SpaceX's projected AI revenue growth could redefine the tech landscape, emphasizing satellite-driven AI's potential over traditional cloud solutions.

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SoftBank's AI investments could reshape global tech landscapes, positioning it as a key player amid regulatory challenges and market shifts.

The post SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son regains prominence after AI investment spree appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Robinhood's strategic shift to its own platform could reshape the prediction market landscape, challenging existing players and altering market dynamics.

The post Robinhood shifts World Cup bets to its own platform, moving away from Kalshi appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The arrest highlights the critical need for stringent enforcement of tech export controls to prevent unauthorized access by sanctioned nations.

The post Jamshid Ghomi arrested for allegedly smuggling US tech equipment to Iran’s nuclear and military sectors appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Willow's innovation highlights the urgent need for specialized identity management in AI, potentially reshaping enterprise security protocols.

The post Willow raises $7M to build the identity layer for autonomous AI agents appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin’s Pullback Tests Institutional Adoption Narrative as Pompliano Stays Bullish

Bitcoin’s recent price decline is testing one of the asset’s most prominent bullish narratives: that institutional adoption will stabilize volatility and support long-term growth.

Despite the downturn, ProCap Financial CEO Anthony Pompliano thinks that the broader trajectory remains intact, framing the current weakness as a natural phase in Bitcoin’s maturation into a mainstream financial asset.

Speaking on CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” Pompliano said Bitcoin’s integration into traditional finance is accelerating, pointing to growing interest from major institutions such as BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. 

According to Pompliano, this shift represents the realization of a long-anticipated transition from a niche, ideologically driven asset to a widely held portfolio allocation.

“Bitcoin is maturing into a traditional finance asset,” Pompliano said, adding that institutional demand signals “what mass adoption looks like.”

Bitcoin has come under pressure in recent weeks, with prices retreating amid broader risk-off sentiment and capital rotation into equities, particularly in high-growth sectors like artificial intelligence and newly listed public companies. 

The downturn has revived concerns that Bitcoin’s adoption cycle may be nearing saturation, limiting its ability to deliver the outsized returns seen in prior cycles.

Some argue that Bitcoin’s earlier growth was driven largely by rapid user adoption and speculative inflows — dynamics that may be harder to replicate now that the asset has reached a more mature phase. 

As the CNBC host noted, the “adoption story” may have already peaked.

At the same time, some market participants, including Strategy’s Michael Saylor, have suggested capital could be rotating out of crypto into other high-momentum opportunities, including upcoming IPOs and AI-linked investments.

Pompliano: Rotation from bitcoin is natural, not structural

Speaking with CNBC, Pompliano pushed back on the idea that capital outflows signal structural weakness. Instead, he characterized the movement as typical portfolio rebalancing behavior.

“Capital chases momentum and returns,” he said, noting that Bitcoin’s liquidity makes it a convenient source of funds when investors pursue new opportunities.

The current market environment highlights a tension in Bitcoin’s evolution. While institutional adoption has broadened its investor base, it has also tied Bitcoin more closely to macroeconomic trends and cross-asset flows.

As a result, Bitcoin increasingly behaves like a risk asset during periods of market stress, declining alongside equities rather than acting as an uncorrelated hedge. This dynamic has complicated the narrative of Bitcoin as “digital gold,” particularly in the short term.

Still, Pompliano maintains that Bitcoin’s core fundamentals remain unchanged. He pointed to the network’s continued operation, decentralization, and predictable issuance schedule as evidence that the asset’s long-term value proposition is intact.

“Show me what has changed,” he said. “The network continues to do everything it is designed to do.”

Bitcoin as a ‘Savings Technology’

Pompliano reiterated his long-held view of Bitcoin as a hedge against fiat currency debasement, arguing that persistent government spending and monetary expansion underpin its long-term case.

He described Bitcoin as a “savings technology,” highlighting its historical compound annual growth rates — approximately 60% over the past decade and over 30% in the last three years — as evidence of its ability to preserve and grow capital over time.

In his view, Bitcoin’s role is less about short-term speculation and more about long-term wealth protection, akin to gold or real estate for previous generations.

This post Bitcoin’s Pullback Tests Institutional Adoption Narrative as Pompliano Stays Bullish first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Price Plunges Below ‘Fire Sale’ Territory as Fear Index Reads 12 — Echoing the FTX Crash

Bitcoin price dropped to levels on Thursday that placed it below the “Fire Sale!” band on the Bitcoin Rainbow Chart — a depth not reached since the catastrophic FTX exchange collapse in November 2022 — as the Fear and Greed Index registered a reading of 12 out of 100, deep in “Extreme Fear” territory.

Bitcoin price opened today near $63,500 after sliding below $62,000 last night. That puts BTC below even the most discounted valuation band on the Bitcoin Rainbow Chart — a level the model historically flags as a rare and extreme buying signal.

The Bitcoin Rainbow Chart is somewhat of a logarithmic growth curve overlaid with color-coded sentiment bands. The deepest band — labeled “Basically a Fire Sale!” — represents the lowest tier of the model’s projected fair value range. When Bitcoin trades beneath it, the asset sits outside the historical channel that has contained BTC’s long-term price behavior.

The last confirmed breach of the “Fire Sale!” floor occurred during the FTX exchange collapse in November 2022, when Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire imploded and BTC cratered under forced selling pressure across the market. That event remains one of the most severe liquidity crises in crypto history.

Per Bitcoin Magazine Pro data from March 2026, Bitcoin price had already begun testing below the “Fire Sale!” zone — described at the time as “its first drop into this area since the FTX-induced crash”. 

The renewed descent on June 4 deepens that breach, with the coin shedding ground for the second consecutive week.

Bitcoin price and market in ‘Extreme Fear’

The Fear and Greed Index, which runs on a scale of 0 to 100, registered 12 on Thursday — placing the market squarely in “Extreme Fear”. The index aggregates volatility, market momentum, social sentiment, and derivatives data into a single score. 

A reading below 25 signals extreme fear, a condition that, by the index’s own framework, has historically preceded price recovery periods.

February 2026 saw the index touch an all-time low of 5, driven by a 52% drawdown from Bitcoin price’s peak of $126,000. Thursday’s reading of 12 sits just above that nadir, as Bitcoin price continues its slide from cycle highs.

On X today, Strategy’s Michael Saylor argued the sell-off reflects institutional capital rotating into AI infrastructure rather than a deterioration in Bitcoin’s fundamentals. The decline may have been compounded by concerns over Strategy selling 32 BTC to fund preferred-share dividends — its first bitcoin sale since 2022 — despite the company recently reducing debt by repurchasing $1.5 billion of convertible notes at a discount.

This post Bitcoin Price Plunges Below ‘Fire Sale’ Territory as Fear Index Reads 12 — Echoing the FTX Crash first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Schwab Strategist: Bitcoin’s $60,000 Mining Cost Could Mark the Cycle Bottom

Bitcoin is in a bear market. That much is not in dispute. 

What Jim Ferraioli, Director of Digital Currencies Research and Strategy at Charles Schwab, argued Wednesday on Bloomberg is more precise and more structural: this selloff has a measurable cost floor, and that floor is built not from sentiment or chart patterns, but from the physics of energy consumption.

The numbers frame the drawdown in context. Bitcoin peaked at $126,000 in the fall before collapsing to roughly $60,000 in February — a 50% correction that, while brutal for recent buyers, falls far short of the 75%-plus implosions that defined prior Bitcoin bear markets.

Ferraioli’s core analytical framework centers on one question: what does it cost to manufacture Bitcoin? The answer creates a natural gravitational floor that has held across multiple cycles. 

For the most efficient miners — those operating at scale with next-generation ASIC hardware and access to the cheapest wholesale energy — the cost to produce one Bitcoin sits at approximately $60,000, Ferraioli said.

That figure is not arbitrary. It represents the all-in expense of powering a facility at roughly $0.07 per kilowatt-hour with the most advanced semiconductor fleets available.

The less efficient miners — those with older ASIC hardware, higher energy costs, and thinner operational margins — carry a production cost of approximately $95,000 per BTC, according to Glassnode data cited in Schwab’s May 2026 research report. That gap between $60,000 and $95,000 defines Bitcoin’s current valuation range. 

Bitcoin’s energy floor: Why $60,000 may mark the bottom

Ferraioli argues that in deep bear markets, the cost of production for the best miners has historically served as the bottom. February’s low near $60,000 aligns almost precisely with that level, as well as BTC’s 200-week moving average.

The BTC selling pressure is not random. It is demographically specific. The investors driving forced liquidations are those who acquired Bitcoin during the past 18 months — buyers who rode the asset from sub-$80,000 up to $126,000 and then watched gains evaporate in full. 

Schwab tracks two cost-basis metrics to quantify this pressure: the average acquisition cost for U.S. spot ETF and ETP holders, which stands near $83,000, and the active investor cost basis — excluding coins rewarded to miners — which sits near $78,000. 

Both figures sit well above current spot prices, putting the majority of recent entrants into unrealized loss positions and reinforcing $83,000 as a ceiling of overhead supply rather than a floor of support.

Glassnode’s on-chain data corroborates this dynamic. Bitcoin’s latest attempted rally stalled at the aggregate ETF cost basis near $83,000, with total realized losses spiking to $1.35 billion per day and long-term holders capitulating from cycle-top positions. Hedge funds represent roughly 30% of spot ETP ownership but are operating market-neutral, executing basis trades rather than taking directional views — meaning they provide no natural bid when prices fall.

Here is where Ferraioli’s analysis turns constructive. Every major publicly traded Bitcoin miner has announced a pivot toward high-performance computing (HPC) for AI inference workloads. The economics on their face appear to favor abandoning mining: inference generates higher net revenue per megawatt-hour than Bitcoin mining during peak demand windows. 

But demand for AI inference is not uniform across 24 hours. Models run hard during business hours and sit idle overnight and on weekends.

That creates a structural opportunity that does not displace BTC mining — it layers on top of it. Schwab’s analysis models Bitcoin as the optimal baseload monetization of power during off-peak hours, with inference overlaid during peak business-hour demand. 

A data center operating this hybrid model maximizes utilization across the full 24-hour cycle rather than leaving capacity dark when inference demand falls away. For miners, this translates to more stable revenue, reduced forced BTC sales to cover operating costs, and lower structural risk across bear market cycles.

Bitcoin is backed by energy 

The underlying thesis is one of energy economics. Bitcoin has no earnings, no free cash flow, and no CEO issuing guidance. Its value, in Ferraioli’s framework, derives from the energy cost required to produce it — a cost that is transparent, verifiable, and historically durable. 

In commodity markets, price cannot sustainably trade below cost of production. Producers shut down, supply contracts, and equilibrium resets higher. 

Bitcoin follows this same logic: when spot prices fall toward $60,000, the least efficient miners shut down operations, the network’s hash rate adjusts through Bitcoin’s difficulty mechanism, and the cost to produce each new coin falls.

As of May 2026, the average mining cost across all Bitcoin miners sits near $85,604, with the Bitcoin price trading in the mid-$60,000s — meaning the network as a whole is operating at a loss, a configuration that has historically preceded recoveries, not further collapse.

This post Schwab Strategist: Bitcoin’s $60,000 Mining Cost Could Mark the Cycle Bottom first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Privacy in 2026: A Practical Guide

Bitcoin privacy has come a long way since the early days of Bitcoin. Once marketed as anonymous, Bitcoin can be best described as a pseudonymous currency and monetary system. It does not need user personal information whatsoever to function, but companies built around it often associate user public keys — Bitcoin accounts — with user information. They do this to comply with legacy financial regimes, and in some cases, for ease of use. 

As a result, users might share or expose personal information to such companies as their home IP address, which can be used to identify the users’ internet service provider, and from there, the users’ physical address. As well as their personal name, phone number, shipping address, etc. All of this information in the wrong hands can put people at risk of physical and economic harm. 

It is important to note that Bitcoin does not fundamentally have a privacy problem, as many critics suggest. The modern world has a privacy problem, which it has so far failed to address, leading to regular hacks of user data across every aspect of society, from the banking sector to social networks, from government agencies to the military. The digital society we increasingly inhabit is more often than not incapable of securing user data. 

Bitcoin, unlike all other comparable institutions, does not need user data to function. It is actually one of the few financial tools available for the privacy-conscious individual. Cash is the other alternative, which limits the distance at which transactions can be made and brings with it a full bag of other downsides. 

But, as a digital system, can Bitcoin actually be used privately, given how prominent KYCed exchanges are, and how data-hungry modern software companies have become? The answer to this question might surprise you. 

Privacy from whom? 

Depending on the jurisdiction you live in and the local laws or state of your country, some risks or threats are more pressing than others. Some countries throughout the world have at times imposed heavy capital controls on their citizens, often simply enforcing the cash grabs at the banking level. Bitcoin, if held in self-custody and with the right amount of privacy, can protect users from this threat.

In other cases, the nation state is stable enough, but organized crime has run amok, leading to targeted phishing schemes and even kidnappings, like in the case of France, where honest and hard-working individuals pay their crypto taxes, and as a result of local laws, enter the public record as having crypto. Leading to an alarming rise in related home invasions. 

Last but not least, there are activists who might be operating under oppressive regimes, debanked and isolated from civil institutions, Bitcoin used in subtle ways can be their only monetary respite. Depending on the situation, some tools and tactics will be better for the job than others. 

Privacy also does not mean that you can not be a law-abiding citizen. Strong privacy laws exist in many countries, meant to protect civilians from a variety of threats, while also enabling compliance with tax laws, for example. Privacy does not mean you have something to hide, as Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s infamous chief of propaganda, once suggested. Instead, it is the ability to choose who you disclose your business to. It is a fundamental pillar of democracy. 

Network Privacy

First things first, we have to protect your IP address, the ID your internet service provider gives your computer devices, including your mobile phone. The most popular way to deal with this is to get a VPN. 

Not all VPNs are created equal; however, many are rumored to keep logs and sell your data. On this front, it’s important to do deeper research than the marketing and ask around from people who are paranoid enough to know better. 

In the Bitcoin space, Mullvad VPN has a good reputation. They have been accepting Bitcoin for their services for a very long time, and are super easy to use. They are used alongside Tor and have an option to block all traffic that does not go through the VPN. One account can support multiple devices, including mobile. 

Tor Browser, the infamous gateway into the dark web, is also an important tool to have handy. Many privacy tools we will discuss below support Tor connectivity, often having the required libraries built in, so you just have to push a button on the app to use the Tor network. The apps will be a little bit slower, as Tor does its anonymization magic, just FYI. Brave Browser also deserves a mention here, as it blocks most advertisement tracking and has built-in Tor support.

Getting Bitcoin Privately

The biggest challenge to Bitcoin privacy is actually how users accumulate it. Exchanges, broker-like private companies that facilitate the trade of bitcoin for fiat currency, have emerged as the most efficient and effective way to buy bitcoin. They have managed to survive hostile legal regimes, hacker groups and overzealous law-enforcement agencies by often over-complying with financial regulations that require them to collect massive amounts of personal user data.

Privacy-preserving alternatives to buy and sell bitcoin for fiat have, in turn, been harassed by government agencies regularly, often failing to survive or keep their market foothold against centralized alternatives. An excellent example of this dynamic was the first major peer to peer bitcoin to fiat exchange called LocalBitcoins, which shut down after 10 years of operation since at least 2013. The company faced increasing pressure from regulators in Finland, forced to implement KYC in 2019, and eventually shut down during the 2023 bear market and Operation Chokepoint 2.0. 

LocalBitcoins connected buyers and sellers, serving as an escrow for Bitcoin, while the fiat went from the buyer to the seller’s bank account. LocalBitcoins, which pioneered the model, never touched the fiat and did not know the banking information of the seller. Such information would only move up the chain to the operators in the case of disputes. If both buyer and seller were happy with the fiat transfer, the BTC was released from escrow to the buyer. 

This semi-decentralized exchange model, pioneered by LocalBitcoins, is generally called a P2P Bitcoin exchange, though many variations of it exist, with a wide range of privacy trade-offs, over the years. 

Today, Bisq.network is perhaps one of the most renowned predecessors of LocalBitcoins. Taking a page from the centralized downfall of LocalBitcoins, Bisq attempted to create a Tor-anonymized, decentralized trading platform to allow buyers and sellers of bitcoin to connect all over the world. Bisq still operates today and has a variety of software tools available. Users can run Bisq on their local machines and control their account with their phones with Bisq Connect, or they can simply be notified of trade alerts via Bisq Notifications. There’s also a dedicated mobile app called Bisq Easy.

Volume for Bisq is estimated at almost 5 million dollars a month, which is low by centralized exchange standards, but good enough for civilian-grade dollar cost average purchases over time. It’s important to understand a couple of things when using Bisq. First, you should always pick a counterparty with a very high reputation. You should also pay attention to the commission they charge. It is normal for sellers to charge 5% above spot price or more, so look for the cheapest, highest-reputation option. The Bisq Easy app has a great user interface and teaches users new to P2P the basics quite well. 

There’s a variety of other P2P exchanges and platforms in active use throughout the world. As a general rule, when doing P2P, it is best to keep purchases or trades small enough that you don’t take unnecessary risks. They should be significant enough to be worth your time, but any amounts above $10,000 is probably way too much. The Dollar cost average strategy, as a result, works very well with P2P stacking.

Another way to get Bitcoin with good privacy is to find your local Bitcoin community. Many major cities throughout the world have active Bitcoin communities. If there are none where you live, you might be surprised how many people show up if you start a Bitcoin meetup. From there, slow trust building with local bitcoiners might open up the opportunity to buy some BTC from them for cash. Many bitcoiners get paid in bitcoin for their work and often need to sell some to cover fiat expenses, creating an opportunity for P2P trades in real life.

Last but not least, offer your skills in exchange for Bitcoin, start a project or a Bitcoin dedicated brand. This will give you a great deal of control over how you handle information about your Bitcoin revenue. 

Onchain Privacy

However, once you have some Bitcoin, there are a variety of things you can do to keep that information secure from prying eyes. Bitcoin, unlike any other money before it, functions as a public network, with its full transaction history auditable by anyone, though not tied to the holders’ personal information, but instead their public address or pseudonymous Bitcoin account number.

These public addresses live on the blockchain, and data firms can try to connect the dots about who is moving money where, especially when they collaborate with exchanges on data sharing or when other relevant information enters the public domain. Users can protect themselves from onchain analytics by using a variety of tools and tactics. 

Run your own node

In order to minimize who you share information with about your addresses and balances, it becomes important for privacy reasons to run your own Bitcoin node, otherwise you are always fundamentally asking someone else running a node, what your balance is. All wallets that don’t explicitly run a Bitcoin full node on your machine have to run one on their servers, or redirect your requests to a public node someone might be hosting for charitable or not-so-charitable reasons. 

While having network privacy, such as through the use of a VPN, can protect you from the risks of not running your own node, the next step in that self-sovereign, privacy setup is certainly taking control of the node you query, and thus becoming an active participant in the Bitcoin network. 

Sparrow Wallet, an increasingly popular desktop wallet which has excellent support for privacy features, hardware wallets and advanced Bitcoin features like multi-signature accounts and Silent Payments, has great documentation on how to run and use your own node. Their conclusion is that Fulcrum, a wrapper on top of Bitcoin core that makes the blockchain data available to external wallets, is the way to go. 

As a desktop wallet, Sparrow would work within your home network, letting you access the Bitcoin blockchain with strong privacy. If you wanted to connect to it from your phone or laptop from outside of your local network, you would need to run a Tor hidden service at home, a Tor tunnel of sorts, to access your node remotely in a secure and private way. 

Boltz Exchange

Boltz is a Bitcoin-to-crypto, non-custodial exchange. It never touches fiat, and never holds custody of user funds. Users trade against Boltz using a technology under the hood called atomic swaps which means neither party has to trust the other during the trade, the crypto is moved essentially at the same time from the seller to the buyer and viceversa.

Boltz can be used without sharing any personal information and can be accessed through Tor, allowing Bitcoin users to leverage the benefits of other blockchains and payment networks if they so wish, with strong privacy. 

One such network accessible via Boltz is the Liquid blockchain, a Bitcoin-denominated and collateralized federated ‘side chain’ with strong privacy features. Another example is the Lightning network, which has powerful potential privacy benefits as it is fundamentally off-chain, leaving a simple public record. Boltz can be used to convert Bitcoin to stablecoins as well on most major blockchains, letting bitcoiners access the broader crypto industry and its market integrations through a high privacy bridge. 

Boltz can be used on their website or by downloading a standalone open source web app. A CLI is also available for advanced users, and since the whole stack is open source, users can even self-host the Boltz suite themselves for their business. Boltz, as a result, removes the need for centralized exchanges to move across blockchain rails, eliminating the corresponding privacy risk.  

The Liquid Network

The Liquid Network, a federated blockchain created by Blockstream, is slowly becoming an important infrastructure to the Bitcoin industry. Launched in 2018, the chain is a modified fork of Bitcoin with its native asset LBTC, pegged to Bitcoin directly. To mint LBTC, you have to deposit BTC into the federation’s multisig, and to get your BTC out, you can depeg or sell your LBTC for BTC on a variety of atomic swap exchanges. While its consensus structure is different than Bitcoin’s and fundamentally permissioned, it rests on the shoulders of a double-digit group of industry-leading companies throughout the world, and has remained quite stable since it went live.

One of the interesting things about it is its privacy features; transactions on Liquid have their amounts and asset type encrypted by default. Addresses can be seen to move assets from A to B on-chain, but which asset and how much of it is encrypted, only for the involved parties to see. It uses a cryptographic technique called Confidential Transactions, pioneered by Bitcoin wizards like Adam Back, Andrew Poelstra, Mark Friedenbach, Gregory Maxwell, and Pieter Wuille. Liquid is also quite cheap to use, and has faster block times than Bitcoin, making it an interesting tool in the Bitcoin privacy tool belt, specifically with privacy bridges like Boltz exchange. 

Blockstream has a mobile wallet that is quite powerful and easy to use, which supports the liquid network.

Silent Payments

Silent Payments are a novel kind of Bitcoin address that reframes the way auditing of balances happens on Bitcoin. The whole point of being able to see addresses and how much BTC is in them on the blockchain is so that users can easily verify the total supply and thus the economic integrity of the Bitcoin monetary network.

Silent payments (SP) let users receive Bitcoin in such a way that the link between the SP address and the corresponding Bitcoin public address is publicly severed. The technology is quite powerful and has a long history of development in the Bitcoin industry, gaining growing adoption in recent years.

Of the few wallets that can receive Silent Payments so far, Sparrow wallet is likely the best across the board, supporting a full range of privacy features, including connection to the user’s own node. Silent Payment addresses can be reused, so users can generate one and take it on the go, then check their balances on their desktop or laptop using Sparrow. For extra privacy, users can run a Frigate server alongside Sparrow, which deals with the Silent Payments magic in a self-hosted way. 

Payjoin

Another notable technology that works quite well with the rest is Payjoin. With a dedicated foundation and wallet support growing every day, this simple transaction-building technique breaks the heuristics used by blockchain analytics to identify individual users and their flows across the chain. Sparrow wallet, alongside many others, supports Payjoin, as it continues to grow into what may become the HTTPS of Bitcoin payments. 

Coinjoin

Once the bread and butter of Bitcoin privacy, Coinjoins wallets like Wasabi let you mix your Bitcoin with other people’s in a non-custodial way. The technique has significant upsides when done well, and is still used by many to this day, though it also comes with some tricky downsides. Gustavo, an entrepreneur and writer for Bitcoin Optech, says that “Wasabi works better than ever IMO, and is by far the most liquid and effective bitcoin privacy solution.” Liquidity equates to more privacy when it comes to Coinjoins. “Kruw.io is the dominating coordinator: it has over 97% of the market’s liquidity.” with “30,000 btc volume per month, about 4000 btc of fresh btc inputs.”

Coinjoins became so effective and popular that they led to the landmark Samourai Wallet case, which had its own implementation of the technology, an ongoing cultural fight for the right to privacy.

Gustavo also listed some of the downsides involved with Coinjoins that users should consider, such as the risk that a centralized exchange might be able to tell your bitcoins were moved through a coinjoin, which looks like a big cloud of transactions on-chain. And that there is some known risk of data leaks on the side of the coordinator, a server someone has to run to help users atomically mix coins with each other. However, he believes the technology only continues to improve and patch those holes, saying that “the attack surface has decreased since the last discussion in 2024.” 

The Lightning and eCash Networks

Last but not least are the eCash and the Lightning Network. Fundamentally off-chain bitcoin native transaction protocols, they have a key benefit over all the onchain privacy solutions, that they do not leave a footprint on the public blockchain. As a result, privacy is theoretically far easier to achieve. In practice, however, there’s still a lot of work to do, since the most private ways to use the Lightning network are the most difficult from a user experience perspective, requiring the user to run their own Lightning node and manage their own liquidity. 

While there are many easy-to-use lightning wallets in the market, most, if not all, require a certain level of data sharing trust with the servers of the wallet company. Something that network privacy can help alleviate. 

Ecash is also emerging as a strong privacy technology, though it still falls short on adoption in the West. Wallets like Fedi and Cashu are on the cutting edge, letting users transact with unprecedented privacy in Bitcoin terms, though at the cost of trusting custodial mints, which collateralize the ecash tokens with Bitcoin. 

Conclusion 

Overall, the tools of Bitcoin privacy continue to improve as the industry’s passion for the topic has not waned. Some are easier to leverage than others. But, as Satoshi Nakamoto has demonstrated, those who take their privacy seriously are the only ones who are able to keep it. 

This post Bitcoin Privacy in 2026: A Practical Guide first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

Bitcoin Magazine

Michael Saylor Calls Bitcoin’s Drop a ‘Capital Rotation’ to AI as BTC Slides Below $62,000

Bitcoin fell to as low as $61,400 overnight before trimming losses to $62,400 in premarket hours Thursday, down 7% over the past 24 hours and more than 14% over the past week. Strategy and Michael Saylor’s MSTR is down nearly 15% in 5 trading days.

The drop has pushed bitcoin into a technical bear market, with bitcoin now off 22.7% from its four-week high, wiping out more than $600 billion in total crypto market value.

At the center of the debate is Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, who took to X on Thursday morning to offer his read on the selloff. 

“Capital markets are funding the AI buildout at historic scale: ~$400B over 6 months,” Saylor wrote. “Bitcoin ETFs have seen ~$4B of outflows since May 14, pressuring BTC. This is a capital rotation, not a Bitcoin impairment. Volatility creates opportunity.”

Saylor’s thesis holds that institutions are pulling money from bitcoin and redirecting it into artificial intelligence infrastructure — a trade, not a verdict on the asset. The AI spending figures give his argument weight. Wall Street consensus puts combined hyperscaler capital expenditures above $600 billion for 2026 alone, with CreditSights estimating roughly $450 billion of that flowing into AI hardware, servers, and networking gear.

Saylor sells some bitcoin 

But Saylor’s words arrived with a footnote that bears found hard to ignore. Strategy, the largest corporate bitcoin holder in the world with 843,706 BTC, disclosed in a June 1 Form 8-K that it sold 32 bitcoin between May 26 and May 31 at an average price of $77,135 per coin, raising $2.5 million net of expenses. The stated purpose: to fund dividend payments on the company’s STRC preferred shares.

In dollar terms, the sale is a rounding error against a position worth roughly $61 billion. In psychological terms, the market treated it as a break in character. 

Strategy had not sold a single bitcoin since late 2022, and Saylor’s identity as an unwavering bitcoin accumulator had become a market signal in its own right. Analysts said the move deepened bearish sentiment and accelerated the price decline.

Two weeks ago and one week before the sale, Strategy shifted its focus from buying bitcoin to strengthening its balance sheet, repurchasing $1.5 billion of its 0% convertible notes due 2029 for approximately $1.38 billion in cash—an 8% discount that reduced its debt obligations by roughly $120 million. 

The move lowered the company’s outstanding convertible debt from $8.2 billion to $6.7 billion while leaving it with an $871 million cash reserve. At the time, Strategy held 843,738 BTC at the time and said it planned to rebuild its liquidity buffer through future capital raises.

This post Michael Saylor Calls Bitcoin’s Drop a ‘Capital Rotation’ to AI as BTC Slides Below $62,000 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin just tested an intraday low of $61,349, triggered roughly $1.76 billion in liquidations with long positions absorbing more than $1.5 billion of that total, and then bounced toward the mid-$63,000s.

Funding rates flipped deeply negative, open interest reset sharply, and the Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 12, a level in extreme fear territory.

That is a meaningful amount of technical work compressed into a short window, and the buyers who need to absorb the remaining supply have yet to confirm their return.

What the crash reset

Lacie Zhang, research analyst at Bitget Wallet, argues the technical work from this flush was real. In a note, she said that the $1.76 billion liquidation wave, concentrated in long positions, cleared the most crowded bullish leverage from the order book.

Funding rates moving deeply negative indicate that the leverage bias has shifted from overheated longs to defensives, and the sharp open interest reset means speculative positioning is considerably cleaner than it was last week.

Zhang also frames the equity comparison, noting that the Dow fell 1.2%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.7%, and the Nasdaq declined 0.9% over the same period, with no comparable deleveraging event.

Bitcoin's 24/7 structure, higher leverage, and more reactive participant base mean it tends to price macro stress faster than equity markets, compressing what equities may absorb over weeks into a few sessions.

On that read, crypto may already be closer to clearing this macro episode than traditional markets are, with a retest of $55,000-$57,000 still plausible if ETF outflows persist, but the probability window for that range is narrowing as technical conditions reset.

Glassnode's June 3 report notes that Bitcoin had fallen 13% over seven days, the short-term holder cost basis had declined to roughly $76,400, and the 7-day Spot Volume Delta had turned decisively negative, reaching its weakest level since February.

Spot sellers were dominating order books even as prices bounced, and Glassnode concluded the market still lacked evidence of a durable demand response.

Standard Chartered's Geoffrey Kendrick maintained a $100,000 year-end 2026 Bitcoin target and said much of the selling may already be over, but also flagged that a move below $60,000 would risk triggering a fresh wave of selling with no natural floor visible below that level.

Why the bounce is still under suspicion

Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at Nansen, reads the exchange flow data as a direct challenge to the recovery narrative.

BTC and ETH both recorded net exchange inflows over the 24 hours following the bounce from $61,000, the first such reversal since the June 1 lows. Traders moving coins onto exchanges are positioning to sell or reduce exposure, and the timing after a bounce points to participants using the recovery as exit liquidity.

The ETF data reinforces Sondergaard's caution, as US-traded spot Bitcoin ETFs extended their outflow streak to 13 consecutive sessions, accumulating roughly $4.4 billion in withdrawals.

Sondergaard frames this outflow run as mostly confirmatory of deteriorating sentiment and draws a harder line, saying that pension allocators and RIAs operating under compliance mandates do not quickly rebuild exposure after reducing it.

The institutional bid that helped carry Bitcoin from $50,000 to $126,000 across 2024 and 2025, in the form of a structural demand layer from allocators who could only access BTC through the ETF wrapper, has been withdrawing since May, and its return will move at the pace of compliance review cycles.

Sondergaard also notes that leveraged long positioning has not fully normalized, meaning the market may still carry more cleanup ahead even after the liquidation wave.

The checklist for a confirmed bottom

The low-$60,000s represent the immediate survival zone where the market absorbed the latest flush, with the $60,000 handle itself acting as the psychological threshold Kendrick identified as the dividing line between containment and acceleration.

A retest of $55,000-$57,000 represents the bear case if exchange inflows and ETF outflows persist through the week.

Recovery into the mid-to-high $60,000s would represent early traction for the bounce, while the short-term holder cost basis near $76,400 is the stronger confirmation zone, a level where buyers who entered during the last rally return to breakeven.

ETF outflows need to slow or reverse, which would point out that the institutional buyer class has stopped withdrawing liquidity, while BTC and ETH exchange inflows need to fade, reducing the near-term sell overhang.

Whale accumulation needs to strengthen to show that large entities are actively absorbing supply. Funding rates need to normalize without open interest immediately re-leveraging, because a clean reset that gets crowded again within days produces the same fragility the market just unwound.

And spot buying needs to drive the recovery by actively filling the order book, with liquidated longs gone and new bids taking their place.

Until those conditions show up in the data, Bitcoin has completed the forced-selling phase of this correction, while the voluntary sellers, such as the ETF redemptions, the exchange depositors, and the compliance-driven de-riskers, are still active, and the bounce off $61,500 stays a positioning event until buyers confirm it as a floor.

The post Bitcoin crashed and flushed leverage out, but is the bottom here yet? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

A Casascius coin tied to 25 BTC moved this week, converting a 2011 physical Bitcoin artifact into spendable BTC during a broader market selloff.

Galaxy Research identified the item as an S1-COIN-25 Casascius physical Bitcoin, a large-denomination piece from the era when Bitcoin could still be handed across a table as a loaded coin. The reported alert valued the 25 BTC at about $1.78 million at the time.

The on-chain sequence is more precise than a simple cash-out. The watched address received a 25 BTC output in block 156,413 on Dec. 7, 2011. It later accumulated small dust outputs before spending its funded outputs this week.

The first 2026 spend landed on June 3 at block 952,159. That transaction spent 25.00002187 BTC from the address and returned 24.98998 BTC to the same address after fees and dust handling.

A second transaction on June 4 at block 952,267 moved 24.98996629 BTC to a SegWit address, leaving the watched address with no balance.

The event proves a status change rather than a confirmed sale. Bitcoin, once attached to a physical collectible, became spendable via a normal wallet path. The chain shows movement away from the old address without any evidence of an exchange deposit, custodian route, or sale.

What the Bitcoin blockchain shows

The June 3 transaction matters because it exposed activity from an address that had carried its original 25 BTC output since 2011. The spend returned most of the value to the same address, so a one-line address history can overstate what changed.

The June 4 transaction completed the visible move. The final spend sent 24.98996629 BTC from the watched address to bc1qn5snfwq447vge9ynnz66xqm9kpam9eu34z52dk. The fee was 1,371 sats.

After that, Blockstream's address view showed no remaining balance. The holder's reason remains unknown, and the available record ends with a transfer to another Bitcoin address.

That boundary matters for market interpretation. Old coins moving can look like holder behavior during a selloff, while the available data only establishes transfer to a recipient address.

CryptoSlate applied a similar standard to Mt. Gox-linked wallet movements, treating the first transfer as a warning light until later routing showed more. The same discipline applies here, where the next useful signal is onward routing.

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For now, the address history supports the following conclusion: a long-dormant, Casascius-attributed 25 BTC address became active, then sent nearly all of its remaining balance away from the original address.

Casascius attribution and on-chain proof do separate jobs. The visible chain proves the key was used. Galaxy-attributed secondary coverage supplies the label that makes it a physical-coin event.

Keeping those layers separate preserves the cultural hook without turning a tracker alert into more certainty than the record can carry.

A move from an old address becomes supply-only if subsequent routing points to a venue where coins can be sold or financed.

Until then, the strongest verifiable signal is a custody transition. A private key once hidden in a physical object has been used, and the BTC now sits outside the original Casascius-attributed address.

Why a Physical Coin Still Matters

Casascius coins occupy a strange place in Bitcoin history because they turned a purely digital bearer asset into a physical object. The original site describes pieces with their own Bitcoin address and a redeemable private key sealed inside.

The Casascius FAQ explains the tamper-evident hologram and the rationale behind making a physical Bitcoin as a proof-of-concept and conversation piece.

That design created a trade-off outside ordinary wallet custody. Leaving the hologram intact preserves the object as a loaded collectible. Peeling it gives the holder control over the BTC, but changes the item from a funded artifact into a spent collectible.

The owner is choosing between numismatic scarcity and direct wallet liquidity. That choice makes this move more distinctive than a dormant wallet transfer.

A standard wallet can sit idle for years and then move without changing its form. A Casascius redemption changes the nature of the thing itself.

The coin can still exist as a physical object, but its main economic value has shifted back to Bitcoin on-chain.

CryptoSlate covered a larger version of that tension in 2025, when a holder unlocked about $10 million from a rare Casascius bar. That case also forced a choice between keeping a scarce, loaded relic and redeeming the BTC.

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The current 25 BTC move lands differently because of timing. Bitcoin was already under pressure, and old-wallet activity carries a sharper edge when leverage is unwinding.

CryptoSlate's Bitcoin price page shows BTC near $63,000 on June 4, down 5.7% over 24 hours, 13.8% over seven days, and 22% over 30 days.

At that snapshot price, 25 BTC is worth about $1.58 million, which is already below the $1.78 million recently reported in the Galaxy-attributed alert.

Routing, Not Folklore

Bitcoin fell from $71,765 to $67,895 on June 2, triggering about $394 million in one-hour liquidations as leveraged long positions unwound.

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That selloff makes any movement from old BTC addresses feel more consequential than it would during a calm rally.

The cultural signal and the trading signal are different. The cultural signal is clear: one of Bitcoin's early physical storage formats appears to have rejoined the ordinary liquidity layer.

The trading signal remains unresolved. The watched BTC has left the original address, while the available data leaves open whether it will be sold, stored, pledged, or moved again.

Casascius redemptions connect the Bitcoin of forums, holograms, and physical experiments with the Bitcoin of ETFs, market-cap dashboards, and institutional liquidity.

A physical coin from 2011 can sit untouched for years, then become on-chain BTC in a market where every old coin movement is scanned for supply pressure.

It is a small event compared with Mt. Gox balances, ETF flows, or miner selling, but it is vivid because the holder had to alter a collectible to make the BTC liquid.

The next signal is simple. If the June 4 recipient address routes funds toward an exchange, custodian, mixer, or known liquidity venue, the signal moves from culture and custody into market supply.

If it stays parked, the event remains a clean example of Bitcoin's long memory: old keys, old objects, and old storage habits can still wake up when the asset around them has become a global market.

The post A 2011 physical Bitcoin loaded with 25 BTC was just unlocked during the $62k selloff appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin is enduring a multi-front assault on its spot market liquidity as exchange-traded funds, short-term speculators, and cryptocurrency miners simultaneously distribute assets.

This coordinated selling pressure has drained market demand at the fastest pace since the 2022 collapse of the Terra/Luna ecosystem.

As a result, BTC's price has tanked 12% over the past week, pushing the top crypto towards the $60,000 level amid heavy hedging activities from market traders. BTC is exchanging hands at $64,036 as of press time, according to CryptoSlate's data.

Yet, this spot-market flush has created a structural paradox that could still catapult BTC's value.

The volume of selling has twisted the derivatives market into an increasingly lopsided shape where a record wall of short positions now anchors the market.

However, while traditional spot indicators point downward, any pause in selling could spark a mechanical short squeeze and turn the traders betting against Bitcoin into the forced buyers who fuel its next rally.

Bitcoin ETF exodus runs after the AI trade

The primary driver behind Bitcoin’s recent price weakness is a sharp reversal in institutional capital flows. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recently logged a 13-day streak of consecutive liquidations between mid-May and early June.

According to Galaxy Research, these funds shed 59,351 BTC, pulling roughly $4.33 billion out of the market.

Over a seven-day window, the funds lost $2.78 billion, representing the worst such outflow on record for Bitcoin. The bleeding continued over a 10-day window with $3.06 billion in outflows. The 14-day window saw $4.21 billion exit the market, while the 20-day trailing window recorded $5.42 billion in outflows, shedding 73,080 BTC.

Galaxy Research noted this 20-day period is the single largest outflow window by both dollar value and total Bitcoin volume on record.

Industry executives view this as a macroeconomic realignment rather than an internal failure of the digital asset class. Traditional capital markets are currently routing approximately $400 billion into artificial intelligence infrastructure over a six-month window.

Michael Saylor, chairman of Strategy, said:

“This is a capital rotation, not a Bitcoin impairment. Capital markets are funding the AI buildout at historic scale. Volatility creates opportunity.”

Jeff Park, an advisor at Bitwise, echoed this sentiment. He suggested traders are tapping their Bitcoin allocations to fund the market’s upcoming “hot ball of money” trades, shifting liquidity to chase tech firms like SpaceX and Anthropic.

Moving forward, Park noted, this correlation breakdown will itself become the fuel for future market moves.

Speculative panic and miner capitulation

As institutional support softened, retail and short-term holders entered a phase of outright capitulation.

CryptoQuant data shows that overall Bitcoin demand, which is a combination of the speculative and spot market purchasing, contracted by 501,000 BTC over the past month.

At the same time, short-term BTC holders are driving the most concentrated loss-driven transfers of the year.

Over a 24-hour window, these holders moved 53,800 BTC directly onto exchanges. CryptoQuant researchers highlighted the critical split: 100% of these coins moved while at a loss, while profit-side inflows collapsed to zero.

This means that these underwater buyers are choosing to liquidate their positions directly into market weakness rather than wait out the volatility.

Historically, CryptoQuant noted, peaks in loss-driven inflows from short-term holders cluster around local capitulation events. They mark weak hands, flushing out, and supply transferring from over-leveraged late entrants to higher-conviction holders.

Adding to the overhead supply, BTC miners are also moving coins. CryptoQuant noted that on June 2, Bitcoin miner inflows to the Binance exchange spiked to 24,716 BTC, surpassing a previous February peak by 6.8%.

CryptoQuant researchers pointed out that large miner inflows do not confirm immediate, open-market selling. Miners frequently move coins for strategic purposes, including hedging, liquidity management, or internal treasury rebalancing.

However, concentrating this volume of Bitcoin on a single exchange means miner-held supply has moved directly adjacent to market liquidity.

If these inflows remain elevated in the coming days, traders may interpret the data as a sign of renewed miner distribution.

The supply absorption puzzle

This relentless selling creates a structural puzzle when contrasted with long-term accumulation data. While short-term speculators flee, veteran investors are aggressively absorbing the overhead supply.

Brian HoonJong Paik, CEO of the Bitcoin-focused firm Smash Fi, pointed out that long-term holders added 200,000 BTC to their wallets this month and now control 16.3 million BTC, which is sitting near their all-time high holdings.

Paik said:

“The people who have held Bitcoin the longest are not selling into this weakness. They are buying your panic.”

Yet, the sheer volume of coins hitting the market indicates a massive change of hands.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju noted that historically, bear markets conclude only after the spot price falls below the realized price. This metric places the current average investor cost basis around $53,000.

Reaching that level, however, should theoretically prove difficult given the wall of institutional capital that has entered the market.

Ki Young Ju broke down the math to illustrate the scale of this absorption: Since January 2023, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) bought 711,206 BTC and sold only 32, effectively locking up 711,174 coins.

Furthermore, since Bitcoin traded at $63,000 in March 2024, spot ETFs absorbed an additional 509,102 BTC, while Strategy acquired another 650,706 BTC.

In total, institutions swallowed 1,240,808 BTC, yet the spot price remains anchored at the same level.

For context, total global exchange reserves hover around 2.7 million BTC, and Satoshi Nakamoto’s estimated holdings equal roughly 1 million BTC.

Despite the market absorbing a supply shock larger than Satoshi’s entire stack, the price remains suppressed.

This dynamic highlights that while traditional long-term holders and institutions accumulate heavily, an unusually motivated cohort of sellers continues to cap any upward momentum.

BTC's coiled spring set-up

While the spot market paints a picture of exhaustion, the derivatives market has transformed into a coiled spring. The rush to short Bitcoin during this slide has created a top-heavy leverage structure.

Data from analytics firm Alphractal shows a dramatic 72-hour shift in the global liquidation map. On the first day of the flush, the market sat at 66% short-heavy.

By day two, it reached 76%. By day three, the market shifted to an extreme 89% short bias. The metric now pits $98.3 billion in short positions against a $12.2 billion long stack.

The short-to-long ratio sits at 8.06x. Because the market has already washed out most leveraged longs, limited downside risk remains on the chart. The downside magnetic level at $61,054 holds just $1.3 billion in long liquidations.

Conversely, the upside is heavily clustered with short liquidation triggers. A modest upward move opens up three waves of forced buying: $2.1 billion at $72,201; another $2.2 billion at $80,293; and a final $2.0 billion layer resting at $82,630.

According to Alphractal, short sellers have stacked more than $6.3 billion in sensitive liquidation triggers between 15% and 32% above the current spot price.

The closest structural analog to this dataset occurred in November 2022, when the same metric printed an 84% short-heavy reading. Over the following 11 sessions, Bitcoin surged approximately 24%.

Bitcoin currently faces undeniable spot pressure from miners, panicked retail traders, and fleeing ETF capital.

However, by over-allocating into bearish trades, the market has set a mechanical trap.

The underlying selling pressure remains real, but the resulting structural imbalance means that the slightest pause in spot distribution could easily trigger a violent, upward cascade powered entirely by the traders betting on Bitcoin's decline.

The post Bitcoin’s selloff is creating the short-heavy setup that could reverse it fast appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin’s relationship with the S&P 500 has stopped behaving like a simple correlation trade at exactly the wrong time for bulls.

For much of 2026, the logic was clean enough. When oil jumped during the Iran war, yields rose amid inflation fears, stocks sold off, and Bitcoin followed, as the market treated BTC as a liquidity-sensitive risk asset.

When the pressure eased, both risk trades could recover together.

That link has now fractured. The S&P 500 closed at a fresh record 7,609 on June 2, with the latest leg tied to earnings strength and AI-linked stocks.

At the same time, Bitcoin is trading near $63,508 on June 4, down 13% over seven days, down 21% over 30 days, and 49% below its Oct. 6, 2025 all-time high.

Bitcoin is doing more than quietly lagging a mild equity rally. It is in a major drawdown while the world’s most watched equity benchmark pushes higher.

Bitcoin is reacting to more than the same macro signal as stocks. It is being forced to prove whether the ETF-era bid that carried it from the 2023 anticipation trade through the January 2024 launches and into the 2025 high is still the marginal buyer.

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The S&P 500 correlation made sense

The earlier correlation had a straightforward explanation. The same transmission channel hit two assets that had become sensitive to liquidity.

The Iran/Hormuz shock gave markets a physical reason to price inflation risk. EIA data showed total oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz falling from 20.7 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 14.6 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2026.

A World Bank scenario analysis framed the disruption as the largest oil-market shock in history and put 2026 Brent scenarios around $95 to $115 per barrel depending on how the disruption evolved.

That channel flowed straight into rates. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to about 4.45% from 3.96% before the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, as investors priced in higher inflation and fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts.

In that setup, Bitcoin could trade like a stock without being one. Higher oil threatened inflation. Higher inflation kept yields elevated. Higher yields drained risk appetite. Stocks fell, and BTC fell with them.

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The earlier Iran-deal rally setup needed proof in oil flows, gasoline prices, inflation compensation, and Fed pricing before traders could treat it as more than a relief trade.

A separate May analysis noted that Bitcoin’s apparent break from U.S. stocks could have reflected different lead markets at different times of day rather than a durable decoupling.

The out-of-hours detail fits that framework. Weekend crypto trading can outpace U.S. equity desks, especially when oil headlines or rate expectations hit before cash equities reopen.

Once the S&P 500 starts trading, the larger liquidity signal can pull Bitcoin back into the same risk-asset channel. That made the prior break fragile.

This week’s pattern carries more weight. The current move has lasted beyond a weekend rally fading into the U.S. open. It is a multi-day equity high against a crypto selloff.

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The current break is about the buyer

The most important Bitcoin levels are now below the market rather than above it.

Bitcoin’s flash crash below $68,000 triggered around $400 million in liquidations in under an hour and exposed how crowded bullish positioning had become.

The move also pushed BTC below several on-chain levels traders were watching, including the short-term-holder cost basis near $76,900 and the true market mean around $78,000.

That changed the tone. A market that was still trying to frame weakness as a dip suddenly had to price protection.

Current options positioning shows traders paying to protect against a fall toward $50,000 after BTC broke below $70,000, with $60,000 and $50,000 becoming live downside markers rather than distant bear-market talking points.

The immediate battle line is the old $66,900-$68,000 range. That area capped the 2021 cycle, defined part of the 2024 breakout, and is now testing whether the ETF-era rally can defend former resistance as support.

A fast reclaim would argue that the selloff was a liquidation event. Rejection would keep the downside path in control.

The ETF channel is central because it changed Bitcoin’s market structure. The SEC approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products on Jan. 10, 2024, opening regulated access to BTC through traditional brokerage accounts.

That channel helped turn Bitcoin from a mostly crypto-native cycle asset into a tradable part of broader institutional portfolios.

The same wrapper that brought in new demand also made flows easier to measure. If spot Bitcoin ETFs are bleeding while AI equities are rallying, a grand anti-Bitcoin thesis is unnecessary.

The marginal buyer only has to be somewhere else, and ETF-flow tables make that test visible day by day.

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That is where the AI and mega-IPO angle becomes interesting. SpaceX has filed an S-1 with the SEC, and S&P Dow Jones Indices has consulted on changes to MegaCap eligibility, including reducing IPO seasoning from 12 months to 6 months and creating exceptions for MegaCap companies.

Nasdaq has also run a 2026 Nasdaq-100 consultation around very large new listings.

SpaceX’s index path remains contingent on index provider decisions and timing. The current documents show methodology pressure rather than automatic S&P 500 inclusion.

If investors are preparing for large AI or space-linked listings while the S&P is already being carried by AI earnings, Bitcoin has to compete for attention, liquidity, and risk budget in a market where the excitement is elsewhere.

DeFi gives Bitcoin little help

The broader crypto backdrop offers little help to Bitcoin.

Institutional blockchain adoption is real, but it is increasingly happening through controlled rails. CryptoSlate’s analysis of Wall Street’s on-chain push argued that tokenization can advance without reviving open DeFi in the form retail users remember.

The distinction affects price because tokenized Treasuries, controlled settlement systems, and permissioned market infrastructure create a different feedback loop from the speculative DeFi cycle that once pulled retail liquidity into crypto.

DeFiLlama data puts aggregate DeFi TVL near $73 million, down from $80 billion in late May, and the all-time high of $173 billion in October 2025, well below the kind of broad risk-appetite signal crypto bulls would want to see.

Thus, open DeFi currently offers little offset to Bitcoin’s ETF-flow problem.

Security pressure adds another drag. CertiK has warned that AI has expanded the digital-asset attack surface, as Chainalysis highlights increased pressure from crypto crime across the industry.

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For Bitcoin, if institutional crypto interest shifts toward ETFs, tokenized assets, and permissioned rails while retail DeFi remains weak, Bitcoin’s price becomes even more dependent on whether regulated spot demand returns.

That leaves Bitcoin without a second speculative engine at the moment its first one is being tested. In prior cycles, weakness in BTC could still sit beside rising retail leverage, yield-farming appetite, and broad altcoin beta.

The current setup is thinner. Tokenization may be growing, but the capital showing up there is less likely to rotate quickly into open crypto risk.

That difference also changes what a rebound would look like. A retail DeFi recovery would show up as rising TVL, broader stablecoin circulation inside open protocols, stronger fee generation, and renewed leverage across lending and perpetual venues.

A tokenization-led recovery can grow balance sheets while leaving public-market crypto beta weak. For BTC, that split keeps the watchlist focused on ETF flows, options, and the $66,900-$70,000 shelf.

The two paths from here

Bitcoin is close enough to major long-term valuation models that assuming a straight collapse is too simple. It is also damaged enough that assuming an immediate recovery is premature.

The power-law framework is useful here because it shows why the current area carries weight.

For those new to the power law, Bitcoin.com’s power-law chart explains the model as a log-log price corridor with fair-value and band assumptions, while recent market discussion has framed BTC as trading near a historically low power-law zone.

The model provides context rather than destiny. Stock-to-flow looked powerful until it failed badly after the 2021 cycle. Power-law context makes the $54,000 to $58,000 area more important than a random chart level.

The market now has two credible paths:

The first path is more likely because the evidence is already pointing there. Bitcoin has broken key levels, ETF demand is under pressure, hedging has moved lower, and equities are rising for reasons specific to AI earnings and index-flow demand.

The base-case reset can happen without a full bear-market collapse. It points first to a support test and base-building attempt.

The second path remains live because Bitcoin is already trading near an area where long-term models and prior market structure should count.

A rapid flow reversal could quickly repair sentiment. If BTC reclaims $70,000 and the short-term holder cost basis is near $76,900, the divergence would look more like forced de-risking than a cycle failure.

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My older $49,000 absolute-bottom area therefore sits as a tail-risk extension rather than the primary forecast.

It becomes credible if Bitcoin loses the $54,000 to $58,000 cluster, if ETF outflows keep running after the liquidation event, and if the AI equity trade continues to absorb the capital that might otherwise have returned to BTC.

For now, Bitcoin is testing whether it can rally with stocks. It is also revealing how much of its ETF-era advance depended on a specific buyer showing up.

The next answer will come from flows and levels, not from the S&P 500’s record alone.

The post Bitcoin’s $63k slide shows ETF demand fighting AI equities for dollar liquidity appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Thomas Lee's BitMine is turning to the preferred-stock market to raise fresh capital for its Ethereum strategy, offering investors a 9.5% annual payout.

On June 3, the company revealed plans to sell 3 million shares of 9.50% Series A perpetual preferred stock with a $100 stated amount, creating a potential $300 million raise.

The shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BMNP if the listing is approved. Moelis & Company and Cantor are serving as joint lead bookrunners.

If sold in full, the offering would add about $28.5 million in annual dividend obligations, paid weekly when declared by BitMine’s board.

The sale comes as the Ethereum treasury company faces a sharper test of the corporate crypto model. Due to current market conditions, BitMine’s unrealized losses on ETH have exceeded $8 billion after ETH’s decline pushed the asset well below the company’s average purchase price.

Still, this move will deepen the link between the firm's balance sheet, its staking operation, and the public-market investors being asked to finance its next stage of accumulation.

A payout built around Ethereum yield

BitMine said proceeds from the offering may be used for general corporate purposes, including additional purchases of ETH and other digital assets, expansion of its staking and validator infrastructure, working capital, Ethereum-related strategic investments, and repurchases of its common stock.

That broad use of proceeds makes the offering more than a balance-sheet repair. It could allow BitMine to keep accumulating ETH while market prices remain weak, reinforcing the company’s role as the largest public Ethereum treasury firm.

Over the past year, the company has built its ETH portfolio position through aggressive purchases and currently holds more than 5.3 million tokens. This represents around 4.5% of ETH's circulating supply.

Notably, a large share of that stack is staked, allowing BitMine to earn protocol rewards while it holds the tokens.

Chairman Thomas Lee has argued that those staking rewards give Ethereum treasury firms an advantage over Bitcoin-focused vehicles. Unlike Bitcoin, ETH can produce yield through staking, allowing a company to earn returns without selling the underlying asset.

That distinction is central to BitMine’s new preferred stock. At a 9.5% coupon, the full $300 million offering would cost roughly $548,000 a week in dividends.

BitMine has said its annualized staking revenue is running in the hundreds of millions of dollars, suggesting the preferred payout is small relative to the income its staked ETH could generate under ordinary market conditions.

Moreover, the broader Ethereum treasury sector is already moving in that direction. Staking accounted for 60% of disclosed revenue across publicly listed ETH treasury firms in 2025, according to a study from staking provider Everstake.

The report said the figure was drawn from companies that separately broke out staking-related income, showing how active deployment has become a larger part of the public ETH treasury model.

That revenue mix helps explain why BitMine is leaning on Ethereum’s yield profile at the same time it is asking investors to accept a fixed 9.5% payout.

The company is not merely holding ETH as a treasury reserve. It is trying to convert that reserve into a recurring income base that can support capital-market financing.

However, the company’s filing also shows why the structure is not risk-free.

BitMine does not pledge a dedicated pool of staking income to the preferred shares. Instead, the filing says dividends may be funded through available cash, ETH yield activity, securities sales, future financing, or other sources.

Meanwhile, the firm also warns that staking income may not be sufficient and that staked ETH may not be immediately available for withdrawal or sale during periods of stress.

That caveat is central to the transaction because the preferred stock turns part of BitMine’s Ethereum bet into a recurring cash obligation.

The Strategy's STRC comparison has limits

BitMine’s move closely resembles the financing model used by Strategy, Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin treasury company, which has repeatedly tapped preferred shares and other securities to fund crypto accumulation and manage its capital structure.

Both companies are using public-market instruments to transform investor demand for yield into balance-sheet capacity for digital-asset purchases. Both have sought to create securities that appeal to investors who may want exposure to a crypto treasury without directly owning the underlying token.

Both are also operating in a market where the value of their main asset can change sharply before the cash obligation attached to the security comes due.

However, this comparison has limits.

Strategy’s STRC preferred is a variable-rate product designed to help keep the shares trading near their $100 stated amount. Its dividend rate can be adjusted monthly, giving Strategy a tool to respond if market pricing drifts away from par.

BitMine’s Series A preferred is simpler in one respect and stricter in another. It carries a fixed 9.5% coupon, paid weekly in arrears when declared, rather than a variable rate that can be reset to influence the trading price.

If dividends are not paid, however, they accumulate and compound weekly. The rate on unpaid dividends can step up over time, capped at 15% annually.

The preferred shares also include a liquidation preference that begins at $100 and adjusts based on a market-price formula, while never falling below $100.

BitMine can redeem the shares at 110% of the stated amount during the first 18 months, 105% from 18 months to three years, and 100% after three years, plus accumulated and unpaid dividends. Holders would also have repurchase rights if certain fundamental changes occur.

Those terms give BitMine flexibility, but they also show the price of raising capital in a weaker crypto market. A 9.5% payout is high enough to draw attention from income investors, but it also reflects the premium demanded from a company whose main asset base is tied to ETH.

The post Ethereum treasury giant offers 9.5% payout as BitMine paper losses top $8.5 billion appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The digital asset market is facing a severe wave of deleveraging, forcing Bitcoin ($BTC) to give up the critical $63,000 support level. Broad macroeconomic tightening, driven by persistent inflationary pressures and delayed interest rate cut expectations from the Federal Reserve, has severely weakened risk appetite. Furthermore, a rotation of capital into high-growth technology equities alongside persistent spot ETF outflows—which recently marked a record $4.4 billion multi-day exodus—has accelerated the downward momentum.

Bitcoin's structure is heavily skewed to the downside, with sellers maintaining firm control over the short-term trend. While the breach below $63,000 has already shaken retail confidence, technical data indicates that the next structural move could be far more worrisome for market bulls.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Coin Slides Under $63,000

The continuous decline of $Bitcoin has systematically dismantled major psychological thresholds over the last month. After failing to sustain its positioning within the $70,000 and $66,000 handling zones, heavy distribution took over. This triggered severe cascading liquidations across crypto derivative platforms, amounting to over $3 billion in wiped-out market leverage within a two-day window.

As depicted by live market action, BTC pushed down to an intraday low of $62,232 before experiencing minor structural consolidation toward $62,735.

• The RSI Factor: The 14-period Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the 4-hour chart is firmly embedded inside the oversold territory, printing a low reading of 27.68.
• Market Sentiment: Typically, an RSI falling below the 30 boundary suggests an asset is locally overextended to the downside. However, the accompanying volume spikes indicate aggressive spot distribution rather than a clean exhaustion of sellers, meaning a sudden trend reversal is not yet confirmed.

Why the Next Price Move is Worrisome

The breakdown below $63,000 is not just a localized correction; it signals a fundamental breakdown of the multi-month accumulation range. Market analysts point to several compounding technical factors that make the immediate outlook highly precarious.

1. Moving Average Convergence Flips to Resistance

Bitcoin remains pinned below its 20, 50, and 100-day moving averages. The velocity of the latest drop has widened the gap between the spot price and these core indicators, meaning any short-term relief rally will face immense overhead selling pressure at every minor step upward.

2. Institutional capitulation and ETF Outflows

The primary engine of the 2024–2025 bull cycle was consistent institutional demand via spot ETFs. The reversal of this trend into a historic 13-day outflow streak demonstrates that institutional risk metrics are forcing a reduction in crypto exposure. Without institutional buyers absorbing spot supply, order books remain thin and highly vulnerable to flash crashes.

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3. Macro Headwinds: Inflation and the Fed

Macro factors continue to act as a significant drag. Rising global crude oil prices, fueled by ongoing geopolitical tensions, have driven up corporate production and transportation costs. This sticky inflation has effectively erased the Federal Reserve's near-term rate-cut plans, with some officials even floating the possibility of interest rate hikes. Higher-for-longer interest rates structurally drain liquidity away from speculative risk assets like cryptocurrencies and redirect it toward traditional yield-bearing instruments.

Bitcoin Price Prediction: Next Critical Support Targets for BTC

With the $63,000 baseline now flipping into immediate overhead resistance, market observers are watching key horizontal support bands to evaluate where a macro price floor will settle.

Immediate Support: $60,000

The primary line in the sand for bulls sits directly at the $60,000 psychological milestone. According to multi-month trading data, this area represents a historic liquidity pocket where buyers have previously formed a defensive line. If $60,000 is invalidated on a weekly closing basis, it will likely spark an additional wave of automated stop-loss liquidations.

Macro Capitulation Floor: $58,000

Should macroeconomic or geopolitical conditions deteriorate further, the ultimate major defense line rests at $58,000. A descent into this territory would signify a deeper market capitulation, resetting open interest metrics completely before an organic base can be constructed.

Key Overhead Resistance: $65,581 and $70,000

For Bitcoin to neutralize its current bearish structure, the bulls must forcefully reclaim the $65,581 resistance line. Breaking above this level would provide the technical validation needed to shift short-term momentum and open the door for a retest of the major $70,000 supply zone.

Current Crypto Prices at a Glance

The systemic selloff has triggered broad-based declines across all high-market-cap digital assets. Based on aggregate market data, here is how the top cryptocurrencies are performing:

• Bitcoin ($BTC$): $62,735.00
• Ethereum ($ETH$): $1,664.72
• Binance Coin ($BNB$): $588.39
• XRP ($XRP$): $1.12
• Solana ($SOL$): $65.57

The cryptocurrency market is under significant downward pressure, causing the Ethereum price to fall below the psychologically important mark of $1,700. Ongoing macroeconomic stress factors, outflows from spot ETFs, and systematic liquidations of long positions have plunged the second-largest cryptocurrency into a deep correction phase.

Based on current market data from the 4-hour charts, Ethereum is currently in a heavily oversold area. For traders and investors, the urgent question now is where the price floor can be established.

Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH Coin Breaks Below $1,700

The market structure of Ethereum has continuously deteriorated over the past few weeks. After the bulls failed to sustain the price above the psychological level of $2,000, selling pressure accelerated significantly when the horizontal support zone at $1,800 was breached.

The recent drop pushed ETH down to a daily low of $1,661.90 before a slight consolidation began around the mark of $1,663.72.

• The RSI Factor: The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the 4-hour chart has slipped deep into the oversold territory, currently sitting at a value of 19.00.
• Market Sentiment: An RSI value below 30 typically signals that an asset has fallen too much in the short term. However, the dominant bearish momentum indicates that a definitive trend reversal has yet to be initiated. Many traders are waiting for a stabilization of the overall market, which often heavily depends on the movements of the market leader $Bitcoin.

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The Next Critical Supports for ETH

As the $1,700 mark now serves as immediate resistance, market participants are monitoring the historical volume profile and key horizontal chart levels to identify potential turning points.

1. The Immediate Floor: $1,600

The $1,600 mark represents the primary defense line for the bulls. This area serves as a significant psychological barrier and has historically been a zone where more buyers have entered the market (accumulation zone). If the bulls do not act aggressively here, further liquidations are at risk.

2. Macro Support: $1,200

If macroeconomic pressure on risk assets persists or intensifies, the next major long-term price floor lies in the $1,200 range. A drop into this zone would signify a severe capitulation event for the current market cycle.

3. Resistances to be Reclaimed: $1,800 and $2,000

For the short-term bearish market structure to neutralize, $Ethereum must first establish a stable base above $1,600 and then reclaim the $1,800 mark. Only a sustainable breakout above this resistance would pave the way for a retest of the $2,000 level.

Current Crypto Prices at a Glance

The correction is currently affecting the entire digital currency space. Based on the latest aggregate data from major exchanges, the key cryptocurrencies are priced as follows:

• Bitcoin ($BTC): $62,641.90
• Ethereum ($ETH): $1,664.72
• Binance Coin ($BNB): $588.39
• XRP ($XRP): $1.12
• Solana ($SOL): $65.57

Zcash is one of the biggest losers in the crypto market today, with $ZEC price dropping by more than 10% in 24 hours while the broader market also trades under pressure. The sharp Zcash crash comes after a strong rally that pushed the privacy coin back into the spotlight, making it more exposed to profit-taking once sentiment turned bearish.

According to Binance market data, Zcash was trading around the $540 range, down more than 11% in 24 hours, with a market cap near $9 billion and 24-hour trading volume above $1.3 billion. The token also moved between a 24-hour high above $631 and a low near $538, showing how aggressive the sell-off became during the day.

Why Is Zcash Crashing Today?

The main reason behind the Zcash crash is not one single event. Instead, ZEC is being hit by a combination of profit-taking, market-wide weakness, technical uncertainty, and fear around recent network-related headlines.

ZEC had already rallied strongly before the current correction. The privacy coin became one of the strongest performers in the market as traders rotated into privacy-focused crypto assets. Business Insider recently reported that Zcash had surged sharply over the past month while Bitcoin gained much less, driven by renewed interest in financial privacy and institutional attention around ZEC.

This matters because assets that rise the fastest often fall the hardest when the market turns red. Traders who entered ZEC earlier may now be locking in profits, especially after the coin moved into overextended territory.

ZEC Rally Made the Correction More Violent

Zcash did not enter this crash from a weak position. It entered it after a major rally.

That is why the correction looks sharper than in many other altcoins. When a token gains strong momentum in a short period, late buyers often enter near the top. Once the price starts falling, these buyers may exit quickly, adding more selling pressure.

This creates a chain reaction:

ZEC pumps strongly, traders chase the move, the broader market turns bearish, profit-taking starts, leveraged positions get squeezed, and the price drops faster than the rest of the market.

In simple terms, ZEC is crashing the most because it had more gains to give back.

Zcash Network Headlines Added More Fear

Another key reason behind the Zcash crash is the confusion around the network.

Reports on June 3 suggested that the Zcash blockchain appeared to stop producing blocks for several hours. However, later explanations said the issue may have been related to block explorers rather than the blockchain itself. CoinDesk reported that the apparent disruption was mainly linked to block explorers tracking activity incorrectly, not necessarily a full chain failure.

Zcash network was fully functional and that the apparent problem came from some block explorer applications being connected to a faulty node.

Even if the network was not actually down, the timing was bad. In a nervous market, headlines about a possible blockchain issue can quickly trigger fear, uncertainty, and doubt. For traders, that can be enough reason to sell first and ask questions later.

Emergency Orchard Bug Fix Increased Short-Term Risk Sentiment

The Zcash crash also comes shortly after an emergency upgrade related to the Orchard shielded pool.

Zcash Foundation released Zebra updates after engineers found and fixed a critical soundness bug in the Orchard Action circuit. Reports stated that the emergency response included Zebra 4.5.3 and Zebra 5.0.0, with no known exploit reported.

CoinMarketCap also reported that Zcash completed an emergency upgrade to fix the critical Orchard privacy pool bug, adding that no funds were lost and user privacy was not affected.

Still, the market does not always wait for full technical explanations. Words like “critical bug,” “emergency upgrade,” and “privacy pool” can create short-term panic, especially around a privacy-focused coin where trust in the protocol is essential.

Privacy Coin Narrative Is Still Strong, But Volatile

Zcash has benefited from a stronger privacy coin narrative in 2026. As blockchain transparency, AI surveillance, and financial data tracking become bigger topics, some traders see ZEC as a hedge against total on-chain visibility.

This narrative helped ZEC outperform many major cryptocurrencies recently. However, strong narratives can also become crowded trades. When too many traders are positioned in the same direction, any negative headline or market pullback can cause a sharp reversal.

That is exactly what appears to be happening now. ZEC is not necessarily crashing because the privacy narrative is dead. It is crashing because the rally became too crowded, too fast.

Zcash Price Analysis: Key Levels to Watch

From a technical perspective, ZEC’s drop below the $600 area is important. The token recently traded above $631 before falling toward the $540 range, according to Binance data.

The next important levels to watch are:

• $540–$520: This is the immediate support zone. If ZEC holds this area, the crash may slow down.
• $500: This is the psychological level. A break below $500 could trigger more panic selling.
• $600: This is now the key recovery level. If ZEC reclaims $600, traders may regain confidence.
• $630–$650: This is the recent resistance zone. A move back above this area would suggest that buyers are returning strongly.

For now, the chart suggests that ZEC is in a correction phase after a strong rally. The next move depends on whether buyers defend the $520–$540 zone or whether the sell-off continues toward $500.

Is the Zcash Crash a Buying Opportunity or a Warning Sign?

The Zcash crash could be seen in two ways.

For bullish traders, this may be a normal correction after a major rally. ZEC still has a strong privacy narrative, renewed market attention, and growing discussion around financial confidentiality in crypto.

For cautious traders, the crash is a warning that ZEC became overheated. The combination of a strong rally, emergency bug-fix headlines, and confusion around network activity shows that ZEC remains a high-volatility asset.

The most important point is that Zcash is not falling in isolation. The broader crypto market is also under pressure. But ZEC is falling harder because it had already become one of the most aggressive recent movers.

Final Thoughts: Why ZEC Is Crashing the Most

Zcash is crashing harder than the rest of the crypto market because it entered the sell-off from an overextended position. The recent ZEC rally attracted strong attention, but it also created room for heavy profit-taking.

At the same time, network-related confusion and the emergency Orchard bug fix added short-term fear. Even though reports suggest that no funds were lost and the blockchain was not necessarily offline, the headlines were enough to pressure traders during an already weak market.

For now, the Zcash crash looks like a mix of profit-taking, technical correction, market-wide weakness, and fear-driven selling. If ZEC holds above the $520–$540 support zone, the correction may stabilize. But if the price breaks below $500, the sell-off could deepen further.

$ZEC

Cardano Crash June 2026: ADA Drops Below $0.20

The Cardano crash in June 2026 has become one of the biggest talking points in the crypto market, as ADA fell sharply while the broader market also turned red. At the time of writing, Cardano is trading around $0.188, after falling from an intraday high near $0.214. This means ADA is down by roughly 12% in 24 hours, underperforming major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana.

The broader crypto market is also under pressure. Bitcoin is trading around $63,900, down from an intraday high near $66,799, confirming that the weakness is not limited to Cardano alone. However, the size of ADA’s decline shows that Cardano is facing deeper selling pressure than most top crypto assets.

Why Is Cardano Crashing?

The Cardano crash is not caused by one single factor. Instead, ADA is being hit by a combination of market-wide weakness, technical breakdowns, and Cardano-specific concerns.

The first major reason is the broader crypto market decline. When Bitcoin falls sharply, altcoins usually react with even stronger losses. This pattern is visible again, as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and several other major coins are trading in the red.

But Cardano’s decline is stronger because ADA is also dealing with negative ecosystem sentiment. Recent reports highlighted concerns after TapTools, a Cardano analytics platform, announced that it would wind down operations after nearly four years. The platform cited executive departures and rising operating costs as reasons behind the shutdown.

TapTools Shutdown Adds Pressure on ADA

The TapTools shutdown matters because it is not only about one platform closing. For many investors, it raises broader questions about the strength of the Cardano ecosystem, especially during a difficult market cycle.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also warned that more projects could fail in 2026, pointing to harsh market conditions and funding challenges across the ecosystem. His comments added more pressure to ADA at a time when traders were already nervous.

This created a negative feedback loop: weak market conditions hurt Cardano projects, project closures hurt sentiment, and weaker sentiment pushes ADA lower.

Cardano Summit 2026 Cancellation Hurts Confidence

Another factor behind the Cardano crash is the cancellation of Cardano Summit 2026 in Singapore. The event was cancelled after a treasury funding proposal failed to reach the required two-thirds supermajority under Cardano’s governance rules. A smaller EMURGO proposal for TOKEN2049 Singapore was approved, but the cancellation of the flagship summit still created concerns around governance alignment and ecosystem momentum.

This does not mean Cardano governance is broken. In fact, it shows that Cardano’s decentralized voting system has real power. However, from a market perspective, the failed vote added to the bearish narrative around ADA at the wrong time.

ADA Price Prediction: Can Cardano Recover?

From a technical perspective, ADA’s biggest problem is the loss of the $0.20 level. This is both a psychological and technical zone. If Cardano fails to recover above $0.20 quickly, traders may continue to treat the chart as bearish.

The next important recovery zone is between $0.22 and $0.24. ADA needs to reclaim this area to reduce bearish pressure and show that buyers are stepping back in. Without that recovery, Cardano could remain vulnerable to further downside.

However, if the broader crypto market stabilizes and Bitcoin rebounds, ADA could attempt a short-term recovery. The main question is whether Cardano-specific sentiment can improve after the recent TapTools shutdown, governance controversy, and ecosystem concerns.

Is the Cardano Crash a Buying Opportunity?

The Cardano crash June 2026 could attract long-term believers who see ADA at historically low levels. However, the current setup remains risky. ADA is not only falling because of the market; it is also facing real questions about ecosystem activity, project funding, and investor confidence.

For short-term traders, the most important level is $0.20. A reclaim of this level could trigger a relief bounce. For longer-term investors, the more important question is whether Cardano can prove that its ecosystem still has enough builders, users, and funding support to compete with faster-growing blockchain networks.

Final Thoughts

The Cardano crash in June 2026 shows how quickly sentiment can shift in the crypto market. ADA is falling harder than most major cryptocurrencies because the token is being hit from several sides at once: a weak crypto market, a technical breakdown below $0.20, the TapTools shutdown, Charles Hoskinson’s warning about possible ecosystem failures, and the cancellation of Cardano Summit 2026.

Cardano is not finished, but the market is clearly demanding stronger proof of growth. Until ADA reclaims key levels and ecosystem confidence improves, the Cardano price prediction remains cautious.

$ADA, $Cardano

The cryptocurrency market is experiencing renewed selling pressure, and Ripple’s native token has become one of the hardest-hit major altcoins. The latest technical developments point to an accelerating XRP price crash, with the asset violating a critical psychological and structural baseline that had previously kept buyers in the game.

Data from the 4-hour XRP/USD chart reveals that the digital asset has officially broken below the key 1.20 support level, shifting market control entirely over to the bears.

XRP Price Analysis: How XRP Coin Crashed

$XRP has been locked in a well-defined downtrend for several weeks. This structural decline is clearly demarcated by a prominent descending yellow trendline that has consistently capped any attempt at a bullish reversal.

The breakdown unfolded rapidly through several distinct phases:

• The Consolidative Failure: XRP initially consolidated below a major horizontal resistance level at 1.30. Unable to muster enough buying volume to test or break this ceiling, sellers gradually pushed the asset lower.
• The Critical Breach: The horizontal line at 1.20 represented a vital historical defense mechanism for bulls. However, consecutive red 4-hour candles shows the price cutting straight through this level with expanding downward velocity.
• Current Position: XRP is actively trading well under the broken support, hovering near the 1.169-1.170 zone. The old support level at 1.20 has now structurally flipped into an immediate overhead resistance level.

Oversold RSI Signals Extreme Selling Intensity

The Relative Strength Index (RSI), which tracks the speed and change of price movements, further confirms the severity of this latest xrp price drop.

The 14-period RSI on the 4-hour interval has plummeted deep into oversold territory, currently printing at 31.03 with its moving average dropping even lower to 28.98. While an oversold RSI sometimes suggests a temporary relief bounce or stabilization could be on the horizon, it primarily highlights the sheer velocity of the institutional and retail distribution taking place.

Traders should exercise caution, as assets can remain technically oversold for extended periods during aggressive structural breakdowns. The fact that the price is hugging the bottom of its immediate trading range indicates that buyers are currently staying on the sidelines, waiting for a definitive macro bottom to form.

XRP Price Prediction: What's Next for XRP?

With the 1.20 support invalidated, market participants are scrambling to identify where the asset might find its next structural floor.

If the current bearish momentum cannot be arrested, the next major horizontal line of defense sits visibly at 1.15. A failure to hold the 1.15 level could accelerate panic selling, opening the door for an extension of the bear market toward psychological territory closer to the 1.00 mark.

For a bullish invalidation or recovery narrative to take shape, XRP would first need to reclaim the 1.20 level on high volume, flip it back to support, and eventually mount a challenge against the long-term descending yellow trendline. Until then, the path of least resistance remains firmly to the downside.

Crypto Price Today with the current Crash

The ongoing correction is not isolated to Ripple. The broader market showcases a synchronized retreat across major digital assets over the last 24 hours and trailing 7 days.

Below is a snapshot of the live prices and performances of the top market capitalization tokens:

Anthropic says AI now writes most of its code and runs increasingly complex research tasks, leaving people to decide which problems are worth solving.

Rep. Bryan Steil said he'll add language to the House congressional stock ban bill to cover prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi.

Demand for peptides fueled by the "looksmaxxing" trend has spawned a $100 million gray market paid for primarily with crypto.

The Nobel Prize-winning AI researcher says humanity is standing in the "foothills of the singularity."

With Bitcoin falling hard this week and down nearly 50% from peak. Strategy's Michael Saylor is pointing the finger at the AI boom.

The privacy coin Zcash (ZEC) has plummeted 60% following the revelation of a critical vulnerability that could have allowed attackers to mint an infinite supply of counterfeit tokens.

XRP Ledger teases native privacy standard XLS-0096, addressing the hidden risks that just triggered a major 46% crash in Zcash.

One of the most outrageous failures in the history of privacy tech just got confirmed.

Cardano (ADA) has plummeted below $0.16 for the first time since December 2020 following a shocking announcement from founder Charles Hoskinson that he is "taking a break" amid an impending "wave of failures" across the ecosystem.

The market's momentum is negative, which is very unlikely to cause a substantial recovery.

Key Highlights

• May sales reached NT$859.4B, representing a 39.57% increase from the prior year and setting a new monthly record
• The company now expects second quarter results to significantly exceed initial projections, powered by AI infrastructure orders
• Year-to-date revenue through May totaled NT$3.82T, marking a 31.79% annual increase and establishing another company milestone
• The electronics giant unveiled a partnership with Intel focused on advancing AI infrastructure and computing systems
• A separate agreement with SK Group targets joint development in AI server technology, data center solutions, and energy infrastructure

The Taiwanese electronics manufacturing powerhouse reported NT$859.4B in May revenue, climbing 39.57% compared to the same month last year and advancing 3.28% from April figures. Converted to U.S. currency, this represents approximately 38.5% year-over-year expansion. The previous May benchmark stood at NT$615.7B from 2025.

The manufacturer noted that the second quarter typically represents a seasonally weaker period for information and communications technology businesses, as product lines transition between generation cycles. However, AI rack systems are bucking this historical pattern.

“AI racks are expected to maintain a continued growth trend,” Foxconn stated in Friday’s official announcement. “Based on current visibility, Q2 performance is tracking well above the previously anticipated growth, though it remains necessary to monitor the impact of the volatile global political and economic situation.”

While the company refrains from providing specific numerical forecasts, the upgraded language indicating performance “well above” expectations represents the most definitive indication available to market participants.

The Cloud and Networking Products segment fueled the annual revenue surge, benefiting from accelerated demand for artificial intelligence solutions. Additional growth came from Smart Consumer Electronics, Computing Products, and Components divisions on a year-over-year basis.

Sequentially, Cloud and Networking revenue remained relatively stable due to customer order timing, though AI-related demand maintained strength. Smart Consumer Electronics demonstrated robust month-over-month expansion, while Computing Products and Components experienced modest declines.

Year-to-Date Performance Hits All-Time High

Cumulative sales from January through May 2026 totaled NT$3.82T—a 31.79% jump compared to the equivalent 2025 period and representing the strongest first-five-month performance in company history. In dollar terms, this translates to roughly 35.7% annual growth. The comparable five-month record previously stood at NT$2.90T through May 2025.

This sustained revenue acceleration underscores the company’s momentum, with AI rack infrastructure emerging as the primary growth catalyst.

Strategic Alliances with Intel and SK Group

Thursday brought news of Foxconn’s collaboration with Intel to co-develop and implement next-generation artificial intelligence infrastructure and advanced computing platforms. The initiative aims to merge Intel’s processor technology and software capabilities with Foxconn’s manufacturing prowess and data center implementation expertise.

Both organizations indicated plans to pursue custom semiconductor development and integrated system solutions. Financial details remained undisclosed. The partnership announcement emerged during Computex 2026 in Taipei, where Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan presented the company’s AI infrastructure strategy.

Separately, Foxconn formalized an agreement with SK Group to expand collaboration on AI infrastructure, encompassing server technology, data center facilities, and energy management solutions. SK Group contributes advanced AI memory technologies and energy sector knowledge to the partnership.

Foxconn’s FXCOF shares declined 2.90% Friday, while Nvidia (NVDA)—whose AI servers Foxconn manufactures—advanced 1.82%. Apple (AAPL), another major Foxconn client, increased 0.31%.

The post Foxconn Upgrades Q2 Forecast Following Record-Breaking May Performance appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights

• Futures for the Nasdaq 100 declined between 1.0% and 1.2%, S&P 500 contracts retreated approximately 0.5%, while Dow contracts showed modest gains
• Weak revenue projections from Broadcom sparked a technology sector retreat that rippled through Asian trading sessions
• May employment data, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, forecast to reveal 105,000 job additions
• Bitcoin declined 2.2% during the past 24-hour period to reach $62,136, mirroring broader market caution
• Crude oil prices retreated on speculation regarding potential US-Iran diplomatic progress, with Brent crude falling to $94.66 per barrel

Market participants stepped away from technology equities Friday morning as Nasdaq contracts weakened before the release of May employment statistics. The artificial intelligence-fueled advance that propelled indices earlier in the week encountered resistance.

Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 retreated 1.0% to 1.2% during pre-opening trade. S&P 500 futures decreased roughly 0.5% to 0.6%. Dow contracts registered marginal increases, climbing approximately 17 to 29 points.

The Dow reached an all-time peak on Thursday, propelled by healthcare and banking sector strength. This stood in stark opposition to the technology segment, which experienced selling pressure following semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom’s quarterly disclosure.

Chip Giant’s Forecast Dampens Technology Sentiment

Broadcom’s sales outlook registered beneath the more bullish Wall Street projections. This development ignited a technology stock retreat that extended through overnight Asian market hours.

South Korea’s Kospi benchmark plummeted 5.5%. Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid characterized the market behavior as fallout from Broadcom’s announcement, noting that projections disappointed inflated market expectations.

European semiconductor equities similarly declined, tracking weakness across US and Asian counterparts. The cascading impact from Broadcom’s forecast reverberated throughout worldwide trading venues.

Employment Data Takes Center Stage

The May nonfarm employment report was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Consensus estimates from FactSet surveys anticipated 105,000 job additions for May.

Figures within that projected range would bolster arguments for the Federal Reserve to maintain elevated interest rates to combat inflation pressures. Market participants monitored closely for indicators that might alter the Fed’s policy trajectory.

A stable jobless rate combined with moderate payroll growth would suggest economic resilience. Such outcomes could validate the Fed’s measured approach toward monetary easing.

Cryptocurrency and Energy Markets Retreat

Bitcoin fell 2.2% during the preceding 24-hour window to $62,136. The downturn continued a recent slide and mirrored the prevailing risk-averse market environment.

Oil prices similarly weakened. Brent crude decreased 0.4% to $94.66 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.7% to $92.36. Market participants continued wagering on possible US-Iran diplomatic breakthrough that could alleviate supply constraints.

The dollar slipped 0.1% versus a currency basket. The 10-year Treasury note yield decreased 2 basis points to 4.47%.

Ambiguity surrounding Middle Eastern diplomatic efforts remained. President Trump indicated that US-Iran discussions had entered their “final” phase, though reports of stagnating negotiations continued affecting market psychology.

The post Tech Futures Decline as Markets Await Critical May Jobs Report appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights

• Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, landed in South Korea on Friday, identifying robotics as the nation’s “next major sector”
• Strategic sessions are scheduled with major players including Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG, and Naver throughout his stay
• The chip giant aims to collaborate with Korean manufacturers on robotics initiatives and physical AI applications
• Shares of NVDA advanced 1.82% following his arrival announcement
• According to GuruFocus analysis, NVDA trades at approximately 35.2% below its calculated GF Value of $337.26, with shares around $218.66

Following his departure from Taiwan, Jensen Huang arrived at Gimpo Airport on Friday, immediately signaling ambitious plans for Korean partnerships.

“Did I bring any gifts for Korea? I brought a lot of business for Korea,” Huang declared to assembled media. He teased potential “surprises” on the horizon.

The tech executive highlighted robotics as South Korea’s upcoming transformative sector, emphasizing the nation’s established position as a manufacturing powerhouse primed for physical AI integration.

“Korea has many sectors to invest in. Robotics is going to be the next major sector here in Korea,” Huang stated.

Shares of NVDA climbed 1.82% during trading, hovering near $218.66, as news of the strategic visit resonated with market participants and technology analysts.

NVIDIA Corporation, NVDA

High-Level Corporate Engagements Planned

The CEO verified upcoming discussions with South Korea’s industrial titans — Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG, and Naver. This roster represents the cream of Korean technological and manufacturing capability.

Huang emphasized semiconductors as a critical focus area, predicting the sector will grow “increasingly robotics and increasingly AI-driven in the future.”

The strategic intent is unmistakable: Nvidia seeks to deepen its integration within Korean industrial ecosystems beyond traditional chip sales.

Current NVDA Valuation Metrics

GuruFocus metrics position NVDA’s GF Value at $337.26 compared to its current trading level of $218.66 — suggesting the stock trades at approximately 35.2% below fair value by this assessment.

The company’s P/E multiple stands at 33.49x, significantly compressed versus its five-year median of 60.74x.

The stock earns a GF Score of 95/100, achieving maximum 10/10 ratings in both Profitability and Growth categories. Valuation receives a lower 4/10 score, while Financial Strength registers 9/10.

One noteworthy development: company insiders have liquidated $385 million in shares during the previous three-month period. This magnitude typically draws investor scrutiny.

The South Korean leg represents a continuation of Huang’s Taiwan engagement, indicating a comprehensive Asian strategic initiative as Nvidia advances its robotics and artificial intelligence priorities regionally.

The scheduled discussions with Samsung, Hyundai, LG, SK, and Samsung, and Naver will unfold during his visit timeframe, though concrete partnership announcements remain forthcoming.

The post Nvidia (NVDA) Stock Climbs as CEO Targets South Korea’s Robotics Revolution appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• Whale BTC inflows on Binance peaked at 8,200 BTC on June 2nd, the highest since February’s drop.
• Monthly average whale inflows doubled from 1,200 BTC to over 2,800 BTC within a matter of weeks.
• MicroStrategy and ETFs absorbed over 1.24 million BTC since March 2024, yet price remains pressured.
• Bitcoin’s average investor cost basis sits near $53K, a level tied historically to bear market floors.

Bitcoin whale deposits on Binance have surged sharply as the leading cryptocurrency records a 14% decline in June.

The correction has intensified over recent days, prompting large holders to reposition their exposure. On-chain data shows a notable rise in exchange inflows from entities moving more than 100 BTC per transaction.

This activity points to growing short-term selling pressure across the market.

Whale Activity Spikes During Bitcoin’s June Correction

Whale inflows on Binance reached approximately 8,200 BTC on June 2nd, followed by over 6,400 BTC on June 4th. These figures stand out against the broader trend observed since mid-April.

The monthly average of whale inflows on Binance has moved from around 1,200 BTC to over 2,800 BTC within weeks. That represents more than a doubling in a relatively short window.

On-chain analyst Darkfost noted the pattern in a recent post on X, describing the behavior as reactive rather than strategic. He characterized the moves as emotional risk management rather than calculated positioning.

Historically, comparable inflow levels were last recorded when Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 in early February. That episode also saw elevated whale deposits arrive late into the correction.

Whales in this context are defined as entities executing transactions above 100 BTC, equivalent to over $6 million per move. Their decision to deposit back onto exchanges is generally read as preparation to sell.

However, panic-driven behavior of this nature has consistently lagged behind actual price bottoms. The same dynamic played out during the February drawdown.

The accelerating correction has nonetheless raised concerns about the resilience of Bitcoin’s current price structure.

Exchange inflows from large holders tend to add near-term overhead pressure. Whether this marks the continuation of a deeper correction or a late-cycle flush remains an open question among market participants.

Supply Absorption Data Adds Context to Sell Pressure

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju offered a broader perspective on the current distribution phase in a post on X. He noted that Bitcoin investors’ average cost basis sits around $53,000, a level that has historically marked the floor of bear markets. Price has not yet revisited that zone, though the ongoing sell pressure suggests it could be tested.

Ju pointed out that since January 2023, MicroStrategy acquired 711,206 BTC and sold only 32 BTC, effectively removing over 711,000 BTC from circulation.

Additionally, since March 2024, ETFs absorbed 509,102 BTC while MicroStrategy purchased a further 650,706 BTC. Combined, that totals over 1.24 million BTC absorbed by these two entities alone.

Despite that absorption, Bitcoin’s price has returned to levels seen in March 2024. Exchange reserves currently sit around 2.7 million BTC, with Satoshi’s holdings estimated at approximately 1 million BTC.

The volume absorbed by ETFs and MicroStrategy is nearly half of all exchange reserves, yet price remains under pressure. That dynamic continues to draw attention from analysts tracking the current market cycle.

The post Whale BTC Deposits Surge as Bitcoin’s June Decline Deepens appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• TTAN shares rally following impressive first-quarter performance and guidance
• ServiceTitan posts 25% revenue increase with expanding profit margins
• Pre-market trading shows significant gains after quarterly earnings release
• Platform adoption accelerates with transaction volume climbing 23% year-over-year
• Management provides confident full-year forecast supporting bullish sentiment

ServiceTitan (TTAN) shares experienced significant upward momentum following the release of impressive fiscal first-quarter financial results and forward-looking guidance. The stock finished regular trading at $74.33, climbing 2.34%, before surging to $86.84 in pre-market activity—a substantial 16.83% gain. This dramatic movement represented a powerful earnings-fueled rally driven by accelerating revenue, expanding margins, and robust platform adoption across its customer base.

ServiceTitan, Inc., TTAN

Impressive Q1 Revenue Performance Drives TTAN Momentum

The company delivered total revenue of $268.8 million during its fiscal first quarter of 2027, representing a 25% increase compared to $215.7 million in the corresponding period. Platform-specific revenue demonstrated equally strong performance, advancing 25% to reach $260.6 million versus $208 million in the prior year. These figures highlighted sustained demand for the company’s specialized software solutions serving trade service businesses.

ServiceTitan also disclosed that gross transaction volume processed through its platform reached $21.7 billion throughout the quarter. This marked a 23% advancement from the $17.7 billion recorded during fiscal Q1 2026. This metric demonstrated expanding utilization of ServiceTitan’s platform ecosystem among its established client base.

The company maintained its net dollar retention rate above the 110% threshold, consistent with the level achieved in the comparable quarter last year. This retention figure indicated that current customers persistently increased their investment in the platform over time. This dynamic contributed significantly to the accelerated revenue trajectory observed during the period.

Profitability Metrics Show Meaningful Improvement

ServiceTitan successfully narrowed its GAAP operating loss to $25.8 million for the most recent quarter. This represented substantial progress from the $49.5 million GAAP operating loss recorded in the year-ago period. Accordingly, the GAAP operating margin improved dramatically to negative 9.6% compared to negative 23% previously.

On a non-GAAP basis, the company generated operating income of $40.8 million during the quarter. This compared favorably to just $16.2 million achieved in fiscal Q1 2026. The non-GAAP operating margin consequently expanded to 15.2% from 7.5%, demonstrating improved operational efficiency.

Cash flow metrics also displayed meaningful progress, though ServiceTitan continued to report negative free cash flow overall. GAAP net cash utilized in operating activities decreased to $1.6 million from $14.6 million in the prior-year period. Non-GAAP free cash flow improved to negative $9.6 million compared to negative $22.3 million previously.

Strong Full-Year Guidance Reinforces Bullish TTAN Outlook

Looking ahead to the fiscal second quarter, ServiceTitan provided revenue guidance ranging from $284 million to $286 million. Management also forecasts non-GAAP operating income between $38 million and $39 million for the period. This projection suggests sustained momentum following the first-quarter performance that exceeded market expectations.

For the complete fiscal year 2027, ServiceTitan anticipates total revenue between $1.13 billion and $1.14 billion. The company simultaneously projects non-GAAP operating income in the range of $142 million to $147 million. These forward-looking estimates reflect management’s confidence regarding continued demand strength, expanding platform adoption, and improving operational leverage throughout the organization.

ServiceTitan provides comprehensive software solutions to contractors and trade service businesses, enabling streamlined workflow management, payment processing, customer relationship management, and operational efficiency. The firm continues driving adoption of its Max product suite across customer locations. The pre-market surge in TTAN shares reflected investor enthusiasm for accelerating growth, margin expansion, and the company’s strong competitive positioning in its market segment.

The post ServiceTitan (TTAN) Stock Soars on Robust Q1 Performance and Optimistic Guidance appeared first on Blockonomi.

[PRESS RELEASE – Singapore, Singapore, June 5th, 2026]

Global cryptocurrency exchange LBank today announced that its registered user base has surpassed 25 million worldwide, marking a major milestone in the exchange’s global expansion journey. The achievement comes nearly one year after LBank became the Regional Sponsor of the Argentine National Team, a partnership that has played a pivotal role in expanding the exchange’s international visibility, strengthening community engagement, and accelerating mainstream awareness of digital assets.

Since joining forces with the reigning FIFA World Cup champions, LBank has sought to build more than a traditional sponsorship relationship. Through a series of global campaigns, fan-focused activations, and localized community initiatives, the collaboration has connected the passion of football with the accessibility of digital finance, helping introduce Web3 to audiences far beyond the traditional crypto ecosystem.

As anticipation builds for the world’s biggest football tournament, LBank will launch its flagship Super League campaign on June 9, featuring a $5,000,000 prize pool and premium rewards including FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Tickets, a 1,000g Gold Ball, and BTC. Building on the momentum of its partnership with AFA, the campaign is designed to bring together football passion, community participation, and digital asset innovation for millions of users worldwide.

Over the past year, this momentum has translated into measurable growth across the LBank ecosystem. Registered users have surpassed 25 million globally, while daily trading volume has exceeded $10.5 billion, reaching new highs amid expanding participation from both retail and professional traders. At the same time, LBank has continued broadening its product offerings, with TradFi products, including tokenized U.S. Stocks, Metals, and other real-world asset markets, generating more than $2.5 billion in daily trading volume and emerging as one of the fastest-growing segments on the exchange.

Beyond business growth, the partnership period has also coincided with a new phase of community and brand development. LBank has expanded its presence among younger digital-native audiences through brand collaborations, social-first engagement initiatives, and innovative product experiences. From partnerships with globally recognized internet personalities such as Nobodysausage to the launch of interactive features like Bullet Comments, LBank has continued exploring new ways to combine finance, culture, and community participation within a single ecosystem.

“World champions are not defined by a single victory, but by their ability to consistently perform at the highest level,” said Eric He, Community Angel Officer and Risk Control Adviser at LBank. “That philosophy strongly resonates with LBank’s journey. Since partnering with AFA, we have expanded our global community beyond 25 million users, and continued pushing the boundaries of product innovation. The partnership has demonstrated that football is more than a sport—it is a universal language that connects people across cultures, just as digital assets are creating a more connected global financial ecosystem.”

As the world looks ahead to the next chapter of international football, LBank remains committed to the same values that define champions on the global stage: ambition, resilience, and continuous progress. With more than 25 million users across 210+ countries and regions, LBank will continue building a more accessible, connected, and innovative future for digital assets worldwide.

About LBank

Founded in 2015, LBank is a leading global cryptocurrency exchange serving over 25 million registered users in 210 countries and regions. With a daily trading volume exceeding $10.5 billion and 10 years of safety with zero security incidents, LBank is dedicated to providing a comprehensive and user-friendly trading experience. Through innovative trading solutions, the platform has enabled users to achieve average returns of over 130% on newly listed assets.

LBank has listed over 300 mainstream coins and more than 50 high-potential gems. Ranked No. 1 in 100x Gems, Highest Gains, and Meme Share, LBank leads the market with the fastest altcoin listings, unmatched liquidity, and industry-first trading guarantees, making it the go-to platform for crypto investors worldwide.

Follow LBank for Updates

Website: https://www.lbank.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LBank_Exchange

Telegram: https://t.me/LBank_en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lbank_exchange

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lbank

The post LBank Surpasses 25 Million Users Worldwide as AFA Partnership Continues to Drive Global Growth appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Blockchain detective ZachXBT is warning traders to steer clear of Rain Protocol after claiming to have uncovered a pattern of suspicious on-chain activity surrounding the project.

In the latest update, ZachXBT described the prediction market project, which he said has an $8.8 billion market capitalization and ranks among the top 15 crypto assets, as having few users, limited product traction, no notable backers, and a team with little established history in the industry.

Links to Failed Crypto Projects

According to his on-chain investigation, wallets tied to the RAIN team share funding trails with the Data Ownership Protocol (DOP) and TOMI ecosystems via the Gems hot wallet and several centralized exchange deposit addresses, which suggests an overlap between the projects.

As evidence, ZachXBT highlighted two “dust” transactions that were sent to the same address on Oct. 14, 2025. According to his findings, a wallet linked to the RAIN deployer sent a small transfer to the address at 3:31:47 p.m. UTC, while a wallet he associated with the TOMI team multisig and a centralized exchange deposit address sent another dust transaction to that same destination 36 seconds earlier. He also said that the recipient wallet later received funds from another address that had previously been funded by a DOP multisig.

In a separate transaction trail, the investigator said another wallet transferred funds to an address that later used the same centralized exchange deposit address as the DOP deployer.

ZachXBT also claimed RAIN’s market activity shows signs of on-chain price manipulation, and alleged that addresses tied to the deployer used Uniswap V3 liquidity pools while routing spot transfers through the Gems hot wallet. He also took aim at RAIN’s valuation, while highlighting that its decentralized autonomous treasury, Enlivex, a Nasdaq-listed company, announced a $212 million treasury strategy in November 2025 even though, according to him, the project is nowhere near the scale of prediction market platforms like Kalshi or Polymarket.

He cited DefiLlama data showing RAIN has $27.2 million locked on Arbitrum, but said the entire amount is held in its own illiquid token and that the protocol generates only about $1 million in annual fees. TOMI, DOP and Sirin Labs projects are all linked to controversial Israeli entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg, who was arrested in 2021 and later faced police allegations over a $290 million crypto fraud scheme.

Kraken Rating Cut to B-Tier

ZachXBT said he has lowered his rating for crypto exchange Kraken from S-tier to B-tier over “lack of due diligence” before listing what he described as “low-quality, manipulated tokens,” including M, RAIN, RIVER and RAVE. He also criticized Kraken’s public disclosure of its recent security breach, and added that it did not mention compensation for affected users.

By comparison, he noted that exchanges such as Coinbase and Bybit prioritized compensating customers after their own security incidents. ZachXBT also raised his bounty to as much as $100,000 for insiders who can provide documents or chat logs related to alleged centralized exchange market manipulation schemes.

The post ‘Avoid Rain at All Costs’: ZachXBT Raises Red Flags Over $8.8B Prediction Market Project appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Zcash’s native cryptocurrency, ZEC, crashed by roughly 45% today, as the market reacted to a notable disclosure from the protocol’s founder, Zooko Wilcox, and other key ecosystem figures.

The post explained that researchers had recently found and patched a critical vulnerability associated with Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool – one that could have allowed an attacker to create unlimited counterfeit ZEC without being detected.

This brought to light one of the most serious kinds of bugs a cryptocurrency could face: one that threatens the integrity of the coin’s supply.

It’s worth noting that the authors said they believe previous exploitation was unlikely; however, they also acknowledged that because of the protocol’s privacy features, there is no cryptographic way to prove today whether or not the bug itself was exploited before it was patched.

What Happened to ZEC on June 5th, 2026?

As seen in the chart below, ZEC experienced a massive crash on June 5th, 2026, losing more than 45% of its value and plummeting from above $600 to around $300 in a matter of hours. The sudden move followed a disclosure from the protocol’s founder, bringing to light a massive vulnerability that may have allowed attackers to mint counterfeit tokens.

Let’s dive a bit deeper.

According to Zooko’s post on Twitter, security researcher Taylor Hornby discovered the vulnerability on May 29th, 2026, while reviewing the protocol’s Orchard circuit. To those unaware, Orchard is one of Zcash’s shielded pools – the part of the protocol that makes private transactions possible.

Hornby had been hired by Shielded Labs back in April 2026 to conduct ongoing security research on the protocol. His job was to look for hidden flaws before malicious hackers could find it.

The discovery came relatively short after Antrophic released its Opus 4.8 AI model on May 28th. In fact, Hornby used this same model as part of a targeted audit of the Orchard circuit. He combined AI-assisted review with traditional security research, and one day later he found the bug and disclosed it to the Zcash Open Development Lab, or ZODL for short.

ZODL then coordinated an emergency response throughout the entire Zcash ecosystem, completing the fix by June 2nd, and thereby closing the window of risk. But that’s not the end of the story, because the bug could have caused damage before it was fixed. Allow me to explain.

Why This Bug Was So Serious

Put in simple terms, the vulnerability could have allowed for someone to create fake ZEC inside Orchard.

Cryptocurrencies usually rely on very strict rules to prevent counterfeiting. A blockchain must absolutely know, at all times, that coins being spent really exist and that no one is secretly creating more than allowed. Zcash has a maximum supply of 21 million ZEC, similar to Bitcoin’s fixed-supply model. If someone is able to create unlimited fake ZEC, that would undermine one of the most basic and fundamental promises of the system itself.

https://t.co/v7BiOdzU9E

— zooko ⓩ (@zooko) June 4, 2026

The vulnerability was caused by what the authors described as an “under-constrained” element in the Orchard circuit. Now, a circuit is a mathematical system used to verify that a private Zcash transaction follows the rules without revealing sensitive details. These are the details about the sender, the receiver, and the amount.

“Under-constrained” here means that the circuit did not fully check something it was supposed to be checking. In this case, the flaw enabled the insertion of false inputs into a core cryptographic operation, elliptic curve multiplication, while still making the proof appear valid.

The researcher reportedly built a complete exploit and tested it in a local environment. During that test, the exploit generated virtually unlimited undetectable counterfeit ZEC. The authors admitted that if the same tool had been used on mainnet before the fix, it would have generated counterfeit ZEC directly in the real Zcash wallet.

The Tradeoff for Privacy

The crucial part of this disclosure is not only that the bug existed, but that Zcash’s privacy design makes it impossible to prove whether it was ever exploited before the fix. And it has been here for a while. To be precise – since Orchard was activated in May 2022. So that’s over 4 full years it could have been exploited.

Zcash’s protocol is designed so that shielded transactions do not reveal public details about who sent the funds, who received them, or how much was transferred. That privacy is the whole point of the system. At the same time, though, it makes forensic analysis that much harder.

On a traditional public and transparent blockchain, investigators are able to trace abnormal coin creation or suspicious transaction patterns. In Orchard, the relevant information, which could essentially point to any potential damages, is hidden by design. As a result, the authors concluded that there is no definitive cryptographic way of determining whether counterfeited coins were created before the vulnerability was patched.

It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that counterfeiting happened – it just means there’s no way to prove it doesn’t.

Authors Think Exploitation Was Unlikely: Here’s Why

Despite the serious nature of the vulnerability, the authors argue that prior exploitation was probably unlikely.

The first reason they outline is that the vulnerability had gone unnoticed for years, despite Zcash’s protocol being reviewed by experienced security engineers and cryptographers. Orchard was activated back in May 2022, as we mentioned above, which means that the bug was there for four years without it being discoverd (or at least not that we know of such discovery).

The second reason is that Hornby was onboarded to specifically search for deep protocol vulnerabilities, and this discovery was not accidental. It was the result of focused security effort using advanced tools and expert judgment.

They also argued that the vulnerability was patched within just a few days after discovery. That said, the authors were very careful in asking the users not to simply trust their judgment, proposing a more formal way of restoring trust.

What’s Next?

First things first, Shielded Labs is working with other Zcash devs on a possible network upgrade that would allow users to reliably verify the integrity of the ZEC supply.

This idea involves creating a new shielded pool and using “turnstile accounting” for coins leaving Orchard. Put simply, this would create a migration path that’s more controlled. Coins could move from the old pool to the new one under rules that are designed to make sure that more ZEC cannot come out than it legitimately went in.

Naturally, this kind of network upgrade wouldn’t take place automatically – it would need community support through the normal government process.

Opus 4.8 and Its Role in Discovering this Zcash Vulnerability

One of the most impressive parts of this story is the role of AI-assisted security research.

Taylor Hornby used Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 model as part of the review that led to the discovery.

This doesn’t mean that AI “found the bug on its own.” The disclosure makes it clear that the process involved a very experienced professional, a targeted review, custom tooling, and expert analysis. However, it also shows that AI systems may increasingly become part of high-stakes security work, especially in complex cryptographic systems, where even the smallest mistakes can have disproportionately large consequences.

Shielded Labs said it’s now accelerating this kind of proactive research.

The post Critical Zcash Vulnerability Revealed by Founder: Key Details and ZEC Outlook appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The wild cryptocurrency market moves continue as most assets have produced even higher fluctuations in the past several hours, which has inevitably harmed over-leveraged traders.

The most significant price fluctuation in the past day came from the recent high-flyer Zcash, which crashed after some community members found a vulnerability in its code. This prompted intense backlash including from popular crypto experts, such as Arthur Hayes, who said he had disposed of his entire ZEC position.

The combination of these factors led to a massive and immediate price crash for the privacy token. It went from over $630 yesterday to under $300 earlier today before it recovered some ground and reclaimed the latter.

Naturally, this intense price move led to substantial liquidations with $100 million worth of ZEC longs getting wrecked on a daily basis, according to CoinGlass.

However, ZEC is far from the only crypto asset affected by the overall market-wide wildness. Ethereum continues to underperform, especially since it lost the $2,000 support earlier this week. It plunged to under $1,650 earlier today, which became a new 14-month low.

SOL has dumped by over 7%, HYPE has plummeted by 9%, while ADA is down by another 16% after Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, said he would be taking a break.

Bitcoin dumped to $61,000 earlier today, but managed to rebound by almost $2,000. The altcoins’ massacre, though, has helped its recovery in terms of market share.

Bitcoin’s dominance, the index that shows how much of the total market cap belongs to BTC, has risen by over 0.5% in just a day after it had dumped from 58% to 55.5% in a week.

The overall liquidation data shows that more than 255,000 over-leveraged traders have been wrecked in the past 24 hours, with total wipe-out value of $1.21 billion. Longs are once again responsible for the lion’s share with $935 million.

The post Altcoin Massacre Triggers $1.2B in Liquidations as ETH Tanks Below $1.7K and ZEC Gets Smashed appeared first on CryptoPotato.

A newly discovered vulnerability in Zcash’s Orchard privacy pool sent shockwaves through the market on June 5, prompting BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes to exit his entire ZEC position just hours after details of the flaw became public.

The selloff has reignited a long-running debate around privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, which is whether users can fully trust systems where certain types of supply-related exploits may remain hidden until long after they occur.

Hayes Exits as Zcash Team Races to Reassure Users

In a post on X, Hayes said, “The Holy Trinity is dead” and confirmed he had sold his entire ZEC holding following reports of the Orchard Pool vulnerability. The issue was first disclosed by Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox and members of the Shielded Labs, who explained that security researcher Taylor Hornby discovered the flaw on May 29.

The team said that a hacker could have used this weakness to make endless fake ZEC in Orchard, Zcash’s protected transaction area, without getting caught right away.

Developers quickly sprang into action, fixing the issue by June 1. Still, there was a major concern: due to Orchard’s private design, there’s no cryptographic method to show if the bug had been used before it got resolved. That uncertainty appeared to be the deciding factor for Hayes.

“While I think it’s extremely unlikely of any minting, it cannot be formally cryptographically proved impossible,” he wrote, adding that privacy-focused assets require “perfection not improbability.”

The market reacted swiftly, with CoinGecko data showing ZEC fell more than 35% in the last 24 hours to around $386 after trading as high as $611 during the same period.

The token is also down nearly 27% over the last week and more than 40% across two weeks, with trading activity spiking by nearly 46% as investors rushed to reassess risk, leading to daily spot volume topping $1.7 billion.

CoinGlass data shows the volatility triggered nearly $49 million in liquidations during the past day, with long positions accounting for more than $41 million of those losses.

This is the second time in recent days that Hayes has exited a position shortly after making bullish statements. Just yesterday, he revealed that he’d sold his HYPE and NEAR holdings, having previously suggested HYPE could reach $150.

Old Concerns Return as Supply Questions Linger

News of the vulnerability drew different reactions from the crypto community, with investor Udi Wertheimer arguing that privacy coins face a different category of risk than transparent blockchains because counterfeit issuance may remain hidden for extended periods. He pointed to a previous Zcash inflation bug that was disclosed years after it existed.

Others took a more measured view, including Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz, who noted that major software bugs have appeared across crypto, including Bitcoin. He added that the immediate concern is whether exploitation occurred before the patch.

Furthermore, he pointed out that Zcash developers are already working on a future network upgrade that could verify the integrity of the supply through migration to a new shielded pool.

Barry Silbert, founder of Digital Currency Group, also pushed back against the negative reaction, arguing that the disclosure demonstrated the effectiveness of Zcash’s security process rather than a failure of it.

“The AI-enabled assault on blockchains is here and I’m proudly on Team Zcash,” he wrote.

The post Arthur Hayes Dumps Entire Zcash (ZEC) Position After Major Flaw Emerges appeared first on CryptoPotato.