Market Highlights
- U.S. SEC declares Trump Media BTC reserve registration effective.
- GENIUS Act headed for Senate debate and floor vote on June 17.
- The Clarity Act passed cloture votes and is now headed for a House floor vote.
- Crypto-friendly Jamie Selway appointed U.S. SEC Director of trading and markets division.
Markets Overview
Israel’s attack on Iran and Iran’s retaliation led to a sell-off in risk assets to end the week, while the 10-year yield and oil prices rose. Earlier in the week, the S&P 500 gained, presumably on a cooling consumer price index (CPI). The index came in at 2.4%, just under forecast, for the 12 months to May 31, 2025. The reading is unlikely to change the U.S. Federal Reserve’s cautious approach to lowering interest rates.
The U.S. and China reached a trade deal, though export restrictions on rare earths used for AI chips have not been addressed (China agreed to ease restrictions for six months). U.S. officials say the August 10 deadline for a long-term deal may be extended.
The latest University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment came in well above forecast at 60.5 on June 19 due to easing anxiety over President Trump’s tariffs.
Weekly performance: S&P 500 -0.4%, Dow Jones -1.3%, Nasdaq -0.6%.
Looking ahead:
- A week of interest rate decisions: Bank of Japan on June 17, U.S. Federal Reserve on June 18, and Swiss National Bank and Bank of England on June 19.
Crypto Market Sector Performance
Most sectors saw losses this week, with the exception of exchange tokens, which made minor gains.
Staking services: Eigenlayer (-31.6%) declined on news that it is testing an “AI adjudicator” to resolve its governance issues.
Bitcoin (BTC)
- Opened the week at US$105,785, reached a weekly high of US$110,651 (-1.2% on the week).
- Geopolitical tensions saw almost US$450 million of BTC positions liquidated on June 13.
- US$1.3 billion inflows to bitcoin asset investment products this week.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared Trump Media and Technology Group’s registration for a bitcoin treasury effective. The company has raised US$2.3 billion through debt and equity agreements from about 50 investors.
Bitcoin’s implied volatility dropped to its lowest levels in 12 months this week. The drop came as U.S.-China trade negotiations commenced in London. Analysts say that although recent trade tensions have driven short-term moves, they haven’t triggered “a directional breakout,” causing the low volatility.
In bitcoin buying news:
- Strategy bought 10,100 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 592,100 BTC.
- Metaplanet bought 1,112 BTC, bringing its holdings to 10,000 BTC. The company’s stock price gained over 17% on the news.
- GameStop upped its convertible bond offering to US$2.25 billion. It’s unclear what proportion of the funds will be used to purchase more BTC. The company bought 4,710 BTC in May.
- KULR Technology is aiming to raise US$300 million to fund BTC purchases. The company currently holds 920 BTC, worth about US$1 billion.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Ethereum (ETH)
- Opened the week at US$2,510. (+0.3% on the week)
- Rallied to a weekly high of US$2,880 on June 9 (the highest price since February) before selling off.
- US$583 million inflows into Ethereum ETFs this week.
SharpLink Gaming recently bought US$462 million worth of Ethereum, making it the largest publicly-listed holder of ETH. The company purchased around 176,000 ETH at an average price of US$2,600 per coin. SharpLink’s shares declined by 70% in after-hours trade as investors tried to discern the importance of an S-3 shelf prospectus filing. On Friday, the team clarified that the filing was standard and that more than 95% of its ETH holdings have been deployed in staking and liquid staking solutions.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Altcoins
Smart contracts A team
- Aleph Zero (AZERO) gained almost 78%. The privacy layer for Web3 may be recovering from its recent all-time low following the resignation of co-founder Adam Gagol and allegations of mismanagement.
DeFi dominations
- Aerodrome Finance (AERO) gained 56.5% due to Coinbase’s announcement that it will add decentralised exchanges on its Base Blockchain to the main application.
- Kamino (KMNO) gained 30.5% due to updates, including Maple’s SyrupUSDC leverage increase and the launch of the first real-world asset lending market on the network.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Crypto ETF News
Digital asset investment products saw US$1.9 billion inflows this week. It was the ninth consecutive week of inflows, bringing the year-to-date total to a record US$13.2 billion.
In altcoins, XRP and Sui saw inflows of US$11.8 million and US$3.5 million, respectively.
Purpose Investments’ Purpose XRP ETF was approved to begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on June 18. XRP gained 7% on the news.
The U.S. SEC extended its review periods for several crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Four Solana ETF decisions have been postponed to early July, while Grayscale’s Cardano ETF will get a decision on July 16, and Bitwise’s Ethereum staking ETF has a deadline of July 6.
Seven Solana ETF issuers updated their U.S. SEC filings to include staking capabilities. It follows the agency's release of guidance that supports native (protocol) staking.
Ethereum ETFs saw their best daily performance since February on June 10, when US$125 million flowed into ETH ETFs, indicating continued investor interest in crypto exposure through ETF products.
Other crypto news
The GENIUS Act passed a 68-30 cloture vote on June 13, allowing the act to proceed to the Senate floor for debate and full chamber vote. The full chamber vote is expected to occur on June 17. Some industry professionals are criticising the bill for a lack of provisions regarding the issuance of interest-bearing stablecoins.
In other stablecoin news, Circle’s stock price gained 10% when it announced its USDC stablecoin and cross-chain transfer protocol was expanding to World Chain. Similarly, PayPal announced it’s expanding its stablecoin (PYUSD) to the Stellar blockchain, pending regulatory approval. And Societe Generale announced it will launch a publicly tradable, dollar-pegged stablecoin named “USD CoinVertible” (USDCV), issued on both Ethereum and Solana blockchains.
The CLARITY Act passed a 32-19 cloture vote in the Financial Services Committee and a 47-6 cloture vote in the House Agriculture Committee. This sends the Act to the House Floor for a full vote. The date of the House floor vote is unknown.
JPMorgan Chase filed a trademark application for "JPMD," a new digital asset platform offering trading, exchange, transfer, payment, and issuance services for cryptocurrencies. It follows CEO Jamie Dimon's recent announcement that clients will soon be able to buy bitcoin through JPMorgan.
Tron, the blockchain platform founded by Justin Sun, will go public via a US$210 million reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed SRM Entertainment. The deal will be brokered by Dominari Securities, a firm linked to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. A US$100 million investment will be used to acquire TRX tokens, establishing a crypto treasury strategy.
In crypto treasury news, Singapore-based Trident (TDTH) announced plans to establish an XRP treasury valued at up to US$500 million. TDTH shares fell 30% on the news. And DeFi Development Corp entered into an agreement to access a US$5 billion equity line of credit to fund the purchase of SOL. The firm already holds almost US$100 million worth of SOL.
The U.S. SEC named Jamie Selway as the new director of the agency’s trading and markets division. Selway is crypto-friendly, having held previous roles at Blockchain.com and Skew, a crypto analytics platform.
Disclaimer: This assessment does not consider your personal circumstances, and should not be construed as financial, legal or investment advice. These thoughts are ours only and should only be taken as educational by the reader. Under no circumstances do we make recommendation or assurance towards the views expressed in the blog-post. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The Company disclaims all duties and liabilities, including liability for negligence, for any loss or damage which is suffered or incurred by any person acting on any information provided.
from Caleb & Brown Cryptocurrency Brokerage.
