Crypto World
Japan moves to cut crypto tax to 20%: why it matters
The world’s third-largest economy is reclassifying crypto as a financial instrument and charting a path to slash punishing tax rates. The change reaches far beyond Japan, and most of the coverage is getting the details wrong.
Summary
- Japan has taken a major step toward treating crypto like a mainstream financial asset.
- The 20% crypto tax rate is a target for 2028, not a change taking effect now.
- Reclassification under FIEA could open the door to regulated crypto ETFs in Japan.
- The move matters globally because a major economy is shifting from punitive policy toward integration.
On June 11, 2026, the lower house of Japan’s parliament passed a bill that begins one of the most consequential regulatory shifts in the country’s crypto history. The legislation reclassifies cryptocurrency from its current home under the Payment Services Act into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the statute that governs stocks and bonds, and it sits alongside a closely linked tax proposal that would cut the tax on crypto gains from a punishing rate near 55% toward a flat 20%.
For the world’s third-largest economy, long known for some of the harshest crypto tax treatment among major nations, this is a structural turn toward treating digital assets as a legitimate part of the financial system. It also opens a path toward regulated crypto ETFs that Japanese investors have never had.
The change matters well beyond Japan’s borders, which is why it has drawn global attention even as much of the coverage garbles the specifics. A major economy moving from punitive to competitive crypto policy is a signal other governments read, a data point in the global regulatory race, and a potential unlock for one of the largest pools of household savings in the world.
But the details are widely misreported, with headlines compressing a multi-stage, multi-year process into a single accomplished fact. This piece lays out what Japan actually did, what it did not yet do, why the reclassification matters as much as the tax cut, and what the move means for the global crypto landscape.
What Japan actually did, precisely
The single most important thing to get right: this is a process in motion, not a finished law, and the distinction matters for anyone trying to understand the timeline.
On June 11, 2026, Japan’s House of Representatives, the lower house, passed an amendment bill that moves crypto-asset regulation out of the Payment Services Act and into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, often abbreviated FIEA, the law governing securities markets. The bill now advances to the upper house, the House of Councillors, for deliberation.
It requires upper house passage, government promulgation, and follow-on rulemaking by the Financial Services Agency before it takes full legal effect, which is expected to happen next year, not immediately. The Cabinet approved the underlying measure back in April, so the June lower-house vote is a major step in a sequence that began earlier and has further to run.
That tax change is a separate but linked matter, and conflating the two is the most common error in the coverage. The headline 20% rate does not live inside the FIEA reclassification bill itself; it sits in a closely associated tax proposal, and the flat 20% rate is targeted for 2028, not arriving with the reclassification.
Today, crypto gains in Japan are taxed as miscellaneous income at progressive rates that climb toward roughly 55% for high earners, among the heaviest crypto tax burdens in the developed world. The policy path would shift that to a flat, separate 20% rate, aligning crypto with how gains on stocks are taxed.
The accurate summary is that Japan’s lower house has approved reclassifying crypto as a financial instrument, with a linked plan to cut the tax rate to 20% by 2028. Several legislative steps remain before either piece is law.
Why the reclassification matters as much as the tax cut
The tax cut gets the headlines, but the reclassification is the deeper change, and understanding why requires looking at what moving crypto into the securities statute actually does.
Placing crypto under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act subjects it to securities-style market rules: issuer disclosure requirements, a crypto-specific insider-trading regime, anti-market-abuse enforcement, and tougher penalties for misconduct. This is a double-edged change.
On one side, it imposes tighter obligations on the industry, including more disclosure, more compliance, suitability checks on platforms, and possible eligibility screens that could cap certain unaudited issuer offerings for smaller investors. The Japanese crypto industry will carry a heavier regulatory load under FIEA than it did under the lighter-touch Payment Services Act.
On the other side, that heavier regulation is precisely what legitimizes the asset class in the eyes of conservative institutions. Most of all, it creates the legal foundation for regulated investment products.
Most important of all is the path to ETFs. Under the Payment Services Act, crypto sat in a category that did not support the kind of regulated investment vehicles that securities law enables.
By moving crypto into the FIEA, Japan creates the statutory basis on which spot crypto ETFs and other regulated products can be built and offered to Japanese investors, who have never had access to them. That is the ETF access the reclassification enables, and it may matter as much as the tax change itself.
For a nation with one of the largest pools of household savings in the world, much of it sitting in low-yielding cash and bonds, opening a regulated, tax-efficient route into crypto is potentially far more significant than the tax cut alone. The reclassification is the plumbing; the tax cut is the incentive; and together they could channel a meaningful share of Japanese savings toward digital assets in a way the old regime actively discouraged.
That ETF path also matters for specific assets. Japan is already being discussed as a market where XRP products could arrive before 2028, showing how reclassification can move from abstract legal reform into real product pipelines.
The tax cut and what it changes for investors
Moving from a 55% top rate toward a flat 20% is a dramatic shift in the economics of holding crypto in Japan, and it addresses a long-standing complaint that drove activity offshore.
Under the current system, a Japanese investor’s crypto gains are lumped into miscellaneous income and taxed at progressive rates that can reach around 55% for high earners, far above the roughly 20% flat rate applied to gains on stocks. This disparity has been one of the loudest grievances of Japan’s crypto community for years.
It both punished crypto investment relative to equities and pushed serious traders toward offshore venues and structures to escape the burden. A high-earning investor facing a 55% tax on crypto gains but a 20% tax on stock gains had every incentive to either avoid crypto or move their activity outside Japan’s tax net, and many did exactly that.
A flat 20% rate would erase that disparity, taxing crypto gains the same way stock gains are taxed and removing the penalty that has suppressed domestic crypto investment. The effect, should the tax proposal become law on its 2028 target, would be to make holding and trading crypto within Japan dramatically more attractive.
It would lower the absolute tax burden and end the perverse incentive to route activity offshore. Combined with the ETF access the reclassification enables, the tax cut could bring a wave of previously deterred domestic capital and activity back onshore and into regulated products.
The caveat, again, is timing. This is a 2028 target inside a proposal that still must advance, not a change taking effect now, and investors counting on it should track its progress instead of assuming it.
Why this matters globally
Japan’s move is a national policy change with international weight, and the global significance runs along several lines that make it worth attention far outside Japan.
The first is the signal to other governments. Japan is the world’s third-largest economy and a serious, conservative financial jurisdiction, not a small state competing for crypto business through permissiveness.
When a country of that stature moves deliberately from punitive to competitive crypto policy, reclassifying the asset class into its mainstream financial statute and cutting taxes to match equities, it tells other governments that crypto regulation is shifting from suppression toward integration among the major economies. This feeds the global regulatory race, in which jurisdictions increasingly compete to host crypto activity instead of driving it away.
Japan’s entry on the competitive side adds weight to that trend at the highest level. It also sits beside the parallel US regulatory shift, where classification, ETF access, and market-structure rules are reshaping how digital assets enter traditional finance.
The second is the demand unlock. Japan has enormous household savings and a long history of retail investor enthusiasm for new asset classes, and the combination of regulated ETF access and equity-equivalent taxation could mobilize a significant pool of capital that the old regime kept on the sidelines.
A large, wealthy, under-allocated investor base gaining a clean, tax-efficient route into crypto is the kind of structural demand expansion that matters for the asset class globally, not just locally. It also ties into the global institutionalization of crypto, where public-market access and regulated exposure are becoming central to the asset class.
Third is the institutional dimension. The move comes as major Japanese banks, including the country’s largest, prepare stablecoin projects and as regulators build a clearer framework, signaling that Japan’s financial establishment is engaging with digital assets instead of resisting them.
A major economy bringing its banks, its tax code, and its securities law into alignment around crypto is a meaningful validation that resonates well beyond its borders.
The risks and the caveats
A fair account has to weigh what could slow or complicate this, because the optimistic reading depends on several things going right.
The clearest caveat: none of it is final. The reclassification has passed only the lower house and must clear the upper house, promulgation, and FSA rulemaking before taking effect, expected next year.
The tax cut is a separate 2028 target inside a proposal that has its own path to travel. Legislative processes can slow, change, or stall, and the compressed headlines proclaiming that Japan has already cut crypto taxes to 20% are running ahead of the actual state of the law.
Anyone making decisions based on this should track the upper house deliberation and the tax proposal’s progress instead of treating either as accomplished. That is why how regulatory timing shapes markets matters: policy direction and legal reality often move on different clocks.
The heavier regulation is also a real tradeoff, not a pure positive. Moving crypto under securities law brings disclosure burdens, insider-trading rules, suitability checks, and possible investment caps on certain products for smaller investors, which constrain some of the openness that characterized the lighter-touch regime.
The industry gains legitimacy and ETF access but accepts a heavier compliance load, and how the FSA writes the secondary rules will determine whether the balance lands closer to enabling or constraining. There is also the question of whether the demand materializes as hoped.
Japan’s investors may embrace regulated crypto access, or cultural caution and the asset class’s volatility may temper the uptake. The savings-unlock thesis is a reasonable expectation, not a certainty.
The move is significant and directionally positive for crypto, but its full effect depends on execution across multiple stages that have not yet happened.
What it means for the global crypto landscape
For the crypto market broadly, Japan’s shift is a constructive data point in a year defined by regulatory realignment across major jurisdictions.
One pattern stands out: convergence. The United States has been working through its own market-structure legislation and has seen agency-level commodity classifications for major assets.
Japan is reclassifying crypto into its securities framework and charting a tax cut. Other jurisdictions are building stablecoin and ETF frameworks.
The major economies are, in their different ways and on their different timelines, moving crypto from the regulatory margins toward integration into mainstream financial law. Japan’s June vote is a clear instance of that broader direction.
For an asset class whose largest overhang has long been regulatory uncertainty, a steady accumulation of clarity across the major economies is the kind of slow, structural tailwind that matters more over years than any single headline. It also feeds into the broader market this policy feeds into, where regulation, liquidity, and institutional access increasingly decide which crypto narratives matter.
For investors and observers outside Japan, the practical takeaway is to read this as part of a trend, not an isolated event. The key question is whether the demand unlock the policy enables actually arrives, because that is the part that would feed back into global crypto demand.
A Japan that successfully brings a large share of its household savings into regulated crypto products would be a powerful proof of concept for the integration thesis, one other governments and markets would notice. The reclassification and the tax cut set the stage; what plays out on it over the next two years, through the remaining legislative steps and the response of Japanese investors, is the story worth following.
A major economy changes its mind
Japan spent years as a cautionary example of how punitive policy suppresses a domestic crypto market, taxing gains at rates that drove activity offshore and offering no regulated route into the asset class. The June 11 lower-house vote is the clearest sign yet that the country is changing its mind, reclassifying crypto as a financial instrument, charting a path to cut taxes from 55% toward 20%, and opening the door to the regulated ETFs its investors have never had.
This change is real, structurally important, and globally relevant, and it is also a multi-stage process whose biggest pieces, the tax cut targeted for 2028 and the full reclassification expected next year, have not yet taken final effect. Read accurately, Japan has not yet cut its crypto tax to 20%; it has taken a major step toward doing so, alongside a deeper reclassification that may matter even more by opening the ETF door.
For the world’s third-largest economy to move so deliberately from suppression toward integration is a meaningful marker in crypto’s long regulatory normalization, and a signal other governments will read. The details are more complicated than the headlines suggest, but the direction is unmistakable, and the direction is what makes it matter.
Frequently asked questions
Did Japan cut its crypto tax to 20%?
Not yet. On June 11, 2026, Japan’s lower house passed a bill reclassifying crypto as a financial instrument, and a closely linked tax proposal aims to cut the tax on crypto gains from progressive rates near 55% to a flat 20%. But the 20% rate is targeted for 2028 and sits in a separate proposal, and the reclassification still needs upper-house passage and regulatory rulemaking before taking effect, expected next year. Japan has taken a major step toward cutting the tax, not completed it.
What does reclassifying crypto under the FIEA mean?
It moves crypto regulation out of Japan’s Payment Services Act and into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the statute governing stocks and bonds. This subjects crypto to securities-style rules, including issuer disclosure, an insider-trading regime, and tougher enforcement, while also creating the legal foundation for regulated crypto ETFs that Japanese investors have not had access to. The reclassification may be more significant than the tax cut because it enables regulated investment products.
Why is Japan’s crypto tax currently so high?
Under the current system, crypto gains are treated as miscellaneous income and taxed at progressive rates that can reach roughly 55% for high earners, far above the flat 20% rate on stock gains. This disparity has long been a major grievance of Japan’s crypto community, because it penalized crypto investment relative to equities and pushed traders toward offshore venues. The proposed flat 20% rate would align crypto with stock taxation.
When will the changes take effect?
The reclassification, having passed the lower house, needs upper-house passage, government promulgation, and Financial Services Agency rulemaking before taking full effect, expected next year. The flat 20% tax rate is a separate target for 2028. Both pieces still have legislative steps to complete, so the timeline spans the next two years instead of taking effect immediately, and progress should be tracked rather than assumed.
Why does Japan’s crypto policy matter globally?
Japan is the world’s third-largest economy and a serious, conservative financial jurisdiction. When a country of that stature moves from punitive to competitive crypto policy, it signals other governments that crypto regulation is shifting toward integration among major economies, feeding the global regulatory race. Japan also has enormous household savings, so opening regulated, tax-efficient crypto access could unlock a significant pool of capital, a structural demand expansion that matters for crypto worldwide.
Will this bring more money into crypto?
Potentially. The combination of regulated ETF access from the reclassification and equity-equivalent taxation from the tax cut could mobilize a large pool of Japanese household savings that the old regime kept out, and bring offshore activity back onshore. But this depends on the legislation completing its remaining steps and on Japanese investors actually embracing the access, which cultural caution and crypto’s volatility could temper. The demand unlock is a reasonable expectation, not a certainty.
As of June 16, 2026. Legislative and tax processes change over time; verify the current status before relying on this analysis. This article is information, not investment or tax advice.
After generating $5.5 billion in trading volume in two weeks, Kalshi is pushing to extend its CFTC-regulated perpetual futures beyond crypto into a wider range of asset classes. Kalshi's perpetual futures business crossed $5.5 billion in trading volume in its first two weeks, according to… Read the full story at The Defiant
Grayscale Research has named five decentralized finance tokens it believes offer real value as crypto markets reward revenue and cash flow over speculation.
The asset manager flagged Hyperliquid (HYPE), Aave (AAVE), Uniswap (UNI), Sky (SKY), and Maple (MAPLE) in a research report published June 16. Each shows strong relative value based on fundamentals.
Why Grayscale Sees Value in DeFi
Crypto markets have fallen since January. Grayscale argues in its report that investors can now value many tokens like financial assets rather than commodities.
The firm sorts tokens on a spectrum. Bitcoin trades like a commodity, while protocols with recurring revenue resemble cash flow businesses.
Since 2023, DeFi protocols have generated nearly $25 billion in cumulative fees from real users. That activity has driven rising on-chain fee revenue across exchanges, lending, staking, and derivatives.
Price multiples across DeFi lending have also compressed. Grayscale reads that as maturing business models now trading at attractive valuations.
Revenue Now Drives Token Value
Protocol revenue alone does not set token value. Grayscale says burns, buybacks, rebates, and staking decide how much reaches holders.
By that test, Uniswap and Hyperliquid stand out. The report says both return almost all earnings to holders through transparent DeFi payout models.
Hyperliquid routes trading fees straight into buying and burning HYPE. That model helped lift it into the top 10 by market cap this year.
Aave sits alongside them as the largest DeFi lender, after Grayscale called the AAVE token undervalued near $75.
How the Tokens Stack Up
HYPE trades near $72, ranking as the 10th-largest crypto and well ahead of its peers over the past year.
UNI sits around $3.30 after a 9% daily gain, with its value tied to fee distributions back to holders.
SKY trades near $0.06, where Grayscale says its onchain collateral-backed stablecoin keeps finding product-market fit.
Maple rounds out the list through institutional lending, which the firm says has delivered strong risk-adjusted returns.
“…crypto is repricing from narrative → fundamentals Protocols with real revenue, disciplined capital allocation, and transparent token economics are outperforming Grayscale flags HYPE, AAVE, UNI, SKY, and MAPLE as showing strong relative value on this basis,” Grayscale stated.
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The throughline is a market repricing from narrative to fundamentals.
Grayscale says protocols that turn real revenue into token value are pulling ahead.
The post Grayscale Names 5 DeFi Altcoins With Real Utility appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Ethereum's Glamsterdam hard fork reached its final devnet stage Tuesday, locking in the EIP bundle that core developers expect to carry the network through public testnets and on to mainnet activation in the second half of 2026. The release is being framed as the largest protocol change since the… Read the full story at The Defiant
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed SB 3019, the Digital Asset Privilege Tax Act, according to ChainCatcher via Bitget News, making the state the first in the country to impose a transaction-based tax on everyday digital-asset activity. The Crypto Council for Innovation, a global industry… Read the full story at The Defiant
Crypto World
BlockDAG Tops Trending Cryptos 2026 While Arbitrum, Internet Computer, And Kaspa Fight Market Resistance
The cryptocurrency market in June 2026 is defined by extreme structural shifts as massive capital blocks rotate out of speculative public exchanges. High frequency algorithmic trading and sudden regulatory actions have created a highly volatile environment, completely destroying retail profit margins. Portfolio managers are shifting their attention toward native utility platforms featuring isolated treasury contracts to protect their principal investments.
This ongoing market correction proves that standard open market trading is no longer a viable strategy for sustainable capital growth. Sidelined investors are aggressively seeking ecosystems that provide fixed financial guarantees rather than relying entirely on unpredictable daily trading volume.
BlockDAG Announces the Concluding Phase of Its Legacy Sale
When analyzing the top trending cryptos 2026, BlockDAG dominates institutional interest by announcing the final operational countdown for its legacy tier. This clean urgency play focuses on the fact that the promotional introductory tier is officially wrapping up, making this the absolute final window to secure these specific terms before standard price discovery begins. Participants can leverage the native direct swap dashboard to acquire tokens at the foundational rate of $0.00000044. Every allocation is securely locked into a guaranteed corporate buyback contract fixed at $0.10.
This hardcoded exit strategy eliminates the stress of chart monitoring and completely shields portfolios from sudden liquidity crunches. As the premier choice among trending cryptos 2026, BlockDAG is experiencing massive capital inflows as large scale asset managers drain the remaining treasury pool. Once the current allocation reaches maximum capacity, this fixed ten cent settlement will disappear permanently. Everyday buyers must execute their positions immediately before the closing bell rings on this historic wealth building vehicle.
Arbitrum Consolidates Near Historic Price Lows
Market data from mid June 2026 shows Arbitrum trading at a highly depressed value of $0.09. The network has experienced a massive 74.33% drop over the past twelve months, establishing an all time low of $0.06 earlier in the month. Despite handling significant decentralized application volume as a layer two scaling solution, the native asset continues to suffer from heavy token unlocks and institutional distribution.
While the token is often listed among trending cryptos 2026, actual price action remains deeply bearish. The $0.10 zone acts as heavy overhead resistance, constantly rejecting localized relief rallies. Until the core development team restructures the tokenomics to encourage long term holding, Arbitrum will likely remain trapped in this tight consolidation phase.
Internet Computer Fights Stagnant Market Momentum
Internet Computer continues to face significant market friction, trading near $8.45 during the second week of June 2026. The network has successfully expanded its cloud infrastructure capabilities, attracting enterprise developers looking for decentralized hosting solutions. However, this fundamental utility has failed to translate into meaningful token price appreciation.
The asset recently broke below its 50 day moving average, signaling increased bearish control over the short term. Support currently sits at $7.80, and a failure to hold this level could trigger a rapid descent toward the $6.50 range. While developers consider the platform functionally superior to older chains, retail investors searching for trending cryptos 2026 are heavily disappointed by the persistent lack of upward chart momentum.
Kaspa Faces Heavy Selling Pressure Below Moving Averages
Kaspa is currently navigating a tough technical landscape, with prices hovering around $0.14 in mid June 2026. After experiencing explosive growth in previous quarters, the proof of work network is now enduring a prolonged distribution phase. Large scale early miners are actively taking profits, creating a massive supply wall that suppresses new retail buying volume. The asset is currently testing critical structural support at the $0.13 zone.
A confirmed daily close below this baseline could invalidate the entire macro bullish structure. As portfolio managers evaluate trending cryptos 2026, Kaspa presents a highly risky setup. The lack of smart contract functionality limits the ecosystem’s ability to lock up circulating supply, leaving the token entirely dependent on constant spot market demand.
To Conclude
Evaluating the current digital asset sector highlights the extreme danger of holding highly speculative utility tokens. Arbitrum remains severely depressed at $0.09 following a massive yearly decline. Internet Computer struggles to clear technical resistance near $8.45, while Kaspa faces heavy miner distribution at $0.14.
In stark contrast, BlockDAG establishes itself as the ultimate leader among trending cryptos 2026. By utilizing the concluding legacy sale to secure a $0.00000044 entry, retail investors guarantee a fixed $0.10 corporate exit. This mathematically flawless framework provides total financial security, making BlockDAG the absolute best choice before the promotional vault closes permanently.
Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.
The XRP Ledger 3.2.0 upgrade has reached network operators, bringing infrastructure improvements and software changes across the ecosystem. David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO emeritus and one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger, recently upgraded his independent hub server to the latest version after a short maintenance period.
Source: https://x.com/JoelKatz/status/2067004655021048252?s=20
The XRP Ledger 3.2.0 upgrade focuses on maintenance, cleanup, and reliability improvements. While the release does not introduce major new features, it strengthens existing systems and prepares the network for future development. As operators begin deployment, the update marks another step in the network’s ongoing technical evolution.
David Schwartz Completes Hub Upgrade
Schwartz announced on X that he temporarily took his hub offline to install the XRP Ledger 3.2.0 upgrade. He initially expected the process to take about ten minutes. However, the server required additional time to shut down safely before the installation could proceed.
Alongside the announcement, Schwartz shared performance data covering the previous month. He stated that the charts showed only “one real event,” which he described as an “unexplained burst of peer disconnections.” According to his comments, the disruption likely resulted from a nearby network outage rather than an issue within the XRP Ledger itself.
His hub serves as part of the broader peer-to-peer infrastructure that supports connectivity and data exchange across the network. Although the hub does not function as a validator replacement, it helps participants monitor network activity and maintain reliable connections.
Xrp Ledger 3.2.0 Upgrade Introduces Key Changes
The XRP Ledger 3.2.0 upgrade includes several technical improvements. Developers removed amendments that had remained active for more than two years. The release also continues the modularization of libxrpl, which supports long-term software maintenance.
In addition, the update introduces fixCleanup3_2_0. This package addresses issues affecting Single Asset Vaults, the Lending Protocol, permissioned decentralized exchange tools, Multi-Purpose Tokens, and permissioned domains.
The fixes improve precision, rounding processes, validation checks, and system invariants. As a result, operators gain a more stable software environment for running network services and supporting advanced blockchain functions.
Software Rename Marks New Network Identity
One of the most visible parts of the XRP Ledger 3.2.0 upgrade is the renaming of the core server software. Under XLS-0095, developers changed the server binary name from rippled to xrpld. They also renamed the default configuration file from rippled.cfg to xrpld.cfg.
The migration requires operators moving from version 3.1.3 to complete additional configuration steps. Network documentation advises operators to update systems promptly to avoid service interruptions.
Beyond technical changes, the new name creates a clearer connection to the XRP Ledger network. At the same time, the release supports broader development efforts, including lending tools and programmable escrow features that continue to expand the network’s functionality.
Crypto exchange Bybit has been added to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Investor Alert List, a registry designed to warn consumers about entities that may be wrongly perceived as licensed or regulated by the financial watchdog.
Bybit Fintech Limited and Bybit appeared on the MAS alert list on Wednesday, although the regulator did not provide a specific reason for their inclusion.
Bybit Fintech Limited, the corporate entity behind the exchange, appears on the MAS Investor Alert List website. Source: MAS
According to MAS, the Investor Alert List identifies entities and investment offers that may create the false impression of being licensed, authorized, regulated or registered by the authority, or whose investment offerings may be mistakenly viewed as having received MAS approval.
Based on publicly available information, Bybit is not licensed or regulated by MAS. Cointelegraph reached out to a Bybit spokesperson for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Although Bybit was founded by Singaporean entrepreneur Ben Zhou, the exchange does not operate in the city-state. Singapore is listed among the company’s “Service Restricted Countries” on its website, meaning users in the jurisdiction are not permitted to access its services.
Related: SBI Holdings targets majority stake in Singapore crypto exchange Coinhako
Singapore maintains strict oversight of crypto sector
Singapore has cemented its position as a leading crypto hub, ranking among the world’s top jurisdictions for decentralized finance and institutional digital asset services in Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index. Retail crypto adoption, however, ranked significantly lower.
The MAS has continued to take an assertive approach to industry oversight. In May, the regulator revoked the Major Payment Institution license of crypto liquidity provider Bsquared Technology after uncovering what it described as serious regulatory breaches, including weaknesses in risk management and conflict-of-interest policies.
MAS also said the company had provided false or misleading information on multiple occasions, from its initial license application through a subsequent inspection.
Separately, Singapore police charged former Hodlnaut CEO Zhu Juntao in May with six counts of fraud for allegedly misleading customers about the crypto lender’s exposure to the 2022 Terra ecosystem collapse.
Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based crypto lending platform that once served tens of thousands of users, suspended withdrawals in August 2022 following the Terra implosion and was later ordered to liquidate.
The regulator placed Binance.com on its Investor Alert List in 2021, The Straits Times reported at the time. However, a search on Wednesday of the list did not show any mention of Binance among 910 records in the query.
Related: Singapore Gulf Bank adds stablecoin mint and redeem for 24/7 settlement
Bitcoin pulled back from its weekly lows as traders returned to watch a busy U.S. macro calendar, with the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday interest-rate decision arriving shortly after the Wall Street open. Still, analysts say the rebound has struggled to build momentum, pointing to a lingering, very specific drag tied to Strategy’s Bitcoin position.
QCP Capital’s latest Market Color argues that, despite broader risk appetite improving, BTC has not been able to fully participate. The firm highlighted concerns that Strategy could be forced to sell additional Bitcoin to fund dividend obligations, even after recent balance-sheet actions that were intended to extend its liquidity runway.
Key takeaways
- BTC/USD rebounded after dipping to about $64,500 on Bitstamp ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.
- QCP says BTC’s underperformance versus broader markets is linked to worries about further Strategy Bitcoin sales for dividend funding.
- QCP frames Fed chair Kevin Warsh’s first rate decision as unusually difficult given the tension between inflation concerns and rate-cut expectations.
- CME Group’s FedWatch Tool data shows traders pricing in no rate cuts at the Wednesday meeting, with markets increasingly focused on the possibility of hikes later in the year.
Strategy’s liquidity plans keep a lid on BTC strength
TradingView data cited in earlier coverage showed BTC/USD trending higher after the asset marked a new low for the week around $64,500 on Bitstamp. The bounce followed a period of caution as investors braced for volatility around the Federal Reserve’s announcement, scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern time.
As Cointelegraph previously noted, major central-bank events often bring downside risk for Bitcoin in the short term. However, QCP’s analysis suggests the issue is not solely about the Fed headline. In its Market Color, the firm wrote that BTC remained trapped below the $66,000 area while broader markets traded up on optimism across multiple fronts.
“While broader markets continue to trade higher on optimism across multiple fronts, BTC remains stuck below the 66k level,” QCP wrote.
The clearest culprit in QCP’s assessment was Strategy. The firm said market worries center on whether Strategy may need to sell more Bitcoin to support dividend payments—particularly after the company had already bought back $1.5 billion of its 2029 Convertible Senior Notes.
“The underperformance has been driven in part by concerns that Strategy may need to sell more Bitcoin to fund dividend payments,” QCP added.
QCP also pointed out that Strategy has taken steps to extend its liquidity runway following prior BTC sales. The analysis referenced that the company “extended its runway” after selling 32 BTC in May, and suggested that these contingency measures can reduce the immediate pressure. Yet the market is still focused on what comes next.
In QCP’s view, the overhang could keep Bitcoin from fully tracking macro optimism in the near term. Over time, as Strategy continues issuing shares and lengthening its runway, it expects sentiment to potentially improve—but for now, the firm argued BTC still has a specific hurdle to clear.
“In the short term, we think this overhang may continue to prevent Bitcoin from fully participating in the broader macro optimism,” QCP wrote.
Warsh’s first Fed meeting becomes a test of how the market should price rates
While BTC traders looked to the Fed for direction, QCP placed equal weight on the significance of who is delivering the message. The firm emphasized that Kevin Warsh takes the stage at his first FOMC meeting as chair.
“Warsh takes the stage at his first Fed meeting as Chair today,” QCP said in its analysis.
QCP noted that expectations had previously positioned Warsh as relatively dovish and more inclined toward rate cuts. But the economic backdrop, the firm argued, has shifted materially—raising the likelihood that Warsh will need to navigate competing pressures.
According to QCP, the meeting represents more than just the rate decision itself, especially with Jerome Powell stepping out of the role. The firm described Warsh’s task as establishing buy-in from Powell and the broader board while also proving he can operate as a credible and independent chair.
“Today’s meeting will therefore be about more than the rate decision,” QCP wrote. “It will be Warsh’s first opportunity to secure buy-in from Powell and the rest of the Board, while establishing himself as a credible and independent Fed Chair.”
FedWatch pricing: no cut now, uncertainty remains toward year-end
Market pricing for Wednesday’s decision offers a clearer picture of what traders are bracing for. Data referenced from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed no odds of the FOMC cutting rates at the meeting.
At the same time, commentary in the source material suggested that investors are increasingly looking ahead to possible policy tightening later in the year. Andre Dragosch, European head of research at Bitwise, said markets were moving toward expectations of a rate hike by year-end, which he warned could weigh on crypto and other risk assets.
Dragosch also pointed to an open question that may matter as much as the current decision: whether Warsh will ultimately lean hawkish or dovish in the face of rising inflation. In a post on X, Dragosch said there was still “a lot of monetary policy uncertainty” around how Warsh would be categorized, despite the inflation backdrop.
What traders should watch next
With BTC tied to both macro expectations and Strategy-specific selling anxieties, the near-term signal may come less from price alone and more from confirmation on policy path pricing and any updated clarity around Strategy’s liquidity planning. Investors should watch the Fed’s language closely for clues on the trajectory of rates, while also monitoring whether Strategy’s funding approach continues to reduce—or reignites—concerns about additional Bitcoin sales.
The primary cryptocurrency has staged a clear rebound from its multi-year low below $60,000 and is currently hovering around $65,000.
However, a number of analysts believe the cycle bottom has yet to be reached, projecting a plunge under $50,000.
Red Days Ahead?
Later today (June 17), the Federal Reserve will announce its decision regarding the interest rates in the United States. Given elevated inflation, it would be surprising if the central bank lowered the benchmark, as most expect the current 3.5%-3.75% range to remain unchanged.
Some analysts, though, have identified a consistent pattern in Bitcoin’s (BTC) reaction whenever the Fed releases its interest rate decision. The popular X user Ash Crypto told their over two million followers that the asset’s price has headed south after each FOMC meeting since July 2025. The biggest slump occurred in January this year when BTC lost more than 33% of its valuation. We have yet to see whether today’s disclosure will finally break the negative streak (at least for the bulls).
Other market observers who also made pessimistic predictions include X users bee and Crypto Lens. The former claimed that BTC is “on the verge of the final flush,” expecting a drop to $51,000-$52,000.
“After that, I expect a rebound to the 55k zone and a few weeks of sideways movement, with the potential for a break below 50k,” they added.
For their part, Crypto Lens envisioned a bearish rejection toward roughly $48,000 in the coming days, followed by a crash to $43,000 by August this year.
The Bullish Case
Despite pessimism from some analysts, certain indicators suggest BTC may be gearing up for a rally. The amount of coins stored on crypto exchanges, for example, recently dropped to a six-year low of around 2.56 million. This means that many investors continue to abandon centralized platforms in favor of self-custody solutions, thereby reducing selling pressure.
The whales’ actions are the next positive factor. Ali Martinez revealed that this cohort of investors has purchased more than 30,000 BTC (worth more than $1.9 billion) over the past seven days and now controls 4.27 million coins.
Such developments signal that whales are positioning for the next upward move, with some believing they might be acting on inside information that retail investors don’t have. In any case, their buying spree is closely monitored by smaller players who could mimic the move and distribute fresh capital into the ecosystem.
The post Bitcoin in Danger: Here’s Why BTC May Dump in the Short Term appeared first on CryptoPotato.
A former Goldman Sachs analyst just put a $1,000 price target on XRP by 2030. XRP is currently trading around $1.20, down 3.5% over 24 hours, but also the whole market as we wait for FOMC.
Dom Kwok, co-founder of Web3 education platform EasyA and a former Goldman Sachs analyst, told The Rollup podcast: “I think it could go over $1,000 in the next four to five years.”
His thesis centers on mass crypto adoption routing through XRP rather than Bitcoin or Ethereum, arguing that new retail entrants are priced out of the larger-cap assets and will default to cheaper, more practical alternatives.
This target sits orders of magnitude above the institutional consensus band of $3–$20. On-chain, wallets holding at least one million XRP now control 74.1% of the total supply, with those large holders adding 1.53 billion tokens over the past six months, accumulating at a scale.
Simultaneously, easing U.S.-Iran tensions lifted risk appetite, pushing Bitcoin toward the mid-$60,000s and pulling XRP along.
Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio
Can XRP Price Hit $1,000, Or Even $10, Before 2030?
At $1.20 with a weekly green candle of 8%. XRP is in a corrective phase, but the technical structure hasn’t broken down. RSI sits near 62, constructive, not overbought. A recent 3-day MACD bullish cross remains intact, and a decade-long rising trendline has not been violated.
Key support is clustered in the $1.10–$1.15 zone, with mid-term resistance flagged at $1.43–$1.55 by multiple technical frameworks (the asset has since broken above those levels, setting up a new range).
If the U.S. legislative progress via the CLARITY Act passes, XRP-linked ETF inflows will likely accelerate. Then, continued whale accumulation will tighten supply, and price will retest recent highs and push toward $2, consistent with Standard Chartered’s conditional $8 target.
The $1,000 call? That would require a market cap measured in the tens of trillions, a number that requires assumptions about global financial infrastructure adoption that are plausible in theory and extraordinary in practice. Kwok’s framing as an internet-era analogy is intellectually coherent.
Discover: The Best Token Presales
LiquidChain Eyes Early Infrastructure Positioning as XRP Tests Range
XRP’s bull case leans heavily on infrastructure maturation, the idea that real adoption follows useful applications built on top of accessible networks. That same thesis is driving early interest toward a different layer of the stack.
Even in a confirmed XRP uptrend, entry at $1.20 is entry into an asset with a $75 billion market cap. The asymmetry is compressed. Early-stage infrastructure is where that asymmetry still exists.
LiquidChain is always cooking something new. — LiquidChain (@getliquidchain) June 15, 2026
This is what happens when a great idea meets innovation. 
pic.twitter.com/qYbth0impA
LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is a Layer 3 infrastructure project positioning itself as the cross-chain liquidity layer, fusing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana liquidity into a single execution environment.
The architecture includes a Unified Liquidity Layer, Single-Step Execution, Verifiable Settlement, and a Deploy-Once model that lets developers access all three ecosystems without redeployment. The presale is currently priced at $0.0147, with $850K raised to date.
Research LiquidChain’s presale details here.
The post XRP Price Is Targeting $1,000 Says Ex Goldman Analyst appeared first on Cryptonews.
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