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After failing to maintain the recovery rally that peaked close to the 200-day moving average, Bitcoin is still under a lot of pressure. The longer-term bearish structure was validated by the $82,000 rejection, which also set off another wave of selling that drove Bitcoin back toward $58,000.
The situation is still weak technically. Bitcoin is currently trading below the 50, 100, and 200-day moving averages, all of which are still declining. This alignment usually indicates that sellers are in control over a number of time periods. While RSI is close to oversold territory and has not produced a strong bullish divergence, volume has not shown any indications of significant accumulation.
The most important level to keep an eye on is the most recent low of $57,000 to $58,000. A more severe decline would be possible if it were lost. For the time being, any upward movement appears to be more of a relief bounce than the beginning of a long-term trend reversal.
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Stellar is avoiding a bear trendXLM is still one of the few large-cap tokens that is holding close to its moving averages in spite of the overall weakness of the market. The token recently saw a huge surge that drove it above the 200-day moving average and generated a significant amount of trading activity.
The price is currently testing the cluster of the 50, 100, and 200-day moving averages around the $0.18–$0.19 zone after sharply retracing from local highs near $0.30. Bulls and bears now use this region as a crucial battlefield. The fact that XLM's longer-term structure has not entirely collapsed is a plus. In contrast to Bitcoin, Stellar still has an opportunity to reach a higher low if buyers hold onto the present support levels.
XLM/USDT Chart by TradingViewThere is less speculative excess in the market as a result of the RSI cooling from overbought conditions. If XLM is able to hold above $0.18, it may be able to stabilize and try to push higher again. However, a breakdown below that range would probably invalidate a large portion of the recent breakout and return the asset to a wider downtrend.
The asset broke out of a descending triangle pattern after consolidating above important support levels for several months. It is currently trading close to $1.03, which is dangerously close to the psychological $1 mark. The breakdown in and of itself is significant. XRP consistently printed lower highs while defending the $1.30 support zone throughout March, April, and May.
Sellers eventually outnumbered buyers, which caused a sharp decline below support. The move accelerated the downward momentum and validated the bearish structure.
XRP remains alertedXRP is still in a precarious position technically. The price is moving below the downward-sloping 50-, 100-, and 200-day moving averages.
This alignment typically indicates a long-term downward trend as opposed to a brief correction. Buyers have not regained control, as evidenced by the rejection of each recovery attempt over the past few weeks near moving-average resistance. Currently, $1.00 is the most crucial level. In addition to being a significant psychological barrier, it is also one of the final significant support areas before XRP moves into a region where past purchasing activity becomes significantly less frequent.
XRP/USDT Chart by TradingViewAnother wave of liquidations and panic selling would probably result from a breakdown below $1, particularly among traders who have been anticipating a recovery from current levels. Although RSI is getting close to oversold territory, a convincing reversal signal has not yet been generated.
This does not necessarily mean that a bottom has formed, even though it implies that downside momentum may be slowing. The road ahead is simple but challenging for bulls. To refute the current bearish trend, XRP must eventually return above the broken $1.30 support area and at least recover the 50-day moving average around $1.13.
Until then, rallies are probably not going to be seen as the beginning of a recovery, but rather as opportunities for sellers. The medium-term course of XRP may be decided in the next few days. A relief bounce is possible if $1 holds. If it does not hold, the market might experience another painful decline.
Hyperliquid makes hasteDespite the recent correction, Hyperliquid is still one of the market's best-performing assets. In contrast to the majority of cryptocurrencies, HYPE is still firmly above its major moving averages and maintains a more expansive bullish structure. HYPE entered a phase of increased volatility after rising from below $30 earlier this year to highs above $75. The asset went through a number of significant corrections, but buyers kept intervening before the trend could fully collapse.
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After yet another rejection from local highs, HYPE is currently trading close to $65. The pullback may seem alarming, but the chart remains positive. The 100-day and 200-day averages are still much lower, indicating the strength of the underlying trend, while the 50-day moving average at $64 continues to serve as immediate support. Several tests have already been conducted on the rising trendline that sustained the advance throughout the spring.
During times of volatility, the price briefly fell below it, but buyers soon regained control, averting a more significant structural breakdown. There is a significant decrease in momentum. After being in overbought conditions for weeks, the RSI has declined toward neutral territory. Since it eliminates excessive speculation without ruining the uptrend, this reset is actually beneficial to the market.
The 50-day moving average is the crucial level to monitor. Another attempt to reach the $70-$75 range is still possible if HYPE can stay above it. The likelihood of a deeper retracement toward the 100-day moving average around $53 would rise in the event of a break below that level. HYPE is one of the few significant assets that is currently exhibiting a bullish market structure. The current correction does not appear to be the start of a full trend reversal, but rather consolidation following an explosive rally.
The broader cryptocurrency market remains heavy, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading below $59,000 at press time on Wednesday, as US President Donald Trump weighs an all-out war with Iran but opts for diplomatic talks. Meanwhile, Stellar (XLM) and Pyth Network (PYTH) emerge as bullish outliers over the last 24 hours.
Crypto investors stick to the sidelinesThe broader crypto market sustains a risk-off sentiment as Bitcoin remains below $60,000 amid emerging hints of a renewed US-Iran war. CoinMarketCap’s Fear and Greed Index hovers near 17, maintaining its Extreme Fear signal.
Fear and Greed Index. Source: CoinMarketCapUS President Donald Trump held multiple meetings with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine about a return to all-out war with Iran, as previously reported by FXStreet. However, Trump has decided to stick with the diplomatic route for now, keeping the 60-day ceasefire over the Strait of Hormuz intact.
Bitcoin vulnerable to deeper lossesBitcoin hovers above the June 25 low of $58,115, maintaining a bearish bias with roughly a 3% decline the previous day. Momentum stays fragile, with the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) and signal line moving flat, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 31 hovers just above oversold territory, suggesting that any rebound would initially be corrective within a broader bearish context.
A decisive close below $58,115 could extend Bitcoin's decline toward the July 5, 2024 support level of $53,485.
BTC/USDT daily price chart.On the topside, immediate resistance appears at the $60,000 horizontal level, followed by the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at about $66,343, which reinforces the broader cap on recovery attempts.
Stellar and Pyth Network regain strengthStellar edges higher by 6% at press time on Wednesday, extending its 8% gains from the previous day. XLM crosses above the 50- and 200-day EMAs at $0.1897 and $0.1974, respectively, keeping the near-term bias mildly bullish.
The RSI near 54 suggests constructive but not overextended momentum, while an uptick in the MACD line indicates a possible bullish crossover with the signal line, hinting that upside traction is improving but not yet impulsive.
A decisive close above the 200-day EMA at $0.1974 could extend the XLM rally toward the $0.2500 round figure, which capped gains on June 18.
XLM/USDT daily price chart.Looking down, immediate support is seen at the $0.1974 area defined by the 200-day EMA, followed by the $0.1897 region where the 50-day EMA converges as a deeper demand zone.
Pyth Network shows a steadier recovery with the third consecutive day of gains testing the 50-day EMA at $0.03854. At the time of writing, PYTH extends gains above the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.03529, measured over the downswing from $0.06310 to $0.02950.
The MACD and signal line rise again as positive histograms expand, while the RSI at 54 suggests mildly improving momentum.
On the topside, immediate resistance appears at the 50-day EMA near $0.0385, with the 50% retracement of the latest swing at $0.04314 acting as the next barrier.
PYTH/USDT daily price chart.On the downside, initial support aligns with the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement at $0.03529, while a deeper slide would expose the swing-low anchor at $0.02950 as the next significant demand area.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
Chainlink's $LINK is fast approaching a symbolic milestone on Ethereum. According to fresh on-chain data from Santiment, the number of non-empty LINK wallets on Ethereum has climbed to 895,161, with thousands of new addresses added in a matter of days. The 900,000 holder mark is now within reach.
That figure covers Ethereum alone. BNB Chain holds an additional 190,000-plus $LINK wallets, with further balances spread across other networks, underscoring how broadly the token's ownership base has grown across the multi-chain landscape.
A divergence worth watching The unusual aspect of this growth is its timing. Santiment noted that the holder expansion is occurring while LINK trades near recent local lows, creating a visible divergence between network participation and price performance. When wallet counts rise sharply without a corresponding move in price, analysts often read it as quiet accumulation ahead of a broader re-rating.
Bulls point to the pattern as evidence that informed capital is positioning early. Skeptics, however, will want to see price confirm the thesis. Not every wallet represents a unique user, and on-chain growth can reflect exchange deposit addresses or accounts splitting holdings rather than pure organic demand.
Institutional backdrop adds context The wallet surge is not happening in isolation. Santiment linked the recent growth to a series of institutional developments, including Project Pangea, the DTCC's collateral infrastructure work, the expansion of tokenized real-world assets, and around-the-clock equity data delivery systems. Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has also recently surpassed Wormhole in transfer volume across more than 70 blockchain networks, adding a tangible usage milestone to the narrative.
Separate reports indicate Chainlink bought back $15 million in $LINK over the past 90 days with no token unlocks during the same period, while its reserve holds 4.5 million LINK following $49.5 million in cumulative inflows. These supply-side dynamics, combined with rising holder counts, are reinforcing the accumulation case for those watching the fundamentals closely.
Whether the price follows the wallets into July remains the open question. The on-chain data makes the setup hard to ignore.
The project, supported by Visa, Mastercard and many crypto companies, could be in a position to challenge Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, currently the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization.
More than 140 companies have signed onto a US dollar-pegged stablecoin project that allows them to “receive all of the earnings” from its reserves.
In a Tuesday notice, Open Standard said it was launching the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin, a US dollar-pegged coin supported by financial companies including Visa and Mastercard, as well as crypto companies Coinbase, Ripple, OKX and Bybit. The project will allow businesses to mint OUSD “at no cost and with no artificial limits on volume,” and keep earnings from the coin’s reserves.
“When Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, Coinbase and Google coordinate on a new stablecoin, the signal is unmistakable,” said Rhino.fi co-founder and CEO Will Harborne. “Open USD is the first launch with a real chance to win share from USDT and USDC, because reserve revenue flows back to everyone who holds it. But that same incentive is what drives fragmentation at scale.”
Source: Open Standard
Because it’s backed by so many high profile companies, the coin could be in a position to challenge Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, currently the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization. The share price of Circle Internet Group dropped by more than 16% on Tuesday to $63.63.
According to Open Standard, OUSD will launch “later this year.” The current size of the stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama, is more than $312 billion and projected to reach up to $4 trillion by 2030.
In a Tuesday X post following the announcement, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said that the company welcomed “continued innovation and competition in the space,” adding that it would soon expand support for US dollar-pegged and non-US dollar stablecoins.
“[We] look forward to remaining laser-focused on building the best stablecoin infrastructure possible and driving more customer and partner success,” said Allaire.
Stablecoin launch comes under US law favorable to the industryUS President Donald Trump signed a bill to establish a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, called the GENIUS Act, into law last year. Many experts expect that the legislation, awaiting federal authorities finalizing regulations for implementation, could pave the way for the stablecoin market to grow as companies potentially begin issuing and accepting digital assets more easily.
Magazine: Does ‘Paper Bitcoin’ mean there’s an unlimited supply of BTC?
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TLDROpen USD Aims to Challenge USDC DominanceCircle Stock Reacts to Shifting Revenue DynamicsRegulation and Institutional Backing Reshape CompetitionGet 3 Free Stock Ebooks Circle stock dropped more than 16% after Open USD was announced. Open USD is backed by major firms including Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock. The project introduces a revenue-sharing model that differs from USDC. Circle and Coinbase currently earn income from USDC reserve assets. Open USD allows users to mint and redeem tokens without fees. Circle stock declined sharply after a new stablecoin initiative raised competitive pressure on USDC. The market reacted quickly as Open USD entered the sector with strong institutional backing. Consequently, Circle stock faced selling pressure while Coinbase shares also moved lower.
Open USD Aims to Challenge USDC Dominance Circle stock dropped more than 16% as investors reacted to the Open USD announcement. The new stablecoin project introduced a competing model with broad industry support. As a result, Circle stock reflected concerns about possible market share erosion.
Open Standard leads the Open USD initiative alongside major financial and technology companies. The coalition includes Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, and Bank of New York Mellon. It also includes Coinbase, Google, IBM, and several global banks and crypto firms.
However, Circle, Tether, and PayPal did not join the consortium behind Open USD. This absence highlighted a direct competitive line between existing issuers and the new network. Therefore, Circle stock faced additional pressure as markets assessed this divide.
Open Standard confirmed Open USD will launch later this year with over 140 participating businesses. The project allows users to mint and redeem tokens without fees. Moreover, the model distributes most reserve income to network participants instead of retaining it.
Circle Stock Reacts to Shifting Revenue Dynamics Circle stock declined as investors evaluated changes to stablecoin revenue structures. Open USD introduces a shared income model that differs from traditional issuer-controlled profits. Consequently, Circle stock reflected concerns about future earnings stability.
USDC currently holds about $73.6 billion in circulation and remains a major stablecoin. Circle and Coinbase share revenue generated from USDC reserve assets. Therefore, Circle stock links closely to stablecoin performance and associated income streams.
Coinbase relies heavily on USDC-related revenue within its subscription and services segment. This segment accounted for 44% of total first-quarter revenue. As a result, Circle stock movements aligned with broader concerns affecting Coinbase.
Circle Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire addressed market concerns following the announcement. He stated, “USDC remains the most trusted, widely adopted stablecoin globally.” He also added that the company welcomes competition in the sector.
Regulation and Institutional Backing Reshape Competition Circle stock also reflected broader changes in the regulatory landscape supporting new entrants. Lawmakers continue advancing stablecoin legislation to define reserve and licensing requirements. Therefore, Circle stock faced pressure from both competition and policy developments.
The CLARITY Act is progressing toward a Senate vote while the GENIUS Act sets federal standards. These rules favor large institutions with strong compliance systems. Consequently, Circle stock reacted as markets priced in new competitive advantages.
Government officials also supported the Open USD initiative as regulation becomes clearer. Patrick Witt said the launch shows how clear rules unlock value in digital assets. He added that upcoming legislation will expand opportunities across the crypto sector.
USDC and USDT currently dominate about 80% of the global stablecoin market. However, Open USD represents a major coordinated effort to challenge this dominance. As a result, Circle stock continues to reflect shifting expectations across the stablecoin ecosystem.
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Circle just printed another billion USDC on Solana. That brings the total USDC minted on the network in 2026 to a staggering $64.25B, a number that would have sounded absurd even a year ago.
The minting machine that won’t stop The latest $1B mint, recorded on or around June 16, pushed weekly USDC issuance on Solana to $3.5B. That’s up from a weekly figure of $3.25B back in early April, which itself felt like a breakneck pace at the time.
By mid-June, cumulative gross USDC minting on Solana had already hit roughly $57B. The jump from $57B to $64.25B in what appears to be a matter of days illustrates just how rapidly Circle has been feeding stablecoin supply into the network.
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Look at the individual mints from earlier this year for context. Late March saw a $750M issuance. Mid-March and late April each brought $500M mints. Now billion-dollar prints barely register as headline-worthy. The scale has shifted dramatically.
On-chain tracking from firms like Lookonchain and Arkham has confirmed multiple instances of single-day issuances exceeding $1B throughout 2026.
Why Solana keeps winning the stablecoin race Earlier reports indicated that Solana’s share of total USDC supply approached 10%. That figure has likely grown given the sustained minting activity, though the exact current percentage depends on net circulation rather than gross issuance.
Circle maintains dedicated infrastructure for USDC on Solana, including a public SPL token address and specialized mint accounts. Through its Circle Mint service, institutions can mint and redeem USDC at a 1:1 ratio with US dollars directly on the network.
What this means for investors Investors should also consider the difference between gross minting and net circulation. The $64.25B figure represents total USDC minted on Solana in 2026, not the current circulating supply. Redemptions, where users convert USDC back to fiat, reduce net supply. The gross number captures demand intensity, but net supply is the metric that actually determines available liquidity on the network.
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Early ZEC Holders Get a Path Back to Stranded FundsZcash nonprofit @sovright_ has released a new recovery tool called Argos, designed to help early $ZEC holders reclaim shielded funds that became inaccessible when ZEC Wallet Lite was discontinued in 2022. For users who still have their original seed phrase, Argos offers a potential route to funds that have been effectively out of reach for years.
The wallet was once a widely used light client for Zcash's shielded transaction layer, and its shutdown left a number of long-time adopters unable to access balances held in private shielded addresses. The total amount stranded has been described as significant, with early community members bearing the brunt of the impact. Sovright has not confirmed how many addresses were affected, and the scale of the recovery opportunity remains unclear. The organization says Argos is available to any former ZEC Wallet Lite user who retained their seed phrase, making that backup the key requirement for the tool.
The recovery challenge has persisted within the Zcash community for some time. As the Zcash Community Forum has documented, one recurring difficulty is that even users with a valid seed phrase may struggle to recover funds through standard wallet imports, due to the specific way ZEC Wallet Lite derived keys and addresses. Argos is Sovright's attempt to close that gap directly.
Who Is Sovright and Where Does It Fit in the Zcash Ecosystem?Sovright is the nonprofit that emerged from the Bootstrap board following January 2026's governance split with ECC. Bootstrap is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was created to support Zcash and provide governance oversight for ECC. When the entire ECC engineering and product team resigned in January 2026 following that dispute, the former ECC staff went on to form the VC-backed Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), which has since raised over $25 million from investors including a16z Crypto, Paradigm, and Coinbase Ventures.
Sovright, by contrast, carries forward the nonprofit side of that legacy. The Argos launch adds a user-facing recovery function to a portfolio that already includes protocol development work and a testnet for a new Zcash mining pool with shielded payouts by default.
The release also arrives during an active period for the broader Zcash network. Network Upgrade 7 (NU7) went live on testnet in May 2026, doubling shielded transaction speed and cutting block times, paving the way for a mainnet rollout. Tools that help long-standing holders recover previously inaccessible balances could support renewed engagement with the protocol's shielded layer as that rollout approaches.
Sovright has not released a timeline for a full audit of affected addresses. Potential users should treat Argos as an early-stage release until further guidance is published by the organization.
Sources:
Zcash Community Forum: Discussion on ZEC Wallet Lite recovery challenges
CoinDesk: ECC staff quit after governance clash with Bootstrap
CoinDesk: ZODL raises $25 million in seed funding
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A large holder reignited interest in Uniswap [UNI] after withdrawing 360,071 UNI, valued at approximately $1.06 million, from OKX. The transfer suggests the investor preferred holding tokens away from the exchange instead of keeping them available for immediate sale.
Such activity often reflected growing conviction among whales, especially when sizeable withdrawals followed a period of price weakness. However, one transaction alone did not confirm a broader trend. It instead highlighted that at least one major participant considered current prices attractive enough to accumulate aggressively.
Meanwhile, the move aligned with improving sentiment across derivatives markets, strengthening the argument that whales continued positioning for higher prices despite UNI remaining below key resistance levels.
Exchange outflows strengthened the accumulation case Spot market activity continued supporting the accumulation narrative after UNI recorded a net outflow of $1.18 million.
Investors removed more tokens from exchanges than they deposited, reducing the immediate supply available for selling. The behavior generally reflected growing confidence among holders who preferred moving assets into private wallets rather than leaving them on trading platforms.
The latest outflow remained relatively modest compared to larger historical spikes shown on the chart. However, consistent negative netflows suggested sell-side pressure had not intensified. Instead, exchange balances continued shrinking gradually, providing another supportive signal alongside the recent whale withdrawal.
Source: CoinGlass Why did Binance traders keep backing Uniswap? Derivatives traders continued expressing confidence despite UNI trading beneath an important resistance level.
At press time, Binance’s Long/Short Ratio showed 66.04% of accounts holding long positions, while only 33.96% remained short. The imbalance reflected sustained bullish conviction among leveraged participants, even after UNI struggled to extend its latest recovery.
However, an aggressive long bias also increased the market’s sensitivity to sudden pullbacks because heavily leveraged positions could unwind quickly if support failed. Even so, traders had not meaningfully reduced their exposure.
Instead, they continued favoring higher prices, indicating expectations that buyers could eventually regain control once resistance weakened through sustained demand.
Source: CoinGlass UNI faced resistance as bullish strength weakened Uniswap remained trapped below the $3.014 resistance after failing to extend its sharp rebound from the $2.394 support zone. Buyers defended higher lows, yet they failed to generate enough strength to reclaim the next resistance level.
Meanwhile, the Parabolic SAR continued printing dots above price as of writing, confirming that sellers retained control of the broader trend. The MACD also reflected fading buying strength as both signal lines converged near the zero level while the histogram flattened.
That combination suggested bullish pressure had gradually weakened following the recovery rally. However, UNI still traded comfortably above its recent swing low, leaving buyers with an opportunity to challenge resistance again if fresh demand emerged around current levels.
Source: TradingView Can whales help UNI reclaim resistance? Whale accumulation, continued exchange outflows, and bullish positioning among Binance traders collectively supported Uniswap’s broader outlook. However, the chart still favored caution because UNI had not reclaimed the $3.014 resistance, while technical indicators continued reflecting lingering selling pressure.
If buyers sustain accumulation and leveraged traders maintain their conviction, UNI could challenge resistance again. Until then, the market would likely require stronger buying participation before confirming a more durable recovery.
Final Summary Whale accumulation and exchange outflows reflected growing holder confidence despite UNI trading below resistance. Binance traders remained heavily long while technical indicators still favored cautious price action.
The case for confidential compute on Solana amid the ANSEM frenzy has an interesting setup forming for Arcium's token.
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Last Friday we wrote about why Solana is the venue with the most momentum right now.
That was before the weekend, when Ansem commandeered his own token and started handing it to anyone who engaged with him online. Now there's reason to watch both SOL and the wider ecosystem, as fresh capital starts sloshing around the chain.
Will SOL Keep Outperforming? on Bankless
SOL outperformed everything in crypto today. Here’s why Solana’s bull case is improving.
BanklessWilliam M. Peaster
How long it stays parked in ANSEM is the open question. Some of it will inevitably leak out as the token climbs, rotating to other venues or to names flying under the radar.
To me, one of those is Arcium (ARX).
A week off its TGE, ARX checks several fundamental boxes. The confidential compute network behind it is anything but proven, so treat what follows less as a call and more as a checklist: the traits that make a young token worth a look, and the ones that should give you pause.
ARX is now live. pic.twitter.com/lNW0dYGvcQ
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— Arcium ☂️ (@Arcium) June 22, 2026 What Arcium Actually IsArcium is a decentralized compute network that lets applications run computations on encrypted data.
Those operations could involve private payments, confidential DeFi, private trading logic, or AI working with sensitive inputs. In practice, an app keeps owning the user experience while offshoring the encrypted computation to Arcium's network, which is what makes the private features possible.
Umbra, a growing "incognito" wallet, uses Arcium to this end.
When a user deposits USDC into Umbra, their funds move into an onchain pool while their balance is represented through an encrypted account. When they later withdraw or transfer, Arcium's MPC network verifies they have enough balance without revealing it to any network participants.
I mentioned Arcium could work for AI but, until recently, that was a read-through from this broader architecture. If it can help apps compute over encrypted financial data, the same idea should apply to AI systems working with sensitive prompts, files, or proprietary inputs.
But, last Friday Arcium unveiled Blackthorn, an initiative built specifically for that: confidential AI for encrypted inference and training, where prompts, files, model weights, and outputs stay encrypted from the cloud provider, the infrastructure operator, and Arcium itself.
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Smart money activity has always been one of the strongest indicators crypto investors monitor. While retail traders often react after prices begin moving, larger wallets typically build positions quietly during periods of uncertainty.
That pattern is becoming increasingly visible in June 2026. On-chain trackers are showing growing accumulation around the MemeToro ($MT) presale, while Solana (SOL) continues attracting attention despite facing short-term technical weakness.
Although both assets occupy very different positions in the market, investors are watching wallet activity closely to understand where experienced participants are placing capital before the second half of the year.
Smart Money Is Still Watching Solana Despite recent volatility, Solana remains one of the most closely followed blockchain ecosystems.
The token continues trading between approximately $72.61 and $73.59 as broader market uncertainty weighs on major cryptocurrencies. Technical indicators remain cautious, with both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages trending lower, suggesting that buyers still face significant resistance before a sustained recovery can begin.
Short-term forecasts remain mixed.
Some technical models estimate Solana could revisit support near $45 if selling pressure intensifies. On the other hand, stronger recovery scenarios project rebounds toward $144 should market sentiment improve during July.
Long-term investors remain optimistic.
Prediction market data suggests there is still a high probability that Solana finishes 2026 above the $80 level, reflecting continued confidence in the network despite near-term volatility.
Why Whale Activity Matters More Than Daily Prices Price movements tell only part of the story.
Professional investors often study blockchain data because wallet movements can reveal positioning before broader market trends become visible. Large purchases during periods of fear frequently indicate longer investment horizons rather than short-term trading activity.
Recent on-chain tracking has highlighted exactly that trend around MemeToro ($MT).
Large investor wallets have continued accumulating $MT during the current presale despite cautious sentiment across the wider crypto market. Rather than waiting for exchange listings, these buyers appear to be positioning during the project’s early funding stages.
That behavior has placed MemeToro among the more closely watched AI-focused presales on BNB Chain.
Why Smart Money Is Watching MemeToro The project offers exposure to several of crypto’s fastest-growing narratives.
Instead of operating as a traditional memecoin, MemeToro ($MT) combines artificial intelligence, SocialFi participation, decentralized prediction markets, behavioral finance, and automated token creation inside one ecosystem.
This diversified approach has attracted attention from investors looking beyond purely speculative assets.
The platform is designed around ongoing ecosystem activity rather than simple token ownership, giving participants multiple ways to engage after launch.
For early-stage investors, that broader utility model has become one of the project’s strongest selling points.
Inside the MemeToro Ecosystem The platform’s AI Agent powers much of the ecosystem.
It continuously analyzes social conversations, market narratives, cultural developments, and online trends to identify emerging opportunities. Those insights support an automated no-code memecoin creation engine that allows users to launch blockchain assets without programming knowledge.
The ecosystem also includes decentralized prediction markets where users can forecast outcomes across cryptocurrency, sports, entertainment, politics, and global events using both $MT and BNB.
Participants can also earn staking rewards of up to 35% APR, creating another incentive for long-term ecosystem participation.
Every major product is connected through the native $MT token.
MemeToro Presale Continues Progressing The project has now entered Stage 3 of its public presale.
So far, $27,284.54 has been raised toward the current round’s target of $80,644.11. The current presale price is $0.00171 per $MT, with future pricing scheduled to increase as additional milestones are reached.
The tokenomics continue emphasizing community ownership.
The total supply is capped at 1.2 billion $MT, with 71% allocated to presale participants and no vesting restrictions attached. Investors can currently participate using BNB, ETH, USDT, USDC, or a bank card through the official MemeToro presale portal.
Final Thoughts Smart money often focuses on accumulation before broader market momentum returns. Solana continues attracting long-term confidence despite short-term technical pressure, while on-chain activity suggests larger wallets are steadily building positions in MemeToro during its early presale stages.
For investors tracking wallet behavior rather than daily headlines, both assets remain worth monitoring for different reasons. Solana represents an established blockchain with long-term recovery potential, while MemeToro offers early exposure to an AI-powered ecosystem built around automated memecoin creation and decentralized prediction markets.
More Information on MemeToro ($MT) Presale Here:
Website: https://memetoro.com/
X: https://x.com/memetoro_mt
Telegram: https://t.me/memetoro_mt
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Solana has quietly crossed a threshold that most smart contract platforms only dream about. According to an updated report from Grayscale Research, the network now hosts over 1,000 decentralized applications and processes more than 100 million transactions every single day.
The numbers behind the noise Grayscale’s report, titled “Solana: Crypto’s Financial Bazaar,” was originally published in October 2025 and updated as of June 2026. The dApp count has roughly doubled from the more than 500 noted in the original version to over 1,000 today.
More than 100 million daily transactions translates to approximately 1,200 transactions per second on average.
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Solana is averaging around 4.3 million daily active users. That’s not total wallets ever created — that’s daily active engagement.
Solana-based decentralized exchanges have racked up year-to-date volume exceeding $3.6 trillion. Jupiter, the network’s leading DEX aggregator, has been a major driver of that figure.
What’s actually running on Solana Grayscale highlights several categories where Solana has built genuine momentum: DeFi, consumer and social applications, and decentralized physical infrastructure networks, commonly called DePIN.
Pump.fun, the memecoin launchpad, has become one of Solana’s most significant revenue-generating applications.
Zach Pandl at Grayscale has characterized Solana’s current state as a “mature settlement layer” suitable for large-scale applications. He also noted that the platform carries significantly lower risks of DeFi exploits compared to competing platforms.
SOL’s position in the market SOL currently sits as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. It offers staking yields of around 6%, which Grayscale flags as a core component of its valuation thesis.
Grayscale’s broader argument is that Solana’s valuation should be understood through the lens of its on-chain economy: the diversity of applications, the volume of transactions, and the engagement of users.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Solana’s on-chain activity has accelerated sharply, with network participation reaching its strongest level in months. The daily number of active wallets climbed to an all-time high, sitting at 4.51 million, in terms of how long this peak lasted since February as well.
The increase in activity was due to the rapid rise of tokenized equity, the surge in xStocks activity, and the resurgence in DeFi activity. With the user base returning, Solana [SOL] regained important technical points.
Source: Santiment This indicates that the Solana network is now supporting prices through growing usage, not just because prices are increasing. However, continued adoption of the network will be dependent upon whether new users continue to utilize the platform after the rally subsides.
Continued increases in the number of new users utilizing the platform will create a more solid foundation for Solana’s recovery. A short-lived increase in use and then a decline would indicate a temporary use increase by users.
Tokenized equities expand Solana’s utility That renewed network activity is increasingly being supported by expanding real-world financial applications rather than speculative trading alone. There are increasing numbers of users for tokenized equities on Solana.
Stablecoin supply remains high, and continued increases in net bridge inflows, TVL, and DEX trading volume suggest that the capital flowing into the Solana ecosystem is remaining in place rather than rapidly flowing out.
The continued acceleration of the adoption rate for tokenized assets would likely reinforce long-term network growth. Conversely, it is possible that Solana network activity momentum may be reduced or even slowed down if capital inflow slows.
Recovery faces its biggest test Solana’s latest rebound is increasingly testing whether its prolonged downtrend is finally losing momentum. SOL gained 7.48% on Monday, the 29th of June, climbing from $69.74 to a session high of $76.49. The altcoin later retraced to $73 as of press time.
The recovery also leaves Solana close to printing its first green monthly candle after nine consecutive red months, signaling improving buyer confidence. Even so, the $78–$82 resistance zone remains the market’s biggest test after rejecting several previous rallies.
Source: X A breakout above that range would suggest buyers are regaining long-term control and could open the path toward $92. However, $72 remains the level bulls must defend.
Holding above it would reinforce the developing higher-high, higher-low structure. Otherwise, another rejection could signal the broader recovery still lacks lasting conviction.
Solana’s validator client is about to get a serious tune-up. Anza, the engineering firm behind the Agave validator software, published the release schedule for Agave v4.2 on June 30, with mainnet feature activations targeting August 17.
What’s actually changing The headline number is slot times. Agave v4.2 will cut them from 400ms to 200ms as part of SIMD-0525. In plain terms, the network’s basic unit of time, the window in which a block leader processes transactions, gets cut in half.
Transaction size limits are also going up. The current ceiling sits at 1,232 bytes, a constraint that has long frustrated developers building complex on-chain applications. The v4.2 upgrade pushes that limit higher, giving developers more room to pack instructions into a single transaction without splitting them across multiple calls.
Then there’s rent. Solana charges accounts a small fee for storing data on-chain, and the upgrade will begin an incremental reduction in those costs.
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Anza CEO Brennan Watt framed v4.2 as one of the most substantial overhauls of the client software, linking it to broader optimizations targeting sub-millisecond latencies. That ambition ties into Solana’s Alpenglow consensus upgrade, which aims to achieve 100-150ms transaction finality. The v4.2 release doesn’t deliver Alpenglow itself, but it lays critical groundwork.
XDP networking hits supermajority On the same day the v4.2 schedule dropped, Anza confirmed that eXpress Data Path networking achieved supermajority stake on Solana’s mainnet. XDP is a high-performance networking framework that processes packets at the kernel level before they hit the traditional networking stack.
Reaching supermajority, meaning validators representing more than two-thirds of staked SOL are running XDP, unlocks a key feature: 100 million compute unit blocks. Anza needed XDP adoption at supermajority levels before the v4.2 features could safely activate. With that threshold now crossed, the August 17 target date becomes realistic rather than aspirational.
Anza’s release cadence Anza ships major updates roughly every six weeks. Agave v4.1 landed around June 26, meaning v4.2 follows almost immediately in the release pipeline.
The firm was formed in early March 2024 after forking from Solana Labs’ validator software. Since then, it has operated as an independent entity focused exclusively on building and maintaining the Agave client.
What this means for investors The XDP supermajority achievement demonstrates that Solana’s validator set is actively coordinating around infrastructure improvements. The risk side of the ledger deserves attention too. Cutting slot times in half is technically demanding. If validators with weaker hardware or connectivity can’t keep up with 200ms slots, the network could see increased skip rates or centralization pressure as smaller operators drop out.
Rent reduction could have outsized effects on DeFi protocols that maintain large numbers of accounts. Lower rent costs reduce the overhead for liquidity pools, order books, and other state-heavy applications.
Investors should watch the August 17 activation closely. Anza’s track record of consistent six-week release cycles suggests the team can hit deadlines, but v4.2 is, by the CEO’s own admission, more ambitious than typical releases.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Total stablecoin market cap on Flow reached an all-time high of $74.6 million in June 2026, per the Flow dashboard on Dune and DefiLlama. The Layer 1 behind NBA Top Shot, Disney Pinnacle, and over 42 million accounts now has the stablecoin base to match its consumer footprint. This is true Consumer DeFi: delivering financial products and robust, risk-adjusted yield opportunities directly to every individual.
The State of DeFi on FlowPeak Money in early access42M+ accounts already onchainStablecoin market cap hits an ATH at $74.6MHIFI live on Flow, powering 100K+ daily transactions HIFI Brought $40M of Stablecoins to Flow
HIFI announced support for Flow, enabling developers building on Flow to onramp users into stablecoins, offramp to local bank accounts across US and international corridors, and settle payments at scale. As part of the launch, HIFI also migrated $40 million+ in stablecoins onto Flow, settling in PYUSD0.
HIFI already powers over 100,000 transactions a day for leading apps on Flow, and now builders can utilize HIFI to give their applications better stablecoin support, smoother on/off ramps, and cleaner payment settlement. Read more about this new integration on Flow.
If you are building on Flow, you can start with HIFI today.
Consumer DeFi on Flow
With 42M+ consumer accounts already on Flow and stablecoins now landing at scale, these are some of the products turning that footprint into onchain consumer DeFi activity.
KittyPunch, a decentralized exchange (DEX), launched its new app earlier this year and announced that Punch Markets, a perp DEX, is launching on Flow soon. Punch Markets brings leverage and shorts onchain alongside the consumer apps already running on the network.
More Markets runs onchain lending and vaults on Flow. The Alpha Yield WFLOW Vault is averaging ~20% APY over the last 30 days. (Disclaimer: Rates are variable and DeFi carries risk.) Peak Money is a non-custodial platform that grants access to DeFi-powered financial opportunities to everyone, built to be an agentic-first, consumer DeFi app with best-in-class financial rails. Peak Money offers ~10% yield on stablecoins, deposits from banks, crypto, or PayPal, and weekly prize drawings up to $100,000. The platform is currently in early access, and you can join the waitlist via Peak.Money.
The stablecoin growth on the network matters because of what's being built on top of it. Consumer DeFi on Flow now spans lending, perps, yield, and wealth management.
Why Stablecoins on a Network Matter
Stablecoin market cap on a chain isn't a vanity metric. It's one of the clearest reads on whether an ecosystem is being used. Across the broader crypto market, stablecoin supply growth has been read as a signal of strong liquidity backing the ecosystem.
The $74.6M ATH on Flow is that pattern showing up here. It's growing alongside 42M+ consumer accounts, products like NBA Top Shot, Ticketmaster, and Disney Pinnacle already onchain, and HIFI clearing 100K+ transactions a day. The dollars are showing up where the users and the apps already are.
With stablecoin liquidity landing alongside the consumer base, the building blocks for mainstream consumer onchain finance are on the network. Here's where to start:
→ Swap into stablecoins on Flow with Flow Swap
→ Explore onchain lending and yield vaults at More Markets
→ Join the waitlist for Peak Money, the consumer-finance app from the team behind NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
OpenSea has processed over $39.5 billion in all-time trading volume and, after its OS2 rebuild, supports 19 blockchains, maintaining the broadest multi-chain NFT coverage. Blur charges zero marketplace trading fees, compared to OpenSea’s 0.5% fee, making it measurably cheaper for high-volume traders who execute frequent transactions across collections. OpenSea launched OS2 in February 2025, adding cross-chain token trading and an XP rewards system, while Blur focuses on sweep tools and real-time floor analytics. OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer delayed the $SEA token launch indefinitely in March 2026, citing challenging market conditions, while Blur’s BLUR token has been live since 2023. OpenSea maintains roughly 382,000 monthly active traders against Blur’s 38,300, but Blur’s per-user trading volume is significantly higher due to its professional trader base. OpenSea processed 4.29 million NFT sales worth $167 million in September 2025 alone, according to DappRadar marketplace data. During that same period, Blur continued to capture disproportionate volume from professional traders using its sweep-and-snipe workflow.
The NFT marketplace landscape in 2026 is not a single-winner contest. Each platform serves a distinct user type, and choosing the wrong one can cost creators royalty revenue or cost traders execution speed.
This comparison examines fees, chain support, tools, token incentives, and user fit using verified data from official announcements and NFT market analytics.
Fee Structure and Cost of Trading OpenSea reduced its marketplace fee from 2.5% to 0.5% with the launch of OS2 in February 2025, as confirmed in the official press release. Swap fees were removed entirely. That 80% fee reduction narrowed the gap with Blur, which charges zero marketplace fees on trades. Blur users pay only Ethereum gas fees, with no platform commission on any transaction.
Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, stated in the OS2 announcement: “This represents an expansion of OpenSea from an NFT marketplace to a much broader platform for trading all types of digital assets,” according to the company’s press release dated February 13, 2025. The fee reduction accompanied a strategic pivot toward supporting fungible tokens alongside NFTs.
For a trader executing $10,000 in monthly NFT volume, OpenSea’s 0.5% fee costs $50 per month. On Blur, that same volume incurs $0 in platform fees, though gas costs apply equally to both platforms. Over the course of a year, the difference amounts to $600, a material gap for active traders but less significant for casual collectors buying a few pieces quarterly.
Creator royalties add another dimension. Blur historically made royalties optional, favoring traders, while OpenSea enforced creator earnings through its Seaport Protocol.
Platform Features and Chain Support OpenSea’s OS2 rebuild, which exited beta on May 29, 2025, supports token trading across 19 blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Flow, ApeChain, Soneium, Berachain, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Solana, and Base, as confirmed in the official blog post.
Finzer described the update: “We’ve rebuilt the platform from the ground up to become the best destination for everything on-chain, from NFTs to tokens, across chains and communities.”
Blur takes a different approach. Its product centers on Ethereum and prioritizes execution speed over chain breadth. Features include bulk listing, collection sweeping, real-time floor analytics, and portfolio tracking.
The interface resembles a professional trading terminal rather than a gallery. Blur also functions as an NFT aggregator, pulling listings from OpenSea and other platforms into a single interface for broader price discovery.
Analysis: The two platforms serve structurally different needs. OpenSea’s 19-chain support positions it as the default discovery layer for the NFT ecosystem, while Blur’s Ethereum-focused depth targets capital-efficient execution.
A creator launching a new collection benefits more from OpenSea’s reach. A trader rotating capital across floor-price opportunities benefits from Blur’s speed. Neither approach is universally superior.
Token Incentives and Loyalty Programs Blur launched its BLUR token through airdrops that rewarded trading activity, bidding near floor prices, and platform-exclusive listings. The incentive structure drew high-volume traders and temporarily pushed Blur’s market share past OpenSea’s, according to CoinMarketCap’s marketplace analysis.
Traders who listed exclusively on Blur received 100% of allocated loyalty points, while cross-platform listers received a reduced rate.
OpenSea responded with the Voyages rewards program, launched alongside OS2’s full release in May 2025. Voyages awards XP for completing quests such as cross-chain swaps, minting on new chains, or sharing galleries. The OpenSea Foundation announced the $SEA token in February 2025, designed to reward both active and historical users.
However, CEO Finzer announced in March 2026 that the $SEA launch was delayed indefinitely, citing “challenging crypto market conditions,” according to reporting from IQ.wiki. The delay leaves OpenSea without a live token while Blur’s BLUR continues to incentivize platform loyalty.
OpenSea committed 50% of platform fees to a Prize Vault starting September 15, 2025, pre-loaded with $1 million in OP and ARB tokens. That vault distributes rewards based on Treasure Chest tiers earned through platform engagement. The final rewards wave was announced concurrently with the $SEA delay, signaling a strategic pause before the token launch.
Regulatory Implications The SEC closed its investigation into OpenSea in February 2025, removing a significant legal overhang that had persisted since August 2024. That regulatory clarity contributed to OpenSea’s confidence in announcing $SEA. Blur, as a decentralized protocol with a live governance token, faces different regulatory considerations under the SEC’s evolving framework for DeFi protocols and token distributions.
What’s Next? OpenSea’s next catalyst is the eventual launch of the $SEA token, which could reshape user incentives and recapture market share from Blur among reward-motivated traders. Blur’s continued product development in professional tools and potential expansion beyond Ethereum will determine whether it can grow its 38,300 monthly active users.
The broader NFT market’s recovery from the 2022 to 2024 downturn will influence both platforms’ trajectories regardless of individual strategy.
FAQs What are OpenSea’s current marketplace fees?
OpenSea charges a 0.5% marketplace fee on NFT transactions, down from 2.5% following the OS2 platform launch in February 2025, with zero swap fees.
Does Blur charge any trading fees?
Blur charges zero marketplace trading fees on all NFT transactions, meaning buyers and sellers pay only Ethereum network gas fees, not platform commissions.
How many blockchains does OpenSea support?
OpenSea’s OS2 platform supports NFT and token trading across 19 blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Base, Arbitrum, Avalanche, and Flow.
Is the OpenSea $SEA token live?
No, CEO Devin Finzer delayed the $SEA token launch indefinitely in March 2026, citing challenging crypto market conditions, and no new date has been announced.
Which platform is better for NFT creators?
OpenSea offers broader reach with 382,000 monthly active traders, multi-chain support, and enforced creator royalties, making it the stronger choice for creators.
What is Blur’s main advantage?
Blur provides zero trading fees, real-time floor analytics, bulk listing and sweeping tools, and portfolio tracking designed specifically for professional NFT traders.
Can I use both platforms simultaneously?
Yes, many traders list on both platforms, though Blur historically allocated higher loyalty points to users who listed exclusively on its marketplace.
References OpenSea OS2 Launch Press Release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/opensea-expands-to-token-trading-with-os2-launch-and-opensea-foundation-introduces-sea-302375914.html OpenSea OS2 Out of Beta Announcement: https://opensea.io/blog/articles/opensea-announces-os2-is-now-out-of-beta-token-trading-fully-live-across-19-chains-new-rewards-program-launches-and-community-hub-revamped DappRadar OpenSea Guide: https://dappradar.com/blog/opensea-nft-marketplace-token-launchpad-airdrop-features CoinMarketCap OpenSea vs Blur Analysis: https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/opensea-vs-blur
Kaspa Crosses Into Programmable TerritoryKaspa's Toccata hard fork went live on mainnet on June 30, 2026, marking what the project describes as the biggest upgrade in its history. The hard fork activated at DAA score 474,165,565, roughly at 16:15 UTC. The upgrade draws a clear line between what Kaspa was and what it is now becoming: a chain that started as a high-speed payments network and is now reaching for full programmability at the base layer.
Toccata marks the point where Kaspa's high-frequency monetary base layer meets programmability in two layered forms: native L1 covenant systems, and based zero-knowledge systems built on top of the same foundations. That is a significant departure from Kaspa's original identity as a pure proof-of-work payments chain.
What Toccata Actually DeliversThe consensus-changing upgrade introduces native L1 covenant support and transaction introspection, allowing for expressive stateful contracts on $KAS, alongside an OpZkPrecompile for trustless L1 ZK proof verification and partitioned sequencing commitments to support ZK applications.
The upgrade introduces native KRC-20 tokens, covenant programming via SilverScript, and zero-knowledge verification directly on the base layer, designed to shift the network's appeal from pure transaction speed toward supporting application development and privacy-enhanced use cases.
The fork does not, however, ship finished applications. It lays the protocol infrastructure that developers need to build on top. The upgrade activates the protocol infrastructure for covenant-based Layer-1 applications and zero-knowledge systems anchored to Kaspa's BlockDAG. The race now begins for what actually gets built.
The hard fork brings new utility, which means new SDKs and APIs will increasingly target a new developer audience, while classic Kaspa APIs should continue working without change. For node operators and miners, the operational story is straightforward: upgrade nodes, and everything that already works should keep working.
Toccata follows Kaspa's Crescendo hard fork, which in May 2025 increased block production from one block per second to ten blocks per second, achieving one of the highest base-layer throughputs in the proof-of-work space. The question now is whether Toccata's programmability layer can attract the developer activity needed to match that technical foundation.
Sources:
Kaspa Official Toccata Upgrade Guide, kaspanet/rusty-kaspa on GitHub
Kaspa Covenants++ Toccata Hard Fork Outlook by Michael Sutton, Medium
Kaspa Toccata Hard Fork Deep Dive, Gate Blog
The Kaspa [KAS] network’s Toccata hard fork was completed successfully on Tuesday, June 30. This upgrade introduces smart contract functionality while adding support for KRC-20 tokens.
The price of the KAS token rallied 20.38%, from a low of $0.0266 on Thursday, June 25, to $0.032 on the day of writing. This price surge likely came as a result of speculators and traders positioning themselves for the hard fork.
However, the altcoin has shed 7.8% within 10 hours of trading. What should KAS traders expect next?
The Kaspa long-term price downtrend Source: KAS/USDT on TradingView On the 1-day timeframe, the structure of Kaspa has been steadily bearish. The latest bearish leg was made earlier in 2026, from $0.0532 to $0.0249. Since February, KAS has lacked a decisive long-term trend and has twice managed to challenge the $0.04 supply zone.
It was rebuffed in March and May, and the market-wide sell-offs in the past two months have pushed KAS closer to the $0.025 swing low.
The MACD was moving below the zero line to show bearish market momentum. Meanwhile, the CMF was at -0.17, well below the -0.05 threshold that signals significant capital outflows.
The price structure and technicals agree on a bearish long-term outlook.
Traders’ call to action- Sell the news event confirms bearish sentiment Source: KAS/USDT on TradingView On the 1-hour timeframe, the recent gains tilted the MACD briefly in bullish favor, and the CMF also signaled increased buying pressure over the past five days. The $0.03 local resistance was overcome briefly as the hardfork got closer to going live.
In recent hours, the swift sell-off confirmed that the short-term gains were only used as a selling opportunity.
Source: CoinGlass The liquidation heatmap also noted a build-up of short liquidation levels just above the $0.03 round-number resistance. The price move above swept this magnetic zone neatly and has already begun to reverse.
In the coming days and weeks, a price drop to $0.0249 and $0.020 was a possibility swing traders and investors must be prepared for.
Final Summary The recent Kaspa token price gains were part of a sell-the-news type event as the Tocatta Hardfork got closer. The long-term price trend was bearish and a drop below the February 2026 swing low at $0.0249 appeared likely.
Strike just threaded the needle. The Bitcoin-focused payments app, founded by Jack Mallers, announced that its European subsidiary, Zap (Strike) Europe Limited, has received full authorization as a crypto-asset service provider from Malta’s Financial Services Authority. The timing is not subtle: the EU’s MiCA transitional period ends on July 1, 2026, meaning any firm without proper authorization will be forced to stop operating across the bloc.
The MiCA bottleneck The Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation is the EU’s first attempt at building a unified rulebook for crypto service providers across all 27 member states. MiCA covers authorization requirements, consumer protections, and operational conduct standards, replacing the prior system of fragmented national rules.
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Out of more than 1,200 registered crypto entities across the EU and European Economic Area, only around 230 to 244 have actually secured full MiCA authorization as of June 2026. That’s roughly a 20% pass rate. The European Securities and Markets Authority made clear there would be no extensions to the transitional period. July 1 is a hard wall, meaning roughly 1,000 previously registered entities are staring down forced operational wind-downs.
Strike’s authorization through Malta’s MFSA gives it passporting rights across the entire bloc. One license, 27 countries.
Strike’s European play Strike began serving eligible European customers back in April 2024, operating under the pre-MiCA patchwork of national regulations. This new authorization replaces that prior arrangement with a single, standardized credential.
The app specializes in Bitcoin-specific services: buying, selling, and payments, with a particular focus on the Lightning Network for faster, cheaper transactions. Jack Mallers has long positioned Strike as a bridge between traditional finance and Bitcoin’s payment rails, particularly through Lightning Network integration. The European authorization extends that thesis to a market of roughly 450 million people.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
The perpetuals exchange will start burning the LIT it buys with revenue and tap its token reserve to keep staking yields flowing.
Lighter, one of the largest decentralized perpetuals exchanges by trading volume, said it will start permanently burning the LIT tokens it buys back with exchange revenue and will fund staking rewards from its ecosystem token reserve.
Lighter has bought back about 15.5 million LIT — roughly 6.3% of circulating supply — using exchange revenue since its token generation event, the company said in an X post Tuesday. Those tokens will now be withdrawn from the exchange and sent to a burn address on Ethereum mainnet, with the first burn set for the weeks after the end of the second quarter.
Separately, Lighter will begin paying staking rewards from its remaining ecosystem tokens, targeting an initial 6% annualized yield. With about 125 million LIT staked, that yield would distribute roughly 7.5 million LIT a year from a remaining reserve of 250 million.
The changes pull in two directions on supply. Burning bought-back tokens removes them from circulation, while paying staking yield from the reserve releases tokens that were not yet circulating, partly offsetting the burns. The update also answers requests from holders for clarity on what happens to the LIT the protocol repurchases, a recurring question across perpetuals exchanges that run buybacks.
Lighter briefly overtook Hyperliquid in monthly perpetuals volume around its December launch, when airdrop incentives pulled traders to its zero-fee order book. Activity has since cooled as those incentives wound down, which puts more weight on whether the token's economics can sustain demand on their own.
LIT rose about 2% over 24 hours and is up roughly 20% over the past week and about 39% over the past 30 days, outpacing Bitcoin, which fell almost 3% over the past day and about 20% over the past month, according to CoinGecko. The token trades near $1.84, about 77% below its record high. Its market capitalization is around $461 million; its fully diluted valuation, which counts the full one billion token supply against the 250 million now circulating, is roughly $1.84 billion.
Buybacks Become BurnsLighter had been buying LIT on the open market with exchange revenue since its token launch at the end of December, but had not committed to destroying the tokens. It said Tuesday that the buybacks will now reduce supply permanently through burns, executed by sending LIT to an Ethereum burn address.
The exchange flagged one mechanical caveat: the tokens it burns may be undistributed LIT rather than the exact tokens it repurchased, an approach it said is economically equivalent for holders and cheaper to administer.
The buybacks are funded by trading activity. Lighter has generated about $2.87 million in protocol revenue over the past 30 days and roughly $53 million since launch, according to DefiLlama.
Continued Exchange RevenueThe burn program depends on continued exchange revenue to fund the buybacks, and revenue has been modest relative to the token's valuation.
Funding staking from the 250 million-token reserve also draws down a finite pool; that reserve could deplete faster if revenue weakens or staking participation climbs, and the 6% target is not fixed.
Lighter said it will execute the first burn in the weeks after the close of the second quarter, a milestone holders will be able to verify onchain.
Staking Shifts to the ReserveLighter launched its staking program in January and has distributed about 3.72 million LIT to stakers so far, including roughly 170,000 LIT from a fee-credits program.
Those rewards were bootstrapped with pre-launch revenue while exchange income was directed entirely toward buybacks. Effective immediately, the protocol will instead draw on ecosystem tokens, which it said is a more aligned use because the rewards flow to holders with the longest time horizons.
The targeted 6% yield is denominated in LIT and can be adjusted at the team's discretion based on market conditions, protocol performance and sustainability, Lighter said. At about 125 million LIT staked, roughly half of circulating supply is committed to the program.
Lighter laid out four priorities for managing its treasury going forward: rewarding long-term stakers, reducing supply through burns, preserving tokens for future partnerships and growth programs, and stewarding the reserve for long-term value. The company said its ecosystem tokens exist to grow the protocol, deepen liquidity and reward users.
Bitcoin enters the third quarter still in a bear market, with technical analysis suggesting one more leg lower remains likely before a bounce develops in July, followed by a sharp bearish August and a possible final low forming around October.
Where Bitcoin Stands Right Now
The current structure remains clearly bearish according to Elliott Wave analysis tracking the decline since June. Bitcoin is consolidating between micro support and resistance, with the first resistance zone sitting between $60,812 and $62,589.
A break above that level would be the first signal that the anticipated Q3 bounce has begun. Until then, one more low remains the more likely scenario, potentially testing the $55,500 to $56,000 support cluster that aligns with a larger Fibonacci support zone on higher timeframes.
The broader market regime indicators reinforce the bearish read. A 365-day regime divider confirms Bitcoin remains in bear market conditions, and price is currently trading below an entire bearish-aligned moving average ribbon spanning $64,000 to $81,000, closely matching the $67,000 to $77,000 resistance zone that has rejected multiple rally attempts this cycle.
Why July Could Bring Relief
Despite the bearish backdrop, seasonality offers a genuine reason for optimism in the near term. Historical data shows July has consistently been one of the stronger months for Bitcoin even during bear market years, often producing a corrective three-wave rally before renewed selling resumes. August, by contrast, has historically been one of the most bearish months of the year.
A bullish divergence is also forming on the RSI, with price posting a lower high while the RSI itself prints a higher low, a pattern that frequently precedes short-term rallies back toward resistance. Combined with the seasonal pattern, this supports the case for a July bounce, whether as a smaller wave two within the current decline or a larger corrective structure.
The Q3 Targets
If the current Elliott Wave structure plays out, Bitcoin’s first major downside target sits near $39,000, based on a 100% Fibonacci extension from the recent wave structure. The path there could be direct or could involve an extended bounce first. On the upside, any July rally is expected to face resistance between $67,000 and $77,000, with the 200-day moving average near $75,000 reinforcing that zone.
Time cycle analysis points toward a potential final low forming around October, give or take 30 days, consistent with how previous Bitcoin bear markets have typically lasted between 360 and 380 days. This would place the end of the current bear market squarely within Q4 2026, setting up the next bull market phase.
Story Ends Here
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Cryptocurrency analytics company CryptoQuant reported increased selling pressure in the XRP futures market.
According to the company’s assessment, the funding rate for XRP futures contracts traded on Binance has fallen to approximately -0.0139, reaching its lowest level in the last three months.
CryptoQuant noted that this drop in funding rates during the period when XRP was trading around $1.05 indicates a shift in investor sentiment in the derivatives market towards short positions. Negative funding rates show that demand for short positions exceeded demand for long positions, suggesting that investors believe downward pressure on the price may continue in the short term.
According to the analysis, XRP funding rates have fluctuated between positive and negative zones in recent months. Periods of positive funding generally coincided with increases in the XRP price and increased demand for long positions. However, in recent weeks, as the upward momentum has weakened, negative funding rates have become more dominant.
CryptoQuant stated that the current outlook indicates a cautious stance in the futures market, with investors shifting towards more defensive strategies rather than opening new long positions.
However, the company noted that extremely low funding rates should not always be interpreted negatively. If short positions become overcrowded in the market, a strengthening of spot demand or the emergence of a positive catalyst could lead to the closing of short positions. In this scenario, a sudden recovery in the XRP price, known as a “short squeeze,” could be observed.
*This is not investment advice.
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Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare has released a quantum-resistant roadmap for Starknet, arguing that other chains will remain exposed if the industry is “too stubborn or stupid” to act.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Starknet framed its three-phased quantum-resistant roadmap as evidence that the crypto industry has no excuse for remaining vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks.
“The tried-and-tested cryptography exists to secure every crypto key in the world, if necessary changes are made, and the only reason anyone will remain vulnerable is if heads remain buried in the sand,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO at StarkWare.
Efforts to quantum-proof blockchains are accelerating as some researchers warn that quantum computing could outpace blockchain’s defenses and cryptographically relevant quantum machines could be ready before 2030.
The Bitcoin community remains divided on how to approach securing old coins against the quantum threat, while other networks are forging ahead with quantum roadmaps.
Ben-Sasson said Starknet can become resistant to quantum attacks by “seizing on its architecture advantage.” Its underlying cryptography is zero-knowledge STARK (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge) proofs, which are “inherently post-quantum safe.”
Ben-Sasson said that if Starknet can become quantum-resistant by “seizing on this cryptography,” then anyone else can do it by choosing the right cryptography. “We need to be nimble in blockchain and crypto,” he said.
“There’s an awful irony in the notion that a young industry born from rejecting the way things have always been done is stalling and procrastinating about making changes for quantum security.”He added that crypto has an “elliptical illusion,” distorting reality around elliptic-curve cryptography, the current standard for securing blockchains.
Believing that this will be quantum resistant is “false confidence” that is leaving the industry “dangerously complacent,” he said.
Some migration problems are genuinely hard, involving technical trade-offs, governance decisions, and dependencies that no single team controls, he added, but said: “difficulty is not an excuse for delay.”
“The crypto industry shouldn’t need wake-up calls from the White House or anyone else. We should all be acting and seizing on the best cryptography that exists.”Starknet’s three-phase roadmap The first phase involves swapping out some of its current security math (Pedersen hashing) for quantum-resistant versions and adding quantum-resistant signatures.
Phase two focuses on migration tooling that quietly upgrades existing smart contracts to the new quantum-safe standard, without forcing developers to manually rebuild apps.
Phase three covers dependencies that Starknet cannot resolve alone, which largely depend on Ethereum’s quantum upgrade roadmap.
Circle, Ethereum, Solana, Tezos and Algorand have all proposed quantum-proof roadmaps, while the Bitcoin community remains at loggerheads.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare has released a quantum-resistant roadmap for Starknet, arguing that other chains will remain exposed if the industry is “too stubborn or stupid” to act.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Starknet framed its three-phased quantum-resistant roadmap as evidence that the crypto industry has no excuse for remaining vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks.
“The tried-and-tested cryptography exists to secure every crypto key in the world, if necessary changes are made, and the only reason anyone will remain vulnerable is if heads remain buried in the sand,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO at StarkWare.
Efforts to quantum-proof blockchains are accelerating as some researchers warn that quantum computing could outpace blockchain’s defenses and cryptographically relevant quantum machines could be ready before 2030.
The Bitcoin community remains divided on how to approach securing old coins against the quantum threat, while other networks are forging ahead with quantum roadmaps.
Ben-Sasson said Starknet can become resistant to quantum attacks by “seizing on its architecture advantage.” Its underlying cryptography is zero-knowledge STARK (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge) proofs, which are “inherently post-quantum safe.”
Ben-Sasson said that if Starknet can become quantum-resistant by “seizing on this cryptography,” then anyone else can do it by choosing the right cryptography. “We need to be nimble in blockchain and crypto,” he said.
“There’s an awful irony in the notion that a young industry born from rejecting the way things have always been done is stalling and procrastinating about making changes for quantum security.”He added that crypto has an “elliptical illusion,” distorting reality around elliptic-curve cryptography, the current standard for securing blockchains.
Believing that this will be quantum resistant is “false confidence” that is leaving the industry “dangerously complacent,” he said.
Some migration problems are genuinely hard, involving technical trade-offs, governance decisions, and dependencies that no single team controls, he added, but said: “difficulty is not an excuse for delay.”
“The crypto industry shouldn’t need wake-up calls from the White House or anyone else. We should all be acting and seizing on the best cryptography that exists.”Starknet’s three-phase roadmap The first phase involves swapping out some of its current security math (Pedersen hashing) for quantum-resistant versions and adding quantum-resistant signatures.
Phase two focuses on migration tooling that quietly upgrades existing smart contracts to the new quantum-safe standard, without forcing developers to manually rebuild apps.
Phase three covers dependencies that Starknet cannot resolve alone, which largely depend on Ethereum’s quantum upgrade roadmap.
Circle, Ethereum, Solana, Tezos and Algorand have all proposed quantum-proof roadmaps, while the Bitcoin community remains at loggerheads.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
StarkWare released what it described as crypto’s “strongest” post-quantum roadmap, setting out a three-phase plan to make Starknet quantum-ready by replacing remaining elliptic-curve dependencies and introducing migration tools for existing contracts.
The proposal builds on what StarkWare called Starknet’s “architectural advantage,” with its zero-knowledge STARK proofs relying on hash-based cryptography that the company said is post-quantum secure by design.
StarkWare said the plan could make the network quantum-ready within months, according to a statement shared with The Block on Tuesday.
Per the statement, the first phase of the roadmap would replace Pedersen hashing with BLAKE2 across state commitments, contract addresses, and network configuration, while also introducing post-quantum consensus signatures such as Falcon-512.
The second phase focuses on migration tooling for legacy contracts, while the final phase addresses external dependencies that remain linked to Ethereum, including bridge syscalls and blob data availability, which depend on Ethereum's own post-quantum transition.
"This document says: here is how we'll do it for Starknet. It's our path to making Starknet a safe haven for funds whatever quantum may bring. And the subtext is that if we can do it by seizing on this cryptography, then anyone else can do it by choosing the right cryptography," StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said.
Industry preparedness Ben-Sasson said the cryptographic tools needed to secure digital assets against quantum threats already exist and argued that remaining vulnerabilities would stem from inaction rather than technical limitations.
He added that every crypto key could be protected if the necessary changes are implemented and criticized what he described as industry stubbornness around post-quantum migration.
The executive also coined the term "elliptical illusion" to describe what he called misplaced confidence that blockchains built on elliptic-curve cryptography will remain secure without significant changes as quantum computing advances.
Elliptic-curve systems underpin transaction signatures and ownership verification across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and much of the broader digital infrastructure used today.
The roadmap follows a separate development earlier this year when StarkWare researcher Avihu Mordechai Levy published a proposal for quantum-safe Bitcoin transactions that operates without a soft fork or modification to Bitcoin's underlying protocol.
The approach, referred to as QSB, replaces elliptic-curve assumptions with hash-based constructions including Lamport signatures. Levy reported the method achieves roughly 118-bit second pre-image resistance under a quantum threat model while remaining compatible with Bitcoin's existing script limitations of 201 non-push opcodes and 10,000 bytes.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
Survey: 88% of enterprises plan to adopt stablecoins within the next year, with cross-border payment costs reduced by an average of 35%.
Payment infrastructure company Cybrid has released a new survey report indicating stablecoins are rapidly gaining traction in enterprise payment scenarios. The survey found that 42% of participating enterprises already use stablecoins for cross-border payments, while 88% said they are likely or very likely to adopt stablecoins within the next 12 months—only 2% of firms stated they will continue to rely entirely on traditional payment systems. According to the report, enterprises using stablecoins save an average of 35% on cross-border payment costs, with firms processing over $100 million in monthly payments achieving an average cost reduction of 47%. Payroll and contractor payments represent the most prominent use case, followed by supplier payments, customer payments, investment and revenue management, and treasury management, among others. Additionally, 71% of respondents identified a clear regulatory framework as the primary factor driving further mainstream adoption of stablecoins, outranking considerations such as infrastructure provider credibility and system integration. The survey was conducted from April to May this year, covering 468 senior executives from tech, financial services, and e-commerce sectors in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
3 hours ago
FalconX secures EU MiCA license, allowing it to offer compliant crypto services to institutional clients in Europe.
Institutional digital asset broker FalconX announced it has obtained the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), enabling it to provide compliant digital asset trading, custody, liquidity and related institutional services across the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). FalconX stated that this license allows it to operate across EU member states under a unified regulatory framework, eliminating the need for individual country-specific licenses. Currently, the firm serves over 2,000 institutional clients worldwide, including asset management firms, hedge funds, banks and family offices, with cumulative transaction volumes exceeding $2.5 trillion and over $8 billion in institutional financing disbursed. FalconX noted that as the MiCA regulatory framework is fully implemented, institutional clients’ demand for compliant trading, custody and liquidity services continues to grow, and regulatory credentials are becoming a key competitive advantage in Europe’s digital asset market.
3 hours ago
Guo Wengui sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a fraud case involving over $1 billion.
A US court has sentenced Miles Guo (also known as Ho Wan Kwok) to 30 years in prison. In 2024, a jury convicted Guo on multiple charges including racketeering, fraud, and money laundering, with his formal sentencing now issued. Prosecutors stated that Guo defrauded over $1 billion from global victims through a series of related scam schemes spanning five years. Notably, in 2021, he promoted the cryptocurrency project Himalaya Coin (H-Coin), claiming the tokens were backed by 20% gold reserves and promising to cover all investors’ losses, raising approximately $500 million in total. Additionally, the court previously ordered the forfeiture of nearly $900 million in Guo’s illegal proceeds, as well as his luxury mansion in New Jersey and multiple high-end vehicles. Guo had close ties to Steve Bannon, a former senior advisor to US President Donald Trump; Bannon was arrested in 2020 aboard Guo’s yacht.
3 hours ago
The first-half 2026 funding rankings have been released, with Kalshi and Polymarket raising a combined $1.8 billion.
According to statistics, the 14 largest global funding rounds in the first half of 2026 raised a total of $4.3 billion, with prediction markets, AI, and payment sectors drawing the most investor interest. Specifically, prediction market platform Kalshi topped the list with a $1.2 billion funding round, while Polymarket secured $600 million—together, the two raised $1.8 billion, accounting for over 40% of the total capital of the top 14 rounds. In the AI space, Replit, Exa AI, and OpenRouter closed funding rounds of $400 million, $250 million, and $113 million respectively. For blockchain projects, Canton Network, Arc, and Morpho raised $355 million, $222 million, and $175 million respectively. Meanwhile, payment, RWA, infrastructure, and compliance projects including Rain, Slash, Goldcom, Alpaca, and Elliptic also featured on the list.
3 hours ago
Open Standard launches stablecoin Open USD, with over 140 institutions including Visa, BlackRock, and Coinbase participating.
Open Standard has announced the launch of Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin for global fund flows, noting that over 140 enterprises have joined its ecosystem, including financial, payment, and crypto industry players such as Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, American Express, BlackRock, BNY, DBS, Coinbase, OKX, MetaMask, Aave, Ripple, Fireblocks, Solana, and Polygon. According to the introduction, Open USD follows three core design principles: supporting zero-cost, large-scale minting and redemption for enterprises; returning all reserve asset yields to partners after deducting a small management fee; and being governed by a board of directors composed of independent firm Open Standard and its partners, rather than controlled by a single issuer. Open Standard states that Open USD will officially launch later this year, with the goal of building an open, low-cost, high-throughput stablecoin infrastructure with a sharing economy mechanism to meet the needs of the internet economy and global enterprise-level payments.
3 hours ago
Pump.fun is discontinuing support for its tokenized agent issuance feature, stating it will focus on optimizing retail user trading experience.
Pump.fun announced it will immediately cease support for its Tokenized Agent token issuance feature. The feature will no longer be available for new token launches, though projects that have already activated it will remain unaffected. The platform noted that over recent months, consistent community feedback has pointed out that excessive issuance options have sparked unnecessary user vs. user (PVP) competition. Moving forward, Pump.fun will prioritize issuance models and product features that explicitly enhance retail trading experiences.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
BlackRock just made synthetic dollars an institutional asset class. The firm announced it is integrating Ethena’s USDe token into Aladdin, the portfolio and risk-management platform that oversees more than $20 trillion in assets for some of the world’s largest institutions.
In practical terms, this means pension funds, sovereign wealth managers, and asset allocators who already use Aladdin can now access and monitor USDe through their existing workflows. No new infrastructure required. No separate onboarding. Just another line item in a system that already tracks a meaningful chunk of global wealth.
What the deal actually involves The partnership has two sides. First, there’s the Aladdin integration itself, which gives institutional clients visibility into USDe positions alongside their traditional holdings. Second, BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund, BUIDL, will serve as the primary reserve asset for Ethena’s upcoming white-label stablecoin products. It means future synthetic dollar products built on Ethena’s infrastructure will be backed, in part, by tokenized US Treasuries managed by BlackRock.
Ethena is also providing a $100 million liquidity facility to support BUIDL, creating a reciprocal relationship where both parties have financial skin in the game.
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Here’s the thing about USDe: it’s not your standard stablecoin. Traditional stablecoins like USDC or USDT maintain their peg by holding reserves of cash and cash equivalents. USDe takes a different approach entirely, using a delta-neutral hedging strategy with crypto derivatives to generate yield while maintaining dollar parity. It holds long crypto positions and simultaneously shorts them via futures, capturing the funding rate spread as income while keeping the net exposure close to zero.
USDe currently has a circulating supply of roughly $4.45 billion, making it one of the larger synthetic dollar instruments in crypto.
Why this matters for institutional adoption The market noticed. Ethena’s ENA governance token surged roughly 5-12% following the announcement, while Bitcoin prices held relatively steady. That divergence suggests traders viewed this as a company-specific catalyst for Ethena rather than a broad risk-on signal for crypto.
By positioning its tokenized Treasury fund as the reserve backbone for white-label stablecoins, BlackRock is essentially creating a template for how institutional-grade synthetic dollars get built going forward. Any fintech or DeFi protocol that wants to launch a branded stablecoin through Ethena’s infrastructure would, by extension, be using BlackRock’s tokenized Treasuries as collateral.
What investors should watch The delta-neutral strategy that powers USDe carries its own set of risks. Funding rates in crypto derivatives markets can turn negative during prolonged bear markets, which would compress or eliminate USDe’s yield advantage. During severe market stress, the basis trade that underpins the whole system can behave unpredictably.
There’s also the competitive landscape to consider. Tether and Circle dominate the stablecoin market with combined supplies well north of $100 billion. USDe at $4.45 billion is a fraction of that.
The $100 million liquidity facility from Ethena to BUIDL also creates an interesting dynamic. It aligns incentives but introduces counterparty interdependence. If USDe were to face redemption pressure, the liquidity facility commitment could become a constraint rather than a cushion.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
The prolonged rivalry between OKX founder Star Xu and Binance's founder Changpeng Zhao appears to be far from over, as fresh accusations are beginning to emerge following Binance's recent regulatory setback in Europe.
Xu had earlier slammed CZ and Binance after the exchange was denied a MiCA license in Europe, raising questions about Binance's operating standards.
Xu dismisses jealousy claimsAfter CZ accused Xu of being jealous during a recent interview that questioned the root cause of their issues and the drive behind the sustained fallout, Xu clapped back in a recent post, dismissing the claims.
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Xu claimed that he was not jealous while publicly declaring that he was only ashamed of CZ and his business dealings, making reference to CZ's previous legal troubles, market controversies, and compliance issues.
Xu shares backstory of issues with CZWhile the saga between both founders did not start recently, the crypto community has constantly raised concerns about what could have triggered the rivalry and public disagreement between the industry leaders.
In his statements, the OKX founder further shared a brief backstory about the genesis of his ordeal with the Binance founder in what he described as unresolved issues that date back to CZ's earlier involvement with OKCoin.
Xu accused CZ of repeatedly delivering misleading narratives in his recently released book. He further explained that CZ mentioned him several times in the book while providing false claims and inaccurate accounts of past events.
Although Xu concluded his statement with claims that he had no interest in reopening old wounds or spending time revisiting old disagreements from years back, he signaled that he would be willing to publicly discuss the matter if necessary.
MEXC, a pioneer in 0-fee digital asset trading, today announced the listing of Ondo’s tokenized Strategy’s preferred stock on its spot market, further expanding its tokenized U.S. stock offerings.
STRCON tracks Strategy Pref (STRC), Strategy’s preferred stock. The company formerly known as MicroStrategy, Inc., is the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin, with holdings of 847,363 BTC as of June 21, 2026, according to company filings. The STRCON/USDT spot trading pair will be listed at 14:00 (UTC) on June 30, 2026. Deposits opened earlier the same day at 08:00 (UTC). Full listing details are available in MEXC’s official announcement.
Ondo Global Markets is a tokenization platform focused on bringing real-world assets on-chain. It provides non-U.S. investors with instant access to tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs, and other securities. Ondo Global Markets surpassed $1 billion in total value locked in May 2026 and accounts for more than 70% of the tokenized equity issuer market, according to RWA.xyz data. MEXC’s ongoing collaboration with Ondo continues to expand access to the U.S. stock market for users through tokenized assets.
As a one-stop trading platform, MEXC is committed to providing users with diverse access to global markets. Beyond Ondo’s tokenized U.S. equities, MEXC also offers “RealStocks,” a product that allows users to hold real share ownership and dividends within the crypto trading environment they already use.
About MEXC MEXC is the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchange, trusted by more than 40 million users across 170+ markets. Built on a user-first philosophy, MEXC offers industry-leading 0-fee trading and access to over 3,000 digital assets. As the Gateway to Infinite Opportunities, MEXC provides a single platform where users can easily trade cryptocurrencies alongside tokenized assets, including stocks, ETFs, commodities, and precious metals.
MEXC Official Website｜ X ｜ Telegram ｜How to Sign Up on MEXC
This content does not constitute investment advice. Given the highly volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, investors are encouraged to carefully assess market fluctuations, project fundamentals, and potential financial risks before making any trading decisions.
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America’s capital markets lead the world because they adapt.
Paper certificates gave way to book-entry records. Trading floors gave way to electronic markets. Manual processes gave way to faster settlement, automated clearing, and global access. Each step raised fair concerns. Each step required guardrails. But America stayed ahead because we did not treat every new tool as a threat to the old system.
Tokenization is the next step in that history.
Patrick McHenry is the vice chairman of the advisory board at Ondo Finance, and a former U.S. Representative who chaired the House Financial Services Committee.
The current debate over tokenized stocks has centered on a basic question: what is the proper form for securities in the U.S. market? Some argue tokenization should happen primarily through existing market infrastructure: broker-dealers, custodians, securities intermediaries, DTC, and related records. Others have introduced products in various forms backed by U.S.-listed securities designed to meet the needs of the fast-growing cohort of investors that prefer to invest onchain. Still others point to issuers and transfer agents as the preferred pathway.
That debate is worth having. But it should not be reduced to one approved model. A better question is whether different models can compete on substance while preserving investor protection and the strength of U.S. markets.
Tokenized securities are not one thing. They can and do take different forms, and carry different rights. They can sit in different parts of the market structure. Treating them all the same will lead to bad policy and worse products for investors and issuers alike, ultimately putting the U.S. capital markets at a competitive disadvantage globally. There are at least three models to consider.
The first model is market infrastructure tokenization. The underlying securities remain within the existing legal and operational framework: broker-dealers, custodians, securities intermediaries, DTC, and related records. Blockchain can then be used for recordkeeping, reconciliation, collateral monitoring, transfer controls, and operational efficiency. This approach does not require abandoning the existing U.S. securities market system. It uses technology to improve specific parts of it.
The second model is customer-driven tokenization. These products start from a different place: what does the investor want to accomplish? Some products may be notes or other instruments designed to track the performance of U.S.-listed stocks or ETFs, supported by underlying securities and collateral. Others may use tokenized records for entitlements held through intermediaries. These products are not the same as directly registered shares. They should not be marketed as if they are.
But familiar forms of market exposure, including brokerage-held securities, ETFs, depository receipts, structured notes, and other equity-linked instruments, are well-established parts of the market today. Tokenization alone does not make them more or less legitimate. Their economic and legal structures should dictate their regulatory treatment.
The third model is issuer-sponsored tokenization. A company and its transfer agent support tokenized ownership directly. This may be the right model for many issuers. It can connect tokenized records to shareholder systems and support familiar processes for corporate actions, recordkeeping and communications.
Brokerage held securities, depository receipts, structured notes, and direct registration all coexist in today’s market. They do not provide identical rights. Investors choose among them because they serve different needs. The important questions are whether the structure is clear, the risks are disclosed, the backing is real where promised, and the product does what it says it does.
That is the right standard for tokenized markets as well.
One wrong outcome of the current tokenization debate would be a market where products borrow the language of stocks without telling investors what they actually hold or misleading investors altogether. That would harm investors and undermine confidence in the technology.
Another wrong outcome would be a market where tokenization becomes a set of private walled gardens. That would convert a promising new technology into a tool that narrows competition before the market has had a chance to learn what works.
America should avoid both mistakes.
Open markets and regulated markets are not opposites. The U.S. has the deepest securities markets in the world because it combines investor protection with competition, capital formation, and adaptability. That balance is hard to maintain. But it is the reason companies raise capital here, investors around the world seek access here, and innovation happens here rather than offshore.
A more customer-centric approach to tokenization can support that strength. It can connect global demand back to U.S. assets and U.S. liquidity. It can give investors clearer records and more portable products. It can make collateral and entitlements easier to monitor. It can improve transparency without discarding the legal protections embedded in the current system.
This is not theoretical. Market participants are already experimenting with different models. Some are built around existing securities infrastructure. Others are onchain products directly and indirectly backed by U.S.-listed securities and ETFs. Still others are issuer-led.
Those differences matter. They are evidence that the market is working through the right questions.
For years, I argued in Congress that digital asset policy needs clear rules of the road. That remains true. Clarity protects consumers and investors. It also keeps innovation in the United States. But clear rules should not mean forcing emerging new products into a legacy framework. Nor should they mean letting any one group decide which model is allowed to exist. The point is not to pick a single winner at the starting line. The point is to let different models compete on substance and provide optionality to meet the varying needs of investors and issuers.
That is how American markets work best.
Tokenized securities markets do not need more gatekeepers. They need clear distinctions, strong controls, and room for responsible competition.
That is how America has led, and how it can continue to lead, financial markets into the future.
Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.
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Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness
Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
9 hours ago
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Why it matters:
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Survey: 88% of enterprises plan to adopt stablecoins within the next year, with cross-border payment costs reduced by an average of 35%.
Payment infrastructure company Cybrid has released a new survey report indicating stablecoins are rapidly gaining traction in enterprise payment scenarios. The survey found that 42% of participating enterprises already use stablecoins for cross-border payments, while 88% said they are likely or very likely to adopt stablecoins within the next 12 months—only 2% of firms stated they will continue to rely entirely on traditional payment systems. According to the report, enterprises using stablecoins save an average of 35% on cross-border payment costs, with firms processing over $100 million in monthly payments achieving an average cost reduction of 47%. Payroll and contractor payments represent the most prominent use case, followed by supplier payments, customer payments, investment and revenue management, and treasury management, among others. Additionally, 71% of respondents identified a clear regulatory framework as the primary factor driving further mainstream adoption of stablecoins, outranking considerations such as infrastructure provider credibility and system integration. The survey was conducted from April to May this year, covering 468 senior executives from tech, financial services, and e-commerce sectors in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
3 hours ago
FalconX secures EU MiCA license, allowing it to offer compliant crypto services to institutional clients in Europe.
Institutional digital asset broker FalconX announced it has obtained the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), enabling it to provide compliant digital asset trading, custody, liquidity and related institutional services across the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). FalconX stated that this license allows it to operate across EU member states under a unified regulatory framework, eliminating the need for individual country-specific licenses. Currently, the firm serves over 2,000 institutional clients worldwide, including asset management firms, hedge funds, banks and family offices, with cumulative transaction volumes exceeding $2.5 trillion and over $8 billion in institutional financing disbursed. FalconX noted that as the MiCA regulatory framework is fully implemented, institutional clients’ demand for compliant trading, custody and liquidity services continues to grow, and regulatory credentials are becoming a key competitive advantage in Europe’s digital asset market.
3 hours ago
Guo Wengui sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a fraud case involving over $1 billion.
A US court has sentenced Miles Guo (also known as Ho Wan Kwok) to 30 years in prison. In 2024, a jury convicted Guo on multiple charges including racketeering, fraud, and money laundering, with his formal sentencing now issued. Prosecutors stated that Guo defrauded over $1 billion from global victims through a series of related scam schemes spanning five years. Notably, in 2021, he promoted the cryptocurrency project Himalaya Coin (H-Coin), claiming the tokens were backed by 20% gold reserves and promising to cover all investors’ losses, raising approximately $500 million in total. Additionally, the court previously ordered the forfeiture of nearly $900 million in Guo’s illegal proceeds, as well as his luxury mansion in New Jersey and multiple high-end vehicles. Guo had close ties to Steve Bannon, a former senior advisor to US President Donald Trump; Bannon was arrested in 2020 aboard Guo’s yacht.
3 hours ago
The first-half 2026 funding rankings have been released, with Kalshi and Polymarket raising a combined $1.8 billion.
According to statistics, the 14 largest global funding rounds in the first half of 2026 raised a total of $4.3 billion, with prediction markets, AI, and payment sectors drawing the most investor interest. Specifically, prediction market platform Kalshi topped the list with a $1.2 billion funding round, while Polymarket secured $600 million—together, the two raised $1.8 billion, accounting for over 40% of the total capital of the top 14 rounds. In the AI space, Replit, Exa AI, and OpenRouter closed funding rounds of $400 million, $250 million, and $113 million respectively. For blockchain projects, Canton Network, Arc, and Morpho raised $355 million, $222 million, and $175 million respectively. Meanwhile, payment, RWA, infrastructure, and compliance projects including Rain, Slash, Goldcom, Alpaca, and Elliptic also featured on the list.
3 hours ago
Open Standard launches stablecoin Open USD, with over 140 institutions including Visa, BlackRock, and Coinbase participating.
Open Standard has announced the launch of Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin for global fund flows, noting that over 140 enterprises have joined its ecosystem, including financial, payment, and crypto industry players such as Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, American Express, BlackRock, BNY, DBS, Coinbase, OKX, MetaMask, Aave, Ripple, Fireblocks, Solana, and Polygon. According to the introduction, Open USD follows three core design principles: supporting zero-cost, large-scale minting and redemption for enterprises; returning all reserve asset yields to partners after deducting a small management fee; and being governed by a board of directors composed of independent firm Open Standard and its partners, rather than controlled by a single issuer. Open Standard states that Open USD will officially launch later this year, with the goal of building an open, low-cost, high-throughput stablecoin infrastructure with a sharing economy mechanism to meet the needs of the internet economy and global enterprise-level payments.
3 hours ago
Pump.fun is discontinuing support for its tokenized agent issuance feature, stating it will focus on optimizing retail user trading experience.
Pump.fun announced it will immediately cease support for its Tokenized Agent token issuance feature. The feature will no longer be available for new token launches, though projects that have already activated it will remain unaffected. The platform noted that over recent months, consistent community feedback has pointed out that excessive issuance options have sparked unnecessary user vs. user (PVP) competition. Moving forward, Pump.fun will prioritize issuance models and product features that explicitly enhance retail trading experiences.
