Key Highlights

• SBET shares climb following Ethlabs nonprofit announcement

• SharpLink invests in independent Ethereum research organization

• New nonprofit aims to enhance Ethereum institutional infrastructure

• Ethlabs pursues improved settlement speed for enterprise users

• Founding members include prominent Ethereum Foundation veterans

Shares of SharpLink, Inc. advanced 1.43% to close at $5.37 following the company’s participation in launching Ethlabs. This newly formed nonprofit entity aims to advance Ethereum research while building infrastructure suited for institutional deployment. During the trading session, SBET briefly touched $5.55 before settling lower.

Sharplink, Inc., SBET

New Nonprofit Receives Backing From Multiple Ethereum Supporters

SharpLink contributed funding alongside Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Joe Lubin, Anchorage, Octant, and SNZ to establish Ethlabs. The initiative operates as an independent nonprofit dedicated to advancing Ethereum’s technical capabilities. Priority areas include institutional finance requirements and supporting expanded onchain operations.

The organization was cofounded by five former senior-level researchers from the Ethereum Foundation. This founding team consists of Ansgar Dietrichs, Barnabé Monnot, Caspar Schwarz-Schilling, Josh Rudolf, and Julian Ma. Their collective expertise spans protocol finality, network scaling, data availability solutions, economic modeling, and virtual machine architecture.

The new entity offers these researchers consistent financial backing within a structured operational framework. Ethlabs maintains full autonomy from its financial contributors regarding research direction. Leadership retains complete authority over technical choices and overall development objectives.

Research Priorities Target Infrastructure Improvements

Initial research efforts will concentrate on accelerating settlement times, enhancing cross-network interoperability, and expanding Ethereum mainnet throughput. The organization will additionally support native digital asset creation and transfer mechanisms across interconnected blockchain systems. These developments could enable institutions to utilize Ethereum with improved efficiency, security, and predictability.

Rising adoption of stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets is expected to drive increased demand for robust Ethereum infrastructure solutions. Investment funds and automated trading systems may require enhanced settlement mechanisms and data processing capabilities. Consequently, Ethlabs intends to refine common standards that support applications throughout the ecosystem.

Having operated for over ten years, Ethereum currently underpins a substantial decentralized finance landscape. Nevertheless, broader institutional integration demands greater throughput and reliable cross-chain communication protocols. Ethlabs addresses these challenges through focused protocol research and infrastructure enhancement initiatives.

Governance Model Ensures Research Autonomy

A third-party grants administrator will oversee contribution vetting, asset assessment, and capital distribution processes. This arrangement maintains separation between financial backing and decisions regarding research initiatives and technical focus areas. The organization commits to publishing quarterly transparency reports alongside annual independent audits.

SharpLink characterized this investment as aligned with its commitment to Ethereum’s sustainable growth. The firm maintains ETH holdings and engages in initiatives designed to fortify Ethereum’s enterprise-grade infrastructure. This participation connects SBET’s corporate objectives with ongoing expansion throughout the Ethereum network.

Meanwhile, Ethereum’s development landscape continues evolving toward multiple independent research and governance entities. The Ethereum Foundation maintains its foundational mission while external organizations pursue complementary technical initiatives. Ethlabs enters this ecosystem with direct financial support from corporate entities and established community stakeholders.

Crypto startup Fomo has raised $75 million in a Series B funding round led by venture capital firm Index Ventures, which valued the social trading and token discovery platform at $550 million.

The funding round also received participation from Union Square Ventures and the company’s existing investor, Benchmark, along with angel investors including Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus, Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz, Discord CEO Humam Sakhnini, Nexos AI co-founder Tomas Okmanas and others, Fomo announced on Monday.

Fomo allows users to trade assets across multiple blockchains without having to manually bridge funds or handle gas fees. The company said it has attracted more than 625,000 traders since launching a year ago, generating $4 billion in trading volume and 110 million social interactions.

The raise adds to a growing list of crypto venture deals in 2026, even as digital asset prices remain below recent highs. According to RootData, crypto startups raised $4.1 billion across 147 funding rounds during the second quarter.

Crypto and Web3 funding by quarterly sum. Source: Root Data

Fomo says 68,000 users made first crypto purchase on platform

Fomo said more than 68,000 users made their first cryptocurrency purchase on the platform using Apple Pay, representing roughly $25 million in transaction volume.

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Crypto research firm Delphi Digital said in a December X post that the platform’s social features may be helping attract users by making trading feel “more like scrolling a feed than sitting at a terminal.”

“In November, @fomo_family generated more monthly fees than Moonshot, despite being a younger product with lower fees,” Delphi Digital wrote.

Source: Delphi Digital

Fomo allows users to view trades made by other users in real time and execute similar trades across multiple blockchains without manually bridging assets or managing separate wallets.

Other crypto exchanges offering copy-trading features include Binance, Bybit, OKX, Bitget, BingX, MEXC, Gate.io, KuCoin, Phemex and BitMart.

On June 11, Fomo launched perpetual futures contracts powered by Hyperliquid for users outside the United States. On June 2, the company said it had surpassed $2 million in referral fees paid to users.

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Bitcoin edged toward the $65,500 area on Monday as traders leaned more bullish on derivatives—an uptick reflected in rising perpetual futures funding rates. Yet the broader risk backdrop remained cautious, with US-listed spot Bitcoin ETF outflows continuing to drain demand and keeping a near-term push toward $70,000 on hold.

Optimism showed up in leverage as well. The annualized funding rate on Bitcoin perpetuals jumped to 7%, its highest level in nearly three weeks and a move that typically aligns with stronger long-side confidence. Still, the market’s full picture was mixed, with options positioning turning more defensive and traditional assets failing to provide the kind of risk-on tailwind that often supports breakout bids.

Key takeaways

• Bitcoin perpetual futures funding rose to 7% (highest in nearly three weeks), indicating growing bullish confidence among leverage traders.
• Put demand outpaced calls on Deribit, with the put-to-call premium ratio more than double, suggesting traders increasingly sought downside protection.
• Order-book liquidity improved: aggregated bids on major exchanges exceeded offers by about $12 million, helping limit bearish read-through from weaker spot levels.
• Macro signals stayed cautious as stocks, bonds, and gold weakened together, and higher US Treasury yields pointed to elevated return requirements for capital.
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded continued outflows, with CoinGlass data citing $228 million in net outflows the prior week—likely a headwind for any rapid $70,000 attempt.

Derivatives confidence rises, but options show hedging

The most direct read on trader sentiment came from Bitcoin perpetuals. According to Laevitas data, the annualized funding rate climbed to 7% on Monday, a sign that long positions were paying more to remain open. While that figure remains within the often-cited neutral 6%–12% band, the jump to the highest point in nearly three weeks suggests bulls gained ground over the weekend into Monday.

Crude oil also contributed to the day’s tone. Brent fell to $77.50, its lowest level since March, which can ease inflation- and risk-premium concerns in broader markets. For Bitcoin, that kind of macro relief sometimes helps lift short-term demand—especially when derivatives liquidity supports it.

However, options data signaled that traders were not fully committing to upside. Laevitas-referenced Deribit metrics showed put (sell) options demand running more than twice ahead of call activity on Monday. This skew has leaned bearish since Friday, representing a reversal from the prior week’s direction. In practice, that combination—higher perpetual funding alongside heavier put buying—often points to a market that is still trying to grind upward, but with active hedging in case price fails to follow through.

Order books improve even as traditional markets stay risk-averse

Bitcoin’s immediate price action around $65,000 did not appear to be driven by a lack of depth. CoinGlass data referenced in the report showed that bids on aggregated major exchange order books exceeded offers by about $12 million on Monday, reversing the weekend trend.

That matters because a failure to hold a key level can sometimes reflect fading liquidity and widening spreads. With the order-book imbalance turning more supportive, Monday’s inability to firmly reclaim higher territory looks more like timing and positioning than a structural sell-side pressure shift.

At the same time, the macro backdrop stayed uneven. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped about 1% as artificial intelligence-related stocks weakened. In company-specific news, SpaceX shares dropped sharply after the company announced plans to raise debt despite holding more than $100 billion in cash. Investors appear to have focused on the possibility that the sector may need higher funding and longer timelines before profitability.

Beyond equities, gold fell roughly 0.9% on Monday while US government bonds were also pressured as yields rose. The report attributed the move in yields to investors demanding higher returns—potentially reflecting inflation concerns or the market anticipating dilution effects tied to rising US government debt levels.

With stocks, bonds, and gold moving lower together, the day looked less like a broad risk-on session and more like investors preferring cash. That is the kind of environment where Bitcoin can still trade firm on crypto-native signals, but breakouts tend to struggle unless ETF flows and broader momentum align.

Corporate and liquidity cues: Strategy’s reserve update helps, but ETFs still weigh

A portion of market attention also focused on Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), whose Bitcoin holdings make it a bellwether for institutional-style accumulation. Shares of Strategy traded about 13% below the roughly $64.1 billion cost to acquire 847,363 BTC, as investors weighed whether the company might need to sell assets to meet obligations. The report noted Strategy had debt of about $6.75 billion and that earlier worries centered on reserve liquidation risk.

Those concerns eased somewhat after Strategy announced an additional cash position—described as a $300 million reserve acquisition—referenced via earlier Cointelegraph coverage. The development matters because it reduces the immediate need for forced selling in a volatile tape, which can support sentiment around large, long-duration Bitcoin holders.

Even with those internal crypto-industry positives, the external demand channel remained a drag. The report pointed to continued weakness in US-listed Bitcoin ETFs. According to CoinGlass data cited, Bitcoin spot ETFs logged $228 million in net outflows in the prior week. The narrative significance is straightforward: when ETF balances decline week after week, it can reduce the marginal buyer that often complements derivative-led optimism.

In that context, the odds of a quick, clean rally to $70,000 look limited. Higher funding and improving order-book bids can push prices upward, but persistent ETF outflows can cap how far those pushes travel—especially when options positioning indicates traders are actively preparing for downside volatility.

As traders watch the tape, the tension to monitor is clear: derivatives are showing confidence (funding at 7% and stronger order-book bids), while options and traditional markets reflect caution (put skew, weaker macro complex) and ETF flows continue to drain fresh spot demand.

Going forward, investors will likely focus on whether ETF outflows slow or reverse and whether the options hedging trend on Deribit keeps deepening. If funding stays elevated while put demand cools and spot ETF flows stabilize, Bitcoin could gain the momentum needed to test higher levels more convincingly. If not, Monday’s signals may translate into choppy consolidation rather than a sustained breakout.

Thanks to the newly passed U.S. Senate housing affordability bill, the Federal Reserve may be heading toward a formal ban from instituting a digital dollar in the form of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), despite the fact the Fed wasn’t working on such a project.

Republican politicians had embraced an aggressive opposition campaign against the U.S. following in European and Chinese footsteps in the pursuit of a CBDC, labeling the idea a dangerous overreach of government surveillance. So they insisted it get inserted into the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that just passed the Senate in an 85-5 vote Monday night.

The concept of a digital dollar likely would have needed the backing of the White House, Congress and the Federal Reserve, none of which pushed to pursue one. But if the House of Representatives follows suit and votes to send the housing bill to President Donald Trump for his signature, the CBDC will be legally stifled.

However, the ban would only last for a very limited four years until the end of 2030.

President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders designed to accelerate U.S. quantum computing development and prepare federal agencies for the potential security risks posed by future quantum machines.

According to the White House, Trump approved the measures on June 22 as part of a broader effort to strengthen American leadership in quantum technologies, a field widely viewed as critical for future advances in computing, communications, and cybersecurity.

Speaking during the signing event, Trump said “quantum technologies represents the next generation of innovation across computing, sensing, and networking,” adding that the sector carries significant implications for economic growth, scientific research, and national security.

The first order, Executive Order 14411, establishes the Quantum Computer for Application Development and Discovery Science, or QC-ADDS, initiative. Under the directive, the Department of Energy must identify technical requirements for an advanced quantum computer within 90 days and work toward deploying at least one such system at a federal research facility. 

The Department of Commerce is also tasked with exploring ways to encourage participation from private-sector quantum computing companies.

Additional provisions require federal agencies, including NASA, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Commerce, to develop five-year plans for advancing quantum sensing and networking technologies.

The order also includes measures aimed at strengthening domestic supply chains, expanding the quantum workforce, and increasing protections for sensitive research.

Federal agencies are assessing post-quantum security risks

Of particular interest to the crypto industry, the order directs intelligence agencies to assess how increasingly powerful commercial quantum computers could affect national security, including the transition to post-quantum cryptography.

The directive arrives as concerns persist over the hypothetical arrival of “Q-Day,” the point at which quantum computers become capable of breaking encryption systems that currently secure financial networks, government infrastructure, and blockchain wallets.

While no existing quantum computer poses such a threat today, policymakers and cryptography experts have increasingly called for preparations to begin before the technology reaches that stage.

According to a recent report from Coinbase’s independent advisory board of cryptography experts, the Bitcoin community should start planning a migration path to post-quantum cryptography rather than waiting until quantum computing becomes an immediate concern. The report stated that uncertainty surrounding future advances in the field justifies early preparation.

Crypto projects are already preparing for future threats

Discussions around quantum-resistant security have also expanded beyond Bitcoin.

Recently, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao proposed a future migration period for Bitcoin holders following any transition to quantum-resistant cryptography. Zhao argued that vulnerable legacy addresses should not remain exposed indefinitely if quantum computers eventually become capable of breaking existing security models, while emphasizing that any protocol change would require community consensus.

Elsewhere, researchers associated with the Ethereum Foundation’s Kohaku privacy project have suggested that Ethereum accounts could begin adding certain post-quantum protections without waiting for a hard fork. According to Kohaku lead Nico, wallet-level protections could be introduced through smart contract logic while longer-term protocol upgrades continue to be explored.

Meanwhile, the Algorand Foundation has released a roadmap intended to make the layer-1 network broadly quantum-resilient by the end of 2027. The foundation said the initiative will cover user accounts, wallets, developer tools, staking infrastructure, and consensus systems.

As governments increase investment in quantum computing research, blockchain developers and cryptography experts are increasingly examining how existing security systems can be upgraded before quantum computers become capable of challenging today’s encryption standards.