Ripple is trying to put XRP and RLUSD into the market for AI-agent payments in an environment that is still mostly paying in the dollar-pegged USDC stablecoin.

The company introduced the XRPL AI Starter Kit earlier this week, a set of developer tools for building AI agents that can send payments on the XRP Ledger, per a release shared with CoinDesk.

This kit includes XRPL documentation access through an MCP server (which connects a service’s AI tools to external data sources), Claude skills for wallet creation, balance checks and payments, and support for x402 payments using XRP and Ripple USD, Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin.

The pitch is that if AI agents are going to buy API access, pay for model inference, settle invoices or move value between services, they need payment rails that are cheap, fast and easy to trigger without a human clicking approve each time.

Ripple says XRPL can do that with three-to-five-second settlement, predictable fees, native payments, escrow, multisig and a built-in decentralized exchange.

But turning that into actual usage is where challenges lie, with the novel x402 system in focus.

Investors are showing renewed interest in “onchain credit” and stablecoin-linked financial infrastructure, signaling a shift away from decentralized finance (DeFi) lending as a standalone retail product. That backdrop is helping a well-known lending protocol, Morpho Labs, raise fresh capital and frame its next phase as credit infrastructure for institutions.

According to Cointelegraph, Spark CEO Sam MacPherson said stablecoin growth is pushing the market to treat credit as a core layer in the onchain financial stack. He pointed to Morpho’s latest funding as an example of capital flowing toward stablecoin-enabled lending and credit tooling.

Key takeaways

• Morpho announced a $175 million funding round led by Paradigm, with participation from a16z Crypto and Ribbit Capital.
• The company positions Morpho not only as a DeFi lending protocol, but as credit infrastructure for banks, asset managers, and fintechs.
• DeFiLlama data cited in the report puts Morpho at $6.72 billion in TVL and about $3.47 billion in active loans.
• Sentora highlights Morpho smart contract usage—citing Coinbase activity—to argue institutional-grade credit workflows are taking shape.
• CryptoRank data indicates late-stage crypto funding has surged sharply, while seed and pre-seed funding has declined.

Morpho’s pitch: from lending protocol to credit infrastructure

Morpho announced Tuesday that it raised $175 million in a round led by Paradigm, with a16z Crypto and Ribbit Capital also named as lead participants. While Morpho is already associated with DeFi lending, the company is using this round to pursue a broader role: becoming a credit infrastructure layer for more traditional finance players.

The concept centers on onchain credit markets—systems that let borrowers, lenders, and deploying institutions use blockchain-based assets to originate credit. In this framing, stablecoins and tokenized financial products provide the asset rails, while credit infrastructure provides the lending and deployment logic.

MacPherson, speaking to Cointelegraph, argued that as stablecoins scale, “credit becomes one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the stack.” The implication for investors is straightforward: if tokenized money becomes more widely used, demand for the associated lending and credit services tends to follow.

Onchain lending depth and institutional use cases

One reason Morpho’s funding drew attention is the reported scale of its lending activity. The article cites DeFiLlama data showing Morpho with $6.72 billion in total value locked (TVL) and about $3.47 billion in active loans.

Sentora, in a Friday newsletter, interpreted these figures as evidence of “significant liquidity depth,” a point that matters because liquidity is often a key constraint for credit markets. Without sufficient borrowing and lending depth, credit products can struggle to scale in real-world conditions, particularly when institutions require consistent counterparties and stable execution.

Sentora also pointed to Coinbase’s use of Morpho smart contracts to originate more than $2.17 billion in corporate USDC loans. The underlying argument is that Morpho is increasingly being used for credit workflows that look more like institutional lending infrastructure than a purely retail DeFi application.

In that view, the shift isn’t isolated to crypto-native lending. Sentora said exchanges, custodians, and asset managers are actively evaluating blockchain-based lending systems to support credit products, while protocols compete to become the “underlying infrastructure” enabling business-to-business integrations.

How Morpho plans to measure success

Beyond raising capital, Morpho’s leadership said the real test will come from integration-driven growth over the next year to 18 months. Co-founder Merlin Egalite told Cointelegraph that the company aims to expand integrations with banks, asset managers, and large platforms, bring in more institutional capital, and roll out features inspired by traditional credit markets.

Egalite characterized the goal as building infrastructure rather than trying to replace existing competitors. “The problem we are trying to solve is less about replacing competitors and more about establishing ourselves as the credit infrastructure layer that banks, asset managers and fintechs build on,” he said in the report.

Late-stage VC momentum and changing funding patterns

The timing of Morpho’s raise also reflects broader venture market dynamics. The article notes that venture capital is increasingly concentrating on a smaller set of established crypto infrastructure projects.

It cites CryptoRank’s Q1 2026 crypto fundraising report, which reported that capital allocated to Series C and later-stage rounds surged 1,020% year over year and 320% quarter over quarter. Those later-stage deals accounted for 28.4% of venture funding across nine deals, while seed and pre-seed funding fell 38.1% year over year and represented only 5.2% of total capital.

Against that backdrop, Egalite said he is not concerned about capital concentration, aligning with the thesis that durable infrastructure—protocols with measurable liquidity, integrations, and institutional usage—may be attracting disproportionate attention as the market matures.

For investors and builders watching onchain credit, the key question now is whether Morpho’s funding translates into sustained institutional integrations and repeatable credit origination. The next signal to track will be whether the protocol’s liquidity depth and contract-driven credit usage continue to grow alongside stablecoin adoption, and how quickly traditional finance partners operationalize blockchain-based lending at scale.

Zcash has undergone a follow-up security audit using Anthropic’s Mythos system, which, according to founder Zooko Wilcox, found no additional serious vulnerabilities in the protocol after the recent Orchard flaw disclosure.

According to Wilcox, Anthropic carried out the audit at the request of Shielded Labs following the discovery of a vulnerability that could theoretically have allowed unlimited creation of counterfeit ZEC.

In a June 13 post on X, Wilcox thanked Anthropic for helping protect Zcash users and said the review did not identify any other serious bugs in the network.

The result comes little more than a week after the Zcash ecosystem rushed to contain a flaw in Orchard, the blockchain’s primary shielded transaction pool.

According to Shielded Labs, the defect could theoretically have enabled an attacker to create an unlimited amount of counterfeit ZEC. The organization said previous exploitation appeared unlikely, while acknowledging there is no cryptographic proof showing the vulnerability was never used.

Work on fixing the issue began before the flaw became public. According to Zcash Open Development Lab founder Josh Swihart, developers first deployed a soft fork that temporarily disabled Orchard transactions while technical details remained confidential.

A second upgrade, the NU6.2 hard fork, went live on June 3 and removed the vulnerability before Orchard transactions were re-enabled.

Emergency measures contained the Orchard flaw

Details released earlier by Wilcox showed the original vulnerability was identified on May 29 by security researcher Taylor Hornby during a targeted audit using Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 model. Hornby reported the issue to Zcash Open Development Lab, which coordinated a response across ecosystem participants before the fix was deployed.

Following the fix, Wilcox said teams across the Zcash ecosystem continued reviewing the protocol for additional risks. According to his June 13 update, Shielded Labs and other contributors are now focused on further security-hardening measures and plan to release additional updates as that work progresses.

Several organizations remain involved in the effort, including the Zcash Foundation, Tachyon Group, Valar Group, Shielded Labs, and Zcash Open Development Lab, according to Wilcox.

Ironwood proposal focuses on supply verification

Alongside the audit findings, Wilcox has continued promoting the proposed Ironwood upgrade, which he said would allow users to independently verify Zcash’s circulating supply by aggregating balances held across active pools once the upgrade is activated.

According to Wilcox, Ironwood would introduce a new location for holding shielded ZEC, place restrictions on transactions that could involve counterfeit coins, and incorporate additional security measures, including AI-assisted audits. He said the timeline for activation remains uncertain and will depend on further development work and community discussions.

The Orchard disclosure triggered a sharp sell-off in ZEC. The token lost more than 50% of its value between June 4 and June 5 before rebounding to $478.70 on June 9. ZEC has since fallen back to around $417 as investors reduced exposure to risk assets amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.

Technical indicators also show that the post-crash recovery is facing resistance. On the four-hour chart, ZEC has fallen back below the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $418.60 after failing to hold gains near $478.70 earlier this week. The token also remains below the Supertrend resistance at roughly $465, which continues to cap upside attempts.

Unless buyers reclaim the $465-$470 area, the chart points to a possible retest of support near $355, which marks the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level. Meanwhile, the MACD histogram has slipped back into negative territory after briefly turning positive during the recovery rally, indicating that buying pressure has weakened since the June 9 peak.

Key Takeaways

• Geoffrey Kendrick from Standard Chartered identifies Bitcoin’s cycle bottom at $59,000, reached on June 5
• Outflows totaling $5.72 billion from Bitcoin ETFs since mid-May linked to investor positioning for SpaceX’s public debut
• SpaceX commenced Nasdaq trading at $150 per share, currently up approximately 26%, potentially ending crypto liquidation pressure
• Progress on U.S.-Iran diplomatic negotiations and declining oil prices reducing macroeconomic headwinds for digital assets
• Year-end forecasts remain intact: $100,000 for Bitcoin and $4,000 for Ethereum

Bitcoin reached a low of $59,375 on June 5, 2026, based on CoinDesk pricing data. Geoffrey Kendrick, a digital asset analyst at Standard Chartered, has identified this level as the conclusive cycle bottom for the leading cryptocurrency.

“Winter is over. Welcome back to crypto Spring,” Kendrick declared in his Friday research note.

As of this writing, Bitcoin was changing hands just under $64,000, showing significant recovery from its recent trough.

The cryptocurrency’s descent from its record peak of $126,000 on October 6 to the $59,000 level constitutes a 53% drawdown.

SpaceX Public Offering Triggered Digital Asset Liquidation

Kendrick attributes much of the recent downward pressure to the SpaceX public offering. Market participants allegedly liquidated Bitcoin ETF positions to raise capital for participation in the highly anticipated IPO.

U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds experienced aggregate net redemptions of $5.72 billion beginning in the second week of May. This outflow magnitude ranks among the most severe since these investment vehicles launched.

SpaceX equity started trading on Nasdaq Friday morning at approximately $150 per share. Current trading levels show gains of roughly 26% above the initial offering price. Kendrick suggests this successful IPO may eliminate that particular source of selling pressure.

On decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, SpaceX derivative contracts were experiencing substantial trading activity, implying a company valuation reaching $2.4 trillion.

Declining Energy Prices and Middle East Diplomacy Bolster Outlook

The secondary catalyst Kendrick highlighted involves a prospective U.S.-Iran diplomatic agreement under discussion at the G7 summit. Should this materialize, it could prevent further escalation in global oil prices.

Reduced oil prices would alleviate upward pressure on U.S. Treasury yields. As yields decline, risk assets like Bitcoin typically experience renewed investor interest.

Brent crude retreated to approximately $87 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate trading near $85, following President Trump’s comments about a probable peace agreement. Trump subsequently clarified on Truth Social that the publicly disclosed terms did not reflect what was actually negotiated, urging Iranian leadership to “get their act together.”

Three Confirmation Metrics for Market Bottom

Kendrick outlined three specific indicators he’s monitoring to validate the market floor thesis.

First, he anticipates Strategy, under Michael Saylor’s leadership, will reveal another Bitcoin acquisition on the upcoming Monday.

Second, he seeks sustained net-positive daily flows returning to U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Third, he’s observing whether crude oil pricing maintains its downward trajectory.

Kendrick maintains his year-end projections: Bitcoin reaching $100,000 and Ethereum hitting $4,000. He additionally forecasts Ethereum will deliver superior returns compared to Bitcoin over the coming months.

For investors who established positions near the $59,000 bottom, achieving Kendrick’s $100,000 year-end projection would yield approximately 70% returns.

Crypto markets may still be buffeted by macro news and uneven regulatory signals, but tokenization continues to look like the sector’s most durable theme. This week’s developments underscored that shift: Binance Research data points to accelerating demand for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), while Kraken expanded tokenized access to SpaceX’s IPO via its xStocks platform.

Beyond tokenization, blockchain activity is also evolving. Prediction markets have now outpaced onchain gambling by volume for the first time, according to TRM Labs, and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has filed a formal request for a U.S. presidential pardon.

Key takeaways

• Binance Research reports active tokenized RWAs rose 589% since early 2025, with tokenized bonds and money market funds adding $6.5 billion and tokenized stocks up 422%.
• Kraken says eligible users in more than 110 markets can access the SpaceX IPO through xStocks, receiving an allocation that maps 1:1 to tokenized shares.
• TRM Labs data shows prediction markets generated $36.6 billion in Q1 2026 volume versus $14 billion for onchain gambling—an inflection point after both surpassed $50 billion annually in 2025.
• Sam Bankman-Fried has formally applied for a presidential pardon through the U.S. DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney, alongside ongoing appeals tied to his 2023 fraud conviction.

Tokenized RWAs keep expanding as asset mix broadens

Even as the broader crypto tape has been less cooperative, tokenized RWAs have continued to gain traction. According to Cointelegraph’s coverage citing Binance Research, the market for active tokenized RWAs has climbed 589% since early 2025.

Within that growth, Binance Research highlights meaningful contributions from multiple asset classes. Tokenized bonds and money market funds accounted for $6.5 billion in added value, while tokenized stocks increased by 422%. The message for investors is straightforward: tokenization demand is not confined to a single category—it’s spreading across products that resemble traditional fixed income and equity exposures.

The sector’s expansion also appears to be getting more diversified in terms of what investors can access. Platforms such as Ondo Global Markets have contributed to momentum in tokenized equities, while tokenized precious metals reportedly added $1.5 billion amid earlier demand for safe-haven exposure.

Meanwhile, traditional market infrastructure is also moving deeper into blockchain-related initiatives. Developments range from Apex Group’s tokenized fund services to The Clearing House’s planned tokenized deposit network, reflecting a wider industry push beyond purely crypto-native experiments. While these efforts differ in execution and maturity, taken together they point to a broader acceptance of tokenization as an infrastructure direction—not just an asset-narrative fad.

Kraken brings SpaceX IPO exposure to xStocks users in 110+ markets

One of the most immediate real-world catalysts this week came from Kraken, which rolled out tokenized access to the SpaceX IPO for eligible customers through its xStocks product. Cointelegraph previously reported on Kraken’s plan to provide access in more than 110 markets.

Kraken states that investors who received an allocation will be issued SPCXx, a tokenized representation backed 1:1 by the underlying equity. The exchange also says SPCXx can be traded 24/7 across participating platforms—an operational detail that matters for users comparing tokenized IPO access with traditional allocation and settlement timelines.

The rollout is also arriving at a moment when tokenized equities are benefiting from IPO-level demand. SpaceX reportedly targeted a $75 billion raise in its Nasdaq debut, and the offering was reported as oversubscribed by roughly four times ahead of public trading. If realized, this would align SpaceX with the “high-interest” characteristics that often draw participation into new issuance formats—whether through conventional retail channels or tokenized access.

For investors, the practical question is not only whether tokenization enables broader access, but also how liquidity and trading behavior work after allocation. Kraken’s promise of 24/7 tradability could be a differentiator, but market participants will still want to watch custody, trading venues, and how post-IPO pricing converges with the underlying shares across platforms.

Prediction markets overtake onchain gambling in Q1 2026

While tokenization expands into markets that look increasingly like traditional finance, speculative activity is also shifting. TRM Labs data shows that prediction markets surpassed onchain gambling for the first time in the first quarter of 2026.

According to Cointelegraph’s coverage of TRM Labs, prediction markets recorded $36.6 billion in volume in Q1 2026, compared with gambling’s $14 billion. The milestone follows a period where both categories exceeded $50 billion in annual volume in 2025, reinforcing that this is not a one-off seasonal swing.

Importantly, onchain gambling has not stalled. TRM Labs attributes gambling’s resilience to a loyal and growing user base, with quarterly wagering volume remaining near record highs despite broader market pullbacks. High rollers still dominate betting volume—TRM notes that these users averaged $13,558 per bet and $378,000 in lifetime gambling volume—yet the fastest growth is reportedly coming from casual bettors and daily participants, suggesting an opening of the market beyond a narrow set of whales.

For builders and traders, this change in relative volume has implications for product focus and liquidity. Prediction markets may increasingly attract more capital flow, but gambling’s continued user expansion implies both segments are likely to remain competitive. Watching which category sustains growth once the initial attention cycle fades will be key to understanding where the next wave of onchain engagement concentrates.

Sam Bankman-Fried files pardon request as appeals continue

Legal processes remain a live variable for crypto’s mainstream narrative. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has formally applied for a presidential pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump, according to reporting that ties the request to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney.

The request appears on the DOJ’s Office of the Pardon Attorney’s list of pending clemency applications. The pardon effort is occurring alongside ongoing legal attempts to overturn his conviction—Bankman-Fried continues to appeal his 2023 fraud conviction and the 25-year prison sentence, while an additional request for a new trial was denied per Cointelegraph’s coverage.

Separately, recent months have also seen Bankman-Fried posting messages that appear increasingly aligned with Trump, even though the president has previously said he did not plan to pardon him. That tension highlights why the next steps matter: a pardon request may keep the issue in public view, but it does not change the underlying posture of an active appeal process.

Readers should watch how the DOJ process proceeds and whether any legal updates arrive that alter the timeline. In the meantime, the broader crypto industry will likely continue treating executive-level legal outcomes as an important—if unpredictable—risk factor for regulatory and reputational dynamics.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest purchased roughly $444 million worth of SpaceX shares on June 12 while reducing its exposure to Advanced Micro Devices, making one of its biggest portfolio shifts as Elon Musk’s rocket company began trading on public markets.

According to data compiled by ARK Invest Tracker, the investment firm acquired a total of 3,291,184 SpaceX shares across its ARKK, ARKQ, ARKW, and ARKX exchange-traded funds. The purchases were valued at approximately $444.3 million.

The largest allocation came through the ARKK Innovation ETF, which bought 1.69 million shares. ARKQ added 736,442 shares, while ARKW and ARKX purchased 325,562 and 538,341 shares, respectively.

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At the same time, ARK trimmed its position in AMD by selling 80,536 shares across ARKQ, ARKW, and ARKX. The transaction was valued at roughly $39.3 million and continued a broader reduction in the semiconductor company’s weighting within ARK’s portfolios.

ARK’s aggressive purchase came as investors rushed into SpaceX during its first day as a publicly traded company.

As reported by crypto.news earlier, the company priced its IPO at $135 per share, implying a valuation of roughly $1.77 trillion. Shares climbed as high as $176.52 during their first trading session before closing at $160.95, giving the company a market capitalization above $2.1 trillion.

The rally also pushed Elon Musk’s net worth above the $1 trillion mark, making him the world’s first trillionaire according to multiple wealth estimates published following the debut.

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ARK increased its SpaceX exposure after years of backing Musk’s company

ARK’s latest purchase builds on a relationship that began well before SpaceX entered public markets. The investment firm first gained exposure to the company through its ARK Venture Fund in 2023, allowing investors to participate in the aerospace company’s growth while it remained private.

According to ARK data, SpaceX represented 11.38% of the ARK Venture Fund’s net assets as of May 31, making it the fund’s largest holding. Earlier in the year, the position accounted for 17.02% of net assets, indicating that the fund’s weighting has fluctuated over time as valuations and portfolio allocations changed.

Wood has remained one of Musk’s most vocal supporters. Earlier this month, she told Fox Business that “SpaceX has a 10-year lead on any other company,” reflecting ARK’s view that the company maintains a significant competitive advantage in both space transportation and satellite communications.

ARK’s valuation outlook remains above the IPO level

The SpaceX purchase follows a week of heavy portfolio rebalancing at ARK. Company records show the firm sold nearly 10 million shares across 20 companies before Friday’s purchase, with total sales estimated at up to $279 million. Much of that activity occurred on Thursday, when ARK disposed of roughly $234 million worth of stocks, including positions in Teradyne, Twist Bioscience, Iridium Communications, Robinhood, and Roku.

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ARK’s long-term forecasts suggest the firm believes SpaceX can continue growing despite its already massive valuation. The company’s internal models project a base-case enterprise value of approximately $2.5 trillion by 2030, while its bull-case scenario reaches around $3.1 trillion. Even ARK’s bear-case estimate stands at roughly $1.7 trillion, close to SpaceX’s IPO valuation.

Wall Street remains divided on the stock’s prospects. Some analysts have published targets as high as $190 per share, arguing that investors are valuing SpaceX as a combination of aerospace, satellite internet, defense, and artificial intelligence businesses. Others have suggested the stock could eventually retreat toward $63 if future growth falls short of expectations embedded in its post-IPO valuation.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

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