News Archives - tridEX

30th June 2025

ETH Price Surges as $2.9B Inflows, EthCC, and Robinhood’s L2 Fuel Bullish Sentiment

Ether (ETH) 3.5% in the past 24 hours to $2,519 as of 18:59 UTC on June 30, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis model, supported by continued institutional demand, network upgrades, and major retail platform integrations.

Institutional interest remains robust, with CoinShares reporting $429 million in net inflows into ether investment products over the past week and nearly $2.9 billion year-to-date. This trend has coincided with a declining ETH supply on exchanges and rising staking levels, with over 35 million ETH —a round 28% of the total supply — now locked in proof-of-stake contracts. Market analysts suggest that these factors are reducing liquid supply and bolstering ether's long-term investment thesis.

Robinhood announced on Monday that it is developing its own Layer-2 blockchain using Arbitrum’s rollup infrastructure. The network is not yet live, but the initiative will eventually support Ethereum staking, tokenized stock trading, and perpetual crypto futures. Although the L2 is under development, the decision to build it on Ethereum’s rollup ecosystem is seen as a long-term vote of confidence in Ethereum’s scalability roadmap.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also introduced a new digital identity framework using zero-knowledge proofs. This system allows users to verify traits or credentials without revealing private data and is designed to help Web3 apps incorporate privacy-preserving identity systems. Analysts view this as a key step toward wider adoption of decentralized applications requiring sensitive user authentication.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) kicked off in Cannes, France, gathering more than 6,400 attendees and 500 speakers. The event showcases Ethereum’s ongoing developer momentum through presentations on new tools, scaling strategies, and protocol improvements.

Despite the positive momentum, ETH remains just below its 200-day moving average, suggesting technical barriers still exist. However, the confluence of inflows, developer progress, and scaling plans continues to support a constructive outlook.

Technical Analysis Highlights

Ether traded between $2,438.50 and $2,523 from June 29 19:00 to June 30 18:00, marking a 3.47% range.
The largest spike occurred during the 22:00–23:00 UTC window on June 29, when ETH surged 2.9% on volume of 368,292 ETH, briefly pushing through the $2,500 barrier.
On June 30 at 15:00 UTC, ETH found strong support around $2,438 on above-average volume, confirming a bullish floor.
A local high of $2,523 was reached earlier in the day, establishing resistance just above the psychological $2,500 level.
During the final hour from 18:00 to 18:59 UTC on June 30, ETH retraced from an intraday peak of $2,499.19 to close at $2,487.19.
A sharp upward move between 18:20–18:21 saw ETH climb 1.6% on 6,318 ETH volume, stalling near $2,499.
As of 20:23 UTC on June 30, ETH traded at $2,519, up 3.49% in 24 hours, signaling renewed bullish momentum into the Asia open.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.

30th June 2025

Circle Applies for National Trust Bank Charter

Circle (CRCL), the company behind the USDC stablecoin, said Monday it has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a federally regulated national trust bank.

A federal trust charter would bring Circle under direct OCC oversight, aligning it with how traditional financial institutions are regulated. If approved, the new entity, which would be called First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. would oversee custody of USDC reserves and offer services tailored to institutions. If approved, Circle would join the ranks of federally chartered institutions like Paxos and Anchorage, both of which previously secured trust bank status to offer crypto-related services nationwide.

The trust bank status would allow Circle to operate across state lines without obtaining separate licenses in each state — a hurdle that has complicated expansion for many digital asset companies. It would also permit Circle to offer regulated digital asset custody services to institutional customers.

The move signals a strategic effort by Circle to solidify its regulatory standing as the U.S. mulls legislation like the GENIUS Act, which would create new guardrails for dollar-backed stablecoins. The company said becoming a national trust bank would help it meet anticipated requirements under the bill, which passed through the Senate earlier this month and now awaits a vote in the House of Representatives.

“By applying for a national trust charter, Circle is taking proactive steps to further strengthen our USDC infrastructure,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement. “We will align with emerging U.S. regulation for the issuance and operation of dollar-denominated payment stablecoins, which we believe can enhance the reach and resilience of the U.S. dollar, and support the development of crucial, market neutral infrastructure for the world’s leading institutions to build on.”

Circle went public last month and issues the world's second-largest stablecoin, USDC, and the leading euro-pegged token EURC.

The OCC, which oversees national banks and federal savings associations, must still review and approve Circle’s application. The agency has granted similar charters to a handful of crypto firms in recent years, signaling growing regulatory acceptance of digital asset companies operating within the traditional banking framework.

UPDATE (June 30, 2025, 20:50 UTC): Adds additional information.

30th June 2025

HBAR Climbs 2.1% as Traders Digest ETF Review, AI Launch, and Energy Governance Move

Hedera’s native token HBAR HBAR extended its rally on Sunday, trading up 2.1% to $0.1519 as of 19:56 UTC on June 30, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis model.

The move follows a flurry of ecosystem updates that broaden Hedera’s enterprise reach and reinforce its growing footprint in AI, gaming, and sustainability.

On June 24, Blockchain for Energy (B4E), a nonprofit focused on sustainability data management in the energy sector, officially joined the Hedera Governing Council. B4E already runs its carbon tracking platform on the Hedera network, and its addition brings domain expertise in emissions reporting and digital MRV (measurement, reporting, and verification) standards. As a council member, B4E will run its own node and contribute to governance decisions—particularly those aligned with environmental transparency and enterprise accountability.

Just two days later, Hedera unveiled its AI Studio, an open-source software development kit designed to help developers build decentralized applications powered by artificial intelligence. The suite includes an Agent Kit that integrates with LangChain and enables AI agents to interact directly with Hedera’s consensus and token services using natural language commands. The goal is to lower the barrier for AI-native apps while maintaining onchain auditability, transparency, and regulatory alignment.

On the gaming front, Hedera Foundation announced on June 19 a partnership with The Binary Holdings (TBH), a Web3 infrastructure firm. The collaboration aims to bring Hedera-based gaming apps to mobile users in Southeast Asia via OneWave, TBH’s decentralized app store. Integrated into native telecom platforms across Indonesia and the Philippines, OneWave is expected to onboard over 169 million users with built-in Web3 rewards and onchain verification.

Meanwhile, in mid-June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began a formal review of the Canary HBAR ETF, which would offer direct exposure to HBAR via a regulated investment vehicle. A public comment period is now open ahead of the SEC’s July 7 deadline. If approved, the ETF could catalyze broader institutional access and further legitimize HBAR’s role in capital markets—though regulatory scrutiny remains high, and analysts remain divided on long-term token utility.

Technical Analysis Highlights

HBAR traded in a 4.1% range from $0.1478 to $0.1538 between June 29 19:00 UTC and June 30 18:59 UTC.
A strong breakout occurred during the 22:00 hour on June 29, with price surging to $0.154 on volume of 104.5M units.
Major support formed at $0.148 between 14:00–15:00 UTC on June 30, with 80.6M units traded.
From 18:00–18:59 UTC on June 30, HBAR showed a V-shaped recovery, dipping to $0.149 before rebounding.
During the 18:20–18:21 UTC window on June 30, price stabilized with 1.3M in volume, forming short-term support at $0.149.
As of 19:56 UTC on June 30, HBAR traded at $0.1519, up 2.1% for the day with resistance seen at $0.1538.

30th June 2025

Bitcoin Carried Crypto Markets in 2025’s First Half as Altcoins Crumbled. What’s Next?

On the surface, the crypto market barely moved in the first half of 2025.

Despite all the tantrum about tariffs, impending recession, war, and heightened expectations of crypto friendly policies and a digital asset strategic reserve with Donald Trump's return to the White House, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies, measured by TradingView, inched up a measly 3% to $3.27 trillion over the past six months.

Looking closer, the performance was starkly uneven, with bitcoin BTC holding up the rest of the market.

BTC climbed 13% in the first six months of 2025, continuing to outshine the broader market. Meanwhile, Ethereum's ether ETH, the second-largest crypto asset, tumbled 25%, and Solana SOL shed nearly 17%.

Smaller and riskier tokens endured even sharper losses: the OTHERS index on TradingView, which excludes the 10 largest assets by market cap, plunged 30%.

Year-to-date returns of the CoinDesk Bitcoin Index (XBX) and the CoinDesk 100 Index (CD100). (CoinDesk Indices)

What's next?

Despite the modest start to the year, some analysts see room for renewed upside. Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, noted that July has historically been a strong month for crypto, averaging 7.56% returns since 2013.

“We enter a period that has traditionally delivered stronger returns,” said Kruger. “With the second half of the year historically producing outsized gains, the broader setup remains encouraging.”

Kruger also highlighted that the crypto treasury strategy trend is increasingly expanding beyond bitcoin, with firms announcing plans to accumulate digital assets like ETH.

Coinbase analysts also maintained a positive outlook for crypto through the second half of the year, driven by favorable macroeconomic backdrop, potential rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and increasing regulatory clarity in the U.S. with lawmakers advancing legislation for stablecoins and the broader crypto market structure.

Still, the next couple months could be lackluster, Bitfinex analysts warned. The next quarter-year starting with July has been historically the weakest for bitcoin, averaging only 6% gains since 2013, they said in a Monday report.

“This is also where average volatility is subdued, adding to our bias of range bound price action continuing for longer,” the authors noted.

30th June 2025

Filecoin Gives Back Chunk of Recent Gain to Trade 2% Higher

Filecoin (FIL) experienced a dramatic 6.1% surge on June 29, jumping from $2.31 to $2.41 with exceptionally high trading volume, before encountering resistance and reverting lower, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis model.

The model showed that high-volume resistance has been established at the $2.41 leveI.

Horizontal support zone has formed around $2.27-$2.28 where buyers consistently stepped in during consolidation, according to the model.

In recent trading, FIL was 1.8% higher over 24 hours at around $2.325 The broader market gauge, the CoinDesk 20, was up 1.9% at publication time.

Technical Analysis:

FIL exhibited a dramatic 6.05% price surge during the 22:00 hour on June 29, jumping from $2.31 to $2.41 with exceptionally high volume of 7.6 million.
Clear high-volume resistance established at the $2.41 level, with overall price range of $0.14 (5.97%) during the 24-hour period.
Horizontal support zone formed around $2.27-$2.28 where buyers consistently stepped in during consolidation.
Descending channel formed after resistance test, dropping to $2.29 by 18:33 before recovering to close at $2.30.
Volume spikes occurred during key reversals, particularly at 18:32 (72.7K) and 18:46 (70.3K), suggesting institutional participation at $2.295 support.

30th June 2025

First Solana ETF to Hit the Market This Week; SOL Price Jumps 5%

Solana SOL jumped about 5% Monday morning amid rumors that a SOL Staking exchange-trade fund (ETF) by Rex Shares and Osprey Funds could start trading on the market as soon as Wednesday.

The token later fell back slightly, now trading up about 2.3% over the past 24 hours at $157 at press time.

A spokesperson for Osprey confirmed to CoinDesk that the “fund will launch Wednesday,” following a post on X by the automated headline account “Unfolded.”

Just last week, Rex filed a letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asking whether comments had been resolved for their filing. Later that day, the asset manager posted on X that the ETF was “coming soon,” suggesting that the SEC had no further comments.

The REX-Osprey SOL+Staking ETF would be the first of its kind in the U.S. Several issuers are still awaiting approval for a spot SOL ETF which would likely also include staking capabilities.

30th June 2025

Katana Mainnet Goes Live as Pre-Deposits Hit $180M

Self described 'DeFi-first' layer-2 blockchain Katana has launched its mainnet after receiving $180 million in pre-deposits.

Deposits flooded in after Katana was revealed to the public less than a month ago. DefiLlama data shows that deposited jumped from $75M to $180M between June 1

Depositors will receive randomized reward NFTs called Krates, as well as a share of 70 million KAT tokens, Katana's native token. Upon launch, yield farmers will be able earn more KAT by staking on platforms like Morpho and Sushi.

The blockchain aims to solve one of DeFi's largest problems: Liquidity.

A lack of liquidity can lead to a multitude of issues including slippage, inefficient pricing and unsustainable yields.

Some of the mechanisms Katana will use to solve that the issues is VaultBridge, which is a product that enables yield generation on deposited assets on Ethereum, as well as chain-owned liquidity (CoL), which allows Katana to retain 100% of net sequencer fees and convert them into liquidity reserves.

“Katana represents the endgame for how blockchains create value in DeFi,” Marc Boiron, co-contributor of Katana said in a press release.

The launch coincides with yield farming incentives including token rewards for liquidity providers on Morpho and Sushi.

Despite being based on Ethereum, Katana is blockchain agnostic so users can generate a yield on blockchains like Solana through Katana's collaboration with Jito, a liquid staking protocol.

30th June 2025

Fold Holdings Slumps 7% on Delay in Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card

Fold Holdings (FLD) notified customers early Monday afternoon of a delay in the rollout of its Fold Bitcoin Credit Card.

Shares quickly slumped more than 7% on the news.

“A key infrastructure partner unexpectedly exited the credit card business, disrupting our planned rollout,” said Fold in an email to customers. “As a result, the launch of the Fold Bitcoin Credit Card is delayed as we transition to a new partner better aligned with out long-term roadmap.”

Fold came public at around $10 per share in February this year, but quickly slumped lower, bottoming in mid-April at $2.51. Shares are now changing hands at $4.25.

30th June 2025

Supreme Court Declines to Take Up Coinbase User Data Privacy Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up a long-running privacy case involving an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) request for data on thousands of Coinbase customers.

In a Monday order, the justices denied a petition for a writ of certiorari — essentially, a green-light to appeal an appellate court’s decision — from a Coinbase customer who said that the IRS’s 2016 records grab violated his Fourth Amendment rights, which grant Americans protections from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.

The plaintiff, James “Jim” Harper, initially filed suit against the IRS in 2020, nearly a year after he and thousands of other Coinbase customers received letters from the IRS, warning them that they potentially failed to report income and pay the resulting tax from crypto transactions, or that they did not report their transactions properly.

In his suit, Harper claimed that the IRS’ so-called “John Doe summons” — which the agency uses to sniff out potential tax violations by unknown individuals by forcing financial institutions to provide them with records and other information the agency can use to identify potential violators — against Coinbase was unconstitutional.

“Where once it lacked the authority to peek into a person’s private papers even with the use of a subpoena, the Internal Revenue Service has now acquired the power to demand access to anyone’s private information without any judicial process,” Harper’s lawyers wrote in their suit. “IRS demands access even when a person has entered into a contract with a third party that promises to protect his private information from such intrusion.”

In 2021, a New Hampshire district court tossed out Harper’s suit, siding with the IRS. Harper appealed, and in 2023, a different New Hampshire district court judge once again sided with the IRS and dismissed the case, writing: “As the Supreme Court recently reaffirmed, “[t]o pursue unpaid taxes and the people who owe them, ‘Congress has granted the Service broad latitude to issue summonses.’The IRS’s actions at issue in this case fall squarely within that broad latitude, and Harper is not entitled to protection or relief beyond the existing Congressionally and judicially imposed “safeguards” and checks on the IRS’s powers.”

Harper appealed again, and in 2024, a U.S. appeals court affirmed the lower court’s decision to toss the case. In February, Harper filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court, his last chance to get a different result in the long-running legal battle.

Since Harper’s petition was filed in February, a slew of high-profile think tanks and companies including Coinbase and X filed amicus briefs in the case, arguing that the Supreme Court should take the case and review the so-called third-party doctrine, a legal principle dating back to a 1976 Supreme Court decision stating that individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy for information voluntarily shared with a third party, meaning that government agencies can access such information without a warrant or probable cause without violating the Fourth Amendment.

However, the Supreme Court was unmoved. It provided no additional information or justification for its Monday order denying Harper’s petition, writing simply:

“The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.”

30th June 2025

Litecoin Slips Below $86 as Resistance Holds; Traders Watch Bitcoin Dominance

Litecoin (LTC) tried to punch above $88 during Monday's trading session, but met a wall of sell orders near that level.

The token has since retreated to $85.21, down 3.17% since the session’s peak and 1.5% in the last 24-hour period. That stumble erased the week’s slim gains and set a new line in the sand for bulls.

The drop came at a time in which bitcoin (BTC) has been its dominance increase, while its volatility dropped below the 40 mark in a potential sign of incoming action.

Technical Analysis Overview

Litecoin’s price swung significantly in the last 24-hour period, covering a $3.05 range, or roughly 3.5%. The token encountered stiff resistance between $88.00 and $88.42, where sellers stepped in heavily, particularly during late evening trading hours, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis data model.

After peaking, LTC reversed lower and found new support at $85.37. The steepest drop was accompanied by the session’s highest trading volume of over 180,000 tokens, signaling strong bearish sentiment.

Short-term trading saw additional volatility. In the last few hours of trading, LTC spiked from $85.65 to $86.05, a 0.47% jump, on a burst of buying. But momentum quickly reversed, sending prices back down to $85.53 on another volume spike.

This cemented resistance near $86.05 and reinforced the new support level at $85.37, leaving Litecoin at $85.42 as the session ended. Traders are watching these levels closely for clues on whether the asset will stage a recovery or slip lower in the days ahead.

30th June 2025

Industry’s PAC Keeps Seeking to Add Allies as Congress Hashes Out Crypto Legislation

The crypto industry's political-finance arm, the towering campaign-funding entity known as Fairshake, dropped another $1 million into the coffers of a special-election candidate hoping to replace a Virginia Democrat who died in office, Representative Gerald Connolly.

The candidate favored by the industry's chief political action committee, James Walkinshaw, won the Democrats' so-called firehouse primary over the weekend, in which the party conducted its own polling to determine its chosen candidate among a field of nine. The general election to formally select the Fairfax County region's next member of Congress is set for Sept. 9, though the Democrat incumbent took about two thirds of the vote in the regular election last year, giving Walkinshaw a heavy advantage.

“We look forward to James joining the growing, bipartisan coalition in Congress that understands the importance of securing America's leadership in the next generation of technology,” said Josh Vlasto, a Fairshake spokesman, in a statement. He argued that the race again demonstrated that the electorate isn't moved by critics who attempt to tarnish candidates who show support for the sector and are backed by its campaign resources, as at least one of Walkinshaw's opponents sought to do.

Fairshake (and its affiliate super PACs, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress) rose into prominence in the 2024 congressional elections as it amassed a huge war chest from major digital assets businesses, including Coinbase, Ripple and a16z. It devoted its campaign spending in outsized chunks that in some cases dwarfed what was spent by the opponents of the group's chosen candidates. As a result, Fairshake added a long list of winners to the ranks of Congress' crypto supporters in those elections, but it has continued its strategy in special elections as one-off contests seek to fill vacated seats such as Connolly's.

In the case of Walkinshaw, Connolly's former chief of staff, the spending came from Protect Progress, which focuses on Democrat candidates. While his former boss had voted routinely against crypto issues, Walkinshaw's campaign site says the candidate favors an “embrace of the next generation of technology,” including blockchain, which the campaign said “can reduce administrative costs for businesses and lower fees for consumers.”

“Congress should establish modern, risk-based regulatory frameworks that support responsible innovation and prevent abuse,” according to Walkinshaw's website.

The super PAC still has about $116 million on hand as the 2026 congressional election cycle approaches next year, Vlasto said. Current members of Congress it supported in the past round are already at work on major crypto bills that have been advancing this year.

Fairshake makes massive “independent expenditures” in political races, meaning their outside money buys advertising without approval or communication from the candidate. Though it represents crypto interests, the advertising purchased by the group almost never mentions the topic of digital assets, instead focusing on whatever political points are most likely to garner a win.

30th June 2025

XRPL EVM Sidechain Goes Live, Unlocking Ethereum Dapps in XRP Ecosystem

Ripple officially introduced the XRP Ledger's Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain to the mainnet in an bid to improve the ecosystem's interoperability and allow developers to deploy their Ethereum-based decentralized applications (dapps) with the XRPL.

The development adds EVM-compatible smart contracts while maintaining a connection to the XRPL, giving developers access to the ecosystem at a low cost, Ripple said in a blog post. It is designed to eliminate the trade-off between EVM compatibility and XRPL’s own advantages, opening the door for dapps to lean into XRP’s payments infrastructure.

“The XRPL EVM Sidechain introduces a flexible environment for developers to deploy EVM-based applications, while maintaining a connection to the XRPL’s efficiency,” David Schwartz, Ripple's chief technology officer and a co-creater of XRPL, said in the post. “It extends the capabilities of the ecosystem without changing the fundamentals that make the XRPL reliable.”

The sidechain operates as a separate blockchain that is parallel and connected to the XRP Ledger over the Axelar bridge, an interoperability protocol. XRPL’s native token, XRP (XRP), will serve as the native gas token for the sidechain.

The chain is designed specifically for developers, as they can now build and deploy their EVM-based applications, while accessing XRPL’s network of over 6 million wallet holders, Ripple said. The sidechain is planned to eventually also integrate with Wormhole, another interoperability protocol, allowing even more developers to access the XRP ecosystem.

30th June 2025

Robinhood Pushes Deeper Into Crypto With Own Blockchain, Tokenized Stock Launch

Digital brokerage Robinhood (HOOD) is extending its crypto footprint with a slate of new offerings, including developing its own blockchain network based on Arbitrum ARB and launching tokenized stocks trading, the company announced on Monday.

The firm today has debuted its stock token offering, issued on the Ethereum layer-2 Arbitrum, for European users, giving access to over 200 U.S. equities and ETFs witt around-the-clock trading during weekdays. With the launch, Robinhood is expanding its crypto-focused EU app with tokenized stocks into an “all-in-one investment app powered by crypto,” the company said in a release shared with CoinDesk.

The firm also confirmed it's building its own layer-2 blockchain network optimized for tokenized assets. The upcoming chain, based on the Arbitrum tech stack, is aimed to support 24/7 trading, self-custody and cross-chain bridging of tokenized assets. A release date has not been disclosed, but persons familiar with the matter said it could go live around later this year, early next year.

“Our latest offerings lay the groundwork for crypto to become the backbone of the global financial system,” Robinhood Chairman and CEO Vlad Tenev, said in a statement.

Robinhood's push into tokenized assets comes as competition with digital asset exchanges is heating up to offer a unified trading hub for all kinds of financial instruments. Asset tokenization is a read-hot sector that aims to bring real-world assets including equities, funds, real estate onto blockchain rails promising cheaper, faster and more efficient settlements and around-the-clock trading. It's potentially a huge opportunity: the tokenized asset market could grow to $18.9 trillion by 2033, a report by Ripple and BCG projected.

A slew of popular crypto exchanges, including Bybit, Kraken and Gemini have just recently started to offer tokenized stocks to users, while Coinbase reportedly also seeks regulatory approval to do so.

Robinhood's Tenev earlier this year also touted asset tokenization as a way to expand investor access that assets that are limited to the wealthy, and advocated for clear U.S. regulations to tokenize securities.

While rivals have teamed up with regulated asset tokenization specialists to offer stock tokens, Robinhood is building its own tokenization engine to do so, Seong Lee, head of crypto products, told CoinDesk in an interview.

Perps in EU, crypto staking in US

As part of the firm's crypt push, Robinhood is rolling out perpetual futures, a popular derivative instrument among crypto traders, for European users. Trades are routed through Bitstamp, one of the world's longest-running active crypto exchange which Robinhood acquired for $200 million.

The firm has also introduced crypto staking for U.S.-based investors starting with Ethereum's ether ETH and Solana's SOL SOL that lets token holders earn rewards without leaving the application.

Additionally, Robinhood will add crypto rewards to its credit card offering later this fall, allowing U.S. customers to invest cashback automatically in digital assets.

30th June 2025

Bhutan Possibly Readies $15M Bitcoin Sale as Holdings Near $1.3B

The Royal Government of Bhutan transferred 137.245 bitcoin worth about $14.77 million to crypto exchange Binance on June 30, according to blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence. This fresh transaction comes as Bhutan’s total bitcoin holdings have grown to 11,924 BTC, valued at approximately $1.28 billion at current market prices of around $107,000.

The small Himalayan kingdom has become a significant player in the crypto space, with its bitcoin stash representing a sizable chunk of its economy. The holdings were built largely through state-backed mining operations under Druk Holdings, working alongside Bitdeer Technologies, which is expanding local mining capacity to 600 megawatts by 2025.

The latest Binance deposit has fueled speculation about potential selling pressure, although no one from the government has not commented publicly on the reason for the transfer.

Some investors of late are questioning why bitcoin has not surged to new all-time highs despite significant corporate buying. These investors, however, fail to take into account large holders (like Bhutan) sitting on heavy profits who are happy to unload a portion of their stakes, balancing that heavy buy pressure.

30th June 2025

Circle Valuation Is ‘Outside Our Comfort Zone,’ Initiate at Underweight: JPMorgan

Wall Street heavyweight JPMorgan (JPM) initiated coverage of stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) with an underweight rating and an underwhelming $80 price target.

The shares were trading 4.5% higher at around $189 at publication time.

Circle is well positioned, the bank said, and its USDC stablecoin has an “early-mover advantage,” with growing use cases in payments.

“We think highly of the Circle management team and are confident in the outlook for outsized stablecoin and USDC growth,” analysts led by Kenneth Worthington wrote.

Still, the analysts see the company's market capitalization as elevated, and initiated coverage with an underweight rating. The stock priced at $31 a share in its initial public offering (IPO), and hit a record high of $299 last Monday.

Other Wall Street analysts were not as bearish. Broker Bernstein initiated coverage with an outperform rating and a $230 price target, saying Circle was an “investor must-hold.”

“CRCL is building a market-leading digital dollar stablecoin network, with a strong regulatory edge, liquidity headstart and marquee distribution partnerships,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.

Bernstein is also bullish about the wider stablecoin market, and expects total market cap to reach around $4 trillion in the next decade from $225 billion today.

Rival broker Canaccord Genuity started coverage of Circle with a buy rating and a $247 price target.

The firm's analysts view the issuer of USDC as “having many of the key attributes that could make it a long-term winner in this potentially very large and new market for truly digital money.”

30th June 2025

Popular Financial Advisor Ric Edelman Says Investors Should Allocate Up to 40% of Wealth to Crypto

Prominent financial advisor Ric Edelman says investors should consider putting as much as 40% of their wealth into cryptocurrency, a bold recommendation that reflects how far digital assets have come in recent years.

“Today I am saying 40%, that’s astonishing,” Edelman told CNBC’s Crypto World on Friday. “No one has ever said such a thing.”

Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals, has been active in crypto for over a decade. He first urged investors to allocate part of their portfolios to bitcoin BTC in 2018. In his 2021 book “The Truth About Crypto,” he described even a 1% crypto allocation as “reasonable” for most people.

Now, Edelman believes the case for crypto exposure is far stronger, pointing to what he called a “massive change” in the industry over the past four years. In particular, he highlighted growing political support for digital assets, especially following the election of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Today, all those questions have been resolved,” Edelman said, referring to regulatory uncertainty and institutional hesitation. “It’s radically changed and is now a mainstream asset.”

Edelman’s firm, Edelman Financial Engines, manages nearly $300 billion in assets. Though traditionally known for retirement planning and wealth management, the firm’s growing attention to digital assets mirrors a broader trend among financial institutions embracing crypto as a legitimate asset class.

Even though Edelman described crypto as the “best investment opportunity of the decade,” he acknowledged that a 40% allocation may not suit everyone, suggesting a more conservative 10% for those with lower risk tolerance.

Edelman’s recommendation marks one of the most aggressive calls from a mainstream financial figure to date. Most financial advisors in the U.S. are currently recommending well under 5% to their clients.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

30th June 2025

Popular Financial Advisor Ric Edelman Says Investors Should Allocate Up to 40% of Wealth to Crypto

“Today I am saying 40%, that’s astonishing,” Edelman told CNBC’s Crypto World on Friday. “No one has ever said such a thing.”

“Today, all those questions have been resolved,” Edelman said, referring to regulatory uncertainty and institutional hesitation. “It’s radically changed and is now a mainstream asset.”

30th June 2025

BitMine Immersion Stock Triples as it Raises $250M for Ether Treasury, Adds Thomas Lee to Board

BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) has secured $250 million via a private placement of common stock and will use the funds to launch an ether (ETH) treasury.

When the deal closes, expected July 3, the Las Vegas-based miner said it will rank among the largest publicly traded holders of ETH.

The financing, priced at $4.50 a share, brought together investors including Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, Kraken, Galaxy Digital and Republic. Cantor Fitzgerald advised lead investor MOZAYYX, while ThinkEquity placed the deal.

BitMine justified its choice of ether as a primary reserve asset saying Ethereum currently leads in stablecoin payments, tokenized assets, and decentralized financial applications.

“By having a direcT ETH treasury position, the company has access to native protocol-level activities, such as staking and decentralized finance mechanisms, on the Ethereum network,” the company wrote.

The move also reshapes BitMine’s leadership. Fundstrat founder Thomas Lee, long known on Wall Street for his crypto research and bullishness, was newly appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Lee said the round reflects “the rapid and continued convergence of traditional financial services and crypto” and set a new key performance metric for the company: ether per share.

SharpLink Gaming (SBET) is one of the few other publicly traded companies creating and ether treasury, having recently boosted it to 188,478 ETH. Most other companies creating crypto treasuries focus on bitcoin (BTC).

BitMine’s shares have more than tripled in premarket action to nearly $14.

30th June 2025

BitMine Immersion Stock Triples as it Raises $250M for Ether Treasury, Adds Thomas Lee to Board

BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) has secured $250 million via a private placement of common stock and will use the funds to launch an ether (ETH) treasury.

When the deal closes, expected July 3, the Las Vegas-based miner said it will rank among the largest publicly traded holders of ETH.

BitMine justified its choice of ether as a primary reserve asset saying Ethereum currently leads in stablecoin payments, tokenized assets, and decentralized financial applications.

The move also reshapes BitMine’s leadership. Fundstrat founder Thomas Lee, long known on Wall Street for his crypto research and bullishness, was newly appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Lee said the round reflects “the rapid and continued convergence of traditional financial services and crypto” and set a new key performance metric for the company: ether per share.

BitMine’s shares have more than tripled in premarket action to nearly $14.

30th June 2025