
Kristin Smith urged the Senate to preserve developer protections in the CLARITY Act, arguing open-source builders should not be regulated as financial intermediaries.

Bitwise research suggests that Bitcoin is leading a broader risk-off move across markets as global liquidity and stablecoin reserves remain elevated.
Despite a brief bounce, Bitcoin is still struggling with heightened volatility, capping every upward attempt and keeping its price below the $65,000 mark. In this unfavorable market environment, the flagship asset may be entering a crucial phase as leverage steadily dries up across the market.
Bitcoin is seeing persistent bearish pressure, but a report shows that the market just made a major shift that could play a role in its short-term trajectory. As volatility builds, the BTC market seems to be moving into a lower-leverage phase as traders become more cautious and speculative excesses start to calm.
A recent analysis of the Bitcoin Leverage Pressure Zone by Joao Wedson, the founder of Alphractal and verified author at CryptoQuant, shows that BTC has left the extreme leverage phase and moved into moderate and slight leverage. This implies that the risk of large-scale liquidations, which frequently accompany highly leveraged conditions, has decreased as aggressive positioning in derivatives markets has subsided.
Since many traders were liquidated last week, the risk of forced liquidations is dropping significantly. However, Wedson highlights that the market has not yet reached the blue/purple zone indicated on the chart, which marks extreme deleveraging.
In the past, this region was considered an ideal one to gain exposure with greater safety. The expert claims that the market has not yet gotten to that phase, but it will likely take a few more weeks or months before we reach that stage.
Even though it might occasionally indicate a declining risk appetite, lower leverage may indicate a healthier market structure based on higher spot demand rather than speculative momentum. Despite this shift into moderate and slight leverage, Wedson has urged investors to approach the derivatives market with caution. “If you do not understand its health, you can be liquidated at any moment, “ he added.
With the Bitcoin market deeply in a volatile state, investors are beginning to feel the pressure of this downward action, even big investors. CW, a data analyst and investor, reported on X that small whales are now underwater as bearish performance mounts.
Here, small whales represent wallet addresses holding between 100 BTC and 1,000 BTC, and these investors have now returned to a loss position. This shift in profitability is attributed to the recent decline in BTC’s price to the $60,000 threshold.
In order for the group to return to profit territory, the expert stated that BTC’s price must bounce back to the $64,000 mark. CW added that the brief uptrend of Bitcoin started as these investors slowly approached the profit zone. In the meantime, recovering the $64,000 level is the first condition for the rise to kick off.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s price was trading at $63,370, and was showing a nearly 1% rise within the past day. While prices are slowly turning bullish, BTC’s trading volume within the same time frame has dropped by over 5%.
BNB has already forced its way back into the upper end of the crypto market rankings by beating XRP in May, but the next question is much bigger than its battle with XRP.
A new analysis argues that the token can still reclaim its old high and push above $2,000, but any talk of a $10,000 to $20,000 BNB price requires a much larger crypto market than the one that exists today.
Crypto Patel, a popular crypto analyst on X, published an interesting breakdown of BNB’s price ceiling this week, and the numbers are worth sitting with. BNB currently holds a market cap of about $80.6 billion, placing it at number four in global rankings, only behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. Its all-time high of around $1,370 in October 2025 implies a market cap that reached somewhere near $185 billion at its peak.
Although the peak all-time high means BNB has managed to hold huge value before, getting to $10,000 per token is an entirely different scale of ambition. With BNB’s supply on an assumed long-term burn trajectory to a 100 million supply target, a $10,000 price would imply a market cap of $1 trillion, which is almost what the total market cap of Bitcoin is worth today.
A $20,000 BNB, he pointed out, would represent a $2 trillion valuation for a single asset, which would exceed the combined worth of the entire crypto market as it stands right now. “Anyone throwing out $20,000 as a near-term target is selling you something, not analyzing,” the analyst wrote.
BNB overtook XRP again in market cap rankings in mid-May, and the distance between them has been growing since then. The next crypto is Ethereum, and BNB overtaking Ethereum is not impossible, but the current market cap gap makes it more of a long-term challenge.
At today’s supply, BNB would need to trade around $1,500 to match Ethereum’s $203 billion valuation, using the current ETH market cap as a static comparison. That level is close to BNB’s previous all-time high zone, which means a flip could only happen soon if BNB returns to record levels while the Ethereum price stays relatively the same. However, in a real-world scenario, Ethereum would likely also rise in a broad market recovery.
The more pressing structural obstacle is one Crypto Patel identified as the Binance concentration risk. Almost every value driver for BNB, the burn mechanism, exchange fee utility, on-chain activity, and institutional custody, runs through or is adjacent to the crypto exchange Binance. Any serious negativity against Binance would also dent BNB’s price action.
Crypto Patel’s believable bull case is reclaiming the old high and pushing toward $3,000. However, the analyst’s chart also projected a trajectory that eventually reaches the $20,000 range, placing that scenario in 2029 at the earliest.
Technical analysis of Bitcoin’s price action on the daily candlestick timeframe places the cryptocurrency around the same resistance region where previous relief rallies have failed, turning the current price area into a major decision point for the next phase of the market. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $62,950, and bulls are trying to stabilize above $60,000 after a recent few days of heavy selling pressure.
On-chain analyst VoidOnChain has laid out a precise roadmap that maps the path from current price action, but the roadmap does not promise an immediate recovery.
The Bitcoin daily chart reveals a pattern of diminishing relief rallies, each one failing at a lower high. Looking at the earlier structure on the chart below, BTC moved through an ascending channel, pushed into a sell zone in late 2025, and then broke down.
The current setup shows a similar sequence, with Bitcoin already rejected from the bull trap level around $82,000 in May 2026 before sliding into the lower range. Since then, Bitcoin has been trending downwards and has broken the lower trendline of the channel.
Daily candlesticks since the breakdown have been fully bearish engulfing, and this has caused the Bitcoin price to approach a buy zone below $50,000 that acted as a buy zone in 2023. Interestingly, the roadmap laid out in the chart, as shown below, begins with Bitcoin breaking below $60,000 before a move to the buy zone around $53,000 and then $47,000.
The analyst’s near-term outlook carries a specific sequence: $60,000 as an immediate target, $53,000 as the next key level expected as early as next week, and a deeper flush to $47,000 by July that establishes the ultimate low. This move corresponds to a C wave on the chart, the same as the C wave that played out from January to early February 2026.
Once the corrective structure completes, VoidOnChain’s roadmap projects a recovery to $87,000 initially, followed by an extension to $151,000 by January 2027.
The Bitcoin market is currently split between fear and buying by some savvy traders. Bears controlled the market over the weekend, but selling pressure has started to ease during the week.
Strategy also added to the accumulation narrative after announcing a $101.3 million Bitcoin purchase between June 1 and June 7, acquiring 1,550 BTC at an average price of $65,333. The purchase helped calm some concerns that followed Strategy’s earlier Bitcoin sale, which had weighed on market sentiment. Still, many crypto analysts believe Bitcoin has yet to deliver a clear bullish confirmation, and Bitcoin might undergo another crash to an accumulation zone.
In a new report, market expert Sam Daodu laid out three tentative scenarios for where XRP could be heading in 2027. His projections are built around several moving parts: the CLARITY Act, the XRP Ledger (XRPL), and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Under Daodu’s most conservative outlook, XRP could trade between $3 and $5 by 2027. This range assumes that the CLARITY Act moves forward and that demand for XRP through ETFs grows at a steady pace rather than in dramatic bursts.
Daodu argues that this “unflashy” kind of progress would be enough to pull XRP back toward its earlier peak levels in under two years, without requiring a major, sudden breakout.
In this scenario, Standard Chartered’s $7 XRP target for 2027 sits near the optimistic end, but the $3 to $5 outcome is presented as the best fit for current conditions if nothing destabilizes the market.
A more bullish case pushes XRP higher, with a forecast range of $7 to $10. For XRP to reach that upper band, the demand question would need to turn decisively in XRP’s favor.
Daodu’s report points to a key catalyst: banks may need to start holding and settling in XRP itself, not just relying on stablecoins that use the XRPL network. He also notes that ETF inflows would likely have to accelerate beyond early expectations and reaching a level of “several billion dollars.”
If both usage and buying pressure strengthen at the same time, Daodu suggests that XRP would have the combination of utility and market demand required to clear its prior highs and sustain the momentum afterward.
That bullish pathway is also where Bitwise’s more optimistic prediction comes into view. Bitwise’s outlook places XRP in the $9 to $10 area, aligning closely with the idea that 2027 could be the year the altcoin finally catches up to the value implied by its infrastructure.
In Daodu’s framing, this would be the version of events where adoption and capital inflows reinforce each other—turning what is currently more infrastructure-led into a fuller demand-driven cycle.
A Real Chance Of Breaking Below $1Daodu also outlines a downside scenario, where XRP trades below $1.50 by 2027. In his analysis, the negative path depends less on technology and more on whether sentiment stays weak for longer than the market can easily absorb.
A key risk factor is the possibility that the CLARITY Act stalls past August’s recess. At the same time, broader market conditions could keep pressure on risk assets. Finally, Ripple’s monthly supply pattern is described as steady, meaning it may not provide fresh demand catalysts on its own if buyers remain cautious.
In that bearish scenario, Daodu expects XRP to spend most of 2027 somewhere between $1 and $1.50. He also notes that there is a realistic chance XRP could lose the $1 level if selling intensity continues rather than fading.
However, the market may not have to wait until 2027 to see sub-$1 levels for the altcoin, as it is currently trading at around $1.12. This is a recovery from the drop to $1.05 over the weekend, but there are still concerns that this key support level could be broken in the near term.
Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com
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MetaMask launched Agent Wallet on June 8, 2026, a self-custodial wallet purpose-built for AI agents to autonomously execute trades and DeFi interactions without users ever surrendering their private keys. Roughly 200 users are in an Early Access Program right now, with a broader rollout planned for summer 2026.
The catch? AI agents are, by definition, acting on your behalf without asking permission for every move. That creates a genuine problem: how do you give a bot enough freedom to be useful while making sure it can’t drain your wallet the moment something goes wrong?
Here is the central tension this article unpacks: AI autonomy and user control are fundamentally at odds, and MetaMask’s Agent Wallet is a direct attempt to thread that needle without repeating the custodial mistakes crypto spent a decade escaping.
The MetaMask Agent Wallet is here.
Early Access is now live – 200 spots available.
pic.twitter.com/1121gaAehN
— MetaMask
(@MetaMask) June 8, 2026
Think of the MetaMask Agent Wallet like hiring a contractor for home renovations. You give them a key to specific rooms during certain hours and with a strict budget. If they try to enter off-limits areas, you must approve it.
This wallet allows AI agents to manage their own on-chain wallets and execute transactions autonomously across multiple blockchains. Agents can rebalance portfolios, execute swaps, and interact with DeFi protocols without needing your approval for every action.
Every transaction goes through a security pipeline: simulation previews the actions, threat scans check for scams, and MEV protection guards against front-running bots. Clear Signing presents transactions in plain language, while private keys remain in a secure enclave; neither MetaMask nor Consensys can access them.
The system acknowledges limits; as MetaMask’s Zhen Yu Yong notes, “You cannot guarantee an LLM won’t be tricked.” The security is designed to minimize damage if an agent is compromised, not to prevent all attacks.
EXCLUSIVE: Earn $10 USDC Via Binance Sign-Up
MetaMask launches Agent Wallet for AI-powered onchain activity@MetaMask has unveiled Agent Wallet, a non-custodial wallet that gives AI agents self-custody access to onchain finance across Ethereum and other supported networks.
The wallet enables autonomous trading, prediction… pic.twitter.com/S0rzLyHDuv
— Crypto Miners (@CryptoMiners_Co) June 8, 2026
Agent Wallet ships with two operating modes, and the distinction matters a lot depending on how much autonomy you want to hand over.
Guard Mode is the default. Users pre-define spending limits, approved protocols, and allowlisted addresses. Anything outside those parameters triggers two-factor authentication before the transaction can proceed.
Yong described it plainly: “Think of it like banks or exchanges, where you need to add recipients to an allowlist before you can send to them.” It is the more restrictive option, but also the more forgiving one if an agent gets confused or compromised.
Beast Mode flips the model. Addresses are scanned in real time rather than pre-approved, and the agent operates without a pop-up on every transaction – genuinely hands-off. But Beast Mode does not disable the safety net. If Blockaid flags a transaction as malicious, 2FA fires regardless.
As Yong put it: “That’s non-negotiable.” Spending limits, approved assets, and time-based restrictions still apply in Beast Mode – the agent just has more room to move within those walls. MetaMask also backs eligible transactions with up to $10,000 per month of loss protection through its Transaction Protection program, explicitly framing Agent Wallet as infrastructure “built to survive mistakes.”
This Guard Mode and Beast Mode architecture is the clearest expression of MetaMask’s design bet: that the right answer to AI risk in crypto security is policy enforcement, not permission prompts on every trade.
DISCOVER: Best Meme Coin ICOs to Invest in 2026
The launch timing is deliberate as AI agents in crypto are emerging as a competitive sector. Coinbase launched Agentic Wallets in February 2026, while MoonPay integrated Ledger wallets for AI transactions and introduced the Open Wallet Standard, which is supported by major players such as PayPal and the Ethereum Foundation, to enhance interoperability.
Yong emphasized the urgency for MetaMask, stating that decisions can’t wait, as agents are already handling real money. The “wrong way” involves granting AI agents direct access to private keys, risking custodial issues that crypto has worked hard to overcome.
DeFi automation through AI reflects the trend of making on-chain tools accessible, similar to how Bitcoin ETFs made complex financial products available to mainstream users. Agent Wallet aims to bridge this gap for DeFi with AI managing the complexities.
EXPLORE: Best Crypto Presales With Asymmetric Upside in the Current Market
The post MetaMask Has New AI Agent Wallet Which Lets Bots Trade Your Crypto appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
XRP Ripple Ledger 3.2.0 is targeting a June 15 release, bringing two headline changes: the core server software is renamed from rippled to XRPLD, and the upgrade promises 30–40% lower memory usage across network nodes.
XRPL Operations announced the update on June 4, describing it as a transition that will require infrastructure operators to update parts of their systems.
BREAKING: XRP Ledger (XRPL) 3.2.0 Upgrade Set for June 15
Core server software renamed from rippled → xrpld.
Major performance optimizations, up to 30-40% lower memory footprint
Numerous performance tweaks, bug fixes, rounding /Number handling fixes, and code cleanups…
— Rednirav (@CryptoRednirav) June 8, 2026
The upgrade splits its audience cleanly. Regular XRP holders do not need to take any action; wallets, balances, and transactions remain unaffected. Validators and node operators, on the other hand, must act before the activation date or risk losing their place in network consensus.
Here is the central tension this article unpacks: the XRP upgrade is a meaningful step forward for the health and independence of the XRP Ledger, but the June 15 date is a target reported by validator Vet, not a hard confirmation from XRPL Operations. XRP traded near $1.17 on June 9, up roughly +2.5% over seven days amid broader market selling.
Last week, $XRP closed below its 200 week SMA. In prior cycles, a structural bottom formed between 8-29 weeks once we witnessed the first weekly close below this average. pic.twitter.com/1kYEkhfzpB
—
ChartNerd
(@ChartNerdTA) June 9, 2026
Imagine a popular coffee shop originally named after its founder. Even after the founder sold the business, the community renamed it to reflect its identity.
This is similar to what’s happening with rippled and xrpld. The rippled name has been linked to the XRP Ledger’s core server software since Ripple open-sourced it in 2013.
As the network transitioned to community-led governance and a distinct “XRPL” identity, the server retained its outdated name. Renaming it to xrpld aligns the software with the XRP Ledger and emphasizes its open, neutral nature, especially in light of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple.
On the performance side, version 3.2.0 is expected to reduce memory usage by 30–40% and includes performance enhancements, bug fixes, and code cleanups, according to crypto analyst Rednirav.
However, final release notes and public benchmarks have not yet been published, and as of June 8, the GitHub milestone was 98% complete, meaning the June 15 release date is not confirmed.
DISCOVER: Best Meme Coin ICOs to Invest in 2026
The short answer is no. This XRP upgrade operates entirely at the server infrastructure layer. Your XRP balance, wallet address, and private keys are untouched. No new wallet software is required, and everyday transaction flows stay the same.
1. If you hold XRP on an exchange, nothing changes on your end. Exchanges running XRPL nodes will handle their own upgrades. If a major exchange is slow to upgrade, you might see brief service notices, but your funds are not at risk from the upgrade itself.
2. If you self-custody XRP in a hardware or software wallet, again, no action is needed. The upgrade does not change wallet formats, address standards, or transaction types. Your setup works exactly as before.
3. If you run a node or validate on the XRP Ledger, you are in a different category entirely, and the next section is written for you. The comfortable truth for retail holders is that the long-term benefit here is indirect: a more efficient, lower-cost network infrastructure supports the XRPL DeFi ecosystem, faster transaction settlement, and the kind of institutional-grade reliability that underpins broader XRP adoption.
EXCLUSIVE: Earn $10 USDC Via Binance Sign-Up

(SOURCE: DefiLlama)
To ensure proper functionality, upgrade to XRP Ledger 3.2.0 before the activation date. Nodes running the old rippled binary post-activation will fall out of consensus and become effectively isolated from the network. This can lead to operational risks for exchanges and services, including stale data and failed transactions.
The upgrade process involves more than just swapping binaries; it requires updates to systemd service files, deployment scripts, monitoring tools, Docker images, CI pipelines, and command-line references for “rippled.” A detailed migration playbook is expected but was not available as of June 8.
Operators should test the upgrade on testnet or devnet before applying it to mainnet. The ecosystem is nearly ready, as indicated by the 98% GitHub milestone and 100% validator consensus of the previous version, but timely action is crucial.
EXPLORE: Best Crypto Presales With Asymmetric Upside in the Current Market
The post XRP Ripple Ledger 3.2.0 Upgrade Targets June 15 and What it Means for XRP appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
The acquisition could reshape the global payments landscape, enhancing cross-border transaction efficiency and expanding market reach.
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The agreement averts potential disruptions, ensuring smooth operations at a key World Cup venue, highlighting labor's critical role in event success.
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ChainCatcher 消息,据金十报道,美国中央司令部部队于美东时间今天下午 5 点,对伊朗发起自卫性打击,以回应昨日一架美国陆军阿帕奇直升机被击落事件。此次任务是针对伊朗无端侵略行为的对等回应。
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The marketing industry has a vocabulary problem.
Ask any CMO about their distribution strategy and they will describe their content calendar. Ask about their channel mix and they will explain their paid media budget. Ask how they ensure their brand shows up inside the AI-generated answers their customers are already reading and most will go quiet.
“Distribution” has become a synonym for “posting.” That is why most brands are invisible.
Mohit Ahuja has been sitting with this problem since a campaign he ran at Cultbike.fit did something he did not fully understand until he looked at the data underneath it. His team had built a genuinely good piece of content: comedian Atul Khatri, sharp creative, the kind of video that earns internal praise before it earns external reach. It performed. It outperformed.
The creative quality was not why.
When Ahuja ran the analysis, distribution placement explained the outcome. The video had not found its audience because it was good. It found its audience because of precise, deliberate decisions about where and how to put it. “Great creative was necessary but not sufficient,” he says. “It was the distribution that turned a funny video into a conversation people were having at their offices.”
He spent the next few years asking a question nobody in the industry had a satisfying answer to: if distribution is what actually drives outcomes, why does no platform exist to aggregate it?
The Gap That Should Not Exist
Consider what has been built for every other part of the marketing function.
Content creation: dozens of tools, including now AI tools that generate unlimited output at near-zero cost. Paid advertising: entire platforms with sophisticated targeting, real-time bidding, and attribution infrastructure. CRM, email, analytics, social scheduling, all of it has been systematised, consolidated, and made accessible to teams of every size.
Distribution has not. The creator economy, newsletter ecosystem, podcast network, Reddit community, and Answer Engine landscape, the actual places where brand reputation forms and purchase decisions are made, remain a fragmented collection of individual relationships managed through emails, spreadsheets, and agency retainers, with no unified layer sitting above them.
This is the gap Ampli5 launched into this week. The company, based in Singapore and now live at ampli5.ai, is the first distribution aggregator for brand marketing. A single platform that connects brands to YouTube creators, newsletter operators, podcast networks, TikTok influencers, X communities, Reddit, programmatic inventory, and AI-answer visibility, and routes intelligently across all of them based on where the audience actually is.
That category, distribution aggregator, did not exist before this week. That is not positioning language. It is a description of the market.
Why AI Made This the Only Bet Worth Making
The arrival of AI content tools did not create the distribution problem. It made the cost of not solving it terminal.
When content was expensive, creative quality was a natural differentiator. Teams with resources had an edge. AI collapsed that asymmetry. Every competitor now has access to the same production capability. When everyone is producing at volume, volume is not an advantage. Creative quality, always difficult to sustain, becomes nearly impossible to maintain as a moat when the baseline has been raised across the entire market.
What AI cannot generate is distribution reach. The accumulated presence across the channels where your audience actually forms opinions, the creator relationships, the newsletter placements, the community trust, the answer engine visibility, takes time and operational sophistication to build. It cannot be prompted into existence.
Ahuja’s framework for this, what he describes as the infrastructure layer that sits between brands and the fragmented distribution landscape, is laid out in full at his blog. The essay makes the case for why distribution should be thought of as a utility rather than a vendor relationship, and why no one had built that utility until now.
The Aggregator Advantage
The Distribution Atlas, Ampli5’s data layer that maps where a brand’s target audience actually concentrates across the internet, is what makes the aggregator model work in practice. Before a campaign launches, the Atlas identifies where the density is. The platform then routes to those concentrations rather than broadcasting broadly.
The difference is the difference between finding your customer and hoping your customer finds you.
Rajat, CMO at Stader Labs, described the result concisely: “With Ampli5, we reduced our go-to-market timeline by two weeks.”
Two weeks on a launch cycle is not a marginal improvement. It is a structural change to how a growth team operates.
What Comes Next
Ampli5 is onboarding brand partners by invitation. The harder tests, whether the Atlas holds its predictive accuracy across categories, whether the aggregator model scales beyond D2C and fitness, whether attribution survives contact with enterprise requirements, are still ahead.
But the founding insight is not in question. The marketing stack has everything except the one layer that determines whether any of it works. The brands that have figured this out are already competing differently. The ones still conflating content production with distribution strategy are producing more content into the same invisible void.
The first distribution aggregator is live. The category is being created now, not later.
The early movers will be very hard to catch.
Mohit Ahuja is the founder and CEO of Ampli5. The platform is live at ampli5.ai.

Digital platforms have spent years monetizing attention, clicks, and data. Yet the most meaningful value online has always come from relationships. Relationship Finance (ReFi) reframes how value is created by turning trust, participation, and collaboration into measurable economic signals. Instead of rewarding passive activity or speculation, this model connects social engagement with blockchain-backed incentives.
MaAvatar applies Relationship Finance through a structured valuation layer that records interaction quality and community contribution. Supported by the $MAAVI token and guided by Maavi Bot, the ecosystem links identity, conversation, and token mechanics into one framework – where relationships become assets within a transparent, on-chain system.
In this post, let’s understand how MaAvatar built its valuation layer and how it impacts the ecosystem.
Traditional finance rewards capital allocation. Social platforms reward attention. Relationship Finance introduces a third model: value derived from verified relationships whether its between organisations or individuals.
In ReFi, trust, contribution, and long-term participation become measurable assets. Blockchain infrastructure makes these signals transparent and tamper-resistant. Instead of extracting value from users, ReFi frameworks aim to circulate value inside the network.
This approach connects social behavior with economic incentives. Relationships stop being invisible and start becoming structured components of a digital economy.
Many token ecosystems struggle with short-term speculation. Early participants accumulate rewards, liquidity leaves, and communities weaken.
ReFi addresses this by linking rewards to participation quality and contract completion rates. The focus shifts from passive token holding to active engagement and outcomes. That is where platform like MaAvatar position their model differently.
MaAvatar integrates ReFi into a social discovery platform. The goal is simple: relationships become the foundation of value creation rather than an afterthought.
MaAvatar translates ReFi from theory into protocol architecture with a DAO. Its model shifts value creation from transactions to relationships through a structured valuation layer built on attestations, mutual staking logic, and reputation-linked finance.
MaAvatar: Relationship Finance (ReFi) and valuation layer
Here’s how that architecture works:
The Attestation Engine converts social interaction into verifiable on-chain credentials. Inside MaAvatar, Maavi Bot acts as a relationship oracle. With user consent and privacy-preserving methods such as zero-knowledge proofs, it analyzes engagement patterns and issues Verifiable Relationship Credentials (VRCs).
These credentials may appear as non-transferable SBTs or signed proofs like:
All attestations are recorded in a dedicated registry smart contract deployed on a privacy-focused Layer 2 network. VRCs follow the W3C Verifiable Credentials standard, allowing portability.
The second module links trust with token participation through the $MAAVI token.
This module embeds ReFi directly into economic incentives.
The third module introduces collaborative financial instruments built around shared goals.
By linking commitment, accountability, and capital, MaAvatar creates a framework where social capital influences economic participation.
The $MAAVI token acts as the economic engine of the ecosystem.
Within MaAvatar, the $MAAVI token supports staking mechanisms, access to premium features, governance participation, and incentive alignment across the network.
Rather than rewarding passive speculation, the $MAAVI token aligns incentives with engagement inside the platform. Relationship Finance depends on this alignment to avoid extractive token dynamics.
$MAAVI tokens’ presale will be launched soon, powering premium features, NFTs, and exclusive benefits in the MaAvatar ecosystem.
Long-term value requires more than token incentives. It requires meaningful interactions.
MaAvatar combines:
MaAvatar also builds long-term network value by using Maavi Bot to improve relationship quality, which strengthens the valuation layer and reinforces the $MAAVI token economy.
Maavi Bot: Beta is now live
Together, these components form a practical implementation of Relationship Finance. Relationships become measurable. Contribution becomes trackable. Economic participation links directly to social participation.
That structure supports sustainable growth inside the ecosystem.
Relationship Finance introduces a model where trust and participation with contributions carry measurable value. MaAvatar applies this concept through a blockchain-backed valuation layer that connects user interaction, AI guidance from Maavi Bot, and the economic alignment of the $MAAVI token.
Instead of extracting value from attention, MaAvatar builds a system where relationships or collaborations shape the economy itself. In that structure, social capital turns into structured digital capital – forming the foundation of Relationship Finance inside MaAvatar.Visit www.maavatar.io to know more about the upcoming $MAAVI token launch, airdrops, and more.
In early 2026, Polygon Labs announced $250 million in acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence to expand its stablecoin payments infrastructure. Coinme provides licensed US fiat on- and off-ramps with a nationwide retail footprint, while Sequence adds enterprise wallet infrastructure and one-click cross-chain transaction capabilities. Together, these additions strengthen Polygon’s position in regulated, production-grade stablecoin payments.
Bybit has introduced an exclusive Cashback Booster for new Bybit cardholders, offering 10% cashback on lifestyle spending for a full 30 days. The cashback is applicable to crypto-funded transactions across eligible merchant categories, including restaurants, travel, transport, fashion, and beauty.
Caroline Crenshaw’s departure from the SEC on January 2 marks a turning point for crypto regulation in Washington. The longtime cryptocurrency skeptic’s exit leaves the commission operating under a 3-0 Republican majority—a historic shift that clears the way for Paul Atkins’ pro-innovation agenda to move forward without meaningful internal opposition.
Crenshaw spent over a decade at SEC agency, consistently raising concerns about cryptocurrencies, digital assets and investor protection.
Her exit coincides with the broader regulatory reorganization under the Trump administration, which has explicitly positioned itself to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.”
The commission now operates with fewer members than authorized, as Trump hasn’t yet filled the vacant seats—a strategic pause that effectively gives the Republican-majority commissioners free rein on policy.
The timing couldn’t be sharper. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has already signaled plans to introduce an “innovation exemption” that would let crypto startups test new products under lighter regulatory requirements, provided they meet basic consumer protections. [3][7] That proposal was expected within 30 days of December 2, meaning it could arrive any moment. With Crenshaw gone, there’s no institutional voice pushing back on the exemption’s scope or implementation details.
The broader regulatory picture is also shifting. The Senate is scheduled to hold hearings in January on the CLARITY Act—landmark legislation designed to end years of turf warfare between the SEC and CFTC by clearly dividing jurisdiction over different crypto products. [3][7] White House crypto adviser David Sacks said in December the bill is “closer to passage than at any point in the past.” [3] These aren’t minor procedural tweaks. They represent a fundamental reordering of how Washington approaches digital assets.
The real action starts immediately. Watch for the innovation exemption announcement—it could drop with minimal fanfare. Then track the Senate hearings on CLARITY in January. If that bill moves to a floor vote and passes, the crypto industry will have concrete answers about regulatory jurisdiction for the first time in years. Markets have been pricing in regulatory clarity for months. Crenshaw’s departure removes one of the last obstacles to delivering on it.
The post SEC’s Pro-Crypto Shift Accelerates as Key Skeptic Crenshaw Exits appeared first on The Coins Post.
PEPE just ripped 26% higher on January 2, hitting $0.000005106 as trading volume exploded past $800 million.
That’s no thin pump—retail’s back, Robinhood holders sitting on 8.3% of supply, and a Hyperliquid whale named James Wynn dropped a bombshell prediction: $69 billion market cap by end-2026. If you’re trading memes, this is your wake-up call. Why now? New year FOMO meets bold calls in a market where BTC chills at $88k.

PEPE’s ERC-20 on Ethereum. No fancy DeFi twist here—just pure meme liquidity. Volume spiked 370-400% in 24 hours, open interest jumped 82% to $446.5 million on derivatives. RSI hit 67, screaming bullish momentum after breaking $0.0000042 resistance.
Whales aren’t dumping. That official “We ride at dawn” tweet lit socials on fire—crypto Twitter’s buzzing. Supply’s fixed at 420.69 trillion tokens. If Wynn’s right, that’s $0.000164 per PEPE. Math checks out. But Ethereum gas? Still a killer for small trades.
Total crypto cap up 1.07% to $2.99T. BTC +1.21% at $88,765, dominance slipping to 59.22%—alts eating its lunch. PEPE led top gainers, outpacing Story (+25%) and Mog. Volumes hit $164B market-wide. No massive liqs reported, but meme sector OI surging means leveraged degens are in.
BTC’s post-halving year ended red for first time ever—down 6% in 2025 despite $126k ATH. ETFs pulled $348M, but macro liquidity rules now. PEPE doesn’t care—it’s riding retail hype while big boys consolidate.
James Wynn, that Hyperliquid ser, straight-up said PEPE hits top meme status like SHIB did last cycle—if bull market holds. “We ride at dawn” from @pepe went viral. Community’s pumping: “PEPE to the moon” threads everywhere. No official team—it’s anon dev vibes.
Exchanges? Volumes exploding on Binance, MEXC. No rugs spotted. Traders on X calling for $0.000026 ATH retest. Sarcasm alert: Great timing for memes while BTC whales accumulate quietly. Holders care about flips, not halving myths.
But is this sustainable? Meme pumps fade fast.
Don’t get rekt. PEPE’s been rugged before—no premine, but watch whale wallets. Use hardware for big bags; software wallets fine for sub-$1k. Check Etherscan for suspicious transfers. Avoid leverage over 5x—OI spike means liqs incoming on pullbacks.
Actionable: Set stops below $0.0000042. DCA if you believe Wynn. DYOR on Hyperliquid perps for leverage without CEX KYC. Phishing’s rampant post-pumps—double-check links. If you’re aping memes, keep it under 5% portfolio. Skin in the game matters, but don’t YOLO rent money.
$0.000005 close today flips structure fully bullish. Watch BTC dominance drop—alts feast. Wynn’s $69B? Ballsy. If ETH L2s cut fees, PEPE volumes could 10x. Macro: Fed liquidity print January 2nd might juice risk assets.
Pullback to $0.0000045? Buy dip. Break $0.000006? Targets $0.00001 easy. Meme season back? You tell me. Trade smart—2026’s rewriting rules.
The post PEPE Explodes 26% in 24 Hours—James Wynn Calls $69B Market Cap by Year-End, Meme Degens Pile In appeared first on The Coins Post.
Enterprise blockchain leader Ripple has revealed its partnership in the initiative alongside corporate giants like Amazon and Gap.
Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper has dismissed fears that quantum computing will destroy Bitcoin.

Bernstein said bitcoin’s increasingly diversified ownership base supports its long-term store-of-value thesis.

BlackRock is closely watching Wednesday’s CPI as an early test of how U.S.-Iran tensions are feeding into already elevated prices in the economy.
OpenAI is preparing the largest redesign of ChatGPT since its launch, reshaping the chatbot into a “superapp” whose commercial ambition is letting AI agents transact on users’ behalf.
The overhaul, reported to be rolling out within weeks, folds chat, the Codex coding agent, autonomous workspace agents, image generation and outside services such as Booking.com and Canva into a single platform for the company’s nearly 1 billion users.
OpenAI has filed confidentially for an initial public offering targeted for around the fourth quarter of 2026, and the redesign is widely read as a bid to monetise a mostly free user base.
Read more: Bitcoin Plunges to $65,000 as $1.8 Billion in Crypto Positions Are Liquidated
The piece that matters for crypto is who controls the checkout. OpenAI co-developed the Agentic Commerce Protocol with payments firm Stripe, built around a shared payment token bound to a single merchant, a maximum amount, a short expiry and one-time use, the credential an agent presents to complete a purchase.
That has set off a standard race. Google’s competing Agent Payments Protocol, backed by more than 60 partners, authorises agent payments with cryptographically signed mandates and supports stablecoin settlement through the x402 extension.
Stablecoins are well suited to machine-to-machine payments because they are programmable, near-instant and avoid the volatility of other tokens, qualities that have drawn a wave of crypto infrastructure firms pitching themselves as the payment gateway for AI agents.
The most direct crypto tie runs through OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman’s separate venture, World.
Its AgentKit toolkit lets AI agents carry cryptographic proof they are backed by a real human via World ID, and integrates Coinbase’s x402 protocol for stablecoin micropayments, aiming to make agents verifiable economic actors rather than anonymous bots.
Read more: Hyperliquid Surpasses Solana in Token Price as HYPE Hits Record $75
The post OpenAI’s Next Big Bet: Turning ChatGPT Into an AI Super App appeared first on Crypto News Australia.
Hyperliquid’s token has drawn a bullish endorsement from Citrini Research, the firm whose earlier call helped trigger a sell-off in artificial-intelligence stocks, which framed the derivatives protocol as a rare crypto asset backed by genuine revenue.
“Unlike the memetic majority of crypto (bitcoin included), HYPE generates legitimate cash flow,” Citrini stated.
The firm pointed to roughly US$1.06 billion (AU$1.51 billion) in annualised fees, more than 90% of which is funnelled into an on-market buyback fund, a mechanism that has absorbed over US$2 billion (AU$2.84 billion) of HYPE since January 2025.
By some measures, Hyperliquid’s repurchases have accounted for nearly half of all token-buyback activity across the crypto market.
Fees from perpetual-futures trading are recycled into buying HYPE, linking price support to revenue rather than speculation. It is that cash-generative profile, Citrini argued, that separates the token from assets whose prices rest mainly on narrative, the basis for treating HYPE more like an operating business than a speculative coin.
The scale of that revenue has grown sharply. Cumulative protocol revenue has crossed roughly US$1.19 billion (AU$1.69 billion), with total trading volume above US$4.15 trillion (AU$5.89 trillion) and open interest near US$3.5 billion (AU$4.97 billion) as the venue expands into commodities, indices and institutional products.
Hyperliquid exchange-traded funds from 21Shares and Bitwise have together logged close to US$600 million (AU$852 million) in trading volume and more than US$136 million (AU$193.1 million) in net inflows over three weeks.
Read more: Russia Sanctions 17-Year-Old Crypto Investigator After Report on Alleged Laundering Networks
The post Hyperliquid’s Massive Buybacks and Strong Cash Flow Fuel Growing Bullish Momentum appeared first on Crypto News Australia.
Crypto optimism wanes as the Senate delays CLARITY Act action, raising uncertainty over digital asset market structure reform and a pivotal floor vote.
The post US crypto optimism fading as market structure wait drags on appeared first on CoinGeek.
Greece plans to pass a regulation imposing a 15% capital gains tax on digital assets, bringing cryptocurrencies into its tax code for the first time.
The post Greece to impose 15% tax on digital asset gains over €500 appeared first on CoinGeek.
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The European Commission has issued interim measures forcing Meta to restore third-party AI access to the WhatsApp Business API within five days.
The fraudster took in nearly $100 million from victims before laundering funds via Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins.
Circle has launched cirBTC on Ethereum, but the larger play is to make wrapped Bitcoin look like collateral infrastructure institutions can route through DeFi, OTC desks, lending markets, treasury systems, market makers, and settlement flows.
cirBTC is live on Ethereum and backed 1:1 by native BTC, according to Circle's launch materials. The company says the underlying Bitcoin is held through a Circle entity, segregated from corporate assets, and designed for onchain reserve visibility.
The product also sits inside Circle's existing stack. Circle is positioning cirBTC around Circle Mint, USDC workflows, Ethereum DeFi, and planned support for Arc and other chains.
This moves wrapped Bitcoin into an issue of trust. BTC itself does not move natively through Ethereum contracts, so any wrapped version asks users to trust a claim on Bitcoin held somewhere else.
For retail DeFi users, that can be a bridge decision. For institutions, it is a collateral decision: who holds the keys, how reserves are checked, what happens during redemption, and whether the operational process can survive internal risk review.
Circle's cirBTC pitch starts with the same basic promise as other wrapped Bitcoin products: one token for one BTC. The difference is the operating package around that promise.
Its materials say cirBTC is backed by native BTC, reserves are separated from corporate assets, and counterparties can verify reserves onchain. Circle also ties the product to the same institutional interface many firms already use for USDC issuance and redemption.
A desk that already moves USDC through Circle Mint could, in theory, add BTC collateral to the same account-and-settlement relationship instead of stitching together a separate custodian, wrapper, exchange, bridge, and DeFi access point.
The proof-of-reserve component supports that positioning. Proof of Reserve systems can help tokenized assets and DeFi protocols monitor backing data onchain and build safeguards around undercollateralization.
For cirBTC, the next live signal is the reserve feed or dashboard counterparties can use for the token itself.
That leaves counterparty trust in place. cirBTC still depends on custody, redemption, reserve controls, and user confidence in Circle's process.
The institutional pitch is that those assumptions can be packaged in a cleaner way, with the BTC claim, reserve visibility, and Circle account relationship pointing in the same direction.
The comparison is clearest against cbBTC and WBTC.
Coinbase's cbBTC is also a 1:1 BTC-backed wrapped asset, held in Coinbase custody and available across Base, Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum.
Coinbase also maintains a proof-of-reserves page, giving users a public reserve and supply reference for the product. Availability and terms can vary by jurisdiction.
WBTC remains the incumbent Bitcoin wrapper in Ethereum DeFi. Its own site presents WBTC as backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, with a public reserve dashboard and proof-of-reserve context.
Circle's opportunity sits in the trust bundle it can offer: the USDC issuer, Circle Mint, reserve transparency, Ethereum access, and future Arc support under one institutional brand.
| Product | Main trust promise | What is known now | Open test |
|---|---|---|---|
| cirBTC | Circle-backed BTC collateral for institutional workflows | Live on Ethereum, backed 1:1 by native BTC, with Circle stating reserve segregation and onchain visibility | Whether liquidity, protocol listings, and reserve feeds make it usable as collateral at scale |
| cbBTC | Coinbase custody and exchange-account workflows | Backed 1:1 by BTC held by Coinbase, with listed support across Base, Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum | Whether Circle can compete with Coinbase distribution and Base-native lending activity |
| WBTC | Incumbent DeFi collateral with public reserves | Backed 1:1 by BTC with a public reserve dashboard and proof-of-reserve context | Whether institutions prefer an incumbent DeFi asset or a Circle-controlled operating model |

The comparison shows why cirBTC is more than a token launch. Wrapped Bitcoin products increasingly compete on the legal and operational identity of the issuer, the visibility of reserves, and the pathways by which collateral enters lending markets.
Coinbase has already tied cbBTC to lending through Base. CryptoSlate reported that Coinbase and Morpho introduced Bitcoin-backed loans on Base, using cbBTC and USDC in a consumer-facing borrowing flow.
That comparison shows the distribution Circle has to challenge if cirBTC is to become more than another Ethereum asset.
Circle's Arc ambitions give cirBTC a second layer of meaning.
Arc is being pitched as infrastructure for stablecoin finance, with USDC fees, settlement tooling, privacy controls, and institutional use cases around payments, foreign exchange, tokenized assets, and capital markets.
Circle has described Arc as a chain purpose-built for stablecoin finance, and CryptoSlate has previously reported how the network pushes Circle deeper into territory also occupied by Coinbase and Base.
In that context, cirBTC could become the Bitcoin leg of a broader Circle stack. USDC provides the dollar asset. Circle Mint provides issuance and redemption access. Ethereum provides current DeFi reach.
Arc, if it develops as planned, could give Circle a venue where tokenized dollars, BTC collateral, and settlement workflows operate with fewer handoffs.
The record remains early. Circle says cirBTC is live on Ethereum and points to planned Arc and multichain support. Its launch materials stop short of showing broad DeFi protocol adoption, live Arc usage for cirBTC, or a supply figure that would show market depth.
A token can be fully backed and still fail to become preferred collateral.
Institutions and DeFi protocols still need liquidity, risk parameters, redemption confidence, oracle support, and a clear reason to add another BTC wrapper beside existing options.
The broader market context is already moving in that direction. CryptoSlate recently framed a Morgan Stanley and Galaxy arrangement as part of Bitcoin's next institutional test in lending collateral.
The cirBTC launch fits that same issue: Bitcoin can become useful collateral for institutions when the custody and risk controls around the token are strong enough to satisfy the people managing the real BTC.
Arc also gives the Coinbase comparison more weight. Coinbase can route cbBTC through Base and its own account system; Circle is trying to offer a parallel route built around USDC, Mint, and Arc.
The adoption contest centers on which issuer can turn custody relationships into liquidity.
Circle has the right ingredients for a bank-grade wrapper: a known issuer, reserve language, onchain verification, institutional access, USDC proximity, and an Arc roadmap.
Collateral infrastructure comes later, when counterparties use those ingredients in production.

That means lenders need to accept the asset, market makers need to quote it, treasury teams need clean redemption, DeFi protocols need collateral parameters, and risk desks need confidence in the reserve process.
Users also need to move between BTC exposure and dollar liquidity without wondering where the real Bitcoin sits.
That is where cirBTC will face WBTC and cbBTC. WBTC has incumbent DeFi familiarity. Coinbase has distribution, custody, and Base workflows.
Circle has USDC, Mint, compliance credibility, and an ambition to own more of the settlement stack through Arc.
Circle can turn wrapped Bitcoin into institutional collateral infrastructure if cirBTC becomes the wrapper institutions choose because the custody, reserve, and redemption model lowers operational friction.
If liquidity stays elsewhere and Arc remains future context, cirBTC will still read as a product launch rather than infrastructure.
For now, Circle has changed the frame around wrapped BTC. The debate now centers on who institutions trust to hold the Bitcoin while the token moves through programmable finance.
The post Circle wants wrapped Bitcoin to look bank grade before institutions trust it as collateral appeared first on CryptoSlate.
President Donald Trump’s family has turned crypto into one of the most lucrative businesses tied to its name, outpacing some of the companies that spent years building the digital asset market.
Between the post-election momentum of November 2024 and April 2026, ventures tied to the US President generated roughly $2.3 billion in pretax crypto income, Reuters reported.
To understand the sheer scale of this capital extraction, one must look at the foundational pillars of the industry during that same window.
For context, the Trump firm's gains exceeded Coinbase’s $2.1 billion in income over the same period, as well as earnings from major crypto operators across mining, stablecoins, exchange-traded funds, and market infrastructure.
IREN, the largest Bitcoin miner by market value, earned $127 million during the period. BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF business, built around IBIT, the world’s largest spot Bitcoin fund, generated an estimated $109 million.
Meanwhile, Circle, the issuer of USDC stablecoin, lost $14 million, while Galaxy Digital, a major crypto company, posted a $430 million loss.

Unlike Coinbase or BlackRock, the Trump Organization did not compete on trading latency, deep liquidity, or assets under management.
Instead, it leveraged an entirely different business model: an asymmetrical risk structure where the family deployed minimal personal capital, yet captured massive upside via token sales, founder allocations, and equity stakes.
However, the market dynamic has proven entirely zero-sum. Data indicates that the $2.3 billion captured by the president's family mirrors the $2.25 billion in estimated net losses absorbed by the retail and public-market investors who bought into these ventures.
World Liberty Financial accounted for the largest share of the Trump family’s reported crypto revenue.
The project began selling governance tokens in October 2024, with Trump and his sons promoted as central figures. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump traveled to pitch World Liberty’s vision of a financial system outside traditional banks, while the company positioned itself as a decentralized finance and stablecoin platform.
The project’s economics gave the family a direct claim on token sale revenue. DT Marks DEFI LLC, a corporate entity linked to the family, secured a contractual right to 75% of token sale proceeds after expenses, generating an estimated $987 million for the family.

That structure allowed the family to collect revenue from the primary token sale, limiting its exposure to later market declines.
However, the token Buyers faced a different outcome. World Liberty investors were sitting on roughly $674 million in losses by the end of April, weighed down by long lockup periods and a sharp decline in the token’s post-listing value.
Meanwhile, a similar pattern emerged with the TRUMP meme coin. The token launched shortly before Trump’s second inauguration and became a speculative vehicle tied to the president’s political brand rather than an asset with clear underlying utility.
Blockchain analysis of exchange transfers suggested the project generated more than $1.2 billion in total revenue, including an estimated $616 million for the Trump family.
Like WLFI, retail buyers absorbed the losses as the token fell from highs of $75.35, leaving investors with more than $700 million in losses.
Trump-linked crypto gains also moved through public companies, extending the trade beyond tokens and into brokerage accounts.
ALT5 Sigma, a small Nasdaq-listed company now known as AI Financial Corp., became one of the clearest examples. The company raised $750 million by selling new shares and used $717 million to buy World Liberty tokens. Reuters reported that more than $500 million from that purchase flowed to the Trump family through World Liberty’s revenue-sharing structure.
The deal gave public-market investors indirect exposure to World Liberty through a listed stock. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. later rang the Nasdaq opening bell after the transaction closed, turning the token purchase into a Wall Street event.
The stock then collapsed. Reuters reported that ALT5’s share price fell from more than $9 in August 2025 to 75 cents by the end of April, leaving investors with about $675 million in losses.
The family’s economics were separate from that decline because its gain came from World Liberty’s sale of tokens to ALT5. Outside shareholders carried the risk of the listed company’s falling share price.
American Bitcoin offered another public-market channel. The Bitcoin mining and treasury company, backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, gained a Nasdaq listing in 2025.
Reuters reported that the Trump brothers received stakes in American Bitcoin at no monetary cost. Eric Trump’s stake was still worth more than $70 million at the end of April, even after a sharp decline in the stock. Donald Trump Jr.’s stake was not disclosed.
Outside investors again absorbed the losses. American Bitcoin shares fell from $11 at their September launch to $1.15 at the end of April, Reuters reported, wiping out more than $200 million for investors.
The listed-company deals expanded the reach of the Trump crypto business as investors who may never have bought a meme coin or governance token directly were able to take exposure through ordinary equities.
However, the result was the same financial split: Trump-linked entities captured early value, while public investors were left exposed to falling market prices.
These market maneuvers are occurring against a complex regulatory backdrop. The current administration has actively championed digital assets, pushing stablecoin legislation and directing federal agencies to adopt a “light-touch” framework.
While this macro policy pivot has undeniably benefited the broader crypto sector, the direct financial windfall enjoyed by the First Family has triggered unprecedented ethical alarms.
Watchdogs argue that while the mechanisms of these corporate maneuvers appear strictly legal under current law, they represent a profound conflict of interest that monetizes an industry the executive branch is actively deregulating.
This intersection of policy and personal profit has drawn fierce legislative blowback.
Democratic lawmakers, spearheaded by Senator Elizabeth Warren, have petitioned agencies like the CFTC and SEC, arguing that the administration's deep financial entanglements in crypto and prediction markets severely compromise federal rule-making, subordinating public protection to the president's personal balance sheet.
However, the White House continues to categorically dismiss these allegations, maintaining that the administration's sole objective is securing American dominance in the global digital asset race.
Representatives for World Liberty have similarly pushed back, framing the protocol as a purely private fintech enterprise rather than a political vehicle.
Yet, beyond the partisan rhetoric, the ledger is remarkably clear. By treating the presidency as a premium licensing asset, the Trump family has executed one of the most efficient capital extraction strategies in modern financial history, leaving a trail of underwater retail investors holding the bill.
The post Trump family’s $2.3B crypto windfall matched by $2.25B in investor losses, Reuters finds appeared first on CryptoSlate.
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Bitcoin Magazine

Traditional Finance is Rushing Into Crypto as Institutions Buy Bitcoin’s Dip: Axios
Traditional financial institutions are shedding their skepticism toward crypto, and the shift is accelerating in 2026.
Banks, brokerages, and exchanges are racing to offer crypto products as demand from retail investors, institutions, and wealthy clients reaches a tipping point.
David Ripley, co-CEO of crypto exchange Kraken, told Axios that “nearly all traditional financial services companies are gonna offer crypto, bitcoin, ethereum to their customers” — a development he called “a big story of 2026.”
The turning point reflects a broader collision of mega-trends reshaping financial markets. Stablecoins, tokenization, AI, and extended-hours trading are converging to create a financial system that is more digital, more global, and increasingly around the clock.
Ripley said the rise of stablecoins — blockchain-based versions of traditional assets — has primed investors for what comes next: tokenized public equities.
“The next most significant place where we see tokenized equity or tokenized assets will be public equities,” he said.
The stakes are high. Kraken recently announced plans to offer tokenized IPO shares to retail investors, targeting ordinary Americans who Ripley says have been “entirely locked out” of major wealth-creating companies until late in their growth cycles.
The IPO market itself is preparing for a historic wave. SpaceX is targeting a Nasdaq debut this week, seeking to raise about $75 billion at a $1.7 trillion valuation — which would make it the largest IPO on record.
Nasdaq CFO Sarah Youngwood told Axios the U.S. market has the depth to absorb a pipeline of trillion-dollar offerings, including OpenAI and Anthropic, without structural changes.
Nasdaq is pushing into extended-hours trading, aligning with crypto markets that never close.
These comments to Axios come as bitcoin fights near $60,000, but its 50% decline from the all-time high have not deterred major institutional investors, according to Coinbase’s head of institutional strategy, John D’Agostino, who says sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and other large investors are actively buying the dip.
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, increased its exposure to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF for a fourth consecutive quarter, while Bitcoin ETFs collectively still hold roughly $100 billion in assets despite the market downturn.
D’Agostino attributed the selloff to a combination of macroeconomic uncertainty, elevated interest rates, regulatory delays, geopolitical tensions, and concerns sparked by Strategy’s sale of 32 BTC. Even so, he said institutions remain confident in Bitcoin’s long-term value, a view reinforced by Strategy’s subsequent purchase of 1,550 BTC for $101 million.
This post Traditional Finance is Rushing Into Crypto as Institutions Buy Bitcoin’s Dip: Axios first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
Bitcoin Magazine

New Documentary ‘Bitcoin Season’ Charts Bitcoin’s Push Into the NBA
A new feature documentary is making the case that Bitcoin belongs in the boardrooms of professional basketball — and it has the access to back it up.
Bitcoin Season, directed by Mike Nicoll, follows Swan Bitcoin, a Bitcoin wealth services company, on its mission to establish Bitcoin-only partnerships inside the professional basketball industry. The film centers on Swan’s groundbreaking deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers — described as the first Bitcoin-only partnership with an NBA franchise — and a separate agreement with Klutch Sports Group, the player agency founded by Rich Paul that represents some of the biggest names in the sport.
The film frames Bitcoin not as a financial product but as a tool of player empowerment, arriving at a moment when athletes are increasingly asserting control over their careers, their brands, and their money.
Former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova, who appears in the film, called it “a blueprint” for franchises, leagues, and athletes looking to transform what they stand for beyond the balance sheet.
“[Bitcoin Season] shows franchises, leagues, and athletes that Bitcoin can transform more than a balance sheet, it can transform what you stand for and the legacy you leave. We’re in the player-empowerment era, and owning Bitcoin is part of that,” Dellavedova said.
Expert voices in the film include Michael Saylor, Lyn Alden, Adam Back, Max Keiser, Pierre Rochard, Greg Foss, and Natalie Brunell, alongside executives from the Cavs and Klutch organizations.
The film’s central argument: as legacy financial models erode in the digital age, storing value in Bitcoin represents a winning strategy for athletes and institutions alike.
Nicoll is no stranger to basketball documentaries. His 2017 film At All Costs was acquired by Netflix and earned comparisons to Hoop Dreams from the LA Times. His follow-up, The Spoils: Selling the Future of American Basketball, premiered at the NBA Summer League Film Festival in June 2024 and drew praise from filmmaker Ken Burns. It is now available on Amazon Prime.
Bitcoin Season had its premiere on June 3, 2026, in San Clemente, California, hosted by Swan founder and CEO Cory Klippsten. A sneak peek is scheduled for the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas on July 18.
You can watch the trailer here.
This post New Documentary ‘Bitcoin Season’ Charts Bitcoin’s Push Into the NBA first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
Bitcoin traded near $62,000 as Bitwise linked its pullback to tightening financial conditions. The asset manager said BTC often acts as a “canary in the macro coal mine.” It argued that recent price action reflects a broader risk-off shift across global markets.
Bitwise reported that Bitcoin and Ether fell to $58,000 and $1,507 during the recent downturn. At the same time, the Nasdaq posted a 5% daily decline, its sharpest drop in months. South Korea’s KOSPI also halted trading temporarily after a heavy sell-off in semiconductor stocks.
The firm said Bitcoin usually reacts before traditional markets because it trades around the clock. “BTC often acts as a canary in the macro coal mine,” Bitwise stated. It added that crypto prices adjust quickly to liquidity changes while equities respond later.
Stronger US labor data reduced expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. As a result, the US 10-year Treasury yield held near 4.53% after reaching 4.68% last month. Higher-for-longer rate expectations pressured growth-sensitive assets across markets.
A chart comparing Bitcoin, the Nasdaq, and Global M2 shows diverging trends. Global M2 rose to about $122.6 trillion over the past year. Meanwhile, Bitcoin retreated sharply from its $126,000 cycle high.
Bitwise said the pattern suggests Bitcoin may have repriced earlier than equities. If liquidity conditions improve later, the firm sees room for renewed price response. It noted that global liquidity continues to expand despite recent volatility.
Onchain metrics also highlight available capital within crypto markets. Independent analyst Maartunn said the stablecoin supply ratio RSI fell to 13, an oversold level. He explained that lower SSR readings indicate larger stablecoin balances relative to Bitcoin’s market value.
The SSR compares Bitcoin’s market capitalization with major stablecoins like USDT and USDC. Historically, similar readings appeared near accumulation zones before stronger price periods. Exchange data supports this view with stablecoin reserves near $72 billion.
USDT accounts for $57.7 billion of exchange balances, while USDC holds about $12 billion. Although reserves declined from peaks above $80 billion in late 2025, levels remain elevated. Bitcoin now trades near the lower end of its recent range as liquidity stays positioned on exchanges.
The post Bitcoin Leads Risk-Off Move as Macro Pressure Grows appeared first on Blockonomi.
Prediction markets on Tuesday showed a 60% chance that Claude Mythos becomes public by June 9. Polymarket traders also priced a June 10 release at 19% while assigning 11% odds to no launch by June 30. Combined trading volume across related contracts has surpassed $2.2 million as rumors of an imminent rollout circulate online.
Polymarket’s single-day contract placed a 60% probability on a June 9 release. In contrast, traders assigned 19% odds to June 10 and 11% to no release by June 30. That contract recorded $42,212 in trading volume by Tuesday morning.
A broader Polymarket market tracking cumulative odds showed higher confidence. Traders priced an 81% chance of release by June 10 and 86% by June 12. The probability rose to 89% by June 15 and 90% by June 30, while July 31 reached 92%, with $1,578,682 in volume.
Kalshi reflected lower expectations for a near-term launch. The “Before July 1, 2026” contract stood at 43% implied probability after a 30% confidence drop. Traders linked the decline to speculation that Anthropic may release the model under another name such as “Claude Fable.”
Kalshi’s broader “Before October 1” contract held at 73% probability. Total trading volume for that event reached $607,723. Together, prediction markets have accumulated more than $2.2 million tied to the Claude Mythos timeline.
Anthropic introduced Claude Mythos Preview on April 7, 2026, and placed it above the Opus tier. The company restricted access to about 50 vetted partners at launch. Executives cited misuse risks, especially regarding cybersecurity capabilities.
According to a June 8 Axios report, the model can convert a new vulnerability into a working exploit in 31 minutes. Security researchers previously required weeks to complete similar tasks. Under Project Glasswing, partners reported identifying over 10,000 high or critical vulnerabilities between April and May.
Anthropic stated in a May 28 Reuters report that it planned to release Mythos “in the coming weeks.” The company also launched Claude Opus 4.8 as its flagship general-purpose model. A May 22 Project Glasswing update said the firm expects public release “once we’ve developed the far stronger safeguards we need.”
On June 1 and 2, Anthropic expanded Project Glasswing access to ENISA and about 150 organizations. These groups spanned more than 15 countries and included power, water, and healthcare operators. As of Tuesday morning, Anthropic’s newsroom and @AnthropicAI account showed no public release announcement.
The post Markets Bet 60% Chance Anthropic Mythos Drops Today appeared first on Blockonomi.
War shock reshapes central-bank calculus: downside for growth, upside for inflation, making precautionary rate increases an option for the coming months. As for today, the ECB and Bank of England are seen keeping rates unchanged.
Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet earnings split tech stocks as AI spending concerns weigh on the Nasdaq 100 and shape the stock market outlook.