AI's breakthrough in solving complex math problems signals transformative potential in fields like cryptography, protocol design, and risk modeling.

The post AI solves famous math problem that stumped humans for 80 years appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The decline highlights the volatility of cryptocurrencies and underscores the impact of regulatory uncertainty on market stability and investor confidence.

The post Bitcoin drops to $61,000, down 25% this month amid US regulatory uncertainty appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin's decline highlights its vulnerability to macroeconomic shifts, aligning it with high-risk assets and impacting future price expectations.

The post Bitcoin drops 50% from all-time high amid market downturn appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Coinbase's move democratizes access to private market investments, potentially reshaping how retail investors engage with pre-IPO opportunities.

The post Coinbase launches SpaceX perps futures for traders outside the US appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Crypto's reputation in Washington shifts from hype to a serious industry amid evolving trading technologies.

The post Ron Hammond: Automated trading is becoming user-friendly, the Agent Payments Protocol revolutionizes transactions, and crypto’s perception in DC has matured | Bankless appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Price Plunges Below $62,000, Erasing Months of Recovery as Sell-Off Accelerates

Bitcoin price has tumbled to its lowest level in months Wednesday night, crashing below $62,000 and wiping out a sharp intraday loss of more than $5,300  — a decline of nearly 8% in 24 hours — as a perfect storm of institutional exodus, leverage liquidations, geopolitical fear, and a symbolic but jarring sale by Michael Saylor’s Strategy converged to shatter market confidence.

At approximately 10:00 PM EDT, Bitcoin price was changing hands at $61,463.22, down from a 24-hour high of $67,416.50 and dangerously close to the psychologically critical $60,000 floor. The selloff erased weeks of tentative recovery and put the world’s largest cryptocurrency nearly 51% below its all-time high of $126,277, set in October 2025.

The catalyst that many analysts believe broke the market’s will was a Monday SEC filing from Strategy revealing that the firm sold 32 Bitcoin between May 26 and May 31, generating approximately $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135 per coin. 

While negligible relative to Strategy’s holdings of more than 818,000 BTC, the transaction represented the company’s first disclosed net reduction of its Bitcoin position in years — a jarring break from co-founder Michael Saylor’s long-standing “never sell” doctrine.

The move was intended to fund dividend obligations on its STRC preferred shares, which carry an annual variable dividend of 11.5%. Still, the market reacted viscerally. Bitcoin price immediately fell below $72,000 following the announcement, and Strategy’s own stock dropped nearly 6% the same day. 

Today, STRC traded hands around $94.

Bitcoin price craters as BTC ETFs continue outflows

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded an 11-to-12 consecutive day streak of net outflows, the longest run since the products launched, with total withdrawals reaching approximately $3.45 billion across that period. The week ending May 29 alone saw $1.42 billion in net outflows, marking the third-largest weekly withdrawal on record.

For the full month of May, cumulative spot Bitcoin ETF outflows reached $2.30 billion — the worst single month of 2026 — even as Bitcoin’s price only fell 3.69% in that time, suggesting institutions were quietly derisking at a pace far ahead of what price action alone implied.

Beyond crypto-specific factors, Bitcoin price has been whipsawed by a deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop. Escalating U.S.-Iran tensions — including military flare-ups in the Middle East — have driven investors toward safety, triggering a risk-off move that has hammered high-volatility assets across the board. 

Adding to the bearish picture is the gravitational pull of the artificial intelligence boom. Capital that might have once flowed into Bitcoin is increasingly chasing AI-linked equities, with the impending IPOs of OpenAI and SpaceX diverting speculative interest. 

This post Bitcoin Price Plunges Below $62,000, Erasing Months of Recovery as Sell-Off Accelerates first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Franklin Templeton CEO: Blockchains Threaten Wall Street’s Fee Machine, Not Its Technology

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson has a straightforward explanation for why major financial institutions have been slow to embrace public blockchains: the technology destroys their fee-based revenue streams.

Speaking at the Proof of Talk summit in Paris, Johnson — who oversees $1.74 trillion in assets at Franklin Templeton — told a panel audience that the resistance from traditional financial players is not about technology skepticism.

It is about protecting the business model. Banks and intermediaries that collect transaction fees at every step of the settlement process stand to lose that income the moment a smart contract can handle the same function at a fraction of the cost.

Johnson pointed to Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund, Benji, as a concrete demonstration of the cost differential. Running 50,000 transactions through the firm’s legacy system cost $1.30 per transaction. The same volume processed on the Stellar blockchain came in at $1.13 per transaction — a meaningful reduction at institutional scale.

The announcement came as Franklin Templeton disclosed a new partnership with MoonPay, designed to let institutional investors move between stablecoins and the firm’s tokenized fund through an on-chain workflow.Franklin Templeton’s push into digital assets is one of the most aggressive moves by a legacy asset manager in the industry’s history. The California-based firm, which manages roughly $1.74 trillion in assets, began building its dedicated digital assets team in 2018 — years before tokenization became a mainstream focus among institutional players.

Franklin Templeton’s bitcoin and crypto push

Benji launched in 2021 as the world’s first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain as its official system of record for processing transactions and recording share ownership. The fund invests predominantly in U.S. Treasury securities and uses blockchain strictly for operational efficiency rather than crypto exposure. 

On the bitcoin front, Franklin Templeton launched the Franklin Bitcoin ETF (ticker: EZBC), a passive product that holds only bitcoin and cash, designed for investors seeking direct price exposure without managing custody. 

The firm also offers a dynamic bitcoin/ethereum separately managed account product for investors wanting active allocation between the two largest digital assets.

In April 2026, Franklin Templeton announced plans to acquire 250 Digital, a spinoff from crypto venture firm CoinFund, forming a new division called Franklin Crypto to pursue active cryptocurrency investment strategies at institutional scale. 

The deal itself broke new ground — BENJI tokens were used as part of the acquisition payment, making it one of the first M&A transactions structured on-chain. The firm’s digital assets division manages approximately $1.8 billion in assets.

This post Franklin Templeton CEO: Blockchains Threaten Wall Street’s Fee Machine, Not Its Technology first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Price Crashes to Precarious Position Below $65,000 as Momentum Rotates Into AI, IPOs

Bitcoin price is holding a risky position near $65,000 Wednesday, down roughly 12% over the past seven days and trading at its lowest level since February as a broad rotation out of crypto into competing speculative trades chips away at the foundation of its recent bull run. 

The world’s largest cryptocurrency touched a bitcoin price of $64,987 earlier in the session before a partial recovery, but analysts and strategists say the weakness runs deeper than any single catalyst.

The most popular explanation — that Strategy’s (MSTR) first bitcoin sale in four years triggered the slide — is being challenged by a growing chorus of market voices. 

Charles Schwab director of digital currencies research and strategy Jim Ferraioli that the issue in simpler terms: bitcoin is losing its status as the market’s dominant momentum trade.

“Bitcoin has been in a bear market since October,” Ferraioli said according to CoinDesk reporting. “There’s a lack of a reason to be buying here when there’s other things you can choose.”

A broader sentiment in the bitcoin space is that the asset class is facing a competition problem, not a confidence problem. 

Capital that once poured into crypto in search of high-octane returns is rotating toward artificial intelligence stocks, gold, and a wave of high-profile IPOs from private tech firms including SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. 

Those offerings represent some of the most anticipated market events of the year, and investors appear to be freeing up liquidity to participate.

Wall Street bank Citi reinforced a similar structural concern Wednesday. Analyst Alex Saunders estimated that spot bitcoin ETF flows account for roughly 45% of weekly BTC price variation — the clearest real-time gauge of investor demand.

Those flows have turned negative. Saunders also flagged diminishing prospects for the Clarity Act, a U.S. crypto market structure bill that many in the industry viewed as a potential catalyst for fresh institutional inflows. 

Without that regulatory tailwind, the bank sees sentiment remaining muted.

Strategy’s sale of 32 BTC for approximately $2.5 million in late May did rattle markets. The transaction marked a rare departure from Executive Chairman Michael Saylor’s longstanding “buy and hold” approach and sparked concern that one of bitcoin’s most prominent corporate backers could shift from buyer to seller. 

Strategy attributed the move to a tax-optimization plan disclosed during its first-quarter earnings call. 

Citi said the sale was anticipated and does not change the firm’s broader strategy. Ferraioli described it as a convenient narrative attached to a trend already underway, noting that many ETF investors sitting near breakeven are treating the current price level as an exit opportunity rather than a buying opportunity.

Are the U.S. and Iran tensions causing a bitcoin price dip?

Another theory gaining traction in analyst circles points to U.S. sanctions on Iran’s digital asset ecosystem as a source of persistent selling pressure. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the freezing of more than $1 billion in Iranian crypto assets last week, and the U.S. sanctioned Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, on Tuesday for alleged ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

From a technical standpoint, the bitcoin price at $65,000 level is critical. This level is a test of year-to-date lows around $60,000. Bitcoin Magazine Pro data points to an initial support in the $63,000–$64,000 bitcoin price range, where bids emerged in February and March, with a bitcoin price of $60,000 representing the next major psychological floor and $58,000 beyond that.

This marks the third test of bitcoin price’s February 6 panic low. The prior two — on February 24 and March 29 — produced sharp recoveries above $70,000. Seasonal weakness, historically concentrated in summer months, gives bulls little immediate help. 

With AI assets outperforming, IPO pipelines absorbing speculative capital, and legislative catalysts receding, bitcoin’s path back to momentum-driven price discovery depends on investor attention returning — and right now, that attention is pointed elsewhere.

At the time of writing the bitcoin price is near $65,300.

This post Bitcoin Price Crashes to Precarious Position Below $65,000 as Momentum Rotates Into AI, IPOs first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Blockware Appoints Megan Brooks-Anderson as Chief Executive Officer

HOUSTON, Texas – June 3, 2026 – Blockware, a vertically integrated infrastructure platform spanning AI/HPC compute, Bitcoin mining, data center hosting, and marketplace liquidity, has named Megan Brooks-Anderson as its new Chief Executive Officer. The appointment follows the board’s removal of Mason Jappa from the role.

Brooks-Anderson comes to the CEO seat after serving as Blockware’s Chief Strategy Officer, and is one of the architects of the very direction she’s now been tapped to execute. She brings more than 20 years of experience across Bitcoin mining, public and private company operations, risk management, M&A, and internal controls. Before Blockware, COO at Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), where she helped build and scale one of the largest Bitcoin mining operations in North America.

“I’m honored to step into this role at such a pivotal moment for Blockware,” said Brooks-Anderson. “We have an exceptional team, strong partnerships, and a clear path forward. My focus from day one is on execution and delivering immediate value for our investors, our partners, and the talented people who make this company what it is.”

Brooks-Anderson will lead alongside co-founder and newly-appointed President, Sam Chwarzynski. The two share a long-standing commitment to doing right by the team and investors — a standard rooted in the legacy of co-founder Matt DSouza, whose vision for building something meaningful continues to shape the company’s culture and direction.

The leadership transition comes at an inflection point for Blockware. The company is moving aggressively into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure, with a formal announcement expected in July. That expansion will build on Blockware’s existing infrastructure footprint through partnerships with major AI/HPC partnerships. Blockware’s core mining business remains a central piece to its long-term strategy, and existing clients and partners will remain a priority as the company scales into new verticals.

Backed by an experienced leadership team led by Brooks-Anderson and Chwarzynski, established strategic partnerships, and a clear path for expansion, Blockware is poised to enter its next chapter with strong momentum and the leadership required to capitalize on emerging opportunities.

For more information, visit blockwaresolutions.com. 

###

About Blockware

Blockware is a vertically integrated infrastructure platform powering AI/HPC compute, Bitcoin mining, data center hosting, and marketplace liquidity. Since 2017, the company has built end-to-end capabilities across hardware sourcing, deployment, and operations, and is expanding its marketplace and infrastructure model into AI/HPC infrastructure through it’s subsidiary, Nodestream. By combining procurement, site readiness, marketplace liquidity, and operational expertise, Blockware enables institutional and enterprise customers to access compute resources more efficiently for both Bitcoin and AI workloads. With over 400,000 servers sold, nearly 1 GW of energized capacity, and a growing institutional client base, Blockware is distinguished by its cross-market scale and integrated execution.

Media Contact: blockware@melrosepr.com

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored press release. Readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence before acting on any information presented in this article.

This post Blockware Appoints Megan Brooks-Anderson as Chief Executive Officer first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin ATMs: The Canary in the Coal Mine

State regulators have been quietly banning Bitcoin ATMs. An entire subsection of the Bitcoin ecosystem is being deemed illegal and shut down. And since there’s not much of a cross-section between people who are chronically online and cash bitcoin buyers, it’s not getting a lot of attention. But the Bitcoin ATM ecosystem represents $3.63 billion, with a B, dollars going into bitcoin every year, and that’s just in the United States. 

Beyond the financials, Bitcoin ATMs are vital to maintaining self-sovereignty in the system. A Bitcoin ATM enables something no other service in the financial industry can: it lets you walk up with cash, no bank account, no credit check, no exchange account, and walk away with bitcoin in a wallet only you control. 

Perhaps it’s the self-sovereignty the regulators don’t like. Alas, they’re blaming the boogeyman, Fraud. 

Total bans, making Bitcoin ATMs illegal, have already been enacted in Indiana, Tennessee and Minnesota. De facto bans are also in place, creating limits that make it impossible to operate with any net profit in California, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Virginia. 

All of the bans and regulations are, of course, done under the guise of “protecting the consumer,” but legislation is not stopping fraud. The chain of fraud is easy to track, and Bitcoin ATM operators are doing just that, joining forces to form a coalition and fight back. 

No other industry is more heavily scrutinized than a fully licensed MSB (money services business) carrying MTLs (money transmission licenses) operating cash businesses subject to FinCEN’s AML KYC regulations. 

The fraud argument is selectively applied to Bitcoin ATMs because it’s politically easy. It’s also caught in the crosshairs of the AARP’s two-billion-dollar operating budget. But the facts don’t support the narrative. Across the broader financial industry, the standard rate of fraud is somewhere between 3 – 5%. It’s only 1.2% at Bitcoin ATMs. In other words, 98.8% of Bitcoin ATM transactions are legitimate. 

Why aren’t the states banning Western Union or Visa gift cards? Or robocalls, for that matter? 

The median Bitcoin ATM transaction is $300; 80% of all transactions are under $1,000. The average ATM customer is someone putting $50, $100, or $500 at a time into an appreciating asset, the same way someone DCAs on an exchange. The repeat purchase average is every 24 days, and the average lifetime spend per customer is $12k. Per the Federal Reserve’s own research, Bitcoin ATM’s primary users are the 24.6 million unbanked and underbanked Americans who are “disproportionately Black, Hispanic, immigrant, rural, low-income.” They’re moving $20–$100 at a gas station because they don’t have a bank account. States aren’t banning speculative tools; they’re banning legitimate financial access for people who already have the fewest options.

The “fraud” is just a Trojan horse. The banning won’t stop with ATMs. “A canary in a coal mine” is a metaphor for an early warning sign of impending danger or failure. While the President tries to claim the USA as the “Bitcoin capital of the World” his own justice department has put industry developers in prison. Another trend we cannot allow. 

In order for Bitcoin to succeed, we need all sections of the Bitcoin ecosystem to thrive. Similarly, in order for the industry to thrive here in the United States, we need the States to maintain their rights. 

If the banning is allowed to stand, it will not stop with just ATMs. This is a test case for “ban first, ask questions never.” Both the current and previous administrations have proposed a litany of bills that would similarly ban other parts of the ecosystem, encroaching on the rights of nearly everyone interacting with the bitcoin network in one way or another. 

A short list of some of the bills that came close: 

S.5267 — Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022: explicitly named wallet providers, miners, validators and others as MSBs (triggering KYC/AML law). 

S.2669 — Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2023: reintroduced the same general approach of treating digital asset providers/facilitators as BSA financial institutions. S.2355 — CANSEE Act: targeted DeFi facilitators/backers and sought to apply AML/sanctions obligations to DeFi-style activity. 

S.3867 — Digital Asset Sanctions Compliance Enhancement Act: targeted transaction facilitators and platforms for sanctions-related prohibitions. 

And H.R.3684 — Infrastructure Act: which was enacted and sparked a debate around the definition of “exchanges and brokers” which initially included miners, node operators and software developers despite the fact that the required reporting would have been technically impossible. The Treasury and IRS eventually narrowed their scope before the bill was implemented. But how many in the industry knew how close this was to becoming law? 

We cannot let them define self-custody wallets as “money laundering tools,” P2P exchanges as “unlicensed money transmission,” Lightning nodes as “unregulated payment processing,” or Bitcoin ATMs as “fraudulent activity.” 

The entire promise of Bitcoin is that no one can stop you from holding and transacting with your own money. The Bitcoin ATM is where that promise meets physical reality. A person with cash and a cell phone can participate in a global, censorship-resistant financial network without asking anyone’s permission. 

Let’s keep it that way. 

If the state can eliminate the only way to go from cash to self-custody, then the self-custody right is theoretical. It exists only for people who already have bank accounts and exchange

relationships, which is to say, people who already have permission. The bitcoin ATM is the canary. If it dies and nobody notices, the coal mine is next.

This is a guest post by Michelle Weekley. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

This post Bitcoin ATMs: The Canary in the Coal Mine first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Michelle Weekley.

Charles Hoskinson has announced that he is “taking a break” from the pressure around Cardano after an emotional plea to the community. His remarks, however, point to frustration rather than abandonment.

It seems that the Cardano founder is openly questioning his remaining power over the network at a time when ADA holders are blaming him for price weakness, governance disputes, and a fragile application ecosystem.

In a video shared on X, Hoskinson said the second half of the year would be hard for Cardano and warned that more dApps and DeFi projects could die as the ecosystem consolidates.

He asked what role he personally has in fixing that problem and said, “I don't have any special powers with Cardano.” In a separate update from his X account, he said: “I'm taking a break. TTYL.”

That combination has triggered the obvious question: has Hoskinson given up on Cardano? It leaves a public pause amid pressure rather than a resignation. He seems to be trying to separate his public responsibility for Cardano's mood from the formal controls that now sit elsewhere.

A founder without the override

Hoskinson's comments cut to the heart of the central tension in Cardano's current era. He remains the person most associated with the chain in public markets, but Cardano's own governance structure was built to make protocol and treasury control more distributed.

That context matters because Hoskinson's list of limits was specific. He said he lacks governance keys, cannot initiate a hard fork or protocol parameter change, has no access to the treasury, and does not own the Cardano trademark.

The Cardano Constitution defines hard-fork initiation, protocol parameter changes, and treasury withdrawals as governance actions.

The Cardano Developer Portal describes a governance model involving DReps, stake pool operators, and the Constitutional Committee, rather than a founder key that can force a protocol change on demand.

Hoskinson still has influence. He leads Input Output Global, commands a large public audience, and can shape debate around funding, development priorities, and ecosystem strategy.

But influence is different from custody over governance keys, direct treasury access, or unilateral authority to initiate a hard fork.

Hoskinson also pointed out that he does not even own the Cardano trademark.

The Cardano Foundation's trademark policy states that the Cardano marks are owned by the Foundation. That detail matters because his comments went beyond blaming the price. They were about whether the levers people assume he controls are actually his to pull.

Cardano's Voltaire roadmap framed voting and treasury systems as the path to a network no longer under IOHK's management.

CryptoSlate's January 2025 Plomin hard fork coverage described that upgrade as a step that gave ADA holders direct voting power over key network decisions, including parameters, treasury withdrawals, and hard forks.

Hoskinson's frustration is part of Cardano's decentralization story. The same governance structure that lets the community resist founder-backed spending also leaves the founder without a clean override when the market demands an immediate rescue.

That design creates a sharp market tension. Cardano markets still assign personal accountability to Hoskinson because he is the network's most recognizable advocate, while governance routes capital allocation and protocol changes through bodies that can disagree with him.

The more Cardano proves it is decentralized, the less realistic it becomes for traders to expect a founder rescue on demand.

The budget fight behind the break

The timing here is interesting. Cardano is in the middle of a live funding fight over how much control Input Output and other ecosystem institutions should have over treasury resources.

Intersect's 2026 budget process sets out a framework for coordinating treasury requests.

A current CGOV proposal for Cardano Vision 2026 seeks 32.92 million ADA for IO Research, with voting scheduled to run into June 8, 2026.

CryptoSlate previously reported that Hoskinson warned Cardano could lose scientists if Input Output's research funding failed.

That May 22 report described the standoff as a test of decentralized governance, with DReps resisting parts of a funding package tied to research, maintenance, scalability, developer tooling, and other technical priorities.

Related Reading

Cardano founder warns network could lose its scientists in Input Output’s 33M ADA funding vote fails

Input Output faces an unprecedented funding crisis as decentralized governance members hesitate to approve the 2026 development roadmap.

May 22, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

A later CryptoSlate article said Hoskinson was refocusing on Cardano and Midnight as governance resistance mounted.

That recent context cuts against a simple abandonment narrative. Days before the break post, the public framing was a deeper return to Cardano's political and technical fight.

Related Reading

Charles Hoskinson goes all-in on Cardano and Midnight after $250 million hospital shutdown

Charles Hoskinson says he is fully focused on Cardano and Midnight as DReps resist a funding plan tied to the network’s research future.

May 26, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Still, the break lands in a market that has little patience for governance nuance. CryptoSlate's June 4 market snapshot showed Cardano ranked No. 13, with ADA near $0.18, down 10% over 24 hours, down 25% over 30 days, and 93% below its all-time high at the time of retrieval.

The direction of pressure is clear enough. The Cardano price page shows an asset that has lost momentum while rival ecosystems compete for developers, stablecoins, and liquidity.

That is where Hoskinson's comments become more consequential. If Cardano's DeFi base, dApp sector, and funding process need to improve, the fix has to move through governance participants, builders, infrastructure teams, and ecosystem institutions.

A founder can argue, persuade, threaten to walk away from specific proposals, or take a break from public pressure. He cannot make a decentralized governance system behave like a company board that reports to him.

The real test is execution

Cardano's near-term question centers on whether the network can turn decentralized control into visible execution.

CryptoSlate's May 21 analysis of Cardano's hard-fork vote and DeFi weakness framed the Van Rossem upgrade as a test of whether cheaper scripts, cryptographic upgrades, and governance coordination can translate into developer activity.

Related Reading

Cardano’s May 29 hard fork vote brings ADA’s DeFi weakness into view

Cardano’s May 29 mainnet vote will test whether cheaper Plutus scripts, ZK-ready cryptography, and governance upgrades can attract developers and strengthen ADA activity.

May 21, 2026 · Gino Matos

That remains the most durable benchmark.

The bearish take is that Hoskinson's break becomes a confidence shock if the community interprets it as withdrawal while funding disputes and usage weakness remain unresolved.

That scenario would leave Cardano with the downside of founder dependency and the friction of decentralized approval: traders still blame one person, while the system requires many parties to act.

A constructive take would be that the moment forces Cardano stakeholders to use the system they built.

DReps, SPOs, Intersect, the Cardano Foundation, EMURGO, Input Output, and builders would have to make budget choices, defend priorities, and deliver measurable results without relying on Hoskinson's presence as the default coordination layer.

The next signal is whether the active research proposal clears or fails, whether Cardano's institutions respond with a clearer execution plan, and whether usage metrics such as TVL, stablecoin liquidity, DEX volume, and active deployments begin to move.

Hoskinson still appears engaged with Cardano's future, even as he steps back from immediate public pressure. His break has exposed a sharper question for the network: if the founder cannot pull the levers people want him to pull, can Cardano's governance system pull them in time?

The post Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson takes “a break” – exposing who really controls ADA’s next move appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Zcash became the subject of a brief market scare after block explorers appeared to show that the privacy-focused blockchain had stopped producing blocks for several hours.

By the time developers and infrastructure providers pushed back on the claim, the market had already moved in the opposite direction. ZEC was recently trading near $620, up about 10% over the session, while Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped more than 4%, according to CryptoSlate's data.

The rally turned Zcash into a rare winner amid a broader crypto sell-off tied to renewed geopolitical stress, weaker digital-asset sentiment, and forced liquidations of leveraged positions.

The episode also gave traders a clearer test of what had initially looked like a damaging technical crisis: Zcash did not go offline, but part of its privacy system was deliberately shut down to carry out “the most ambitious network upgrade in Zcash's history.”

Zcash's outage rumor masked a narrower problem

The confusion started after Zcash completed an emergency network upgrade to restore Orchard, the shielded pool that underpins the network’s most advanced privacy transactions.

Some block explorers appeared to be stale after the upgrade, giving the impression that the blockchain had stopped.

Infrastructure operators later said those explorers were catching up or resyncing after their nodes upgraded, while miners continued to produce blocks, and transactions continued to be confirmed.

ZODL founder Josh Swihart wrote on X:

“Zcash was never down. Many block explorers have been using unpatched nodes. Happens with every network update.”

That distinction mattered. Zcash was not dealing with a total chain halt. Instead, developers had temporarily disabled Orchard transactions through an emergency soft fork while they prepared a permanent fix for a soundness vulnerability in the Orchard zero-knowledge proof circuit.

The Zcash Foundation said the vulnerability was discovered May 29 by independent security researcher Taylor Hornby, who was conducting protocol security research for Shielded Labs.

ZODL engineers confirmed the report within hours and began preparing a confidential response with miners, exchanges, infrastructure providers, and other network participants.

The first stage of the response was activated at block height 3,363,426 and rejected Orchard-containing transactions and blocks.

The second stage came with the NU6.2 hard fork, which activated at block height 3,364,600 early Wednesday and re-enabled Orchard using a corrected circuit.

The Foundation urged node operators to upgrade to Zebra 5.0.0, the software release that follows the new network rules.

Why Orchard became the center of the story

Orchard is not a peripheral part of Zcash. It is the network’s newest shielded pool and was introduced with the NU5 upgrade in 2022.

Unlike earlier Zcash privacy pools, Orchard uses Halo 2 and does not require a trusted setup, a long-running concern in the design of privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies. The Zcash Foundation described Orchard as the centerpiece of the network’s privacy architecture.

The bug affected the soundness of the Orchard circuit. In plain terms, soundness is the rule that a system should accept only valid transactions and valid state changes. A soundness flaw can allow a system to accept something it should reject.

In this case, the Foundation said successful exploitation could have allowed double-spending inside Orchard. That would have been serious for the shielded pool’s accounting, even though the issue did not allow an attacker to inflate Zcash’s total supply.

That limit is important. Zcash’s “turnstile” mechanism tracks how value moves among its pools, including Sprout, Sapling, Orchard, transparent addresses, and lockbox balances.

The Foundation said those checks confirmed the 21 million ZEC supply cap remained intact, with no evidence of unauthorized value creation.

The vulnerability also did not affect user privacy, according to the Foundation. Sapling and transparent transactions continued operating while Orchard was suspended.

The fix required a fork, not a routine patch

The emergency response unfolded in two steps because a normal software patch would not have been enough.

Developers first used a soft fork to disable Orchard while keeping details of the vulnerability private. A direct public patch could have exposed enough information for attackers to understand the flaw before the network had completed a full repair.

The permanent fix required a hard fork because the bug was inside the zero-knowledge proof circuit. Repairing that kind of flaw requires changing the pinned verifying key that the network uses to validate Orchard proofs. That kind of consensus-level change cannot be handled through ordinary node software alone.

The Zcash Foundation said the incident was only the second security-driven protocol upgrade in Zcash’s history since the network launched in 2016.

The coordination was unusually compressed. Private outreach to miners and exchanges began May 31.

An initial soft-fork activation attempt encountered deployment issues, prompting engineers to prepare a second patch. The soft fork then activated around 02:00 UTC on June 2, and the NU6.2 hard fork followed early June 3.

Market turns the scare into a resilience trade

The price reaction was striking because the disclosure landed during a weak session for digital assets.

Bitcoin recently traded around $65,900, while ETH was near $1,832, down about 4%, according to CryptoSlate's data. ZEC, by contrast, traded near $620, after reaching an intraday high above $642.

The broader market was already under pressure from renewed geopolitical tensions and oil market concerns. Reuters reported Wednesday that global markets weakened as conflict in the Middle East escalated and Brent crude approached $100 a barrel.

Crypto-specific pressure added to the move. Recent market reports showed that the Bitcoin price decline also triggered more than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions liquidated during the sell-off, with long trades taking most of the damage.

Against that backdrop, ZEC’s rise suggested traders were not pricing the Orchard bug as a lasting impairment to the network. Instead, the market appeared to focus on the fact that the flaw was found, contained, and fixed before any known exploitation.

Moreover, the price movement showed how much interest the market had in the privacy-focused crypto token.

The post Zcash was rumored to have stopped working – then it became crypto’s only winner appeared first on CryptoSlate.

For traditional US banks, the CLARITY Act was intended as a firewall that effectively barred crypto companies from offering “passive” interest on stablecoins.

The legislation aimed to prevent a catastrophic deposit flight in which everyday checking account balances drain from the banking system into high-yield crypto exchanges.

But as lawmakers prepare to finalize the framework, Coinbase appears to be quietly structuring a loophole that relies on complex financial engineering to keep the lucrative yield flowing.

The key lies in a critical semantic distinction within Section 404 of the proposed legislation. While the CLARITY Act explicitly outlaws savings-account-style interest on stablecoins, it preserves “activity-based” rewards.

Enter Ethena, a synthetic dollar protocol that generates returns through an active, delta-neutral basis trade that involves shorting crypto perpetual futures while holding the spot asset.

By integrating with Ethena, Coinbase could theoretically route idle USDC into this strategy.

If successful, the exchange could pass along the profits of an active trading strategy and potentially offer massive yields on digital dollars right under regulators' noses while deeply frustrating a traditional banking sector stuck offering negligible rates.

The legislative wall called CLARITY Act

The CLARITY Act, a sweeping US market-structure bill designed to define how crypto assets and intermediaries operate under federal regulations, has been a legislative battleground.

At the center of the dispute that dragged out the Senate Banking Committee's process is the question of stablecoin rewards.

The latest compromise is primarily captured in Section 404, which was born from the Tillis-Alsobrooks amendment. The provision draws a hard regulatory line that the industry negotiated for months.

On one side is passive yield: simply holding a stablecoin balance and receiving periodic interest, which is structurally identical to a bank savings account. This is explicitly banned.

On the other side are activity-based rewards: incentives tied to actual customer activity, such as payments, transactions, platform usage, and trading. These are permitted.

The bank lobby pushed hard for these restrictions. Banking executives contend that firms offering bank-like products should face comparable oversight, reserve, and capital obligations.

If crypto platforms could freely pay savings-account rates on stablecoin balances without FDIC insurance requirements, they could easily siphon depositor capital at the expense of the regulated banking system.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently voiced this exact frustration. In a recent interview, Dimon criticized Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and warned that the CLARITY Act could fail if traditional banking concerns aren't addressed.

Asked if he was satisfied with the current draft of the bill, Dimon was blunt, saying:

“No, because it allows them to effectively pay interest on deposits, stablecoins or something like that, without protection that they should have. The banks will not accept it that way…”

For the legislation to become law, representatives from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees must merge their advanced bills before it clears the full Senate, the House, and lands on President Donald Trump’s desk. But while Washington debates, the crypto industry is already building around the new rules.

Coinbase's Ethena workaround

Coinbase relies heavily on stablecoins. In Q1 2026, the exchange reported $305.4 million in stablecoin revenue, making up roughly 52% of its subscription and services revenue.

The firm also stated that it held an average of about $19 billion in USDC across its products, accounting for more than 25% of the total USDC in circulation.

To protect this vital revenue engine under Section 404, Coinbase needed a product in which yield is tied to explicit activity rather than passive holding. Its new partnership with Ethena perfectly threads this needle.

Ethena stated:

“Ethena and Coinbase have partnered to grow on-chain finance and savings products for their 100 m+ user base, with the first growth initiative launching next week.”

Alongside the integration, Coinbase Ventures made its first investment into Ethena on the open market.

Coinbase also confirmed its expanded role, noting it will support security and operations across more than $5 billion in Ethena assets. Coinbase now serves as Ethena's primary custodian, wallet provider, and perpetuals venue.

Because Ethena generates yield through complex trading activities, Coinbase can route yield-seeking USDC users into real borrow demand and active market strategies.

Guy Young, Ethena's Founder, explicitly acknowledged the regulatory tailwinds, saying:

“Excited to partner with Coinbase for the first time to support their dollar savings products…Given the evolving nature of the Clarity Act, we expect further potential tailwinds for onchain native products like USDe from idle balances on exchanges, and Ethena is well positioned to support this transition.”

Yan Liberman, a managing partner at Delphi Ventures, highlighted exactly how lucrative this structural shift could be for both sides. He stated:

“Reading between the lines for the upcoming product launch referenced. Coinbase x Ethena is bullish because it can turn Coinbase’s ~$19B USDC base, with an implied ~$13B of reward-earning balances, into a funding rail for Ethena. If sUSDe yields clear baseline USDC rates, Coinbase can offer better USDC lending yields, loopers can lever the spread, and Ethena gets deeper/cheaper funding than native DeFi alone. Aave mechanics, Coinbase distribution.”

Liberman added that the CLARITY Act makes this pivot highly valuable. If lawmakers restrict passive USDC rewards, Ethena gives Coinbase a way to route users into real borrow demand rather than simply paying them for holding USDC.

He added:

“Coinbase needs products where yield is tied to explicit activity: lending, collateral, liquidity, or platform usage. Ethena gives them a way to route yield-seeking USDC users into real borrow demand, rather than just paying rewards for holding USDC.”

The new “Coinbase problem” for banks

While banks might feel protected by Section 404’s ban on passive interest, the Ethena loophole presents a new and immediate threat.

Stablecoins have outgrown their origins as a niche settlement layer. The total stablecoin market sits at roughly $320 billion, with USDC at about $76 billion and Ethena's USDe around $4.5 billion.

Because Circle backs USDC with highly liquid cash and cash-equivalent assets with monthly attestations, Coinbase’s strategy uses USDC as the trusted settlement asset, while Ethena supplies the yield-bearing synthetic-dollar layer.

Admittedly, an immediate systemic bank run is unlikely. US commercial bank deposits stood at roughly $19.3 trillion in late May 2026, and money-market fund assets sat at $7.78 trillion. Even if Coinbase converted its entire $19 billion USDC balance, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the broader banking system.

However, the real danger to banks is marginal pricing pressure.

If mobile, yield-sensitive retail customers and institutional treasuries realize they can seamlessly access ~3.8% APY through an activity-based Ethena strategy inside a Coinbase app, they will inevitably move their idle cash.

To stem the outflow, traditional banks may be forced to raise their own historically low deposit rates, which directly eats into their net interest margins. Notably, US savings accounts yield just 0.38%, and interest checking accounts scrape the bottom at 0.07%.

Moreover, Tom Wan, head of research at Entropy Advisors, pointed out that the Coinbase and Ethena integration could be the beginning of an institutional synergy that bypasses traditional banking entirely.

Wan notes Ethena can leverage institutional lending via Coinbase Asset Management, utilize Coinbase Custody, and use USDC as a liquid stablecoin backing. In the future, Coinbase could become a primary basis trade venue and allocate backing assets to lending protocols like Aave on Base to grow USDe as a dominant savings product.

The post Banks pushed Congress to kill stablecoin yield with CLARITY Act – Coinbase may have found the loophole appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Mt. Gox moved more than $700 million worth of Bitcoin while the market was already under stress, giving traders a familiar reason to ask whether old bankruptcy coins are moving closer to new supply.

The estate-linked wallets moved 10,422 BTC on June 2, worth roughly $739 million at the time of the transfer. Most of the stack, 10,306 BTC, went to a fresh address beginning with 14FEEM, while 116 BTC moved to a known Mt. Gox hot wallet.

The transfer occurred in Bitcoin block 952,072 at around 04:47 UTC, months before the current repayment deadline of Oct. 31, 2026.

So, it seems that Mt. Gox is active again, while immediate sell pressure remains unconfirmed, as no onward movement to a custodian, exchange, liquidity provider, or creditor distribution venue was reported at the time of the initial report.

The transfer revived an old supply problem

Mt. Gox remains one of Bitcoin‘s longest-running market overhangs because the estate still controls a large BTC balance more than a decade after the exchange collapsed. The June 2 transfer carried weight because it reminded the market that a known pool of old coins can still move with little warning.

The remaining estate balance was reported at roughly 34,504 BTC after the move. The visible activity is split across multiple transfers rather than a single visible sell order, and direct exchange-bound flow remains unconfirmed.

Still, a balance of that size is enough to keep traders watching every large estate-linked movement for signs of distribution.

The official trustee process gives that concern a concrete calendar. In an Oct. 27, 2025 notice, the Mt. Gox Rehabilitation Trustee extended the deadline for several repayment categories from Oct. 31, 2025 to Oct. 31, 2026 with court permission.

Related Reading

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Oct 27, 2025 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

The notice said many creditors still had not received repayments because some had not completed required procedures or because processing issues remained.

That language points to a drawn-out process rather than a single clean market event. It also explains why wallet movement can be meaningful before immediate selling is visible.

Coins may move for internal wallet management, repayment preparation, custody setup, or liquidity routing before any creditor receives BTC or any exchange sees flow.

The next signal is onward routing

The practical threshold is simple: the transfer becomes stronger evidence of sell pressure when the coins move from estate-linked wallets toward venues that can distribute, custody, or sell them.

That is why Arkham's Mt. Gox entity page carries more weight than the headline dollar value alone. On-chain labels, destination clustering, and counterparties can indicate whether the fresh address remains part of the estate's wallet structure or begins interacting with exchange and repayment infrastructure.

The distinction is practical. A large internal transfer can still shake sentiment because it changes market expectations for the timeline. But a wallet reorganization is different from coins arriving at a venue where they can be sold or handed to creditors.

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Nov 19, 2025 · Gino Matos

The former is a warning light. The latter is closer to actual supply.

The June 2 routing, as reported at the initial deadline, sat on the warning-light side of that line. The coins had moved, the process was live, and the repayment deadline was visible.

Yet the key downstream signal was still absent: no confirmed move into a custodian or exchange had been shown in the initial reporting.

The market may care about the transfer even without proof of sale, especially during a weak trading window. It still needs proof of onward routing before treating the move as immediate supply hitting Bitcoin order books.

The timing made the movement feel larger. On June 2, Bitcoin fell more than 5% below $68,000, and nearly $400 million in leveraged positions were liquidated within an hour.

Related Reading

Bitcoin flash crash below $68,000 triggers around $400 million in liquidation in under an hour

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Jun 2, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

That backdrop carries weight because leveraged markets can turn a wallet alert into a sentiment catalyst.

The evidence supports timing, not causation. The Mt. Gox transfer occurred around 04:47 UTC, while the liquidation story describes same-day market pressure.

The cleaner conclusion is that Bitcoin was already vulnerable, and the Mt. Gox movement added another reason for traders to think about supply.

CryptoSlate market data on June 3 showed BTC trading at $66,737, down 3.76% over 24 hours, with $57.34 billion in 24-hour volume.

The broader CryptoSlate coin rankings showed a $2.3 trillion crypto market, $137 billion in 24-hour volume, and 57.9% Bitcoin dominance.

Those numbers cut in both directions. Bitcoin is deep enough that a staggered repayment process does not automatically overwhelm the market.

At the same time, a high-leverage selloff can make any large potential supply source feel more urgent than it would during calmer trading.

That puts the focus on whether a measurable path has opened from the estate to liquid supply. As of the initial reports, that path had not been shown.

Mt. Gox is now a process overhang

CryptoSlate's prior Mt. Gox coverage framed the 2026 repayment extension as a shift from a single-date shock to a recurring process overhang. That remains the best way to read the June 2 movement.

The deadline tells traders when the estate process is supposed to finish. The wallets tell traders whether that process is moving. The exchange, custodian, liquidity provider, or creditor endpoints indicate to traders whether the movement is shifting toward market supply.

Until those later signals appear, the most defensible answer is restrained. The June 2 transfer showed that a bankruptcy estate still holding tens of thousands of BTC is active again, even as Bitcoin is under pressure.

It also left the most important question about sell pressure unanswered.

That distinction is what keeps the move from becoming either complacency or panic. Mt. Gox has enough BTC left to remain a meaningful watch item, and the repayment process has a live deadline.

But the market signal to watch is not the first move into a fresh wallet. It is whether funds move from that wallet toward an exchange, custodian, liquidity provider, or repayment route.

The post Mt. Gox-linked wallets moved 10,422 BTC, worth roughly $739 million as BTC price slides appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Vitalik Buterin is challenging one of DeFi's most familiar safety mechanisms: the automatic liquidation that closes a debt-backed position when collateral falls below the required backing for the loan.

In a June 1 Ethereum Research post, Buterin proposed building synthetic, index-tracking assets on top of options, with collateralized debt removed from the base design.

The idea would remove the hard liquidation trigger from the base design and replace it with a slower form of risk: the user's exposure drifts away from the target unless the position is rebalanced.

That distinction is important because the old mechanism is still showing up in market stress. Bitcoin‘s fall below $68,000 triggered about $394 million in one-hour liquidations on June 2, including roughly $87 million in ETH positions, as leveraged bets were force-closed across the market.

The flash crash came one day after Buterin's post and serves as a market reminder: when price moves hit crowded leverage, automatic closures can turn a drop into a wider market event.

Related Reading

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Jun 2, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

The proposal is research-stage architecture: a design argument separate from any protocol launch, Ethereum roadmap commitment, or direct replacement for Aave, Maker, or existing stablecoins. It shifts the focus from collateral buffers and faster price feeds to a more fundamental design choice: whether instant liquidation should remain DeFi's central means of surviving a crash.

Why the safety switch can amplify stress

Most DeFi lending systems are built around the same basic problem. A user locks in collateral, borrows against it, and must keep the position above a required safety level.

In Aave's borrowing documentation, that level is expressed through a health factor. When it falls below 1, the position can be liquidated: a liquidator repays debt on the borrower's behalf and receives collateral plus a bonus.

That structure protects the protocol's solvency, but it also concentrates action at the worst possible moment. If ETH or another collateral asset falls fast enough, users do not choose when to sell. The system chooses for them.

Liquidators compete to close eligible positions, and the collateral can be pushed into markets already short on liquidity.

The record supports that concern. An OECD working paper on DeFi liquidations found a positive relationship between liquidation activity and post-liquidation price volatility across major decentralized exchange pools.

The paper also emphasized that liquidators rely on available liquidity during stress, which means the mechanism designed to restore balance can run into the same liquidity shortage as everyone else.

CryptoSlate has previously covered the operational version of that risk. A 2025 Chainlink-related oracle dispute led to more than $500,000 in liquidations on Euler Finance and revived questions about how protocols should interpret pricing data in illiquid markets.

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May 30, 2025 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Separately, a 2025 ETH decline put nearly $320 million in Ethereum-based DeFi loans within 20% of liquidation, with MakerDAO and Compound exposure concentrated near key price levels.

The common thread is the cliff. DeFi needs a way to handle undercollateralized positions, but the current method often waits until a number is breached and then requires immediate action.

That creates a crowded moment for borrowers, liquidators, oracle feeds, and liquidity providers simultaneously. It also gives sophisticated actors a clear trigger to watch, because the protocol rule announces when a position becomes profitable to close.

For users, the practical consequence is straightforward. A liquidation system can protect a lending pool while still giving the individual borrower the worst possible execution window.

The user may have intended to keep long-term ETH exposure, hedge a cash need, or wait out a sharp wick. Once the threshold is crossed, the system's priority becomes solvency, and the user's timing preference disappears.

How options turn a cliff into drift

Buterin's alternative starts by changing the primitive. A position that can become undercollateralized gives way to a split ETH claim: the proposal divides 1 ETH into two option-like assets, called P and N, tied to a price index, strike price, and maturity date.

At maturity, an oracle resolves the index value and determines how much of the ETH claim each side receives.

The key property is simple: P and N always add back up to 1 ETH. Because the system is dividing a fixed ETH claim between two sides, it can avoid seizing collateral from a borrower to close a deficit.

In Buterin's framing, the design removes the liquidation event by construction.

For a user trying to hold synthetic dollar exposure, the practical experience differs from a debt-backed stablecoin. In the debt model, a user can appear fully hedged until the collateral threshold is breached, at which point the position is force-closed.

In the options model, the holder avoids the sudden close, but the position can gradually stop behaving as the user intended.

Buterin's example uses a user who wants some level of dollar exposure while ETH is trading around $2,500. The user could buy a deep option tied to a lower strike, such as $1,500, and rotate into lower-strike options if ETH falls toward the original strike.

If the user does not rebalance, the exposure drifts. The user keeps a claim, but the hedge becomes less exact.

That is the central tradeoff. The design keeps risk in the system, and changes who controls the timing and what form the damage takes.

Liquidation-based systems outsource the decision to a protocol rule and liquidator bots. The options-based design pushes more of that decision toward users, wrappers, market makers, or automated rebalancing systems.

Buterin also acknowledged a limit for stablecoin use. A medium amount of annualized drift may be acceptable for someone seeking price stability relative to future expenses.

It is much less useful for an accounting stablecoin, where users want to treat the token as a dollar for payments, bookkeeping, or tax reporting.

The oracle tradeoff

The oracle argument may be the proposal's most important protocol-design claim.

Debt-backed liquidations depend on real-time price feeds. A protocol needs a binding price quickly enough to determine when a position is unsafe and to allow liquidators to act.

Buterin argues that this constraint makes real-time oracles hard to secure because they rely on automated actors watching live signals and leave little room for slower dispute resolution.

Options move the critical oracle call to maturity. Oracle risk remains, but the time pressure changes.

If a system can wait to resolve a contract, it can use slower, more contestable mechanisms, including prediction-market-style approaches or expensive fallback oracles that would be impractical for instant liquidation.

That is why the proposal is more than a stablecoin tweak. It shifts DeFi's risk architecture away from a single live price that can trigger irreversible action.

Recent research on liquidation dynamics in DeFi shows why that surface is central: liquidation mechanics can create incentives around price manipulation, MEV, and oracle-extractable value when a profitable closure depends on a market price crossing a trigger.

The benefit still depends on implementation. A wrapper that automatically rebalances for users could make the product easier to hold, but it could also recreate visible timing rules that sophisticated traders can anticipate.

A purely local user agent could hide some timing choices, but would raise its own usability and execution questions. An onchain DAO wrapper would need deterministic rules and deep markets to avoid becoming another predictable target.

Slow oracles help only if the rest of the design avoids forcing the same problem elsewhere. That is the tension Buterin's post leaves for builders.

A slower oracle can give a system more time to settle disputed information, but users still need markets deep enough to rotate exposure and rules strong enough to avoid turning every rebalance into an exploitable signal.

The comparison with prior oracle disputes is useful here because the risk arises when bad data meets a rule that must act immediately.

The options design reduces the need for that instant decision, while builders still have to decide who watches the index, who provides liquidity, and who absorbs losses when the market moves faster than the hedge.

What developers still have to prove

The next test is whether the market structure around Buterin's idea can be competitive with the debt systems it would challenge.

The proposal itself flags slippage as a major risk. Rebalancing through ordinary automated market makers could be expensive, especially if users need to rotate option exposure repeatedly during volatile periods.

Buterin suggested that rebalancing might need a different market structure, closer to patient one-sided market making than an instant sell.

That requirement is the adoption test. If users avoid liquidation but bleed too much value through drift, slippage, or operational complexity, the model becomes elegant research rather than useful DeFi infrastructure.

If builders can make rebalancing cheap and less exposed to attack, the idea could become a serious alternative for users who want price stability without signing up for a liquidation cliff.

The same test applies to stablecoin framing. The proposal is most defensible when described as a way to hold a stability-oriented exposure or personal hedge.

It becomes weaker if marketed as a simple dollar replacement. A token that drifts away from its target and needs periodic rotation is a different user promise from a redeemable dollar, an overcollateralized stablecoin, or a conventional CDP-backed synthetic.

For Ethereum, the significance is that one of its most influential designers is treating liquidation as an architectural choice rather than an unavoidable fact of DeFi.

The next signal is whether any protocol team turns the options model into a tested wrapper, simulation, or live market with sufficient liquidity to demonstrate the trade-off in practice.

Until then, the proposal is best read as a direct challenge to DeFi's crash mechanics: the industry can keep trying to make liquidations faster and better collateralized, or it can test designs built without sudden forced sales.

The post Vitalik wants DeFi price crashes to stop triggering automatic liquidations appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The cryptocurrency market is experiencing a significant downturn today, with major digital assets flashing red across the board. Data from the major token tracking indexes reveals a broad-based sell-off affecting both market leaders and prominent altcoins, wiping out billions in total market capitalization over a 24-hour period.

Crypto Crash Today: Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead the Decline

The CoinMarketCap 20 Index DTF (CMC20) has declined by 5.14% over the last 24 hours, pushing its Year-to-Date (YTD) losses to 30.18%. This underscores a broader systemic correction within the digital asset ecosystem rather than isolated token liquidations.

• Bitcoin ($BTC): The largest cryptocurrency by market cap has dropped by 5.10% over the last 24 hours, trading at $63,501.86. Zooming out, Bitcoin’s weekly performance shows a 13.21% decline, while its YTD performance stands at a loss of 27.44%.
• Ethereum ($ETH): The leading smart contract platform is trading at $1,772.45, reflecting a 5.40% daily decline. Ethereum has felt a deeper impact than Bitcoin over longer timeframes, posting a 10.80% drop over the last 7 days and a staggering 40.26% decline YTD.

Crypto Prices Face Deeper Liquidations

Excluding stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), which have maintained their pegs, the altcoin market is bearing the brunt of the volatility.

• Solana (SOL) remains one of the hardest-hit large-cap assets in this correction cycle, losing nearly 8% of its value in 24 hours and over 44% since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, Layer-1 networks like BNB and XRP are down over 6% today.
• Hyperliquid (HYPE) shows a minor variation, down 5.85% today but remaining up 19.82% over the last 7 days due to isolated ecosystem momentum. However, its intraday trajectory matches the dominant market trend.

Crypto Crash Reason: Explaining the Downturn

While digital asset volatility is standard, several macroeconomic and structural factors typically trigger synchronized market drawdowns of this scale:

1. Macroeconomic Headwinds and Interest Rate Pressures

Broader financial markets heavily influence the digital asset space. Sustained high-interest rates set by the Federal Reserve often drive capital away from risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies and tech equities toward safer yields like U.S. Treasuries. Institutional investors pull liquidity from volatile positions during macroeconomic uncertainty.

2. Derivative Liquidations

When major support levels break—such as Bitcoin falling below key psychological thresholds—it often triggers a cascade of automated liquidations on futures exchanges. Long positions are forcefully closed, introducing massive sell volume to the market within a short timeframe, accelerating the drop.

3. Outflows from Institutional Investment Vehicles

Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs heavily impact price action. Sustained net outflows from these institutional vehicles reduce structural buying pressure, allowing spot market sell orders to push asset prices down more aggressively.

What is Next for the Crypto Market?

The short-term trend remains firmly bearish as trading volume spikes amidst the sell-off, indicating active distribution. Traders are looking for signs of price stabilization around major historical support zones before anticipating a trend reversal. Until macroeconomic indicators ease or institutional buy walls return, the crypto market is likely to experience continued choppy price action.

The cryptocurrency market in June 2026 is experiencing a structural shift. Speculative hype is clearing out, making way for institutional capital, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and decentralized artificial intelligence infrastructure.

With major regulatory frameworks like the CLARITY Act shaping asset definitions and central banks adjusting interest rates, smart capital is moving into protocols that generate protocol revenue and real-world utility. For investors looking to build a balanced portfolio this month, identifying leading assets within specific sectors is crucial.

Below is an analysis of the top 5 altcoins to buy in June 2026, categorized by market sector, focusing on project fundamentals and technical growth targets.

1. Solana (SOL) – The High-Performance Layer-1 Leader

Project Ecosystem Overview

Solana continues to solidify its position as the premier Layer-1 blockchain for retail liquidity, decentralized finance (DeFi), and high-throughput consumer applications. Moving past the initial memecoin cycles, Solana's monolithic infrastructure has proven highly efficient for executing rapid transactions without relying on fragmented Layer-2 networks.

The network's execution speeds and low transaction fees have attracted major traditional fintech integrations. Platforms like PayPal and Visa utilize Solana's infrastructure for stablecoin settlements, securing its status as a major alternative to Ethereum’s settlement dominance.

Growth Catalysts and Target for 2026

• Institutional Traction: Continuous spot ETF developments and corporate stablecoin deployments.
• Firedancer Mainnet Optimization: The full implementation of the Firedancer validator client provides unprecedented network reliability and throughput capabilities.
• Growth Target: Market analysts project SOL to break past long-term resistance walls, targeting a mid-to-long-term valuation of $180 to $220 as institutional capital flows accelerate.

2. Bittensor (TAO) – The Decentralized AI Compute Infrastructure

Project Ecosystem Overview

The convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology is a defining market narrative in 2026. Bittensor sits at the absolute forefront of this sector. TAO operates as a decentralized, open-source network that incentivizes machine learning models to collaborate and train across a global distributed node architecture.

Following its successful network upgrades, including the expansion of subnet capacities from 128 to 256, Bittensor has proven that distributed networks can train large-scale language models effectively. This makes it an essential infrastructure asset for developers seeking permissionless access to raw computing power and AI intelligence.

Growth Catalysts and Target for 2026

• Supply Scarcity: The long-term macroeconomic effects of its late 2025 halving event are constricting daily token issuance.
• Corporate Staking: Major institutional custody platforms like BitGo have established enterprise-grade staking infrastructure for TAO.
• Growth Target: As tech platforms transition away from centralized cloud monopolies, TAO aims to reclaim psychological resistance zones, targeting $450 to $500 by late 2026.

3. Ondo Finance (ONDO) – The Institutional RWA Pioneer

Project Ecosystem Overview

Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization has grown from a proof-of-concept into a multi-billion dollar sector. Ondo Finance is a market leader in this category, bridging the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and on-chain liquidity. Ondo specializes in bringing institutional-grade financial products, such as US Treasuries and corporate bonds, onto public blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.

By embedding strict automated compliance directly into its smart contracts, Ondo allows global institutional investors to access yield-bearing tokenized products safely. Its structural integration with clearing giants and Tier-1 liquidity providers places it far ahead of competing asset tokenization protocols.

Growth Catalysts and Target for 2026

• Macroeconomic Shift: Declining interest rates push on-chain investors toward stable, institutional yield products.
• Banking Rails Integration: Broadening cross-chain deployments across major public and institutional private ledgers.
• Growth Target: Backed by structural inflows into tokenized securities, ONDO targets a price target expansion toward $2.50 to $3.10 as total value locked (TVL) hits new milestones.

4. Near Protocol (NEAR) – The Foundational Layer for AI Agents

Project Ecosystem Overview

Near Protocol has evolved significantly from a standard smart contract platform into a core foundational layer for cross-chain "user intents" and autonomous AI agents. In 2026, decentralized applications rely heavily on AI agents executing transactions autonomously on behalf of users. Near provides the cryptographic framework necessary for these agents to interact across multiple chains securely.

Through its advanced chain abstraction technology, Near eliminates the friction of managing multiple wallets, gas fees, and network bridges. This enables seamless interactions where software can transact instantly behind a unified interface.

Growth Catalysts and Target for 2026

• AI Agent Web Integration: Infrastructure partnerships with web infrastructure providers to automate micro-payments for data and API processing.
• Mass Consumer Adoption: Positioned as the primary abstract layer for Web3 consumer applications.
• Growth Target: Driven by the narrative of autonomous on-chain commerce, NEAR's valuation targets a structural move toward $8.50 to $11.00.

5. Base (Ecosystem Tracking Token / Base Infrastructure)

Project Ecosystem Overview

While Base does not feature a native network token, it dominates the Ethereum Layer-2 ecosystem, capturing over 60% of total L2 network revenues according to on-chain analytics. Developed by Coinbase, Base serves as the primary gateway for retail capital entering Web3.

The ecosystem's primary value capture mechanisms flow directly back to the wider Ethereum L2 infrastructure layer and decentralized protocols built natively on the network (such as high-performance automated market makers and decentralized derivatives exchanges like Hyperliquid). It serves as an essential index for measuring the health of retail on-chain activity.

Growth Catalysts and Target for 2026

• Smart Wallet Proliferation: Coinbase’s native smart wallets allow millions of mainstream users to interact with applications smoothly using passkeys.
• DeFi Capital Concentration: Base remains the most profitable execution environment for decentralized applications on Ethereum.
• Growth Target: For investors tracking this ecosystem, native building blocks within the L2 layer present clear asymmetric upside, with core ecosystem application tokens targeting a 3x to 5x growth multiple over the summer trading cycle.

Altcoin Market Allocation Comparison

To help visualize how to diversify into these sectors, investors can analyze how these top projects balance different market opportunities:

Summary: Building a Strategic Crypto Portfolio for June 2026

Success in the current crypto market requires a clear shift away from speculative assets toward platforms that generate verifiable economic value. Allocating capital across dominant Layer-1 chains like Solana, decentralized AI frameworks like Bittensor, and institutional infrastructure like Ondo Finance provides balanced exposure to the most resilient narratives of this market cycle.

The boundary between traditional payment networks and decentralized infrastructure is dissolving. Global payment leaders Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are in advanced stages of launching a collaborative, institutional-grade stablecoin platform.

The joint initiative aims to standardize digital currency routing across legacy financial systems and capture the rapidly expanding market share of programmable, dollar-pegged digital assets.

The Push for Native Onchain Settlement

The cooperative project signals a collective strategic pivot. Stablecoin networks processed an unprecedented $33 trillion in total transaction volume last year, pushing past the cumulative settlement figures of standard credit card processors. Rather than competing against decentralized protocols externally, the payments triumvirate is building a native layer to absorb and route these token flows directly through their own ledgers.

The platform's primary utility centers on institutional settlement, business-to-business (B2B) cross-border routing, and programmatic liquidity provisioning. According to industry insiders, top-tier U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is also positioned to participate in the joint launch, adding a deep consumer liquidity foundation to the network.

Integrating Bridge Infrastructure for Merchant Scale

The move leverages major corporate infrastructure plays executed recently. Stripe’s ongoing integration of its $1.1 billion acquisition, Bridge—a leading stablecoin orchestration network—supplies the technological backbone for the system. Concurrently, Visa has expanded its pilot programs with Bridge to enable programmatic, stablecoin-backed card issuance across 18 countries, targeting growth to over 100 countries.

The architecture addresses three core corporate payment bottlenecks:

• Instant Currency Authorization: Automated conversion mechanisms that allow digital asset balances to clear instantly at terminal points-of-sale without price slippage.
• Direct Acquiring Settling: Enabling international merchants to receive business revenues directly in major fiat-backed tokens like USDC or EURC, completely bypassing traditional banking intermediaries.
• Low-Cost B2B Remittances: Providing international supply chains with cross-border rails that cut standard transaction fees from the standard 1.5% to 3% down to sub-0.1% levels.

By pooling their technical reach, the participants create an insulated payment system that prevents capital flight from legacy banking systems toward entirely non-intermediated, decentralized payment architectures.

The digital asset market is experiencing heavy selling pressure today. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has fallen to $2.29 trillion, marking a significant 8.7% decline over the past week.

As liquidations mount across major exchanges, traders are assessing whether this downward trajectory is a temporary correction or the start of a prolonged bearish phase.

Why is the Crypto Market Crashing Today?

The current market downturn stems from a combination of macroeconomic data releases, shifting monetary policy expectations, and heavy derivatives liquidations.

1. Macroeconomic Pressures and Interest Rate Outlook

Risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, are reacting to recent economic data indicating sticky inflation. This has led market participants to price in a "higher-for-longer" interest rate environment by global central banks. When interest rates remain elevated, capital typically rotates out of speculative assets like cryptocurrencies and into yields guaranteed by government bonds.

2. Cascading Derivatives Liquidations

The breach of key technical support levels for Bitcoin triggered an automated wave of long liquidations. According to data tracking platforms like Coinglass, hundreds of millions of dollars in leveraged bullish positions were wiped out within a 24-hour window. This forced selling accelerated the downward momentum across all major altcoins.

3. Institutional Capital Outflows

Data from institutional fund managers reveals a slowdown in net inflows into spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. A multi-day streak of net outflows indicates that institutional appetite has cooled off temporarily, reducing the baseline buying pressure required to sustain higher price levels.

Top Cryptocurrencies Price Analysis

Large-cap digital assets are flashing red, with layer-1 protocols suffering the sharpest intraday losses.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Update

$Bitcoin is currently trading at $66,600, reflecting a 3% drop over the last 24 hours. BTC failed to sustain its position above the $68,000 psychological threshold. The immediate horizontal support now sits at $65,000. If buyers fail to defend this zone, a deeper retest of the $62,000 macro level is likely.

Ethereum (ETH) Price Update

$Ethereum has underperformed Bitcoin today, dropping 5% in the last 24 hours to trade at $1,880. The asset has broken below its short-term moving averages. Analysts monitor the $1,800 support level closely, as breaking below it could invalidate the current medium-term bullish structure.

Solana (SOL) Price Update

$Solana has matched Ethereum's downside, falling 5% over the past 24 hours to sit at $75.00. Despite strong network activity, SOL remains highly sensitive to broader market liquidity drains. Resistance is now firmly established at $82.00, while structural support rests near $70.00.

Ripple (XRP) Price Update

$XRP has shown relative resilience compared to its peers, down just 1.5% in the last 24 hours to trade at $1.23. Ongoing regulatory developments and liquidity patterns unique to the asset have decoupled its short-term price action slightly from the broader market dump, though it remains capped by overhead resistance at $1.30.

Market Outlook

The crypto market structure is currently undergoing a leverage flush. While the immediate intraday trend remains bearish, historical data shows that corrections of 10% to 15% are common structural occurrences during broader market cycles. Market participants are advised to monitor institutional fund flows and upcoming regulatory announcements, which can be tracked on major financial networks like Bloomberg.

Institutional Capital Rotates Out of Crypto Into Artificial Intelligence

$Bitcoin experienced a sharp 5.6% decline, dropping to the $67,400 mark following major corporate developments in the tech and traditional finance sectors. The market sell-off aligns with a massive capital allocation shift after Google launched an $80 billion artificial intelligence (AI) capital raise.

The initiative is notably backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. This collaboration marks one of the largest institutional capital rotations from digital assets into AI infrastructure in recent financial history. Asset managers and corporate treasuries are rebalancing portfolios to fund these high-conviction AI initiatives, pulling liquidity directly out of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Crypto Treasury Inflows Collapse by 95% in May

The pressure on digital asset prices follows a broader liquidity drought that intensified over the last month. Data reveals that crypto treasury inflows collapsed by 95% throughout May, recording their lowest operational levels since 2024.

This drastic slowdown in capital entering crypto funds signaled an early warning of the institutional pivot. The sudden emergence of the mega-cap Google-Berkshire fund has accelerated this trend, leaving Bitcoin to test key support levels as buy-side pressure from corporate treasuries temporarily dries up.

Latest Cryptocurrency Prices

• Bitcoin ($BTC): $67,400 (-5.6%)
• Ethereum ($ETH): $1,920 (-3.2%)
• Solana ($SOL): $76.50 (-4.8%)
• $XRP: $1.23 (-4.7%) 

Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX is set to IPO, with current estimations making him the world's first trillionaire on its completion.

The offering would tie fixed cash dividends to a staking-heavy ETH treasury model as Strategy’s preferred stock remains under pressure.

A new study finds that leading AI models often encourage emotional attachment, portray themselves as human, and fail to maintain clear boundaries.

Founder Charles Hoskinson was brutally honest about the troubles the Cardano ecosystem could face as the market continues declining.

Holders will be able to do more with their gold, instantly spending Tether's tokenized version anywhere Visa is accepted.

Bitcoin current price action suggests unusually strong sell pressure despite Satoshi-Sized BTC stack being absorbed in the market.

Bitcoin’s selling pressure intensifies after the asset slid below the critical $65,000 level, sparking fear among traders as analyst spots the next support level at around $50,000.

Despite the dip, large investors are as active as ever.

Charles Edwards warns a 28% quantum discount is suppressing Bitcoin price discovery due to developer inertia.

XRP might lose the historic threshold way sooner than anticipated.

Key Takeaways

• Bank of Japan poised to increase policy rate to 1% on June 16, marking the highest level in 30 years
• Sources indicate rate increase likely unless Middle East tensions dramatically worsen
• Financial markets currently pricing in approximately 80% probability of rate hike
• Governor Kazuo Ueda’s recent remarks suggest shift toward aggressive inflation management
• Central bank may also adjust bond purchase reduction strategy starting fiscal year 2027

Japan’s central bank appears set to implement an interest rate increase during its June 16 policy session, according to three individuals with knowledge of internal deliberations. This adjustment would elevate the nation’s benchmark policy rate from 0.75% to 1% — reaching heights unseen since the mid-1990s.

Bloomberg reports BOJ officials will consider a 25 bp rate hike at the June 15-16 meeting, which would take the policy rate to 1%.

Officials also see scope for another rate hike later this year, citing still-low real rates and upside inflation risks.

The BOJ is also expected… pic.twitter.com/ZqDU3HtmuS

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) June 4, 2026

These insiders, speaking under condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization for public statements, indicated that the final determination depends largely on developments in the Middle East. Barring a significant escalation of tensions involving Iran that could destabilize international financial markets, monetary tightening appears probable.

Financial market indicators already suggest this outcome, with derivatives pricing reflecting approximately an 80% likelihood of the rate adjustment.

Central Bank Chief Telegraphs Policy Shift

Governor Kazuo Ueda articulated his stance during Wednesday remarks that market observers interpreted as signaling a renewed focus on combating rising prices. His commentary suggested potential willingness to implement rate increases with greater frequency in coming months.

Two policy board officials, Kazuyuki Masu and Junko Koeda, have similarly expressed concern about accelerating price growth in recent statements. Market watchers believe they may align with three other policy hawks to support a June rate move.

Wholesale price data for April showed a 4.9% year-over-year surge — the sharpest acceleration in three years. This increase stems largely from elevated petroleum and chemical input costs linked to conflict in Iran.

Rising Price Pressures Mount

While Japan’s core consumer inflation metric has temporarily fallen beneath the BOJ’s 2% objective in recent months—partially due to government energy support programs—economists anticipate a rebound above that threshold later in 2025 as subsidies expire and energy expenses remain elevated.

Currency depreciation has compounded these challenges. A weakening yen increases import costs broadly, amplifying inflationary pressures and bolstering arguments for monetary policy normalization.

The central bank concluded its extended quantitative easing framework in 2024 and has implemented multiple rate increases since that time, including one in December. These moves reflect growing confidence that Japan can achieve its inflation objectives on a sustainable basis.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, traditionally an advocate for accommodative monetary conditions, appears to have accepted the necessity of a June rate increase following a May 22 meeting with Ueda. Former policy board official Makoto Sakurai told Reuters the prime minister likely recognizes the move as unavoidable given current economic conditions.

Bond Purchase Strategy Under Consideration

The upcoming June session will also examine the central bank’s government bond purchase reduction program. The existing tapering schedule concludes in March 2027, requiring officials to establish a framework for the subsequent fiscal year.

Two sources suggest the BOJ favors either temporarily halting or decelerating the pace of bond purchase reductions to preserve market stability. Ueda acknowledged Wednesday that bond market functioning has strengthened but emphasized the importance of maintaining equilibrium as the institution withdraws from Japanese government bond acquisitions.

The two-day monetary policy gathering concludes on June 16.

The post Bank of Japan Set to Deliver Highest Rate Hike in Three Decades appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• Shares of Compass plummeted 11.8% to $7.61 on Wednesday after news emerged of a possible antitrust investigation by New York’s Attorney General.
• According to The Real Deal, representatives from the AG’s office have reached out to major NYC real estate firms seeking details about Compass International Holdings’ market position.
• This inquiry comes after Compass completed its $1.6 billion acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate, establishing the nation’s largest residential brokerage with more than 340,000 agents.
• The Justice Department’s antitrust division head initially sought to examine the merger more closely but was overturned following Compass’s appeal to former Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
• Year-to-date, Compass shares have declined 28%, though they’ve gained 23% over the trailing twelve months.

Shares of Compass finished Wednesday’s trading session at $7.61, marking an 11.8% decline, following a report from The Real Deal suggesting New York’s Attorney General’s Office is examining the company for potential antitrust violations.

Compass, Inc., COMP

According to the publication, representatives from the Attorney General’s antitrust unit have been reaching out to executives at several prominent New York City real estate brokerages, seeking information regarding Compass International Holdings. The AG’s office has not provided any statement on the matter.

The stock has faced significant headwinds throughout 2026. Year-to-date losses now stand at 28%, although shares have appreciated 23% compared to their price twelve months earlier.

Compass International Holdings emerged at the beginning of this year following the completion of the $1.6 billion purchase of Anywhere Real Estate. This consolidation created the nation’s preeminent residential real estate brokerage, representing over 340,000 agents and franchise partners.

Anywhere Real Estate operates well-known brands such as Corcoran, Sotheby’s International Realty, and Coldwell Banker.

An Unusually Swift Transaction

The transaction reached completion in January, merely four months following its September announcement — significantly faster than the nine-month period initially projected by both companies.

This accelerated timeline attracted attention. The Wall Street Journal revealed in January that Gail Slater, leading the Justice Department’s antitrust unit, had intended to initiate a comprehensive review of the transaction to assess potential anticompetitive implications.

However, this extended review was never initiated. Compass and its legal representatives appealed directly to Todd Blanche, then serving as Deputy Attorney General, who concluded that any concerns could be resolved without launching a formal investigation.

Compass also brought in Mike Davis, an attorney connected to President Trump and recognized for his involvement in conservative judicial confirmations, to advocate on their behalf with Blanche’s department.

A representative from Blanche’s office informed the Journal that the department “fulfilled its responsibilities” under antitrust regulations, noting that “nothing prevents the department from pursuing enforcement action later if anticompetitive consequences are discovered.”

Legislative Concerns Emerged Earlier

In December, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden sent correspondence to both Slater and FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, calling for rigorous examination of the merger.

The legislators cautioned that the consolidation might enable the merged entity to maintain commission rates at “artificially elevated” levels while exercising expanded influence over residential real estate transactions.

Their letter referenced statistics indicating the two organizations already controlled approximately 70% of residential property sales by transaction value in Northern California and over 40% in New York City.

The New York Attorney General’s investigation now poses an additional regulatory challenge for Compass, originating from state-level authorities. Compass has not responded to requests for comment.

The post Compass (COMP) Stock Plummets 12% Amid New York Antitrust Investigation Reports appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights

• Quantinuum’s public offering generated $1.68 billion through the sale of 28 million shares priced at $60 apiece, surpassing the anticipated $53–$55 pricing window.
• Trading commenced on Nasdaq under ticker symbol “QNT”; the firm originated from combining Honeywell’s quantum operations with Cambridge Quantum in 2021.
• Federal funding commitment of up to $100 million positions Quantinuum as a beneficiary of Washington’s $2 billion quantum technology push.
• RIKEN, Japan’s leading research organization, represents approximately 60% of the company’s 2025 revenue stream, highlighting customer concentration concerns.
• Honeywell maintains approximately 48.1% voting control following the offering; competitor IonQ has experienced 52% share price growth year-to-date.

Quantinuum launched its public trading journey on Thursday following a successful $1.68 billion initial public offering that exceeded initial expectations. The quantum computing specialist sold 28 million shares at a $60 price point, climbing above its marketed $53 to $55 per share window.

Honeywell’s $QNT IPO is reportedly 20x oversubscribed.

Quantinuum is seeking up to $1.46B at a $14B valuation in what could be the largest quantum IPO to date. pic.twitter.com/jDo168fePh

— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) June 3, 2026

The stock began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market using ticker symbol “QNT.”

Origins and Corporate Structure

The company emerged in 2021 from combining Honeywell’s quantum computing operations with Cambridge Quantum, a British software developer. Operating from Broomfield, Colorado, the enterprise produces quantum computing hardware alongside complementary software platforms.

Following the public offering’s completion, Honeywell will maintain roughly 48.1% of the company’s voting authority. The conglomerate is simultaneously pursuing a comprehensive reorganization of its various business segments.

Market entry occurred ahead of schedule. Industry observers anticipated a debut timeframe spanning late 2026 through 2027, but robust demand from institutional investors accelerated the process.

Investment banks managing the deal possess a 30-day greenshoe option permitting sale of an additional 4.2 million shares should market conditions warrant. J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley serve as primary underwriters.

Federal Support and Market Enthusiasm

Washington has demonstrated tangible commitment to the quantum sector. Recent announcements detailed a $2 billion federal program distributing capital across nine quantum computing enterprises. Quantinuum stands to collect up to $100 million through the Commerce Department’s initiative.

The funding arrangement grants the federal agency a minority ownership position within the company.

Market enthusiasm for quantum technology has intensified alongside artificial intelligence expansion. With AI platforms demanding escalating computational resources, market participants anticipate corresponding growth in quantum system requirements.

Industry peer IonQ has recorded approximately 52% stock appreciation during the current year, pushing its market capitalization near $25.47 billion.

Business Dependencies and Challenges

Notwithstanding the successful public debut, Quantinuum confronts meaningful operational hurdles. RIKEN, Japan’s premier research institution, generates approximately 60% of the firm’s 2025 revenue.

Such pronounced customer concentration triggers caution among financial analysts. Market observers emphasize the importance of monitoring revenue diversification efforts going forward.

Mainstream quantum computing adoption remains nascent. The sector grapples with substantial research and development expenditures alongside unpredictable commercialization timelines.

Quantinuum currently operates at a loss, with profitability projected to remain elusive in coming periods.

Notable investors including Nvidia and Amgen enhance the company’s market standing. The firm’s Helios platform achieved two-qubit gate fidelity measuring 99.921%, representing what management characterizes as meaningful technical advancement.

The offering materializes amid renewed vigor in U.S. public listings, with investor capital flowing predominantly toward technology-oriented and high-growth enterprises.

The post Quantinuum (QNT) IPO: Honeywell Quantum Spin-Off Soars Past Price Target With $1.68B Raise appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• Shares of PANW declined 5.6% following fiscal Q3 results that exceeded expectations, posting $3 billion in revenue and $0.85 EPS
• Year-over-year organic annual recurring revenue climbed 28%; next-generation security ARR reached $8.13 billion, jumping 60% YoY
• Management’s full-year revenue outlook of $11.42 billion surpassed Wall Street estimates by approximately 1%
• Multiple analysts hiked price targets, with UBS moving to $300 from $183 (Neutral) and Evercore ISI increasing to $375 (Buy)
• Leadership set a free cash flow margin goal of 40% by fiscal 2028

Shares of Palo Alto Networks tumbled 5.6% during Wednesday’s trading session, settling near $280, even as the cybersecurity giant delivered fiscal third-quarter results that surpassed analyst projections across key metrics.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc., PANW

The decline came after shares had climbed 79% over the 30 trading sessions preceding the earnings announcement — marking the company’s largest pre-earnings rally in over 13 years, based on data from Jefferies. The post-earnings retreat appeared to be a textbook example of profit-taking after an extended run-up.

Third-quarter sales totaled $3 billion, topping forecasts. Adjusted profit reached $0.85 per share, likewise exceeding consensus projections. The broader software industry also experienced headwinds that day, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) declining 4.3%.

Annual recurring revenue from next-generation security offerings hit $8.13 billion, representing a 60% year-over-year surge. Organic ARR — excluding contributions from recent Chronosphere and CyberArk acquisitions — expanded 28%, matching the second quarter’s growth rate while maintaining robust momentum.

Organic net new ARR accelerated 32% sequentially during the period, as organic revenue reached $2.61 billion, marking a 14% increase.

A minor concern emerged around the organic ARR metric, which fell slightly short of some institutional investors’ expectations, according to Jefferies analyst Jeff Favuzza. While a relatively small miss, it mattered given the stock’s elevated valuation heading into the report.

Forward Outlook and Profitability Metrics

Management’s full-year revenue projection landed at $11.42 billion at the midpoint, approximately 1% higher than analyst consensus. While representing a smaller upside than the quarterly beat, PANW has historically outperformed forecasts by an average of 5% across the past 10 quarters, according to FactSet data.

The company guided for full-year operating margins slightly above 29%, an improvement from the 27.1% recorded in Q3. Leadership also indicated that anticipated cost savings from recent M&A activity would materialize one to two quarters ahead of initial expectations.

Chief Executive Nikesh Arora outlined ambitions for a 40% free cash flow margin target by fiscal 2028. Based on current analyst models projecting $15.61 billion in fiscal 2028 revenue, achieving that margin would generate roughly $6.24 billion in free cash flow — nearly 50% above current fiscal 2026 projections.

The firm’s new AI-powered security offering, “Psima AIRS,” tripled its customer base from approximately 100 in the second quarter to around 300 currently.

Wall Street’s Response

UBS elevated its price objective to $300 from $183 while maintaining a Neutral stance. Prior to the selloff, shares were trading just under that revised target at $297. UBS’s valuation framework applies a 40x EV/free cash flow multiple based on anticipated low-to-mid double-digit growth through calendar 2028.

Rosenblatt increased its target to $355 with a Buy recommendation. Evercore ISI raised its target to $375, also with a Buy rating. Stifel moved to $330 with a Buy. Wells Fargo established a $325 objective. Stephens maintained an Equal Weight rating with a $300 target.

Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz retained his Outperform rating, noting continued optimism around PANW’s strategic shift toward higher-growth subscription-based revenue streams.

Remaining performance obligations totaled $18.4 billion, surpassing estimates by $590 million. Adjusted free cash flow for the quarter stood at $910 million, bringing the trailing twelve-month FCF margin to 38.5%.

The post Why Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Stock Tumbled 6% Despite Crushing Q3 Earnings appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• Strategy sold 32 BTC as its mNAV ratio fell below 1.0x, signaling growing dividend pressure.
• STRC preferred stock requires fixed dividends, forcing Strategy to raise capital, pause, or sell BTC.
• Bitcoin ETFs recorded 11 straight days of outflows totaling $3.5B, deepening market-wide pressure.
• If mNAV stays below 1.0x for four weeks, analysts warn the firm’s flywheel could begin reversing.

Strategy’s recent sale of 32 Bitcoin has drawn attention across crypto markets amid mounting financial pressure. The move comes as the firm’s market net asset value ratio, known as mNAV, faces sustained weakness.

Analysts are now questioning whether the company can maintain its preferred stock dividend obligations without liquidating further Bitcoin holdings.

The situation points to structural risks embedded in Strategy’s capital model that could accelerate if current market conditions persist.

Strategy’s STRC Structure Creates Fixed Dividend Pressure

MicroStrategy’s preferred stock instrument, STRC, functions as what analyst Stacy Muur describes as a “sell-side put option.” It converts fixed-income demand into Bitcoin buying pressure.

The structure works efficiently when the firm’s mNAV trades above 1.0x. However, it becomes a liability when that ratio falls below parity.

The critical threshold identified by Muur is four consecutive weeks of mNAV below 1.0x. Should that occur, the model enters a passive downward spiral within approximately three months. That timeline gives the firm limited room to maneuver before the pressure compounds.

With BTC trading near $62,730 as of this writing, the firm faces three options to cover STRC dividends. These are raising fresh capital, pausing dividend payments, or selling Bitcoin directly. The 32 BTC sale suggests Strategy has begun exploring the third path.

Muur’s framing positions Saylor in what she calls a trilemma. Each available option carries its own cost, and none resolves the structural tension between fixed obligations and a volatile asset base.

ETF Outflows and Macro Conditions Deepen the Pressure

Analyst 0xFrigg expanded on the risk picture by connecting Strategy’s mNAV pressure to broader Bitcoin market dynamics.

Bitcoin ETFs have recorded outflows for 11 consecutive days, totaling approximately $3.5 billion. That sustained exit from ETF products is removing demand support from the market.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has not cut interest rates, and the U.S. dollar remains strong. These conditions typically reduce appetite for risk assets, including Bitcoin. Together, they create a macro environment that is structurally unfavorable for leveraged Bitcoin strategies.

0xFrigg noted that these forces are feeding into each other. Strategy slowing its Bitcoin accumulation reduces a key source of buying pressure in the market. That, in turn, weighs on price, which further pressures mNAV downward.

If the mNAV remains below 1.0x for the required four-week window, the flywheel that has historically supported both STRC yields and Bitcoin accumulation begins reversing.

The 32 BTC sale, while small in isolation, may represent an early signal of that reversal taking shape under current conditions.

The post Strategy’s 32 BTC Sale Signals Dividend Crisis Risk appeared first on Blockonomi.

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been nosediving lately, with its price posting another substantial decline over the past 24 hours.

Multiple analysts believe the valuation could reach new lows in the near future, while one key indicator suggests a rebound could be on the horizon.

How Much Lower?

There’s no way to soften what’s been happening to BTC lately. Its price has lost over $20,000 in the past month alone, and several hours ago it dipped to nearly $61,000, the lowest point since early February. The reasons behind this carnage are many and various: Strategy’s historic decision to sell some Bitcoin, the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the massive outflows from spot ETFs, and the bear market reigning across the broader crypto market.

Currently, the asset trades at around $62,500, which is a slight comeback, but according to numerous industry participants, the worst is yet to come.

Ali Martinez recently claimed that the plunge below $72,000 has put BTC in “a vulnerable position.” He said that, based on the MVRV Pricing Bands, the next major support is between $50,000 and $54,000.

For his part, X user Ted argued that BTC’s “head-and-shoulders” breakdown target is still not complete. He described $49,000 as “a good bottom zone,” drawing parallels to the August 2024 low.

Somewhat expected, the major collapse of BTC’s price gave Peter Schiff the opportunity to make a highly pessimistic prediction. The well-known crypto critic and outspoken proponent of gold forecasted that the valuation could nosedive to $20,000 if it breaks $50,000.

“It should be a quick fall below $20K, which should be a big enough drop to shake the conviction of long-term HODLers, causing many to finally throw in the towel,” he added.

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Contrary to the bloodbath and the predictions of a further collapse ahead, BTC’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) suggests it might be time for a resurgence. The technical analysis tool is often used by traders to spot potential price reversal points, as it indicates whether the asset is oversold or overbought.

It runs from 0 to 100, and anything below 30 indicates that the price has fallen too much in a short period of time and could be due for a comeback. On the other hand, readings above 70 signal that a pullback might be on the horizon. Just a few hours ago, the RSI dropped to 11, its lowest level in four months, and has since risen to approximately 16.

The post Top Bitcoin Price Predictions After BTC’s 15% Weekly Collapse appeared first on CryptoPotato.

SimpleSwap is a self-custodial multi-source swap aggregator that pulls liquidity from well-known CEX and DEX sources under the hood. It is designed for direct wallet-to-wallet exchanges. Rather than holding your assets on a platform balance, the service lets you choose a crypto pair, enter a receiving wallet address, send the deposit, and receive the output asset directly in your wallet.

No manual comparison of exchanges, bridges, or swap routes needed. Routing happens under the hood across 20+ liquidity providers — you get the best available path without having to build it yourself.

SimpleSwap is most useful for straightforward crypto-to-crypto swaps, especially when you want to avoid holding funds on a centralized exchange. Of course, you can also use it to access assets that are not available or convenient to trade through your usual CEX or wallet swap tool.

Summarized briefly, some of the main points are:

• SimpleSwap supports wallet-to-wallet crypto swaps.
• Users do not need to keep a platform balance to make an exchange.
• The service aggregates liquidity from 20+ providers across CEX and DEX sources.
• Both fixed-rate and floating-rate swaps are available.
• The platform is very easy to use, rather than an order-book exchange.

Overall, the platform is well-suited to users who want a direct exchange flow, a large selection of assets, and fewer account-related steps. On the other hand, if you are looking for advanced trading tools, charting capabilities, limit orders (or more complicated order types), you might be better off with a full exchange environment.

SimpleSwap has been on the market for 8+ years, with 10M+ users. It supports 2,800+ swappable assets and aggregates liquidity from 20+ providers across CEX and DEX sources. The service is also used as a business solution by 6,000+ projects, including Exodus and Tangem.

What SimpleSwap Is

SimpleSwap is a self-custodial swap aggregator, not a custodial exchange. There is no long-term account balance to fund. Each transaction is a standalone swap: you send one asset from your wallet, and the converted asset is delivered to the receiving address you specify. No platform balance between swaps.

As you may have noticed, this is a structure that differs considerably from a centralized exchange. On a CEX, you have to deposit funds, trade within the platform interface, and withdraw later. With SimpleSwap, the exchange process is built around a single transaction flow rather than an internal trading account.

It supports a very wide range of cryptocurrency assets and uses multiple liquidity providers. SimpleSwap’s job is to find and execute a swap route in the background with the best rates.

The exchange supports two main rate types:

• Floating rate: the final amount received may vary based on market conditions and execution timing.
• Fixed rate: the rate is locked for a limited time, provided the user sends the correct amount within the required window and follows the transaction instructions.

Naturally, there are features beyond basic exchange flow. These include customer support, account-based loyalty benefits, business tools, integrations, exchange tracking, and more.

Is SimpleSwap Safe? How it Works

Yes, SimpleSwap is safe and legit – there have been no reports indicating otherwise, and the exchange has been on the market for more than 8 years, servicing over 10 million people with 99.9% uptime.  The exchange flow is equally straightforward. Here is how it works:

• Select the asset to send and the asset to receive.
• Choose the amount.
• Select a floating or fixed rate, where available.
• Enter the receiving wallet address.
• Confirm the exchange details.
• Send the deposit to the address provided by SimpleSwap.
• Track the exchange status until the output transaction is completed.

That’s it. The structure makes the platform very easy to use for standard crypto-to-crypto exchanges. There is no order book to manage, and there is no need to set market or limit orders. Of course, if these are features that you are looking for, it might be a good idea to explore a conventional CEX.

The most important step is to enter the receiving address correctly. Because SimpleSwap sends the exchanged asset to the address you provide in this step, entering an incorrect one can result in a loss of funds. The same applies to network selection.

The flow, as simple as it may be, still hides some risks, so just as with anything else involving sending and receiving cryptocurrency, you have to be very careful.

Supported Coins, Pairs, and Liquidity

One of the main practical uses of SimpleSwap is in its asset coverage and liquidity aggregation. As mentioned in the introduction, the service supports 2,800+ swappable assets and aggregates liquidity from 20+ providers across CEX and DEX sources, unlocking 3.2M+ trading pairs through a single interface.

Some of the supported coins include, but are not limited to:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Ripple
• Solana
• Monero
• Dogecoin
• Stablecoins, and more.

Rather than sourcing liquidity only from a single internal market, the platform does it through multiple providers, which allows the service to search for available rates and execute swaps at the best prices.

Of course, as it is with centralized exchanges, liquidity can vary by asset and market conditions. A swap between two major assets, such as BTC and USDT, or ETH and BTC, is usually more straightforward and executed at very convenient rates. However, if you are swapping a niche cryptocurrency for another niche cryptocurrency, this might mean a wider difference between the quoted and the final amount, longer time to process, and so forth – more or less like what happens on a thin order book.

For most floating swaps, estimation accuracy reaches 99.998%, which signals strong execution consistency.

Fees, Rates, and Swap Types

SimpleSwap doesn’t position itself as an order book exchange. Therefore, it doesn’t have fixed maker and taker fees for trading. Instead, the cost of using the service is reflected in the quoted exchange amount, along with the network fees involved in sending and receiving crypto.

I will break down the factors before you commit to a swap. These include:

• The quoted amount of the asset being received.
• The rate type: fixed or floating.
• The network fee for sending the deposit.
• Any blockchain fee is included in the outgoing transaction.
• The minimum and the maximum amount for the selected pair.
• The time limit for sending the deposit is especially important for fixed-rate swaps.

As you already know, SimpleSwap offers two main swap types: fixed-rate and floating-rate.

With a floating-rate swap, the final amount can change during processing. This is because the market rate may move significantly between when the quote is shown and when the swap is executed. Floating rates may be suitable for those of you who accept that the final amount can vary. Of course, they are much less predictable during periods of serious volatility.

With a fixed-rate swap, the rate is locked for a limited time. This gives you greater certainty about the expected amount, but only if you follow the conditions of the exchange. The deposit must match the required amount and arrive within the specified window.

Now, it’s very important to note that neither option is automatically better in every single case. A floating rate may result in a higher or lower final amount depending on market movements. A fixed rate, on the other hand, gives you more certainty but may include a different quoted amount (smaller) because the provider takes on price movement risk for the period of the swap.

Custody, Privacy, and KYC

With SimpleSwap, users don’t have to maintain an ongoing balance. At no point does the exchange take custody of your funds. This reduces the need to leave assets on an exchange after the transaction is complete, and gives you full control of your crypto.

The model reduces risks tied to centralized exchange balances. Because there’s no platform-side balance, your funds never sit on SimpleSwap between swaps.

Most standard crypto-to-crypto swaps can be completed without creating an account.

From a privacy perspective, SimpleSwap collects a lot less account-level information compared to a centralized exchange during a normal swap. Of course, you still need to keep in mind that these are on-chain transactions and that you must provide a wallet address as part of the transaction.

The main takeaway here is that SimpleSwap offers a lighter account setup than traditional CEX exchanges, but it remains within the compliance environment that applies to crypto services.

Pros and Cons of SimpleSwap

Here is the honest breakdown of where the SimpleSwap crypto exchange stands out and where it falls short.

In my usage of the platform, I isolated the following benefits:

• No standard account setup is needed for basic swaps.
• Funds are not held in a long-term exchange balance.
• The platform supports virtually all assets that I wanted to swap.
• The exchange process is quick and simple.
• Fixed and floating rates offer some flexibility.
• Each exchange has a tracking and an exchange ID.
• It can be very useful for pairs that are otherwise unavailable at standard CEXs.
• Loyalty program (up to 20% discount, up to 0.4% USDT cashback)
• Integration with more than 6,000 partners (Exodus, Tangem, etc)

The drawbacks that I can think of include:

• The final rate may not always be better than competing services.
• Floating-rate swaps can result in a different received amount.
• You don’t get full control over routing or execution venue.
• There is a risk associated with inputting receiving addresses.

Who SimpleSwap is Best For

SimpleSwap is best for those of you who want to exchange crypto directly between wallets without using a full trading account. It suits people who value a simple swap flow, the option to choose between fixed and floating rates, and broad crypto support. It can also work well for users who need access to assets or pairs that are not that convenient on traditional CEX platforms.

Who SimpleSwap is Not Best For

High-frequency and professional traders are hands down better off with a more expert interface. Those of you who need limit orders, charting tools, or precise execution controls should probably consider a more sophisticated environment.

Verdict: Is SimpleSwap Legit in 2026?

Yes, SimpleSwap is legit. It is a self-custodial multi-source swap aggregator that has operated continuously since 2018, processed 20M+ swaps, and is integrated into products used by millions. For wallet-to-wallet crypto swaps where control, privacy, and speed matter, the exchange works very well.

Its main use case is obviously straightforward: choose a pair, enter a receiving address, send the deposit, and wait for the exchanged crypto to arrive.

The service is most useful for those of you who want access to many coins without maintaining balances across multiple exchanges. The fixed-rate and floating-rate options also give users some flexibility, but that depends on whether they prefer price certainty or are willing to accept market movements

Overall, this SimpleSwap review finds the service works best as a wallet-to-wallet swap aggregator for users who want broad asset access without giving up self-custody. There are no credible SimpleSwap scam signals against the platform: 8+ years on the market, 10M+ users over time, and 6,000+ partner integrations support a legit track record across cycles.

The post Is SimpleSwap Legit in 2026? A SimpleSwap Crypto Exchange Review appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The BitMEX co-founder said on X that he had dumped all of his HYPE and NEAR, adding that he would be posting an essay explaining his decision, titled “Reality Test.”

He pointed to a few different reasons for becoming more cautious with his positions. These included higher energy prices due to the war in Iran, companies rebuilding their inventories, upcoming AI IPOs, and the possibility that President Donald Trump could turn against the AI sector before the midterm elections.

In simple terms, Hayes appears to warn that the market might be approaching a local top between now and September.

I just dumped my entire $HYPE and $NEAR position, I will explain why in my essay “Reality Test” dropping next Tuesday.

TLDR:
– Higher energy prices due to Iran war and inventory restocking
– 3 Mega AI IPOs between now and early Q3
– Prediction that Trump goes anti-AI to win…

— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 4, 2026

HYPE Price Tanks

Hayes’ post came during a rough day for HYPE’s price. The cryptocurrency is trading at slightly above $65 at the time of this writing, down around 10% in the past 24 hours.

However, it’s worth noting that HYPE remains up about 16% for the week, making it the best performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by total market cap. In fact, it’s the only one charting an increase on the weekly chart.

The timing of his sale drew attention because he had recently been very positive on HYPE, suggesting that it could reach $150. That led traders to question whether he had changed his mind rather quickly or was just taking profits after a strong move. In any case, it’s far from the first time he does it.

Others are Buying

While Hayes has been “dumping,” others have been buying. Hyperliquid Strategies just announced that they have bought another 1.4 million HYPE, worth roughly $95 million, over the past 7 days. Their cash position fell by $15.5 million.

The firm now holds about 23.7 million HYPE and about $141.7M in cash.

This also means that at current HYPE prices, their stock trades at 1.29x net asset value (NAV), which allows them to issue more ATM shares, sell them, and buy more HYPE.

The post Arthur Hayes Sells HYPE and NEAR After Recent Bullish Calls appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The state of the entire cryptocurrency market has been in shambles in the past several days, but some assets have taken this correction harder than others.

Pi Network’s PI token is among the poorest performers, as it dumped to a fresh all-time low of under $0.12 on some exchanges. The question is: what’s next?

PI Tanks to New ATL

PI’s previous all-time low came shortly after the early February market crash when BTC bottomed (for now) at $60,000. PI tanked to $0.1312 (CoinGecko data) but managed to rebound significantly in the following month. In fact, it soared to roughly $0.30 by March 13 (known as PiDay 2026) after a Kraken listing announcement.

The subsequent correction, though, has been even more profound and painful. PI quickly erased the mid-March gains and plunged below $0.20. It kept heading south and lost the $0.15 support earlier this week. It almost felt inevitable given the overall market state, and PI dumped beneath the February lows earlier today.

The chart below shows a quick wick to under $0.12, while CoinGecko shows that the new all-time low was at $0.1263. Despite the discrepancy, the reality is that PI marked a fresh low today as its market cap plummeted to under $1.260 billion. It’s now down to the 58th spot on this metric, a long way from the near top-10 place it held shortly after its launch last February.

What’s Next?

Many crypto commentators weighed in on the broader market’s crash and PI’s collapse. CryptoCoinPi, for instance, noted that this significant decline is a reason to panic for some people. However, they believe PI’s price is just a small portion of Pi Network’s overall ecosystem, and what matters now is whether it could “thrive” under these conditions.

Zerosignal added that this crash could provide a solid opportunity to buy-the-dip and prepare for the next bull run that could drive PI north again. On the other hand, PiHotNews said the path toward the $0.10 mark is now open to become PI’s new low. Nevertheless, they explained that they still have “absolute faith” in Pi Network despite the price crash.

The post Pi Network’s PI Hits Rock Bottom: Quick Rebound or Another Collapse Next? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Polymarket has officially finalized one of this year’s most controversial events. It’s a prediction market on whether Strategy will sell Bitcoin in May, and it resolved to “No,” meaning that, according to the platform, the company didn’t sell BTC that month.

Here’s the kicker: the firm did sell BTC in May, as confirmed not only by its executives but also by an official filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. So what’s the reason for the resolution, you may ask? Well, the fact that confirmation came after the deadline. 

The decision rests entirely on the timing of the announcement. The filing came on June 1st (which is what literally everyone expected, because that’s when these filings are… filed), after the May 31 deadline had passed.

Polymarket’s decision has drawn massive criticism not only because of the outcome, but because the platform added a clarification after the market had closed, stating that announcements made after the deadline would not count toward resolution, as seen in the screenshot below.

What is even odder is that all subsequent time frames for the new markets for the same event lack this “additional context,” meaning traders can be easily misled again.

Critics argue that this effectively changed the market’s rules after traders had already taken their positions, which is objectively true. Many traders started taking positions on June 1st (which is after the deadline), because the market hadn’t been closed by Polymarket yet.

A May Sale, a June Filing

To give further context on the happening – at the center of this dispute is the difference between when an event took place and when it became publicly confirmed – these are two completely separate events. One is tied to an objective outcome; the other is tied to the announcement of that outcome. Had the event been framed as “MicroStrategy confirmed to have sold any of its Bitcoin by 11:59 PM ET on May 31,” then there is no room for interpretation.

But the market was “MicroStrategy sells any of its Bitcoin by 11:59 PM ET on May 31,” which they did. It was just announced later.

Polymarket didn’t treat the actual outcome as decisive – it treated the time of the announcement. Even though this distinction may seem technical, it has huge implications for traders. A market framed around whether a company sold Bitcoin can produce one answer if judged by the transaction date, and the opposite answer if judged by the disclosure date.

A Rule Changed After the Fact

What made this entire thing even more contentious is the fact that Polymarket added its “post-deadline announcements do not count” rule only after the market had been closed.

This raises very serious questions. Prediction markets depend on participants knowing the settlement criteria before they trade. Retroactively changing those criteria, especially after the relevant event has occurred, risks undermining confidence in the platform’s broader neutrality.

A trader claimed to have lost around $500K after backing the “Yes” side, while other observers criticized the decision. The controversy has also sparked broader concerns about how prediction markets handle events that occur before a deadline but are confirmed only afterward.

So, to put it in simple terms – Strategy did sell BTC in May according to its own filing. According to Polymarket, it didn’t.

The post Strategy Didn’t Sell Bitcoin in May, According to Polymarket appeared first on CryptoPotato.