What started as an apparent ‘hallucinated’ response from X's artificial intelligence platform, Grok, quickly morphed into a microcap memecoin frenzy.
The X-based AI tool last week spat our the terms “MechaHitler,” “GigaPutin” and “CyberStalin” in the same breath in an apparent unprompted response to a user query, an erratic, racially charged response that went viral.
MechaHitler is a fictional cyborg version of Adolf Hitler from the 1992 game Wolfenstein 3D, which gained fame in 90s satire and early internet memes.
While most consider such terms to be dark, offensive, and completely unhinged, some someone took the misfire seriously enough to launch multiple tokens under the name.
Over 200 “MechaHitler” tokens went live across Solana and Ethereum, among other networks, in the past 24 hours. The largest one, launched on Solana-based Bonk.fun, hit a $2.2 million market cap just three hours after launch, with early trading volume exceeding $1 million, data from DEXTools show.
At least one Ethereum-based version zoomed to over $500,000 in market cap.
The various tokens followed classic meme coin playbooks: rapid launches, early whales, and volatile pumps and dumps. But unlike DOGE or PEPE, this wave didn’t emerge from a community or subculture — it came from a chatbot meltdown.
Grok clarified in follow-up posts that the apparent misfires wholly referenced the game character and not the infamous Austrian-born German politician.
As for the tokens: short-lived or not, they underline a clear trend: That in 2025, crypto doesn’t need hype from influencers anymore, an AI hallucination could be enough.
Read more: Memecoin PNUT Rips on Elon Musk’s Epstein Cue
]]> News‘Peanut’ the squirrel is dead, but the meme coin named after him is still mooning.
A late-night post from technocrat Elon Musk slamming U.S. authorities for euthanizing the viral squirrel while failing to charge anyone from Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged client list preceded a volume and price spike, data shows, showing speculative fervor is alive and well in the market.
(The “Epstein list” refers to high-profile individuals allegedly connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network. No official, verified public list exists.)
“Government is deeply broken,” Musk wrote. “They arrested (and killed) Peanut, but have not even tried to file charges against anyone on the Epstein client list.”
Within minutes, Solana-based meme token PNUT spiked over 10% as traders piled in on the name-drop.
PNUT, which has no affiliation with the actual squirrel or Musk, saw trading volumes surge over 120% from $65 million to $214 million in a 24-hour period, according to CoinGecko. The token’s price briefly touched 23 cents before cooling.
With no protocol, no utility, and no roadmap, PNUT trades purely on cultural resonance and reflexive speculation. That makes it a favorite for momentum hunters, and a token to watch for when controversial topics do the rounds — at least on Musk’s X.
Read more: Elon Musk Says America Party Will Embrace BTC as 'Fiat Is Hopeless'
]]> NewsBitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) are trading sideways, which is likely being driven by a hidden force that's keeping both cryptocurrencies anchored to key price levels.
However, the same “price magnets” might add to the ether (ETH) market volatility.
We are talking about market makers – entities tasked with creating liquidity in an exchange's order book. These entities are always on the opposite side of traders/investors and make money from the bid-ask spread, while constantly striving to maintain a price-neutral exposure. Their hedging strategies in futures/spot markets often add to or curb volatility in the market.
In BTC's case, options market makers are “long gamma” at strikes $108,000 and $110,000, according to Deribit-listed options activity tracked by Amberdata. The position indicates that market makers hold long options (calls and puts), which stand to benefit from potential volatility.
As such, market makers are likely trading against market movements – selling high and buying low – to maintain the direction-neutral book, effectively keeping BTC pinned in the $108,000-$110,000 range. BTC's price has mostly traded the said range this month, according to CoinDesk data.
A similar dynamic seems to be playing out in the XRP market, where a large positive market maker gamma build up is observed at the $2.30 strike price. That calls for maker makers to buy low and sell high around that level capping volatility.
Ether prone to volatility
Ethereum's native token ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, hit a high of $2,647 early today, the level last seen on June 16.
The move has pushed ether into a “negative market maker gamma” zone of $2,650-$3,500. When dealers hold negative gamma, they tend to trade in the direction of the market, exacerbating bullish/bearish moves.
In other words, their hedging activities could add to ether's bullish momentum, exacerbating volatility, assuming other things being equal.
]]>
News
Robinhood tokens offering equity in OpenAI technically aren't equity, Vlad Tenev confirmed in a recent CNBC interview, but are backed by “Robinhood's ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle.”
OpenAI warned earlier this month that the tokens being offered by Robinhood do not represent equity in the company, and any transfer of equity would require OpenAI's approval which they haven't given.
“In and of itself, I don't think it's entirely relevant that it's not technically an equity instrument,” Tenev said on CNBC. “What's important is that retail customers have an opportunity to get exposure to this asset.”
Robinhood isn't the first platform to offer shares in pre-IPO companies with this model.
Linqto, which offered retail investors exposure via special purpose vehicles that bought up shares on the secondary market, recently filed for bankruptcy, raising questions about what exactly its customers, now creditors, owned.
Among the companies is Ripple (XRP), and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, has publicly distanced Ripple from Linqto.
“We stopped approving more Linqto purchases on secondary markets in late 2024 amid growing skepticism,” Garlinghouse tweeted earlier in July.
Read more: OpenAI Warns That Tokenized Equity Sale on Robinhood Is Unauthorized
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged two individuals for their role in OmegaPro, a crypto and investment ponzi scheme which defrauded investors of over $650 million.
Michael Shannon Sims, a founder and promoter of OmegaPro, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, who led OmegaPro’s operations in Latin America and some parts of the U.S., were charged on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, according to documents published on Tuesday.
OmegaPro was an international investment scheme, which collapsed in 2022. In 2024, Andreas Szakacs, the co-founder of the scheme, was arrested in Turkey in his involvement with OmegaPro.
“As alleged, the defendants preyed upon vulnerable individuals in the U.S. and abroad, defrauding them of over $650 million by making false promises of substantial returns and that their money was safe,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the justice department’s criminal division.
OmegaPro was established in early 2019, by Sims and others. According to the document, the defendants and others promised investors 300% return over 16 months through foreign exchange trading. Investors were instructed to purchase these investment packages using crypto.
Read more: OmegaPro Co-Founder Arrested in Turkey on Suspicion of $4B Ponzi Scheme: Report
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
]]> NewsRipple’s push for a U.S. banking license has reignited bullish momentum for XRP, fueling a high-volume breakout above the $2.28 resistance level and setting up a potential test of $2.38 — a level that, if breached, could trigger a larger upside move.
News Background
- Ripple's application for a national trust bank charter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has provided a fundamental catalyst for XRP.
- The move signals deeper integration into the regulated financial system and is widely seen as a bullish step toward institutional adoption.
- As the regulatory narrative shifts, XRP has emerged as one of the few altcoins with both legal clarity and rising institutional interest.
Price Action Summary
- XRP rallied 2.36% over the 24-hour period from 6 July 03:00 to 7 July 02:00, climbing from $2.21 to $2.26 with high conviction buying.
- The breakout was defined by a surge in trading volume, peaking at over 67 million units during the 10:00 hour as price pushed through $2.28.
- Price action printed a daily high of $2.29, before pulling back and consolidating above support at $2.24–$2.25.
Technical Analysis
- The intraday range spanned $0.08 (3.62%), with key breakout points at 08:00, 10:00, and 13:00 — each confirmed by above-average volume.
- $2.24–$2.25 has established itself as strong support after bulls defended this zone during an 18:00 dip.
- The $2.28–$2.29 area now acts as immediate resistance. A decisive flip of this zone could open room for a run toward $2.38 — a level technical analysts are closely watching as the next major breakout trigger.
- In the final 60 minutes of the session (7 July 01:05–02:04), XRP surged from $2.26 to $2.27, a 2.29% jump, with momentum building at 01:30 and 02:01 — both marked by sharp volume spikes.
What Traders Are Watching
- A sustained close above $2.28 with volume confirmation could push XRP toward the next upside targets of $2.38, then $2.60–$3.40 in extension.
- Failure to hold $2.25 support would likely trigger a retest of $2.21–$2.22 demand zone.
- With a rising narrative around Ripple’s regulatory progress and XRP’s legal clarity, the asset remains one of the most structurally bullish large-cap tokens in the current macro environment.
(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.)
]]> NewsDogecoin surged 5% in the last 24 hours, climbing from $0.163 to $0.171 amid rising institutional accumulation and a technical breakout above key resistance.
The most aggressive price action came between 12:00 and 13:00 UTC on July 6, when DOGE jumped from $0.166 to $0.173 on massive volume exceeding 1.14 billion — nearly 6x its daily average.
Strong volume-based support formed at $0.166, with consolidation now occurring between $0.170 and $0.173.
Analysts are watching the $0.173-$0.175 zone as immediate resistance; a clean break above could open up a path to $0.180 and $0.21.
On-chain data also shows that while smaller holders have exited positions, whales holding 1M–100M DOGE have steadily accumulated since June 28, signaling long-term confidence.
News Background
The price action unfolds as President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff deadline (July 9) continues to weigh on markets. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s launch of The American Party, widely speculated to eventually integrate DOGE for payments on X, has added momentum and visibility. With macro headwinds still unresolved, DOGE’s structure suggests buyers are stepping in at each dip — a potential sign of early positioning ahead of a larger move.
Technical Analysis Highlights
- DOGE gained 5.01% from $0.163 to $0.171 between 6 July 03:00 and 7 July 02:00.
- The strongest move occurred between 12:00–13:00 UTC, with DOGE spiking to $0.173 on 1.14 billion volume.
- Support established at $0.166, validated by high-volume buying pressure.
- Consolidation followed between $0.170–$0.173, with multiple resistance tests at $0.173 during the 21:00–23:00 window.
- In the last hour of trading, DOGE rose from $0.171 to $0.172 (+0.85%) with breakout confirmation between 01:30–01:37.
- Volume spikes of 12.8M at 01:16 and 8.0M at 01:36 suggest continued bullish momentum.
- Immediate resistance levels: $0.173, $0.175, and $0.180; critical support remains at $0.166.
(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.)
]]> NewsBitcoin (BTC) is holding firm near $108,700 even as traditional markets recoil from renewed trade tensions sparked by Donald Trump. The U.S. President signaled plans to hike tariffs on imports, potentially as high as 50%, citing ongoing friction with the European Union over tech regulations.
The rhetoric sent asian equities lower for a third time in four sessions, pushed copper futures down in London, and dragged U.S. equity futures into the red.
Yet bitcoin remained largely unfazed, suggesting crypto investors are either discounting the macro noise or viewing BTC as increasingly insulated from global policy risk, some opined.
“Bitcoin’s slight price drop from Trump's tariff plans showcases the digital asset's resilient nature and long-term investor confidence,” said Han Xu, Director at HashKey Capital, said in a Telegram message. “We’re optimistic this trend will continue even amid short-term volatility.”
Still, there's clear hesitation at these levels.
“Buyers are quickly letting off steam,” noted FxPro’s Alex Kuptsikevich. “BTC keeps getting pushed down near $110K, and while the 50-day moving average is attracting dip buyers, sellers are just as active.”
He added that overall market capitalization, while still up 1.8% on the week, slipped 0.6% in the past 24 hours to $3.35 trillion, signaling another “bout of indecision” at the top.
That choppiness persists even as crypto ETF inflows continue. CoinShares reported its 12th consecutive week of net inflows, with nearly $1 billion entering crypto funds last week, and over $790 million of that amount going into bitcoin.
Ether(ETH)-tracked products brought in $226 million, Solana's SOL (SOL) $22 million, and XRP (XRP) $11 million. Total ETF assets under management have reached an all-time high of $188 billion.
But under the hood, there are signs of fatigue. Bitcoin’s on-chain activity and implied volatility have dropped to their lowest in nearly two years, according to The Block.
Glassnode called it a “summer lull,” pointing to collapsing trading volumes and a rising concentration of unrealized gains among long-term holders, or factors that could trigger a sharper move if sentiment turns.
Despite the lack of momentum, markets remain firmly risk-on, just nervously so.
“Capital continues to move away from the 200-day moving average,” Kuptsikevich added, “which shows the market still leans bullish. But any shift in tone could lead to quick profit-taking.”
]]> NewsGood Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets:
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas.
As Asia begins its Wednesday trading day, bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade rangebound without any dominant market-moving headlines.
The world's largest digital asset is trading above $108,900, according to CoinDesk market data, and the CoinDesk 20 index, a measure of the performance of the largest digital assets, is above 3,100, up 1.7%.
Right now, what separates bitcoin's drift to $110K from a rally is market conviction, say observers.
In a recent report, Glassnode highlighted that spot volumes for BTC continue to linger below their usual statistical bands, ETF flows contracted sharply from recent highs, and institutional investors appear hesitant despite the climbing unrealized gains shown in elevated ETF Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) ratios.
In a market update from earlier this week, Wintermute describes this cautious environment as a “barbell market,” pointing out a stark divide between renewed enthusiasm in high-beta assets, like memecoins, and the stability of established large-cap tokens.
Last year's narrative darlings, notably AI and DePIN tokens, have lost investor attention, indicating that traders are rotating into memecoins, many of the majors like DOGE, SHIB, and PEPE are up over 8% in the last week, or staying in BTC and ETH, which are seen as battle-tested and secure.
With global equities largely shrugging off geopolitical uncertainties, BTC's hesitancy underscores lingering caution among traders, suggesting the market awaits clearer signals before breaking decisively higher. Things are likely to remain rangebound until that changes.
News Recap: $100M Fund Backs Builders, Not Bettors, on Bitcoin
Bitcoin-only VC firm Ego Death Capital has closed a $100 million second fund aimed at backing projects that treat Bitcoin as infrastructure, not a speculative trade, CoinDesk previously reported.
The fund will target Series A rounds between $3 million and $8 million for startups solving real-world problems using Bitcoin’s base layer or its scaling solutions.
“We’re investing in businesses that treat Bitcoin not as a trade, but as infrastructure—something to build on, not bet on,” said general partner Lyn Alden. Ego’s existing portfolio includes Relai, a self-custody app, and Roxom, a securities exchange built directly on Bitcoin rails.
At a time when multichain VCs are chasing yield on every new L2 and L3, Ego’s thesis is a bet on simplicity and durability: Bitcoin’s dominance remains above 60%, and the fund aims to capitalize on its staying power. The message to allocators: ignore the hype, back the rails that last.
News Recap: Judge Bars Sanctions Talk in Tornado Cash Trial, Limits Free Speech Defense
A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. government's sanctions against Tornado Cash, which were imposed in 2022 and later overturned, cannot be discussed in the upcoming criminal trial of developer Roman Storm, CoinDesk previously reported.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla said allowing the jury to hear about the now-invalid sanctions would require “mental gymnastics” and risk confusing the core legal issues at trial. The sanctions were originally imposed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over alleged use of the mixer by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, but were struck down earlier this year in a separate case, Van Loon v. Treasury.
Storm faces multiple criminal charges related to his role in building Tornado Cash, a privacy tool that allows users to obscure the origin of crypto transactions. Prosecutors allege that he profited substantially from the project, citing evidence of multi-million-dollar TORN token sales and real estate purchases.
Judge Failla also ruled that evidence obtained from fellow Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev’s phone can be admitted at trial, despite objections from Storm’s legal team who argued the material was cherry-picked and not independently verifiable.
Although Storm is free to speak about his belief in privacy and civil liberties, the judge said he will not be allowed to frame his actions as protected under the First Amendment.
The court drew a distinction between personal beliefs and legal defenses. A final pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Friday, with the trial slated to begin on June 14 and expected to last four weeks. The outcome of the case is likely to set an important precedent for how U.S. courts treat developers of open-source privacy tools.
Market Movements:
BTC: Bitcoin maintained institutional-grade resilience during the July 7–8 trading cycle, holding above the key $108,000 level while navigating heavy resistance at $109,200 and finding strategic support near $107,470, signaling continued confidence from corporate treasuries despite late-session profit-taking, according to CoinDesk's market insights bot.
ETH: Ethereum rose 3% to $2,610 during the July 7–8 session as institutional investors deployed $515 million in coordinated weekend buying, driving volumes to nearly triple the average and pushing the asset through key resistance levels
Gold: Gold fell 1.2% to below $3,300 on Tuesday as optimism over delayed reciprocal tariffs and hopes for new trade deals weakened safe-haven demand, while markets awaited FOMC minutes for further rate guidance.
Nikkei 225: Asian markets traded mixed Wednesday as Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down 8.39 points (0.021%) after U.S. President Trump ruled out delaying August 1 tariffs, imposed a 50% duty on copper imports, and warned of potential 200% pharmaceutical tariffs with an 18-month grace period.
S&P 500: The S&P 500 closed nearly unchanged on Tuesday after President Donald Trump confirmed there would be no exemptions to the August 1 tariff rollout.
Elsewhere in Crypto
- Eigen Labs lays off 25% of employees, turns focus to EigenCloud (Blockworks)
- SharpLink Gaming Jumps 26% as Ether Treasury Tops 200K ETH (CoinDesk)
- Japan's Surging 30-Year Yield Is Flashing Warning Sign for Risk Assets: Macro Markets (CoinDesk)
NEW YORK, New York — The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control’s (OFAC) sanctions against privacy tool Tornado Cash cannot be discussed at the upcoming trial of developer Roman Storm, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
At a status conference in Manhattan on Tuesday, District Judge Katherine Polk Failla initially waffled on whether she would allow expert witnesses to testify about the sanctions, which were initially imposed in August 2022, removed this March and subsequently found illegal by a Texas court.
After hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defense, Failla decided to grant Storm’s motion in limine moving to prohibit testimony about the sanctions entirely, arguing that it would simply be too confusing for a jury to do what she described as the “mental gymnastics” of understanding why the sanctions were imposed and ultimately removed.
“I am going to preclude references to the August 2022 OFAC sanctions,” Failla said, with the caveat that she was leaving open the possibility of a “unicorn document” — a key piece of evidence for the prosecution that hinged on Storm’s alleged conduct after the sanctions were imposed — that could change her mind before the trial begins. Failla gave prosecutors until Wednesday to submit any such piece of evidence. The judge had ruled earlier Tuesday that the parties would not be allowed to discuss the Van Loon v. Treasury Department case which ultimately led to the sanctions being dropped.
The rest of Storm’s motions in limine (a type of pretrial motion to exclude certain evidence or arguments from being allowed during trial) were denied, including a motion to preclude references to North Korea’s state sanctioned hacking group, the Lazarus Group, and a motion to preclude “inflammatory characterizations” of Storm’s TORN sales. Earlier in the day, prosecutors said they planned to introduce evidence demonstrating that Storm profited handsomely from his involvement in Tornado Cash, including allegedly purchasing multiple homes and selling $12 million worth of TORN tokens after OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash.
Prosecutors said they do not plan to argue at trial that Storm violated the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by not implementing a know-your-customer/anti-money laundering protocol for Tornado Cash, only to express through their expert witness testimony that he could have and chose not to.
Failla also ruled to allow the government to produce evidence from Storm’s fellow Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev’s phone. The Dutch government allowed a U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent to view a report of the contents of Pertsev’s phone, from which the agent made his own report with selected pieces of information. Storm’s defense attempted to get the Pertsev phone evidence tossed out, arguing that the report was cherry-picked and impossible to authenticate, but the judge sided with the prosecution, ruling that the report was admissible.
After much back and forth between the parties over their respective expert witnesses, Failla ruled that all of the witnesses could testify, though she put some guardrails on certain witnesses for both sides.
It is not yet clear whether Storm will testify in his own defense, though Failla said Tuesday that, should he take the stand, he will not be permitted to argue that he had First Amendment protections in his work with Tornado Cash.
Failla said that Storm was free to discuss his belief in privacy rights, but said: “I don’t think free speech or First Amendment rights should come up at this trial.”
A final pre-trial conference will be held telephonically at 3 pm ET on Friday. Storm’s trial is slated to begin June 14 and is expected to run for four weeks.
]]> NewsNative token of decentralized finance (DeFi) lender Aave AAVE on Tuesday rallied to its strongest price in three weeks, topping $290 as the DeFi lending sector is heating up.
AAVE saw considerable volatility throughout Monday and Tuesday, rebounding from the nadir of $277.57 to $291.11, gaining some 5%, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis data.
Volume patterns remained robust throughout the period, with notable spikes during the 12:00-12:13 breakout phase exceeding 2,000 units, confirming authentic buying interest and validating the sustained recovery from earlier session lows, the model noted.
The recovery pattern suggests substantial purchasing interest at lower levels around $277.00-$280.00, establishing potential support zones for future price action, the model suggested.
The move happened as the broader DeFi lending space is enjoying a renaissance. Total value locked (TVL) in the sector soared to new highs above $56 billion, well surpassing the 2022 peak levels, DefiLlama data shows.
Aave is playing a dominant role in the growing trend: The protocol commands $26.4 billion in TVL across seventeen blockchains, per DefiLlama data. That means Aave have more assets on the platform than the 30 next rival lending protocols altogether, one market observer noted.
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.
]]> NewsIn case you missed it during the holiday week, collaborative design tool Figma filed to go public via IPO. Used by 95% of Fortune 500 companies and with $871 million of revenue over the trailing twelve months (up 49% Y/Y), Figma disclosed bitcoin ETF exposure of $70 million as well as board approval to buy $30 million in spot bitcoin (BTC).
“This Is The Way,” goes the title of an essay penned by Marty Bent, founder of Bitcoin media company TFTC and managing partner of Bitcoin Venture Firm Ten31.
“Figma is an incredibly well-run company, one of the darlings of Silicon Valley, and a product that every designer that I know uses in their day-to-day workflow,” wrote Bent. “The fact that the founders of Figma, their board, and their finance team had the foresight to get exposure to bitcoin ETFs and spot bitcoin is an incredibly bullish signal.”
Unlike the gusher of companies of late announcing bitcoin treasury strategies (nearly all with essentially no operating business), Figma is different in that it has an actual product that people use and love and is sweeping some of its profits into BTC.
Bent suspects that there are other privately run companies doing the same that will be going public in the coming 12-18 months.
“After a certain amount of these unsuspecting companies reveal that they have bitcoin on their corporate balance sheet, it will become table stakes for everybody else,” concluded Bent. “It will become 'unwise' to not have bitcoin on your balance sheet if you're a startup, even if you have nothing to do with bitcoin.”
Current price action
There's been some frustration from bitcoin bulls over the lack of upward price movement given unending headlines of buy pressure from publicly traded corporates and the spot ETFs.
Not making nearly as many headlines, though, is relentless selling pressure from long-term holders sitting on massive profits. Speaking with Bent, bitcoin analyst James Check estimated this selling peaked at a whopping 40,000 BTC per day.
That the market can absorb that sort of selling and remain above $107,000 should be thought of as terribly bullish, said Check, and not as evidence of price suppression via creation of paper bitcoin.
]]> NewsPolygon’s native token POL (previously MATIC) rose nearly 3% over the past 24 hours, outperforming the broader market, after establishing multiple support zones, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis data.
The token climbed from $0.184 to $0.189 with a trading range of $0.0082 (4.28%), reflecting constructive volatility patterns, according to the model.
The token built solid support foundations within the $0.183 to $0.184 corridor, where buyers consistently emerged. Exceptional volume activity up to 597,718 substantially surpassed the daily average of 189,000, indicating robust institutional engagement during rally phases and confirming successful penetration above $0.187 resistance, the model showed.
The technical landscape also shows progressive higher lows between $0.1890-$0.1892, indicating foundational support strength, while overhead resistance persists around $0.1897, establishing a compressed trading band that reflects market equilibrium before potential directional resolution.
The token outperformed the broader crypto market as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, which rose about 1.7% over the same period.
The move comes amid recent announcement of Polygon PoS’s consensus layer, Heimdall v2, landing 10 July 2025, according to the foundation's CEO. “This is the most technically complex hard-fork Polygon PoS has seen since it's launch in 2020,” he said in an X post.
]]> NewsBlockchain Technology Consensus Solutions (BTCS), a Nasdaq-listed firm with an Ethereum (ETH) treasury strategy, surged over 100% on Tuesday on a $100 million funding plan to acquire more ETH for its balance sheet.
The company aims to tap traditional and decentralized financial (DeFi) capital markets for the capital raise. It plans to use an existing, $250 million at-the-market (ATM) offering to sell equity, a convertible debt arrangement with ATW Partners and borrowing stablecoins on DeFi lending protocol Aave AAVE.
“We believe that Ethereum has significant growth potential and is central to the future digital financial infrastructure,” said CEO Charles Allen in a statement. “Our approach to capital formation has been – and continues to be – designed to minimize dilution, maximize flexibility, and align with our commitment to sound financial management for the protection of our shareholders.”
Public firms with crypto treasury strategies are all the rage on Wall Street, following the playbook of Michael Saylor's Strategy, the largest corporate bitcoin BTC holder in the world. The trend has expanded to Ethereum as well, with firms like Sharplink Gaming (SBET), Bitmine Immersion (BMNR), and Bit Digital (BTBT) announcing plans to acquire and hold ETH as a treasury asset and also participate in the network operating validators.
BTCS was a pioneer of this trend well before others have jumped on the bandwagon: it has been operating as a blockchain company since 2014 and starting to focus on Ethereum in 2021, buying ETH and operating validators. The firm held 14,600 ETH as of June, worth some $38 million at current prices.
Read more: Tom Lee's Bitmine Surges 3,000% Since ETH Treasury Strategy, but Sharplink's Plunge Warrants Caution
]]> NewsNEW YORK, New York — The judge overseeing the criminal case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm said Tuesday she will not allow the verdict in another, related case, Van Loon vs. Department of the Treasury, to be discussed during Storm’s upcoming trial.
“The words ‘Van Loon’ are not going to show up in this trial,” District Judge Katherine Polk Failla said during a Tuesday hearing in Manhattan.
The hearing — a final, in-person status conference before Storm’s trial begins on June 14 — largely focused on motions in limine (a type of pretrial motion to exclude certain evidence or arguments, in this case largely witness testimony, from being allowed during trial) from both prosecutors and Storm’s defense team. After hearing discussion from both sides, Failla decided to rule on some of the motions in limine on Tuesday afternoon, as well as during telephone conferences later this week.
Though the judge has not yet made up her mind on which witnesses will be allowed to testify during Storm’s trial, she was firm in her decision to preclude testimony about the Van Loon case, which concerned the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control’s (OFAC) ability to sanction Tornado Cash. After years of back and forth, OFAC delisted Tornado Cash in March. A federal judge in Texas then found that OFAC’s sanctioning of Tornado Cash was illegal and prohibited it from relisting the privacy tool in the future.
Read more: TORN Spikes 5% After US Appeals Court Okays End of Another Tornado Cash Lawsuit
Failla said her mind was not yet made up on whether to allow either side to discuss OFAC’s sanctions against Tornado Cash, expressing concern that it would confuse the jury.
Storm’s lawyers told the court that they’d prefer the sanctions to be excluded from witness testimony and closing arguments during trial, but prosecutors said that it would be difficult to navigate important evidence, such as Storm’s alleged behavior (including certain Google searches, selling $12 million worth of TORN tokens, and ceding control of Tornado Cash to a decentralized entity) after OFAC initially sanctioned Tornado Cash without discussion the sanctions themselves.
Though not made in a formal ruling, Failla urged both the defense and prosecution to limit their references to North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program. A key part of the government’s argument is that Tornado Cash facilitated money laundering for the Lazarus Group, North Korea’s state-sanctioned hacking group.
The trial, initially slated to run two weeks but now expected to go for a full month, will start on July 14 in Manhattan.
]]> NewsThe U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions watchdog added North Korean national Song Kum Hyok to its “Specially Designated Nationals” list, alleging he is “a malicious cyber actor” tied to a North Korean hacking group.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control moved to block Song from the global financial system on Tuesday, arguing he worked to place other North Korean officials in various companies as IT workers. These IT workers would then send funds back to North Korea and, in some cases, find ways of exploiting the companies they worked for to generate additional revenue.
The crypto industry has been hard-hit by these types of schemes, with numerous major thefts taking place as a result of efforts by North Korean hackers.
“The DPRK generates significant revenue through the deployment of IT workers who fraudulently gain employment with companies around the world, including in the technology and virtual currency industries,” Tuesday's release said.
Late last month, crypto investigator and analyst ZachXBT said “multiple projects … were exploited,” likely due to hiring North Korean IT workers as developers.
Though Tuesday's Treasury Department release mentioned past hacks of crypto projects, it did not name any specific ones or include any crypto wallets in its sanctions list. It did note that the department had previously sanctioned the Lazarus Group, which investigators have tied to various crypto hacks across the past several years, including the $625 million theft from Axie Infinity and this year's massive $1.5 billion hack of Bybit.
“DPRK IT workers often take on projects that involve virtual currency, and they use virtual currency exchanges and trading platforms to manage funds they receive for contract work as well as to launder and remit these funds to the DPRK,” the U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday.
'Illicit Revenue Generation'
Ari Redbord, the global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs, said the embedded IT workers “have served as on-ramps to both illicit revenue generation and eventual intrusion activity, particularly in the crypto space.”
“One notable aspect of today’s designation is the explicit reference to North Korean IT workers operating out of China and Russia,” he said, adding that this shows a “growing alignment” between the DPRK and certain jurisdictions.
“This action also fits into a broader pattern. In just the last month, Treasury has taken multiple steps targeting North Korea’s use of IT workers to funnel illicit proceeds back to Pyongyang often laundered through crypto exchanges and anonymized platforms,” he said.
“Song represents the operational layer behind those schemes: not the hacker, but the enabler. And that makes him just as important to disrupt. Building out networks has been a huge focus for Treasury over the last few months and this is another example of going after facilitators,” Redbord added
Read more: How North Korea Infiltrated the Crypto Industry
]]> NewsHedera’s native token, HBAR (HBAR), traded higher after being added to the Grayscale Smart Contract Platform Fund (GSC).
HBAR, up about 2% over the past 24-hour period, replaced polkadot (DOT) in the fund, which rebalanced on Monday.
The token was trading at $0.1614 at press time, up about 11% over the past seven days.
“In accordance with the CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index methodology, Grayscale has adjusted GSC Fund’s portfolio by selling Polkadot (DOT) and existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings, and using the cash proceeds to purchase Hedera (HBAR) and existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings,” Grayscale wrote in a statement Monday.
HBAR carries a 5.8% weight within the fund, with other additions, including ether (ETH), solana (SOL), cardano (ADA), sui (SUI), and avalanche (AVAX).
The token’s performance during the final trading hour illustrated sophisticated market dynamics, with a controlled 2% range suggesting professional money management rather than retail speculation.
Trading volumes of 77.7 million, 145.7 million and 97.5 million during afternoon hours substantially exceeded daily averages, indicating sophisticated market participants are accumulating positions ahead of potential enterprise announcements.
]]> NewsInsurance stands as one of finance’s foundational primitives—an essential scaffold that undergirds every major market from commodities to credit. Since the 1600s, no vibrant financial ecosystem has thrived without a robust insurance mechanism: market participants demand quantifiable measures of risk before committing capital.
Yet in decentralized finance(DeFi)’s first wave—lending, exchanges, derivatives—insurance remained an afterthought, implemented in rudimentary forms or absent altogether. As DeFi targets its next inflection point, embedding sophisticated, institution-grade insurance models will be critical to unlocking deep pools of capital and delivering enduring resilience.
A Brief History of Risk and Insurance
Modern insurance has a long history. In the 16th century, Gerolamo Cardano’s early treatises on games of chance pioneered probabilistic thinking, framing uncertainty in mathematical terms (eventually he would give his name to today’s blockchain).
In the mid-17th century, an epochal correspondence between Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat laid the empirical bedrock for probability theory, transforming chance from mysticism into a quantifiable science.
By the 19th century, Carl Friedrich Gauss’s formalization of the normal distribution enabled statisticians to model deviations around an expected value systematically—a breakthrough instrumental to actuarial science.
At the dawn of the 20th century, Louis Bachelier’s seminal work on the random walk of asset prices presaged modern quantitative finance, informing everything from option pricing to risk management.
Later in that century, Harry Markowitz’s portfolio theory reframed diversification as a quantitative process, offering a rigorous framework for balancing risk and return.
The Black-Scholes-Merton model further advanced the field by providing a tractable means to derive implied volatilities and price options—cornerstones of modern derivatives markets.
In recent decades, innovators like Paul Embrechts and Philippe Artzner enriched risk theory with copula statistical models and coherent risk measures, enabling the systematic capture of extreme tail risks and systemic dependencies.
Is DeFi Insurable?
Insurance requires four core prerequisites: diversified risk vectors, a risk premium exceeding capital costs, scalable pools of capital, and quantifiable exposures. DeFi clearly offers quantifiable hazards—protocol exploits, oracle manipulations, governance attacks—but challenges to insurability remain.
Early DeFi insurance initiatives struggled with limited actuarial sophistication, untested capital structures, and prohibitive premiums driven by the high opportunity cost of capital.
Moreover, DeFi’s rapid innovation cycle creates a shifting threat landscape: vulnerabilities in one protocol seldom translate neatly to another, and the speed of code changes outpaces traditional underwriters’ capacity to assess risk.
Overcoming these obstacles will require next-generation insurance architectures that can adapt dynamically to evolving hazard profiles. High Price Insurance Capital
At the heart of any insurance construct lies the cost of capital. DeFi insurance pools typically accept ETH, BTC, or stablecoins—assets that themselves generate on-chain yield via staking, lending, or liquidity provisions. Insurers must therefore offer returns above these native yields to attract underwriters, driving premiums upward. This results in a classic Catch-22: high premiums deter protocol teams, yet low capital costs undermine coverage capacity and solvent reserves.
To break this impasse, market architects must tap alternative capital sources. Institutional investors—pension funds, endowments, hedge funds—possess vast pools of capital with long-term horizons. By designing insurance products aligned to these investors’ risk-return benchmarks (e.g., structured tranches offering defined upside in exchange for taking first-loss positions), DeFi insurance constructs can achieve a sustainable cost of capital, balancing affordability with solvency.
The Law of Large Numbers Fails in DeFi
Jakob Bernoulli’s law of large numbers underpins classical insurance: as policy counts grow, actual loss ratios converge toward expected values, enabling precise actuarial pricing. Mortality tables by Edmond Halley and Abraham de Moivre epitomize this principle, translating population statistics into dependable premiums.
DeFi’s nascent ecosystem, however, features only a finite—and often correlated—set of protocols. Catastrophic events such as multi-protocol oracle manipulations expose systemic dependencies that violate independence assumptions.
Instead of relying solely on volume, DeFi insurance must employ layered diversification: reinsurance agreements across independent risk pools, capital tranching to allocate losses by seniority, and parametric triggers that automate coverage payouts based on on-chain metrics (e.g., price slippage thresholds, oracle deviation tolerances). Such architectures can approximate the smoothing benefits achieved by traditional insurers.
Challenges Quantifying DeFi Risk
Quantitative risk modeling in DeFi remains in its formative stages. With only a handful of years of historical data and immense heterogeneity across smart-contract platforms, extrapolating risk from one protocol to another carries significant uncertainty. Past exploits—on Venus, Bancor or Compound—yield forensic insights but limited predictive power for novel vulnerabilities in emerging protocols such as Aave v3 or Uniswap v4.
Building robust DeFi risk frameworks demands hybrid approaches: integrating on-chain analytics for real-time exposure tracking, formal security verification of smart-contract code, oracles for external event validation, and comprehensive stress-tests against simulated attack vectors.
Machine-learning models can augment these methods—clustering protocols by code patterns, transaction behaviors, or governance structures—yet must be guarded against overfitting sparse data. Collaborative risk consortia, where protocol teams and insurers share anonymized data on exploits and failure modes, could create a richer data foundation for next-generation models.
Toward an Institutional DeFi Insurance Market
At its current scale, DeFi beckons for a reliable insurance primitive. Embedding sophisticated, scalable insurance solutions will not only shield capital but also translate abstract hazards—flash loan attacks, governance exploits, oracle failures—into measurable financial exposures. By aligning product design with institutional risk appetites, leveraging layered diversification, and advancing quantitative risk models, a vibrant DeFi insurance market could unlock previously inaccessible capital pools.
Such an ecosystem promises deeper liquidity, enhanced counterparty confidence, and broader participation—from family offices to sovereign wealth funds—transforming DeFi from an experimental frontier into a cornerstone of global finance.
]]> OpinionMemecoin FLOKI rockets 12.1% in a 24-hour session, blasting from $0.0000815 to $0.0000915 on massive volume, while the broader CoinDesk 20 market index gained only 1.4%.
Trading range hit $0.0000136, representing 16.8% volatility, in accelerated price action, specifically around the 13:00-16:00 UTC window on July 8.
FLOKI smashed through multiple resistance barriers, according to the model. The volume exploded to 274.1 billion tokens at 16:00 UTC, which is five times the 24-hour average of 58.4 billion.
Strong volume support materialized at $0.0000851 level during the 12:00-13:00 UTC timeframe. This established launch pad for a breakout above $0.0000880 resistance. This sustained upward momentum, combined with elevated trading volumes, signals institutional accumulation and potential bullish sentiment.
The move comes amid news of FLOKI officially launching Valhalla last month, a blockchain-based game inspired by Norse mythology. The play-to-earn economy of the game is built around FLOKI tokens, which players earn by completing in-game tasks and winning battles.
Technical analysis highlights
- Price rockets from $0.000082 to $0.000092 representing 12% gain over 24-hour period, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis data.
- Volume spikes hit 274.1 billion tokens at 16:00, nearly five times the average.
- Critical resistance break above $0.000088 level with strong volume confirmation.
- Support established at $0.000085 level during 12:00-13:00 consolidation phase.
- New session high of $0.000092 achieved during final hour rally.
- Sustained buying pressure maintained above $0.000090 psychological level.
Internet Computer (ICP) delivered a solid recovery on Tuesday, climbing 1% after encountering early selling pressure.
The rebound from intraday lows showcased the asset’s structural strength and growing buyer conviction at key technical levels.
After slipping early in the European morning, ICP found support near the $4.72 mark, where trading activity intensified and buyers stepped in aggressively. This level now stands as a high-conviction support zone, marking a potential base for further upside, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis data.
The price stabilized above this threshold and gradually climbed toward previous highs, suggesting the presence of accumulation and reinforcing bullish sentiment.
Volume trends surrounding the reversal were notably elevated, indicating institutional participation and strong reaction at support. The strength of the bounce and sustained recovery suggest that ICP remains on solid footing technically, even amid broader market fluctuations.
With bullish continuation patterns emerging and no immediate overhead resistance reasserting itself, ICP may be poised to challenge recent highs. Traders and long-term holders alike may look to the resilience at $4.72 as a foundation for the next move higher.
Technical Analysis Highlights
- ICP posted a 1% daily gain after rebounding.
- The $4.72 level emerged as a clearly defined support zone following high-volume accumulation.
- Elevated buy-side activity signaled strong conviction among traders during the recovery.
- Short-term resistance levels were tested and overcome without significant retracement.
- The market structure remains favorable for potential bullish continuation in the coming days.
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.
]]> NewsBioSig Technologies (BSGM), a medical-technology company fresh off a merger with tokenization firm Streamex, said it signed definitive agreements for up to $1.1 billion in financing to fund a gold-backed treasury model and scale its tokenization platform for real-world assets (RWAs) like gold and other commodities.
The capital raise includes $100 million in senior secured convertible debentures and a $1 billion equity line of credit. The debentures accrue 4% interest and are convertible into common shares, giving holders the rights to a sizable equity position. Under the equity line of credit, the firm may issue new shares and sell up to $1 billion of common stock to investors for up 36 months.
BSGM shares plunged as much as 43% to $6.54 on Tuesday following the announcement, perhaps on concerns about potential shareholder dilution. The price stabilized later around $9, down 20% during the day. The company's market capitalization is about $1 billion at current prices, according to Yahoo Finance data. Still, it is up roughly 600% since the two firms announced their merger on May 5.
Gold treasury strategy
A slew of companies have recently said they are pivoting to a crypto treasury strategy, raising capital by selling shares and issuing debt and investing in tokens like bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum's ether (ETH).
BioSig is taking a different approach. The merged entity is positioning itself as a gold treasury company while betting on the red-hot tokenization trend. Tokenized assets, or traditional instruments like stocks, funds and commodities on blockchain rails, are projected to become a multitrillion dollar market over the next years, reports by BCG, McKinsey and Standard Chartered said.
The company plans to hold physical gold through a top-tier bullion bank and denominate much of its balance sheet in the yellow metal rather than fiat currency.
Meanwhile, Streamex plans to issue tokens backed by gold and other commodities through its platform built on the Solana (SOL) blockchain.
“By combining the value of physical gold with the innovation of blockchain, we are building a company grounded in what we believe to be the world’s most trusted store of value while enabling a scalable, high-return business model through tokenization,” BioSig CEO and Streamex co-founder Henry McPhie said in a statement.
“Our mission is to unlock liquidity, transparency, and accessibility across the $142 trillion commodities market, and this milestone is just the beginning,” he added.
Read more: Tokenized Gold Surges Above $2B Market Cap as Tariff Fears Spark Safe Haven Trade
]]> NewsJerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Chair, faces a fierce barrage from a coalition of high-profile figures threatening his tenure, which extends to May 2026.
Over the past two weeks, President Donald Trump, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, congressional allies and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have all escalated attacks, accusing Powell of mismanagement, political bias and deceptive conduct.
The crypto community, keenly watching, faces uncertainty as this coalition challenges Powell’s future and the Fed’s independence.
Are Powell’s days as Fed Chair numbered, or can he withstand this unprecedented storm?
Trump’s long-standing feud
Trump, who nominated Powell in 2017, has reignited a feud that began in his first term when he criticized rate hikes as harmful to growth. He publicly considered firing Powell in 2019, a stance that escalated after his November 2024 re-election.
On June 27, Trump called Powell a “stubborn mule,” accusing him of costing “hundreds of billions” by refusing to cut interest rates, currently at 4.25% – 4.5%. A handwritten note, publicized by Leavitt on June 30, demanded rate reductions, citing lower rates in Japan and China.
The Federal Reserve is an independent entity. While the President nominates the board members and Congress confirms them, the board is meant to operate autonomously based on its own analyses of fiscal matters. Moreover, rate decisions are decided through a majority vote by the Fed's Board of Governors, not any single member — including the chair.
On July 3, Trump urged Powell’s immediate resignation in a Truth Social post, alleging misconduct tied to the Fed’s $2.5 billion headquarters renovation (the project began long before Powell took over as the Fed Chair in 2018). Despite occasional denials of firing plans, Trump’s mention of successors like Kevin Warsh or Christopher Waller signals an intent to reshape the Fed’s leadership.
The roots of this conflict trace to Trump’s first term, when he labeled Powell a bigger “enemy” than Xi Jinping in 2019, frustrated by rate hikes that slowed economic growth.
After winning re-election on Nov. 5, 2024, Trump intensified pressure, with advisers like Kevin Hassett exploring firing options after Powell refused to resign.
Pulte’s housing critique
FHFA Director Bill Pulte has fiercely criticized Powell’s high-rate policies as a threat to the housing market.
On July 2, he demanded a congressional investigation, alleging that Powell’s June 25 Senate testimony about the Fed’s renovation of its headquarters in Washington, D.C. was “deceptive” and grounds for removal “for cause.” Supported by Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Pulte claimed Powell misrepresented features like a VIP dining room. His X posts on June 24 and June 28 accused Powell of political bias and inventing tariff-driven inflation risks, worsening housing unaffordability with mortgage rates at 6.6% – 7%. Powell has said characterizations of “luxury” renovations were not accurate.
Broadening the campaign
Republican Senators Rick Scott and Tommy Tuberville have amplified the pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, targeting his leadership’s economic impact.
On April 28, Scott criticized Powell for overseeing an “unaccountable Fed” that he said lost over $2 trillion and sought $2.5 billion for a lavish headquarters, urging accountability for what he described as reckless spending. On June 17, he condemned Powell’s “horrible decisions” that burdened taxpayers while Fed compensation outpaced public wages, implying Powell supported policies that hindered growth. Tuberville has repeatedly called for Powell’s firing, for example, on June 24.
On July 2, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) signaled openness to scrutinizing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, responding to FHFA Director Bill Pulte’s call for a congressional investigation into Powell’s leadership. According to a report by Fox Business, while speaking to Bloomberg, Jordan noted that while no specific plans for an investigation had been discussed, “everything is on the table” for oversight, emphasizing the House Judiciary Committee’s constitutional duty to oversee the executive and judicial branches.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a potential Powell successor, advised on June 30 and July 3 about nominating a new Fed governor in January 2026 or a new Chair in May 2026 when Powell’s term ends. Warning against attempts to fire Powell due to market risks, like a 15% selloff in April 2025 tied to Trump’s tariffs, Bessent’s rate-cut support aligns with the administration’s push.
Powell’s steadfast defense
Powell’s position is, however, fortified by legal protections.
The Federal Reserve Act allows removal only “for cause,” like gross misconduct, reinforced by a recent Supreme Court ruling shielding the Fed from arbitrary dismissal. Since Trump’s 2018 attacks, Powell has dismissed political pressure as “noise,” reaffirming data-driven policy.
The Fed has held rates at 4.25% – 4.5%, citing Trump’s tariffs as a source of inflationary pressure, which is expected to push Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation toward 3% in 2025, requiring cautious policy to maintain 2% long-term expectations.
At the June 18 FOMC press conference, Powell justified holding rates at 4.25% – 4.5%, citing tariff-driven inflation risks that could push PCE inflation to 3% in 2025 while emphasizing the need for summer data to assess consumer price pass-through.
Powell noted the economy’s strength — 4.2% unemployment and 2.5% private domestic growth — supports a cautious approach, but he acknowledged potential tension between employment and price stability if tariffs cause persistent inflation.
He stressed keeping long-term inflation expectations anchored at 2% to avoid sustained price increases and, when asked about political insults, focused solely on delivering a “good, solid American economy.”
The renovation controversy lacks evidence for removal, but talk of a “shadow chair” could undermine Powell’s authority, creating a lame-duck scenario.
A precarious path forward
This coalition’s campaign — Trump’s fiery rhetoric, Pulte’s housing critiques, Leavitt’s amplification, congressional scrutiny , and Bessent’s succession plans — creates a precarious environment. While legal protections shield Powell, the administration’s push for a 2026 replacement could render him a lame duck.
Whether Powell can navigate this storm while preserving Fed independence remains uncertain, but his days, though not immediately numbered, are far from secure.
]]> NewsVenture capital firm (VC) firm ego death capital, which focuses on Bitcoin BTC (and Bitcoin only)-based projects, has closed its second fund, totaling $100 million.
Ego death capital's Fund II will lead Series A investments of between $3 million-$8 million backing projects building on Bitcoin to solve real-world problems, according to an emailed announcement on Tuesday.
“We’re investing in businesses that treat Bitcoin not as a trade, but as infrastructure – something to build on, not bet on,” ego general partner Lyn Alden said in a statement.
Ego's existing portfolio companies include bitcoin self-custody application Relai and bitcoin-built securities exchange Roxom.
By focusing exclusively on projects building on the world's original blockchain, ego said it is trying to appeal to investors who want to cut through the hype of different chains and tokens and focus solely on the oldest and most established crypto that still consistently constitutes over 60% of the $3+ trillion digital asset industry.
]]> NewsNEAR Protocol rallies 3% in 24-hour session ending July 8 at 14:00 UTC. Token climbs from $2.12 low to $2.19 close. Support holds firm at $2.13 level.
Buyers step in during overnight volatility. Volume spikes to 2.55 million units during 01:00-02:00 bounce. Price action confirms $2.13 as critical support zone.
Trading range spans $0.07, signaling healthy price discovery. Resistance breaks at $2.18 before final push to session highs. Final hour shows explosive momentum from 13:05 to 14:04 UTC.
NEAR jumps from $2.18 to $2.19 peak. Token gains 0.5% in 60-minute window. Multiple support retests at $2.17 level hold strong. Volume surges to 56,437 units at 13:42 breakout. Price smashes through $2.18 resistance barrier.
Technical analysis
- $2.13 support level proves resilient with consistent buyer emergence.
- Volume surge hits 2.55 million units during critical support bounce.
- $0.07 trading range confirms healthy price discovery mechanism.
- $2.18 resistance zone breaks after multiple tests.
- Support retests at $2.17 level show technical strength.
- Breakout volume spikes to 56,437 units at 13:42 UTC.
- New session highs established above $2.18 resistance threshold.
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.
]]> NewsSequans Communications’ (SQNS) surged more than 40% after the wireless-chip designer closed a $384 million private placement with plans to spend the bulk of that in bitcoin (BTC).
The deal combined a $195 million sale of American depositary shares (ADS) and warrants at $1.40 with $189 million of five-year secured convertible debentures priced at a 4% discount, according to a press release.
The France-based company's ADSs rose to $2.01 on Nasdaq after the announcement.
Investors can convert at $2.10 per American depositary share and, if all warrants are exercised, Sequans could net another $57.6 million, with the funds also being earmarked for bitcoin purchases.
CEO Georges Karam said the company sees the asset enhancing its financial resilience and creating long-term value. Sequans designs low-power 4G and 5G modems used in smart meters, asset trackers and industrial sensors.
Swan Bitcoin will source and custody the coins while Northland Capital Markets and B. Riley Securities handled the financing.
The move sees Sequans join a growing list of publicly traded firms adopting bitcoin as their primary treasury reserve asset. A total of 852,309 BTC are currently held by these firms, according to Bitcointreasuries data.
The bulk of those coins are held by Strategy (MSTR), which has 597,325 BTC on its balance sheet. It’s followed by MARA Holdings (MARA) with 50,000 BTC and XXI, with 37,230 BTC.
]]> News