Author: John Smith

Genius Act clears U.S. Senate, signaling a major shift in stablecoin regulation. The passage of the landmark Genius Act in the U.S. Senate has signaled a major shift in crypto regulation. According to industry experts, the change it could bring is hard to overstate. Stablecoins are on track to become part of a core trillion-dollar industry and transform everyday life for consumers. Ira Auerbach, Head of Tandem at Offchain Labs, believes this regulatory clarity removes a major roadblock for adoption. The Genius Act has the potential to bring billions in institutional capital into the industry, already validated by the Circle…

U.S. stocks looked to edge higher on Wednesday as the market pondered the next steps ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and the unfolding Israel-Iran conflict. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near 42,246, up 30 points at the open, while the benchmark U.S. index S&P 500 held near record highs with a gain of 0.01%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was flat, up just 0.01%. All three major indices were slightly in the green but remained constrained as the Middle East conflict weighed heavily on investor confidence. Israel-Iran war weighs on markets While stocks looked to hold onto…

Bitcoin price has retreated in the past few days, and the futures market points to more downside, potentially to $100,000. Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to $104,650 on Wednesday, June 18, marking a 6.52% decline from its highest level this year. Option traders are increasingly betting on further declines. Data from Deribit shows that the put-to-call volume ratio rose to 2.17, indicating that more traders are buying put options as a hedge. A put option gives investors the right, but not the obligation, to sell an asset at a specific price within a defined time period. In this case, for contracts expiring…

Ethereum has now traded in a tight range for over a month, with neither bulls nor bears taking full control. As price compresses and volatility stalls, the setup becomes increasingly primed for a strong directional move, but which way will it break? For the past 39 days, Ethereum (ETH) has been locked between two critical high time frame levels, with price action failing to produce a definitive trend. This prolonged consolidation signals one of two potential outcomes: an accumulation phase before continuation higher, or a distribution phase that leads to a breakdown and deeper correction. Key technical points: Range Duration:…

ETF issuer and asset management firm BlackRock is expanding its Bitcoin portfolio with billions of dollars in fresh investments. According to Arkham Intelligence data, on June 17, BlackRock purchased $250 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC). The acquisition is part of a broader accumulation streak that has now spanned six consecutive days, bringing the firm’s total Bitcoin investment during this period to $1.4 billion. BLACKROCK BUY STREAK: $1.4 BILLION OF BTC FOR 6 DAYS STRAIGHTBlackRock bought over $250M of BTC today, bringing their streak up to $1.4 Billion.BlackRock has now bought BTC for 6 days in a row. pic.twitter.com/VjbtlcSGk9— Arkham (@arkham)…

Circle has partnered with financial infrastructure provider OpenPayd to deliver a unified platform for managing fiat and stablecoin transactions. OpenPayd, a financial infrastructure provider that processes more than €130 billion annually, has partnered with Circle, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC). The partnership will let OpenPayd’s clients easily send and manage money worldwide using both traditional banks and blockchain networks. By leveraging Circle’s scalable, programmable stablecoin infrastructure and wallets, OpenPayd’s clients can quickly convert between regular currencies and USDC, gaining faster access to funds, lower fees, and new ways to handle payments, treasury, and digital assets. “Stablecoins will be foundational…

The first European Bitcoin Treasury company, The Blockchain Group, just purchased 17 million euros worth of BTC. This brings the company’s total holdings to a total of 1,653 BTC. In an official press release, The Blockchain Group declared that it has acquired a combined total of 182 BTC (BTC) in the time period from May 26 to June 12. Most of the proceedings used to buy more Bitcoin came from the completion of the company’s recent convertible bond issuance, amounting to approximately $19.6 million. The Blockchain Group’s latest purchase brings its total Bitcoin holdings to 1,653 BTC. Not only that,…

A wallet allegedly linked to James Wynn has offloaded over 10 million Moonpig tokens — a strategic de-risking or a desperate move to recover from recent liquidations? According to blockchain analyst @DataC5821, the wallet in question dumped approximately 10.9 million Moonpig (MOONPIG) tokens worth $120.2K. On-chain data shows a rapid sequence of sell transactions clustered around the $14 million to $10 million market cap range, culminating in a crash to approximately $9.5 million at the time of reporting. Since then, the market cap has rebounded slightly, currently standing at $9.9 million. One user suggested the sell-off may have been part of…

Norwegian digital asset firm K33 wants to issue a round of shares to raise enough capital to buy as much as 1,000 BTC. The offering has already received full subscriptions. In an official press release, the Norwegian firm declared that it would issue new company shares in order to raise at least 85 million Swedish krona or equal to around $8.8 million. The digital asset firm has established the subscription price per share at 0.1036 SEK, matching the closing price on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market as of June 17. The capital raised from sales of the shares will…

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest is still cashing in on its early bet on stablecoin issuer Circle, unloading another sizable chunk of its CRCL shares amid the stock’s post-IPO rally. According to portfolio disclosures dated June 17, the investment management firm has sold an additional $44.8 million worth of CRCL stock. The dump comes just a day after its first-ever sale of the shares, when it offloaded approximately $51.7 million worth. As with the previous sale, the latest round was spread across three of Ark’s ETFs, including ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and ARK Fintech Innovation…