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Crypto World

Michael Saylor gets into public back-and-forth with critics

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Strategy’s STRC maintains dividend at 11.5% after steady increases

Tempers are flaring as the bitcoin bear market deepens.

Strategy’s (MSTR) latest bitcoin purchase has sparked a public debate on X between Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and bitcoin advocate Matthew Kratter over whether the company’s most recent capital raise was accretive or dilutive for shareholders.

The disagreement centers on Strategy’s own bitcoin performance metric, BTC Yield, which is designed to track changes in bitcoin holdings per assumed diluted share. According to Strategy’s latest figures, BTC Yield fell from 13.0% on June 1 to 12.8% on June 8, after the company acquired an additional 1,550 BTC.

Kratter argued that the decline shows the transaction was dilutive on a bitcoin-per-share basis. Over the same period, Strategy’s bitcoin holdings rose from 843,706 BTC to 845,256 BTC, while assumed diluted shares outstanding increased from 382.756 million to 384.180 million. BTC Gain YTD also fell from 87,754 BTC to 86,328 BTC.

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Saylor pushed back, saying BTC Yield is a narrow KPI that measures only bitcoin per share, not total shareholder accretion. Saylor said the transaction also added approximately $100 million of U.S. dollar reserves, taking the total USD reserve to $1 billion, making the deal accretive when both bitcoin and cash are included.

If viewed strictly through BTC Yield, the latest raise appears dilutive. But if cash reserves and broader balance-sheet effects are included, Saylor argues that the transaction improved shareholder value.

Others jumped in. “Notice they keep changing the rules to fit the financial alchemy they’re doing,” sniped Wazz. “First $BTC yield was boasted everywhere and plastered accross every buy announcement as the standard accretive metric. Now it’s a ‘narrow KPI’ which is irrelevant.”

“As a short seller, I’ve watched innumerable companies ‘move the goalposts,’ and try and focus the market on new metrics when old ones aren’t showing the story they want them to anymore,” wrote Quoth the Raven. “Sometimes, companies outright delete key performance indicators (KPIs) and use new ones.”

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Coinbase-backed Stand With Crypto calls on members to campaign against banks blocking digital asset transactions

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Coinbase-backed Stand With Crypto calls on members to campaign against banks blocking digital asset transactions

The Coinbase-backed group Stand With Crypto UK called on its 286,000 members to file formal complaints against British retail banks over blanket restrictions on crypto transactions, it announced Wednesday.

The campaign is a demonstration against country-wide bank rules that block or cap customer transfers to exchanges, including those registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the group said in a press release. Around 8% of UK adults hold cryptoassets, according to FCA research.

Stand With Crypto based its campaign on data from the U.K. Cryptoassets Business Council’s “Locked Out” report from January 2026. The report surveyed 10 exchanges: Coinbase, Kraken, Uphold, Xapo Bank, Zumo, Wirex, OKX, Luno, Bitpanda and Gemini.

A day after that report went out, a spokesperson for the HM Treasury, the country’s economic and finance ministry, told CoinDesk that government officials expected banks to treat all businesses fairly, including crypto services providers. “We would not expect such licensed firms to be subject to account or transaction restrictions by banking services providers,” a spokesperson said.

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The FCA report found that British banks block or delay 40% of all domestic crypto transactions. Over the past 12 months, 80% of these exchanges reported a rise in the number of transfers blocked. One platform reported that banks rejected up to 1 million pounds (more than $1 million) in transactions in a single year.

The banking restrictions fall into two categories, Stand With Crypto UK said. Complete blocks are used by Chase UK, Starling, TSB, Virgin Money and Metro Bank, which stop all transfers and card payments to crypto exchanges. Hard transfer caps are set by Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest, Santander and Monzo, which impose strict limits on the money users can transfer.

Last year, U.K.-based trading platform IG also released a damning survey saying millions of people were being locked out of crypto just because of they their banks anti-crypto stance. “Two in five (40%) UK crypto investors have had a payment blocked or delayed by their bank when trying to buy digital assets,” according to the IG report.

Advocates at SWC say these policies apply to everyone regardless of an individual’s actual risk profile. They also said that many of these same banks are hiring digital asset teams and exploring crypto products behind the scenes, making the retail customer blocks anti-competitive.

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“People across the UK are being blocked from accessing a legal asset class because banks have chosen to impose blanket restrictions on an entire sector,” said Adriana Ennab, director at Stand With Crypto UK, in a statement. “From today, they are formally telling their banks that these restrictions are unacceptable.”

These blocks run counter to both local rules and the government’s stated plans to make the U.K. a global Web3 hub, SWC said. Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, banks are obligated to execute payments that meet account conditions. In January 2026, HM Treasury explicitly stated it does not expect FCA-authorized firms to face transaction restrictions from banking providers, adding that firms must be treated fairly.

“The Government has set out a vision to make the UK a global hub for digital assets and Web3,” said Katie Harries, head of policy, Europe, at Coinbase, in a statement. “That vision requires retail participation — where every day people hold and engage with crypto assets. But the banks are choking off the crucial on-ramp from fiat (normal) money into crypto.”

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Bitcoin Price Analysis: Demands for BTC USD Are Drying

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Bitcoin price is struggling to hold its ground, and our recent analysis will tell you why. BTC USD is falling under $62,000, painting a red chart, down by 1.5% as demand metrics flash some of the weakest readings in years.

CryptoQuant analyst flagged that the 30-day combined growth of spot and perpetual futures demand has collapsed to -650,000 BTC. This figure has appeared only three times since 2019. Market analyst Michaël van de Poppe is having the same concern, noting that Bitcoin is “stalling beneath $65K,” with a clean break above that level needed to trigger any run toward the $72,000–$74,000 range.

Bitcoin has shed 8% this week, following a brutal 14% decline last week. Monthly losses now sit at 24%. Although some believe that the price action is in a “neutral consolidation,” with Bitcoin tracking risk assets more than internal crypto dynamics.

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What’s Next? Here’s Our Bitcoin Price Analysis

Bitcoin is pinned in a narrow band. With volume demand growth at -650,000 BTC on a 30-day basis, there are simply fewer buyers available to absorb any fresh wave of selling.

The 200-week SMA sits near $62,800 and is acting as immediate overhead resistance that BTC needs to turn into support. It’s a pivotal point. A sustained hold above it points toward consolidation. A clean break below opens the door to a retest of $60,000 as confidence gets fragile.

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On the upside, $65,000 is the wall. Van de Poppe identified it as the prior support-turned-resistance from February’s crash, and the level that must flip before any meaningful rally can develop.

Our technical dashboard shows a split signal: several oscillators have moved into overbought territory on shorter timeframes, while moving averages on higher timeframes remain in buy mode, a contradiction that typically resolves with volatility.

Discover: The Best Token Presales

Bitcoin Hyper is Ready to Drive The Demand Back Up

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Spot Bitcoin demand drying up is painful for holders waiting on a clean breakout. But it’s also a reminder of Bitcoin’s core constraints. It has a slow throughput, high fees, and zero native programmability, and that caps its ceiling as a platform asset, regardless of price. That’s the gap a new entrant is trying to close.

Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is positioning itself as the first-ever Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration, offering a faster performance than Solana itself while preserving Bitcoin’s underlying security.

The pitch is infrastructure: extremely low-latency Layer 2 processing, fast smart contract execution via SVM, and a decentralized canonical bridge for BTC transfers. It targets the programmability gap that has kept developers from engaging with Bitcoin’s base layer for years.

The presale has raised close to $33 million at a current token price of $0.0136. Staking is live with a high APY.

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Research Bitcoin Hyper before the next price stage.

The post Bitcoin Price Analysis: Demands for BTC USD Are Drying appeared first on Cryptonews.

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Solana perpetuals enter Kalshi as DOGE and SHIB await approval

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Kalshi valuation hits $22bn after $1bn Series F

Kalshi has added Solana perpetual futures to its regulated crypto derivatives lineup, while several other altcoin contracts, including Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, remain under regulatory review.

Summary

  • Kalshi has launched Solana perpetual futures, expanding its CFTC-regulated American Perpetuals lineup.
  • DOGE, SHIB, XLM, and HBAR perpetual contracts are still awaiting final approval before launch.
  • The rollout comes as the CFTC develops new rules for reviewing prediction market contracts.

According to a June 10 post by Kalshi on X, SOL perpetual futures are now available for trading on the platform. The company also said traders can access the new contract without paying trading fees for a limited time.

The launch expands Kalshi’s American Perpetuals product suite, which offers perpetual futures contracts under the supervision of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts do not have expiration dates, allowing traders to maintain positions without regularly rolling contracts into new maturities.

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Solana joins Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP contracts

Following the rollout of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP perpetual futures, Solana has become the latest cryptocurrency added to Kalshi’s regulated derivatives offering.

Information shared by the company indicates that both XRP and Solana perpetual futures have now cleared the necessary regulatory process. Kalshi had previously submitted filings covering several digital assets, including Stellar, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Hedera.

According to Kalshi, contracts tied to XLM, DOGE, SHIB, and HBAR are expected to be introduced in the coming days as approvals continue to progress. The company has also filed for perpetual futures linked to Hyperliquid, though no launch date has been announced.

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By adding another large-cap cryptocurrency to its product lineup, Kalshi is continuing its effort to expand access to perpetual futures trading within a regulated U.S. market structure.

Regulatory scrutiny remains active across prediction markets

The expansion comes as the CFTC considers changes that could alter how prediction market operators and related financial products are reviewed in the United States.

As previously reported by crypto.news, the regulator has proposed a framework that would establish a formal process for evaluating event-based contracts individually rather than applying restrictions across entire categories. Under the proposal, regulators would assess whether specific contracts meet public-interest standards before determining whether they can remain available to traders.

Details outlined in the proposal show that certain sports-related markets could receive additional scrutiny, particularly contracts tied to player injuries and highly specific in-game events. Contracts connected to wars, terrorism, political violence, and assassinations could also face closer examination under the framework.

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According to crypto.news, the proposed rules are particularly relevant for prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, both of which have experienced strong growth in trading activity as interest in event-based markets has increased.

While the CFTC continues evaluating those proposals, Kalshi is moving ahead with new crypto products. The addition of Solana perpetual futures places another major digital asset on the platform as the company prepares to roll out several pending altcoin contracts awaiting final approval.

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Shotgun.fun Launches as the First Trading Terminal With 100% Cashback

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Shotgun.fun Launches as the First Trading Terminal With 100% Cashback

Shotgun.fun, a new trading terminal, launches today with a model that returns every fee back to the trader, ending an industry standard that has quietly extracted billions.

Every trade ever placed has made someone else money: not the market and not the protocol, but the terminal sitting between traders and execution. The fee paid on every buy, every sell, and every limit order became the status quo. Shotgun’s the paradigm shift.

Shotgun.fun is a high-performance trading terminal that returns up to 100% of trading fees to traders. Cashback starts at 50%, already higher than any other trading terminal offering, and scales with volume. Tiers are built to unlock fast. Getting to 100% is not an out-of-reach theoretical ceiling, it’s the destination.

The terminal is fully non-custodial, secured through Turnkey, ensuring keys are encrypted and accessible only to the user.

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Shotgun arrives fully loaded:

  • Trenches displays new launches, graduating tokens, and fresh migrations in real time, ahead of broader market visibility.
  • Trader Discovery helps users find the best traders in the space and copy their moves in real time.
  • Instant Trade adds one-click trading directly on the chart, no distractions.
  • Limit Orders enable autopilot trading from buying the dip to stop loss, take profit, and trailing stop loss.
  • Multi-Wallet Management helps users bring all their wallets into a single interface. Full control, zero friction.
  • Portfolio captures full historical performance of every wallet, every token, every profit and loss.

Insiders have extracted hundreds of millions from everyday traders across recent token launches. Shotgun aims to even the playing field by shining a light on insider wallets, helping users view their trades and copy their moves in real time.

Shotgun also comes packed with a referral program that offers up to 50% revenue share across five layers of referrals, meaning users earn when their referrals trade.

Shotgun is led by Miguel Loures and Pedro Maurício, the founding team behind Pulsar Finance, a portfolio manager backed by Delphi Ventures that grew to more than one million users before being acquired by Terraform Labs. The team has been building in this space since 2020.

Until now, traders have been treated as the product, not as users,” said Miguel Loures, founder of Shotgun. “We built Shotgun to give the power back to the people.

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Shotgun launches with support for Solana, with more blockchains and agentic trading coming soon.

About Shotgun

Shotgun.fun is a non-custodial trading terminal built for traders. Up to 100% cashback, enterprise-grade execution, and a full suite of tools built for speed, instinct, and being first.

More information available at:

Website: https://shotgun.fun/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/shotgundotfun

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The post Shotgun.fun Launches as the First Trading Terminal With 100% Cashback appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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BlackRock and Fidelity are quietly turning bitcoin ETFs into a two-firm market

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BlackRock and Fidelity are quietly turning bitcoin ETFs into a two-firm market

When U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched in January 2024, investors had more than a dozen funds to choose from. BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark Invest, Bitwise, VanEck, Franklin Templeton and several others entered what many expected would become a fiercely competitive market.

Eighteen months later, the battle increasingly looks like a two-player race.

Data shows that BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) are doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to attracting new institutional capital, while smaller funds have become largely irrelevant in determining the direction of the overall market.

The trend was evident throughout the first half of 2026.

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On January 14, bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $840.6 million, according to data from Farside Investors. IBIT alone accounted for $648.4 million of that total, while FBTC added another $125.4 million. Together, the two funds represented more than 90% of all inflows that day.

A similar pattern appeared on April 17, when total inflows reached $663.9 million. IBIT brought in $284 million and FBTC added $163.4 million, accounting for roughly two-thirds of all new money entering the sector.

Even during periods of weaker sentiment, the dominance of the two largest funds remained apparent. On May 1, total inflows reached $629.8 million, with IBIT contributing $284.4 million and FBTC adding $213.4 million. Combined, the pair attracted nearly $500 million of the day’s total. The pattern repeated throughout much of 2026, with the two funds frequently accounting for the majority of net inflows on the largest allocation days and often offsetting weakness elsewhere in the ETF market.

The concentration has emerged during a difficult year for bitcoin and the broader crypto ETF market. Bitcoin is down roughly 29% year-to-date, a decline that has tested institutional conviction and triggered several waves of ETF redemptions. Between mid-May and early June alone, spot bitcoin ETFs recorded multiple days of heavy outflows. The selling marks a sharp contrast to earlier periods when investors often viewed bitcoin pullbacks as buying opportunities.

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But the data highlights a broader shift taking place in the bitcoin ETF market in which investors increasingly appear to be concentrating their allocations in the largest and most liquid vehicles.

That trend has particularly benefited BlackRock.

IBIT has emerged as the flagship product of the entire spot bitcoin ETF sector, regularly posting the largest inflows and often acting as a stabilizing force during periods of market stress. On several days when the broader ETF complex experienced heavy outflows, IBIT either remained positive or saw far smaller redemptions than its competitors.

The dominance is not entirely surprising. Many of the largest buyers of bitcoin ETFs are financial advisers, registered investment advisers, hedge funds, family offices, pension consultants and institutional asset allocators. For those investors, liquidity, trading volume and issuer reputation often matter as much as the underlying bitcoin exposure itself.

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BlackRock manages more than $10 trillion in assets globally and maintains relationships with thousands of wealth-management platforms. Fidelity, one of the largest retirement and brokerage providers in the U.S., brings similar advantages through its distribution network and long-standing presence among retail and institutional investors.

As a result, many allocators increasingly view IBIT and FBTC as the default options for gaining bitcoin exposure.

The flip side is that smaller issuers are struggling to remain relevant.

Funds such as Franklin Templeton’s EZBC, VanEck’s HODL, Valkyrie’s BRRR and WisdomTree’s BTCW frequently record daily flows measured in single-digit millions of dollars.

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On many trading days, their contributions are so small that they have little impact on the overall direction of the market.

Even funds that were once viewed as major competitors, including Bitwise’s BITB and Ark’s ARKB, now play a secondary role compared with the industry’s two largest products. Earlier this year, Trump Media & Technology Group withdrew plans for a proposed spot bitcoin ETF, abandoning an effort to enter the increasingly crowded market that is now dominated by products from BlackRock and Fidelity.

The concentration has become particularly noticeable during periods of volatility. When investors buy bitcoin ETFs aggressively, most of the money flows into BlackRock and Fidelity.

When investors sell, the behavior of those two funds often determines whether the sector posts net inflows or outflows.

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That dynamic suggests the bitcoin ETF market is entering a new phase. Rather than a broad competition among a dozen issuers, the industry increasingly resembles a winner-take-most business where scale, liquidity and distribution drive investor decisions.

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Onchain Gambling Defies Crypto Pullback With $14B Quarter: TRM Labs

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Onchain Gambling Defies Crypto Pullback With $14B Quarter: TRM Labs

Prediction markets overtook onchain gambling for the first time in the opening quarter of 2026, recording $36.6 billion in volume compared with gambling’s $14 billion, according to TRM Labs.

In a Wednesday report, the blockchain intelligence company said the shift followed a rapid expansion in both sectors. Onchain gambling reached $51 billion in 2025, while prediction markets climbed to $54 billion, putting the two categories at comparable scale heading into 2026. 

Still, onchain gambling remained near record levels. Quarterly gambling volume reached an all-time high of $15 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, then held at $14 billion in Q1 2026.

Neither onchain gambling nor prediction markets retreated along with the broader crypto markets. Volumes remained elevated through the 2025-2026 market correction.

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Annual onchain wagering volume. Source: TRM Labs

A TRM Labs spokesperson told Cointelegraph that gambling volumes have surged during the recent market pullback because of the “sticky and expanding activity of a loyal user base.”

“This does not mean anything about concentration risk in itself, since there is quite a large gambling user base,” the spokesperson said. “It shows how a consistent user activity can insulate an industry from a market pullback and in fact drive growth.”

Gambling and prediction markets face different risks

TRM said gambling platforms and prediction markets are increasingly converging on shared stablecoin infrastructure, but their financial crime risks remain distinct. 

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Prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi operate as peer-to-peer markets for binary outcomes, while gambling platforms such as Stake, WINk and Rollbit operate more like traditional casinos, with the platform setting odds and maintaining a house edge.

Related: Chainalysis, South Korean police link up to fight crypto crime

TRM said prediction markets have attracted scrutiny over insider trading, while gambling platforms are more exposed to money laundering risks.

“Gambling services and prediction markets carry distinct inherent financial crime risks, and firms should calibrate controls accordingly,” a TRM Labs spokesperson told Cointelegraph. 

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Casual bettors drive growth alongside whales

TRM said more than 2 million personal wallets interacted with gambling platforms between January 2022 and March 2026.

The firm divided those users into five behavioral groups. “Dabblers” made five or fewer transactions and disappeared within a month, while “Casual Bettors” averaged 18 transactions across eight active days. “Event Chasers” returned around major sporting events, while “Daily Grinders” gambled on at least 30% of the days in their active tenure. “High Rollers,” the highest-value cohort, averaged $13,558 per bet and $378,000 in lifetime gambling volume.

The firm found that volume remains heavily concentrated among high-value users, with High Rollers representing 6.3% of personal gambling wallets but driving 91.8% of personal wallet gambling volume since 2022. 

Despite this, TRM said the fastest-growing user categories are not only high-stakes bettors. Casual Bettors’ monthly volume rose from $17 million in January 2022 to $188 million by March 2026, while Daily Grinders’ volume increased 12x over the same period.

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Anchorage Backs GENIUS AML Rules, Seeks Clarity on Secondary-Market Sanctions

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Crypto Breaking News

Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank and provider of stablecoin infrastructure, has submitted a public comment letter in support of the U.S. Treasury Department’s proposed AML and sanctions framework for the GENIUS Act. The firm contends that the framework largely balances compliance requirements with innovation in digital payments, while also urging the Treasury to clarify several open points that could influence operational risk and regulatory certainty for issuers and their counterparties.

In the filing, Anchorage argues that the proposed rules appropriately place AML obligations on regulated stablecoin issuers while requesting guidance on secondary-market sanctions liability, the scope of enterprise-wide AML programs, and correspondent-account requirements. The firm also cautions against imposing strict liability on issuers for failing to independently identify sanctioned users who transacts through smart contracts on secondary markets.

“A final rule that is clear and workable gives regulated institutions the certainty they need to build, and strengthens U.S. leadership in the next generation of payments and settlement infrastructure,” Anchorage stated in its letter.

The public comment letter comes as the Treasury, together with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), advances a rulemaking aimed at classifying payment stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act. The proposed framework would subject issuers to AML obligations, customer due diligence, and suspicious-activity reporting, with enhanced monitoring and recordkeeping required for stablecoins that operate across borders and through programmable technologies.

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The policy, described in a Treasury release, would align stablecoin issuers with established AML and sanctions standards while imposing additional compliance expectations designed to address the unique risks posed by programmable money. The regulatory push is part of a broader effort to integrate digital-asset payments into the U.S. financial-regulatory perimeter, including cross-border considerations and enforcement expectations.

The discussion has drawn mixed responses from industry participants. Several trade and advocacy groups have urged broader carveouts or clarifications, reflecting a spectrum of views on how expansive the sanctions and AML obligations should be for issuers with limited direct visibility into user activity on secondary markets.

Key takeaways

  • The GENIUS Act framework would classify payment stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, placing them under AML, customer due diligence, and suspicious-activity reporting regimes, with enhanced monitoring requirements.
  • Anchorage Digital publicly supports the framework’s core aims but seeks clarifications on secondary-market sanctions liability, enterprise-wide AML program standards, and correspondent-account requirements to avoid unnecessarily broad obligations.
  • Anchorage argues issuers should not face strict liability for failing to independently identify sanctioned users transacting via secondary-market smart contracts.
  • Industry groups such as Hyperliquid and Paradigm have submitted comments pressing for greater clarity around secondary-market obligations, arguing the current framework could impose sanctions liability on issuers even in the absence of direct visibility into end users.
  • Regulatory timing and final rule design will influence how stablecoin issuers, banks, and service providers structure compliance programs, with potential cross-border implications and alignment questions relative to other jurisdictions, including MiCA in the European Union.

Regulatory context and focal points

The proposed rulemaking, issued jointly by FinCEN and OFAC and highlighted by Treasury officials, would place regulated stablecoin issuers within the existing U.S. AML/Sanctions framework. The plan envisions formalizing stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, thereby obligating them to implement robust AML programs, conduct customer due diligence, and report suspicious activity. In parallel, the framework would impose enhanced monitoring and recordkeeping requirements to help regulators track and mitigate illicit finance risks associated with programmable payments and cross-border settlement.

Anchorage’s submission emphasizes practical considerations for regulated institutions seeking to deploy stablecoin rails at scale. The firm notes that a rule that is clear, predictable, and implementable would foster innovation in digital payments infrastructure while preserving strong compliance standards. The emphasis on clarity around secondary-market liability reflects ongoing debates about how to apply sanctions regimes to the decentralized aspects of programmable money, where user relationships may be indirect or opaque to issuers.

Industry responses and carveout debates

Not all industry voices view the GENIUS Act framework as a straightforward alignment with existing anti-money-laundering and sanctions regimes. In addition to Anchorage, the lobbying arms of Hyperliquid and venture-capital firm Paradigm recently submitted their own comments challenging certain aspects of the proposal. They argued that the current framework could extend sanctions obligations to issuers even when those issuers lack direct relationships with, or visibility into, the end users transacting on secondary markets via smart contracts.

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According to these groups, OFAC’s approach risks treating secondary-market activity as a continuous provision of services by the issuer, thereby broadening sanction liabilities beyond what issuers can reasonably monitor or control. The concerns echo broader policy questions about where responsibility should lie when financial instruments and protocols enable peer-to-peer transactions without traditional, on-chain counterparty visibility.

Implications for policy, enforcement, and cross-border regimes

The GENIUS Act discussion sits at the intersection of domestic regulatory design and international policy harmonization. For U.S.-based crypto firms, the proposed rules could reshape licensing, risk management, and oversight frameworks, prompting issuers to invest in comprehensive AML programs and governance structures that integrate smart-contract activity with traditional compliance controls. Banks and other regulated entities servicing stablecoins may also need to adjust their correspondent-banking and anti-financial-crime policies to reflect the newly defined risk landscape.

From a broader perspective, policymakers must reconcile these developments with ongoing regulatory initiatives in other jurisdictions. The EU’s MiCA framework represents a contrasting approach to stablecoins and crypto-asset service providers, underscoring global differences in how regulators address stablecoin issuance, payment settlement, and cross-border settlement rails. As U.S. and international authorities pursue parallel aims—reducing illicit finance risk while enabling financial innovation—the final design of GENIUS Act rules could influence cross-border collaborations, licensing pathways, and the allocation of enforcement resources among agencies such as the SEC, CFTC, and DOJ, in addition to FinCEN and OFAC.

Legal and compliance teams at issuers, exchanges, and financial institutions will be watching for how the final framework defines secondary-market exposure, the level of issuer visibility required to meet sanctions obligations, and the granularity of enterprise AML programs. As enforcement expectations evolve, firms may face increased reporting, recordkeeping, and governance demands, with potential implications for cross-border operations and banking relationships.

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Closing perspective

While the GENIUS Act proposals mark a significant step toward integrating stablecoins into the U.S. financial-regulatory perimeter, the path to final rules will hinge on clear definitions of issuer liability, the scope of AML program requirements, and practical considerations for secondary-market activity. The diverse industry responses underscore that the sector seeks a balanced framework—one that reinforces compliance and national security objectives without stifling technological advancement or limiting access to regulated, resilient digital payments infrastructure. Monitoring the forthcoming rulemaking and regulator guidance will be essential for institutions shaping their governance and risk management programs in this evolving landscape.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

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Ethereum (ETH) developers are exploring new token standards as privacy returns to focus

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Ethereum (ETH) developers are exploring new token standards as privacy returns to focus

For years, privacy in transacting was one of crypto’s most ambitious promises. Then it took a back seat as other trends took off.

As developers focused on scaling blockchains and regulators scrutinized privacy tools such as Tornado Cash, much of the industry’s attention shifted elsewhere. But a new Ethereum proposal and a growing number of privacy-focused products suggest the topic is making a comeback.

The latest example is pERC-20, a proposed Ethereum token standard that would allow users to hold and transfer tokens without publicly revealing their balances, transaction amounts or counterparties. The proposal has sparked renewed discussion around whether public blockchains should expose every financial interaction by default.

Unlike traditional ERC-20 tokens, which is the default token standard on Ethereum today that displays balances and transaction histories onchain for anyone to inspect, pERC-20 keeps sensitive details private.

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Today, most Ethereum tokens function like public bank accounts. Anyone can look up a wallet address and see how many tokens it owns, where they came from and where they were sent. Under pERC-20, tokens would instead exist as encrypted cryptographic “notes,” similar to digital cash.

The result is a system where transactions remain private while still allowing the network to verify that no changes to the transactions occurred.

Importantly, the proposal does not hide everything.

The total supply of a token would remain publicly visible, allowing anyone to verify that new tokens are not being secretly created. The proposal also includes a compliance mechanism that would allow issuers to freeze specific notes through a cryptographic blacklist without exposing ordinary users’ balances or transaction histories.

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The design reflects a broader shift in how privacy is being discussed across crypto.

Rather than treating privacy and compliance as mutually exclusive, many newer projects are attempting to build systems that offer both.

But some developers argue that private payments are only part of the challenge.

Earlier this week, Starknet went live with STRK20, a privacy-focused token framework designed to extend confidentiality beyond simple token transfers and into decentralized finance applications such as lending, staking and token swaps.

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According to Eli Ben-Sasson, the co-founder of StarkWare, the main developer firm behind Starknet, the biggest obstacle facing privacy technologies today is not cryptography. “The big problem of dealing with privacy is UX,” Ben-Sasson told CoinDesk.

Historically, privacy-focused cryptocurrencies have struggled with usability. Users often faced slow wallet synchronization, cumbersome transaction flows and limited compatibility with the broader crypto ecosystem. Those limitations made privacy tools difficult to use and, in some cases, undermined the privacy they were designed to provide.

Privacy systems rely on large groups of users participating together. If only a small number of people use a privacy network, it becomes easier to identify individual participants.

“If the UX is bad, very few users are going to be using it,” Ben-Sasson said. “If very few users are going to be using it, and only for a very small number of things, they don’t really get a lot of anonymity.”

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Ben-Sasson said pERC-20 appears to be largely focused on private token transfers and draws on ideas pioneered by privacy-focused projects such as Zcash. While he described that as an important capability, he argued that the next stage of privacy infrastructure will need to support a much broader set of financial activities.

“Today we can do more,” he said, referring to privacy-preserving DeFi applications.

The STRK20 framework was built with that goal in mind. Rather than shielding a single token, the framework allows users to manage multiple assets under a unified privacy layer and interact with decentralized applications while maintaining confidentiality. According to Ben-Sasson, users can access services such as swapping, borrowing and staking without sacrificing privacy.

The framework also uses post-quantum secure cryptography, which Ben-Sasson argued will become increasingly important as blockchain developers begin preparing for future advances in quantum computing.

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The contrast between pERC-20 and STRK20 highlights an emerging debate about what privacy in crypto should actually look like.

One vision focuses on making payments private while preserving transparency elsewhere. Another seeks to make privacy a foundational layer that extends across an entire ecosystem of financial applications.

Either way, the discussion itself marks a notable shift.

For much of the past several years, privacy occupied a relatively small corner of the crypto industry, often associated with niche privacy coins or controversial mixing services. Today, the conversation is increasingly centered on mainstream infrastructure, token standards and institutional use cases.

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Whether pERC-20 ultimately becomes an Ethereum standard remains uncertain. Like all Ethereum Improvement Proposals, it must go through a lengthy review process before it could see widespread adoption. But its emergence, alongside projects such as STRK20, suggests that privacy is once again becoming a priority for blockchain developers.

Read more: Not all Ethereum layer 2s are dying, but many general-purpose chains no longer have a reason to exist

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Anchorage Requests Treasury Clarification on GENIUS Act AML Rules

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Anchorage Requests Treasury Clarification on GENIUS Act AML Rules

Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank and stablecoin infrastructure provider, has submitted a public comment letter supporting the US Treasury Department’s proposed Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and sanctions framework for the GENIUS Act, arguing that the rules largely strike the right balance between compliance and innovation.

In a letter published Wednesday, Anchorage said the proposed framework appropriately places AML obligations on regulated stablecoin issuers while urging Treasury to clarify secondary-market sanctions liability, enterprise-wide AML programs and correspondent account requirements.

Specifically, Anchorage argued that issuers should not face strict liability for failing to independently identify sanctioned users who transact on secondary markets through their smart contracts.

“A final rule that is clear and workable gives regulated institutions the certainty they need to build, and strengthens U.S. leadership in the next generation of payments and settlement infrastructure,” Anchorage said.

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Source: Kevin Wysocki

The comments address Treasury rules proposed in April that would classify payment stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, subjecting them to AML, customer due diligence and suspicious activity reporting requirements.

The proposal, jointly issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), would align stablecoin issuers with existing US anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance standards while imposing enhanced monitoring and recordkeeping obligations.

Related: Solana Institute CEO says CLARITY Act must shield open-source developers

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Industry groups push for broader sanctions carveouts

Support for the proposed rulemaking has not been uniform across the crypto industry.

The lobbying arms of crypto derivatives exchange Hyperliquid and venture capital firm Paradigm recently submitted their own comment letter seeking greater clarity on secondary-market obligations, echoing Anchorage’s concerns but taking a more critical view of the proposal overall.

Source: Stefan Schropp

The groups argued that the current framework could impose sanctions obligations on issuers even when they lack a direct relationship with or visibility into users transacting on secondary markets.

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“OFAC sweeps secondary market activity into the issuer’s compliance perimeter, treating smart contract interactions as an ongoing “provision of services” that carries sanctions liability regardless of whether the issuer has any relationship with, or visibility into, the transacting parties,” they said.

Related: SEC’s Peirce argues publishing DeFi code is protected speech

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Meta deepens India AI push with Reliance data center deal

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Meta deepens India AI push with Reliance data center deal

Meta has agreed to lease a 168-megawatt AI data center in India from Reliance Industries. The facility will rise in Jamnagar, and Reliance will deliver it within two years.

Summary

  • Meta agreed to lease a 168-megawatt AI data center from Reliance Industries in Jamnagar.
  • Reliance will build and deliver the facility within two years, with an option to scale.
  • Meta also signed clean energy deals with CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy for nearly 1GW.

The deal adds new AI infrastructure for Meta while extending its partnership with Mukesh Ambani’s group.

Meta expands AI capacity in Jamnagar

According to Meta’s release, Reliance Industries will build the AI-enabled data center for the US technology company. The facility will carry 168 megawatts of capacity and include an option to scale. Reliance operates businesses across petrochemicals, textiles, media, telecom, and digital services. Its new agreement with Meta adds data centers to a long-running technology partnership between both companies.

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“This world-class facility in Jamnagar will help us scale our AI infrastructure globally,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. He said the project also deepens Meta’s long-term investment in India’s economy. Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani described Meta’s latest investment as a “transformative moment for India’s digital infrastructure.” His company will build the site and lease it to Meta after completion.

The two companies already have deep business links in India. In 2020, Meta invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, Reliance’s telecom and digital services unit. Last year, Meta and Reliance expanded their work through a joint venture. The partnership made Meta’s open-source AI models available to Indian enterprises and developers.

India draws data center capital

Global hyperscalers have increased data center spending in India as AI infrastructure demand grows. The country has attracted $400 billion into its AI ecosystem over the last year. Most of that money has gone toward data centers and energy systems, according to the provided industry figures. Large AI systems need high-capacity sites and steady power supply.

Nomura said in a June 2 report that India’s data center industry ranks among the fastest-growing globally. The brokerage also said India remains cost-efficient compared with developed Asia Pacific and Western markets. India’s data center capacity could rise to 7 gigawatts by 2030, according to Nomura. The report linked that growth to cost advantages and rising hyperscaler demand.

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The Indian government also introduced a 20-year tax exemption earlier this year. The policy covers hyperscalers using Indian data centers to serve clients outside the country. The tax rule adds another incentive for companies building AI infrastructure in India. Meta’s Reliance deal comes during that expansion of policy and private-sector investment.

Renewable energy deals support Meta operations

Meta is also working with Indian clean energy firms CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy. The company said those partnerships cover nearly 1 gigawatt of renewable energy. The projects will operate across northern and southern Indian states. They will supply clean power to Meta’s expanding infrastructure footprint in the country.

Meta said the India energy investments align with its global clean power target. The Facebook parent wants to match all operations with 100% clean and renewable energy. The Jamnagar data center agreement adds to Meta’s existing India commitments. 

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The deal links AI infrastructure, renewable power, and Reliance’s industrial base in one project. Reliance will deliver the data center within two years, according to Meta’s release. The facility also includes an option to scale after the first phase.

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