Crypto World
Humanity Protocol says compromised admin keys led to $36M exploit
Humanity Protocol has disclosed that more than $36 million worth of H tokens have been stolen after attackers compromised multiple administrative keys and seized control of bridge infrastructure across Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain.
Summary
- Humanity Protocol said more than $36 million was stolen after attackers compromised administrative keys linked to its Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain bridge infrastructure.
- The project said the breach began with a compromised employee laptop, allowing attackers to seize bridge controls and mint 200 million H tokens on BNB Smart Chain.
- Deposits and withdrawals on affected bridges have been suspended as Humanity Protocol works with exchanges and law enforcement on recovery efforts.
According to Humanity Protocol’s June 9 incident update, the attack originated after an employee’s laptop was compromised, allowing the attacker to gain access to key holders tied to the project’s bridge administration systems.
The disclosure expands on an earlier statement from Humanity founder and CEO Terence Kwok, who had confirmed that private keys belonging to a Humanity Foundation member were compromised.
At the time, the project warned users to avoid the Humanity bridge and related liquidity pools while an investigation was underway.
Compromised bridge controls enabled token theft and minting
Details released by Humanity Protocol show that three of six Gnosis Safe owner keys controlling the Hyperlane bridge ProxyAdmin on Ethereum were compromised. Using those credentials, the attacker transferred ownership of the ProxyAdmin contract to a wallet under their control, upgraded the bridge contract to a malicious implementation, and moved about 141.2 million H tokens in a single transaction.
On BNB Smart Chain, the attacker compromised three of five Safe owner keys and carried out a similar takeover of the bridge’s ProxyAdmin contract. Humanity Protocol said the attacker then deployed a malicious contract containing an unlimited mint function and created 200,000,005 H tokens in two separate transactions.
Earlier on June 9, on-chain analyst Specter reported that more than 17 wallets connected to or interacting with Humanity Protocol had been drained. Initial estimates placed losses near $19 million before later blockchain trackers raised the figure above $30 million.
Blockchain monitoring data cited by Specter showed that the attacker sold a portion of the stolen tokens and converted part of the proceeds into Ethereum. According to the analyst’s Telegram update, roughly $23.7 million had been swapped into ETH, while about $7.9 million remained in H tokens.
Separate monitoring from Blockaid had suggested the attacker obtained proxy administrator rights on BNB Smart Chain and minted 100 million H tokens. Humanity Protocol had not confirmed that claim at the time, though the latest incident report now confirms that the attacker gained administrative control and minted additional H on the network.
Team working with exchanges and law enforcement
In its latest statement, Humanity Protocol said deposits and withdrawals through the affected bridges have been halted while response efforts continue.
The project said it is coordinating with exchanges and other parties to reduce further damage. Alongside an internal investigation, Humanity Protocol said it is also working with police authorities in an effort to investigate the breach and recover some of the stolen funds.
“We know words can’t fix this, but we’re going to show up, keep you in the loop, and do the work to earn back the trust you placed in us. We’re not going anywhere and are still continuing to build.”
Before the latest technical breakdown was published, Kwok said the team was working with security specialists and exchange partners. No reimbursement plan or recovery framework had been announced at that stage.
Market reaction to the exploit was severe, with the protocol’s native token plummeting over 90% in the aftermath.
Source: crypto.news
Humanity Protocol operates a zkEVM-based identity network that uses zero-knowledge proofs and palm biometrics to verify users without storing their personal information in centralized identity databases.
The team said a full post-mortem report will be released once the investigation progresses further.
BTC has been under tremendous pressure as it struggles below $63,000. Arthur Hayes said he believes the AI boom has absorbed a significant portion of newly created dollar liquidity, which, according to the BitMEX co-founder, explains why bitcoin has struggled to rally further despite a broader expansion in money supply.
In a recent blog post, Hayes revisited his long-held belief that crypto markets are largely driven by fiat liquidity and acknowledged that he may have overlooked an important factor: where that liquidity was actually flowing.
Bitcoin vs. AI
Bitcoin should have performed much better given the increase in dollar creation over the past few years, but instead AI-related investments attracted a larger share of capital. The commercial launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 was the beginning of what Hayes called the “great AI bubble.” During the same period, bitcoin recovered from its post-FTX lows and rose from roughly $15,000 to around $125,000 by October 2025.
However, AI-linked stocks significantly outperformed crypto. Hayes cited Nvidia’s roughly 11x increase compared to BTC’s 7x gain over a similar timeframe. He also observed that AI’s outperformance accelerated from late 2024 onward, while bitcoin later declined sharply from its peak.
Hayes said his previous models focused mainly on the headline amount of fiat creation and assumed that enough of that liquidity would eventually find its way into bitcoin. But this approach failed to account for the enormous capital demands created by the AI industry.
The former BitMEX CEO described AI as an extremely capital-intensive sector that requires vast investments in data centers, electricity generation, specialized chips, and supporting infrastructure. He explained that the rapid expansion of data center spending that began in 2024 and accelerated in 2025 created a massive need for financing.
Referring to estimates compiled from public disclosures, he said AI-related firms issued approximately $1.5 trillion in debt between November 2022 and the present. Of that total, around $1.3 trillion was raised from 2025 onward as spending on AI infrastructure surged.
Hayes compared that figure with growth in the US M2 money supply over the same period, which he estimated also increased by around $1.5 trillion. Based on those numbers, he concluded that AI effectively absorbed nearly all newly created dollar liquidity. He wrote,
“AI sucked up all created dollars.”
More Turbulence Ahead?
The latest concerns come as some analysts remain cautious about the cryptocurrency’s near-term outlook. Market analyst Doctor Profit recently said that bitcoin has entered the fifth stage of a six-stage bear market cycle, a phase characterized by increased volatility and emotional stress for investors.
He said that the recent pullback was not the final bottom but a setup for further turbulence ahead. The analyst flagged the $40,000-$48,000 range as the most likely area for BTC’s eventual cycle low, potentially between September and October 2026.
The post Why Didn’t Bitcoin Go Higher? Arthur Hayes Blames the AI Spending Frenzy appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz responded to criticism of his title with a long poem explaining his role in crypto and the XRP Ledger’s development.
Summary
- David Schwartz answered criticism of his emeritus title with a detailed poem about XRP Ledger.
- The verse covered cryptography, payments, custody, decentralized exchanges, tokenization, bridges, stablecoins, and network security topics.
- Schwartz remains Ripple’s CTO emeritus and an XRP Ledger co-creator after leaving daily leadership duties.
The verse covered cryptography, payment rails, custody, decentralized exchanges, automated market makers, tokenization, derivatives, bridges and stablecoins. It also referred to Schwartz’s work explaining blockchain systems over more than 15 years.
David Schwartz responds to criticism with XRP Ledger verse
The exchange began after an X user appeared to downplay the meaning of Schwartz’s CTO emeritus title. Schwartz answered with a structured rhyme that presented his technical background and long involvement with Ripple and XRPL.
“I am the very model of a CTO emeritus,” David Schwartz wrote. He described himself as a ledger creator and referred to hashes, Merkle trees and transaction data before moving into broader financial infrastructure.
The poem also addressed payment rails, custody and liquidity. Schwartz said he could explain decentralized exchanges and automated market makers to technical and non-technical audiences.
His response used humor, but the content focused on his experience rather than a new XRP Ledger announcement. Schwartz did not introduce a product, amendment or release date in the post.
Ripple veteran outlines 15 years of crypto work
Schwartz helped develop the XRP Ledger with Jed McCaleb and Arthur Britto beginning in 2011. The network launched in June 2012 as a payment-focused alternative to Bitcoin’s mining-based system.
He later joined OpenCoin, which became Ripple, as chief cryptographer. David Schwartz became Ripple’s chief technology officer in 2018 and moved away from daily leadership duties at the end of 2025.
Ripple now identifies him as CTO emeritus and a co-creator of XRPL. He also remains involved in public discussions about XRP, stablecoins, tokenization, network design and blockchain security.
“I’ve spent decades explaining crypto’s finer points,” Schwartz wrote. The line referred to his continuing public role after leaving the company’s day-to-day technology position.
XRP Ledger development continues after leadership change
David Schwartz’s post arrived as XRPL developers prepared version 3.2.0 of the network’s core server software. As previously reported by crypto.news, the planned release will rename rippled to xrpld and requires infrastructure operators to update some systems.
The release has been linked to performance work, code cleanup and fixes for number handling and rounding. June 15 remains a target rather than a confirmed release date from XRPL Operations.
Separately, as previously reported, it was found that average daily XRPL transactions rose 35.3% during the first quarter of 2026. The network also recorded growth in stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets while XRP’s market price weakened.
Schwartz’s poem did not claim responsibility for every recent development. It instead presented his historical role, technical knowledge and continued place in the XRP Ledger community.
Something revealing is happening on Google.
Summary
- U.S. searches for “Bitcoin to zero” reached a record as fear intensified during the market decline.
- Bitcoin reaching zero would require a fatal technical failure, total abandonment, or an effective worldwide ban.
- Its distributed ownership, mining infrastructure, ETFs, corporate holdings, and liquidity make complete abandonment highly improbable.
- Record fear searches are a sentiment signal and have historically appeared closer to bottoms than market tops.
Searches for the phrase “Bitcoin to zero” have surged to the highest level ever recorded in the United States, hitting a peak score of 100 on Google Trends, stronger than the panic spikes of the 2022 collapse and the 2025 drawdowns.
The query is a window into the crypto market’s collective psychology in mid-2026: with Bitcoin down sharply from its highs, the Fear and Greed Index buried in extreme fear, and the longest Bitcoin ETF outflow streak on record, a growing number of people are typing the most existential question a holder can ask into a search bar.
Could Bitcoin actually go to zero?
It is a fair question, and it deserves a serious answer instead of either reflexive dismissal or doom-mongering.
The honest response requires separating what would truly have to happen for Bitcoin to reach zero from the panic that drives people to search for it, and understanding why the record-breaking fear in the search data is, historically, more likely a contrarian signal than a prophecy.
This piece takes the question seriously, walks through the actual scenarios that could send Bitcoin to zero and why each is improbable, and explains what the search surge really tells us.
What the search data is actually showing
Start with the signal itself, because the “Bitcoin to zero” search spike is remarkable and worth understanding before judging what it means.
According to Google Trends data, U.S. searches for “Bitcoin to zero” climbed to a peak score of 100, the maximum on Google’s relative scale, marking the highest level on record.
This is not a modest uptick.
The phrase has spiked during previous market drawdowns, including the 2022 bear market and briefly in 2025, but the current surge is stronger than those previous peaks.
That means more people are searching for Bitcoin’s potential demise now than at any point in its history, including during the FTX collapse.
For most of 2023 and early 2024, interest in the phrase remained muted, reflecting calmer markets.
The sudden record-breaking rise reflects acute retail anxiety as Bitcoin consolidates after a sharp decline.
The context explains the fear.
Bitcoin has fallen substantially from its cycle high, the Fear and Greed Index has registered readings deep in extreme fear, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs bled through a record 13-day outflow streak draining billions, and the broader market shed hundreds of billions in a matter of days.
For a retail investor watching their portfolio collapse amid a relentlessly negative news cycle, “Is this going to zero?” is the natural question, and the search data captures millions of people asking it simultaneously.
The spike is a direct readout of peak retail fear, the moment when the emotional bottom feels closest.
Here is the first and most important thing to understand about that signal: peak-fear searches have historically clustered near market bottoms, not before further collapses.
The same behavioral pattern that drives the Fear and Greed Index applies to search behavior.
People search “Bitcoin to zero” when they are most afraid, and they are most afraid after prices have already fallen hard, which is precisely when much of the selling has already occurred.
The record-breaking nature of the current search spike, stronger than 2022 or 2025, is therefore as easily read as a sign of capitulation-level fear as a warning of imminent doom.
The intensity of the “Bitcoin to zero” searches is, paradoxically, one of the better contrarian arguments that Bitcoin is not going to zero.
But to make that case properly, the scenarios must be examined.
What would have to happen for Bitcoin to reach zero
To answer the question seriously, it is necessary to ask what “Bitcoin to zero” would actually require, because zero is a specific and extreme outcome, not just a big further decline.
For Bitcoin to reach zero, it would need to become genuinely worthless, held by no one, used by no one, and valued by no one.
Walking through the scenarios that could produce that outcome reveals how high the bar is.
The first scenario is a fatal technical failure.
Bitcoin could, in theory, go to zero if its underlying technology catastrophically and irreparably broke: a flaw that allowed the supply to be counterfeited at will, a break in its cryptography, or a failure of its consensus mechanism so severe that the ledger could no longer be trusted.
This is the scenario that the Zcash Orchard bug recently made vivid for a privacy coin.
But for Bitcoin specifically, it is extraordinarily unlikely.
Bitcoin’s core cryptography and consensus have operated without a successful protocol-level breach for more than 15 years, securing trillions of dollars in value through relentless adversarial testing.
The cryptography securing it—SHA-256 hashing and elliptic-curve signatures—is the same battle-tested cryptography underpinning much of the global financial and security infrastructure.
Even the quantum-computing threat, the most discussed long-term technical risk, is years away and is being actively addressed through proposals like BIP-360.
A sudden fatal technical break is the clearest path to zero and also among the least probable.
The second scenario is total network abandonment.
Bitcoin could go to zero if everyone simply stopped using it—if miners stopped securing it, developers stopped maintaining it, exchanges stopped listing it, and holders stopped holding it—all at once.
But this contradicts everything observable about Bitcoin’s current state.
The network is secured by an enormous, globally distributed mining industry with billions of dollars invested in hardware and energy infrastructure.
It is held by tens of millions of individuals, public companies with Bitcoin on their balance sheets, spot ETFs holding tens of billions in assets, institutions, and governments exploring strategic reserves.
For Bitcoin to reach zero through abandonment, all these committed, heavily invested participants would have to abandon it simultaneously.
That is not how a deeply entrenched, widely held asset behaves.
The infrastructure and ownership are far too distributed and committed for coordinated total abandonment.
The third scenario is a global regulatory ban so complete that it extinguishes all use.
A coordinated worldwide prohibition, with every major government banning ownership, trading, and mining simultaneously and enforcing it effectively, could theoretically strangle Bitcoin.
But this scenario has only grown less plausible over time, not more.
The trend in 2026 is the opposite of a global ban: the United States is exploring a strategic Bitcoin reserve, spot ETFs have been approved across major markets, regulatory frameworks such as the CLARITY Act are advancing to legitimize rather than prohibit crypto, and Bitcoin is being woven into mainstream finance through mortgage recognition and institutional products.
A coordinated global ban would require the world’s governments, many of which now hold Bitcoin through seizures or are developing favorable regulatory systems, to reverse course in perfect unison.
That is geopolitically implausible.
Even authoritarian bans have historically pushed Bitcoin activity underground rather than extinguishing it.
Why each path to zero is improbable
Having laid out the scenarios, it is worth being explicit about why, in combination, they make zero a genuine tail risk rather than a realistic forecast.
The reasoning matters more than the conclusion.
The deepest reason is that Bitcoin has crossed a threshold of entrenchment that makes total worthlessness extraordinarily difficult to achieve.
An asset goes to zero when it has no holders, users, infrastructure, or believers—the state of a failed startup token or collapsed scheme.
Bitcoin is the opposite.
It has the deepest liquidity in crypto, distributed ownership, the largest and most committed mining base, regulated financial products built on top of it, corporate and potentially sovereign treasuries holding it, and a track record spanning more than 15 years.
Each of these is a structural anchor against zero, and they reinforce one another.
The ETFs need the asset to exist. Miners are financially committed to securing it. Corporate holders have staked their balance sheets on it. Governments holding seized coins have an interest in its value.
Zero would require all these anchors to fail together.
They are held by different parties with different incentives in different jurisdictions, making coordinated total failure close to impossible.
The historical record reinforces the point.
Bitcoin has been declared dead hundreds of times throughout its history and has survived the 2018 bear market that took it down roughly 84%, the 2022 collapse that took it down 77% amid the Terra and FTX failures, and numerous smaller crashes.
Each decline generated its own “Bitcoin to zero” fears.
In every case, the asset recovered and later reached new highs, not because recovery is guaranteed, but because the structural anchors held and capitulation eventually exhausted itself.
The current drawdown, severe as it feels, is so far shallower than the 2018 and 2022 declines that preceded recoveries.
A holder searching “Bitcoin to zero” today is doing what holders did at every previous bottom, and at every previous bottom the asset did not go to zero.
None of this means zero is impossible, and intellectual honesty requires acknowledging that.
An authentically catastrophic, unprecedented technical break or an unforeseeable coordinated global collapse cannot be ruled out with absolute certainty.
Anyone claiming Bitcoin can never, under any circumstances, go to zero is overstating the case.
But “cannot be ruled out with absolute certainty” is a very different claim from “is a realistic outcome to plan around.”
Zero is a genuine tail risk—the kind of low-probability, high-impact scenario that belongs in a serious risk assessment—not the base case the record-breaking search spike might suggest.
The honest framing is that Bitcoin going to zero is improbable to the point that it should inform position sizing and risk management more than panic selling.
That is the opposite of what the search surge suggests people are doing.
What actually does go to zero
A useful way to calibrate the Bitcoin-to-zero question is to examine the kinds of crypto assets that have actually gone to zero.
Plenty have, and the contrast with Bitcoin is instructive.
Crypto is littered with assets that went to zero or close to it, and they share characteristics Bitcoin conspicuously lacks.
Failed algorithmic stablecoins such as TerraUSD collapsed to near-zero when their mechanism broke because their value depended entirely on a confidence loop that, once shattered, had nothing underneath it.
Thousands of ICO tokens from the 2017 boom went effectively to zero when their projects failed to deliver because they were claims on promises that never materialized, with no users, revenue, or staying power.
Exchange tokens such as FTX’s FTT collapsed when the exchange behind them failed because their value was tied to a single company that turned out to be fraudulent.
Countless meme coins have gone to zero after their fleeting attention faded because attention was the only thing supporting them.
The common thread among assets that actually went to zero is that each depended on a single point of failure: a mechanism, company, promise, or wave of attention that, once removed, left nothing behind.
TerraUSD depended on its algorithm. FTT depended on FTX. ICO tokens depended on teams delivering. Meme coins depended on hype.
When the single supporting pillar collapsed, the asset had no other foundation.
It went to zero because there was nothing else holding it up.
This is what going to zero actually looks like: the removal of the one thing an asset depended on.
Bitcoin is structurally the opposite, which is why the contrast matters.
It does not depend on a single mechanism that can break, one company that can fail, one team that can fail to deliver, or one wave of attention that can fade.
It is supported by a distributed mining industry, ownership across tens of millions of holders, regulated financial products, corporate and potentially sovereign treasuries, a track record spanning more than 15 years, and the deepest liquidity in crypto.
Each is an independent pillar held by different parties with different incentives.
For Bitcoin to go to zero, all these independent pillars would have to fail together, whereas the assets that actually went to zero each had only one pillar to lose.
The things that go to zero are single-point-of-failure assets.
Bitcoin is the most multiply redundant asset in crypto, which is precisely why the historical examples of crypto going to zero do not map onto it.
Understanding what does go to zero clarifies why Bitcoin almost certainly will not.
What the search surge really tells us
Step back from the scenarios, and the more useful question is what the record “Bitcoin to zero” search spike actually signals about the market.
The answer points in a more constructive direction than the query implies.
The search surge is, first and foremost, a sentiment indicator, and an extreme one.
It belongs in the same family as the Fear and Greed Index reading deep in extreme fear: a measure of how frightened the market is, not a measure of what is actually likely to happen.
The fact that “Bitcoin to zero” searches hit a record, stronger than in 2022 or 2025, shows that retail fear has reached an extreme rarely seen.
That is information about psychology, not Bitcoin’s fundamental prospects.
As with all extreme sentiment readings, the contrarian interpretation has historical weight.
Peak fear has tended to cluster near bottoms because, by the time the maximum number of people are searching whether their investment is going to zero, the maximum amount of capitulation selling has typically already happened.
The behavioral pattern is consistent and worth internalizing.
Search interest in Bitcoin, including fearful queries, spikes during sharp price declines, not during calm uptrends.
That means these searches are a lagging reaction to price rather than a leading predictor of it.
People do not search “Bitcoin to zero” when Bitcoin is at all-time highs.
They search it after it has already fallen hard, which is structurally close to the point of maximum pessimism.
This is why analysts read surging search interest during a sell-off as a potential sign that retail is re-engaging and capitulation may be peaking, in the same way they read extreme-fear measurements.
The record search spike is the crowd at its most afraid, and the crowd at its most afraid has historically been wrong about the direction more often than right.
There is a second, subtler signal in the surge: it indicates retail attention is returning to Bitcoin after a period of disengagement.
For much of the period when institutions and ETFs dominated the market, retail search interest faded.
The resurgence of searches, even fearful ones, suggests everyday investors are paying attention again.
Whether that attention converts into buying or selling is uncertain, but renewed retail engagement is itself a precondition for the broad participation that has historically accompanied recoveries.
The honest synthesis is that the record “Bitcoin to zero” search spike is best understood not as evidence that Bitcoin is going to zero, which the scenarios show is improbable, but as evidence that fear has reached an extreme and retail attention has returned.
That combination has historically appeared near bottoms instead of before further collapses.
The people searching the question are, in aggregate and historically, asking it close to the worst possible moment to act on the fear behind it.
How to actually think about the question
For anyone worried enough to search “Bitcoin to zero,” the constructive path is to translate fear into disciplined thinking rather than letting it drive action.
A few principles help.
The first is to right-size the risk.
Bitcoin going to zero is a real tail risk, which means it should inform how much of a portfolio is placed into Bitcoin in the first place, not whether someone panic-sells after a decline.
A risk that cannot be ruled out with certainty is a reason for prudent position sizing and holding an amount that could be lost entirely.
It is not automatically a reason to capitulate at the bottom of a drawdown.
If the possibility of zero is frightening, the lesson is about allocation discipline before the fact, not panic after it.
Selling into extreme fear because of a sudden awareness of a tail risk that existed all along is reacting to emotion, not new information.
The second principle is to recognize that the question itself is a contrarian signal.
Anyone searching “Bitcoin to zero” is, by definition, experiencing the emotional state that has historically marked bottoms rather than tops.
That does not guarantee a bottom is in.
But it should prompt reflection that the urge to sell is strongest at exactly the moments that have historically rewarded buying or holding.
The discipline is to notice that the fear is shared by a record number of people, that record-shared fear has preceded recoveries before, and that acting on it places the investor alongside the crowd that has historically been wrong at the extremes.
The clearest answer to the bottom-feared question is that Bitcoin going to zero is improbable to the point of being a tail risk rather than a forecast.
The asset has crossed a threshold of entrenchment, distributed ownership, institutional integration, and proven resilience that makes total worthlessness extraordinarily difficult to achieve.
The scenarios that could cause it—fatal technical failure, total abandonment, or a coordinated global ban—are each individually unlikely and collectively close to implausible.
The record-breaking search spike is not a prophecy of that outcome but a thermometer of extreme fear, and extreme fear has historically clustered near bottoms.
None of this is a promise that Bitcoin will recover, cannot fall further, or that zero is literally impossible.
Each of those claims would overstate the case.
The more measured truth is that the question millions are now searching reflects a moment of maximum fear, that the answer to the literal question is “almost certainly not,” and that the people asking it are, historically, asking close to the wrong time to act on that fear.
The search data is real. The fear is real.
The most likely meaning of both is not that Bitcoin is dying, but that the market is frightened, which is a very different and far more survivable condition.
This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile. The figures and analysis described reflect data available as of June 2026. Always do your own research and consult with qualified financial professionals before making investment decisions.
CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.
The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 1708.48, down 1.4% (-23.82) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday.
None of the 20 assets are trading higher.
Leaders: ETH (-0.6%) and SUI (-0.6%).
Laggards: UNI (-2.9%) and AAVE (-2.6%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
Memecoin activity stays strong as Dogecoin, MemeCore, and Little Pepe draw investor attention in 2026.
Summary
- Little Pepe is promoting itself as a meme-focused Layer-2 blockchain project, with its presale reportedly reaching Stage 13 and raising over $28 million.
- The project highlights planned exchange listings, ecosystem development, and a meme-centric blockchain as key differentiators from established meme coins such as Dogecoin and Pepe.
- Claims of future gains, including projections of 1,200% returns, remain speculative and depend on factors such as adoption, market conditions, liquidity, and successful execution of the project’s roadmap.
There is no time for the memecoin market to rest, is there? Having had an eventful start to 2026, a few memecoins have managed to remain relevant, but one particular presale has gone unnoticed, producing all the hype that made us fall in love with meme coins to begin with.
Dogecoin has found itself navigating the concept of X Money. At the same time, MemeCore has begun to redefine the entire meaning behind meme coins, but for now, let us talk about Little Pepe (LILPEPE), which finds itself at Stage 13 in its presale, showing potential for gains of up to 1,200% from its current price of $0.0022. Here’s a proper breakdown of the four coins worth watching right now.
Little Pepe: The meme chain built to hit 1,200%
Little Pepe doesn’t just try to replicate Pepe and compete in its shadow. This protocol creates a whole new Layer 2 blockchain for memes, something very few competitors can boast. As of the time of writing, the presale is ongoing on stage 13 with the token selling at $0.0022 per token. In total, $28,248,147 has been raised, with Little Pepe raising $28,775,000 from the 17.25 billion tokens set to be sold.
The math here is compelling. Stage 1 investors who got in at $0.001 are already sitting on a 120% paper gain heading into the confirmed listing price of $0.0030. Investors joining now at Stage 13’s $0.0022 still lock in a 36.36% gain at launch, before any post-listing price movement is factored in. Post-launch, the projected return from the lowest entry point is 1,200%. Little Pepe has secured listings on both CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko, and plans to list on two top centralized exchanges at launch.
Dogecoin: Still the OG, and $0.50 is still on the table
Dogecoin (DOGE) is currently trading at approximately $0.082-$0.10. The SEC/CFTC classification of DOGE as a commodity has facilitated its listing on Nasdaq. X Money’s beta release in April has driven DOGE’s price up by 10%, and Deutsche Bank predicts DOGE will appreciate to $0.50 once X Money incorporates its 586 million users. Analysts expect DOGE to trade between $0.12 and $0.22 by 2026.
MemeCore: The meme 2.0 chain doing real infrastructure work
MemeCore (M) hit an all-time high of $4.82 in April 2026 after a hard fork on March 25 slashed gas fees by 100x and introduced account abstraction, triggering a 26.5% surge over seven days. As of now, M is priced at roughly $2.67-$3.04, with a market capitalization of roughly $3.8-$4.0 billion and standing around #23-28 on CoinMarketCap. The Memex no-code platform allows token creation without coding, while the LIFT Ecofund supports new projects that use its blockchain technology.
Pudgy Penguins: The NFT-backed meme with a community that won’t quit
Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) is in a rough patch, trading between $0.0063 and $0.0068, well below its all-time high of $0.0463 set in January 2025. Market cap sits at approximately $394–$424 million, ranking in the #80–115 range. On the surface, that looks like a story of faded hype. However, this is not reflected in the price chart: there are more than 535,000 PENGU token owners, and only 0.5% of the total is held by the top 10 token wallets. This is a very good indicator, meaning that the community is distributed.
The bottom line
DOGE is the large-cap play with institutional catalysts finally aligning, and Dogecoin remains primed to hit $0.50 in 2026. MemeCore is the infrastructure bet for people who believe meme culture deserves its own chain. PENGU is the community-depth story waiting for sentiment to turn. And LILPEPE? It’s the presale opportunity that’s still technically open, though barely. With Stage 13 at 98.61% filled, a CertiK-audited contract, CMC, and CoinGecko listings already live, and a projected 1,200% return from Stage 1 baked into the tokenomics, the window to get in before launch is closing fast. For investors who’ve been watching from the sidelines, this might be one of the last chances to act while the price is still $0.0022.
Join the presale on the official website, read the whitepaper, follow updates on Twitter/X, Telegram, and join the 777K giveaway.
Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.
TLDR:
- Chainlink price traded near $7.91 as LINK remained under short-term selling pressure despite the new FIFA World Cup partnership.
- ADI Predictstreet adopted Chainlink as its exclusive oracle infrastructure for FIFA World Cup 2026 prediction markets.
- Chainlink Runtime Environment will help automate market creation, resolution, and settlement using high-quality FIFA data.
- The partnership expands Chainlink’s real-world utility, but LINK still needs stronger demand to confirm a price recovery.
Chainlink price traded near $7.91 on June 9 as ADI Predictstreet adopted Chainlink as its exclusive oracle infrastructure for FIFA World Cup 2026 prediction markets. LINK was down 0.87% in 24 hours, while trading volume fell 5.99% to about $320.65 million.
The announcement added a major sports-related use case for Chainlink. However, LINK’s chart remained weak after its recent decline from higher levels. The token was still trading below the $8 area, with market capitalization near $5.75 billion.
Chainlink Price Stays Weak Despite FIFA World Cup Deal
Chainlink price remained under pressure even after a major integration tied to the FIFA World Cup 2026. Chainli price analysis reveals LINK is struggling to rebuild momentum after a sharp drop in early June.
The token recently moved near the lower end of its short-term range. The RSI stood near 34.75, showing that sellers still held control. This level also suggested that LINK was close to oversold territory.
LINK/USD 1-day chart | Source: TradingView
ADI Predictstreet announced that it had adopted Chainlink to support prediction markets for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The platform is the official prediction market partner of the tournament.
The deal gives Chainlink a role in market resolution, settlement, and data orchestration. ADI Predictstreet said Chainlink would help reduce slow manual resolution and outcome disputes.
ADI Predictstreet Uses Chainlink for Prediction Markets
ADI Predictstreet will use the Chainlink Runtime Environment to automate market creation, resolution, and settlement. The system will rely on high-quality FIFA data to support accurate outcomes.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to span 48 teams, 104 matches, and 16 host cities. The event will take place across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
This scale creates a major test for prediction market infrastructure. Fast settlement matters because users expect quick payouts after match outcomes are known. Chainlink’s oracle system is designed to provide that source of truth.
ADI Predictstreet CEO Dimitrios Psarrakis said the integration would support transparent outcome resolution and efficient settlement. Chainlink Labs Chief Business Officer Johann Eid said the partnership could help redefine live sports prediction markets.
The Chainlink has expanded its reach beyond DeFi and tokenized finance. The network has already been used across lending, payments, stablecoins, and institutional blockchain projects.
As reported, the Chainlink network has enabled over $30 trillion in transaction value, and its infrastructure powers more than 70% of the global DeFi market.
Still, Chainlink’s price has not yet reflected a strong market reaction. LINK needs renewed spot demand and stronger broader crypto conditions to confirm a rebound.
A move above $8.00 would be the first sign of short-term strength. Further upside could bring attention back to the $8.50 and $9.00 areas. A failure to hold near $7.80 may keep sellers active.
Russia Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov disclosed on June 9, on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026), that Moscow is preparing fees, trading limits, and technical safeguards specifically targeting so-called unfriendly crypto assets, naming USDT, USDC, and BNB by name.
Freedom Global analyst Vladimir Chernov estimates those fees at 0.5–2% per transaction for broadly classified unfriendly assets, rising to as much as 3% per transaction for dollar-pegged stablecoins.
The stated rationale is investor protection, but the assets singled out share a common feature: their issuers, Tether, Circle, and Binance, are Western-linked entities that have previously frozen wallets tied to sanctioned addresses, and that is precisely the geopolitical problem Russia is trying to price into its new regulatory architecture.
#KCEXpressDaily — KCEX (@KCEX_Official) June 9, 2026
Russia’s Central Bank First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin confirmed: From July 1, 2026, non-qualified retail investors can only trade $BTC, $ETH, and $USDT under the new Digital Currency and Digital Rights Law. Other assets are unavailable to ordinary… pic.twitter.com/NNOD32dEov
Chebeskov’s framing was explicit. ‘These could include both technical protection measures and various economic incentives, commissions or recommendations, that would encourage citizens to own other assets,’ he told Izvestia.
That sentence is doing more than describing a fee schedule; it is signaling a preferred direction of capital flow away from dollar-pegged instruments and toward ruble-based or BRICS-aligned alternatives.
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Russia Crypto Regulation Bill: Where the State Duma Bill Actually Stands
The measures Chebeskov outlined are not yet law. They are being negotiated ahead of the second reading of the State Duma bill formally titled ‘On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,’ which passed its first reading 327–13 on April 21, 2026.
That first reading established the framework’s skeleton: five license categories for crypto operators, sweeping supervisory authority for the Bank of Russia, a continuing ban on domestic crypto payments, and an explicit carve-out permitting cross-border crypto settlements, the latter being the mechanism Russia has been using to route trade around sanctions.
The second reading is where the specifics get settled, and it is shaping up as the most contested phase. Duma Financial Markets Committee Chairman Anatoly Aksakov has flagged the crypto-market bill as one of two primary legislative priorities, alongside the ‘Antifraud 2.0’ package, with a target of completing the main framework by July 1, 2026 and enforcement rules operational by July 1, 2027.
The Russia crypto regulation debate is concentrated in that second reading, and the fee structure for unfriendly assets sits at its center.
The term ‘unfriendly’ carries legal weight in Russia: it maps directly to the government’s official list of countries that imposed sanctions following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a list that includes the United States, EU member states, and the United Kingdom.
Crypto assets issued or controlled by entities in those jurisdictions inherit that classification – which is why USDT (Tether, British Virgin Islands), USDC (Circle, US), and BNB (Binance, with deep US regulatory exposure) are the three assets most prominently in the crosshairs.
Discover: The Best Token Presales
The post Russia Takes Aim at Pro-Western Crypto With New Fees and Limits appeared first on Cryptonews.
Starknet has launched STRK20, a zero-knowledge privacy framework that gives ERC-20 assets shielded balances and private transfers, according to information shared with The Block.
Summary
- STRK20 gives ERC-20 assets shielded balances and private transfers without requiring separate privacy infrastructure stacks.
- Viewing keys allow targeted disclosure for valid legal requests while protecting other users’ transaction histories.
- strkBTC provides the framework’s first live use case, adding optional privacy to Bitcoin activity.
Developers can add confidential flows without building a separate privacy system for each token.
The framework supports transfers, swaps, lending, staking, payments and donations through compatible wallets and applications. Viewing keys can also provide limited transaction records when authorities present a valid legal request.
STRK20 brings private balances to Starknet tokens
STRK20 lets users move assets between public and shielded states while keeping the same underlying ERC-20 token. A zero-knowledge proof confirms that each private action follows network rules without exposing a balance or full transaction history.
The system uses Starknet’s native proof infrastructure and Cairo-based contracts. Users place assets into a shared privacy pool, transact inside it and withdraw when needed. Starknet says this avoids creating isolated private tokens or splitting liquidity across separate markets.
Meanwhile, each participant registers an encrypted viewing key. An independent auditing party can use it to reconstruct one user’s activity after receiving a valid legal or regulatory request. Other accounts in the pool remain hidden.
“This is practical privacy in the truest sense,” Starknet Foundation growth vice president Damian Chen said. He described the design as a way to preserve public confidentiality while retaining a route for required disclosure.
Starknet said STRK20 differs from a mixer because privacy remains part of the asset’s normal movement. Mixers usually send tokens through a separate service to obscure transaction history. STRK20 instead adds shielding to supported wallet and application flows.
strkBTC becomes the first major STRK20 use case
strkBTC became the first asset built on STRK20. The Bitcoin-backed ERC-20 token offers public and shielded modes, allowing users to hide selected balances and transfers before returning assets to a transparent state.
The rollout supports shielding through Ready X and Xverse wallets. Starknet is also expanding private swaps through avnu and Ekubo, while lending through Vesu and staking through Endur form part of the wider plan.
Some parts of these DeFi transactions may remain visible. Starknet notes that amounts routed through public liquidity can appear onchain even when the direct link to a user’s wallet is hidden. Privacy also strengthens as more users enter the shared pool.
Starknet expands a privacy plan announced in March
As previously reported by crypto.news, Starknet introduced STRK20 in March for confidential ERC-20 balances and selective disclosure. Its v0.14.2 mainnet upgrade later added native proof verification for encrypted balances and private transactions.
StarkWare chief executive Eli Ben-Sasson said zero-knowledge systems could allow future investigations to request narrower information. The approach has not yet faced broad regulatory testing, and institutions will still need to assess its legal, security and operational controls before adoption.
Key Highlights
- Annualized total prediction market volume at DraftKings climbed 34% month-over-month to reach $3.1B in May
- Consumer-driven volume in the Predictions platform increased 24% sequentially to $1.3B
- Shares of DKNG advanced 1.4% during premarket hours on Tuesday
- TD Cowen maintained its Buy recommendation with a price objective of $30; shares traded at $25.01
- The company is working toward deploying its super app platform across all U.S. states
DraftKings (DKNG) shares advanced 1.4% during Tuesday’s premarket session following the release of robust operational data from the company’s rapidly expanding Predictions platform.
The Massachusetts-based gaming operator reported that annualized consumer-driven volume within its Predictions vertical increased 24% from the prior month to $1.3B in May. Total annualized volume across the platform surged 34% month-over-month to $3.1B. The company clarified that these metrics are preliminary, have not been audited, and derive from internal tracking systems.
DraftKings officially rolled out its DraftKings Predictions platform on December 19, 2025. The offering is currently accessible in 38 states across at least certain event contract types, while sports-related event contracts are available in 17 states.
While the expansion metrics appear strong, understanding the nuances is essential. Prediction market volume represents the total dollar value of contracts exchanged, encompassing multiple trades of the same position. This measurement differs from traditional sports betting handle, which reflects only the initial capital wagered.
For perspective, Kalshi reportedly processes notional volume in the mid-tens of billions monthly. Polymarket typically registers high single-digit to low-teen billions in volume depending on market activity. While DraftKings remains a comparatively smaller participant, its trajectory shows significant acceleration.
Wall Street Maintains Positive Stance
TD Cowen reaffirmed its Buy thesis on DKNG shares Monday, maintaining a $30 valuation target. Trading at $25.01, the firm’s internal models suggest the equity remains undervalued. InvestingPro analysis indicates fair value exceeds both the current market price and TD Cowen’s projection.
The investment firm highlighted DraftKings‘ established online sports wagering and iGaming infrastructure as the cornerstone for sustainable profitability. Analysts emphasized product diversity, structural hold advantages, and operational efficiency as critical growth catalysts. The company maintains a gross profit margin of 76.7%.
TD Cowen also observed that leadership is financing the prediction markets expansion through cash flow from an increasingly robust core operation. The firm characterizes prediction markets as a substantial and undervalued addressable opportunity, including DKNG in its Best Smidcap Ideas portfolio.
UBS elevated its price objective to $49 after first-quarter results exceeded analyst consensus on both top-line revenue and EBITDA. Benchmark reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $29 target. Citizens JMP Securities maintained its Market Outperform designation with a $34 price objective.
Nationwide Super App Strategy Advances
DraftKings’ strategic vision centers on achieving nationwide availability for its super app architecture, targeting presence in all 50 U.S. states. The specific product offerings within the application will fluctuate by jurisdiction based on regulatory frameworks.
The operator has submitted additional exchange-based products through CFTC channels as part of its prediction markets expansion strategy. Bank of America research analysts have identified emerging convergence among sports wagering, cryptocurrency, and financial market platforms as a potential sustained growth catalyst for operators such as DraftKings.
According to InvestingPro projections, net income is anticipated to expand during the current fiscal year.
Crypto World
Trump Crypto Ties Hit by Allegations: Did Government Changes Benefit Prediction Markets?
The Trump administration’s crypto entanglements have escalated from controversy to potential institutional crisis. Explosive new reporting from the New York Times alleges that enforcement staff at the CFTC were suspended, subjected to internal investigations, and effectively purged after questioning companies with ties to the Trump family.
Meanwhile, the crypto market still feels nervous, with Bitcoin barely holding $63,000 as regulatory uncertainty creates both risk and opportunity across the sector.
According to the Times investigation, when three Trump-connected companies applied to operate prediction market businesses at the CFTC, two employees who raised compliance concerns were suspended and banned from the workplace.
Three more staff members enforcing cryptocurrency laws received similar treatment. A subsequent investigative report summarized the findings bluntly: current and former employees described a clear institutional message, “Don’t cause trouble for these industries.” Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham and senior advisor Bridget Wales allegedly intervened directly in individual cases, providing preferential treatment to firms with which they had prior connections.
The enforcement collapse is measurable. The CFTC announced only two digital asset cases during Trump’s second term — both targeting individual business owners — compared to more than 80 under Biden and over 20 during Trump’s first term. At least five active crypto investigations were halted, including a final-stage probe into a major exchange. The scale of that pullback points to something more systematic than routine policy shift. Related regulatory pressure points continue building across the sector as the administration’s posture becomes clearer.
Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio
Trump Crypto Conflicts Could Trigger a Market Repricing
The political dimension here is no longer abstract. World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s flagship crypto venture, received a $500 million investment for a 49% stake from a UAE-linked firm, with the transaction occurring shortly before favorable U.S. policy moves toward the UAE.
Ethics experts and Democratic lawmakers have characterized this as textbook self-dealing. Estimates of the Trump family’s total crypto empire now reach $7 billion, spanning memecoins, DeFi ventures, and prediction markets.
The White House response was characteristically blunt: “President Trump has always acted in the best interests of the American people. There are no conflicts of interest whatsoever.”
Markets, however, are pricing in uncertainty differently. The TRUMP memecoin, which briefly attracted high-profile purchases from figures including Justin Sun, trades with extreme volatility tied almost entirely to political news flow rather than fundamentals.
Trump-adjacent tokens rest entirely on continued regulatory forbearance. If the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations inquiry into Trump-crypto ties accelerates, or if a federal court challenge to CFTC enforcement decisions gains traction, the base case shifts fast.
Discover: The Best Token Presales
Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early-Mover Upside as Politically Exposed Tokens Test Structural Limits
Here’s the uncomfortable reality for anyone holding politically correlated tokens: the upside requires a specific political outcome, and the downside doesn’t. That asymmetry is pushing capital toward infrastructure plays with fundamentals independent of Washington’s next headline cycle.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is currently in active presale at $0.0136, having raised $32 million, a figure that reflects genuine institutional-grade accumulation, not retail hype. The project’s core proposition is technically ambitious: it claims the title of the first Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration, delivering sub-second finality and smart contract capability while preserving Bitcoin’s underlying security model.
That’s not incremental, it’s a direct attack on Bitcoin’s two most persistent limitations: speed and programmability. A Decentralized Canonical Bridge for BTC transfers and high-APY staking rounds out the feature set.
For traders watching politically exposed crypto names wobble under regulatory scrutiny, researching Bitcoin Hyper as a fundamentals-driven alternative makes structural sense at this stage.
The post Trump Crypto Ties Hit by Allegations: Did Government Changes Benefit Prediction Markets? appeared first on Cryptonews.
@edwinRG #editz #shorts #money #stacks #Money #spread #fortnite #snoopdogg #dababy #lildurk #liluzi
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