News linked to both this project and an event.
According to The Block, JPMorgan Chase Co-Head of Global Payments Umar Farooq and CEO of Digital Assets and Blockchain Solutions Peter Muriungi jointly published an article calling for the United States to establish a comprehensive digital asset regulatory framework as soon as possible. The two executives did not directly name the Clarity Act but clearly opposed the legalization of yield-bearing stablecoins, warning they could evolve into "shadow banking," triggering bank run risks and undermining financial stability. The article emphasized that stablecoins should adhere to the same regulatory standards as traditional deposit products, and digital asset innovation should advance within the existing securities and banking rules framework.
Binance founder CZ stated that the company's MiCA license application in Greece fully met regulatory requirements before its withdrawal and was close to approval. However, the process was ultimately disrupted due to the intervention of "external political factors."In an interview, CZ mentioned that several countries within the EU had expressed interest in the license, with some even showing a degree of "competitive pursuit." Ultimately, the regulatory progress was affected by factors outside the regulatory sphere, forcing the withdrawal of the application. Binance formally withdrew its Greek application last week and stated it would pursue MiCA authorization in other EU member states. Addressing market rumors linking him to high-level EU political figures, CZ said he had not seen any verifiable documents and had only encountered similar claims online, which he could not confirm.CZ also noted that the MiCA transitional period in the EU is set to end on July 1st. After that date, platforms without a license must cease related services. National regulatory bodies have made it clear there will be no extensions. He described the outcome as a "lose-lose situation" and, citing the regulatory histories of Japan and Singapore, emphasized that compliance processes often require a longer cycle.Furthermore, when discussing Strategy's STRC preferred stock product, CZ described its structure as "too complex" and said he found it difficult to fully understand its mechanism. However, he stressed that he was not making a judgment on the credibility of its founder, Michael Saylor, whom he considers a "staunch Bitcoin supporter." (The Block)
blockchain IP project Story Protocol has announced its transition into the DATA Foundation, shifting its core focus from general intellectual property (IP) infrastructure to an AI training data network. This move addresses the rapidly growing demand for "licensable and traceable training data."Alongside this transition, the project launched a new product called Trace. As an on-chain AI training data registration and auditing system, Trace generates verifiable on-chain "contribution certificates" for each piece of data. These certificates record the source, licensing terms, user consent, and payment information, helping AI model trainers confirm data compliance and traceability. (The Block)
According to The Block, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission fined cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb 210 million Korean won (approximately USD 136,000) for transferring users’ personal information to overseas platforms without obtaining adequate user consent.
According to The Block, Ripple’s USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD has received regulatory approval from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) and has officially launched in Japan, classified as a “new type of electronic payment instrument” under the Payment Services Act. The stablecoin is available to institutional and retail users via SBI VC Trade, the cryptocurrency platform operated by Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings.
According to Odaily, within the ten days leading up to the World Cup, Polymarket's soccer category trading volume exceeded $2 billion, a 300% increase compared to the previous ten days. The average daily trading volume rose from $53 million before the tournament to approximately $220 million. Meanwhile, last Thursday, Kalshi's open interest reached a record $1.16 billion, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the first time and growing 350% since the beginning of the year.Although Polymarket's open interest levels remained relatively stable during the World Cup, the open interest on Polymarket's U.S. branch only saw moderate growth, failing to reach the highs from April 2026. Kalshi's open interest has grown faster than its trading volume, indicating that its user base holds positions for longer periods and has established larger directional positions. Its CFTC-regulated channel and direct USD deposit gateway have attracted U.S. institutions and high-net-worth dollar investors. (The Block)
this week that Kalshi has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Governor JB Pritzker, and other state officials.Kalshi stated that the state's budget bill, SB3019, which requires prediction market platforms to obtain state-level licenses and is set to take effect on July 1, conflicts with the federal preemption provision of the Commodity Exchange Act, putting it in a position of either violating federal or state law. According to Kalshi, if it ceases to offer sports event contracts in Illinois to comply with the bill, it would violate the uniformity requirements of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and harm its business interests. Kalshi has requested the court to grant a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, and a permanent injunction to prevent Illinois from enforcing the law. (The Block)
Ink, an Ethereum Layer 2 network incubated by Kraken, has reached a multi-year infrastructure agreement with Optimism, upgrading to OP Enterprise Fully Managed.Under the agreement, Optimism will be responsible for running Ink's production infrastructure, while the Ink Foundation will focus on ecosystem growth and new financial products. Additionally, Ink will serve as a deep design partner for OP Enterprise, jointly advancing roadmap plans including programmable block construction, one-day Ethereum withdrawals, and sequencer-level compliance tools.Currently, applications built on the Ink network generate nearly $40 million in annual revenue. This partnership makes Ink another exchange-related blockchain network to join the fully managed layer service, following Bitpanda's Vision Chain. (The Block)
According to The Block, four major U.S. law enforcement organizations—the National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Sheriffs’ Association—jointly wrote to the Department of Justice and the White House, warning that Section 604 of the “Clarity Act” (i.e., the “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act”) contains regulatory loopholes. This provision offers a “safe harbor” exemption for non-custodial developers; law enforcement agencies contend that it could shield individuals or entities assisting in the transfer of crypto assets, hinder investigations and prosecutions of crypto-related crimes, and weaken the existing anti-money laundering framework.
Odaily, the decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol THORChain has resumed trading after being down for over five weeks following a May attack. Signing, swapping, liquidity provider operations, and redemptions have all been restored.On May 15, blockchain investigator ZachXBT and security firm PeckShield identified that the protocol had likely been exploited, prompting THORChain to halt trading. The vulnerability resulted in a loss of approximately $10.7 million from one of its six Asgard vaults, while the other five vaults were unaffected.THORChain stated that each vault has now been verified, and every key share has been cross-checked. Native Monero swaps are currently undergoing end-to-end testing and will be launched subsequently. (The Block)
Range, a stablecoin compliance startup, announced the completion of an $8.3 million Series A funding round, with participation from TX Ventures, SixThirty, Maven 11 Capital, Onigiri Capital, and others. The project's total funding to date has reached $11 million.Range provides a unified platform for companies operating both stablecoins and fiat currencies. Its core products include Unify, a real-time ledger system, and Protect, an on-chain transaction screening tool. Its clients include Circle, Solana Foundation, Stellar, Squads, and Jupiter, among others. The funds from this round will be used to expand the Unify and Protect products, grow the engineering and business development teams, and increase integrations and network coverage. (The Block)
stablecoin payment infrastructure company Trace Finance has completed a $32 million Series A funding round, led by CoinFund with participation from Coinbase Ventures and others. Trace Finance plans to use this round of financing to expand its business in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region and to advance more license applications. The company stated that it has processed over $10 billion in institutional cross-border transaction volume. (The Block)
CJ Hetherington, co-founder and CEO of prediction market platform Limitless Labs, stated that he does not believe the prediction market industry will see a single dominant monopoly player. He draws a parallel to the offshore perpetual contract market, where even leading platforms have never long-term held over 90% market share. Core trading volume in the derivatives market comes from market makers and high-frequency traders, who typically operate across multiple platforms to exploit spreads for arbitrage, structurally limiting market concentration.CJ Hetherington cited Binance’s perpetual contracts as an example, noting that its market share once approached 50% but was gradually diverted by other trading platforms, leading to a multi-platform coexistence pattern. He argues that prediction markets will follow a similar path rather than a "winner-takes-all" outcome.Hetherington pointed out that future industry distribution will primarily be conducted through brokers and futures commission merchants, with institutions like Robinhood, Interactive Brokers, and Charles Schwab competing in distribution. Fees and marketing will become the core of consumer-side competition. However, the U.S. regulatory framework is an "advantage rather than an obstacle" for the prediction market industry, as CFTC oversight helps reduce contract disputes, enhance transparency, and is also more suitable for institutional participation. (The Block)
Bitcoin continues to face pressure amid macroeconomic uncertainty and institutional wait-and-see sentiment, hovering around $64,500, down approximately 2% on the day. The market is awaiting the outcome of the Fed FOMC meeting, which will be chaired by Kevin Warsh for the first time, with widespread expectations that interest rates will remain unchanged in the 3.50%–3.75% range.Analysts point out that the focus of this meeting has shifted from "whether to cut rates" to "policy path and inflation signals." Current US inflation is believed to remain near three-year highs, with energy prices and geopolitical developments keeping the market cautious about the future policy direction.Pressure is also emerging simultaneously on the chain and institutional levels. Structural concerns surrounding Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) continue to escalate, with its preferred stock STRC falling to $91.79 on June 16, over 8% below its $100 par value, seen as a sign of weakening corporate Bitcoin buying power.Although spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of approximately $10.1 million on June 16, with BlackRock's IBIT contributing the majority, the capital scale remains significantly lower than in previous periods, indicating limited buying momentum.Market research firms Bitfinex and QCP note that the recent Bitcoin rebound appears more like a "technical recovery driven by exhausted selling pressure" rather than being fueled by new demand. In the derivatives market, rising implied volatility in options and a skew towards put protection suggest traders are pricing in tail risks.In terms of price structure, Bitcoin is considered to be oscillating in the short term within the $60,000 to $68,000 range. If the Fed signals a hawkish stance or institutional buying weakens further, a pullback to the $62,000–$63,000 range is possible.Overall, the current market presents a combination of "macro wait-and-see, marginal institutional weakening, and heightened derivatives defense." The short-term direction still depends on FOMC policy signals and the potential return of ETF and corporate capital flows. (The Block)
Benchmark has maintained a "Buy" rating for Coinbase with a $270 price target, implying approximately 59.5% upside from its Tuesday closing price of $169.27. The firm noted that Coinbase's latest "System Update" indicates it is accelerating its transformation from a crypto trading platform into an "everything exchange" that bridges traditional finance and the on-chain economy.Analyst Mark Palmer stated that this product update covers tokenized stocks, stock and crypto options, pre-IPO perpetual contracts, prediction markets, AI-driven investment tools, agent payment infrastructure, and retail financial products, signaling the continuous expansion of its business boundaries.Key progress highlighted by Benchmark also includes: the U.S. CFTC's approval for it to operate as a regulated Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), global derivatives capabilities obtained through the acquisition of Deribit, and integrating crypto perpetuals and options into a compliant framework, thereby achieving cross-market liquidity consolidation.Furthermore, the company's strategic moves in the Base ecosystem, prediction markets, and AI agent payments are also seen as key signals of its evolution from "spot crypto trading" to a comprehensive on-chain financial infrastructure. (The Block)
According to The Block, Australia’s High Court unanimously ruled that Block Earner’s previously launched fixed-income digital asset product, Earner, qualifies as a regulated financial product, requiring providers to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). The court upheld the appeal filed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and overturned the lower court’s earlier ruling, which had been more favorable to Block Earner.
According to The Block, U.S. Senate and House leaders jointly released an updated version of the “Pathway to 21st Century Housing Act,” confirming a bipartisan agreement between both chambers. The bill’s core focus is housing affordability reform, including expanding housing supply and curbing market monopolization by corporate landlords. Notably, an attached provision explicitly prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or any “substantially similar” digital asset before December 31, 2030—a clause spearheaded by Republican members of the House. The Trump administration maintains a consistent stance: Treasury Secretary Bessent has previously stated unequivocally that a CBDC is “not under consideration.” The bill will first undergo a procedural vote in the Senate and is expected to be submitted to the House for consideration after Congress resumes on June 23, following its recess; it will then proceed to the President for signature.
According to The Block, industry groups including the American Gaming Association (AGA) and the National Indian Gaming Association jointly sent a letter to the U.S. Senate urging explicit prohibition in the crypto market structure legislation—the “Clarity Act”—of prediction market contracts tied to sporting events and casino-style games. The letter states that such platforms circumvent state and tribal laws by branding themselves as “federally regulated financial products,” thereby weakening consumer protections and posing risks to young users. It further emphasizes that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is not the appropriate regulator for sports betting. The Clarity Act has already passed the Senate Banking Committee and will next proceed to a full Senate vote.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto project backed by the Trump family, is expected to receive approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a national trust bank in the near future. Two former OCC employees who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that the application is almost certain to be approved.World Liberty Financial established a U.S. trust company in January of this year and submitted an application to the OCC. Obtaining a federal trust bank charter would allow the project to issue and redeem its USD1 stablecoin, manage reserves, provide digital asset custody, and offer conversion and settlement services under a single federal regulatory body, without relying on third-party intermediaries. Currently, the project's intermediary institution is BitGo. (The Block)
According to The Block, State Street has launched the State Street Stablecoin Reserves Money Market Fund (SSCXX), an asset management tool for stablecoin issuers’ reserves. This fund is a Rule 2a-7 government money market fund that primarily invests in cash, short-term U.S. Treasury securities, repurchase agreements, and other cash equivalents, aiming to preserve principal, provide daily liquidity, and maintain a stable $1.00 net asset value per share.