for more than two decades working for Thomson Reuters and News Corp in Australia. He has specialised in financial journalism for most of his career and covers the Australian financial services sector and superannuation. He is based in Sydney.

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Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) transformed from a niche digital asset into a mainstream investment over the past decade, and few people did more to accelerate that shift than Michael Saylor. By turning Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction) (formerly MicroStrategy) into what he called a “bitcoin treasury company,” he created a blueprint that dozens of others rushed to copy. 

During bitcoin’s climb to more than $126,000 last October, the model looked unstoppable. Today, after bitcoin has fallen to roughly $60,141 and Strategy’s stock has lost about 82% from its peak, investors are discovering that leverage works both ways.

The Bitcoin Treasury Model Looks Different in a Bear Market Saylor’s strategy was elegantly simple. Raise capital through stock offerings, convertible debt, and later perpetual preferred stock, then use the proceeds to buy more bitcoin. As long as bitcoin appreciated faster than the company’s cost of capital, shareholders benefited from amplified exposure to the cryptocurrency.

The strategy became so popular that other companies adopted it. Bitcoin-focused treasury firms such as Bitcoin Immersion Technologies (NASDAQ:BMNR) emerged, while others adapted the model for cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) and Solana (CRYPTO:SOL).

The numbers looked compelling during the bull market. They look much different today. Bitcoin has fallen hard over the last eight months, and briefly traded near $58,000 last week, leaving it down roughly 52% from its peak. Even more striking, the crypto now trades near levels first reached about five years ago, while the S&P 500 has gained approximately 72% over that same period.

Strategy has fared even worse. Its shares closed Friday near $82, down roughly 82% from their highs.

Enterprise mNAV Is Sending a Warning Beyond the stock price, the more meaningful development is what is happening on Strategy’s balance sheet.

Many investors focus on market mNAV, which compares the company’s market value with the value of its bitcoin holdings. Critics have correctly pointed out that market mNAV has fallen below 1.0 several times before.

That’s true — but it misses the larger issue. The more important metric is enterprise mNAV, which includes not only Strategy’s market capitalization, but also its total debt and perpetual preferred stock, less its U.S. dollar reserve holdings. That measurement closed below 1.0 for the first time on Friday, ending the day at 0.99.

Why does that matter? Because enterprise mNAV reflects the full economic cost of Strategy’s capital structure rather than simply its equity valuation. As the company layered on debt and preferred stock beginning in 2024, what once looked like financial engineering became a growing obligation that common shareholders ultimately bear.

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Crossing below 1.0 does not prevent Strategy from issuing additional common shares. It does, however, make doing so far less attractive. Recent bitcoin purchases have already drawn criticism because they diluted existing shareholders, and selling new shares at current valuation levels would likely intensify that backlash.

Meanwhile, issuing additional debt also becomes more difficult as leverage rises and investor confidence weakens.

From $126k peaks to a brutal 82% stock crash—the 'never sell' era just died, and the tide is going out on the world's biggest Bitcoin gamble. © 24/7 Wall St. The ‘Never Sell’ Era Is Over There is an even bigger philosophical shift that has occurred. For years, Saylor repeatedly declared Strategy would “never sell” its bitcoin. Yet the company recently sold bitcoin for the first time in its history. More recently, Saylor has acknowledged that Strategy could — and would — sell bitcoin if circumstances warranted.

That change matters because it acknowledges what markets always enforce: no strategy is absolute.

Several market analysts and research firms now see bitcoin falling toward $50,000, while some bearish forecasts project prices as low as $20,000 if selling pressure accelerates. If those scenarios materialize, Strategy may have few financing options beyond liquidating larger portions of its bitcoin holdings to meet obligations or strengthen its balance sheet.

As debt increases and capital markets become less accommodating, flexibility shrinks.

Key Takeaway In short, Michael Saylor changed how investors think about corporate balance sheets and digital assets. During a bull market, the bitcoin treasury model looked brilliant because rising prices masked its growing leverage.

Warren Buffett has famously observed, “In a bull market, everybody’s a genius.” He also warned, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”

Today’s market suggests that Strategy’s enterprise mNAV — not its stock price alone — is exposing the true risks of the model. Granted, bitcoin could recover and restore much of the strategy’s appeal. But unless that happens, Strategy may increasingly rely on the one option Saylor once insisted he would never need: selling more of the very asset that built his empire.

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Shares of Capri Holdings Ltd. NYSE: CPRI have lost 65% of their value over the past five years, weighed down by a failed merger, weakening luxury demand, and declining sales across its brands.

But with the recent sale of its Versace brand, improving profitability, and the company forecasting a return to growth, there are signs the turnaround may be gaining traction.

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Tapestry Deal Collapse Sent Shares TumblingMuch of Capri's struggles over the last several years can be traced to its failed merger with Tapestry Inc. NYSE: TPR.

Capri Today

$19.34 +0.48 (+2.54%)

As of 06/26/2026 03:59 PM Eastern

This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

52-Week Range$16.72▼

$28.26P/E Ratio16.96

Price Target$24.79

In August 2023, Tapestry agreed to acquire Capri for $57 per share in a deal valued at approximately $8.5 billion. The announcement sent Capri shares soaring more than 55% in a single session, pushing the stock to nearly $54.

The excitement was short-lived. As regulatory scrutiny intensified, Capri shares drifted lower. When a federal judge blocked the merger on antitrust grounds in October 2024, the stock plunged nearly 50% to around $21.

Currently, Capri shares are trading at around $19, down roughly 64% from their post-announcement highs and about 9% below their level immediately after the merger was terminated. The stock has remained under pressure since the deal collapsed, as the company has continued to navigate headwinds from a challenging luxury-spending environment and tariffs.

Capri's Turnaround Begins to Take ShapeAs part of a broader turnaround effort, Capri announced plans in April 2025 to sell its Versace brand to Prada S.p.A. OTCMKTS: PRDSY. The $1.375 billion cash transaction, which closed in December, was intended to streamline the business, reduce debt, and allow Capri to focus on its two remaining brands, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo.

The company's latest fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter earnings report suggests those efforts may already be paying off. For the quarter, Capri returned to profitability, reporting earnings of 22 cents per share, a sharp improvement from a loss of $4.90 per share a year earlier and 11 cents ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue from continuing operations, which excludes the divested Versace business, totaled $796 million, down 3.7% year over year and roughly $4 million shy of Wall Street estimates. The company also repurchased $79 million worth of shares during the quarter.

While revenue remained under pressure, Chief Executive John Idol said on the earnings call that the company was encouraged by the progress it made executing strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening the Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo brands.

New fashion offerings, he said, have driven higher full-price sell-throughs and average unit retails, while improved brand storytelling has helped deepen consumer engagement and attract new customers.

Idol also emphasized the company's stronger balance sheet following the Versace sale. With debt reduced and cash flow improving, he said Capri has the financial flexibility to invest roughly $300 million in store renovations, primarily at Michael Kors, while continuing its share repurchase program and other growth initiatives.

Company Forecasts a Return to GrowthCapri's fiscal 2027 guidance points to a meaningful improvement in the company's financial performance. The company expects revenue growth to return to the low-single-digit range, while gross margins expand by approximately 200 basis points, and operating income increases by roughly 60%. Earnings per share are projected to rise 40% year over year to $2.15.

The outlook also assumes $200 million of share repurchases during the year. Capri expects profitability to improve across both brands, with Michael Kors generating operating margins in the low double-digit range and Jimmy Choo returning to profitability with operating margins in the low single digits.

Longer term, Idol said the company expects to grow Michael Kors revenue to $4 billion and Jimmy Choo revenue to $800 million while significantly increasing profitability.

Wall Street Remains Cautiously OptimisticSome on Wall Street appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to Capri's turnaround story. The stock currently carries a consensus Hold rating, with eight Hold ratings, one Sell, six Buys, and one Strong Buy.

Overall MarketRank™98th Percentile

Analyst RatingHold

Upside/Downside28.2% Upside

Short Interest LevelHealthy

Dividend StrengthN/A

News Sentiment0.27 Insider TradingSelling Shares

Proj. Earnings Growth20.29%

See Full Analysis

Several analysts lowered their price targets following the company's latest earnings report. Even so, the average 12-month price target stands at $24.79, implying roughly 30% upside from current levels. Notably, every analyst price target remains above the current share price, with targets ranging from $20 to $32.

A recent decline in short interest is also an encouraging sign. The percentage of float sold short has fallen to 8% at the end of May, down from 10.6% at the end of March.

Capri's prolonged share-price decline has left the stock trading at a discount to both the broader retail sector and some of its competitors. The company currently trades at just 0.6X sales, well below the retail industry's average price-to-sales ratio of 1.08. Capri also trades at a substantial discount to Tapestry and Ralph Lauren Corp. NYSE: RL, which command price-to-sales multiples of 4.3 and 3.0, respectively. The valuation is not the lowest in the group, however, as PVH Corp. NYSE: PVH trades at 0.4X sales.

Capri's turnaround is still in its early stages, and investors will likely want to see further evidence that improving trends at Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo can be sustained. However, recent results suggest the company is on firmer footing than a year ago and moving in the right direction, making the stock worth a closer look for investors willing to bet on the recovery.

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Grayscale Research Head Zach Pandl said that Strategy’s 50 basis point increase in the STRC dividend next week may not be enough to restore market confidence.

According to Pandl, such an increase would raise the company’s dividend obligations by approximately $100 million over the next two years. However, this step is not expected to significantly improve investor confidence.

Pandl stated that a more effective step to restore market confidence might be for Strategy to sell over $3 billion worth of Bitcoin. He noted that this sale would be enough to cover almost all of the cash liabilities the company will face over the next two years.

Pandl stated the following in his assessment:

“What I expect to happen for Strategy next week is a 50 basis point increase in the STRC dividend. That translates to approximately $100 million in additional dividend obligations over the next two years, and that probably won’t help market confidence. What I hope will happen is that the company sells over $3 billion worth of Bitcoin to cover almost all of its cash obligations over the next two years. That would likely restore market confidence.”

*This is not investment advice.

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Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has linked Bitcoin’s latest price drop to growing concern around Strategy, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy.

Summary

Novogratz says Strategy stress has become a core reason behind Bitcoin’s latest confidence shock. Weak crypto demand and strong-dollar policy comments added macro pressure as traders watched support levels. Related Strategy reports show STRC pressure, dividend costs, and cash reserves remain market concerns. Speaking on an All Things Markets episode, Novogratz said the sell-off reflects a mix of Strategy pressure, weak crypto sentiment, and macro stress.

Strategy pressure takes center stage Novogratz said the current Bitcoin weakness is tied to what he called a “MicroStrategy-led breakdown in confidence.” He said the problem is not only Bitcoin’s price, but also investor concern around Strategy’s funding model.

Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) is sounding the alarm this week. If the ultra-wealthy don't figure out a way to share the gains from AI, the pitchforks are coming, and history tells us exactly what that looks like. We're breaking down the widening wealth gap, Alan Greenspan's lasting… pic.twitter.com/egwAeghtUn

— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) June 27, 2026 Strategy remains the largest public corporate holder of Bitcoin. Its stock and preferred securities have become a key part of how traders judge risk across the wider Bitcoin market.

The comments follow weeks of debate over Strategy’s capital structure. As previously reported, the company’s Bitcoin flywheel has come under pressure as its stock traded below the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

That shift matters because Strategy used its stock premium for years to raise capital and buy more Bitcoin. When that premium weakens, raising fresh capital becomes harder and market confidence can fade.

STRC weakness adds to market concern Novogratz also pointed to poor trading in Strategy’s preferred products. He said “the Saylor thing is real” and noted that the company’s perpetuals were trading weakly.

The pressure centers on STRC, Strategy’s preferred stock product. STRC was designed to trade close to $100, but market stress has pushed it below that level at several points.

As previously reported, CryptoQuant said Strategy’s annual dividend obligations had risen to about $1.2 billion. The firm also said dividend coverage had dropped to about 14 months as cash reserves declined.

That warning added to earlier concerns after Strategy sold 32 BTC in late May. The sale raised about $2.5 million and marked the company’s first reported Bitcoin sale since December 2022.

Macro pressure weighs on Bitcoin Novogratz also cited macro policy as another reason for Bitcoin’s weak price action. He pointed to hawkish central bank signals and stronger support for the U.S. dollar.

He said “strong dollar is weak Bitcoin.” His view is that a stronger dollar can reduce demand for risk assets, including Bitcoin, during periods of market stress.

That view fits with the wider market mood. Bitcoin has also faced pressure from ETF outflows, weaker liquidity, and cautious options positioning.

Aspreviously reported, ETF flows and Strategy concerns have weighed on trader sentiment. Bearish exposure near the $60,000 area also showed that traders were preparing for more downside risk.

Bitcoin faces key support test Novogratz said the $59,000 to $60,000 zone is now important for Bitcoin. He warned that if this level fails, the market could open a path toward $45,000.

He also said the next move remains hard to call. In his words, the chance of a deeper drop or recovery is “50/50” because the setup is complicated.

The comments show how closely traders now watch Strategy as part of the Bitcoin market. The company’s balance sheet, STRC performance, and cash position have become market signals.

For now, Bitcoin’s next test sits near the same level Novogratz named. A hold above the $59,000 to $60,000 area could calm traders, while a break below it may bring more selling pressure.

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

Bitcoin is trading near $60,000 after a volatile week that pushed the largest cryptocurrency to its lowest level since late 2024. 

Summary

Bitcoin is holding near $60,000 despite Middle East tension and renewed pressure from Strategy concerns. Analysts say a break above $66,000 could revive momentum, while $58,000 remains key support. On-chain data shows weaker short-term holder dominance, a structure often seen near accumulation zones. The price has stayed calm through the weekend, even as new tension in the Middle East tested risk appetite across global markets.

BTC had opened the previous business week with strength, rising to about $65,500 after reclaiming support near $64,000. That move failed to hold. Sellers later pushed the asset below $62,400, then toward $59,000, before another drop sent Bitcoin near $58,000.

Bitcoin steadies after sharp weekly sell-off Bitcoin’s latest price action shows a market trying to hold a base after a fast decline. BTC now trades around the $60,000 area, with bulls defending the zone after repeated tests below that mark.

The weekend calm stands out because the U.S. and Iran exchanged fresh blame over the broken ceasefire. Earlier this month, Bitcoin had climbed above $65,500 after a U.S.-Iran deal eased oil and inflation fears across markets.

That relief rally did not last. Bitcoin soon lost strength as traders returned to concerns around liquidity, ETF flows, and Strategy-related risk.

The current setup leaves BTC stuck between two near-term levels. A move below $58,000 could invite more selling, while a clean recovery above $64,000 to $66,000 may show that buyers are regaining control.

Strategy fears remain a market pressure point One of the main pressure points remains Strategy, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy. Growing concern around its capital structure has affected Bitcoin sentiment because the firm remains the largest corporate holder of BTC.

As previously reported, Bitcoin fell below $60,000 for the second time in June as liquidations topped $850 million. Strategy shares also dropped sharply as traders watched the company’s stock, preferred shares, and Bitcoin treasury.

Another report said Strategy’s Bitcoin flywheel has started to work in reverse. The company once used a stock premium to raise capital and buy more BTC, but weaker market pricing now makes that model harder to sustain.

CryptoQuant has also urged Strategy to pause Bitcoin purchases and rebuild cash reserves. The firm said dividend coverage tied to STRC had fallen to about 14 months as cash reserves declined.

This pressure does not mean Strategy must sell Bitcoin now. Still, the market is watching whether further stress in STRC or MSTR could create more fear around BTC.

Analysts split on breakout or deeper chop Crypto analyst Market Watcher said Bitcoin’s weekly structure remains clear. The analyst pointed to a downtrend from the July and August highs near $70,000 and $67,000 and said a break of that line would make them more willing to deploy capital.

$BTC (1W)

break of downtrend (July ~70k, august ~67k): more actively looking to scale capital into positions while trading the breakout momentum

indecisive summer chop (~59k – ~66k): doing mostly nothing, day trading whats there

break of main trend (~ 58k): popcorn and TL on… pic.twitter.com/XB5uU0sICt

— Market Watcher (@watchingmarkets) June 28, 2026 The same analyst described the current zone as “indecisive summer chop” between about $59,000 and $66,000. That range matches the current market, where BTC has not broken down fully but has also failed to reclaim lost momentum.

Market Watcher said a break of the main trend near $58,000 would change the setup. The analyst also compared the current downtrend to the December 2022 and January 2023 breakout, which later started a major BTC uptrend.

EGRAG CRYPTO took a longer view and focused on Bitcoin’s 12-month cycle. The analyst said the usual rhythm has been three years up and one year down, but this cycle may be different if 2026 closes as a red yearly candle.

EGRAG said the four-year cycle remains intact for now, but added that structure matters more than hope. That view keeps attention on the yearly close and whether Bitcoin can regain a stronger long-term pattern.

#BTC – The 12M Cycle Is Flashing Something Different 👀

The historical $BTC rhythm has been clear:
🔸3 years UP → 1 year DOWN
🔸3 years UP → 1 year DOWN
🔸3 years UP → 1 year DOWN

But this cycle is different so far:
🔸2 years UP → and now potentially 2 years DOWN
🔸That is… pic.twitter.com/dczPLUMesG

— EGRAG CRYPTO (@egragcrypto) June 27, 2026 On-chain data points to possible reset CryptoQuant analyst Crazzyblockk said Bitcoin’s short-term holder realized dominance has fallen to 27.6%. The analyst said that places BTC inside a historical undervaluation zone where long-term holders control most realized capital.

In past cycles, market tops formed when short-term holders held most realized capital. That often showed heavy speculation and late-cycle buying.

Bitcoin’s short-term holder realized dominance, source: CryptoQuant analyst Crazzyblockk Bear markets have shown the opposite setup. Short-term holders realize losses, their share of realized capital falls, and long-term holders regain control.

The analyst said current data looks closer to past accumulation phases than cycle tops. However, they also warned that bottoms often form through a process, and another capitulation phase remains possible.

Another CryptoQuant analyst, Facundo Fama, pointed to long-term holder SOPR. The analyst said when LTH-SOPR moves near or below 1, long-term holders are selling coins at or near a loss.

The last time LTH-SOPR stayed below 1 on the monthly timeframe for more than three months was in October 2022, when BTC traded near $20,000. That data does not guarantee a bottom, but it shows that long-term holder stress has returned to a rare zone.

Bitcoin price outlook Bitcoin’s short-term outlook now depends on whether bulls can defend $58,000 and recover the $64,000 to $66,000 range. A close above that upper band could support a stronger recovery attempt.

A loss of $58,000 would weaken the current base and could expose lower areas as traders reduce risk. In that case, Bitcoin may revisit deeper support before building a new range.

For now, BTC is neither breaking down nor confirming a strong reversal. The market remains calm near $60,000, but that calm depends on support holding, Middle East risk staying contained, and Strategy-related fear easing.

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

Ripple settled a tokenized Treasury with JPMorgan in five seconds, expanded a stablecoin deal across Latin America, and powered remittances to 170 million people. The catch for XRP holders: the cash leg in deal after deal is RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar stablecoin, not XRP. Here is whether the token they hold is being quietly sidelined by the company built around it.

Summary

Ripple’s biggest recent wins, a five-second tokenized Treasury settlement with JPMorgan and Mastercard, a stablecoin expansion across Latin America, and a major remittance deal, increasingly use RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar stablecoin, as the cash leg rather than XRP. RLUSD crossed $1 billion in market value quickly and is becoming the settlement asset enterprises actually want, raising the question of whether it is taking the role XRP was built to play. The pattern reflects a real tension: Ripple the company keeps winning institutional deals, while XRP the token stays pinned near a dollar, beneath every major moving average. The bullish counterargument is that Ripple is the largest XRP holder with aligned incentives, that RLUSD and XRP serve different functions, and that ledger activity can still benefit XRP indirectly. For holders, the question is whether XRP’s value will accrue from network usage and catalysts like the CLARITY Act and ETF flows, or whether RLUSD will capture the settlement demand XRP was meant to capture. In June 2026, Ripple completed something that should have been a milestone for XRP. Working with JPMorgan, Mastercard, and the tokenization firm Ondo Finance, it settled the cross-border redemption of a tokenized U.S. Treasury fund across banks on the XRP Ledger, and the blockchain leg finalized in under five seconds, against the one to three business days the same transaction can take on traditional rails. It was a genuine showcase of what Ripple’s technology can do, the kind of institutional validation the XRP community has predicted for years.

NEW: JPMorgan, Mastercard, Ondo Finance and Ripple complete tokenized Treasury redemption test on XRP Ledger. Settlement took roughly 5 seconds compared to 3 to 5 business days on traditional rails pic.twitter.com/9Rkd3MkWF4

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) June 12, 2026 And yet there was a detail in it that has become the defining unease for XRP holders: the cash leg of that settlement used RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, not XRP. The same pattern has repeated across Ripple’s other recent wins. A partnership expanding stablecoin settlement across Latin America runs on a regulated peso-backed stablecoin issued on the XRP Ledger and integrated with Ripple’s infrastructure, while a major remittance deal reaching 170 million people uses RLUSD as the primary settlement asset. Deal after deal, Ripple keeps winning, and deal after deal, the asset doing the actual settling is increasingly a stablecoin, while XRP trades near a dollar and change as though none of it is happening.

This is the question that has moved to the center of the XRP story, and it is a fair and uncomfortable one: if every Ripple win runs on RLUSD rather than XRP, is the token being quietly sidelined by the very company built around it? The concern is not baseless, because it touches the oldest puzzle in the XRP thesis, the gap between Ripple’s corporate success and XRP’s token price, and gives it a specific, mechanical explanation. But it is also not the whole story, because there are real counterarguments about why RLUSD and XRP are not simply competitors, why Ripple’s incentives remain aligned with holders, and how ledger activity can still benefit the token.

This piece works through both sides honestly. It lays out the pattern of RLUSD showing up where holders expected XRP, explains what RLUSD is and why enterprises prefer it for settlement, examines whether the stablecoin is cannibalizing XRP’s intended role, presents the bullish case that the two assets are complementary, and arrives at a grounded view of what holders should actually take from it. The goal is neither to stoke the fear nor to dismiss it, but to give holders an accurate read on whether their token is being left behind.

The pattern: RLUSD where holders expected XRP Start with the pattern itself, because it is real and worth seeing clearly across the recent run of Ripple announcements. The flagship example is the tokenized Treasury settlement with JPMorgan, Mastercard, and Ondo Finance. For years, the XRP pitch held that cross-border institutional settlement was exactly what XRP was built for, the bridge asset that would let value move between currencies and institutions in seconds. When Ripple finally delivered a marquee demonstration of that capability, settling a tokenized Treasury redemption across borders and banks in under five seconds, the XRP Ledger provided the rails, but RLUSD provided the cash leg.

That detail matters because it changes what the event proved. It proved that the XRP Ledger can support serious institutional flows, with names that compliance departments recognize and a settlement speed legacy rails cannot match. But it did not prove that XRP the asset sits at the center of the payment, because the money leg moved through a stablecoin rather than the volatile token. As previously reported, Ripple’s tokenized Treasury settlement with JPMorgan showed that the ledger can win important business before the token captures meaningful demand.

The same shape recurs elsewhere. Ripple expanded a payments partnership in which a regulated peso-backed stablecoin is issued on the XRP Ledger and integrated into Ripple’s payment infrastructure to support enterprise stablecoin settlement across Latin America. Ripple also backed Flutterwave in a round that valued the African payments company at $3.2 billion, with RLUSD positioned for use across payment rails that reach a very large user base. In each case, the XRP Ledger and Ripple’s infrastructure become more relevant, but the settlement asset is a stablecoin.

Across these deals, the consistent feature is that the XRP Ledger, the blockchain Ripple built and that XRP is native to, is doing real and valuable work, but the asset moving through it as money is increasingly a stablecoin rather than XRP. This is what gives the holder concern its force: it is not a single anomalous deal but a repeated pattern in which Ripple’s institutional wins showcase the ledger and the company’s technology while routing the actual settlement value through RLUSD or another stablecoin. For holders who bought XRP on the thesis that institutional settlement demand would drive token demand, watching that settlement demand flow through a stablecoin instead is a legitimate cause for unease. The first honest step is simply to acknowledge that the pattern is real.

What RLUSD is and why enterprises prefer it To judge whether this pattern is a problem, you have to understand what RLUSD is and why enterprises keep choosing it, because the answer explains the dynamic without requiring any conspiracy against XRP. RLUSD is Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, a token designed to hold a steady value of $1, backed by reserves, and issued on the XRP Ledger and other chains. It crossed $1 billion in market value quickly after launch, a sign of real demand, and it has become the asset Ripple increasingly puts forward as the cash leg in its enterprise settlements.

The reason enterprises prefer a stablecoin for the money side of a transaction is straightforward and has nothing to do with any view about XRP. Businesses settling real-world value need price stability. When a company moves money across borders, it wants the amount it sends to equal the amount that arrives, with no exposure to price swings in between. XRP, like any freely traded cryptocurrency, fluctuates in price, which makes it difficult to use as the unit in which an enterprise wants to denominate and hold a settlement, even if it can still work as a bridge for moving value quickly.

A stablecoin solves this by holding a fixed dollar value, so the enterprise can settle in something that behaves like the dollars it already thinks in. This is why, across the industry and not just at Ripple, stablecoins have become the dominant on-chain settlement instrument: they combine the speed and programmability of crypto with the price stability that commerce requires. RLUSD is Ripple’s entry into that category, and its growing use in Ripple’s deals reflects the same market logic that has made stablecoins central everywhere. For readers who want the basics, how RLUSD holds its dollar peg is the starting point for understanding why enterprises gravitate toward it.

The same logic explains why exchange and liquidity integrations matter. When RLUSD is listed with XRP pairs and broader access, the stablecoin becomes easier to move, price, and route through the infrastructure Ripple wants enterprises to use. That helps Ripple’s payments stack, and it can deepen activity on the XRP Ledger, but it still does not mean every dollar of settlement creates direct XRP demand. The holder question is what remains for XRP once the stablecoin has taken the stable cash role.

Understanding this matters because it reframes the concern. RLUSD is not showing up in Ripple’s settlements simply because Ripple is trying to sideline XRP; it is showing up because enterprises asked for a stable settlement asset and Ripple built one to give them. That is a rational business decision for Ripple and a useful product decision for institutions. The harder question is whether that useful product decision narrows the value-accrual path that XRP holders were counting on.

Is RLUSD cannibalizing XRP’s role? This is the crux of the matter, and it deserves to be stated plainly: there is a real argument that RLUSD is taking the settlement role XRP was originally meant to play. The classic XRP thesis cast the token as the bridge asset for cross-border value transfer, the thing that would sit in the middle of international settlements, moving value between currencies in seconds and capturing demand as global payment volume flowed through it. Stablecoins complicate that thesis directly, because a dollar stablecoin can perform much of the cross-border settlement function that XRP was built for, moving value quickly and programmably while also offering the price stability XRP cannot. If enterprises can settle in RLUSD on the XRP Ledger, getting the speed of the ledger without the volatility of the token, then the specific demand driver that was supposed to accrue to XRP may instead accrue to the stablecoin.

This is the structural worry beneath the holder concern, and it is not easily waved away. The bull case for XRP has long depended on the idea that Ripple’s growing settlement business would translate into demand for the token, but if the settlement business increasingly runs on RLUSD, that translation weakens. Ripple’s institutional infrastructure could keep growing impressively, opening corridors and closing deals, while the value of that growth flows through stablecoins and fiat instead of driving XRP token demand. That would leave the familiar gap between corporate progress and token price not just intact but mechanically explained.

The token could end up as the rails, valuable to the system but not the asset that captures the economic value moving across it. This is the version of events that should genuinely concern holders, and it is why the RLUSD pattern is more than a cosmetic detail. It points to a possible future in which XRP’s network succeeds, Ripple thrives, RLUSD becomes a major settlement asset, and XRP the token still struggles to convert all of that activity into sustained demand because the demand has a stablecoin to flow into instead. That is also why the older question of XRP’s bridge-asset role needs to be revisited rather than repeated as if nothing has changed.

There is a broader parallel here with other infrastructure tokens. A network can be useful without its native token absorbing the full value of that usefulness, especially when users can interact with the network through stable assets, tokenized deposits, or application-level instruments. XRP holders have already seen this in miniature: the ledger gets institutional proof points, Ripple gets business wins, and XRP gets fees, reserves, or optional routing rather than obvious direct demand. Whether that is enough depends on scale, and that scale has not yet shown up in the price.

The bullish case: complementary, not competing The other side of this debate is serious and deserves a full hearing, because the framing of RLUSD versus XRP as a zero-sum contest may be too simple. The first counterargument is that RLUSD and XRP serve different functions and can coexist productively. A stablecoin is the cash leg, the stable unit in which value is denominated and held. XRP, in the bridge role, can still serve as the connective asset that moves value between different currencies and stablecoins, the neutral intermediary in a world where many different fiat-backed stablecoins exist and need to be exchanged.

In this view, a proliferation of stablecoins actually increases the need for a neutral bridge asset to move between them, and XRP could capture that role precisely because it is not tied to any single currency. RLUSD handles the dollar leg, MXNB handles the peso leg, and other stablecoins can handle other currencies or jurisdictions. XRP can then sit between those assets when liquidity is fragmented, routing value across the ledger’s exchange and payments infrastructure. That is a more modest thesis than “XRP becomes the cash leg of global settlement,” but it is not an irrelevant one.

The second counterargument concerns incentives. Ripple is the largest single holder of XRP, which means the company has a powerful, built-in economic reason to drive the token’s value and usage that does not depend on any promise. Every corridor Ripple opens, every institution it onboards, and every unit of activity it brings to the XRP Ledger can eventually matter to XRP if that activity creates fees, reserves, routing, liquidity depth, or bridge demand. From this angle, Ripple building a successful stablecoin is not a betrayal of XRP holders but an expansion of the ecosystem XRP sits inside.

Even RLUSD, issued on the XRP Ledger, can support XRP indirectly by increasing ledger activity and making the network more useful to institutions. That is the strongest version of the complementary thesis: stablecoins bring institutions onto the rail, and once they are there, XRP has more chances to serve as liquidity, routing, or bridge infrastructure. The weakness is timing and certainty. Indirect value can take years to show up, and investors do not price “maybe someday” the same way they price direct, measurable demand today.

The third point is that XRP’s strongest catalysts were never really about being the settlement cash leg in the first place. The most powerful drivers of XRP’s potential value, regulatory clarity from the CLARITY Act, compounding ETF inflows, and broad adoption of the ledger, operate largely independent of whether RLUSD or XRP is the cash leg in any given deal. On this reading, holders fixating only on the RLUSD-versus-XRP question are watching one important variable, but not the only variable. The better question is whether the total system being built around XRP Ledger becomes large enough that XRP’s indirect roles finally matter.

The value-accrual problem at the heart of it Step back and the RLUSD debate is really a specific instance of the deepest question in the entire XRP story, the one that has defined the token through 2026: how, exactly, does value accrue to XRP? A blockchain network can succeed enormously while the token native to it struggles if the activity on the network does not translate into sustained demand for the token. This is the puzzle XRP holders have lived with all year, watching Ripple rack up settlements, stablecoin launches, banking moves, and enterprise deals while the token stayed pinned near a dollar beneath every major moving average. The RLUSD pattern sharpens this puzzle by identifying a concrete reason the translation might be failing.

If the settlement value that was supposed to flow into XRP flows into RLUSD instead, then network success and token demand decouple in exactly the way the price action suggests. That is why the issue is bigger than one JPMorgan test or one Flutterwave deal. It is about whether XRP captures the economic value of the ledger it secures and powers, or whether it becomes a necessary but low-fee native asset beneath higher-value instruments. In previous coverage, this was the same basic dilemma behind the company-versus-token gap up close: Ripple can become more valuable without XRP necessarily moving in lockstep.

The honest framing is that XRP’s range-bound behavior is less a mystery than a predictable feature of how value accrues, or fails to accrue, to a token whose network can succeed without it. The waiting ends only when usage and token demand finally converge, and that convergence requires specific things to happen. Settlement volume needs to become large enough that fees, reserves, routing, and ecosystem use begin to matter against the enormous XRP supply locked in escrow. ETF flows also need to compound instead of trickle, while a regulatory catalyst like the CLARITY Act needs to cross the line to pull institutional money off the sidelines.

RLUSD’s rise is relevant because it bears on the first of those channels, the settlement-volume channel, by raising the possibility that volume accrues to the stablecoin instead of the token. But it is only one of several channels, and the others, ETF demand and regulatory clarity, could drive XRP regardless of what settles Ripple’s deals. That is why the catalyst that drives XRP regardless still matters to holders even if RLUSD keeps winning the cash-leg role. The realistic synthesis is that the RLUSD pattern is a genuine headwind to one specific version of the XRP value-accrual thesis, the bridge-asset-settlement version, while leaving the regulatory-unlock and ETF-demand versions largely intact.

What holders should take from it So should XRP holders worry about RLUSD, and if so, how much? The grounded answer is that the concern is legitimate but should be held in proportion, neither dismissed nor allowed to dominate. The legitimate part is that RLUSD genuinely does weaken the specific thesis that institutional settlement demand would flow into XRP. In deal after deal, that demand is flowing into the stablecoin instead, and holders who bought XRP primarily on the bridge-asset-settlement story should update on that evidence instead of ignoring it.

If your entire case for XRP rested on the idea that Ripple’s settlement business would mechanically drive token demand, the RLUSD pattern is a real challenge to that case and worth taking seriously. Pretending the token is the cash leg when it increasingly is not would be wishful thinking. The question is no longer whether Ripple is winning, because it clearly is. The question is whether XRP captures enough of those wins to justify the token thesis on its own terms.

The proportion part is that the bridge-asset-settlement story was never the only pillar of the XRP thesis, and arguably not even the strongest one. The catalysts most capable of moving XRP, statutory clarity from the CLARITY Act and the institutional ETF demand it could unlock, operate largely independent of whether RLUSD or XRP settles any given transaction. Ripple’s status as the largest XRP holder also keeps its incentives aligned with the token even as it builds RLUSD. The stablecoin may be the product enterprises want now, but XRP remains the native asset inside the ecosystem those enterprises are entering.

The most useful posture for a holder is therefore to treat the RLUSD pattern as important information about where one channel of demand is going, while keeping attention on the channels that matter more: regulatory progress, ETF flows, and whether ledger activity overall, RLUSD included, grows large enough to support the token through fees, reserves, routing, and ecosystem demand. For price-focused readers, what the gap means for price is the practical version of the same question. If XRP keeps failing to convert Ripple’s wins into token demand, the chart will continue to reflect that. If regulatory clarity, ETF inflows, and ledger usage finally converge, RLUSD may look less like a replacement and more like the stablecoin that helped bring institutions onto the rail.

The deepest truth here is that XRP’s fate depends on the convergence of usage and token demand, and RLUSD is one factor among several bearing on that convergence. It is a headwind to one pillar instead of the collapse of the whole case. Holders should worry enough to watch it closely and to be honest about which version of the XRP thesis it undercuts, but not so much that they lose sight of the larger catalysts that will ultimately determine whether the token finally breaks its range.

Frequently asked questions What is RLUSD? RLUSD is Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, a token designed to hold a steady value of $1, backed by reserves, and issued on the XRP Ledger and other blockchains. It crossed $1 billion in market value quickly after launch, reflecting real demand, and Ripple increasingly puts it forward as the cash leg, the stable settlement asset, in its enterprise deals. Because it holds a fixed dollar value instead of fluctuating like XRP, RLUSD is suited to the role of denominating and settling real-world value, which is why it has become central to Ripple’s institutional settlement business and to the debate about what that leaves for XRP.

Why do Ripple’s deals use RLUSD instead of XRP? Because enterprises settling real-world value need price stability, and a stablecoin provides it while XRP does not. When a business moves money across borders, it wants the amount it sends to equal the amount that arrives, with no exposure to price swings in between. XRP fluctuates in price, which makes it useful as a fast bridge for moving value but difficult as the unit an enterprise wants to hold and settle in. RLUSD holds a fixed dollar value, so enterprises can settle in something that behaves like the dollars they already use.

Is RLUSD replacing XRP? Not exactly, though it is taking part of the role XRP was originally pitched for. The classic XRP thesis cast the token as the bridge asset for cross-border settlement, and a dollar stablecoin can perform much of that settlement function while also offering price stability XRP lacks, so RLUSD does compete with one version of XRP’s intended purpose. The counterargument is that the two are complementary: RLUSD handles the dollar cash leg, while XRP can serve as the neutral bridge that moves value between many different currencies and stablecoins. A world of many stablecoins may actually increase the need for a neutral bridge asset, a role XRP could fill.

Does RLUSD’s success hurt XRP holders? It weakens one specific pillar of the XRP bull case, the idea that Ripple’s settlement business would mechanically drive XRP token demand, because that settlement demand increasingly flows into RLUSD instead. Holders who bought XRP primarily on that bridge-asset-settlement story should take the pattern seriously. However, RLUSD runs on the XRP Ledger, generating activity, fees, reserves, and ecosystem growth that can indirectly support XRP, and Ripple, as the largest XRP holder, keeps its incentives aligned with the token. The stronger XRP catalysts, regulatory clarity and ETF demand, operate largely independent of which asset settles a given deal, so RLUSD is a headwind to one pillar instead of the collapse of the whole case.

What actually drives XRP’s value then? XRP’s value depends on the convergence of network usage and token demand, which requires specific things to happen. Settlement and ecosystem activity must become large enough that fees, reserves, routing, and demand begin to matter against the large XRP supply locked in escrow. Spot ETF inflows also need to compound, and a regulatory catalyst like the CLARITY Act needs to cross the line to pull institutional money off the sidelines. These channels, particularly the regulatory unlock and ETF demand, operate largely regardless of whether RLUSD or XRP settles any individual transaction.

Should I sell XRP because of RLUSD? This article does not give investment advice, and that decision depends on your own analysis and circumstances. What the analysis offers is a framework: RLUSD truly weakens the bridge-asset-settlement version of the XRP thesis, so if that was your primary reason for holding, the pattern is a real challenge worth weighing honestly. But it leaves the regulatory-clarity and ETF-demand versions of the thesis largely intact, and Ripple’s incentives remain aligned with XRP as its largest holder. The proportionate response is to watch the RLUSD trend closely and be honest about which pillar it undercuts, while keeping the larger catalysts in view instead of reacting to a single factor in isolation.

This article is information, not investment advice. Partnership details, settlement mechanics, market values, and corporate plans reflect reporting available as of June 28, 2026, and can change quickly. The relationship between RLUSD and XRP is an evolving and debated topic. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell XRP, RLUSD, or any asset. Verify current details from primary sources and consider your own circumstances before making any decision.

Sharplink, the second-largest Ethereum [ETH] treasury company, purchased an additional 29,196 ETH for $46.7 million on the 27th of June. In fact, Lookonchain reported that the Ethereum DATs amassed 39,196 ETH, worth $62.4 million, over the last three days. 

Source: Lookonchain/X This marks Sharplink’s second purchase after an eight‑month pause. The first occurred when the firm added 5,000 ETH through FalconX, worth about $7.88 million at an average price of $1,576. With these acquisitions, Sharplink now holds 868,699 ETH in total, including 22,102 staked tokens. Meanwhile, its stock closed at $4.81, up 5.48% from the prior trading day. 

Sharplink vs. Bitmine Meanwhile, on the 22nd of June, Bitmine, the biggest Ethereum DAT, paid $92 million to acquire an additional 52,203 Ethereum. As of right now, Bitmine has 5,672,956 ETH worth $8.92 billion.  

Bitmine’s Tom Lee also stressed that his firm plans to continue growing steadily through 2026 and ultimately accomplish the “alchemy of 5%.” Although Sharplink has not yet disclosed such plans, the ETH accumulation strategy has been relatively comparable. 

Ethereum’s market dynamics paint a concerning picture All this happened as ETH was trading at $1,568.75, the lowest level since April 2025. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s Spot Taker CVD has lost some of its aggressive buying momentum, which is a major shift compared to June 2025.

Although buyers are still present in the market, their influence has waned. Unlike the strong accumulation phase seen a year ago, the current demand indicates buyer exhaustion.

Source: CryptoQuant Final Summary Sharplink added more ETH in the past three days, pushing its total ETH holding to 868,699 ETH in total. Sharplink’s stock price also jumped after the ETH accumulation, but ETH’s price was changing hands around the $1500 price level. 

Institutional appetite for Ethereum [ETH] continues to weaken as investors reduce exposure to risk assets amid uncertain market conditions. U.S. spot ETH ETFs recently recorded another $12.85 million in net outflows, extending a broader slowdown in fund demand despite cumulative net inflows remaining near $11 billion.

With this reduction, there will be less institutional capital available to buy Ethereum to help stabilize prices as they continue to decline.

Source: SoSoValue As such, Ethereum now relies more heavily on staking demand, layer-2 activity, and natural organic spot buying to help stabilize prices. If Ethereum network demand increases, then it is possible that the markets can begin to absorb some excess supply.

However, if institutional demand does not increase, then we should expect longer-term consolidation and increased vulnerability to sentiment-driven price movements.

ETH bears retain control despite buying pressure Institutional demand has already weakened, and derivatives activity now suggests bearish conviction is strengthening. Market structure may be decisively bearish unless spot flows and leverage flows simultaneously turn positive again.

Meanwhile, the fund price has declined steadily from its April peak to 12.59. This dynamic reflects a fading appetite for leveraged long positions. Moreover, this divergence shows that buyers, though appearing more aggressive, are becoming less effective, leaving bears firmly in control of short‑term price action. 

Source: Arkham Although moving assets to this new address does not necessarily indicate that the person behind the transaction is planning to sell their asset. Yet, previous instances of like-sized on-chain asset movements have occurred before liquidity events, making subsequent wallet activity the key signal to monitor.

If the funds remain in self-custody, the transfer will likely reflect routine wallet management. However, deposits to exchanges or OTC counterparties could reinforce existing bearish sentiment and increase expectations of additional selling pressure.

Final Summary Ethereum remained vulnerable as weakening institutional demand and bearish market structure continue limiting recovery momentum. ETH needs stronger spot demand to offset selling pressure and restore sustained bullish momentum.

AGNC Investment (AGNC +2.59%) pays a very lucrative monthly dividend. The real estate investment trust (REIT) yields over 13.5%. That's more than 10 times higher than the S&P 500's 1.1% yield.

The mortgage REIT has maintained its monthly dividend since resetting the level in 2020. However, that could be harder to do after the Federal Reserve recently hinted that it might start raising rates instead of lowering them. Here is how this potential headwind could impact its dividend.

Image source: Getty Images.

A potential policy shift The Federal Reserve has been slowly reducing the Federal Funds Rate since September 2024. It had lowered that key borrowing rate by 175 basis points by the end of last year to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Most Fed watchers anticipated that it would continue lowering rates this year, likely moving the rate closer to 3% by year's end.

However, the Fed has stood pat so far this year amid the war in Iran, which has put upward pressure on inflation. Core inflation, the Fed's preferred measurement, reached 3.4% last month, its highest reading since October 2023. As a result, the Fed has removed key language from its policy statement that indicated a bias toward future rate cuts, while hinting at the possibility of hikes.

This sentiment shift has impacted the Agency MBS market (AGNC Investment's sole focus). CEO Peter Federico stated on the first-quarter conference call that, heading into the year, the market assumption was that there would be about $250 billion of Agency MBS supply, with mortgage rates just below 6%. However, with mortgage rates now in the 6.5% range, MBS supply could be $50 billion to $70 billion lower this year. The higher yields on new MBS put downward pressure on the value of legacy MBS with lower yields. If the Fed does raise rates, mortgage rates would likely rise more, further pressuring MBS values.

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Still commanding a premium This year started positively for the MBS market as the Trump administration focused on reducing interest rate volatility and improving housing affordability. However, the war with Iran turned sentiment negative in March amid increased volatility. This impacted the value of AGNC's MBS portfolio, as its tangible book value declined by 5.6% to $8.38 per share.

However, while its book value declined, the REIT's stock price continued to trade at a premium to book, which it capitalized on by issuing $400 million in new shares during the period. It was able to deploy that capital at a levered return of around 16%, making these new investments accretive compared to its 13.5% dividend yield at the time. With its share price currently above $10.50 apiece, the REIT can continue to sell stock at a premium to its book value to make accretive new investments.

A higher risk, high-yielding dividend stock Changes in interest rates impact the value of AGNC Investment's MBS portfolio. The REIT, like most Fed watchers, expected that rates would fall this year, increasing the supply of lower-rate MBS. However, the Fed recently hinted that it might resume rate hikes amid the war-driven inflationary uptick. While that would put more downward pressure on the value of its portfolio, the REIT can still issue stock at a premium to buy higher-yielding MBS, which could enable it to continue maintaining its dividend. Even still, it's a higher risk, high-yielding income stream that income investors might not always be able to bank on in the future.

Pfizer's (PFE +2.62%) shares have lost more than 50% of their value since late 2021 due to poor financial results. The company has tried to bounce back. Notably, it has expanded its pipeline through acquisitions, the most expensive one of which was its $43 billion buyout of Seagen, a cancer-focused drugmaker, in 2023. However, recent developments may suggest to some that Pfizer's efforts to turn things around are not going to work, and the stock may continue moving south.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

A clinical trial flop and a leadership shake-up One of the promising candidates Pfizer got access to through its acquisition of Seagen was sigvotatug vedotin, an investigational medicine for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world. This is a large market that could help Pfizer generate billions of dollars annually, provided it can gain a foothold in it with this therapy. Unfortunately, that now seems unlikely to happen.

Pfizer recently reported that in a phase 3 clinical trial in previously treated NSCLC patients, sigvotatug vedotin failed to show a statistically significant improvement in overall survival, a key endpoint in cancer clinical studies. In the trial, the medicine was pitted against docetaxel, a chemotherapy medication. These results make it unlikely that sigvotatug vedotin will make significant headway in this narrow indication.

Further, there was more negative news for Pfizer recently. On June 18, the pharmaceutical giant announced that its CFO, Dave Denton, would leave the company on Aug. 15. The market is sometimes wary of leadership changes, especially for a company that has been struggling as much as Pfizer has in recent years. It's also worth noting that the drugmaker will face even more challenges ahead. Pfizer's anticoagulant, Eliquis, one of its best-selling drugs, will lose patent exclusivity by the end of the decade. With all that going on, is it time to give up on Pfizer?

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Focus on the long-term It's a bit premature to definitively say that Pfizer's blockbuster acquisition of Seagen was a waste of money. After all, the company is already benefiting from some of the products the buyout added to its portfolio. For instance, Padcev, a medicine for bladder cancer, is currently an important growth driver for Pfizer. In the first quarter, sales from this therapy totaled $591 million, up 39% year over year. There are also other clinical trial candidates that Pfizer inherited from Seagen that could make significant headway in the next few years.

Elsewhere, Pfizer has other attractive pipeline products that may also help it rebound. The company's work in the weight-loss market finally got a boost -- also thanks to an acquisition -- after several internally developed products went nowhere. Pfizer's GLP-1, MET-097i, showed strong results in phase 2 studies and could eventually become an important medicine in this category. The drugmaker boasts other candidates in areas such as immunology, vaccines, and more.

And some of its newer approvals, such as Abrysvo, a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine, are also performing well. Lastly, Pfizer is a solid dividend stock, with a juicy forward yield of 7.3%. All these factors make the stock attractive, and the CFO change shouldn't alter its prospects much. Pfizer may not bounce back immediately, but the stock could eventually do so as it advances through clinical and regulatory milestones over the next five years. That's why its shares are still a buy.

Is Alphabet's (GOOG 2.19%) (GOOGL 1.73%) run finally over? The company's shares had been performing very well, but over the past month, Alphabet has lost momentum, with its stock price declining 13%. There are several factors behind Alphabet's recent dip, but the company's prospects remain intact, making it an excellent stock to buy right now. Here's why.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The spending is justified Alphabet has recently lost some key employees, including John Jumper, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) expert and Nobel laureate, who left the company to join Anthropic. On top of that, investors are increasingly worried about Alphabet's AI-related spending. The company recently announced an $80 billion equity capital raise to fund its AI ambitions. The tech leader expects capex spending -- which should be in the $180 billion to $190 billion range this year -- to rise significantly in 2027.

If Alphabet's spending doesn't pay off, we could see decreased revenue growth as profits and margins compress. However, the data we have suggests that Alphabet is right to invest heavily to fuel its AI business. In the first quarter, the company's revenue from its cloud segment, Google Cloud, was about $20 billion, up 63% year over year. It grew much faster than the rest of the business. Alphabet's total revenue came in at $109.9 billion, 22% higher than the year-ago period. Google Cloud's sales growth also accelerated significantly from the already impressive 48% it posted in Q4 2025.

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One of the key drivers of this performance was Alphabet's AI business. The company reported that sales from products built on its generative AI models grew by almost 800% year over year in the first quarter. Further, Alphabet ended the period with a cloud backlog of $462 billion, which almost doubled from the previous quarter. This highlights sustained -- and even accelerating -- demand for its cloud services, especially its AI products, which are helping drive incredible growth. So, it makes sense that Alphabet continues to spend, as there may still be lucrative opportunities to tap into.

Multiple other growth drivers One of the great things about Alphabet's business is its relative diversification. Cloud computing and AI may be driving much of the growth right now, but the advertising business is also performing well. Alphabet has a nearly insurmountable lead, with the undisputed top search engine in the world, a strong brand name associated with it, and network effects that allow it to grow search queries and improve results, thanks to the massive data at its disposal.

That's to say nothing of the company's strong position in video sharing and streaming through YouTube, which also generates substantial ad sales and recurring subscription revenue. The best part is that the digital advertising market is still on a growth path and will continue contributing massively to Alphabet's results for a long time, and the streaming market should also expand over the next decade.

Beyond that, Alphabet has potential opportunities that aren't currently contributing to sales growth but might eventually do so, such as its work in the autonomous vehicle market through Waymo. All of these initiatives highlight Alphabet's attractive long-term prospects. And after the company's recent slump, it is a great opportunity to buy its shares on the dip and hold them for the long term.

Despite strong outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin managed to hold steady above the $60,000 mark on Saturday. In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin rose by 1.44 percent, trading around $60,260. Its daily trading volume reached $30.16 billion, while its market capitalization stood at $1.21 trillion. Controlling 58.1 percent of the total crypto market, Bitcoin continued to set the pace for the broader industry even amid ongoing selling pressure.

Weekly outflows from ETFs accelerateUS spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a staggering $1.79 billion net outflow last week. This figure ranks as one of the largest weekly withdrawals since these products launched in January 2024. The recent movement has also pushed the total 2026 US spot Bitcoin ETF flow back into negative territory.

These outflows impacted major issuers, including BlackRock’s IBIT fund. IBIT had earlier ranked among 2024’s fastest-growing ETFs thanks to robust inflows from institutional investors. As one of the world’s largest asset management companies, BlackRock brings significant influence to the global ETF market.

Analysts at Glassnode note that this current wave marks one of the lengthiest periods of outflow since spot Bitcoin ETFs began trading, explaining that most investors are now opting to reduce risk rather than buying more at lower levels.

Bloomberg data shows that about $4.5 billion has exited Bitcoin ETF products since the start of the year. This trend points to the scale of institutional selling pressure throughout 2026.

IndicatorDataBitcoin price$60,26024-hour changeUp 1.44%Weekly ETF net flow-$1.79 billion2026 total ETF outflowApproximately $4.5 billionUnderlying market weakness persistsLosses in Bitcoin ETFs have occurred against a backdrop of persistent weakness in the overall crypto market. Since the severe sell-off that began in October, digital assets have struggled to recover. The total market capitalization of all crypto assets has dropped to roughly $2 trillion, a steep fall from its pre-correction peak of over $4 trillion.

A slowdown in investor activity and a waning of institutional interest have made recovery even more difficult. Capital that might have flowed into the crypto sector instead moved toward artificial intelligence-oriented investments and prediction market platforms. This shift redirected funds that could have supported digital asset valuations.

Early investors see gains erasedThe latest wave of selling has hit those who entered Bitcoin ETFs during stronger periods particularly hard. According to Bespoke Investment Group, early investors were up nearly 30 percent by mid-2025. However, Bitcoin’s extended decline has wiped out much of those gains, leaving the average investor facing a loss approaching 40 percent.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have emerged as a major channel of institutional demand since their approval. High-value outflows from these products may signal weakening professional investor confidence, which could create additional downside pressure on prices.

Still, ETF flows represent just one aspect of the market. Bitcoin has previously rebounded after periods of heavy institutional selling, especially when overall risk appetite improved or new sources of demand appeared.

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.

XRP ETF Inflows Continued in JuneData shows that spot XRP ETFs added $46.5 million in assets this month, bringing the cumulative net inflow to $1.43 billion. These funds have had only one month of outflows since their launch in November last year.

Bitwise’s XRP ETF holds $293 million in assets, while the ETFs from Franklin, Canary, and 21Shares manage $235 million, $234 million, and $112 million, respectively.

The ongoing XRP ETF inflows are a sharp contrast to those tracking Bitcoin and Ethereum. Spot Bitcoin ETFs had over $4.06 billion in outflows this month, bringing the net outflows since January to $5.6 billion.

Similarly, Ethereum ETFs have shed over $471 million in outflows this month, lower than the $540 million they lost last month.

XRP ETF inflows rose in the same week in which Ripple announced that RLUSD, its stablecoin, will now be available in Japan following the approval by the main financial regulator. This approval will likely help it become an alternative to USDC and USDT. 

Recent data, however, shows that RLUSD has lost momentum as the supply has dropped to $1.57 billion from the year-to-date high of $1.8 billion. RLUSD has become one of the most important use cases for the XRP Ledger network. 

Another major news came from Europe, where Ripple secured a preliminary Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license in Luxembourg. This is a major milestone as it paves the way for the full rollout of Ripple Payments across the Euro area and MiCA compliance.

XRP Price is Hanging on a Thread Above $1The weekly chart shows that the Ripple price has slumped in the past few months, mirroring the performance of most cryptocurrencies. It dropped from a high of $3.6690 in July to the current $1.06. 

The token has slumped below the Major S&R pivot point of the Murrey Math Lines tool. It has remained below the 50-week and 100-week Exponential Moving Averages (EMA). 

XRP has settled along the 78.6% Fibonacci Retracement level. Therefore, there is a risk that the token may drop further in the near term, potentially to the Strong, Pivot, Reverse level of the Murrey Math Lines at $0.7813. This view will be confirmed if it drops below the supply of $1.

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US spot Chainlink ($LINK) ETFs have recorded their first week of net outflows since the products launched, snapping a streak that lasted more than 200 consecutive trading days. The figure, roughly $220,000 in negative weekly flows, is modest in absolute terms, but the symbolic significance is hard to dismiss.

A Historic Streak Comes to an End Grayscale launched the first US spot Chainlink ETF, GLNK, on NYSE Arca on December 2, 2025. The ETF attracted $37 million in first-day inflows, and LINK rebounded more than 7% as investors responded to renewed institutional attention. From that point forward, the LINK spot ETF complex went on an almost unbroken run of positive flows.

Analyst data shows the outflow ended 203 days without a negative daily reading. The turning point came on June 22, when data shared by Arca showed the LINK spot ETF complex posting a daily net outflow of approximately $490,920. That reduced cumulative net inflows from about $123.82 million to $123.33 million, while total net assets fell to roughly $100.88 million, compared with more than $107 million one week earlier.

Institutional interest appears to be wavering, as evidenced by the first net capital outflow from LINK spot ETFs after a record-breaking streak of entries that lasted over half a year. LINK ETFs had been among the best-performing altcoin ETFs, though only Avalanche (AVAX) spot ETFs are yet to see outflows since their own debut.

Blip or Broader Shift? There are early signs the outflow may be temporary. According to SoSoValue data, Chainlink spot ETFs recorded net inflows of approximately $137,710 on the Tuesday following the outflow session. Although the inflow remains relatively small, it could signal improving investor sentiment if the trend continues over the coming days.

The broader price picture for $LINK remains under pressure. The asset has logged a year-to-date loss of nearly 45%, with price testing levels not seen with this much downside pressure in quite some time. LINK is currently trading below all its major moving averages, including the critical 200-day SMA near the $10.15 mark.

On the fundamental side, @Chainlink continues to expand its real-world footprint. The protocol announced the formation of a new working group involving multinational organizations across Europe and South Korea, collectively representing more than $10 trillion in assets under management, focused on modernizing foreign exchange infrastructure and evaluating a shift from traditional T+2 settlement to real-time T+0 settlement. Whether that kind of adoption news is enough to restore positive ETF flow momentum remains the key question heading into July.

Sources:
Brave New Coin: Chainlink Price Analysis, LINK Spot ETF Ends 203-Day Inflow Streak
Invezz: Can LINK Price Reclaim $8 as Chainlink Targets Real-Time FX Settlement?
FXStreet: Chainlink Price Forecast, FX Partnership Fails to Lift Sentiment