Author: Gabby

Bitcoin’s price continues to struggle near the $61,750 mark, with analysts warning that the highly anticipated SpaceX initial public offering may siphon off investment capital from the crypto sector. This comes at a time when the market is already grappling with significant outflows from exchange-traded funds and weak investor sentiment.

The leading cryptocurrency has dropped roughly 14% over the past week, while the total crypto market cap declined by 1.1% in the last 24 hours, settling at $2.2 trillion. Traders are reducing their exposure in derivatives markets, evidenced by a 0.57% decrease in Bitcoin open interest to about $45 billion.

Investor sentiment has plunged into extreme fear territory, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index registering a reading of just 9. This reflects growing caution amid rising macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties.

Institutional demand shows clear signs of weakening. Data indicates that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced net outflows of $168.8 million this week alone. Over the past four weeks, cumulative outflows have reached approximately $4.57 billion, with weekly withdrawals of $1.72 billion, $1.42 billion, and $1.26 billion in the preceding three weeks.

The persistent withdrawals have reduced the total net assets held by spot Bitcoin ETFs from $104.29 billion in mid-May to $77.58 billion as of June 9, according to SoSoValue.

On-chain metrics suggest the market has not yet reached a capitulation phase typical of major cycle bottoms. CryptoQuant reports that realized losses over the past 30 days total about 187,000 BTC, which is lower than the 400,000 BTC seen during the February sell-off and well below the 1.2 million BTC recorded after the FTX collapse. Historically, major bottoms form after seller exhaustion, and current data suggests that exhaustion has not yet occurred.

Technical indicators remain fragile. Bitcoin trades near the Murrey Math support zone around $62,500. A break below the nearby $59,375 support could expose the market to further downside. The MACD remains in bearish territory after a negative crossover, with the widening gap between the MACD and signal lines indicating that downward momentum has not fully abated.

Against this backdrop, analysts are increasingly focused on SpaceX’s public debut. The aerospace company, founded by Elon Musk, is reportedly preparing a $75 billion offering at a projected valuation of $1.75 trillion. About 30% of the offering may be reserved for retail investors—an unusually large allocation for such a sizeable IPO.

Some market participants believe the listing will attract capital that might have flowed into cryptocurrencies. Spencer Hallarn, global head of OTC trading at GSR, noted that crypto often serves as a funding source for such moves, and the $75 billion needed for the IPO must come from somewhere. Thomas Puech, CEO of crypto firm INDIGO, added that the offering could divert funds from digital assets, as both markets compete for the same pool of risk capital. He also pointed out that AI-related investments currently appear more attractive to growth-focused investors.

While there is no direct evidence that recent Bitcoin ETF outflows are being redirected toward SpaceX shares, the timing of the IPO could create another headwind for digital assets. With institutional demand weakening, sentiment stuck in extreme fear, and on-chain data indicating seller exhaustion has yet to emerge, Bitcoin may remain vulnerable to additional liquidity pressures in the weeks ahead.

During a closed-door session with the House Oversight Committee, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates acknowledged that his decision to meet with Jeffrey Epstein was a significant error in judgment. Gates stated that the meetings, which occurred between 2011 and 2014, were focused on potential philanthropic collaborations, but he now realizes they were ill-advised. He emphasized that no funds were ever raised through Epstein’s promises, and he terminated contact after concluding that Epstein could not deliver on his commitments.

Gates firmly denied witnessing any illegal activities during his interactions with Epstein, and he refuted claims that he visited Epstein’s private island, ranch, or any of his other properties. In his prepared remarks, Gates asserted that he has never harmed anyone and that Epstein’s attempts to use personal information to pressure him were unsuccessful. He admitted knowing about Epstein’s prior legal issues but acknowledged that he did not fully grasp the severity of the crimes at the time.

The House panel is continuing its investigation into Epstein’s network, with plans to release transcripts of Gates’ testimony soon. Gates expressed support for making all Epstein-related documents public and emphasized the importance of justice for the victims. The Gates Foundation also conducted an independent review of its past ties to Epstein to ensure that its philanthropic mission remains uncompromised.

A new campaign by Stand With Crypto UK mobilizes its substantial membership base to push back against banking institutions that impede cryptocurrency transfers. The organization represents a broad coalition of digital asset enthusiasts and industry participants.

Recent data from the UK Cryptoassets Business Council highlights a significant barrier: two out of every five crypto-related transactions face some form of blockage or limitation by financial institutions in the country. This statistic has galvanized the advocacy group into action, with a particular focus on transfers destined for exchanges that are officially registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Stand With Crypto has introduced a digital tool that enables its 286,000 supporters to generate formal complaints directed at their banks. The feedback gathered from these institutions is intended to inform the next stages of the campaign, aiming to expose the extent of the issue and pressure banks to reconsider their policies.

The group argues that many restrictions are applied indiscriminately, without considering whether the recipient platform is regulated or the customer’s individual risk profile. One exchange reportedly saw nearly £1 billion in transactions declined over a twelve-month period solely due to bank-side rejections. Additionally, a survey indicated that 80% of crypto platforms have observed an increase in blocked or limited transfers.

This push occurs against a backdrop of evolving regulatory oversight in the United Kingdom. Recent developments include a House of Lords committee warning that certain stablecoin rules could stifle commercial viability, and the Bank of England exploring extended settlement hours for tokenized markets. The Financial Conduct Authority has also proposed allowing retail investment funds to allocate a portion of their portfolios to crypto exchange-traded products.

Stand With Crypto maintains that while regulators work on broader frameworks, the immediate hurdle for consumers remains the ability to move funds freely from bank accounts to regulated crypto exchanges. The campaign seeks to address what it sees as an unjustified barrier to digital asset adoption.

The e-commerce behemoth has broadened its less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping service, making it available to businesses that are not part of its own supply chain. This strategic expansion triggered a sharp decline in the stock prices of several major freight carriers on Wednesday.

Previously, Amazon’s LTL service was restricted to companies shipping goods into its warehouses and fulfillment centers. Now, any business can leverage this service to transport freight across the United States. The less-than-truckload model allows carriers to consolidate shipments from multiple customers onto a single trailer, offering cost efficiency and flexibility compared to full truckload shipping.

Jim Ruiz, director of Amazon Freight, noted that customer feedback drove the decision to widen access. He highlighted the technology, visibility, and reliability that Amazon LTL provides. With this upgrade, Amazon LTL can now move freight to any destination nationwide, not just to Amazon facilities.

The announcement sent shockwaves through the freight industry. Old Dominion Freight Line saw its shares tumble by 5%, while ArcBest and Saia experienced drops of 4% and 3%, respectively. XPO Logistics also suffered a 5% decline. FedEx Freight, which recently spun off from FedEx, recorded a 7% fall. Investors clearly view Amazon’s deeper foray into the LTL market as a competitive threat to established carriers.

Amazon’s logistics network has evolved significantly over the years, encompassing cargo planes, delivery vans, trailers, and containers. The company now operates 80,000 trailers and 24,000 containers, along with tens of thousands of vans. By opening these resources to external businesses, Amazon is intensifying competition in the freight sector. This move follows the recent launch of an end-to-end supply chain service that bundles multiple logistics offerings, which had already pressured UPS and FedEx shares.

The LTL expansion is part of Amazon Supply Chain Services, which aims to provide comprehensive logistics solutions beyond warehouse-bound shipments. As Amazon leverages its infrastructure to serve a broader customer base, traditional freight carriers face increasing pressure to innovate or risk losing market share.

Coinbase has called on U.S. lawmakers to eliminate capital gains taxes on stablecoin transactions and ease reporting requirements for small crypto purchases. In testimony delivered on June 9 before the House Ways and Means Committee, Lawrence Zlatkin, vice president of tax at Coinbase, argued that the current tax system forces individuals to track gains and losses for everyday stablecoin payments and blockchain fees, creating compliance headaches without generating significant tax revenue.

Zlatkin appeared during a hearing focused on six proposed bills aimed at updating how digital assets are treated under U.S. tax law. These proposals cover areas such as mining rewards, staking income, charitable donations, broker reporting, and transaction-level taxes. He emphasized that federally regulated stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar should be treated at face value, as they are designed to maintain a one-to-one peg to the dollar. Under current rules, users must track cost basis and calculate gains or losses every time they spend stablecoins, even when the value barely changes—a requirement Zlatkin described as generating paperwork without providing practical tax benefits.

Coinbase also endorsed a proposal by Congressman Rudy Yakym to exempt gas fee transactions of up to $10 from tax reporting. Additionally, the company advocated for a broader de minimis exemption for small purchases made with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, so consumers would not need to compute taxable gains on low-value transactions. This follows earlier discussions about crypto tax exemptions; in March, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong denied claims that he had lobbied against a Bitcoin tax exemption, stating he personally supported a de minimis rule for Bitcoin payments.

Beyond transaction taxes, Coinbase backed legislation by Congressman Mike Carey that would allow miners and validators to defer taxation on newly created digital assets until they are sold. Zlatkin compared digital asset production to farming, noting that a farmer is not taxed when wheat sprouts but only when the crop is harvested and sold. He stressed that similar logic should apply to mining and staking rewards.

Regarding wash-sale rules, which currently prevent investors from claiming tax losses if they repurchase the same asset within 30 days, Coinbase supports applying these restrictions to crypto markets but warned of implementation challenges. Digital assets trade continuously across centralized exchanges, decentralized pools, and self-custody wallets, and the industry lacks a unified system to detect wash-sale violations in real time. Coinbase requested an 18- to 24-month transition period before any crypto wash-sale rules take effect, cautioning that immediate implementation could lead to reporting errors and increased IRS audits.

The testimony arrives as policymakers continue debating broader crypto regulation. Recent proposals from the New York State Department of Financial Services aim to align state stablecoin oversight with the GENIUS Act. Meanwhile, crypto investment firm Paradigm has urged the FDIC to revise parts of its stablecoin framework that could restrict third-party rewards. Coinbase and Ripple have also pressed Congress to advance the CLARITY Act, a market structure bill that preserves certain stablecoin reward programs.

Visa has unveiled a suite of enhancements at its Payments Forum 2026, focusing on artificial intelligence, stablecoins, and tokenization. These innovations aim to streamline and automate commerce for financial institutions and merchants. The payments giant is collaborating with OpenAI to embed secure payment capabilities into agentic AI experiences, marking a significant step in merging AI with financial transactions.

Jack Forestell, Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, highlighted the transformative impact of AI and stablecoins on both the front and back ends of commerce. He emphasized Visa’s commitment to providing secure, reliable infrastructure at a global scale. The new Visa Intelligent Commerce platform empowers AI agents to perform transactions autonomously, complete with controls and connectivity for trusted dealings. Additionally, Visa and New Generation introduced the Agent Score, a tool that evaluates an AI agent’s ability to navigate and complete tasks on merchant websites. An Agentic Directory was also launched to facilitate trust between verified agents and merchants.

Token upgrades are a key component of Visa’s strategy. The company is enhancing its payment tokens to carry richer data and context, including transaction type, token usage, and payment origin. A new token assurance signal uses provisioning and behavioral history to measure trust, helping issuers make better approval decisions and reduce false declines. Visa believes that AI-driven commerce requires stronger identity and permission signals that work across multiple devices and channels.

Visa’s Crypto Labs demonstrated early concepts where AI agents can pay for digital services via a terminal. Forestell noted that an increasing number of transactions will be initiated by developers using AI tools, and Visa aims to ensure that cards function seamlessly in command-line environments.

On the stablecoin front, Visa announced expanded settlement capabilities. The company reported a $7 billion annualized stablecoin settlement run rate as of March 2026, with issuing banks settling onchain seven days a week. Visa is working to extend this capability to acquirers. It is also developing a technology layer for tokenized deposits, enabling banks to create programmable digital money from traditional deposits while keeping funds on their balance sheets. This approach offers stablecoin-like speed without moving funds off the balance sheet. Furthermore, Visa has over 160 stablecoin-linked card programs live or in development globally.

Visa also introduced modular, cloud-native services like Pismo, Unified Checkout, and Visa Intelligent Authorization to help clients modernize their systems. Forestell concluded that while many innovations emerge, only those with trust, security, and global reach achieve lasting scale.

Curve Finance has introduced Llamalend v2 on Optimism, marking a significant shift in its decentralized lending approach. This upgrade breaks away from the previous model by allowing isolated lending markets and non-crvUSD borrowing pairs, expanding the protocol’s flexibility. The initial phase features three isolated markets: ETH against wstETH, wstETH against USDC, and WBTC against USDC, all starting with zero borrow caps until governance approves debt limits.

A key innovation is the support for LP tokens as collateral. Liquidity providers can now deposit Curve LP tokens, continue earning trading fees, and borrow against those positions simultaneously. This integration ties lending more closely to Curve’s exchange infrastructure. The update also hints at future support for other productive collateral types, such as yield-bearing vault assets and principal tokens from fixed-yield strategies.

The liquidation model remains unchanged from v1, using a graduated liquidation range that converts collateral into borrowed assets as prices move through predefined levels. This design aims to reduce concentrated liquidation pressure during market stress and give borrowers more time to manage positions. Each market retains its own risk controls, including collateral asset, borrowed asset, oracle configuration, borrowing limits, and risk parameters.

For the rollout, LlamaRisk will review proposed collateral assets and oversee market assessments before governance approval. Isolated markets help contain risks to specific pairs. The launch includes a 250,000 OP token grant from the Optimism Foundation, with an initial incentives campaign distributing 100,000 OP tokens via Merkl across the first markets. Curve chose Optimism to observe contract behavior in a lower-risk environment, with an Ethereum mainnet launch expected later this year. This follows Curve’s recent bad-debt recovery framework, which converts distressed lending positions into tradable claims.