This page lists the latest Bitcoin news and market analysis. Browse articles, expert insights, and updates in this category on JrKripto. Stay informed with in-depth coverage of cryptocurrency trends and developments.
News
Bitcoin News
Browse all Bitcoin related articles and news. The latest news, analysis, and insights on Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin and Ethereum options market has shifted its focus back to price dynamics following the weekly expiry. Contracts with a combined notional value of $2.1 billion expired, with both assets trading below their respective maximum pain levels.Bitcoin and ETH Options ExpireBitcoin and Ethereum options contracts dated June 19 expired with a combined notional value exceeding $2.1 billion. According to data shared by Adam, a macro researcher at Greeks.live, approximately 31,000 BTC options expired with a put-call ratio of 0.78, a maximum pain point of $65,000 and a notional value of $1.9 billion.Meanwhile, 138,000 ETH options expired on the same day. These contracts had a put-call ratio of 1.03, a maximum pain point of $1,725 and a notional value of $230 million. Calls Still Dominate Overall Open InterestThe broader open interest picture tells a slightly different story. Bitcoin has 284,786.70 call contracts and 182,440.60 put contracts outstanding, bringing the overall put-call ratio to 0.64.Ethereum has 1,432,297 call contracts and 800,389 put contracts, leaving its ratio at 0.56. While selling pressure was more visible in the daily expiry, calls continue to dominate across the broader market.A significant share of this open interest is concentrated on a single date. Contracts expiring on June 26 account for 35.09% of total Bitcoin open interest and 44.67% of Ethereum open interest. Adam said next week’s quarterly expiry will cover approximately 15% of total open interest.Prices Remain Below Maximum Pain LevelsAccording to Adam, Bitcoin attempted to recover toward $67,000 this week, but the move lacked sufficient momentum. The market’s buying capacity remained limited amid institutional selling pressure.Both BTC and ETH are currently trading below their respective maximum pain levels and continue to fluctuate around these ranges.This week’s expiry represents approximately 6.5% of total open interest. The figure is lower than last week’s level and remains within the average range recorded in recent periods.Gamma Concentration Sits Between $60,000 and $63,000The options structure shows gamma exposure, or GEX, concentrated between $60,000 and $63,000. These positions will expire over the next two weeks and could affect price action through released margin or changes in implied volatility.The skew indicator also remains in negative territory, suggesting that market participants are still seeking protection against a potential decline.MicroStrategy Pressure Weakens Market ConfidenceAdam identified MicroStrategy’s continued coin sales and the discount affecting its shares as two major factors weakening market confidence and making fresh capital inflows more difficult.Market sentiment remains subdued for now.
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at its first meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh, but delivered a more hawkish message than expected. The impact was immediate: Bitcoin declined for a third consecutive day, institutional money began flowing out of exchange-traded funds, and the relief rally triggered in equities by the peace agreement with Iran failed to reach the crypto market.Fed Decision and Warsh’s First TestThe Federal Open Market Committee unanimously voted on Wednesday to keep its policy rate unchanged within the 3.50%-3.75% range. Markets had already priced in the decision; the surprise came elsewhere.The committee raised its inflation forecasts and slowed the projected pace of interest rate cuts compared with its March outlook. Nine of the 18 members even raised the possibility of a rate hike this year. The median projection placed the policy rate at 3.8% by the end of 2026, a significant increase from the 3.4% forecast in March.Matt Mena, senior crypto research strategist at 21Shares, said the decision carried unusual weight despite being widely expected because it marked Warsh’s first meeting as Fed chair. Mena noted that the real signal came from the updated projections, which showed that policymakers remained concerned about inflation despite easing geopolitical tensions and falling energy prices.The meeting also provided the first clues about Warsh’s communication style. Unlike statements issued during the Jerome Powell era, the document was kept notably brief and excluded the forward-guidance language Powell used throughout his tenure. Warsh said the format was designed to present “the facts” rather than steer market expectations.Broad-Based Selling Hits the MarketThe crypto market’s reaction was swift and widespread. Bitcoin slipped below the $64,000 level following the decision and traded between $63,800 and $63,900. That range corresponds to the midpoint of the rally it had built over the previous 11 days. Ethereum declined by between 3% and 3.6%, falling as low as $1,733. XRP dropped nearly 4% to $1.17, while Solana lost between 3% and 3.6% and traded at around $71.Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, the week’s standout performer, recorded the sharpest decline. After reaching an all-time high the previous day, HYPE fell nearly 7% to the $69-$72 range. The token nevertheless remains up by around 28% on a weekly basis. Tron was the only major cryptocurrency to finish the session in positive territory.The GMCI 30 Index, which tracks the 30 largest cryptocurrencies, declined by 2.6%, bringing its year-to-date loss close to 36%. Selling pressure extended beyond crypto; gold fell by 2.2%, while silver declined by nearly 4%.Iran Agreement Lifted Stocks, but Not CryptoAnother major development announced on the same day directed market attention elsewhere. US President Donald Trump signed an interim agreement that ended the war with Iran and reopened the Strait of Hormuz.Equity markets welcomed the news. S&P 500 futures rose by 0.9%, while Nasdaq futures gained 1.5%. Brent crude fell toward $78.Crypto assets failed to benefit from the relief. The divergence suggests that the market is currently responding more strongly to the Fed’s policy stance than to geopolitical developments.ETF Outflows Signal Waning Institutional DemandThe institutional picture became even clearer. US spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs returned to net outflows on Wednesday. According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin funds recorded $82 million in net withdrawals, while Ethereum funds lost $29 million.The outflows were broad-based. BlackRock’s IBIT recorded $31 million in withdrawals, while ARKB lost $44 million. Every Ethereum ETF ended the day with net outflows.The move suggests that institutional buying, which helped fuel the recovery rally in recent weeks, has paused for now. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has remained around $2.26 trillion since Tuesday’s close, while expectations for interest rate cuts, one of the rally’s main drivers, have largely faded.Gerry O’Shea, head of global market insights at Hashdex, said Bitcoin is likely to remain confined to a $60,000-$70,000 range in the coming weeks unless a major catalyst emerges. According to O’Shea, developments such as the signing of the CLARITY Act, which would regulate the structure of the crypto market, or a further easing of tensions between the US and Iran could provide the trigger needed to break that range.O’Shea also said that recent initial public offerings and artificial intelligence stocks have diverted attention away from the crypto market. However, he expects capital to return as institutional participation grows and regulatory rules become clearer.
The Royal Government of Bhutan transferred 533 BTC, worth $34.5 million, to Binance. According to data tracked by onchain analytics platform Arkham, the transaction was completed in multiple batches, showing that the country’s outflows over recent months are continuing without slowing down.Transfer Completed in Multiple BatchesThe transfers were made from a wallet labeled as belonging to Druk Holding & Investments (DHI), Bhutan’s state-owned investment arm, to a Binance deposit address. According to Arkham data, the largest single transaction involved 227.194 BTC, worth approximately $14.7 million, while another transfer contained 48.228 BTC valued at $3.1 million. The remaining amount was divided into smaller transactions ranging from fractional Bitcoin amounts to 2 BTC, all sent to the same address. The fact that the transfers were completed in several consecutive batches rather than as a single transaction has strengthened speculation that the movement was part of a planned liquidation process.Bhutan has been making similar transfers for months. Last month, Arkham reported that the government sent 100.44 BTC, worth $8.2 million, to an unlabeled address. At the time, the platform said total outflows from Bhutan-linked wallets had exceeded $230 million since the beginning of 2026.This figure suggests that Bhutan has transferred significant amounts of Bitcoin to exchanges or unlabeled wallets nearly every month since the start of the year.The government has not issued any statement regarding the latest transfer. In a post shared on X on Wednesday, Arkham announced the transaction and asked whether the Bhutanese government was selling Bitcoin. Bhutanese officials have also avoided directly answering similar questions in the past and have not provided clear information about the nature of these wallet movements.Reserves Fall From a Peak of 13,000 BTCBhutan now holds 1,749.96 BTC, representing a decline of approximately 11,250 BTC from its peak of 13,000 BTC in October 2024. This means the country’s reserves have fallen by nearly 86% from their highest level.The total value of the government’s wallets is estimated at $113.7 million, including 1.034 ETH worth approximately $1,820.While most nation-states acquired their Bitcoin reserves through seizures, Bhutan followed a different path by operating hydroelectric-powered mining facilities. The small Himalayan kingdom directed its surplus electricity generation capacity toward Bitcoin mining, becoming one of the few countries to pursue such a strategy.As a result, Bhutan ranks seventh among known nation-state Bitcoin holders. According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, the countries ahead of Bhutan include the United States, China with 190,000 BTC, the United Kingdom with 61,245 BTC, Ukraine with 46,351 BTC, El Salvador with 7,649 BTC and the United Arab Emirates with 6,420 BTC.The continued decline in Bhutan’s Bitcoin reserves is also raising questions about the future of the country’s mining strategy. The absence of an official explanation for the ongoing reduction in reserves has allowed market speculation to continue.Bitcoin was trading at $64,775 on Wednesday, down 1.2% over the previous 24 hours.
A major Bitcoin wallet that had been dormant for years suddenly became active as the crypto market staged a sharp rally. According to findings shared by Maartun, an analyst at CryptoQuant, an unidentified Bitcoin whale moved 2,373 BTC after leaving it untouched for five to seven years.Dormant giants are waking upThe chart shared by the analyst is based on CryptoQuant’s Spent Output Age Bands metric. This metric shows when Bitcoin that has remained inactive for a certain period is transferred. The sudden spike reflected in the chart specifically covers coins held for five to seven years, with the most notable movement being the transfer of 2,373 BTC. The transfer came as Bitcoin retested the $66,000 level. Worth roughly $156 million at the time of the transaction, the movement quickly became one of the main talking points in the crypto community. Dormant supply moves of this scale have been relatively rare in recent weeks, prompting market observers to watch the development closely.Did the market rally trigger it?The timing does not appear entirely random. Long-dormant large wallets have historically shown similar patterns during periods when Bitcoin records a sharp price increase. Investors may wait for market momentum to review their portfolios or act once certain profit targets are reached.So, was this a sale or something else? For now, there is no clear answer. Did the whale sell the BTC, move it to another wallet, or transfer it as part of a portfolio restructuring? None of these possibilities can be confirmed. On-chain data shows that the transfer happened; it does not reveal the intent behind it.Several scenarios are on the table. A long-term holder may be taking profits accumulated over the years. Or the opposite may be true; the holder could be moving BTC to a different address for safer or more accessible storage. Some large holders also make such moves as part of routine security updates, such as upgrading wallet infrastructure or reorganizing cold storage. In short, the transfer itself may be a signal, or it may mean nothing at all.What does it mean for Bitcoin’s price?It is difficult to draw a firm conclusion. Historically, the activation of large wallets that have been dormant for years can create short-term uncertainty in the market, as these moves are often associated with potential selling pressure. However, that link does not always hold. Sometimes such transfers are purely technical and pass without any impact on price.The key point to watch now is whether the 2,373 BTC reaches exchange addresses. If the transfer went directly to an exchange, the likelihood of a sale would increase. If not, the move becomes much harder to interpret. For now, that information has not been confirmed.
Bitcoin treasury company Strategy bought another 1,587 BTC between June 8 and June 14 at an average price of $63,024 per coin. The purchase, worth roughly $100 million, was disclosed in the company’s 8-K filing with the SEC and brought Strategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to 846,842 BTC. At current market prices, that amount is worth around $56 billion. However, Strategy acquired these Bitcoin holdings at an average price of $75,656, for a total cost of $64.1 billion. That means the company is currently sitting on an unrealized loss of about $8.1 billion. Its position now represents more than 4% of Bitcoin’s total supply.Financing source: Share salesThe latest purchases were funded through the sale of Strategy’s Class A common stock, which trades under the ticker MSTR. Last week, the company sold 1,732,553 MSTR shares for approximately $209 million. Strategy still has $25.75 billion worth of shares available for issuance under the program.The company also expanded its existing ATM programs. An additional $21 billion in MSTR shares, $21 billion in STRC preferred stock and $2.1 billion in STRK preferred stock are now included under these programs.Strategy founder Michael Saylor shared a new Bitcoin purchase tracker chart on social media on Sunday, writing, “Still adding dots.” These posts are widely seen as a signal that a fresh Bitcoin purchase announcement may follow on Monday.STRC was not used this timeSTRC preferred shares, which had been one of Strategy’s main financing tools earlier this year, were not used in this latest purchase. The floating-rate preferred stock pays monthly dividends at an annual rate of 11.5%, but it has traded below its $100 par value since mid-May. Strategy has not used this instrument to fund Bitcoin purchases over the past month.At last week’s annual general meeting, shareholders approved a change that will allow STRC dividend payments to be made every two weeks instead of monthly. CEO Phong Le said the move would support price stability and give investors faster interest rate resets.Cash reserve replenishedStrategy’s dollar reserve also increased. The balance rose from $1 billion the previous week to $1.1 billion as of June 14. JPMorgan analysts said last week that the company’s earlier sale of 32 BTC had unsettled markets and that the reserve needed to be rebuilt. At the time, the reserve covered only 6.3 months of dividend payments.Sygnum Bank frames the issue differently. According to its analysts, dividends can be paid under any conditions by selling a small portion of the company’s Bitcoin holdings, so this is not a survival issue. But there is an image problem. “The premium is the only thing that makes Strategy worth more than the Bitcoin it holds. A treasury company selling from its reserves while the underlying asset loses value is not the model most investors originally expected,” Sygnum said in its report. The bank added that in the long run, everything still depends on Bitcoin’s performance.Sector snapshotAccording to Bitcoin Treasuries data, 199 publicly traded companies now follow some form of Bitcoin accumulation strategy. After Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holders are Twenty One with 43,514 BTC, Metaplanet with 40,177 BTC, MARA with 35,303 BTC and Adam Back-led Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company with 30,021 BTC.Strategy’s stock, however, continues to disappoint investors during this period. MSTR is down about 73% from its summer 2024 highs and has lost 19.8% since the start of the year. It closed at $123.97 on June 14. According to Bitcoin Treasuries calculations, the company’s market value stands at 0.91 times its net asset value. Strategy argues that when debt and preferred shares are taken into account, that ratio is 1.17.Strive also bought BTCInstitutional bitcoin purchases this week weren't limited to Strategy. Asset management firm Strive also acquired 73 BTC at an average price of $63,646 per coin, bringing its total holdings to 18,712 BTC.
Bitcoin climbed above $65,000 late Sunday. As the geopolitical risk premium that markets had been pricing in for months suddenly unwound, a broad wave of buying also spread across crypto assets.At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $65,605, up 1.90% over the past 24 hours. Its intraday low was $63,663, while its high stood at $65,935. Ethereum rose 2.8% to $1,720, XRP gained 3.5% to $1.19, and Solana advanced 4.2% to $71.11. The surprise performer of the day was Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, which climbed 7.5% to around $65. Peace deal and the Strait of HormuzCNN reported Sunday that the United States and Iran had reached a ceasefire agreement set to take effect on Friday. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would lift its naval blockade and reopen the Strait of Hormuz as soon as the agreement was signed. The first announcement came from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Trump and Iranian state media confirmed it shortly afterward.The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of global oil trade passes. The possibility of its closure had been one of the main factors keeping oil prices elevated in recent months. As that risk faded, crude oil prices saw one of their sharpest daily declines in three months. WTI futures fell 4.84% to $80.77 per barrel, while Brent crude dropped 4.33% to trade at $83.53.Analysts: Crypto move was macro-drivenZeus Research analyst Dominick John said markets were repricing risk after the U.S.-Iran agreement and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a broad risk appetite move. John described the rally as a positioning and risk rotation move rather than a change in underlying fundamentals.Min Jung of Presto Research painted a similar picture. She said Bitcoin and Ether benefited from improving risk appetite as the peace deal reduced concerns over further geopolitical escalation.Rick Maeda, markets director at crypto derivatives analytics platform Laevitas, described the move as “not a crypto-specific story, but macro relief beta amplified by thin weekend liquidity.” According to Maeda, the selling pressure began to ease after Trump’s remarks on the U.S.-Iran framework, which removed the risk premium from crude oil and lifted pressure from crypto.CoinEx chief analyst Jeff Ko offered the same framework: “The recovery in crypto was largely driven by a compression in the macro risk premium triggered by Trump’s latest signal that a deal was close. It pulled oil lower while lifting Asian markets at the same time.”Asian markets turned greenWith geopolitical risk receding, equities also started the day on strong footing. The Nikkei 225 was up about 4.89% around midday, nearing a record close. The Kospi jumped 5.63%. The Hang Seng rose 0.45%, while the Shenzhen Composite Index was up 2.53%. S&P 500 futures gained 1.2%, while the dollar weakened against major currencies.Fed week and institutional flowsAnother source of uncertainty is on the agenda this week: the Federal Reserve will hold its first meeting under new Chair Kevin Warsh. BTSE COO Jeff Mei said Warsh’s remarks would offer “the first clues about how interest rate policy will take shape for the rest of the year.” Maeda listed the key factors to watch as confirmation of the deal and the terms around Hormuz, the risk of renewed escalation, and the direction of oil prices. He added that all of this coincides with a busy central bank week.The peace deal removed an important source of pressure, but it did not answer every question. Strategy’s disclosure earlier this month that it sold 32 Bitcoin to make a preferred stock dividend payment exposed the presence of demand built around the assumption that Saylor would never sell. ETF outflows are also keeping pressure on the market; neither the Strategy issue nor the institutional demand dynamic is the kind of problem that can be solved by a peace agreement. Whether institutional flows return alongside this wave of risk appetite will become clearer in the coming days.
Producer price inflation in the United States rose more than expected in May, reaching its highest level since November 2022. While the increase in energy prices triggered by the Iran war deepened inflationary pressures, uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy continues to keep markets cautious. Crypto markets, meanwhile, are moving sideways without establishing a clear direction.PPI Data Came in Above ExpectationsAccording to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on June 11, the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 1.1% on a monthly basis in May. Market expectations were for a 0.7% increase, while the previous month’s figure had been recorded at 1.4%. On an annual basis, PPI reached 6.5%, exceeding forecasts of 6.4% and surpassing April’s 6.0% reading.Core PPI, which excludes energy and food prices, painted a more moderate picture. The core index rose 0.4% month-on-month, below expectations of 0.5%, while the annual reading came in at 4.9%, significantly missing the 5.4% forecast. According to data cited by The Kobeissi Letter, headline PPI has returned to levels last seen during the period when pandemic-era stimulus packages were being injected into markets.Consumer price inflation, released a day earlier, had also recorded its fastest increase in three years, although core CPI had come in below expectations. The PPI figures largely confirm that picture: overall price pressures remain strong, while non-energy components are relatively more controlled.The Iran War Is at the Center of the EquationThe key variable markets are now focused on is the impact of the U.S.-Iran military tensions on oil prices. As the conflict environment continues, crude oil prices are being pushed higher, feeding energy-driven inflation and pushing back expectations for the Fed’s rate-cut timeline. Since PPI is one of the indicators the central bank closely monitors when making interest rate decisions, the stronger-than-expected reading reinforced the market view that the Fed may keep policy tight for longer.Expectations for a Fed rate cut this year had already weakened considerably; with the latest data, those expectations declined further. Futures pricing shows that most investors do not expect any rate cut before the September meeting at the earliest.Bitcoin Holds Near $62,000 as Markets Move SidewaysIn this environment of deepening macro uncertainty, crypto markets are also struggling to find a clear direction. Bitcoin has been stuck in the $61,000 to $63,000 range after weeks of sharp declines. Around the time the data was released, BTC was trading at $62,719, up 1.77% over the past 24 hours. Its 24-hour trading range stood between $61,101 and $63,139, while its market capitalization was around $1.25 trillion. Major altcoins showed a similarly cautious performance. Ethereum remained almost flat at $1,643 after rising 0.17% over the past day, while BNB gained 1.75% to trade near $597. XRP, Solana and Dogecoin have yet to recover their weekly losses in the 5% to 7% range. Hyperliquid (HYPE) stood out among the weaker performers, falling 17.57% over the past seven days.All Eyes on the June Fed MeetingAnalysts are now focused on the Fed’s June meeting. The fact that both CPI and PPI surprised markets in the same week strengthens the central bank’s case for maintaining a tight monetary policy stance. This picture is likely to extend pressure on risk assets, and crypto markets are not immune to that process.
BlackRock has submitted its fourth amended filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the proposed iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF. The move has brought the world’s largest asset manager back into the spotlight. The official registration statement filed with the SEC includes broad updates on the fund. First made public in January, the ETF combines spot Bitcoin exposure with an income-generating mechanism, aiming to provide investors with regular income.The document describes the fund’s objective as follows: “The Trust’s objective is to reflect generally the performance of the price of Bitcoin while seeking to provide premium income through an actively managed strategy that consists primarily of writing (selling) call options on IBIT Shares and, from time to time, ETP Indices.”Fee structure and Nasdaq listingThe fourth amendment also revealed that the fund will charge a sponsor fee of 0.65%. As stated in previous filings, the ETF is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker BITA.Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said he found the fee level notable. The rate is lower than those charged by the two largest Bitcoin ETFs using a covered call strategy, most likely YBTC and BTCI. These two funds charge fees of 0.95% and 0.99%, respectively.Competition with Goldman SachsBalchunas believes the fund’s launch could be near. “My guess is this thing is going to launch very soon,” the analyst said, adding that BlackRock is facing competitive pressure. Goldman Sachs has filed for a Bitcoin ETF that invests in other Bitcoin ETFs, and that fund is expected to go live around July 1. According to Balchunas, “game on.”BlackRock’s Nasdaq-listed iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) is currently the world’s largest spot Bitcoin fund, with approximately $47.21 billion in net assets. The company’s new ETF is seen as part of a broader strategy to add an income layer to its existing IBIT exposure.What is a covered call strategy?The covered call strategy at the center of the ETF is based on selling call options against assets already held by the fund. This allows investors to generate periodic premium income regardless of broader market conditions. The strategy has long been used in traditional equity markets, but applying it to highly volatile assets such as Bitcoin is a relatively new development.BlackRock’s plan to generate income through written options on IBIT shares and ETP indices offers an important example of how institutional investors can seek returns from crypto assets without relying solely on price appreciation. This approach could be especially attractive for large institutional funds looking for steady income.The fund’s application is still awaiting SEC approval. Once the approval process is completed, BITA will become one of the rare products offering institutional investors both Bitcoin exposure and an income objective in a single vehicle.
Consumer prices in the United States rose 4.2% year-over-year in May, marking the highest inflation rate recorded since 2023. The data arrived at an already complicated moment for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook and further strengthened expectations that at least one rate hike could come before the end of the year. Crypto markets responded cautiously to the figures.Inflation matched expectations, but the picture is not comfortingAccording to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 4.2% in May compared with the same period last year. The result was in line with economists’ expectations and confirmed a third consecutive month of accelerating inflation. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.5%, with energy costs serving as the main driver of the increase.Core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, came in at 2.9% annually, also matching expectations. Monthly core inflation stood at 0.2%, slightly below the market forecast of 0.3%. Investors interpreted this limited easing as a small positive signal, though it did not change the broader picture.Behind the increase is the renewed escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The conflict has tightened global oil supply, increased pressure on energy prices and effectively disrupted the Fed’s years-long effort to bring inflation back down to 2%.The Fed’s path has narrowed furtherThe reading is the first major inflation data released under Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. His predecessor, Jerome Powell, had resisted repeated pressure from the Trump administration to cut interest rates. The central bank kept its policy rate steady in the 3.5% to 3.75% range throughout 2026. Signals under Warsh, however, point in a different direction. According to CME FedWatch data, markets are now pricing in at least one rate hike by year-end. At the start of the year, the dominant scenario was based on three rate cuts.Iggy Ioppe, chief investment officer at Theya, summarized the situation as follows: “For Bitcoin, an inflation print that matches expectations is not a clean catalyst. It keeps liquidity expectations under pressure and means risk assets will continue trading around positioning, rather than a fresh dovish impulse.”The impact of interest rate pressure on crypto is direct. As rates rise, cash and U.S. Treasuries become more attractive due to their yields. Non-yielding assets such as Bitcoin and gold, meanwhile, lose some of their appeal.Bitcoin attempts to recoverAt the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $61,295, as shown on the chart, down 2.19% over the past 24 hours. After the inflation data was released, the price climbed from $61,000 to around $61,750, then held near the $62,000 range. The recovery is part of a broader rebound that has continued since last Friday’s selloff, which was triggered by strong employment data. The weekly picture remains more severe. BTC has fallen 8.67% over the past seven days. Its 30-day loss has reached 24.35%, leaving the market divided over whether the current rebound is a real breakout or only temporary relief.Ethereum rose to $1,650, XRP to $1.12 and Solana to $65. XRP remained down 1.6% on a 24-hour basis, while Ethereum and Solana turned positive.
Botanix Labs is shutting down its Layer 2 network, developed for a Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. After nearly four years of work, the project is winding down operations, citing insufficient demand. Users have been urged to withdraw their assets by July 9.“Honest answer: It didn’t work”Botanix announced the shutdown decision on X. The project’s core idea was to build an application layer on Bitcoin without relying on native token incentives or inflation. However, organic transaction demand was not enough to cover infrastructure costs. The team’s official statement was unusually direct: “The honest answer we arrived at after living inside this every day is: it didn’t work in this market, at this time.” From a technical perspective, it would be difficult to call Botanix a failure. Its Spiderchain infrastructure maintained 100% uptime during one year of mainnet operations and did not suffer a single security breach. The network processed 25 million transactions across 200,000 wallets and transferred tens of millions of dollars worth of assets. The project also launched Dynafed, a mechanism that transformed a static multisig set into a rotating decentralized system. It secured integrations with names such as Chainlink, Morpho and OKX Wallet. The problem was not technical. The problem was how users viewed Bitcoin.Few people used Bitcoin for DeFiThe team shared five key lessons from the shutdown process. The first was clear: for the vast majority of users, Bitcoin remains primarily a store of value. Using Bitcoin for high-frequency transactions or participating in DeFi protocols is not part of the broader user base’s habits.The team also emphasized that demand for Bitcoin-based DeFi is largely being met through wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum-based networks. In other words, people who want Bitcoin-linked DeFi are already accessing it through other routes.The statement also noted that token launches have generally underperformed expectations. At a time when decentralization has taken a back seat, users have been moving toward centralized exchanges, platforms such as Robinhood and Hyperliquid, and traditional financial institutions. According to Botanix, convenience and institutional access are taking priority over decentralization.The Bitcoin L2 question remains unansweredBotanix’s shutdown adds more weight to an ongoing debate in the sector: can Bitcoin Layer 2 projects outside the Lightning Network become self-sustaining without token incentives? There is still no clear answer to that question. But Botanix has at least provided an answer based on its own experience.July 9 is the deadlineBotanix reminded users that they must withdraw their bitcoin and other assets by July 9 at the latest. After that date, any remaining funds on the network will be collected by the federation.
In a week marked by a sharp downturn in crypto markets, two major corporate treasury companies continued to buy. Bitmine and Strategy both expanded their positions despite price pressure, though with different preferences: one is buying Ethereum at record speed, while the other is maintaining a more measured but steady pace in Bitcoin.Bitmine made its biggest weekly purchase of the yearBitmine bought 126,971 ETH last week. At current prices, the purchase is worth about $214 million, making it the company’s largest weekly transaction of 2026. The figure stood at only 26,497 ETH a week earlier, showing how sharply the pace increased.The company’s total ETH holdings have now reached 5.54 million. When 247 million dollars in cash, a small amount of Bitcoin, and investment stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings are added, the total portfolio value reaches 9.9 billion dollars.What makes this interesting is that Bitmine Chairman Thomas Lee had said a few weeks ago that the company would slow its pace of purchases. The reason made sense; the company was approaching its goal of holding 5 percent of ETH’s total supply. That figure now stands at 4.59 percent, meaning the target has almost been reached. But the market downturn appears to have changed the plan.Lee said this week: “We increased our purchases because we believe this pullback in ETH prices does not reflect Ethereum’s strengthening fundamentals.”Given this approach, Bitmine really stands in a different place among crypto treasury companies. Many rivals have either paused their purchases or sold altogether as prices have fallen sharply since October. Bitmine is doing the opposite. No one knows how this will end; the company’s current paper loss is estimated at around 9.6 billion dollars. ETH has lost more than 65 percent of its value since its record high in August and has fallen to its lowest levels in the past year.The company also announced that it will issue a class of preferred shares paying a 9.5 percent dividend to raise additional financing. This is a model long used by Bitcoin-focused Strategy. However, Strategy’s own version of this model is now being questioned by investors. The company’s latest preferred share class, STRC, fell to 90 dollars as of last Friday, 10 percent below its nominal value. Whether dividend obligations can be met is now being debated.Strategy bought another 1,550 BTCMeanwhile, Strategy did not remain inactive either. The company bought 1,550 Bitcoin for approximately 101 million dollars. With this purchase, its total Bitcoin reserve rose to 845,256 BTC. The timing of the purchase is notable. Last week, Bitcoin fell by around 15 percent and briefly dropped below 60,000 dollars. It later recovered and moved above 62,000 dollars, but the loss was still there. On top of that, a filing surfaced showing that Michael Saylor sold 32 BTC on June 1, adding further pressure to an already tense market.Strategy made this purchase at an average price of 65,332 dollars. Since the company’s all-time average purchase cost is still 75,680 dollars, the transaction can be seen as a move to lower its cost basis. To finance the purchase, the company sold 181 million dollars worth of stock during the period. Its cash reserve also increased by 100 million dollars, reaching 1 billion dollars.Two different approaches, the same uncertaintyBitmine and Strategy represent two different versions of the corporate crypto treasury model. One is aggressively accumulating ETH with a target of holding 5 percent of the supply; the other is adding Bitcoin at a more measured but consistent rhythm. Both are positioning themselves against the broader market trend.It is hard to say which one will be proven right. Bitmine’s paper loss has reached enormous levels, while Strategy’s dividend model is being closely watched by investors. If markets recover, these two companies may be remembered as the boldest institutional investors of the period. If they do not, the picture will clearly be read differently.
Bitcoin recovered rapidly from last week’s lows, leaving traders who held bearish positions with a heavy bill. Over the past 24 hours, total liquidations in the crypto market reached $628 million, with short sellers taking the biggest hit.According to CoinGlass data, 24-hour liquidations climbed to $628,228,992. Of this amount, $467,178,624 came from short positions, while $161,050,368 came from long positions. In other words, roughly $3 out of every $4 liquidated in the market came from traders betting that prices would fall rather than rise.Short pressure was clear across all time framesThe short-heavy liquidation trend was not limited to the 24-hour window. In the past 12 hours, total liquidations reached $465,558,784; $372,190,304 of this came from short positions. In this 12-hour period, short dominance rose to 79.94%, showing that the pressure in the market was heavily one-sided. The picture was similar across shorter time frames. In the past 4 hours, $41,182,392 in positions were liquidated; $8,550,451 came from long positions, while $32,631,944 came from shorts. In the past 1 hour, liquidations totaled $4,292,815: $872,547 on the long side and $3,420,268 on the short side.When viewed through the 12-hour liquidation filter, total liquidations stood at $463,325,632. Of this, $91,495,688 came from long positions and $371,829,920 from shorts. Short dominance reached 80.25% in this window.What happened?Bitcoin fell by roughly 14% last week and briefly tested levels below $60,000. Several factors weighed on the market at the same time: Strategy selling Bitcoin for the first time since 2022, a sharp correction in AI stocks, and record outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs.Many traders assumed the decline would continue and opened short positions near the bottom. They were wrong. Bitcoin climbed as high as $63,800 over the weekend; this sudden reversal triggered automatic liquidations among traders carrying leveraged short positions. A single Bitcoin futures position on OKX, worth $12.3 million, became the largest individual liquidation of this process.Total liquidations approached $655 million, affecting more than 104,000 traders. Bitcoin positions led with $315 million in liquidations, followed by ETH positions at $201 million.Recovery loses momentumAfter rising to $63,700 on Monday morning, Bitcoin pulled back again. Renewed tensions between Iran and Israel pushed oil prices up by more than 3% and rattled Asian stock markets; South Korea’s KOSPI index fell by nearly 7% in a single day. Against this backdrop, Bitcoin slipped to around $62,900. This is still well above last week’s lowest point, but the market does not yet appear to be standing on firm ground.In the coming days, the release of U.S. inflation data and the possibility of several major IPOs, including SpaceX, remain among the variables that could keep price action volatile.
May employment figures from the United States came in at nearly twice market expectations, adding further pressure on Bitcoin and the broader crypto market. According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday, the economy added 172,000 new jobs last month, while economists had expected a figure of around 85,000. The unemployment rate came in at 4.3 percent, in line with expectations.Bitcoin price edges lowerFollowing the report, Bitcoin struggled to hold below the $62,000 level and changed hands around $61,900 during the day. This showed that the crypto market had still failed to recover after the sharp declines seen the previous night. The overall picture was already under pressure; once such a strong employment report was added to the equation, buyers preferred to remain cautious. Why does this data matter so much? Because it carries a stronger message than it may initially seem. Such resilience in the labor market confirms that the Fed is in no hurry to cut interest rates. On the contrary, the stronger-than-expected figures suggest that additional rate hikes may remain on the table this year. The bond market reached the same conclusion: after the report, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield jumped to 4.52 percent.Crypto was not the only market affected. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.2 percent. Crude oil slipped only slightly, while gold lost 1.1 percent and dropped to around $4,400. In an environment where overall risk appetite was narrowing, it was not realistic to expect Bitcoin to break away from the broader market and move higher on its own.Economic indicators show that the U.S. economy continued to surprise markets this week. Both the ISM Manufacturing PMI and the ISM Services PMI came in above expectations, and both remained in expansion territory. Taken together, these figures strengthen the central bank’s position; there is still no urgent need for a rate cut.Although equity markets have followed a different path, some cracks have started to become visible. The S&P 500 has maintained its upward trend for nearly ten weeks and has gained about 10 percent since the start of the year. However, Broadcom’s weaker-than-expected artificial intelligence chip demand forecast in the semiconductor sector slightly dampened the optimism that had built up in that area.Turning back to Bitcoin, the short-term picture remains unclear. The lower end of the 24-hour price range stood at $61,394, while the upper end was $64,353. The technical outlook is weak; a weekly decline of 14.77 percent is not something that can be ignored. The 30-day loss has reached 24.19 percent, showing that the pressure seen since March is still continuing.The macro environment is not creating an easy backdrop for crypto. The continuation of high interest rates limits inflows into risk assets. Every strong employment report strengthens the possibility that the Fed will maintain its tight stance for longer; this remains a factor weighing on assets such as Bitcoin. The market is now trying to hold around $62,000 after pricing in a major break from the upward trend that had been in place since the summer of 2024.The next critical data point will be inflation. Once the consumer price index (CPI) is released, the Fed’s next move will become clearer. If employment remains strong while inflation continues to prove sticky, expectations for rate cuts could be pushed back even further; this would create another headache for crypto and other risk assets.For now, the market is in a cautious waiting mode. Bitcoin is showing neither a clear breakdown signal nor a strong recovery. The $61,000-$62,000 range remains a critical support zone for the time being.
BTC is trading roughly $9,000 below its max pain level as a major options batch expires today following a week marked by heavy liquidations.Deribit, one of the leading exchanges in the crypto derivatives market, announced that around $1.81 billion worth of crypto options contracts will expire today at 11:00 a.m. Turkey time. Coming right after a week of sustained selling pressure and more than $1.5 billion in liquidations, this expiry represents a double layer of stress for market participants.BTC options: $1.56 billionMost of the expiring contracts are tied to Bitcoin. The total notional value of BTC options stands at $1.56 billion. The put/call ratio is 0.56, clearly showing a call-heavy structure, with long-position sellers far outpacing the short side. Max pain, the price point where options writers make the lowest payout and the largest number of contracts expire worthless, is at $71,000. BTC spot is currently trading roughly $9,000 below that level. If the expiry closes under these conditions, a large portion of contracts will end out of the money.According to Deribit data, the highest concentration of open interest is at the $80,000 strike price, with $1.6 billion. The short side is not silent either: there is still $1.1 billion in OI at $60,000. Coinglass figures show that total BTC options OI across all exchanges has recently declined to around $31.6 billion.ETH options: $252 millionThe Ethereum side presents a slightly different picture. Around 153,500 contracts will expire today, with a notional value of $252 million. Max pain stands at $2,000, while the put/call ratio is 0.97, almost perfectly neutral. On the ETH side, neither bulls nor bears have established a clear advantage. Total ETH options OI across all exchanges is hovering around $5.7 billion.After a bloody weekThis expiry comes at the end of an extremely painful week for the crypto market. More than $300 billion was wiped from the market’s total value over the week. Bitcoin briefly fell below $62,000, while $1.5 billion in liquidations left both long and short position holders with heavy losses.Derivatives analytics platform Greeks Live said that bears became more aggressive after the price broke below $70,000, with a notable increase in put positions at the $68,000, $65,000 and $60,000 levels.Geopolitical tensions continue to add pressure. The military conflict between the United States and Iran has not been resolved in recent weeks, while global inflationary pressures have started to resurface. In this environment, risk appetite remains fragile, and institutional investors are keeping their hedging positions in place.Market impactAlthough the figure sounds large, analysts describe this expiry as a “relatively small event.” The $1.85 billion volume, which is far below last week’s month-end expiry package, is not expected to trigger a significant move in spot markets.Still, BTC spot trading this far below the max pain level cannot be ignored. During expiry periods, prices are often seen moving toward max pain. Whether that dynamic plays out this week will become clear within the next few hours.
Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said the Bitcoin market is approaching a bottom. Kendrick argued that spot ETF buying has remained more resilient than he expected and that Strategy could buy far more than the amount it sold last week.In February, Kendrick had predicted that Bitcoin could fall to $50,000. He now says the market is in a “buying zone.” At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $63,000, having lost 22 percent of its value over the past month. In a note dated February 12, Kendrick warned of a “painful and final capitulation” for digital assets, lowering his short-term Bitcoin target to $50,000 and his Ethereum target to $1,400.The key factor behind his change in view is the shift in spot Bitcoin ETF behavior. In February, Kendrick believed that sharp selling from ETFs could create significant downside risk. That scenario did not play out. ETF holdings rose from 682,000 Bitcoin at the time to a peak, then fell back to around 674,000 Bitcoin. In other words, the net change over that period was almost zero. Kendrick interpreted this as follows: “This shows me that ETF holdings are structurally stronger than I feared in February.”According to the analyst, this is not the only thing that has changed. The broader market behavior is also notable. Bitcoin has clearly diverged from equities this year in terms of correlation. This suggests that most open long positions were already liquidated during previous waves of volatility, meaning potential downside pressure may now be more limited.The Strategy FactorThe direct trigger behind the weekly selling pressure was Strategy. The company sold 32 Bitcoin last week. Kendrick described the timing as “unfortunate” and acknowledged that the move played directly into the hands of Bitcoin skeptics.Kendrick’s reading, based on historical precedent, is as follows: Strategy last sold Bitcoin on December 22, 2022, when it offloaded 704 BTC for tax optimization purposes. Just two days later, it bought back 810 BTC. The analyst thinks the buyback could be much larger this time, with the possibility of a purchase of around 320 Bitcoin, or 10 times the amount sold, or around 3,200 Bitcoin, equal to 100 times the sale.According to Kendrick, such a purchase would be a strong signal confirming the bottom.This week, roughly $1.5 billion in liquidations took place in the futures market. Kendrick compared this figure with the liquidation waves seen between January 29-31 and February 3-6, noting that they were similar in size. In other words, this was not an extraordinary development.The analyst also admits that there is still a lasting risk below $60,000. However, the current picture makes that risk look relatively limited. Bitcoin’s low correlation with equity markets since the beginning of the year suggests that opportunistic leveraged positions have largely been cleared out.The note ends with the following sentence: “There are a lot of ‘ifs’ in the above, so rather than trying to call the bottom with certainty, an accumulation strategy makes more sense.”Year-End Targets Remain UnchangedKendrick is maintaining his targets of $100,000 for Bitcoin and $4,000 for ETH. Last month, he compared ETH’s price action to Amazon’s stock performance during the dot-com era. At the time, Standard Chartered analysts also argued that on-chain metrics would eventually be reflected in price.In his note to clients, Kendrick summarized this week with the following words: “This has been a tough week for crypto; there is no other way to say it. But when we look back from a point where BTC is at $100,000 and ETH is at $4,000 by the end of 2026, I think we will say this was the buying zone everyone had been waiting for.”
