Cointelegraph

Cardano wallet SecondFi has identified a recovery path for users affected by Tuesday's exploit and expects to begin returning assets in about two weeks, following testing and security reviews.
According to a Saturday statement by Phillip Pon, CEO of SecondFi developer Emurgo, the company completed forensic investigations and established a recovery pathway for affected users. Pon said the coming week would be spent building the solution, followed by another week of testing before assets begin to be returned.
Pon urged users to refrain from migrating assets or taking actions outside official guidance, saying the recovery process was designed around existing wallet states and that independent action could complicate the secure return of funds.
SecondFi developer Emurgo shared an update on the wallet's recovery efforts. Source: Emurgo
SecondFi disclosed a security breach on Tuesday that affected approximately 16 million ADA, worth about $2.4 million at the time, across 374 addresses. SecondFi previously said it traced the incident to an address-level issue in its Cardano web wallet generation software that exposed users' private keys.
The company also said it secured roughly 129 million ADA through emergency measures and transferred the funds to an independent third-party custodian, where they will remain until the verification and recovery process is complete.
SecondFi has not yet published a comprehensive post-mortem detailing the vulnerability or how the exploit was carried out.
SecondFi warns of recovery-related scams
In a separate update on Saturday, SecondFi warned that malicious actors are circulating fraudulent messages impersonating the wallet while its recovery effort remains underway.
The company said no recovery actions requiring user participation have begun and that it will never ask users for private keys, seed phrases, wallet credentials or direct wallet access.
SecondFi said any messages instructing users to submit wallet information, migrate assets or take immediate action outside its verified communication channels should be treated as fraudulent.
It added that users requiring assistance should submit a ticket through its official support portal while the recovery process continues.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto

The European Parliament's economic affairs committee has urged the European Commission to assess whether crypto lending and borrowing, staking, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) should be regulated.
The recommendations were part of a report tabled Friday for plenary vote. It also called for promoting tokenization across financial services, encouraging euro-denominated stablecoins and assessing whether additional crypto activities should be regulated under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Drafted by Belgian Member of the European Parliament Johan Van Overtveldt, the report is an own-initiative resolution by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) that outlines recommendations for the Commission on digital asset regulation.
It will next go before the European Parliament for a vote, expected July 7. If adopted, the resolution would become Parliament's official position on digital assets policy but would not amend MiCA or create new legal obligations.
The legislative timeline shows the committee's approval of the report and its referral for a plenary vote. Source: European Parliament
EU warms up to regulated stablecoins
The recommendations also reflect an evolving view of stablecoins among policymakers. Days after former Bank for International Settlements general manager and longtime crypto critic Agustín Carstens softened his stance on stablecoins, the report welcomed euro-denominated stablecoins under MiCA and encouraged their development to support the bloc's payment sector.
In 2023, Van Overtveldt called for tighter restrictions on cryptocurrencies following the banking turmoil surrounding Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank. The crisis was also closely tied to stablecoins, as USDC issuer Circle held roughly $3.3 billion of its reserves at Silicon Valley Bank when it collapsed, briefly causing USDC to lose its dollar peg.
Van Overtveldt likened cryptocurrencies to drugs during the 2023 banking crisis. Source:Johan Van Overtveldt
The report argued that euro-denominated stablecoins could complement tokenized commercial bank deposits and wholesale central bank digital currencies while enabling faster and cheaper cross-border payments. It also said broader adoption could strengthen the competitiveness of EU financial markets and the international role of the euro.
The stance also aligns with ECON’s broader vision for Europe’s digital money ecosystem. On Tuesday, the committee backed legislation for a digital euro, with lawmakers arguing that public and private forms of digital money should coexist rather than compete.
Lawmakers look beyond MiCA's current scope
Van Overtveldt first presented a draft of the report in February before months of negotiations and amendments by ECON members. The earlier version largely focused on MiCA's existing framework, including stablecoin classifications and legal certainty for multi-issued stablecoins.
The committee-approved report urged consistent application of MiCA across the EU to preserve a level playing field for crypto firms. It also warned member states against introducing national requirements beyond MiCA that could fragment the bloc's digital asset industry.
The Commission is already reviewing MiCA. In May, the Commission launched a public consultation seeking feedback on whether the framework should be expanded to cover areas including DeFi, staking, lending, NFTs and tokenized financial assets, while also reopening debate over the regulation's ban on interest-bearing stablecoins.
Meanwhile, MiCA's transitional period ends July 1, after which crypto asset service providers generally must hold authorization under the regulation to continue operating across the EU.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto

Tokenization platform Securitize says it expects to raise $400 million in its upcoming public debut through a merger with a company backed by Cantor Fitzgerald.
Securitize said on Friday that its final redemption results showed less than 30% of shareholders in Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT), the special purpose acquisition company that will take Securitize public, had elected to redeem.
The company said it expects to receive approximately $400 million in gross proceeds from the merger, including related private investment in public equity, or PIPE, financings and excluding transaction-related expenses.
Securitize is set to be the latest buzzy crypto-related public debut as Wall Street seeks exposure to tokenization, an area that is seeing heightened investor interest and attention from US regulators.
Shares in Cantor’s acquisition vehicle rose on Friday, closing the trading day up 7% to $10.86 and continuing to rise after-hours to $11.
CEPT shares climbed on Friday as Securitize announced fewer shareholder redemptions than expected. Source: Google Finance
The merger between Securitize and CEPT is expected to close on Wednesday, July 1, subject to shareholder approval on Monday and other closing conditions, and the company will then trade under the ticker SECZ on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, July 2.
"Reaching the public markets is a significant milestone for Securitize and a reflection of the growing momentum behind tokenization," said Securitize co-founder and CEO Carlos Domingo.
Source: Carlos Domingo
“When we started more than eight years ago, the idea that major institutions would embrace tokenized securities was still largely theoretical,” Domingo added. “Today, tokenization is moving into the mainstream.”
Securitize is backed by major institutions, such as BlackRock and Morgan Stanley, and crypto firms, including Coinbase and Circle, and has carved out a lead in the tokenization sector, where assets are represented on blockchains.
The company partnered with the New York Stock Exchange in March to create tokenized assets for the exchange’s upcoming tokenized securities platform,
Standard Chartered said earlier this month that it expects the amount of tokenized assets active in decentralized finance to grow 37-fold to $2.7 trillion by the end of 2030.
In mid-May, the US Securities and Exchange Commission was reportedly ready to allow trading of tokenized stocks, but delayed the plan later that month after stock exchange officials raised concerns over how it would be implemented.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves

Key takeaways:
SOL’s rebound to $72 shows bullish futures and airdrop hopes, but falling TVL and low DEX volumes point to fragile onchain demand.
Tokenized stocks spark hype on Solana, yet Pump.fun dependence and Hyperliquid competition threaten sustained SOL momentum.
Solana native token SOL jumped to $72 on Friday, distancing itself from the $64 lows the prior day. Part of traders’ optimism stemmed from the stellar growth of tokenized stock trading, fueled by the AI sector. However, increasing competition in decentralized application networks could limit SOL’s short-term upside.
Solana tokenized stocks 24-hour volumes, USD. Source: Jupiter Aggregator
Tokenized stocks on Solana traded over $113 million in 24 hours, according to Jupiter Aggregator data. However, the relatively thin liquidity in the automated market-making pools raised concerns, especially as multiple issuers compete for similar products. Still, some of those tokens launched only recently, which might explain the low number of holders in most cases.
Blockchains ranked by DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL), USD. Source: DefiLlama
The Total Value Locked (TVL) on the Solana network dropped 11% over the past month, while the Ethereum layer-2 Base reduced the gap. Negative highlights on Solana TVL include a 19% decline in Kamino, a 20% trim by Binance Staked SOL, and a 17% decline in Raydium. The tokenization platform xStocks, on the other hand, posted 31% growth in TVL.
Solana weekly DEX volumes & DApps revenue, USD. Source: DefiLlama
Decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes on Solana fell to $10 billion per week from $30 billion in early February, coinciding with a downtrend in decentralized application (DApp) revenues. Thus, regardless of the successful launch of tokenized tech stocks and equity indexes, demand for SOL on blockchain processing remains subdued.
Solana’s dependence on Pump.fun and increased competition in tokenized launches
More concerningly, 30% of DApp revenue on Solana came from the token launch platform Pump.fun, which depends heavily on memecoin activity. A CoinGecko report revealed that 80% of the 18.7 million tokens launched in less than 48 hours, while 55% of the addresses involved lost up to $1,000 according to Dune data.
SOL perpetual futures annualized funding rate. Source: Laevitas
Demand for bullish leverage on SOL futures increased on Friday, pushing the funding rate to its highest level in June. The current 10% level is far from displaying excessive confidence, as the 6% to 12% range is typically deemed neutral. Still, the 14% gains since the $64 low on Thursday managed to reverse the bearishness marked by negative funding rates.
Part of SOL investors’ optimism stems from anticipation of airdrops on the network, although the timing of those tokens' launch remains uncertain. Highlights include OnRe reinsurance with $200 million in TVL, Bulk perpetual DEX with an aggregate open interest of $325 million, and Loopscale lending platform at $79 million in TVL.
It might be premature to claim that SOL is bound to reclaim the $80 mark, last seen on June 1, given increased competition in tokenized stock trading from Hyperliquid and centralized exchanges on competing blockchains. OKX, for instance, formed a strategic partnership with the NYSE parent company using Ethereum-based systems.

A bipartisan pair of US senators has called on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to investigate the prediction market platform Polymarket after it reportedly paid social media influencers to make videos of fake bets.
Republican Senator John Curtis and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff sent a letter to CFTC Chair Mike Selig on Thursday, saying they were concerned Polymarket “used deceptive marketing tactics to promote gambling-style products to US audiences.”
“If accurate, these allegations are deeply troubling and demand immediate scrutiny from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” they wrote.
The letter comes after The Wall Street Journal reported on June 20 that Polymarket paid influencers to film fake trades on websites resembling its platform and that many creators didn’t disclose that Polymarket paid them.
The Journal said it reviewed over 1,100 videos and found that 70% featured fake bets amounting to nearly $2 million.
In response to the report, a Polymarket spokesperson told Cointelegraph earlier this week that it was “conducting a comprehensive audit of active promotional content to ensure it complies with our standards, as well as applicable regulatory and legal disclosure requirements.”
The letter also came ahead of reports in the Journal and CNBC on Friday that the CFTC was investigating Polymarket.
CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the inquiry, that the CFTC has an ongoing and extensive investigation into Polymarket, but the timeline for when the investigation began was not shared.
Polymarket declined to comment on the letter or on the reported CFTC investigation.
Prediction markets have recently exploded in popularity and have seen billions of dollars in volume each month, with Senators Curtis and Schiff expressing their concerns about the CFTC’s ability to regulate the platforms.
Source: John Curtis
“The CFTC has repeatedly asserted regulatory authority over prediction markets and event contracts,” the senators wrote. “Yet with content creators routinely portraying prediction markets as ‘free money,’ there is little basis for treating them differently from gambling.”
“These contracts are not in the public interest and should not be treated as derivative products with hedging value,” they added. “We remain concerned that the Commission is neither enforcing the law appropriately, nor is equipped to serve as a federal gambling regulator.”
The CFTC has claimed it has authority over prediction markets as the platforms are registered with the agency and operate under federal commodities law.
The regulator has sued nine US states that have filed legal action against prediction markets to accuse the platforms of offering unlicensed sports betting via event contracts.
Senators Curtis and Schiff asked Selig to give written responses to a list of questions by July 10, which asked if the CFTC was investigating Polymarket, if the reported advertising was legal and if it has the resources to police prediction markets, among others.
Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?

Eight-year-old Ether (ETH) wallets have started moving coins for the first time since 2017, adding fresh supply to the market as Ether trades just above $1,500. Onchain data shows 37,806 ETH from long-dormant addresses became active, while separate whale transactions point to continued accumulation by other large investors.
The mixed positioning comes as total long-term ETH whale profitability has fallen below zero for the first time since 2019, leaving every major whale cohort sitting on unrealized losses.
ETH whale traders are split between accumulation and distribution
According to Lookonchain, four Ethereum wallets that received 37,602 ETH nearly eight years ago at an average price of around $830 became active after years of dormancy. The wallets held through the 2021 and 2025 bull markets, when their unrealized gains exceeded $150 million, sold 33,623 ETH for about $52.5 million at around $1,560 on Thursday. The realized profit now stands near $27.4 million.
OG ETH wallets holding period. Source: Lookonchain/X
Fresh ETH selling has appeared alongside continued buying from other large holders. Blockchain tracker Lookonchain reported that one whale swapped 464 BTC worth $27.6 million for 17,750 ETH, signaling capital rotation into Ether.
Meanwhile, investor Chun Wang also acquired another 9,937 ETH and 147 wrapped Bitcoin. Over the past month, Wang has withdrawn almost 87,000 ETH from Binance at an average purchase price of $1,749.
Institutional ETH trading also remained active. BlackRock transferred 41,996 ETH and 4,577 BTC to Coinbase Prime, a move commonly associated with custody or operational management rather than a confirmed market sale.
Crypto analyst Darkfost noted that Ether whales holding between 1,000 ETH and more than 100,000 ETH are all sitting on negative unrealized profit ratios. This marks the first time since 2019 that every major whale cohort has been underwater.
ETH whales' unrealized profit ratio. Source: X
The analyst said that periods when whale conviction was tested by ETH prices, it often aligned with long-term bottom zones. The current scenario indicates that large holders are facing greater overall pressure in 2026, even as selective ETH accumulation persists.
Related: Tether stablecoin flips Ether by market cap as ETH routs to $1.5K
$1,500 level for ETH draws trader focus
Ether dropped to $1,510 during Thursday's sell-off, though it avoided setting a new yearly low even as Bitcoin fell to fresh 2026 lows.
Crypto trader Ardi described $1,500 as Ether's key long-term support, arguing that daily closes below that level challenge the bullish assumptions built up since the 2022 bear market.
Ether/USD, one-week chart. Source: Ardi/X
Crypto investor Jelle shared a similar view, saying a sustained break would send Ether back into a trading range last seen in early 2023. Weekly price action shows ETH has defended the $1,500 region during several major corrections since mid-2022, making it one of the altcoin's longest-standing support zones.
However, not all market participants expect a near-term recovery. Popular trader Cyclops identified the $1,070–$1,370 range as a potential accumulation zone, citing it as a key demand area established in early 2023. A move into that range would also see ETH break below its multi-year ascending trendline, a technical development that could further delay a sustained recovery and reinforce the broader bearish market structure.
ETH/USD, one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Related: XRP risks drop below $1, but onchain data highlights silver lining

The chair of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission reportedly said that there would be no extensions or waivers for crypto companies that did not receive approval to operate in European Union member states under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework by July 1.
According to a Friday Reuters report, Chair Carlos San Basilio said that “there will be no exceptions ​or extensions” to the July 1 MiCA deadline, referring to Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges affected by the framework. Binance’s operations in the EU are expected to scale back after it withdrew its application with Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission and had not received approval from any other authority as of Friday.
“What we are concerned about, however, is how this period — the end of the transitional period — will unfold, and how the adaptation to the new environment will take place; that is why ​we are in ​contact with the ⁠organisations that have not been granted a licence,” said Basilio, according to Reuters.
Should Binance fail to secure approval from a financial regulator in the next few days, the exchange will be required to halt the onboarding of new EU-based users and limit certain services for EU-based accounts starting on July 1. Other crypto exchanges have secured last-minute approvals under MiCA, but Binance, with millions of users in the EU, could have a far greater impact on the region's crypto market.
“This is Binance’s philosophy of doing business,” said OKX founder and CEO Mingxing Xu in response to former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s comments on the exchange’s EU deadline. “They ignore laws and regulations, while misleading the public with bullshits. According to public media reports and court filings, the platform’s so-called ‘best liquidity’ included trading activity associated with risks involving money laundering, sanctions violations, and market manipulation.”
Cointelegraph reached out to Binance but did not receive an immediate response.
Binance users looking to other exchanges?
With the crypto exchange expected to wind down some operations for EU-based users, some are reporting leaving Binance entirely without a definitive timeline on its return.
Some Reddit users said that they were considering Kraken for their funds. Payward, doing business as Kraken, has a Crypto Asset Service Provider license through the Central Bank of Ireland.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto

An Ethereum whale who shorted Ether (ETH) during the October 2025 crypto crash has returned after eight months of silence.
Key takeaways:
Ethereum whale opens a $19.72 million 20x ETH short near the $1,500 support zone.
ETH’s bear flag setup hints at a decline toward $1,375, which may earn the whale roughly $2.39 million in profits.
Ethereum whale opens 20x short after eight-month hiatus
On Friday, wallet '0xf83f...6728' opened a 20x-leveraged ETH short worth $19.72 million as Ether reached the $1,500 support zone after dropping 18.25% over the last two weeks.
The position was opened at an average price of around $1,565, according to data resource Hyperbot. As of this press time, the whale had earned nearly $106,500 in unrealized profits as the ETH price dropped around the $1,550 area.
Ethereum whale's $19.72M position status as of Friday. Source: Hyperbot
The downside sentiment in the Ethereum market has tracked a broader tech-led risk selloff, with traders cutting exposure to speculative assets as Nasdaq and chip stocks came under pressure.
Ethereum-specific sentiment has weakened further amid renewed scrutiny of the Ethereum Foundation, following reports of budget cuts, staff reductions and a wave of senior departures that have raised questions about the organization’s leadership stability.
Ether is eyeing a decline toward the $1,375 level if it continues the breakdown out of its prevailing bear flag pattern.
ETH/USD daily price chart tracking the bear flag breakdown setup. Source: TradingView
If ETH falls to $1,375, the whale’s unrealized profit would rise to roughly $2.39 million before fees and funding, based on the position’s approximate $1,565 entry price.
Same whale shorted ETH near October 2025 crash top
The wallet’s latest move stands out because of its trading history.
Transaction logs show that wallet '0xf83f...6728' last became active on Oct. 27, 2025, when it opened an ETH short near $4,172 as volatility from the October crypto crash was easing.
The trader later closed the position near $4,133, booking $41,693 in net profit after $5,263 in exchange fees.
Ethereum whale's filled ETH orders from October 2025. Source: Hyperbot
The whale's current strategy appears similar: short ETH into weakness, use high leverage, and lean into downside momentum. The scale has changed sharply, however, since the current position carries nearly $20 million in notional exposure, making it far larger than the whale’s October 2025 trade.
ETH double bottom could threaten the whale’s short
The whale’s bearish bet is not without risk.
As of Friday, Ether’s daily chart showed a potential double bottom near the $1,500–$1,512 support area, where buyers stepped in twice in June. The setup remains unconfirmed, but a strong rebound from this zone could shift short-term momentum back toward the bulls.
ETH/USD daily price chart tracking a potential double-bottom breakout setup. Source: TradingView
The key level to watch is the neckline near $1,850. A decisive daily close above that level would confirm the double bottom pattern and open the door to a measured rebound toward roughly $2,190, based on the distance between the neckline and the $1,512 bottom.
That would put ETH close to the whale’s liquidation zone near $2,150, meaning a confirmed bullish reversal could pressure or even wipe out the short position if the trader does not add collateral or reduce exposure.

This week, crypto analytics company CryptoQuant challenged the prevailing narrative around Michael Saylor’s Strategy, urging the company to pause Bitcoin purchases and rebuild its cash reserves. The warning came after its dividend coverage fell to just 14 months from roughly seven years.
Strategy isn’t facing an immediate cash crunch, but CryptoQuant’s warning puts the spotlight on the financing structure behind its Bitcoin strategy. With cash reserves shrinking and dividend obligations increasing, Strategy’s ability to keep funding new purchases is drawing closer scrutiny.
The rest of this week’s Crypto Biz shows how the industry is evolving. CBOE is eyeing perpetual Bitcoin and Ether futures, Chainlink is working with European and Korean banks on stablecoin-based FX settlement and Zcash miner Fortitude is heading to Nasdaq through an unlikely merger with a healthcare company.
CryptoQuant urges Strategy to pause Bitcoin buying as dividend coverage drops to 14 months
Earlier this week, CryptoQuant argued that Strategy’s aggressive Bitcoin accumulation has become increasingly difficult to sustain, urging the company to rebuild its cash reserves after dividend coverage fell to just 14 months from roughly seven years.
CEO Ki Young Ju said the Strategy’s cash position has deteriorated as annual dividend obligations surged to $1.2 billion following large issuances of STRC preferred shares carrying an 11.5% yield. While Strategy’s cash reserve recovered to about $1.4 billion after recent MSTR share sales, it remains down 38% year-to-date after the company repurchased $1.5 billion of its 2029 senior notes.
The warning comes as Strategy’s funding model faces additional pressure. STRC preferred shares recently fell as much as 17.5% below their $100 par value, limiting the company’s ability to raise fresh capital through additional preferred stock sales.
Strategy’s cash reserve and dividend coverage. Source: CryptoQuant
CBOE considers converting Bitcoin and Ether futures into perpetual contracts
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) is weighing a plan to convert its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures into perpetual futures, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The potential move follows recent regulatory changes after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved crypto perpetual futures for Kalshi and outlined a framework for other registered exchanges to offer similar products.
CBOE launched its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures last December, with contracts extending as far as 10 years. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts have no expiration date, allowing traders to maintain leveraged positions indefinitely. They were first popularized by crypto derivatives platform BitMEX and have since gained traction across both centralized and decentralized markets.
Perp volumes have surged across DeFi exchanges. Source: DeFiLlama
Zcash miner Fortitude to go public through Nasdaq merger with HeartSciences
Zcash miner Fortitude Mining Holdings is set to go public through an all-stock merger with medical technology company HeartSciences, bringing together two businesses from entirely different industries.
The merger will allow Fortitude to secure a Nasdaq listing without pursuing a traditional initial public offering, while HeartSciences’ existing shareholders will retain a minority stake in the combined company. Following the transaction, the combined company will operate under the Fortitude name and is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker TUDE, subject to regulatory approval.
The announcement sent HeartSciences shares up as much as 91% on Tuesday. Before the merger, the healthcare company remained unprofitable, reporting an $8.77 million net loss in fiscal 2025 despite advancing its product roadmap.
HeartSciences stock. Source: Yahoo Finance
Chainlink joins European and Korean banking groups to explore stablecoin FX settlement
Chainlink has joined a cross-border banking initiative with European and South Korean financial institutions to study whether regulated euro and won stablecoins can enable real-time foreign exchange settlement.
Dubbed Project Pangea, the working group brings together South Korean digital asset infrastructure company FairSquareLab, the Unified Korea Alliance (UniKA), Qivalis and Chainlink to evaluate atomic swaps using blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.
Rather than launching a live payment network, Project Pangea will explore how tokenized currencies could improve wholesale financial markets, where the global foreign exchange market handles an estimated $9.6 trillion in daily trading volume. The initiative reflects growing interest among banks in using stablecoins and tokenized deposits to modernize cross-border settlement, reduce friction and improve efficiency.
In a bullish scenario, the stablecoin market could reach $4 trillion by 2030. Source: Citigroup
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A group of 17 Democratic US senators is pressing leadership in a key committee to address the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) using federal funds in lawsuits against state-level authorities cracking down on prediction markets.
In a Wednesday letter to the chair and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Senator Jeff Merkley and 15 other Democrats urged the committee leadership to block the CFTC from using federal funds in Chair Michael Selig’s legal fights against state gaming authorities. Selig has defended the agency’s position that the CFTC has “exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets by claiming that the event contracts on the platforms qualify as “swaps” under its purview.
“Through engaging in this campaign of litigation and intimidation, the CFTC risks becoming an instrument and enabler of online prediction markets’ efforts to bypass states’ consumer protections and oversight, creating a race-to-the-bottom in gambling,” said the senators.
Source: Senator Richard Blumenthal
The CFTC has engaged in legal fights involving prediction markets in Connecticut, Illinois, Arizona, Kentucky, Wisconsin, New York, Minnesota, Rhode Island and New Mexico as of June. Some of the companies involved, including Kalshi and Polymarket, have filed their own lawsuits against state authorities, backing the CFTC’s position.
The ongoing legal battles have led some experts to expect that one of the cases involving the CFTC and state gaming regulators could ultimately reach the US Supreme Court. In its 2018 ruling in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Court held that individual states have the authority to regulate sports betting. If the justices grant a writ of certiorari in one of the current cases, they could revisit questions about the scope of that authority.
Selig steers CFTC alone amid broader debate over the agency's authority
As the sole commissioner and chair of the CFTC, Selig has unilaterally led the agency’s policy agenda under US President Donald Trump, vowing to go after state authorities that crack down on prediction markets. While the CFTC’s leadership is expected to consist of a bipartisan group of five commissioners, Trump has not announced any intention of filling the seats as of Friday.
Selig’s actions come as the US Senate is expected to soon vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which would establish separate regulatory roles for the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission over digital assets. Last week, gaming organizations petitioned the Senate to add language barring sports event contracts in the CLARITY Act, arguing that the CFTC wasn’t created to regulate such wagers.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves

Bitcoin (BTC) struggled to reclaim $60,000 on Friday amid continued global market volatility.
Key points:
Bitcoin closes below $60,000 on daily time frames for the first time since September 2024.
Asian stock markets see another day of major losses on tech-stock concerns.
BTC price analysis hopes for a reclaim of the 200-week trend line as the bull case.
Bitcoin risks $60,000 resistance flip as tech selling persists
Data from TradingView showed that prior support was increasingly becoming the bulls’ new hurdle after Bitcoin’s first sub-$60,000 daily close since September 2024.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Asia stock markets saw more downside on the day, with South Korean circuit-breakers kicking in on a new 8% crash.
Like on Tuesday, US stocks managed to avoid contagion, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones in the green at the time of writing.
S&P 500 one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Surrounding the weakness, tech-stock performance remained a popular talking point. Earlier, Micron Technologies boosted the mood with stronger-than-expected earnings data.
Trading resource The Kobeissi Letter suggested that a broader bullish turnaround could already be due.
“Most people do not realize how many tech giants are already deep bear market territory,” it wrote in a post on X.
Kobeissi noted that many major tech companies were already down more than 50% versus their all-time highs, with crypto exchange Coinbase leading at -69%.
“The S&P 500 won't tell you this,” it added.
Coinbase stock one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
In its latest analysis, trading company QCP Capital stressed the influence of US inflation trends on risk assets going forward.
As Cointelegraph reported, the May print of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, known as the Federal Reserve’s “preferred” inflation gauge, recorded its highest year-on-year increase since mid-2023.
“Core PCE is nowcast at 3.30%, while headline PCE is nowcast at 3.82%, both still above target,” QCP wrote.
“The Fed’s 2026 inflation forecast has also moved up to 3.6%, from 2.7%, reinforcing the view that inflation, rather than growth, remains the binding constraint.”
US PCE Index one-month % change (screenshot). Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis
BTC price 200-week trend line reclaim in focus
Looking at the short term, crypto trader and analyst Michaël Van de Poppe asked whether BTC price action would continue its downward trend.
“It's an interesting day for Bitcoin,” he told X followers, noting the upcoming quarterly options expiry event.
Van de Poppe drew attention to the performance of Strategy, the company with the world’s largest Bitcoin treasury, and its Bitcoin funding vehicle, Stretch (STRC).
“In all honesty, the fact that STRC has seen a relatively big drop yesterday and Bitcoin essentially stalled at $60,000 is not a weak signal. Other than that, there's a bullish divergence on the daily timeframe, which is still far from confirmed,” he continued.
“It can signal that we're bouncing back upwards, and, yes, the markets need to bounce back upwards in order to close above the 200-Week MA.”
BTC/USD one-day chart with 200-week SMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The trend line in question, the 200-week simple moving average (SMA), stood at $62,243 at the time of writing.

Framework Ventures, a venture capital company that backs crypto platforms, has closed its fourth fund while expanding its investment strategy beyond blockchain.
The San Francisco-based investor has raised $400 million to target “frontier technology,” including investments in crypto and technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and energy, Fortune reported on Friday.
The report cited Framework co-founders Vance Spencer and Michael Anderson, who said about half of the capital has already been deployed but declined to identify the fund's limited partners.
The raise reflects a broader push by crypto venture firms to expand beyond blockchain into other emerging technologies while continuing to invest in crypto.
Not a shift away from crypto
Framework co-founder Anderson said the company is not simply chasing the AI trend, but instead following where its existing network of founders is already building.
“We can see these founders leading us in this direction,” he said, adding:
We should pay attention.”
The company backed the robotics data startup Mecka AI in a $60 million round in early June. In February, Framework also partnered with mortgage lender Better to provide up to $500 million in financing through the Sky stablecoin ecosystem. Separately, Framework took a $45 million stake in Better, representing roughly 10% of its stock, according to Fortune.
Source: Framework Ventures
Cointelegraph approached Framework for details regarding the latest fund, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Framework’s portfolio includes Hyperliquid, Plasma and Aave
Framework Ventures was founded in 2019, when it launched its first crypto fund, focusing on backing early decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.
Its portfolio includes major crypto platforms such as Aave, Chainlink, Hyperliquid, Jito Labs and Plasma, according to the company’s website.
Framework Ventures’ portfolio. Source: Framework Ventures
The company says it has invested across multiple market cycles, focusing on founders building infrastructure and products in emerging digital asset markets.
Framework raised a $100 million second fund in 2021 and a $400 million third fund in 2022, both focused primarily on crypto investments.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state's central bank and financial regulator, has added decentralized perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid to its Investor Alert List.
The entry, added on Friday, includes the Hyper Foundation website and the Hyperliquid trading app.
The Investor Alert List is a consumer protection measure that identifies entities that may be wrongly perceived as licensed or regulated by MAS. Inclusion on the list does not constitute a ban or enforcement action.
MAS Investor Alert List. Source: MAS
MAS added crypto exchange Bybit to the list on June 17. KuCoin and Bitget also appear on the list. Cointelegraph reached out to MAS for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Hyperliquid said that it has never claimed to be licensed or authorized by MAS and that nothing about its permissionless infrastructure has changed.
“The Hyperliquid ecosystem remains committed to engaging collaboratively and constructively with regulators and institutions globally and to supporting clear, well-designed frameworks for onchain finance," the platform wrote in a Friday X post.
According to CoinGecko, Hyperliquid ranks as the ninth-largest decentralized exchange by trading volume, while DefiLlama estimates it holds about $5.7 billion in total value locked.
Singapore tightens crypto oversight
Singapore has steadily tightened oversight of the cryptocurrency industry in recent years. In May 2025, MAS ordered crypto companies serving overseas customers to either obtain licenses or cease operations, saying the policy reflected a long-standing regulatory position rather than a shift in approach.
The directive closed a regulatory loophole that had allowed some crypto firms based in Singapore to avoid licensing by serving only overseas customers. MAS said it had consistently communicated its position since 2022 and was ending the transition period for firms that had continued operating without a license.
MAS said the measures were intended to strengthen consumer protection and align the Lion City's crypto framework with international standards on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism.
Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has given digital asset businesses another three months to apply for licenses required under its updated regulatory guidance.
Australia's financial regulator said that the temporary protection from enforcement would remain in place until Sept. 30, pushed from the previous June 30 deadline.
The extension applies to businesses seeking an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license, as well as companies that may require market or clearing and settlement authorizations.
ASIC also expanded the no-action relief to cover digital asset businesses operating through authorized representatives or intermediary arrangements with licensed firms, widening the pool of companies eligible for the transition period.
The regulator said it has received about 30 license applications since updating its digital asset guidance in October 2025.
Source: ASIC
Australia’s crypto licensing transition takes shape
ASIC previously introduced the no-action position after updating its Information Sheet 225 (INFO 225) guidance to clarify how existing financial services laws apply to digital assets. The guidance states that many digital asset products are financial products under existing law, meaning many providers require an AFS licence.
That approach rests on ASIC’s view that Australia’s definitions of financial products are broad and technology-neutral. The regulator said its interpretation was recently reinforced by the High Court’s Block Earner ruling, which found that the company’s former crypto yield product was a financial product under the Corporations Act.
The temporary relief is separate from Australia’s Digital Asset Framework, which passed Parliament in April and is scheduled to commence on April 9, 2027.
The law will bring digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms under Australia’s financial services licensing regime. ASIC has warned that some firms licensed under the current guidance may need additional authorizations once the new framework takes effect.
“Many digital asset firms that apply for a licence based on INFO 225 will also need to add DAP and TCP authorisations to their licence once that regime commences,” ASIC said in a May announcement.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto

Multiple users have reported issues withdrawing funds from cryptocurrency exchange AscendEX, which blockchain investigator ZachXBT said may be showing signs of liquidity issues.
An X account using the name Lorenzo Navarro Rodriguez said in a Tuesday post that a 4,196 USDT withdrawal had remained stuck in an “initiating” state since June 10. The account also said repeated customer support inquiries had gone unanswered.
At least five other users replied to the post over the following days, reporting similar withdrawal issues.
On Friday, ZachXBT said in a Telegram post that the exchange lacked large-cap reserves for tokens such as Ether (ETH), USDT (USDT) and Solana (SOL), indicating potential “liquidity issues” on the platform. ZachXBT urged the platform to respond to the reports about delayed withdrawal requests and provide more clarity on why its hot wallets have low liquidity.
Exchanges rely on liquid reserves of widely traded assets to process customer withdrawals. A shortage of those assets can lead to delayed withdrawals or, in severe cases, insolvency.
ZachXBT flags liquidity and withdrawal issues on AscendEX via Telegram. Source: ZachXBT
AscendEX’s reserves are dominated by small-cap holdings
Blockchain data on Arkham viewed by Cointelegraph on Friday showed that AscendEX-tagged wallets held about $20.2 million in crypto. Arkham-tagged wallets were concentrated in smaller-cap assets, with relatively limited holdings of major cryptocurrencies.
AscendEx had $10 million in UNITE tokens as its largest holding, followed by $5.24 million worth of REUR, $2.9 million in ASD and $600,000 worth of Reservoir rUSD stablecoins, among other smaller tokens.
AscendEX-tagged wallet, top token holdings. Source: Arkham
Cointelegraph has approached AscendEX for comment but not received a response before publishing.
Questions about an exchange's liquidity are highly sensitive in the crypto industry following the collapse of FTX in 2022, when customer withdrawal requests exposed a multibillion-dollar shortfall that ultimately led to the exchange's bankruptcy.
The failure triggered a wave of customer withdrawals across the industry, intensified regulatory scrutiny and prompted many exchanges to publish proof-of-reserves reports in an effort to reassure users.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves

Bitcoin’s (BTC) drop to $58,000 has pushed the price into a zone that long-term power-law models have historically associated with cycle bottoms. The data does not confirm a bottom range, though it shows BTC trading in a price range that has repeatedly marked major lows since 2014.
Derivatives data and liquidation levels highlight $55,000 as the next key support level and the $65,000-$68,000 range as the next major upside area of interest.
Bitcoin power-law puts $58,000 in historical range
Giovanni's Bitcoin power-law model places the network's long-term trend price near $135,000, making the recent drop to $58,000 roughly 54% below the all-time high and 1.22 standard deviations beneath that trend.
According to the analyst, the key takeaway is straightforward: the previous cycle lows in 2012, 2015, 2019, 2020, and 2022 all fell within a similar statistical range. By that measure, the latest decline falls within a territory that has historically marked the deep bear-market lows rather than a break in Bitcoin's long-term growth path.
Bitcoin price deviation based on the power-law trend. Source: X
The model estimates the commonly referenced "-1σ" support near $68,000, while the stronger historical floor sits closer to $55,000. Giovanni also noted that Bitcoin would need to trade below roughly $17,000 for more than a year before the power-law itself could be considered invalid.
A second metric points in the same direction. Bitcoin's power-law quantile has fallen to 6.2%, indicating the asset is cheaper than roughly 94% of its historical observations when measured against the power-law model. The chart highlights similar readings during the 2015, 2020, and 2023 cycle lows, with the current market now revisiting that historically rare valuation zone.
Bitcoin power-law quantile regression chart. Source: Checkonchain
Related: Bitcoin drops to $58K on high US PCE inflation as trader sees 'manipulation'
Key BTC price levels to watch
Bitcoin fell to a new yearly low of $58,000 after aggressive selling swept through Binance. The hourly taker sell volume reached $2.1 billion, followed by another $1.9 billion in the next hour after the New York market open, marking the exchange's largest hourly sell pressure since May 4.
Bitcoin taker sell volume on Binance. Source: CryptoQuant
The flush liquidated more than $300 million in long BTC positions before the price rebounded toward $60,000. That level now carries added significance. A daily close back above $60,000 preserves the developing relative-strength index (RSI) bullish divergence across the one-hour, four-hour, and daily time frames which signals that selling momentum is fading even as the price prints lower lows.
BTC/USDT, one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Futures trader Byzantine General shared a similar outlook, saying the move to $58,000 cleared out leveraged longs while drawing in fresh short sellers. In his view, a daily close above $60,000 would strengthen the case that Bitcoin has printed a local bottom for now.
That would also shift attention toward a large pocket of upside liquidity. More than $4 billion in short liquidations cluster near $65,000, compared with about $1 billion below $55,000, creating a four-to-one imbalance. A relief rally could then target internal liquidity near $68,000, where a daily fair-value gap adds another area of interest for traders.
BTC liquidation map. Source: CoinGlass
Meanwhile, a daily close below $60,000 reinforces the bearish bias on both the short-term and long-term charts. The next area of interest then shifts to $55,000, where Bitcoin's September 2024 weekly range low converges with its realized price near $54,000.
The realized price, which tracks the average cost basis of all onchain coins, has historically provided support at every major Bitcoin bear-market bottom since 2014. That trend makes the $54,000-$55,000 region a key level for traders to watch if selling pressure continues.
Bitcoin’s realized price. Source: X
Related: Bitcoin drop to $58K brings out bears: Is BTC’s next stop below $50K?

A survey arranged by digital asset services provider CoinShares found that more than half of UK-based financial advisers reported the bulk of their clients’ crypto holdings were outside their oversight.
According to the results of a CoinShares survey released on Thursday, 52% of UK advisers in a group of 261 European wealth management professionals said that the majority of their clients’ digital assets exposure was essentially “invisible” to them. Among all the EU countries surveyed, including France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, the number was 25%, with 61% of advisers saying that they worked in companies that explicitly restricted digital assets or provided no clear internal guidance.
“The capital has already been allocated,” said CoinShares co-founder and CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti. “The people entrusted with managing it simply cannot see it, and in most cases not because clients are unwilling to engage, but because firm policy prevents them from doing so. This is not a knowledge problem. It is not a demand problem. It is a firm-policy problem becoming a wrong-way risk.”
He added:
“[...] Visibility comes before advice. You cannot allocate, manage risk or earn trust over assets you cannot see.”
Source: CoinShares
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the watchdog overseeing digital asset regulation, reported in December that about 8% of the country’s adults were invested in crypto. The group recently proposed allowing authorized investment funds to hold up to a 10% allocation of cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes.
Potential new leadership to shake up UK crypto policy?
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned as Labour leader on Monday amid pressure from many in his own party, opening the door to a recently elected member of parliament to take the reins.
In a recent by-election, former Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham won a seat as a member of parliament representing Makerfield, positioning him to be heavily favored by many in Labour to replace Starmer. While it’s unclear how Burnham may handle crypto policy on a national stage, as mayor, he supported the blockchain industry as a driver for economic development.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $60,000, a key psychological support, on Thursday as losses in megacap technology stocks weighed on investors' broader risk appetite, adding pressure to an already fragile crypto market.
BTC/USD vs. Nasdaq and S&P 500 daily performance chart. Source: TradingView
The decline has triggered a classic bearish reversal setup that may push the BTC price under the $54,000 mark in the coming days.
Key takeaways:
Bitcoin’s break below $60,000 has erased its June gains and activated multiple bearish setups.
Bitcoin’s rounded top and daily bear flag breakdowns are both projecting a downside target below $54,000.
BTC's rounded top breakdown signals more pain ahead
The BTC/USD pair fell as much as 4.8% on Thursday, hitting an intraday low near $58,000 and erasing its entire June advance. The pullback also completed what appears to be a rounded top pattern on the four-hour chart.
BTC/USD four-hour chart tracking the rounded top bearish setup. Source: TradingView
In technical analysis, a rounded top forms when buying momentum gradually exhausts, shifting the asset from an uptrend to a downtrend in an inverse-U-shaped structure. The pattern officially resolves when the price breaks below the "neckline" or the structure's base support.
By measuring the distance from the top of the dome to the neckline and projecting that same distance downward from the breakdown point, analysts calculate a clear target.
For Bitcoin, this measured downside target sits just under the $54,000 level, representing an approximate 8.9% drop from current prices.
On the daily chart, Bitcoin has simultaneously triggered a bear flag breakdown.
BTC/USD daily chart tracking the bear flag breakdown setup. Source: TradingView
This secondary pattern independently projects an identical move toward the $54,000 zone, adding substantial weight to the bearish case.
Bitcoin MVRV bands increase $54,000 target odds
Bitcoin’s on-chain price bands also point to the same downside area highlighted by the rounded-top and bear-flag setups.
Glassnode’s MVRV pricing bands compare Bitcoin’s market price with its realized price, or the average price at which coins last moved on-chain. In simple terms, they show whether the market is trading at unusually high profit or loss levels.
BTC MVRV pricing bands vs. price. Source: Glassnode
As of Wednesday, Bitcoin was trading near $60,997, while the 1.0 MVRV band, shown in green, sat around $53,390. That level closely matches the technical downside target near $54,000, making it an important support zone if BTC extends its decline.
A deeper selloff, however, could push Bitcoin toward the 0.8 MVRV band, shown in blue, near $42,700. Historically, Bitcoin’s major bear-market bottoms have formed around this lower blue band, where unrealized losses become extreme, and capitulation risk rises.

XRP is trading just above $1, leaving the token at its weakest price level of the year, but onchain data paints a different picture.
The exchange-held XRP supply continues to fall, Binance withdrawals have exceeded deposits for seven straight days, whale flows are holding positive and spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have attracted $243 million in inflows since April.
The improving onchain data points to healthy network positioning, even as XRP continues to search for a price bottom.
XRP supply on exchanges continues to shrink
Crypto analyst Amr Taha noted that Binance's XRP reserve has fallen to its lowest level since March after roughly 100 million XRP left the exchange over the past month. Binance's balance stood at about 2.68 billion XRP on June 25, down from 2.78 billion XRP on May 12, accounting for the largest outflow among major trading platforms.
XRP multi-exchange daily reserve. Source: CryptoQuant
Other exchanges also posted smaller declines. Upbit's reserve fell to 2.48 billion XRP on June 25 from 2.51 billion XRP on May 31, while Bybit's holdings declined to 82 million XRP from 92 million XRP on June 2. Binance led in absolute outflows, while Bybit recorded the steepest percentage decline.
Taha also highlighted a significant shift in Binance transaction activity. XRP withdrawal transactions have exceeded deposits for seven consecutive days since June 17. The seven-day withdrawal share climbed to 53.8% on June 23, its highest reading since June 2024, while deposits fell to 46.1%, the weakest level since 2024.
XRP daily deposit/withdrawal transactions (%) on Binance. Source: CryptoQuant
The metric tracks transaction count rather than XRP volume. This indicates users are moving coins off Binance more frequently than sending them to the exchange, marking the longest withdrawal-led stretch in roughly a year.
Large XRP holders supported the trend. XRP whale flow on the 90-day moving average has stayed positive throughout the quarter at 5.143 million XRP per day, showing consistent net accumulation by large wallets instead of distribution.
XRP whale flows. Source: CryptoQuant
Institutional demand has also added support. Spot XRP ETFs recorded $2 million in net inflows on June 24, lifting June's total netflows to $31 million. Since April, the total cumulative inflows have reached $243 million.
Related: SBI to acquire Bitbank in $289M deal creating Japan's biggest crypto exchange
XRP price approaches a major demand zone
From a technical standpoint, the higher-time-frame market structure remains bearish for the altcoin. XRP touched $1.01 on Thursday, its lowest price of 2026, leaving the token close to its first move below $1 since November 2024. The decline has pushed XRP down 43% year-to-date.
XRP/USDT, one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The next key area for XRP sits within the fair value gap between $1 and $0.63, an unfilled price gap created during the sharp rally in late 2024 that could attract buying interest if the decline extends in the coming weeks.
Black Swan Capitalist founder Versan Aljarrah continues to focus on the longer-term chart. The analyst said XRP has spent years building a large accumulation range with higher lows on both weekly and monthly timeframes.
XRP/USD, one-month chart analysis by Versan Aljarrah. Source: X
Aljarrah argued that extended consolidations often produce stronger breakout moves once the price eventually breaks out of the range, with the analyst targeting $10, i.e., a 900% increase from the current price.
Related: HYPE down 22% from record highs: Will spot demand revive the uptrend?

Asset manager 21shares has scaled back several of its bullish forecasts for the crypto industry this year, saying institutional adoption continues to strengthen even as weak market conditions and muted retail participation have slowed the pace of growth.
In its midyear outlook, the asset manager said the industry’s underlying infrastructure has advanced more quickly than prices. Areas such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stablecoin regulation, tokenization and prediction markets have continued to mature, but weaker crypto prices, major DeFi exploits and slower-than-expected enterprise adoption have pushed several of its 2026 targets out of reach.
One of the report’s clearest conclusions was that Bitcoin’s (BTC) four-year market cycle remains intact, despite signs the asset class is becoming more institutionally driven.
“After peaking at around $126,000 in October 2025, Bitcoin pulled back sharply and has continued to trade in line with prior post-halving patterns,” the analysts wrote, arguing that institutional ownership has softened market drawdowns but has not fundamentally altered Bitcoin’s cyclical behavior.
Bitcoin’s predictable four-year cycle continues to be a major driver of market conditions. Source: 21shares
Former 21shares co-founder Ophelia Snyder, who departed the company following its acquisition by FalconX in 2025, recently made a similar observation about how institutional investors have reshaped crypto markets.
“The investor base is larger, more institutional, and more connected to the broader financial system," Snyder wrote in a recent Substack post. “As a result, competing narratives, geopolitical developments, and macroeconomic shifts all have a much larger impact on crypto pricing than they once did.”
Prediction markets expected to outperform
Among the sectors outperforming expectations, 21shares singled out prediction markets as one of crypto’s strongest growth areas, projecting annual trading volume will surpass $100 billion this year.
The report also highlighted consolidation as a defining trend across the industry. Public companies holding crypto on their balance sheets are beginning to diverge, with many smaller treasury players trading below the value of their digital asset holdings, pointing to further consolidation in the sector.
A similar pattern is emerging across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem, where a handful of dominant rollups continue to gain market share while dozens of smaller networks struggle to attract meaningful users and liquidity.
Crypto ETFs show resilience despite outflows
That resilience is also evident in crypto exchange-traded products, which have continued attracting long-term institutional investors despite weaker market conditions.
While US spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded roughly $3 billion in net outflows this year, 21shares said those figures don’t tell the full story. Holdings remain just above 1.25 million BTC, near an all-time high in for the token, suggesting many investors have held onto their positions through the downturn.
“Investors are holding through volatility or quietly building strategic positions, even with Bitcoin trading well below its highs,” the analysts wrote.
Crypto ETP assets have fallen from their peak, but cumulative investor inflows have remained resilient. Source: 21shares
The analysts also pointed to improving regulatory clarity in the United States, citing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s generic listing standards that have helped convert a backlog of crypto ETF applications into a steady stream of new product launches beyond Bitcoin and Ether.
“Hyperliquid stands out,” the analysts wrote. “US spot ETFs tracking the asset attracted over $150 million in net inflows in under a month, evidence that traditional capital continues to flow toward digital assets.”
Related: CBOE weighs converting BTC, ETH continuous futures into perpetual futures: Report