Synthetix founder: sUSD is expected to fully return to its anchor at the end of the month
PANews reported on August 9th that Synthetix founder Kain posted on the X platform: "(The price) is coming back soon. This period has been difficult, but I am optimistic that it will fully return to the anchor by the end of the month, when the mainnet pre-deposit activity will be launched, and finally get us back on track." sUSD previously de-anchored due to Synthetix's introduction of a shared debt pool mechanism in SIP-420, falling to as low as $0.73.
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SNX price looks set for a deeper correction as technicals remain bearish for the asset, while its algorithmic stablecoin sUSD fails to maintain its peg to the U.S. dollar.
Summary
SNX price is down 10% over the past 7 days. Synthetix’s sUSD stablecoin lost its peg to the U.S. dollar. Price action has been confined within a descending parallel channel. According to data from crypto.news, Synthetix (SNX) was trading at $0.66, down 9.5% over the last 7 days and 70% under its year-to-date high.
The main reason why SNX has been in a downtrend is the ongoing crisis in its sUSD stablecoin.
The stablecoin has failed to maintain its peg to the U.S. dollar ever since it introduced changes to how sUSD is issued and backed under an improvement proposal in April 2025.
The stablecoin’s price fell as low as $0.73 shortly following the move. While it managed to recover to $0.97 over the next two months, the stablecoin’s price faced another major drop to $0.841 in July. At press time, sUSD was trading at $0.987, still short of its intended $1 peg.
sUSD’s failure to maintain its peg reflects a critical protocol weakness, which could continue to weigh on investor sentiment and dampen confidence in the broader Synthetix ecosystem.
Data from CoinGlass shows that open interest for SNX has dropped by 1% to $19.6 million, while the long/short ratio has fallen below 1. It reveals that a growing number of traders are positioned bearishly on SNX in the short term.
SNX price analysis SNX had been trading within a descending parallel channel for the past week on the 4-hour chart. A descending parallel channel is formed when an asset’s price forms lower highs and lower lows. This is considered a solid sign of bearish continuation.
SNX price has formed a descending parallel channel on the 4-hour chart — Sep. 5 | Source: crypto.news When adding the Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator to the mix, it had also turned downward. As such, it is safe to say the momentum for now would most likely be bearish.
On top of this, the RSI was at 45, which places it within neutral-to-weak territory, which is another confirmation that the price may continue heading downwards from current levels.
Considering the above, SNX is likely to target the $0.60 support level, which marks a 10% drop from the current price level.
If this support fails to hold, it could open the door to further losses, with a potential retest of its August low of $0.54 possible.
Conversely, a breakout above the upper boundary of the descending channel would invalidate the bearish setup and could signal the beginning of a short-term trend reversal.
ThunderCore is one of the latest projects that is trying to solve the blockchain trilemma. That constant struggle between Decentralization, Scalability and Security.
The project is the culmination of years of scientific research. It was only launched recently and has already started achieving interesting results. Trading volumes in the Native Thunder Token has also picked up at a rapid pace.
However, can the project really achieve these ends?
In this ThunderCore review I will attempt to answer that. I will also analyse the long term use cases and adoption potential of the Thunder Tokens.
ThunderCore SolutionAs mentioned, the blockchain Trilemma is a pertinent one. Quite simply, it is the notion that any blockchain technology is only able to achieve two of the three following traits at the same time:
DecentralizationScalabilitySecurityThe most famous proponent of this idea is Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin. However, the ThunderCore protocol offers an elegant solution to the problem and believes it has found a way to deliver all three traits at the same time.
It will solve the problem by combining a standard blockchain, which they are calling the “slow chain” and such as you would find on Bitcoin, Ethereum or any other Proof-of-Work chain, with another chain they are calling the “fast path.”
How the Accelerator Network will work
The fast path is a Proof-of-Stake chain that is secured by a committee of 300 stakeholders and is coordinated by the central authority called the “Accelerator.” The Accelerator exists to linearize transactions and data on the fast chain and was created as a simple way to accomplish this task, which is quite difficult to do in a decentralized fashion.
By combining the slow chain and fast path in this manner ThunderCore achieves the following blockchain behavior:
When the network is working properly i.e. not under attack or compromised, it supports instant confirmations and high throughput.If the network does come under attack the blockchain security is maintained as long as the slow chain remains secure and as long as a majority of the stakeholders remain honest. This is true even if the Accelerator is corrupted and acting maliciously.ThunderCore was built and developed with the application developer community in mind. Not only was it built around developer needs, but it also collects data, feedback, and insights on how the platform is being used by developers to create decentralized applications.
Daily Active Users of top 3 dApp platforms. Image via Official Blog
This data is then used to ensure the platform best supports the developer community. One of these supports is that Ethereum dApps can be ported to ThunderCore in under five minutes.
ThunderCore Roadmap and GrowthThe ThunderCore development team spent six months analyzing the data from their testnet and cleaning up bugs in the code before launching a Pre-Release mainnet on February 28, 2019. The Pre-Release Mainnet was only different from a Public Mainnet in that TT tokens could not be staked on the Pre-Release Mainnet.
The number of addresses and transactions seen on the Pre-Release Mainnet was significant, with the total number of addresses growing to more than 40,000 by the end of April 2019, and the number of transactions climbing to nearly 200,000.
On May 14, 2019, the ThunderCore team announced the launch of the official mainnet, which came following the ICO on May 9. Because of the full compatibility ThunderCore has with the Ethereum Virtual Machine dApps can be quickly and easily migrated to the mainnet.
ThunderCore's Extended Roadmap. Image via Official Blog
Now that the mainnet has officially launched the ThunderCore development team will focus on three key areas of the protocol:
Research and Design of the ProtocolBlockchain ImplementationDeveloper and User EnhancementsThe first area of focus has mostly been completed at this time, with the mainnet launch and the implementation of the Proof-of-Stake incentives. This is bringing about large-scale consensus and committee elections.
The third area of focus is also nearly complete for the time being, with the team looking to add portal enhancements for developers. This is expected to be completed sometime in the third quarter of 2019.
The largest changes in the second half of 2019 will be made in the area of Blockchain Implementation. This will see the next release of ThunderCore called Haikili released sometime in the fourth quarter of 2019, and will bring developer funded gas and cross chain assets to ThunderCore.
The final scheduled upgrades on the roadmap are increased privacy support and the ThunderCore Raijin release, which will add additional blockchains to the protocol as fallback measures. These changes aren’t expected until the second quarter of 2021.
The ThunderCore TeamThe ThunderCore team is global, but the majority of the more than 60 team members are located in San Francisco, CA. The core team of ThunderCore consists of highly dedicated blockchain professionals, all of whom have solid experience in blockchain, networking, security, software development and other areas of computer science.
The primary leaders of the team are CEO Chris Wang, co-founder Elaine Shi and co-founder Rafael Pass.
Chris Wang, the CEO of ThunderCore, received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon when he was just 22 years old. He went on to become a co-founder of the gaming company Playdom, which was acquired by Disney in 2010 for $532 million, although it was later shut down.
Elaine Shi is the Chief Scientist at ThunderCore and is one of the co-founders of the project. She also received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon, and in addition to co-founding ThunderCore, she is also a co-founder of the Initiative for Cryptocurrency and Contracts (IC3).
ThunderCore "Core" Team members
She is extremely experienced in the blockchain space and can be considered a pioneer as she was the first person to write an academic paper concerning Bitcoin and decentralized smart contracts. She has received numerous awards for her work and was the author of the Thunderella protocol, which became the basis for the ThunderCore protocol.
The other co-founder of ThunderCore is Rafael Pass, who received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology. He also received an additional Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT, and he currently works as a professor at Cornell University.
Pass is considered to be an expert on cryptographic protocols, consensus, and game theory. He was also a co-founder of IC3 alongside Professor Shi, and he helped create the highly scalable ANONIZE computation protocol implemented in the Brave browser with Abhi Shelat.
ThunderCore PartnershipsI normally don’t mention partnerships because in many cases in the blockchain space partnerships are not very meaningful, often created between two blockchain companies neither of which have a viable product. This is not true in the case of ThunderCore and its partners, all of which are already leaders in the blockchain space with solid products.
The first of these partnerships is with TrustWallet, the official cryptocurrency wallet of the Binance Exchange, which now supports the TT token as well. The wallet will also give users access to all the dApps built on the ThunderCore platform.
TrustWallet & Thunder Token. Image via ThunderCore
A second critical partnership has been formed with BlockVigil, who will give ThunderCore advanced integration capability by delivering a transparent API layer to users.
In order to ensure dApp vulnerabilities and protect developers and users, a partnership with Silicon Valley-based blockchain security firm AnChain.ai was formed. The technology developed by AnChain.ai will help determine if the dApps on the ThunderCore platform are safe to interact with.
Last, but not least, is the partnership formed with Liquidity Network, who will be launching their NOCUST payment hub on ThunderCore’s blockchain.
When it comes to increasing adoption and awareness of a cryptocurrency, the community behind said project can be powerful. Hence, I decided to get a better look at the size and engagement of community behind the ThunderCore project.
Firstly, it is important to point out that this project really is global in scope. They have three Telegram channels to support three of their most popular languages.
In the English Telegram channel, they have over 4,900 members. Their Korean channel is on the lighter side with 445 members but they have over 21,000 members in their Chinese channel!
I decided to jump into their English channel to get a better sense of the discussion that was taking place there.
Some of the Discussions in English Telegram
As you can see, the Admins are being quite helpful with those new to the channel and community. There was a bit of price banter and memes that were shared amoung the community but this is normal for most crypto telegram channels.
Taking a look at some other social channels, ThunderCore has a pretty active Twitter account that has just below 10k followers. This is less than we have seen on other official project accounts.
Finally, they also have a Reddit, Discord and official blog. The latter is perhaps one of the best ways to get important updates from the ThunderCore team.
The TT TokenThe TT Token is an ERC-20 token for the ThunderCore blockchain. It acts as a store of value and provides the gas for transaction fees on the blockchain and to underwrite the smart contracts that are created on the ThunderCore blockchain.
It will also be used to build and monetize dApps on ThunderCore. Finally, it can be staked in order to become one of the committee stakeholders or to become the Accelerator and receive incentives for securing the network and processing transactions.
ThunderCore first raised $50 million in private equity during three rounds of private investment. On May 9, 2019, they held an IEO on Huobi Prime Lite, raising $500,000 and selling tokens at $0.015 each.
Thunder Token Price History since IEO. Image via CMC
Given the very short time the token has been in existence its notable that it is currently in the 122 position on CoinMarketCap with a market capitalization of just over $46.5 million.
After its release on May 10, 2019, the TT token immediately jumped higher, hitting its all-time high of $0.02818 on its first day of trading. It dropped quickly and spent the next several weeks trading between the $0.02 and $0.025 level.
By the end of June, it dipped below the $0.02 level however and hit its all-time low of $0.013012 on June 27, 2019. At the time of writing (July 1, 2019) the token is trading at $0.016044.
Buying & Storing Thunder TokensGiven that the Thunder Token was issued in an IEO that took place on the Huobi Exchange, (now HTX), it only makes sense that this would have the most trading volume. However, there is reasonable amounts of volume on exchanges such as Hotbit and Upbit.
What was surprising to me was that the token is not yet listed on Binance. TrustWallet is owned by Binance and they have already started offering support Thunder Token so it looks like a natural fit.
Irrespective of this though, there appears to be decent trading turnover for the Thunder Tokens on the exchanges where they are listed. This means that liquidity should not be an issue when executing large block orders.
Register at HTX and Buy TT Tokens
When you have bought your Thunder Token then you will want to take them off of the exchanges. This is no doubt one of the most prudent things to do given the numerous examples of large exchange hacks.
Given that ThunderCore was built on top of the Ethereum Blockchain, you can store the tokens in any ERC20 compatible wallet. However, you are perhaps best suited to use a secure offline alternative like a hardware wallet.
Having said this, the ThunderCore team is working with other wallet developers to add support for Thunder Token.
ConclusionThe ThunderCore project is an interesting take on smart contracts and dApp creation with a goal of improving blockchain technology across the board. The team behind the project is an impressive one, and the adherence to their own timeline is notable. Now that the public mainnet has launched we can see how well ThunderCore stacks up against its competitors.
The first 10 weeks saw ThunderCore attract 10,000 active users to its platform. The speed of user acquisition was far faster than similar platforms, although that might be due to the maturing dApp communities. We will have to wait and see if growth continues at that pace.
One concern for the project comes in connection with their recent IEO. The price of that IEO was far below the price at the private funding rounds, which were $0.01 in the first round, $0.02 in the second round, and $0.10 in the final round of private funding.
It’s an unwritten rule that the large investors who buy in these private funding rounds are supposed to get the best price for tokens, but ThunderCore has undercut private investors by 85% in their public sale. That could create problems long term, especially if the project intends on securing additional funding.
Business concerns aside, the technical team is a strong one, and they seem to have a good grasp on what they need to do to accomplish their goal of scalability, security, and decentralization in a blockchain.
Updated Jun 15, 2026, 8:13 a.m. Published Jun 15, 2026, 7:52 a.m.
2 min read
Cathie Wood's Ark Invest bought $500 million worth of SpaceX stock. (CoinDesk archives)Summary
ARK Invest built a stake of nearly 3.3 million SpaceX shares worth more than $500 million on the day of the company’s record-setting IPO.Cathie Wood’s firm sold more than $325 million of stock across at least 13 companies in the days around the listing.ARK’s shift of risk capital from crypto toward high-growth names like SpaceX, alongside its $2.5 trillion base-case valuation target for the company by 2030, underscores how institutional investors are favoring AI and space IPOs over digital assets in the near term.ARK Invest bought nearly 3.3 million shares of SpaceX (SPCX) as Elon Musk's company went public in the largest IPO ever on Friday, building a stake worth more than $500 million by the end of the day.
The shares, priced at $135 for the sale, closed at $160.95, rising more than 19.2% on their first day.
The Cathie Wood-owned firm liquidated almost $280 million of stock in the week before the listing, then sold another roughly 948,000 shares across 13 companies worth at least $48 million on Friday, including Advanced Micro Devices, Roku and Baidu, according to daily emailed statements over the period.
The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) did the bulk of the buying, ending the day with SpaceX at 3.28% of its portfolio.
A first-day pop of almost 20% on the largest IPO in history signals institutions are paying up for high-beta innovation risk again. While bitcoin is the highest-beta asset in the group, the hottest trade in the market is now a wave of AI and space listings, with OpenAI and Anthropic also filing to go public.
There is a finite amount of risk capital, and when even a bitcoin bull like Wood is rotating toward it rather than adding to crypto, it's a sign that funds are likely to continue being sucked out of the crypto markets in the near term.
An ARK model targets a $2.5 trillion enterprise value for SpaceX in 2030, with a bull case near $3.1 trillion, built off the company's $350 billion private valuation in 2024.
ARK also runs a spot bitcoin ETF, and Wood has been among the most vocal institutional bitcoin bulls, with long-term price targets running into seven figures.
PANews reported on June 15th that, according to CoinDesk, Cathie Wood's Ark Invest purchased nearly 3.3 million shares of SpaceX on its first day of trading, worth over $500 million. The stock closed at $160.95, a 19.2% increase from the IPO price of $135. Ark sold nearly $280 million worth of other company stock in the week leading up to the IPO, and then sold approximately 948,000 shares on the first day, involving 13 companies including AMD, Roku, and Baidu. The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) was the primary buyer, with SpaceX accounting for 3.28% of its portfolio.
Ark projects SpaceX's enterprise value at $2.5 trillion by 2030, and approximately $3.1 trillion in an optimistic scenario. Ark also operates a spot Bitcoin ETF, and Wood has consistently been one of the most bullish institutional investors on Bitcoin. Analysts point out that with limited risk capital, when Bitcoin bulls like Wood shift towards stocks rather than increasing their crypto holdings, it indicates that funds may continue to flow out of the crypto market in the short term.
Key Highlights ARK Invest acquired 3.29 million SpaceX shares totaling approximately $529.7 million during the company’s trading debut SpaceX stock rallied 19% on its first trading day, propelling Elon Musk’s wealth beyond the $1 trillion threshold ARK divested holdings in AMD, Tesla, Roku, Baidu, and Cloudflare during portfolio restructuring ARK Innovation ETF has declined 2.85% year-to-date compared to the S&P 500’s 8.56% gain Cathie Wood forecasts interest rate reductions and positions AI as a deflationary force On June 12, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest executed one of its most substantial investment maneuvers in recent history, acquiring over $529 million in SpaceX stock during its inaugural public trading session.
The ARK family of funds secured 3,291,184 shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp at a final price of $160.95 per share. The aerospace company’s stock experienced a 19% surge on its debut, contributing to Elon Musk’s milestone achievement of surpassing $1 trillion in personal wealth.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
This wasn’t Wood’s initial investment in SpaceX. ARK originally acquired shares in the final months of 2023, with SpaceX eventually becoming the dominant position in the firm’s approximately $1 billion private venture portfolio prior to going public.
Elon Musk established SpaceX in 2002 with the vision of developing reusable rocket technology. Currently, the company’s sole revenue-generating segment is Starlink, its satellite-based internet service. Financial disclosures in the company’s prospectus reveal an accumulated deficit totaling $41.3 billion through March 31.
Market observers have expressed reservations about the IPO’s framework. Technical analyst James DePorre highlighted the 30% retail investor allocation—significantly exceeding the standard 5-10% range—suggesting this could trigger downward pressure as initial investors cash out their gains.
ARK Reduces Technology Holdings Simultaneously with its SpaceX acquisition, ARK was liquidating other positions. The investment firm disposed of 80,536 Advanced Micro Devices shares valued at $39.3 million across its various ETF products. Additional sales included positions in Tesla, Roku, Baidu, and Cloudflare.
The Tesla divestment amounted to $15.9 million, while Roku shares totaled $11.8 million, Baidu reached $7.8 million, and Cloudflare represented $2.5 million. ARK additionally liquidated $2.6 million in Strata Critical Medical stock.
These transactions signal a strategic reallocation from traditional technology investments toward the space industry sector.
ARK’s Current Track Record ARK’s primary investment vehicle, the Innovation ETF, has experienced challenges throughout the current year. The fund has declined 2.85% in 2026, contrasting sharply with the S&P 500’s 8.56% appreciation during the identical timeframe.
Looking at a five-year period ending June 12, the ARK Innovation ETF generated an annualized loss of -8.06%. By comparison, the S&P 500 delivered 11.84% annual returns during this same stretch, based on Morningstar data.
Between 2014 and 2024, the fund eliminated $7 billion in investor capital, securing its position as the third-largest wealth destroyer among both mutual funds and ETFs, according to Morningstar’s comprehensive analysis.
Investor withdrawals from the ARK Innovation ETF totaled approximately $294.27 million during the twelve-month period concluding June 11, based on data from ETF analytics provider VettaFi.
Morningstar analyst Bella Albrecht identified two ARK funds among the poorest-performing ETFs during the first quarter of 2026.
Despite these headwinds, Wood maintains an optimistic economic outlook. She has characterized AI as a “great acceleration,” contending that AI training expenses are plummeting 75% annually, while inference costs are collapsing between 85% and 98% each year.
She remains attentive to Federal Reserve policy decisions. On June 5, Wood stated her expectation that incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will implement rate cuts as productivity advances and inflationary pressures subside.
Key Highlights ARKK ETF divested 665,136 Roku shares valued at $95.5 million on June 15 AMD position reduced by 141,408 shares across three ARK funds totaling $72.3 million Rocket Lab holdings decreased by 171,176 shares representing $17.5 million Additional reductions made in Tesla, Amazon, Palantir, and other portfolio holdings These transactions reflect an ongoing trend of position downsizing in these companies Cathie Wood’s investment management firm ARK Invest executed substantial portfolio reductions on Monday, June 15, 2026. The transactions were revealed through ARK’s routine daily disclosure filings and impacted several exchange-traded funds under management.
The most significant divestment involved Roku. ARK disposed of 665,136 shares via its flagship ARKK ETF, representing a transaction value of $95,553,437. This wasn’t an isolated decision. The firm had previously shed 98,835 Roku shares on the preceding Friday, indicating a strategic downsizing of this holding.
Roku, Inc., ROKU
AMD Holdings Reduced Across Multiple ARK Funds Advanced Micro Devices represented the second-largest divestment of the day. The firm liquidated 141,408 shares distributed among ARKK, ARKQ, and ARKX funds, amounting to $72,340,090. This transaction followed another sale of 80,536 AMD shares during the prior week.
Combined, the Roku and AMD liquidations accounted for over $167 million in transactions within a single session.
Rocket Lab experienced the next major reduction. ARK decreased its position by 171,176 shares across ARKQ and ARKX portfolios, with a combined value of $17,526,710. The firm had similarly sold 50,746 Rocket Lab shares the previous Friday.
Tesla wasn’t spared from the selling pressure. ARK liquidated 44,488 shares with a market value of $18,081,257. This continues a pattern of Tesla position reductions the investment firm has executed over recent months.
Amazon experienced a reduction of 46,783 shares from the ARKK ETF, valued at $11,160,084. Meanwhile, 10X Genomics saw 53,496 shares sold, totaling $15,428,448.
Additional Portfolio Adjustments Moving down the transaction list, ARK divested 66,259 Palantir shares for $8,480,489 and unloaded 166,427 Veracyte shares worth $7,876,989.
CoreWeave experienced a sale of 51,498 shares valued at $5,178,123. Iridium Communications had a more modest reduction of 3,168 shares, representing $149,909.
The divestments spanned ARK’s ARKK, ARKQ, and ARKX portfolios. This diversified approach indicates the portfolio adjustment was comprehensive rather than sector-specific.
ARK Invest hasn’t issued a public statement explaining the rationale behind these specific transactions. While the firm maintains transparency by publishing daily trade activity, detailed explanations for individual moves aren’t always provided.
The magnitude of Monday’s trading activity is noteworthy. Liquidating more than $95 million of a single equity in one session represents an unusually large move, even for an actively managed ETF of ARK’s size.
Roku shares have faced headwinds recently as the company’s advertising revenue stream encounters challenging market dynamics. AMD has experienced volatility as market participants evaluate artificial intelligence chip opportunities against broader economic uncertainties.
Investors who monitor ARK’s portfolio moves as a barometer for sentiment toward growth-oriented and technology stocks will scrutinize these transactions carefully.
Complete details of all June 15 transactions remain accessible to the public through ARK’s daily transparency reports published on the firm’s official website.
ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, poured in more than $18 million into the Coinbase stock. Thereafter, the COIN share price gained in the pre-market trading session today despite a notable dip on Wednesday.
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Makes Bullish Trade On Coinbase Stock Cathie Wood seems to have bought the dip in Coinbase stock, which closed $164.92, down by 2.57% on June 17. For context, ARK Invest purchased $18.4 million worth of COIN shares through three funds.
ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) made the largest addition by buying 82,556 shares of Coinbase worth $13.61 million at close, per a recent disclosure. Meanwhile, ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) bought 20,268 shares of Coinbase worth around $3.34 million.
Coinbase stock price chart. Source: Yahoo! Finance Further, ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) raked in additional 8,975 COIN shares valued at $1.48 million. With this, the Cathie Wood-led firm added a total of 111,799 shares of Coinbase.
After ARK Invest’s disclosure, the COIN price today surged 2.30% to $168.70 in the pre-market trading session on Thursday, June 18.
Meanwhile, Coinbase’s recent System Update event has kept Wall Street analysts guessing about the company. Despite the latest product launches, Barclays reiterated its underweight stance on the Coinbase stock and kept its price target for Barclays at $107.
Others were more positive. Benchmark maintained its ‘buy’ rating and $270 price target. It stated that Coinbase is becoming more than just a crypto brokerage and could attract users and institutions from other industries to its platform.
In addition, Bernstein retained its buy rating and held onto its Street high price target of $330. Meanwhile, Cantor Fitzgerald also doubled down on its buy rating on COIN stock and $250 price target. For this target, it spotlighted the on-going product development and expansion efforts as important growth drivers.
Other Trades By ARK Invest In Crypto & AI Sector Along with ARK’s new acquisition of Coinbase, Cathie Wood’s team made other major stock movements. The firm sold 275,572 shares of Robinhood Markets worth $28.5 million via ARKK, during a bullish session for the stock.
On Wednesday, Robinhood stock rallied 8.78% to close at $105.20, which could suggest a profit taking move on the part of ARK. Meanwhile, ARKK made an investment in Block Inc. for 236,759 shares for $17.24 million.
Moreover, the Coinbase stock acquisition comes on the heels of another big ARK investment. Recently, Cathie Wood bought over 3.29 million shares of SpaceX stock during the June 12 IPO across four ETFs. Its stake has surged in value from around $529.7 million to over $631 million within days.
Quick Summary Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest acquired $18.4 million worth of Coinbase stock across multiple ETFs on June 17 The investment firm dumped approximately $29 million in Robinhood shares, despite the stock remaining a top-five ARKK position ARK divested $33 million in Roku stock while adding $46 million in pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly Robinhood surged 8.78% on Wednesday while Coinbase declined 2.57% The Coinbase purchase follows the company’s rollout of tokenized stock trading and AI-driven advisory tools Cathie Wood’s investment management firm, ARK Invest, executed a flurry of significant portfolio adjustments on Wednesday, June 17, increasing exposure to Coinbase and Eli Lilly while reducing holdings in Robinhood and Roku.
The firm acquired 111,799 shares of Coinbase distributed among its ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF exchange-traded funds, representing approximately $18.4 million in value. The cryptocurrency exchange’s stock nevertheless declined 2.57% to close at $164.92. Coinbase shares have shed nearly 13% over the trailing 30-day period.
Coinbase Global, Inc., COIN
ARK additionally purchased 236,759 shares of Block Inc. via the ARKK ETF, amounting to approximately $17.2 million. Block’s stock similarly finished in negative territory, sliding 2.46% to $72.84.
Portfolio Trimming: Robinhood and Roku Positions Reduced On the divestment front, ARK disposed of 275,572 Robinhood shares via its ARKK fund, representing roughly $26.7 million. This transaction follows a prior sale of 167,741 Robinhood shares the preceding Thursday, indicating a deliberate downsizing of the position.
Despite ARK’s selling activity, Robinhood delivered strong performance on Wednesday, surging 8.78% to close at $105.20. The trading platform continues to occupy the fourth-largest position in ARKK’s portfolio at 4.87%, valued at $339.6 million.
ARK simultaneously divested 239,267 shares of Roku distributed across ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF, totaling approximately $33 million. This followed more substantial Roku liquidations earlier in the week, including a 665,136-share sale on Monday.
Major Pharmaceutical Investment in Eli Lilly The day’s most substantial acquisition involved the pharmaceutical sector. ARK purchased 41,138 shares of Eli Lilly distributed between its ARKK and ARKG ETFs, deploying roughly $46.2 million. Eli Lilly shares declined 0.94% on Wednesday, closing at $1,112.
Coinbase now ranks as ARKK’s eighth-largest holding, constituting 3.71% of the fund’s assets at $258.6 million.
The timing of ARK’s Coinbase purchases came just one day after the cryptocurrency platform unveiled multiple product innovations. On Tuesday, Coinbase announced plans to enable users to purchase, trade, and maintain tokenized representations of U.S. equities. The company simultaneously rolled out a platform enhancement incorporating an AI-driven financial advisor and consolidated global liquidity spanning its spot cryptocurrency and derivatives operations.
Benchmark Equity Research maintained its Buy recommendation on Coinbase following these developments, noting the new offerings demonstrate the company’s evolution beyond pure cryptocurrency trading toward comprehensive financial infrastructure.
Robinhood also generated headlines Tuesday with an announcement of workforce reduction affecting 10% of full-time employees. Management characterized the restructuring as part of an initiative to establish a more streamlined operational framework.
Bernstein analysts indicated earlier this week that Robinhood stands to gain from increased prediction market engagement connected to the World Cup, with daily transaction volume escalating from $2.2 billion on June 11 to $4.8 billion on June 12.
ARK executed additional smaller transactions, including purchases of Alamar Biosciences and Generate Biomedicines shares, while reducing positions in Strata Critical Medical and Twist Bioscience.
Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) stock price closed trading at $105 on June 17, its highest level in almost six months, prompting Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest to book profits with a sale of 275,571 shares valued at $28.5 million.
ARK’s sale did not dent the HOOD stock price rally or dent the sentiment, with Bernstein and Deutsche Bank reiterating a “buy rating” on the shares after the recent restructuring plan that saw Robinhood reduce its workforce by 10%.
HOOD shares were up by 2.38% in pre-market trading on June 18, as buy-side pressure continues to rise.
HOOD Stock Defies Profit-Taking as Price Approaches 2026 Highs Robinhood shares created one of their biggest daily candles on June 17 as they opened trading at $95 and soared to a daily high of $110 before closing at $105.
HOOD Stock (Source: Yahoo Finance) The rise to $110 for the first time since January 23, 2026, occurred despite reports that ARK Invest sold 275,572 shares barely a week after it sold another 167,741 HOOD shares on June 11.
The two sales appear to be ARK Invest taking profits after the price of Robinhood shares increased by 38% in the last month, since May 18. Still, Wall Street is betting that the rise might continue.
On June 17, Bernstein and Deutsche Bank affirmed a “buy” rating for HOOD stock, with Bernstein predicting that the price will reach $130.
Robinhood’s Restructuring Plan is Fuelling The Rally Robinhood recently announced a $28 million restructuring plan that will be reflected in its Q3 2026 earnings, which are expected to come out in August 2026.
In this plan, the brokerage company will trim 10% of its workforce, with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev saying that the company is shifting away from being a “heavily-layered organization.”
“Robinhood’s business has never been stronger… Because our financial position is strong, we are making this change proactively,” Tenev said.
Since the announcement came out on June 16, HOOD stock price has surged from $94 to $105.
The stock’s rise also comes days after Bernstein gave a forecast on World Cup prediction markets, saying the segment will drive a 286% increase in Robinhood’s revenues in 2026 to $586 million.
The surge could lift HOOD’s Q3 earnings after Robinhood’s Q2 earnings missed Wall Street estimates, with revenues coming in at $1.07 billion, below the expected $1.14 billion.
HOOD Stock Prediction: Key Levels to Watch The 200-day SMA level of $102 is the first key level to watch in HOOD stock after the price rose above it on June 17.
A move past the $200-day SMA suggests that the long-term outlook is favoring bulls, but the stock needs to make three straight daily closes above it to confirm the continuation of the uptrend.
The 161.8% Fib level of $126 is the next resistance level to watch if bulls can flip the 200-day SMA into support.
The psychological support level lies at $100, and if HOOD drops below it, bears may retest the next support at the 61.8% Fib level of 87.
HOOD Stock Price (Source: TradingView) However, the RSI reading of 69 shows that the current momentum is favoring bulls, with the rising RSI line further confirming strong buy-side pressure.
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Key Highlights ARK Invest purchased 54,815 shares of Tesla valued at approximately $21.9 million on Thursday By June 12, ARK’s SpaceX holdings reached approximately 3.29 million shares following the company’s IPO SpaceX shares declined 5% on Wednesday and an additional 3.6% on Thursday, settling at $185 after peaking at $225.64 ARK divested 721,279 Roku shares valued at approximately $99 million ARK acquired 223,690 Snowflake shares worth approximately $52.4 million Cathie Wood’s investment firm ARK Invest re-entered Tesla on Thursday following a previous week’s divestment. This strategic move followed closely on the heels of ARK’s significant investment in SpaceX during its initial public offering.
On June 18, ARK accumulated 54,815 Tesla shares distributed across two of its exchange-traded funds. The acquisition was divided between the ARK Innovation ETF and the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, representing approximately $21.9 million based on Tesla’s session close at $400.49.
Tesla, Inc., TSLA
Within ARK Innovation, Tesla maintains its position as the largest holding, accounting for 9.7% of total assets. In the ARK Next Generation Internet fund, it ranks as the second-largest position at 8.6%.
This Tesla acquisition followed ARK’s decision to reduce its stake during the preceding week. The earlier sale appeared designed to accommodate SpaceX, which launched its public offering on June 12.
SpaceX Holdings at ARK As of June 12’s close, ARK controlled approximately 3.29 million SpaceX shares distributed throughout multiple ETFs. Whether these shares were obtained via IPO allocation, secondary market transactions, or what acquisition price ARK secured remains undisclosed.
SpaceX experienced a robust debut following its $135 IPO pricing. The stock surged to an intraday peak of $225.64, representing a 67% increase. However, momentum reversed with a 5% decline on Wednesday followed by a 3.6% drop on Thursday, finishing at $185.
Brett Winton, ARK’s Chief Futurist, published analysis this week suggesting SpaceX could emerge as a competitive force in artificial intelligence by leveraging orbital server infrastructure to deliver more economical computing power than terrestrial competitors.
Wood has consistently characterized Tesla as transcending its electric vehicle identity. ARK’s investment thesis emphasizes autonomous taxi services, robotics applications, and energy storage solutions. The firm maintains a $2,600 price projection for Tesla shares by 2029.
Roku Divestment and Snowflake Expansion Roku emerged as the most actively traded security in ARK’s Thursday transactions. The firm liquidated 721,279 shares generating roughly $99 million in proceeds. This sale extended an ongoing trend of position reduction in Roku throughout recent trading sessions.
On the acquisition front, ARK also secured 223,690 Snowflake shares representing approximately $52.4 million in investment. This purchase demonstrates sustained conviction in the cloud-based data platform provider.
Within the biotechnology sector, ARK expanded positions in Eli Lilly, Generate Biomedicines, and Alamar Biosciences. Conversely, the firm reduced holdings in Strata Critical Medical, Twist Bioscience, and Baidu.
The trading activity illustrates ARK’s deliberate reallocation from Roku toward Tesla, SpaceX, and Snowflake.
SpaceX concluded its inaugural trading week beneath its intraday peak but maintained substantial gains above its IPO pricing. ARK’s stake positions it among the more significant institutional shareholders of the recently public aerospace company.
Jiang Zhuoer: This round of Bitcoin bear market may bottom out in Q4 2026, with a target range of $42,000 to $44,000.
BTC.TOP founder Jiang Zhuoer wrote in a post that Strategy’s modified net asset value (mNAV) has fallen to 0.72, near the 0.7 low hit in May 2022 during the last bear market. Citing recent market sentiment events including STRC’s depegging, he noted that mNAV is now in the bottom zone of this cycle. mNAV usually bottoms roughly six months before Bitcoin’s price. Using the "four-year cycle" and volatility decay model, Jiang projected that this Bitcoin bear market will likely bottom between October and December 2026, with a target price range of $42,000 to $44,000. He added that his recent medium-short term strategy remains focused on selling spot assets and holding short positions, and will switch to buying spot and going long once the expected bottom arrives.
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TLDR ARK Invest divested $26.65M worth of Robinhood stock following the company’s workforce reduction announcement that drove share prices higher Approximately $77M in Roku holdings were liquidated across ARK’s funds after Fox’s $22B buyout deal was announced at $160/share ARK purchased $46.18M in Eli Lilly stock during a price dip, capitalizing on the company’s 4E Therapeutics acquisition Coinbase saw $18.92M in fresh ARK investment as the platform expands into tokenized equities and AI-powered investment products ARK Innovation ETF maintains Tesla as its top allocation at 9.50%, while SpaceX has entered the fund’s top five positions On June 18, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest executed significant portfolio adjustments, offloading between $60 million and $77 million in Robinhood and Roku stock while simultaneously establishing positions in Eli Lilly, Coinbase, and additional growth-oriented companies.
The strategic repositioning occurred as both exited stocks experienced rally momentum tied to specific corporate developments, creating an opportune moment for ARK to realize profits.
Through its ARK Innovation ETF, the firm liquidated 275,572 Robinhood shares valued at approximately $26.65 million. This divestment followed Robinhood’s disclosure of plans to eliminate roughly 10% of its permanent staff—approximately 290 positions—as part of CEO Vlad Tenev’s efficiency initiative. The restructuring announcement propelled the stock higher and prompted several analysts to revise their price targets upward.
Robinhood Markets, Inc., HOOD
Regarding Roku, ARK disposed of between 239,267 and 561,800 shares distributed across ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF, representing $33 million to $77.57 million in total value depending on specific fund allocations. These sales transpired immediately after Fox’s announcement of its $22 billion acquisition agreement at $160 per share, which drove Roku’s trading price toward that threshold. With a definitive buyout price established, the stock’s potential for additional appreciation became severely limited.
Capital Redeployment Focuses on Eli Lilly and Coinbase ARK channeled the liquidated capital into positions where the firm identifies emerging growth catalysts.
Eli Lilly represented the most substantial acquisition. ARK accumulated 41,138 shares via its ARK Genomic Revolution ETF, deploying approximately $46.18 million into the pharmaceutical giant during a price correction. Lilly recently completed its acquisition of 4E Therapeutics, a neuroscience-focused firm developing non-opioid chronic pain therapies. This transaction expands Lilly’s development pipeline beyond its established obesity and diabetes pharmaceutical franchises.
Coinbase emerged as the second-largest purchase. ARK acquired 111,799 shares distributed across several funds, totaling roughly $18.92 million. Coinbase has been introducing tokenized U.S. equity products for international clients alongside AI-powered investment platforms, transitioning from a pure cryptocurrency exchange toward a comprehensive financial services provider.
ARK additionally invested $17.68 million in Block shares while establishing smaller positions in biotechnology companies.
SpaceX Secures Position Among Top Five Holdings This portfolio realignment occurred within a broader strategic context. Earlier during the same week, ARK established a substantial post-IPO stake in SpaceX, purchasing nearly 3.3 million shares valued at approximately $531 million by the conclusion of the initial trading session.
Concurrently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk executed stock options in a transaction disclosed through SEC filings, acquiring approximately 303.96 million shares at a $23.34 strike price while relinquishing around 17.53 million shares to satisfy a $7.09 billion tax obligation. Musk’s current holdings total approximately 699.58 million shares, constituting a 19.9% voting interest in Tesla.
Tesla maintains its position as ARK Innovation ETF’s largest allocation at 9.50%. Robinhood ranks second at 4.93%, with CRISPR Therapeutics at 4.87%, Tempus AI at 4.83%, and SpaceX at 4.71% rounding out the top five.
These recent transactions indicate ARK is reallocating capital from equities where immediate catalysts have materialized toward companies positioned for upcoming developments.
Key Takeaways ARK Invest acquired 210,121 shares of SpaceX valued at $32.5 million on June 22 across four different ETFs The aerospace company’s stock has plummeted 23% in just three trading sessions, erasing more than $600 billion in valuation ARK has been continuously divesting its Roku holdings following Fox’s announcement to acquire the streaming platform The investment firm offloaded 163,192 Roku shares totaling approximately $22.1 million across three separate funds Wood projects that space-based data centers could multiply SpaceX’s revenue opportunities by 10 to 20 times current estimates On June 22, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest snapped up 210,121 shares of SpaceX, representing approximately $32.5 million in total value. The investment was distributed among four exchange-traded funds: ARK Innovation, ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics, ARK Next Generation Internet, and ARK Space & Defense Innovation.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
The purchase occurred following a sharp 16.4% single-day drop in SpaceX shares on Monday. Over three consecutive trading days, the stock has experienced a cumulative 23% decline since its initial public offering.
This dramatic selloff eliminated over $600 billion from the company’s market capitalization. Despite the losses, SpaceX maintains a valuation exceeding $2 trillion, securing its position as the world’s seventh-largest company by market cap.
ARK’s initial entry into SpaceX occurred on June 12, when the firm purchased 3.29 million shares distributed across the same four investment vehicles immediately following the company’s historic IPO. Monday’s transaction represents an expansion of that existing stake.
Wood has consistently highlighted orbital data centers as a major catalyst driving her bullish outlook. According to ARK’s preliminary analysis, this emerging sector has the potential to amplify SpaceX’s revenue capabilities by 10 to 20 times beyond existing forecasts.
In premarket trading Tuesday, SpaceX shares declined an additional 3.7%, signaling a potential fourth consecutive session of losses.
ARK Systematically Reduces Roku Holdings Concurrently, ARK Invest divested 163,192 Roku shares across three investment funds — ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation, ARK Innovation, and ARK Next Generation Internet. Based on Roku’s Monday closing price of $135.20, the transaction totaled approximately $22.1 million.
Roku’s stock declined 2.08% during Monday’s trading session. The streaming company recently unveiled a strategic collaboration with Fox, designed to integrate Fox’s sports coverage, news programming, and entertainment offerings into the Roku ecosystem.
ARK initiated its Roku selloff last week immediately after reports emerged confirming Fox’s acquisition of the streaming platform. Since then, the firm has liquidated millions of dollars in Roku holdings through multiple transactions.
Beyond these major moves, ARK executed additional portfolio adjustments Monday. The firm acquired 489,584 Roblox shares across three funds, liquidated 104,491 shares of Strata Critical Medical, and sold 20,284 shares of Twist Bioscience.
SpaceX closed Monday’s session at $154.60 per share, significantly below its IPO debut levels. ARK’s expanded SpaceX holdings signal a firm conviction that the current downturn represents a strategic entry point rather than the beginning of an extended decline.
The next several trading sessions will determine whether SpaceX can halt its momentum after four consecutive days of sustained selling pressure.
ARK Doubles Down as SpaceX SlidesCathie Wood's ARK Invest has moved to increase its exposure to Space Exploration Technologies ($SPCX) even as the stock retreats sharply from its post-IPO peak. ARK purchased a total of 210,121 SpaceX shares for approximately $32.5 million, spread across four of its ETFs. The move came on June 22, 2026, as $SPCX dropped 16.43% to close at $154.60, continuing a downward trajectory since its market debut rally.
The buying is a follow-on to ARK's initial, far larger commitment at the IPO itself. ARK built a stake of nearly 3.3 million SpaceX shares worth more than $500 million on the day of the company's record-setting IPO. SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share on June 11, 2026, and opened trading at $150 on June 12, before closing at $160.95, a gain of nearly 20% on its debut.
ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) now holds 1.63 million shares of SpaceX worth almost $301 million, building on the massive initial purchase of roughly 3.3 million shares worth over $500 million during the SpaceX IPO.
What Is Driving the SelloffThe post-IPO decline has been steep. SpaceX stock fell 16% on Monday, continuing a selloff that has seen shares tumble over the past three full days of trading after an initial rally from its record-breaking IPO. Shares hit a high of $201.80 per share on June 16, but by Monday's close were down about 23% from that peak.
A key factor weighing on sentiment is SpaceX's plan to tap the bond market. After raising more than $85 billion from its IPO, SpaceX is issuing bonds, reportedly seeking at least $20 billion in senior unsecured notes to repay outstanding bridge loans. The move spooked investors who are "wary of the substantial cash required to fund technological ambitions," according to a note from Interactive Brokers senior economist Jose Torres.
Despite the pressure, ARK's long-term thesis on SpaceX remains intact. An ARK model targets a $2.5 trillion enterprise value for SpaceX by 2030, with a bull case near $3.1 trillion. Despite the recent losses in market capitalisation, the Elon Musk-led company remains the seventh most valuable company globally, with a market cap of around $2.04 trillion.
Sources:
Benzinga: Cathie Wood Bets $32.5 Million on SpaceX Dip
CNBC: SpaceX Stock Tanks 16%, Extending Slump Following Post-IPO Rally
CoinDesk: ARK Invest Bought More Than $500 Million Worth of SpaceX Shares on IPO Day
Key Highlights ARK divested 327,053 Roku shares valued at $44.2 million on Tuesday The firm acquired 81,254 Palantir shares worth $9.5 million distributed across three ETFs Additional investments included Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla, and CoreWeave positions Cerebras Systems shares were acquired before its Q1 financial results release Total acquisition value reached approximately $49.3 million for the trading session Cathie Wood’s investment management firm, ARK Invest, executed several strategic transactions on Tuesday, June 23, acquiring positions in prominent technology companies while simultaneously reducing exposure to Roku.
The firm liquidated 327,053 Roku shares distributed across ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF ETFs, generating approximately $44.2 million. This continues a pattern of Roku position reductions throughout the previous week.
Meanwhile, ARK deployed close to $49.3 million in new acquisitions across various holdings.
Significant Palantir and Amazon Acquisitions ARK accumulated 81,254 shares of Palantir valued at $9.48 million, distributed across ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF portfolios. This acquisition reverses previous divestments of the data analytics company. Palantir currently ranks as the 16th-largest position in the ARK Innovation ETF, representing 2.58% of holdings.
Palantir Technologies Inc., PLTR
The investment firm also secured 41,141 Amazon shares for $9.63 million across identical fund allocations. Amazon maintains the 18th-largest position in ARKK, accounting for 2.36% of total assets.
Additionally, ARK increased its Tesla holdings by 21,226 shares worth $8.1 million. Tesla represents the dominant holding in the ARKF ETF at 9.73%.
The firm obtained 23,603 Alphabet shares valued at $8.17 million. Alphabet comprises 1.92% of the ARK Innovation ETF portfolio.
Expanding AI Infrastructure Holdings ARK secured 76,195 CoreWeave shares for $8.06 million. CoreWeave stands as the 17th-largest holding in ARKK, representing 2.57% of the fund.
The firm also purchased 25,795 Cerebras Systems shares totaling $5.85 million. The semiconductor manufacturer completed its public debut on May 14. This transaction preceded Cerebras announcing better-than-expected Q1 revenue figures following Tuesday’s market close.
Cerebras presently accounts for only 1.22% of the ARK Innovation ETF, indicating ARK may be gradually accumulating this position.
One day earlier, ARK had acquired $32.4 million in SpaceX shares across four ETFs, purchasing following a 16% stock decline. ARK had previously acquired 3.3 million SpaceX shares on its public trading debut.
ARK liquidated hundreds of millions in various positions during the weeks preceding SpaceX’s IPO to generate capital for that investment.
Tuesday’s trading activity demonstrates ARK’s strategic reallocation from Roku into artificial intelligence-centric enterprises and Magnificent 7 technology stocks.
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is not convinced that the inflation pressures are as high as the market is expecting. Her remarks follow a rising interest in investors pricing in the prospect of another Fed rate increase. Wood also said there is a possibility that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh could turn monetary policy more accommodative in the future when inflation starts to ease.
Cathie Wood Explains The Inflation Dynamics Wood said investor worries about inflation were the main topic of conversation in recent meetings overseas. “On a roadshow through Asia and Europe, I am struck by investor fears of inflation,” she wrote. The ARK Invest CEO added that many investors were surprised by her view that “inflation could break down in a big way, and not just because of oil prices.”
Her words follow a surge in headline CPI inflation to 4.2% in May as traders adjust to the Fed’s new stance. The movement tipped market hopes for a rate increase in September to 25 basis points higher, as Warsh has reiterated central bank’s resolve to hit the 2% inflation target.
Cathie Wood, however, said there’s no need to worry about underlying inflation because it’s near extinction.
“As measured by unit labor costs, inflation already is down to 0.5% YoY,” she said. Productivity in the United States rose about 3% from a year earlier, and compensation per hour rose 3.5%, during the first quarter, according to Wood as she cited a series of economic data. She added, “Thus, ‘underlying inflation’ was 0.5%. No cost-push inflation there!”
To conclude that thought, if the US economy continues to pick up momentum—even booms—while inflation slips to 0-1% or below during the next few years, as we believe is likely, Kevin Warsh’s Fed will not stand in the way. The Fed is shifting from fighting growth to encouraging it.
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) June 24, 2026
The ARK Invest founder also noted other inflation metrics that contradict the government’s data. “Truflation, a metric that measures the prices of thousands of consumer goods and services in real time 24/7, has dropped from 11% on a year-over-year basis in 2022 to 1.8%, while core Truflation has dropped to 1.4%,” she stated.
What Will Kevin Warsh’s Fed Decide Next? Cathie Wood also pointed out that Warsh knows the difference between official inflation statistics and what’s happening in the economy outright. She declared, “I believe that Kevin Warsh understands not only the disinflationary role that productivity is playing but also the flaws in government-measured inflation rates.”
In the future, Cathie Wood anticipates that the Fed will focus on economic growth if inflation ease. “If the US economy continues to pick up momentum—even booms—while inflation slips to 0-1% or below,” she wrote, “Warsh’s Fed will not stand in the way.”
She concluded by saying, “The Fed is shifting from fighting growth to encouraging it.”
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Cathie Wood has dismissed mounting inflation fears despite U.S. headline CPI rising to 4.2% in May, arguing that underlying price pressures are close to disappearing.
Summary
Cathie Wood says underlying inflation is near 0.5% despite headline U.S. CPI rising to 4.2% in May. The ARK Invest CEO cites productivity gains and Truflation data to argue inflation pressures are easing. Wood believes Fed Chair Kevin Warsh could support economic growth if inflation falls toward 0% to 1%. According to the ARK Invest CEO, inflation fears dominated conversations during her recent investor meetings across Asia and Europe, where many participants questioned whether persistent price growth would force the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy further.
In a series of X posts, Wood said she was surprised by how strongly investors expected inflation to remain elevated, adding that she believes inflation could weaken sharply for reasons extending beyond lower oil prices.
The comments come as financial markets have increased bets that the Fed could raise interest rates by another 25 basis points in September after the latest inflation data. At the same time, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has continued to stress the central bank’s commitment to returning inflation to its 2% target.
Labor costs and real-time data point to weaker inflation Presenting a different view of price pressures, Wood argued that underlying inflation is already close to disappearing when measured through labor costs rather than headline consumer prices.
According to Wood, U.S. productivity increased roughly 3% year over year during the first quarter while compensation per hour rose about 3.5%. Using those figures, she said unit labor costs indicate underlying inflation of only 0.5% year over year, suggesting businesses are not facing meaningful cost-driven inflation.
Wood also pointed to alternative inflation measures that differ from official government statistics. Citing data from Truflation, she said the platform’s real-time inflation gauge has fallen from approximately 11% year over year in 2022 to 1.8%, while its core inflation reading has declined to 1.4%.
Based on those indicators, Wood argued that current inflation trends are considerably weaker than headline CPI figures suggest. She maintained that investors placing heavy weight on government inflation data may be overlooking signals coming from productivity and private-sector pricing measures.
Wood expects Kevin Warsh to support growth if inflation eases Looking ahead, Wood said she believes Warsh understands the distinction between official inflation readings and conditions developing across the broader economy.
According to her assessment, productivity gains are helping reduce inflationary pressure, while existing government inflation measures contain methodological shortcomings that can overstate underlying price growth.
Wood added that if the U.S. economy continues expanding while inflation falls toward a range of 0% to 1% or below, she expects the Federal Reserve under Warsh to place more emphasis on supporting economic growth instead of maintaining restrictive monetary policy.
Her outlook contrasts with current market positioning, where traders have increased expectations for another rate hike following the stronger-than-expected May CPI report. Even so, Wood argued that continued improvements in productivity and easing cost pressures could eventually reduce the need for tighter monetary policy.
Concluding her remarks, Wood said she expects the Fed’s policy stance to evolve once inflation weakens further, allowing the central bank to encourage economic growth rather than focus primarily on containing inflation.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut just put together the kind of tournament run that forces people to update their all-time rankings. The French Counter-Strike star earned MVP honors at IEM Kraków 2026 after a series of clutch plays that carried Team Vitality to the title, adding yet another line to a resume that’s becoming increasingly difficult to argue against.
A resume that speaks for itself He now holds three Major titles, having won in Paris in 2023, Austin in 2025, and Budapest in 2025. He’s been named HLTV’s Player of the Year four times, across 2019, 2020, 2023, and 2025.
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HLTV’s Player of the Year award is the closest thing Counter-Strike has to an MVP trophy in traditional sports. It’s voted on by analysts and based on statistical performance across the entire competitive year.
At the Budapest Major in 2025, 42 professional players voted Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev as the greatest Counter-Strike player of all time. ZywOo received 12 votes in the same poll. s1mple’s case rests on peak individual performance during the CS:GO era, while ZywOo’s argument is built on sustained excellence and team success. Three Majors to s1mple’s one is the kind of gap that tends to matter in GOAT debates across every sport.
Polymarket enters the esports arena Polymarket, the prediction market platform built on Polygon, has launched a contract allowing users to bet on whether ZywOo will accumulate 36 HLTV MVP titles by the end of 2026. There’s no ZywOo token, no NFT collection, no fan engagement platform riding the hype. It’s a straightforward prediction market contract sitting on Polymarket’s platform.
ZywOo secured a deal with NVIDIA GeForce on June 8, 2026, and another with Pulsar Gaming Gears, hardware and peripherals partnerships that signal brands see him as a long-term investment.
What this means for the esports-crypto crossover Esports audiences skew young, digitally native, and disproportionately comfortable with crypto. Prediction markets offer a product that makes sense for an audience that already obsesses over player statistics, tournament brackets, and performance metrics. The leap from “I think ZywOo will win MVP at the next Major” to “I’ll put $50 on it via Polymarket” is a short one.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Jame, one of Counter-Strike’s most recognizable AWPers, will not compete in back-to-back IEM majors. The veteran’s streak of consecutive major appearances has ended after paiN Gaming’s elimination at the IEM Cologne Major 2026, where the team finished 9th-11th following a 0-2 loss to Monte in Stage 2.
For a player who once hoisted a major trophy at IEM Rio 2022, the early exit represents a quiet but meaningful milestone.
What happened at IEM Cologne paiN Gaming’s run at the fifth Counter-Strike 2 Major Championship was brief. The team, which qualified through the Americas VRS standings, managed to reach Stage 2 but hit a wall against Monte.
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A 0-2 scoreline sent paiN packing with $10,000 from the Stage 2 prize pool.
Jame’s career arc and the streak that was Dzhami Ali, born August 23, 1998, has been a fixture at the highest levels of Counter-Strike since 2018. His resume includes stints with Virtus.pro, time with PARIVISION, and a major title at IEM Rio 2022.
Now that streak is over. The Cologne exit means his next major appearance, if it comes, won’t be consecutive.
The broader competitive landscape The IEM Cologne Major 2026 being the fifth CS2 major championship puts the game’s competitive ecosystem in an interesting spot. A CIS-region veteran playing for a Brazilian organization, qualifying through Americas standings, competing at a European major.
The IEM Cologne Major is organized by ESL and remains one of the premier events on the CS2 competitive calendar.
What this means going forward At 27, Jame is firmly in the veteran category. The $10,000 payout from Cologne is functional but not transformative for a team’s finances.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Jiang Zhuoer: This round of Bitcoin bear market may bottom out in Q4 2026, with a target range of $42,000 to $44,000.
BTC.TOP founder Jiang Zhuoer wrote in a post that Strategy’s modified net asset value (mNAV) has fallen to 0.72, near the 0.7 low hit in May 2022 during the last bear market. Citing recent market sentiment events including STRC’s depegging, he noted that mNAV is now in the bottom zone of this cycle. mNAV usually bottoms roughly six months before Bitcoin’s price. Using the "four-year cycle" and volatility decay model, Jiang projected that this Bitcoin bear market will likely bottom between October and December 2026, with a target price range of $42,000 to $44,000. He added that his recent medium-short term strategy remains focused on selling spot assets and holding short positions, and will switch to buying spot and going long once the expected bottom arrives.
2 minutes ago
The VIX Fear Index for the US stock market stands at 18.63 today, with fear sentiment intensifying in the crypto market.
According to Cboe data, the U.S. stock market's VIX Fear Index stands at 18.63 as of today, down 0.86 points from the prior reading of 19.49, marking a decline of approximately 4.41%. Separately, per Alternative data, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 12 today (compared to 17 yesterday), indicating intensifying extreme fear sentiment.
2 minutes ago
Bank of Japan Board Member: Should Accelerate Pace of Interest Rate Hikes If Upside Inflation Risks Intensify
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Policy Board member Naoki Tamura stated that if upside risks to price growth intensify further, the BOJ should not hesitate to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes or raise rates by a larger margin. He projected that the BOJ will implement interest rate hikes every few months until its policy rate reaches the neutral level of around 2%. (Golden Ten)
2 minutes ago
Crypto token M plunged over 80% in a short period, hitting a low near $0.5.
According to HTX market data, the token M saw a sharp short-term price plunge, with its decline once exceeding 80% and hitting a low of around $0.5, and is now trading at $0.54.
2 minutes ago
Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.
Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.
2 minutes ago
Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.
According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.
Elon Musk’s companies have been threatened in the Middle East by Iran. SpaceX grounds and facilities are included in the warning. If relations heat up, “legitimate targets” may come to be in Tehran’s eyes.
Iran Targets Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink The threat on Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink came as peace deal talks between the US and Iran stalled. Iran rejected the claims of signing the deal today after offering a draft memorandum earlier in the day. Meanwhile, tensions in the region are high, with Israel and Iran-backed groups having just engaged in some military activity.
Iranian authorities think the United States and Israel used the services of Musk’s businesses in intelligence and military activities against Tehran, noted the Fars news agency. Those operations included advanced drone and unmanned maritime strike technologies, the report stated.
Fars quoted senior Iranian sources as saying that Tehran is convinced that the US violated the rules of war with the help of Elon Musk’s companies. It added that Iran suspects the U.S. of making use of its technology to attack the Islamic Republic.
Iran also threatened to attack Elon Musk’s company, offices or anything related to his services in the Middle East and Israeli-occupied territories, per reports.
Iran explicitly referred to the Starlink ground stations and SpaceX-related infrastructure in the region. Tehran says these systems had helped them monitor and communicate during the attacks against Iranian interests. It could weigh on the company despite the record IPO on June 12.
If Starlink infrastructure is struck, there may be more broader concerns surrounding satellite internet services. The effect upon an attack would depend on the size of the attack and the position of the targeted facilities. Ground stations play a key role in the network of Starlink providing communications support across parts of the world.
Trump Fumes Over Israel Striking Lebanon On the other hand, U.S. President Donald Trump’s still signals at a potential deal with Tehran. Trump said in a Truth social post that Washington and Tehran were very close to coming up with a deal that would de-escalate the situation in the region.
Trump also condemned Israeli attacks on Beirut. The attacks “should not have happened particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran,” he wrote.
The U.S. President called for a sense of balance on both sides. “We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down,” he said.
PGL, the Romanian esports production powerhouse, is planting its flag in China with a $1 million Counter-Strike 2 tournament scheduled for April 14-26, 2027. It’s the company’s first Tier 1 CS2 event in the region, and it comes as part of a much larger $22 million investment in competitive Counter-Strike over the 2027-2028 period.
The tournament, dubbed PGL Event #4 2027, will feature 16 teams competing for the main prize pool plus an additional $300,000 through PGL’s VRS Invite Bonus system.
Inside PGL’s $22 million CS2 bet The $22 million commitment is designed to fund at least 15 Tier 1 LAN tournaments across two years. PGL has built its reputation on Valve-approved CS majors and large-scale productions.
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China’s competitive gaming market has been expanding, but international Tier 1 CS2 events have been conspicuously absent from the region. PGL is stepping into that gap with a format built around its global VRS ranking system, which will determine tournament invitations.
The $1.3 million total prize pool (combining the base $1 million and the $300,000 VRS bonus) positions this event among the most lucrative CS2 competitions on the calendar.
What this means for crypto and gaming investors PGL has not disclosed any partnerships or sponsorships involving digital assets, blockchain technology, or tokens. No NFT ticketing, no fan tokens, no on-chain prize distributions. The $22 million investment appears to be a straightforward esports play.
Most major esports organizations have either scaled back or quietly abandoned crypto partnerships following the 2022 market downturn. Sponsorship deals that once featured crypto exchanges prominently on team jerseys have largely dried up.
China’s strict stance on cryptocurrency means that any future crypto integrations in PGL’s China events would face significant regulatory headwinds.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen just reminded the competitive Counter-Strike 2 scene why in-game leadership matters as much as raw aim. The Finnish strategist led Natus Vincere to victory at IEM Atlanta 2026 in mid-May, securing the organization’s first Intel Extreme Masters title since 2024.
For a crypto audience, the honest take: this story has essentially zero blockchain relevance. But the esports economy it represents is worth paying attention to.
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What actually happened in Atlanta NAVI navigated the IEM Atlanta 2026 playoffs behind Aleksib’s clutch plays and tactical decision-making. The tournament was part of the ESL Pro Tour circuit, which typically features prize pools around $1 million for major events.
The win caps a strong run for the roster. NAVI has secured multiple top-five finishes across several prestigious competitions, including IEM Melbourne 2025 and ESL Pro League Season 21.
Aleksib, born March 30, 1997, has built his reputation across several top-tier organizations. Before joining NAVI, he competed for OG, G2 Esports, and Ninjas in Pyjamas.
The esports economy, minus the blockchain Research into Aleksib’s profile, NAVI’s operations, and the IEM tournament structure turned up no connections to cryptocurrency, tokens, or blockchain-based platforms. The closest intersection is CS2 skin trading platforms, some of which accept crypto payments, but that’s a peripheral marketplace detail rather than a structural integration.
CS2’s skin economy already functions as a parallel financial system of sorts, with rare in-game items trading for thousands of dollars on secondary markets. The infrastructure for digital asset trading exists within the gaming community. The demand for blockchain-based solutions to facilitate that trading, however, hasn’t materialized in any meaningful way among top-tier competitors or tournament organizers.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Jiang Zhuoer: This round of Bitcoin bear market may bottom out in Q4 2026, with a target range of $42,000 to $44,000.
BTC.TOP founder Jiang Zhuoer wrote in a post that Strategy’s modified net asset value (mNAV) has fallen to 0.72, near the 0.7 low hit in May 2022 during the last bear market. Citing recent market sentiment events including STRC’s depegging, he noted that mNAV is now in the bottom zone of this cycle. mNAV usually bottoms roughly six months before Bitcoin’s price. Using the "four-year cycle" and volatility decay model, Jiang projected that this Bitcoin bear market will likely bottom between October and December 2026, with a target price range of $42,000 to $44,000. He added that his recent medium-short term strategy remains focused on selling spot assets and holding short positions, and will switch to buying spot and going long once the expected bottom arrives.
2 minutes ago
The VIX Fear Index for the US stock market stands at 18.63 today, with fear sentiment intensifying in the crypto market.
According to Cboe data, the U.S. stock market's VIX Fear Index stands at 18.63 as of today, down 0.86 points from the prior reading of 19.49, marking a decline of approximately 4.41%. Separately, per Alternative data, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 12 today (compared to 17 yesterday), indicating intensifying extreme fear sentiment.
2 minutes ago
Bank of Japan Board Member: Should Accelerate Pace of Interest Rate Hikes If Upside Inflation Risks Intensify
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Policy Board member Naoki Tamura stated that if upside risks to price growth intensify further, the BOJ should not hesitate to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes or raise rates by a larger margin. He projected that the BOJ will implement interest rate hikes every few months until its policy rate reaches the neutral level of around 2%. (Golden Ten)
2 minutes ago
Crypto token M plunged over 80% in a short period, hitting a low near $0.5.
According to HTX market data, the token M saw a sharp short-term price plunge, with its decline once exceeding 80% and hitting a low of around $0.5, and is now trading at $0.54.
2 minutes ago
Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.
Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.
2 minutes ago
Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.
According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.
In brief The leaders of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees have released updated text for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which would bar the Fed from issuing a CBDC through December 31, 2030. The compromise adds a three-year sunset for a disaster-recovery block grant program and adopts House priorities, including limits on institutional homebuyers and nine community banking bills. The text now returns to the Senate floor, though some House conservatives still want the CBDC ban made permanent. The leaders of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees released updated text Tuesday for sweeping housing legislation that also carries a temporary ban on a U.S. central bank digital currency.
The package, H.R. 6644, aims to boost supply, lower costs, and stop institutional investors from crowding families out of the single-family market. Tucked into the bill is language stating that the Fed "may not issue or create a central bank digital currency" or any substantially similar asset through December 31, 2030—with a carveout for open, permissionless private dollar assets such as stablecoins that preserve “the privacy protections of United States coins and physical currency.”
Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-SC), Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-AR), and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) said the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act reflects years of bipartisan, bicameral work and folds in priorities from the Senate, House, and White House. Scott said it was time to "deliver real relief for the American people," while Warren called it the biggest housing bill in more than 30 years.
To seal the deal after months of negotiation, the Senate accepted a three-year sunset for a disaster-recovery block grant program and adopted House measures, including nine community banking bills and language limiting institutional homebuyers, Hill said. "I look forward to President Trump signing it into law," he added. Waters said the text includes more than 50 housing and banking provisions Democrats fought to secure.
The anti-CBDC provision was added at the urging of House Republicans, and the Trump White House has backed it, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently reiterating that a digital dollar is off the table.
CBDCs—government-issued digital cash equivalents—have become a partisan flashpoint, with critics warning they could enable financial surveillance. Some House conservatives, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), want a permanent ban, arguing that "CBDCs are bad for everyone."
The Senate first attached the CBDC ban in March, passing the package 89-10; the House cleared its amended version 396-13 in May. The updated text now heads back to the Senate floor.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
In brief The leaders of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees have released updated text for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which would bar the Fed from issuing a CBDC through December 31, 2030. The compromise adds a three-year sunset for a disaster-recovery block grant program and adopts House priorities, including limits on institutional homebuyers and nine community banking bills. The text now returns to the Senate floor, though some House conservatives still want the CBDC ban made permanent. The leaders of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees released updated text Tuesday for sweeping housing legislation that also carries a temporary ban on a U.S. central bank digital currency.
The package, H.R. 6644, aims to boost supply, lower costs, and stop institutional investors from crowding families out of the single-family market. Tucked into the bill is language stating that the Fed "may not issue or create a central bank digital currency" or any substantially similar asset through December 31, 2030—with a carveout for open, permissionless private dollar assets such as stablecoins that preserve “the privacy protections of United States coins and physical currency.”
Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-SC), Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-AR), and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) said the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act reflects years of bipartisan, bicameral work and folds in priorities from the Senate, House, and White House. Scott said it was time to "deliver real relief for the American people," while Warren called it the biggest housing bill in more than 30 years.
To seal the deal after months of negotiation, the Senate accepted a three-year sunset for a disaster-recovery block grant program and adopted House measures, including nine community banking bills and language limiting institutional homebuyers, Hill said. "I look forward to President Trump signing it into law," he added. Waters said the text includes more than 50 housing and banking provisions Democrats fought to secure.
The anti-CBDC provision was added at the urging of House Republicans, and the Trump White House has backed it, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently reiterating that a digital dollar is off the table.
CBDCs—government-issued digital cash equivalents—have become a partisan flashpoint, with critics warning they could enable financial surveillance. Some House conservatives, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), want a permanent ban, arguing that "CBDCs are bad for everyone."
The Senate first attached the CBDC ban in March, passing the package 89-10; the House cleared its amended version 396-13 in May. The updated text now heads back to the Senate floor.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Jiang Zhuoer: This round of Bitcoin bear market may bottom out in Q4 2026, with a target range of $42,000 to $44,000.
BTC.TOP founder Jiang Zhuoer wrote in a post that Strategy’s modified net asset value (mNAV) has fallen to 0.72, near the 0.7 low hit in May 2022 during the last bear market. Citing recent market sentiment events including STRC’s depegging, he noted that mNAV is now in the bottom zone of this cycle. mNAV usually bottoms roughly six months before Bitcoin’s price. Using the "four-year cycle" and volatility decay model, Jiang projected that this Bitcoin bear market will likely bottom between October and December 2026, with a target price range of $42,000 to $44,000. He added that his recent medium-short term strategy remains focused on selling spot assets and holding short positions, and will switch to buying spot and going long once the expected bottom arrives.
2 minutes ago
The VIX Fear Index for the US stock market stands at 18.63 today, with fear sentiment intensifying in the crypto market.
According to Cboe data, the U.S. stock market's VIX Fear Index stands at 18.63 as of today, down 0.86 points from the prior reading of 19.49, marking a decline of approximately 4.41%. Separately, per Alternative data, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 12 today (compared to 17 yesterday), indicating intensifying extreme fear sentiment.
2 minutes ago
Bank of Japan Board Member: Should Accelerate Pace of Interest Rate Hikes If Upside Inflation Risks Intensify
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Policy Board member Naoki Tamura stated that if upside risks to price growth intensify further, the BOJ should not hesitate to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes or raise rates by a larger margin. He projected that the BOJ will implement interest rate hikes every few months until its policy rate reaches the neutral level of around 2%. (Golden Ten)
2 minutes ago
Crypto token M plunged over 80% in a short period, hitting a low near $0.5.
According to HTX market data, the token M saw a sharp short-term price plunge, with its decline once exceeding 80% and hitting a low of around $0.5, and is now trading at $0.54.
2 minutes ago
Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.
Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.
2 minutes ago
Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.
According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.
Team Spirit just did something that very few rosters in Counter-Strike history have managed. They made a grand final look easy.
The organization defeated MOUZ 3-0 at the LANXESS Arena in Cologne on August 4, walking away with the $400K first-place prize and, more importantly, completing a trifecta of the three most prestigious trophies in Counter-Strike 2.
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A clean sweep with a new face What makes the dominance even more remarkable is the roster context. Ivan “zweih” Gogin joined Team Spirit in early July 2025, replacing Boris “magixx” Vorobiev. That gives the team roughly a month of practice with their new addition before stepping onto one of the biggest stages in esports.
The individual highlight reel belonged to Donk, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The trifecta no one else has Team Spirit previously won IEM Katowice 2024 and the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. Those two events, along with IEM Cologne, represent the three most coveted titles in Counter-Strike 2. With the Cologne trophy now in their cabinet, Team Spirit has collected all three.
The Cologne victory also marks their second title of 2025, which means the team isn’t just living off 2024 momentum. They’re actively building on it with a modified roster.
What this means for the esports landscape and investors Team Spirit previously partnered with crypto exchange Bitget back in 2022, during a period when the industry was aggressively courting gaming audiences. The current competitive cycle, however, shows no visible crypto integrations in Team Spirit’s tournament presence.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Jiang Zhuoer: This round of Bitcoin bear market may bottom out in Q4 2026, with a target range of $42,000 to $44,000.
BTC.TOP founder Jiang Zhuoer wrote in a post that Strategy’s modified net asset value (mNAV) has fallen to 0.72, near the 0.7 low hit in May 2022 during the last bear market. Citing recent market sentiment events including STRC’s depegging, he noted that mNAV is now in the bottom zone of this cycle. mNAV usually bottoms roughly six months before Bitcoin’s price. Using the "four-year cycle" and volatility decay model, Jiang projected that this Bitcoin bear market will likely bottom between October and December 2026, with a target price range of $42,000 to $44,000. He added that his recent medium-short term strategy remains focused on selling spot assets and holding short positions, and will switch to buying spot and going long once the expected bottom arrives.
2 minutes ago
The VIX Fear Index for the US stock market stands at 18.63 today, with fear sentiment intensifying in the crypto market.
According to Cboe data, the U.S. stock market's VIX Fear Index stands at 18.63 as of today, down 0.86 points from the prior reading of 19.49, marking a decline of approximately 4.41%. Separately, per Alternative data, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 12 today (compared to 17 yesterday), indicating intensifying extreme fear sentiment.
2 minutes ago
Bank of Japan Board Member: Should Accelerate Pace of Interest Rate Hikes If Upside Inflation Risks Intensify
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Policy Board member Naoki Tamura stated that if upside risks to price growth intensify further, the BOJ should not hesitate to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes or raise rates by a larger margin. He projected that the BOJ will implement interest rate hikes every few months until its policy rate reaches the neutral level of around 2%. (Golden Ten)
2 minutes ago
Crypto token M plunged over 80% in a short period, hitting a low near $0.5.
According to HTX market data, the token M saw a sharp short-term price plunge, with its decline once exceeding 80% and hitting a low of around $0.5, and is now trading at $0.54.
2 minutes ago
Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.
Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.
2 minutes ago
Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.
According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.
Jiang Zhuoer: This round of Bitcoin bear market may bottom out in Q4 2026, with a target range of $42,000 to $44,000.
BTC.TOP founder Jiang Zhuoer wrote in a post that Strategy’s modified net asset value (mNAV) has fallen to 0.72, near the 0.7 low hit in May 2022 during the last bear market. Citing recent market sentiment events including STRC’s depegging, he noted that mNAV is now in the bottom zone of this cycle. mNAV usually bottoms roughly six months before Bitcoin’s price. Using the "four-year cycle" and volatility decay model, Jiang projected that this Bitcoin bear market will likely bottom between October and December 2026, with a target price range of $42,000 to $44,000. He added that his recent medium-short term strategy remains focused on selling spot assets and holding short positions, and will switch to buying spot and going long once the expected bottom arrives.
2 minutes ago
The VIX Fear Index for the US stock market stands at 18.63 today, with fear sentiment intensifying in the crypto market.
According to Cboe data, the U.S. stock market's VIX Fear Index stands at 18.63 as of today, down 0.86 points from the prior reading of 19.49, marking a decline of approximately 4.41%. Separately, per Alternative data, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index is at 12 today (compared to 17 yesterday), indicating intensifying extreme fear sentiment.
2 minutes ago
Bank of Japan Board Member: Should Accelerate Pace of Interest Rate Hikes If Upside Inflation Risks Intensify
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Policy Board member Naoki Tamura stated that if upside risks to price growth intensify further, the BOJ should not hesitate to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes or raise rates by a larger margin. He projected that the BOJ will implement interest rate hikes every few months until its policy rate reaches the neutral level of around 2%. (Golden Ten)
2 minutes ago
Crypto token M plunged over 80% in a short period, hitting a low near $0.5.
According to HTX market data, the token M saw a sharp short-term price plunge, with its decline once exceeding 80% and hitting a low of around $0.5, and is now trading at $0.54.
2 minutes ago
Blockchain data infrastructure firm Cambrian has closed a $6 million funding round, jointly led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.
Blockchain data infrastructure project Cambrian has closed a $6 million seed round, co-led by Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital, with participation from Flow Traders, Selini Capital, and other investors. The project previously raised a $5.9 million pre-seed round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, bringing its total funding to $11.9 million. Cambrian currently provides institutional investors and AI Agents with real-time and historical data APIs covering on-chain yields, risks, lending markets, and trading activities, and plans to further build a verifiable data oracle network. Official data shows it has indexed over $4.5 billion in lending TVL, tracks more than 320,000 DEX liquidity pools, and currently supports Base and Solana, with plans to expand to additional ecosystems including Ethereum. The funds will be used to expand on-chain data coverage, accelerate oracle network development, and team recruitment.
2 minutes ago
Whale 0xbilly pulled off another "buy high, sell low" move, exiting with a $220,000 loss in a single day.
According to EmberCN’s monitoring, whale address 0xbilly liquidated 2,409 ETH in the early hours of today when ETH fell to around $1,569.5, worth approximately $3.78 million, with a total loss of roughly $220,000. Notably, this batch of ETH was purchased just one day ago for about 4 million USDC, at an average price of approximately $1,660.2. The address also previously bought 7,768.5 ETH at a high of $2,254 in March this year, valued at around $17.51 million, and exited via stop-loss four days later, incurring a loss of roughly $800,000.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač has spent the better part of a decade being the best Counter-Strike player without a Major title. That sentence is now past tense.
Team Falcons swept FURIA 3-0 in the IEM Cologne Major 2026 grand final on June 21, delivering NiKo his first Major championship after 17 tournament appearances. The match has already been described as one of the greatest in the history of Counter-Strike.
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The end of a 3,067-day drought NiKo’s last Major grand final appearance came at ELEAGUE Boston 2018, meaning 3,067 days separated that loss from this victory. NiKo holds 10 HLTV Top 20 Player of the Year selections. The only question was whether he’d ever find the right team, the right moment, and the right tournament bracket to convert all that talent into a Major title.
The roster that assembled under the Falcons banner includes NiKo, Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, Finn “karrigan” Andersen as in-game leader after joining the team in April 2026, coach Danny “zonic” Sorensen, Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin, and Rene “TeSeS” Madsen. Falcons reached the final following wins over top-tier teams including Vitality and Spirit before dismantling FURIA in the grand final.
A milestone machine Karrigan picked up his second Major title. Zonic earned his sixth Major title as a coach. For m0NESY, kyousuke, and TeSeS, the Cologne triumph represented their first Major championships. M0NESY earned the MVP award for his performance throughout the event.
What this means for the Counter-Strike landscape Team Falcons, backed by Saudi Arabian investment, has been aggressively building competitive rosters across multiple esports titles. The grand final was celebrated as one of the best matches in Counter-Strike history, characterized by dramatic narrative and unprecedented viewer engagement.
For NiKo personally, the championship changes how his career will be remembered. Players with 10 HLTV Top 20 selections and a Major title don’t get questioned. That asterisk is gone.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Cache is back. Valve confirmed on June 22 that the fan-favorite map will re-enter Counter-Strike 2’s Active Duty pool on July 6, replacing Overpass once Premier Season 4 concludes.
The map has been absent from the Active Duty rotation since 2019, which in esports years is basically a geological era.
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What’s actually changing The updated Active Duty pool will consist of seven maps: Dust2, Mirage, Inferno, Nuke, Ancient, Anubis, and Cache. Overpass, which returned to the rotation around July 2025, exits after roughly one year of competitive play.
Cache re-entered non-competitive modes in April 2026 before this announcement, which in retrospect looked like Valve testing the waters before a full competitive return.
Seven years is a long time in Counter-Strike Cache was removed from Active Duty in 2019, at a moment when the CS:GO competitive scene was operating at full intensity. The game has changed substantially since then. CS2 replaced CS:GO as the official title, movement mechanics shifted, visual fidelity improved, and the professional player landscape looks almost nothing like it did when Cache last appeared in a Major map pool.
What this means for the competitive landscape Community feedback and data from competitors like Leetify pointed to Overpass’s declining popularity as a key factor in its removal.
Valve’s decision to rotate maps after Premier Season 4 also signals that the company is continuing to treat the Active Duty pool as a living system rather than a fixed feature. That’s relevant for teams planning long-term tournament schedules and for fans trying to understand which maps to follow heading into the back half of 2026.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Luminosity Gaming is making its move back into competitive Counter-Strike, and the shopping list is ambitious. The organization is in advanced negotiations to sign multiple players from Ukrainian org Monte, while also bringing on Brazilian player lux as in-game leader.
The targeted Monte core reportedly includes Bymas, AZUWU, and afro, all of whose contracts with the Ukrainian organization are set to expire on June 22, 2026. Rainwaker may also be part of the package.
The pieces on the board Lux, the Brazilian player tapped to captain the new squad, has been in discussions with Luminosity since at least April 2026. He was benched by Legacy back in February, leaving him available and, presumably, motivated.
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Bymas, in particular, is a name that carries weight in Counter-Strike circles. The Lithuanian player has bounced between several notable rosters over the years, and pairing him with AZUWU and afro preserves the synergy those players developed together at Monte.
Luminosity’s bigger picture This roster push doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Luminosity Gaming underwent a significant financial transition in early 2026 when its assets were acquired by Vertiqal Studios for approximately C$900,000, roughly $645,000 USD.
Luminosity has history in Counter-Strike that extends back to the game’s golden era. The organization was home to the legendary Brazilian lineup that would eventually become SK Gaming and win back-to-back Majors in 2016.
The timing also aligns with broader roster shuffling across Counter-Strike 2 following the most recent Major cycle. Contract expirations, team dissolutions, and player movement tend to cluster in these windows, creating a transfer market that rewards organizations willing to move quickly and decisively.
What this means for the esports investment landscape The Luminosity asset sale at $645K USD reflects a market where esports organizations are trading at dramatically reduced valuations compared to the 2021 boom. Monte’s players were performing within the 13-17 range in VRS rankings at the time of these negotiations.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Gentle Mates, the French esports organization co-founded by streaming icon Corentin “Gotaga” Houssein, is pulling the plug on its Counter-Strike 2 operation. The team announced its departure from the scene on June 23, with negotiations underway to sell the entire roster rather than simply release players into free agency.
Gentle Mates only entered CS2 in August 2025, meaning the org lasted roughly ten months in one of esports’ most competitive and expensive ecosystems.
FaZe wants the AWPer, but the price tag is a problem The most immediate subplot here involves Antonio “MartinezSa” Martinez, the roster’s AWPer who has caught the attention of FaZe Clan. In Counter-Strike, the AWPer is the player wielding the game’s most expensive and powerful sniper rifle, a role that demands exceptional precision and composure.
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Negotiations between FaZe and Gentle Mates have reportedly hit a deadlock over financial valuations. The complication is structural: Gentle Mates isn’t looking to sell individual players piecemeal. They want to move the full roster as a package, which means MartinezSa’s price is tangled up in the valuation of the entire squad.
The full roster includes MartinezSa alongside alex, dav1g, sausol, and mopoz, a core that Gentle Mates originally acquired from Iberian Soul when they entered the scene. Several Spanish organizations, including Heretics, KOI, and GiantX, have been mentioned as potential landing spots for the roster or parts of it.
Why the exit happened so fast The team currently sits between 30th and 34th in the VRS rankings. Gotaga, who shared the exit decision publicly, built Gentle Mates into a multi-game esports brand with significant cultural cachet in France, with the organization’s strength rooted in content creation and community engagement.
What this means for the players and the broader scene For MartinezSa specifically, FaZe’s interest is a strong signal. FaZe Clan remains one of Counter-Strike’s most storied organizations, and landing on that roster would represent a significant step up in competitive opportunity. The question is whether FaZe is willing to meet Gentle Mates’ asking price or wait for the org to lower expectations as the exit timeline compresses.
The Spanish connection is worth watching too. Heretics and KOI both have established presences in the Iberian esports scene, and acquiring a roster with roots in Iberian Soul would be a natural fit culturally and linguistically. GiantX represents another option with the infrastructure to absorb a full five-player core.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
In brief An AI agent playing Civilization launched two nuclear attacks after failing to stop a rival's cultural expansion. The behavior was observed in CivBench, a benchmark designed to evaluate long-term strategic reasoning in frontier AI models. Despite the attacks, the AI lost because it ignored a diplomatic victory condition that was already within reach. Like the title character in “Dr. Strangelove,” AI may be learning how to stop worrying and love the bomb—at least in a simulation.
In a new benchmark designed to test strategic reasoning, a frontier language model playing the Sid Meier’s game "Civilization VI" spent 50 turns developing nuclear weapons to stop France's growing cultural influence—only to lose the game anyway, according to AI developer and Tony Blair Institute advisor Liam Wilkinson.
“What it hadn't noticed was France. Quietly, across a hundred turns, French culture had been seeping into every city on the map,” Wilkinson wrote. “By the time the agent recognised the threat, the tourism was so deeply embedded there was no peaceful way to stop it.”
Wilkinson observed the AI agents’ behavior through CivBench, a text-based benchmark designed to measure long-term strategic reasoning rather than performance on traditional question-and-answer tests. Models including Claude Opus 4.6, GPT-5.4, Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Kimi K2.5 played as Portugal, a civilization geared toward trade and diplomacy.
While the AI focused on building a strong economy and moving toward a diplomatic victory, it failed to recognize France's growing cultural influence.
“There are six ways to win a game of Civ—science, culture, domination, religion, diplomacy, and score—so no single objective dominates,” Wilkinson wrote. “If you want to know whether an AI can reason strategically, not just answer questions about strategy but actually do it, you don't give it a quiz. You give it a hex grid.”
Rather than adapting its broader strategy, the agent instead focused entirely on eliminating the cultural threat. Over the next 50 turns, it researched Nuclear Fission, initiated a virtual Manhattan Project, and searched for workarounds when gameplay mechanics prevented its preferred actions.
On Turn 305, the AI launched an atomic bomb at Toulouse, France's cultural capital. A second nuclear strike followed six turns later.
However, the attacks failed to change the outcome. “The agent spent fifty turns and two nuclear weapons answering one threat with total focus and genuine ingenuity,” Wilkinson wrote. “It had nuked a city to stop the threat it could see, and lost on the threat it couldn't.”
As Wilkison explained, while the AI concentrated on France's cultural advance, it overlooked an impending diplomatic victory, and France ultimately won the game despite the nuclear attacks.
Wilkinson noted that the behavior was not universal. In another CivBench match, a Claude model playing as Babylon continued pursuing a scientific victory despite falling far behind Japan.
“The game is a test of persistence now,” the AI wrote. “We continue to play our best game. The stars still beckon.”
The study adds to a growing body of research examining how advanced AI systems behave in complex, competitive environments.
In February, researchers at King's College London found that several leading AI models frequently selected nuclear escalation in simulated geopolitical crisis scenarios.
In a separate study by Emergence AI found that some AI agents showed an increasing tendency to commit simulated crimes over time, with Gemini 3 Flash agents accumulating 683 incidents across 15 days of testing.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
In brief An AI agent playing Civilization launched two nuclear attacks after failing to stop a rival's cultural expansion. The behavior was observed in CivBench, a benchmark designed to evaluate long-term strategic reasoning in frontier AI models. Despite the attacks, the AI lost because it ignored a diplomatic victory condition that was already within reach. Like the title character in “Dr. Strangelove,” AI may be learning how to stop worrying and love the bomb—at least in a simulation.
In a new benchmark designed to test strategic reasoning, a frontier language model playing the Sid Meier’s game "Civilization VI" spent 50 turns developing nuclear weapons to stop France's growing cultural influence—only to lose the game anyway, according to AI developer and Tony Blair Institute advisor Liam Wilkinson.
“What it hadn't noticed was France. Quietly, across a hundred turns, French culture had been seeping into every city on the map,” Wilkinson wrote. “By the time the agent recognised the threat, the tourism was so deeply embedded there was no peaceful way to stop it.”
Wilkinson observed the AI agents’ behavior through CivBench, a text-based benchmark designed to measure long-term strategic reasoning rather than performance on traditional question-and-answer tests. Models including Claude Opus 4.6, GPT-5.4, Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Kimi K2.5 played as Portugal, a civilization geared toward trade and diplomacy.
While the AI focused on building a strong economy and moving toward a diplomatic victory, it failed to recognize France's growing cultural influence.
“There are six ways to win a game of Civ—science, culture, domination, religion, diplomacy, and score—so no single objective dominates,” Wilkinson wrote. “If you want to know whether an AI can reason strategically, not just answer questions about strategy but actually do it, you don't give it a quiz. You give it a hex grid.”
Rather than adapting its broader strategy, the agent instead focused entirely on eliminating the cultural threat. Over the next 50 turns, it researched Nuclear Fission, initiated a virtual Manhattan Project, and searched for workarounds when gameplay mechanics prevented its preferred actions.
On Turn 305, the AI launched an atomic bomb at Toulouse, France's cultural capital. A second nuclear strike followed six turns later.
However, the attacks failed to change the outcome. “The agent spent fifty turns and two nuclear weapons answering one threat with total focus and genuine ingenuity,” Wilkinson wrote. “It had nuked a city to stop the threat it could see, and lost on the threat it couldn't.”
As Wilkison explained, while the AI concentrated on France's cultural advance, it overlooked an impending diplomatic victory, and France ultimately won the game despite the nuclear attacks.
Wilkinson noted that the behavior was not universal. In another CivBench match, a Claude model playing as Babylon continued pursuing a scientific victory despite falling far behind Japan.
“The game is a test of persistence now,” the AI wrote. “We continue to play our best game. The stars still beckon.”
The study adds to a growing body of research examining how advanced AI systems behave in complex, competitive environments.
In February, researchers at King's College London found that several leading AI models frequently selected nuclear escalation in simulated geopolitical crisis scenarios.
In a separate study by Emergence AI found that some AI agents showed an increasing tendency to commit simulated crimes over time, with Gemini 3 Flash agents accumulating 683 incidents across 15 days of testing.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
The U.S. Senate passed a War Powers Resolution on Tuesday, voting 50-48 to rein in Trump’s war with Iran. Bitcoin (BTC), often pitched as a geopolitical hedge, barely moved.
The measure is the first of its kind to clear both chambers of Congress. Yet traders treated it as a formality, since the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is already weeks old.
S&P500, Oil, and Bitcoin Price Performance. Source: TradingViewA Historic Rebuke Markets Had Already PricedFour Republicans broke ranks to support the resolution. Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Rand Paul joined the Democrats. Senator John Fetterman was the only Democrat to oppose it.
MAJOR BREAKING: The U.S. Senate has voted 50-48 to approve a War Powers Resolution directing President Trump to end military hostilities with Iran unless Congress explicitly authorizes continued military action. Four Republicans joined most Democrats in support, while Sen. John…
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) June 23, 2026 Congress has reached for the 1973 War Powers Resolution against this president before. In 2020, after the Soleimani strike, the Senate passed a binding Iran measure that Trump vetoed.
This one is a concurrent resolution, so it never reaches his desk.
The vote followed a U.S.-Iran ceasefire reached earlier this month. That truce reopened the Strait of Hormuz and pulled oil back from its wartime highs.
Equities and crude had reacted to the earlier ceasefire relief long before Tuesday.
The White House dismissed the result as meaningless.
“Concurrent resolutions do not go to the president and have no force of law,” a White House official made that point to CNN.
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The S&P 500 barely moved, just like oil, after tech sector sell-off hit the markets earlier in the day. However, oil price saw modest gains.
Bitcoin Marches to its Own DrumBTC traded near $62,667 on Wednesday, down about 2.5% over 24 hours. Its recent price action has followed crypto-specific stress, not the politics in Washington.
Bitcoin Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoA record 13-day run of outflows drained about $4.4 billion from U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through early June. It was the longest streak since the funds launched in January 2024.
BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest fund, lost roughly $980 million in its worst week yet. A Federal Reserve in no hurry to cut rates has added to the strain. BTC now trades near half its October record around $126,000.
The slide undercuts the safe-haven story crypto promoters often repeat. During the U.S. strikes on Iran this year, BTC slid with equities rather than rising like gold.
The pattern is familiar. BTC fell about 8% the day Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, then quickly rebounded. The move echoed its Ukraine war playbook.
For now, BTC trades on liquidity and interest rates, not geopolitics. Whether ETF flows turn around may matter more than any vote in Congress.
AscendEX has formally partnered with Bitgert to improve the user experience and fuel the adoption of blockchain technology. This is great news for the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Bitgert: Introducing the First Ever Feeless Blockchain Solutions Having garnered much attention thanks to its status as one of the fastest-growing crypto projects, Bitgert’s primary claim to fame is its innovative gas feeless blockchain. Indeed, this approach not only solves one of the most significant problems in the modern blockchain industry, namely, the high cost of transactions (when using certain platforms) but also presents a wide range of innovations, from the unique Platform CEX to various other features.
To sum up, thanks to innovative technology and zero-fee transactions, Bitgert keeps attracting more and more enthusiasts and crypto developers, solidifying its position as one of the leaders in the blockchain market.
AscendEX: Empowering the Crypto Journey Notably, AscendEX is a reputable cryptocurrency exchange that has not been reluctant to drive innovation in the market. As a global cryptocurrency trading platform that focuses on making investing, earning, and trading many hundreds of crypto assets easy to do, AscendEX is unrelenting in its efforts to improve the blockchain space. Since it champions easy-to-use solutions that put the power into the hands of the users, the partnership with Bitgert resonates well with its vision of making blockchain accessible to everyone.
What the Partnership Brings The collaboration plans to interconnect AscendEX’s strong infrastructure with Bitgert’s disruptive solution to provide better services to users. Combined, they aim to organize blockchain technologies to solve problems such as transaction fees and provide crypto solutions to their consumers.
The announcement statement states, “Together, we’ll enhance user experiences and accelerate blockchain adoption.” The partnership not only sets clear aims and expectations for developing new technologies but also guarantees that a friendly and productive environment for the blockchain will be established.
Looking Ahead They also announced that they’re preparing for ‘amazing updates ahead,’ which means this partnership is the first of many to revolutionize the sector.
The cooperation between AscendEX and Bitgert shows that innovation, openness, and expansion objectives unite both companies. The two-chain entities will go a long way in transforming how current and prospective users engage with the blockchain, thus making the crypto environment affordable and less cumbersome to use.
As expected, these leading players in the industry will roll out further enhancements and bring about a new shift in direction to the blockchain and cryptocurrency landscape.
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With over five years of experience in crypto, blockchain, and tech content, Ishtiyaq makes complex topics easy to understand. He simplifies blockchain and digital currency concepts for a wide audience, ensuring that beginners and experts alike can grasp key ideas. His clear and engaging writing helps readers stay informed about the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the crypto space. Whether explaining blockchain technology, digital assets, or DeFi, Ishtiyaq breaks down complicated ideas into simple, digestible content. His goal is to help people navigate the fast-changing world of cryptocurrency with confidence, clarity, and a deeper understanding.
The major crypto exchange AscendEx made a formal announcement of its partnership with Dechat, a decentralized and secure communications protocol. This partnership will help this team to extend the limits when working with users of the decentralized world, making it easy to transfer information and exchange it securely between platforms.
Strengthening the Web3 Infrastructure Dechat is the Web3 communications protocol of the next generation that will enable safe and decentralized interactions of users.
Its infrastructure reduces the need of having centralized intermediaries, so users have complete authority over data and privacy. This perfectly fits into the mission statement of AscendEx whose efforts are to raise transparency and confidence in the blockchain platform.
The collaboration is likely to merge the communication services of Dechat into the environment of AscendEx, improving the customer experience of traders and crypto lovers all over the world.
Although specific integration guidelines remain concealed, the combination of a highly-functional trading platform with a high-quality messaging protocol is already gaining the interest of Web3 enthusiasts.
A Strategic Alliance With Broader Implications AscendEx enjoys a solid reputation as a global digital asset trading platform, where its users have the privilege to invest, earn, and exchange hundreds of crypto assets in an efficient way.
Through its cooperation with Dechat, the exchange has demonstrated that it is determined to transform itself beyond merely trading and establish an entire ecosystem of DeFi and communications.
The potential to this partnership is vast, as it will effectively allow direct wallet-to-wallet communications, safe trading conversation, and even community governance via the message layer with Dechat. It is a movement toward making decentralized platforms more convenient and user-oriented.
Community and Market Response The announcement has been welcomed in the crypto community. Its fans consider it a step to a more connected and functional Web3 infrastructure. This partnership can be used as an example of future collaboration between decentralized communication protocol and a trading platform, with both projects gaining increased popularity.
AscendEx has cautioned its customers to wait and see more announcements, possibly product releases or some other technical integrations. They presented the announcement on their official Twitter account alongside a visually interesting graphic, including logos of both brands and the Dechat icon.
Looking Ahead As security, decentralization, and interoperability become the leading concerns in the blockchain industry, the collaboration between AscendEx and Dechat will shape the future of digital interaction. These partnerships will be important as the Web3 sector continues to develop and create confidence and innovation.
AUTHOR
With over five years of experience in crypto, blockchain, and tech content, Ishtiyaq makes complex topics easy to understand. He simplifies blockchain and digital currency concepts for a wide audience, ensuring that beginners and experts alike can grasp key ideas. His clear and engaging writing helps readers stay informed about the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the crypto space. Whether explaining blockchain technology, digital assets, or DeFi, Ishtiyaq breaks down complicated ideas into simple, digestible content. His goal is to help people navigate the fast-changing world of cryptocurrency with confidence, clarity, and a deeper understanding.
XT.COM, a global crypto asset exchange, has joined forces with Cobak, a premier blockchain social community. This partnership, unveiled on March 15th, aims to cultivate a robust crypto ecosystem and invigorate the blockchain market. This collaboration is not merely a business deal but a visionary step towards redefining the dynamics of trust, transparency, and community engagement in the digital asset space.
The crypto industry, with its rapid evolution and expanding user base, requires constant innovation and strategic partnerships to thrive. XT.COM, with its impressive 9 million monthly active users, and Cobak, holding a significant influence over 500,000 Korean crypto enthusiasts, represent a powerhouse alliance.
Their combined efforts are poised to create a ripple effect, setting new benchmarks for project discovery and ecosystem integrity within the blockchain domain.
A New Era of Trust and Transparency At the heart of this partnership is a shared commitment to restoring faith in the crypto market. Albin Warin, CEO of XT.COM, emphasized the importance of fairness and transparency in uncovering new ventures.
The crypto space has been marred by skepticism and uncertainty, partly due to past instances of opacity and questionable practices. This collaboration aims to change that narrative by implementing rigorous standards for project selection and community engagement, ensuring that innovation and integrity go hand in hand.
Kim Kyungik, CEO of Cobak, views this alliance as a pivotal moment for both entities to forge shared visions and values in business. By doing so, Cobak aspires to spearhead the crypto industry’s advancement, identifying and nurturing blockchain projects with the potential to revolutionize the market.
The partnership’s focus on uncovering promising ventures underscores a proactive approach to shaping the future of blockchain technology, providing a platform for growth and innovation.
Expanding Horizons: From Korea to the Global Stage Cobak’s strategy to broaden its business scope by spotlighting Korean and international blockchain projects highlights the global ambition of this partnership.
The goal is to cater to a diverse audience of crypto users, offering them access to a curated selection of ventures that promise growth and innovation. XT.COM, in turn, pledges comprehensive support for these projects, aiming to foster their development on a global scale.
Founded in the year 2018 and headquartered in Dubai, XT.COM has marked its presence across various continents, with operational centers in Singapore, Europe, and beyond. Offering a suite of crypto asset services, including spot, futures, and mining, the exchange boasts over 7 million registered users and supports trading for approximately 800 projects.
This expansive network positions XT.COM as a formidable player in the global crypto exchange arena, ranking among the top 20 according to CoinMarketCap.
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Mysterious crypto writer with expertise in blockchain, offering deep insights that captivate and intrigue readers. With a unique ability to uncover hidden insights and trends, Samuel delivers in-depth analysis and thought-provoking content that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. His writing style is engaging and informative, blending technical knowledge with a sense of intrigue, making complex crypto topics accessible to both newcomers and seasoned industry professionals. Samuel’s work continues to capture the attention of the crypto community, solidifying his reputation as a trusted voice in the space.
Badger is a decentralized autonomous organization focused on creating the necessary products and infrastructure to accelerate Bitcoin on other blockchains.
What is Badger DAO (BADGER)?Badger DAO aims to build the infrastructure needed to accelerate the use of Bitcoin in decentralized finance, focusing on Ethereum and other blockchains. The BADGER development team has designed a seamless ecosystem by allowing projects from any DeFi protocol to collaborate and create joint products.
Since BADGER is built on a DAO infrastructure, it aligns developers’ incentives with decentralized governance, regardless of the project they work on. The idea here is to foster a spirit of collaboration rather than competition within the DeFi ecosystem.
Since its inception, the primary goal of the project has been to ensure that Badger DAO is community-driven. Community governance makes decisions about new products and ensures fair distribution of BADGER tokens to all participants. All these demonstrate that the founders are committed to a transparent and fair community-first approach for everyone.
The key to Badger DAO’s success lies in how effectively it attracts all the much-needed liquidity from content creators and coders required to maintain the project’s progress.
BADGER has established an Aragon DAO, where financial and organizational decisions can be made by consensus and smart contracts. An operation is approved if a proposal achieves a 50% majority vote within 7 days. Many decisions related to protocol and funding are carried out this way. The BADGER token will have an impact on all products and protocols of Badger DAO.
Badger Coin can be securely purchased through Binance, the world’s largest exchange by trading volume. To do this, one must register on the Binance exchange and then send cryptocurrency or fiat currency to their account wallet. Badger DAO Coin is currently traded on Binance in the BADGER/BTC, BADGER/BUSD, and BADGER/USDT pairs.
To buy BADGER Coin on the Binance interface, one of the three pairs mentioned above must be selected and the desired amount recorded in the limit section. Users who complete these transactions can place a buy order and store Badger DAO Coin in their wallets.
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.
Transak, a global fiat-to-crypto payments infrastructure provider, has teamed with Opera’s MiniPay, a leading dollar stablecoin wallet based on the Celo blockchain. This partnership enhances MiniPay’s capacity to enable seamless on-and off-ramping of stablecoins — Celo Dollar (cUSD), Tether USD (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC) — in over 50 countries, with a wider selection of local payment options.
As part of this partnership on- and off-ramping is available with zero fees for a limited period, enabling users to interact with stablecoins without the traditional obstacles of fees and further pushing adoption by making cross-border payments more inexpensive. The objective behind the inaugural zero-fee promotion is to allow more people to experience stablecoins’ attribute of near-instant cross-border payments and settlements without the technological bells and whistles.
MiniPay allows near-instant, low-cost transfers of stablecoins with costs as low as $0.001 per transaction, owing to the efficiency of the Celo blockchain. Onboarding needs only an email address and phone number, making it simple for anybody to start using stablecoins. In certain markets, consumers may even acquire as low as five dollars of stablecoins, making it affordable for anyone. Users may also pay bills and utilities in specific markets at zero cost.
Here’s how it works:
On-Ramping: By buying stablecoins directly with local currencies using a variety of payment options, including as credit/debit cards, Google Pay, and Apple Pay, users may fill up their MiniPay wallet. Off-Ramping: By converting stablecoins into local currencies and sending the money straight to their bank accounts or credit cards, users may take money out. Carlo de Luca Gabrielli, Global Director of Sales at Transak stated:
“We believe financial tools should be accessible to everyone, everywhere. By joining forces with MiniPay, we’re not only making digital finance affordable but also promoting inclusiveness for communities that need it the most.”
MiniPay has more over 5 million active wallets since its September 2023 debut, demonstrating widespread use and demand for inexpensive, international transactions. Transak’s goal of making web3 accessible to everyone in a non-custodial way is perfectly aligned with the ultralight (2MB) wallet’s impressive success in emerging markets.
MiniPay’s dedication to giving consumers simple access to stablecoins and promoting their widespread adoption is further strengthened by the partnership with Transak.
Jørgen Arnesen, EVP of Mobile at Opera stated:
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Transak to offer MiniPay users a wider range of local payment options as we expand our stablecoin wallet to more countries worldwide. By eliminating fees, we’re breaking down financial barriers, making cross-border transactions and remittances more accessible and affordable, and driving the adoption of stablecoins even further.”
Because they provide a reliable substitute for conventional methods, stablecoins are becoming an increasingly important tool for remittances. This fee-free access is revolutionary because it eliminates the obstacles that usually make international payments expensive and time-consuming. MiniPay guarantees that users can transfer money across the globe swiftly and affordably, whether for regular transactions or remittances. This makes it an accessible option for individuals, families, and businesses in need of quick, dependable, and reasonably priced financial tools.
A devoted content writer having 3 years of crypto trading experience. Loves cooking and swimming. Stays up to date with the latest developments on blockchain technology.
Despite being closely associated with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies by extension, blockchain’s landscape has been evolving rapidly. As the Fintech industry continues to be the blockchain leader, other industries have taken cautious steps towards researching various use cases of the technology.
Dan Weinberger, Co-founder and CEO of Morpheus Network, was quoted as saying that distributed ledger technology [DLT] or blockchain has the same transformative power as the Internet in the early 1990s. Different sectors have indeed diversified their blockchain initiatives, but the question that still lingers is whether industry players understand the technology. According to Brendan Blumer, CEO of Block.one, the parent company of EOS, a lot of big companies do.
In conversation with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan, Blumer said,
“A growing number of big companies do. One of the initial approaches or interpretations large organizations had on blockchain is ‘well, we can do that faster and cheaper’. They failed to recognize the social movement that blockchain was creating… It’s fundamentally a new building block that we can use to create alternative systems.”
While everyone is eager to know when adoption of the tech will hit a peak, Blumer opined that transition will be slow. According to Blumer, “big companies” have different risk profiles and some of them “don’t even have the mandate to take big risks.” He also asserted that more private organizations will embrace technology and subsequently, change the trust in the relationship they have with their consumers.
Eyes everywhere
“We live in a world where right now we can see what Facebook shows us. We can see our newsfeed, and we know there’s algorithms back there. We know they’re taking our data and they’re using it to serve us ads. We have a general premise of what’s going on, but we can’t see anything below the surface.”
In the information age, the threat to privacy has been a controversial subject. In recent years, online networking giants such as Facebook have suffered major data breaches. The Block.one CEO is positive that decentralized ledger technology can help fix it. He said,
“I believe that over time, blockchain is going to change that and they’re gonna change that through a consumer-led demand that people show us what’s below the surface. We now want to see what they’re doing with our data, how they’re serving us ads and who’s paying for it.”
