Bitcoin BTC$66,551.84 rose after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high, pushing the price from around $65,600 in Asian trading to more than $66,500 during European hours.

The largest cryptocurrency has added 1.5% over the past 24 hours, continuing its recovery from a June 5 low below $60,000. Several altcoins posted even stronger gains.

Stellar’s XLM, Injective’s INJ and Uniswap’s UNI rose between 13% and 16%, ranking among the best performers in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. UNI’s gain comes after Standard Chartered initiated coverage of Uniswap and set a long-term price target for the token of $100 by 2030.

Memecoin SIREN extended its decline, falling another 21% in 24 hours. The token has now lost a staggering 77% month-to-date. Blockchain data trackers on X pointed to a large holder, or whale, offloading coins representing 92% of the token’s supply as the main driver behind the collapse.

Derivatives Positioning

• Crypto markets are showing renewed risk appetite. Total 24-hour trading volume jumped 51% to $207 billion, open interest rose 2.4% to $113.41 billion and liquidations have surged 64% to $561 million, with shorts accounting for the bulk of the forced exits.
• Leverage is coming back too. BTC futures open interest (OI) has risen to 747,000 BTC, a third straight daily increase and the highest since June 4. The steady climb suggests investors are willing to take on risk again, a message reinforced by annualized perpetual funding rates holding near zero and a positive 24-hour OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD). Both point to a balanced, recovering market rather than speculative excess.
• Ether futures OI ticked up to 14.20 million ETH from a recent low of 13.64 million, a modest but directionally encouraging move.
• Among the major cryptocurrencies, LTC$45.58 is the standout. Its OI has risen 6.6% to 6.86 million tokens in 24 hours. While impressive in relative terms, the absolute level tells a more cautious story. It is still just a one-week high and remains well below January’s peak of 9.29 million tokens. Overall positioning, therefore, remains light.
• On the losing side, TON, BCH and HBAR all saw OI decline over the past 24 hours, signaling capital outflows. TON is the most notable; its rebranding to GRAM has done nothing for trader sentiment and 24-hour CVD is the most negative among the majors, a sign the market is being driven by sellers hitting bids at market rather than passive limit orders.
• The volatility picture offers bulls some comfort. Both BVIV and EVIV — the 30-day implied volatility indexes for BTC and ETH, respectively — have nearly fully reversed the spike seen in the first week of the month. The fear that drove that spike has ebbed, and the implied volatility retreat supports the case for a continued recovery.
• On Deribit, BTC puts at strikes between $58,000 and $64,000 are among the most active of the past 24 hours. Block flows featured put condors, a non-directional strategy designed to profit from a specific range of volatility rather than a directional bet.

Token talk

• Avalanche was the most-discussed token on Monday as crypto broadly rallied, though in AVAX’s case, the conversation turned sharply negative. The ratio of positive to negative commentary has fallen to about 0.85, according to Santiment, meaning bearish posts now outnumber bullish ones, down from one of its most optimistic readings back in January.
• The negative chatter is about mindshare. It centers on whether Avalanche can keep pace with faster-growing rivals, with developer activity and user growth seen shifting toward Solana and Sui, Santiment said.
• Price backs the mood. AVAX trades around $6.88, near the low end of its recent range and well below the near-$10 level it held a month ago.
• There’s a contrarian flip angle, however. Santiment notes that extreme negative sentiment has often marked opportunities rather than tops. Markets can reverse when the crowd turns overwhelmingly bearish. It made the same case on XRP days earlier.
• The fundamentals haven’t vanished. Avalanche still holds institutional partnerships, government-linked projects and its subnet design, which lets teams launch custom app-specific blockchains. The bear case is about momentum, not a business falling apart.

Bitcoin’s BTC$66,584.19 drop below $60,000 earlier this month spurred investors to pile into the largest cryptocurrency, with almost 260,000 BTC bought over 10 days and one measure of demand increasing to its highest possible level.

Investors have bought a net 259,298 BTC since June 5, paying between $59,000 and $67,000, according to Glassnode UTXO Realized Price Distribution data. Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score by Wallet Cohort, which measures the relative strength of purchasing fervor based on both the size of buyers and the amount acquired over the previous 15 days, stands at 1.0, the top reading.

Buying has been broad-based across wallet cohorts, ranging from holders with less than 1 BTC, typically retail investors, to those with as many as 1,000 BTC. Notably, from March through May, most groups were net distributors, or sellers, as bitcoin stagnated around $70,000.

The aggregate Accumulation Trend Score has now remained at a peak level for more than two weeks, indicating aggressive buying across cohorts and marking the strongest accumulation behavior observed during the current drawdown.

Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor said Bitcoin does not need staking, inflation or protocol-based yield mechanisms, arguing returns should come from financial products built around BTC.

In an X post on Tuesday, Saylor outlined a five-layer “Digital Asset Stack” positioning Bitcoin (BTC) as the base for credit, money, yield and equity structures.

Saylor said Bitcoin should remain “pure digital capital” and that it “does not need to become Ethereum” to generate investor returns.

The framework reinforces Strategy’s approach to Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, where returns are generated through financial products built around the company’s Bitcoin holdings, the largest among publicly listed firms.

Digital credit and yield layer

Saylor’s framework is centered around “digital credit” as financial instruments built around Bitcoin holdings, designed to generate returns while reducing exposure to BTC price volatility.

Under this structure, Bitcoin serves as collateral, while equity absorbs most of the price risk and credit instruments receive more stable returns.

Source: Michael Saylor

Saylor repeatedly referenced Strategy-style securities such as STRC, the company’s perpetual preferred stock, positioning them as a key example of “digital credit.” In this framing, STRC-like instruments are not just company products but examples of a broader asset class built on top of Bitcoin through capital markets engineering.

Saylor argues credit instruments can smooth Bitcoin’s price swings

Saylor said Bitcoin’s volatility is “not a flaw,” framing it as a natural feature of “high-energy capital” that can move sharply because it is scarce, global and traded around the clock. In his model, instruments like STRC are designed to damp those price swings by sitting above Bitcoin in the capital structure.

While Saylor did not directly discuss STRC’s volatility in the X post, he said credit instruments can experience varying levels of risk depending on factors such as market stress, liquidity and investor demand.

Related: Saylor’s Strategy buys 1,587 BTC for $100M, holdings hit 846.8K

“The important point is not that digital credit always has one fixed volatility number. It does not,” Saylor said.

Strategy’s preferred stock STRC closed at $95.20 on Monday, down 1.45%, according to Nasdaq data. The stock has a $100 stated par value and is structured to trade near that level.

Cointelegraph’s Ciaran Lyons (left) and Strategy founder Michael Saylor (right) at BTC Prague. Source: Cointelegraph/YouTube

The remarks reinforce Saylor’s framing of Bitcoin as “digital capital” and Strategy’s role in issuing “digital credit” built around it, including the view that Bitcoin sales are sometimes required to support the structure.

“If the company’s policy is that we won’t sell the Bitcoin, then the credit won’t have value and the equity won’t have value,” Saylor told Cointelegraph at the BTC Prague conference last week.

Magazine: Bitcoin, the ‘canary in the coal mine,’ XRP transaction demand falls 91.5%: Market Moves

Circle reportedly minted another 1 billion USDC on Solana on June 16, according to on-chain tracker Lookonchain. 

The latest issuance lifted Circle’s total USDC minting on Solana to 3.5 billion over the past week. “Circle minted another 1B USDC on Solana today,” Lookonchain said. 

The tracker added that Circle had minted 3.5 billion USDC on Solana over the past seven days. Circle had not issued a separate public statement on the specific mint at the time of writing.

Key Takeaways

• Novo Nordisk will submit its oral Wegovy formulation to Chinese authorities “within a few months,” according to CEO
• The announcement marks CEO Mike Doustdar’s inaugural China trip following his appointment in August
• Rival Eli Lilly gained first-mover advantage by filing orforglipron with Chinese regulators in late 2025
• China patent protection for semaglutide lapsed in March, opening doors for generic manufacturers by mid-2026
• NVO stock shows modest 0.09% gain and holds a Hold rating with analysts targeting $46 per share

Novo Nordisk is making its move in China’s burgeoning oral obesity treatment sector, with Chief Executive Mike Doustdar revealing plans to seek regulatory clearance for the company’s Wegovy tablet formulation “very soon — a few months.”

Novo Nordisk A/S, NVO

Doustdar disclosed the timeline during his maiden visit to China after assuming leadership last August. Shares of NVO were marginally higher by 0.09% following the disclosure.

China represents the globe’s second-biggest pharmaceutical marketplace, with GLP-1 obesity medications emerging as one of its most dynamic therapeutic categories. First-quarter GLP-1 product sales through platforms including Alibaba and JD.com reached approximately 1.4 billion yuan ($207 million), data from Jefferies indicates.

Novo maintains existing market presence. Chinese regulators granted approval for its injectable Wegovy formulation in the middle of 2024. Introducing an oral alternative would provide the Danish pharmaceutical giant with an additional pathway, appealing to consumers who favor tablets over needles.

However, the company trails its primary competitor. Eli Lilly filed its once-daily oral candidate orforglipron with Chinese regulatory bodies in late 2025, securing a temporal advantage in the approval process. Lilly currently markets Mounjaro throughout China for both Type 2 diabetes management and weight reduction.

Generic Competitors Preparing to Enter

The challenge extends beyond Lilly. Semaglutide — the core compound in Wegovy and Ozempic — saw its Chinese patent expire in March. While Novo maintains regulatory data exclusivity through early next year, generic alternatives are anticipated to reach the market around Q2 2026.

Doustdar recognized the incoming challenge but emphasized production complexity as a defensive moat. “Not many of our competitors will be able to reach that level, have the capabilities,” he stated, highlighting the difficulties inherent in large-scale oral formulation manufacturing.

To maintain competitiveness against generic entrants and domestic imitation products, Novo has implemented price reductions for Wegovy across select Chinese regions.

Pfizer and domestic pharmaceutical company Innovent Biologics have likewise penetrated the space, although precise market distribution data for China remains opaque. Neither Innovent nor Lilly provides Chinese revenue breakdowns.

Novo introduced its Wegovy pill in American markets this year after securing expedited clearance there and in Britain. Lilly received U.S. regulatory approval for orforglipron in April.

Wall Street’s Perspective

Among equity analysts, NVO maintains a Hold consensus classification based on three uniform Hold recommendations on TipRanks. The mean price objective stands at $46, suggesting approximately 4.7% appreciation potential from present trading levels.

For the year-to-date period, NVO has declined 11.4%, mirroring investor apprehension regarding patent vulnerabilities, pricing headwinds, and intensifying competitive dynamics.

The China regulatory submission is anticipated within the coming months, per Doustdar’s indication.

Today in crypto, Strategy’s latest Bitcoin purchase pushed its holdings to 846,842 Bitcoin, as the cryptocurrency’s continued recovery hinges on a successful deal between the US and Iran. Meanwhile, the CFTC poached an SEC crypto task force adviser with a strong blockchain forensics background.

Bitcoin recovery rests on US-Iran deal as momentum remains weak

Bitcoin’s continued recovery is hinged on a successful peace deal between the US and Iran as Swissblock shows on-chain metrics signal the cryptocurrency remains weak despite its recent recovery.

LVRG Research director Nick Ruck told Cointelegraph that despite Bitcoin (BTC) reclaiming $67,000 on Monday, its “momentum remains weak, with declining volume and stagnant on-chain metrics indicating that the recovery lacks conviction and could quickly fade.”

Swissblock said on Monday that Bitcoin’s price momentum, measuring the strength of its price movements, and on-balance volume (OBV), which measures buying and selling pressure, remain in a “weak momentum and participation regime.”

Price momentum and OBV remain at bear market lows. Source: Swissblock

Ruck said that if the peace deal between the US and Iran breaks down, the following geopolitical instability and potential oil shocks would see Bitcoin “face a volatile path” as geopolitical catalysts “continue to dominate crypto price action.”

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the US had completed a peace deal with Iran to end months of conflict, which is expected to be signed on Friday. Much of the deal remains unknown, but Trump said it would see the Strait of Hormuz reopen and the US lift its blockade.

CFTC hires SEC crypto task force adviser with blockchain forensics chops

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has hired a new chief data innovation officer with deep experience in blockchain forensics in what could be seen as the regulator’s move toward greater focus on the technology.

In a Monday notice, CFTC Chair Michael Selig said that Donald Battle, an adviser to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) crypto task force, would be the commission’s chief data innovation officer. Battle was appointed as an SEC crypto task force adviser in January 2025 with the incoming Trump administration, and previously worked as a blockchain data adviser for the CFTC and crypto enforcement specialist with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Selig cited Battle’s experience in “data science, blockchain forensics, programming interfaces, and cutting-edge AI solutions” among his reasons for his pick.

The appointment signaled the agency moving closer to addressing crypto regulation and enforcement at a time when Congress is seeking to overhaul the CFTC’s and SEC’s roles with a digital asset market structure bill, the CLARITY Act.

Source: CFTC on X.com

Saylor’s Strategy buys 1,587 BTC for $100M, holdings hit 846.8K

Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest public Bitcoin holder, added to its cryptocurrency reserves last week as BTC continued to trade below the company’s average cost basis of about $75,700.

Strategy acquired 1,587 Bitcoin (BTC) for $100 million between June 8 and 14, according to Monday’s 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The purchase was made at an average price of $63,024 per Bitcoin, bringing the company’s overall average cost basis slightly lower to $75,656.

Source: SEC

With the latest buy, Strategy now holds 846,842 BTC, accumulated at a total cost of $64.07 billion. At the current price of about $66,216 per bitcoin, those holdings are worth roughly $56.1 billion, according to CoinGecko data.

Similar to the previous 1,550 BTC acquisition announced last Monday, Strategy funded the latest acquisition through sales of its Class A common stock (MSTR).