As the first half of 2026 draws to a close, major cryptocurrencies are deeply in the red, lagging far behind traditional assets. Bitcoin BTC$59,412.26 bulls can at least take one small consolation: they’ve outperformed shares in bitcoin-holder Strategy (MSTR).

These diverging trends point to investor preference for assets linked to economic activity and geopolitical trends rather than narrative-led plays.

While bitcoin, the crypto market leader by market capitalization, is down 32% as June nears an end, ether has slumped 47% and Strategy 43%. The total crypto market cap has declined by roughly 30% to nearly $2 trillion, a level not seen since before President Donald Trump’s election victory in November 2024.

Most of the biggest coins are down, except a select few like HYPE, which has gained over 140%. HYPE’s strength is the result of increased volatility and the stellar performance of TradFi-linked assets available on its parent decentralized exchange, Hyperliquid.

US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw their largest daily net outflows of June on Thursday, withdrawing $696.3 million as Bitcoin slipped below $60,000. The selloff in ETF demand added to a broader cooling in institutional appetite for the asset during the month.

SoSoValue data shows the withdrawals pushed June’s cumulative net outflows to $3.61 billion, taking year-to-date net outflows to $4.6 billion. For investors tracking institutional flows, Thursday’s figures underscored how quickly sentiment can shift when price weakness triggers faster redemptions from ETF wrappers.

Key takeaways

• US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $696.3 million in net outflows on Thursday, the largest day of June.
• June outflows total $3.61 billion, with year-to-date net outflows at $4.6 billion, according to SoSoValue.
• ETF total net assets dropped to about $72.6 billion—down roughly 57% from a peak of $169.5 billion recorded in October 2025.
• WalletPilot data indicates US spot Bitcoin ETFs held 1.24 million BTC as of Tuesday, with about 63,500 BTC leaving over the past 30 days.
• Strategy’s Bitcoin buying slowed materially in June to about 3,600 BTC, intensifying debate about whether it should conserve cash during drawdowns.

Spot Bitcoin ETF outflows accelerate as price weakens

The timing of Thursday’s ETF outflows is notable: they came as Bitcoin moved through the $60,000 area, a level that has often acted as a psychological pivot for market participants. In that context, SoSoValue’s figures point to a stronger-than-usual willingness among ETF investors to exit positions during a short-term downswing.

SoSoValue reported that June’s outflows already surpassed a prior monthly high—$519.2 million logged on June 2—before extending even further on Thursday. With June net outflows now at $3.61 billion, the pattern suggests that redemptions are not just sporadic, but persistent enough to compound quickly.

That matters because spot ETFs are one of the most accessible channels for traditional capital. While other markets can absorb volatility, sustained ETF outflows typically remove a steady source of incremental demand. Traders often watch these flow metrics for confirmation that spot selling is spreading beyond spot exchanges and into regulated products.

ETF assets shrink sharply from the sector’s 2025 peak

Alongside daily flow data, the broader balance-sheet picture for the ETF complex has weakened. According to SoSoValue, total net assets for US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs fell below $73 billion for the first time since late 2024.

SoSoValue cited a peak of $169.5 billion in October 2025. By Friday, that figure stood at roughly $72.6 billion—an approximate 57% decline. Even without assuming any change in investor behavior beyond price, the reduction reflects both falling BTC value and net withdrawals from the funds.

Complementing that, WalletPilot data shows US spot Bitcoin ETFs held a combined 1.24 million BTC as of Tuesday. Over the prior 30 days, about 63,500 BTC left the products. For readers trying to separate price effects from flow effects, this distinction is critical: holdings dropping over a month signals that the outflows are affecting the underlying exposure, not just the market valuation.

Strategy’s June slowdown raises questions over capital discipline

As ETF demand cooled, another large institutional-style buyer also moderated its pace. Strategy—frequently cited as the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder—purchased about 3,600 Bitcoin so far in June, according to Strategy filings. That rate is far below its recent activity: roughly 25,000 BTC in May and more than 50,000 BTC in April.

The slowing has fueled discussion around whether the company should continue accumulating aggressively during market drawdowns, or instead rebuild liquidity. The debate intensified after Strategy recorded a net sale of 32 BTC earlier in the month, an uncommon move during its broader accumulation period.

Some analysts argue that Strategy should pause purchases and preserve cash until conditions improve. Earlier coverage by Cointelegraph noted scrutiny around Strategy’s broader financial posture, including aspects of how it manages dividend coverage. In the current environment, such questions have become harder to ignore as both ETF flows and price momentum have weakened.

STRC share pressure, and the “self-repairing” debate

Part of the scrutiny has centered on Strategy’s perpetual preferred stock, STRC, which has traded below its intended $100 benchmark. On Thursday, STRC closed at $75.69, down 6.37%. The price action has contributed to renewed debate about whether Strategy’s financing mechanics are robust during volatility.

CryptoQuant analysts raised concerns about Strategy’s timing and risk management. Others, including Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow, pushed back by pointing to a feature described as a “self-repairing mechanism.” In an X post, Mow said that when STRC trades below its $100 benchmark, Strategy pauses new share issuance through its ATM program at that level, limiting new supply.

At the same time, the fundamental question for investors remains whether pauses in issuance and changes in acquisition pace translate into long-term restraint or just short-term adjustment. Strategy’s pace of buying can influence market psychology, particularly because the company is often viewed as a persistent demand backstop—something that may become less reliable if the market downturn causes repeated slowdowns.

Looking ahead, readers should watch whether ETF outflows continue to dominate daily flow prints and whether holdings shrink further month-over-month. In parallel, Strategy’s next purchase cadence and any further signals from STRC’s trading dynamics could clarify whether June represents a temporary slowdown—or the start of a more durable shift in institutional behavior.

A third-party vendor compromise discovered Thursday allowed attackers to inject a malicious script into Polymarket’s frontend, affecting multiple users.

Blockchain analyst Specter said the malicious script appeared to facilitate a phishing attack that drained an estimated $2.94 million from at least 11 Polymarket user wallets.

Polymarket said on X that the compromise has been contained and that the affected dependency has been removed. It added that users would be fully refunded.

Cointelegraph has approached Polymarket for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

The attack was the 89th reported crypto security breach of the second quarter, according to DefiLlama data, extending the most-hacked quarter on record by incident count.

Source: Specter

Crypto exploit losses reach $74.9M across 29 June incidents

Crypto exploit losses climbed to $74.9 million across 29 reported incidents in June, surpassing May’s $60.5 million total but remaining far below April’s $644 million, according to DefiLlama data.

Total value hacked by monthly sum, 1-year chart. Source: DefiLlama.

The largest June incidents included the $36 million Humanity Protocol exploit, the $4.7 million Secret Network bridge exploit, two separate Aztec exploits worth $2.1 million each and a $1.7 million bridge exploit on Taiko.

Related: About 60% of World Cup bettors on Polymarket are first-time crypto users

Over the past 30 days, private key compromises accounted for 43% of reported exploit losses, making them the leading attack vector, according to DefiLlama. Fake proof exploits accounted for 10%, followed by reverse MEV honeypots at 8%, which present deceptive trading opportunities to lure and manipulate automated trading bots.

About a month before Polymarket’s latest attack, the prediction market disclosed a separate $600,000 exploit that was traced to a six-year-old private key used for internal top-up operations. Josh Stevens, Polymarket’s vice president of engineering, said the platform’s contracts and user funds remained safe and that all permissions tied to the key had since been revoked.

Total value hacked by technique over the past 30 days. Source: DefiLlama

Polymarket currently holds over $450 million in total value locked, up 301% from $112 million a year ago, according to DefiLlama.

Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?

Key Highlights

• Base postpones Beryl implementation by 24 hours to ensure B20 registry readiness
• B20 token standard introduces native support for stablecoins and real-world assets
• Registry initialization must complete before native B20 token deployment can proceed
• Withdrawal timeframe from Base to Ethereum reduced from seven days to five days
• Integration of Reth V2 promises up to 50% reduction in node storage requirements

The Ethereum layer 2 network Base has postponed its Beryl mainnet implementation by 24 hours to ensure proper B20 Activation Registry configuration. Beryl will now go live on June 26 at 18:00 UTC, providing additional time for the registry to initialize before the hard fork executes.

B20 Registry Initialization Necessitates Schedule Adjustment

Base initially targeted June 25 for Beryl’s launch, but development teams discovered a critical timing dependency. The B20 Activation Registry needs to complete its initialization sequence before developers can begin deploying native B20 tokens. This initialization process could take up to 60 minutes following activation.

The registry manages B20 feature flag availability throughout the network post-hard fork. To prevent activating Beryl before these critical functions were operational, the team rescheduled the mainnet deployment. While the timeline has shifted, the upgrade’s technical components remain unchanged.

Beryl brings B20 to Base—a protocol-native token standard designed specifically for stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets. B20 tokens function through Rust precompiles embedded directly within Base node software, unlike conventional ERC-20 contracts. Despite this fundamental difference, B20 maintains full ERC-20 compatibility and incorporates ERC-2612 permit functionality.

Enhanced Token Management and Accelerated Bridge Transfers

The B20 Issuer Toolkit provides comprehensive features including role-based permissions, minting and burning controls, transfer restrictions, and configurable supply limits. Additionally, it offers freeze and seizure capabilities for token issuers navigating regulatory compliance requirements. These functionalities embed core token governance directly into the protocol rather than relying on external smart contracts.

Beryl simultaneously decreases the standard withdrawal duration from Base to Ethereum from seven days down to five days. The majority of bridge providers utilize this single-proof withdrawal mechanism for cross-network transfers. Base attributed this improvement to Multiproofs enhancements delivered through the preceding Azul upgrade.

The upgrade further incorporates Reth V2 into Base’s node architecture. According to Base, this software implementation can cut node storage demands by as much as 50 percent. It additionally accommodates higher block gas limits, creating opportunities for expanded network throughput.

Recent Network Disruption Unrelated to Upgrade Postponement

Base encountered a block production halt lasting approximately two hours on June 25, prior to Beryl’s adjusted activation schedule. Engineering teams identified the cause as a consensus failure triggered by an invalid block entering the sequencing pipeline. Production subsequently resumed, and the team confirmed the incident bore no connection to the Beryl postponement.

The network emphasized that user assets remained secure throughout the disruption, despite the temporary cessation of block creation. Base founder Jesse Pollak stated that network interruptions are incompatible with infrastructure supporting worldwide financial operations. While the outage increased operational scrutiny, it didn’t affect Beryl’s planned functionality.

Beryl succeeds Azul, which deployed to mainnet in May as Base’s inaugural independent upgrade. The network has scheduled Cobalt, its subsequent major upgrade, for September. Cobalt is expected to deliver account abstraction capabilities, smart account support, gas sponsorship, transaction batching, and expanded B20 features.

The crypto market is clinging to a crucial level of support, with bitcoin BTC$59,386.30 barely moving since midnight UTC after rebounding from its lowest level since September 2024 on Thursday.

The largest cryptocurrency was recently trading near $59,700, having fallen as low as $58,100.

Ether (ETH) failed to mirror bitcoin’s bounce, dropping a further 1% and extending its string of declines to three straight days. It recently held around $1,550.

U.S. equities also start Friday indicating weakness, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures are down by 1% and 0.4%, respectively, since midnight as the tech rally of the past three months continues to unwind.

One token that bucked the bearish market sentiment was aave AAVE$85.17, which added as much as 6.8% since midnight, building on a 17% gain over the past week after CoinDesk reported that crypto exchange Kraken was looking to acquire a 15% stake in the DeFi company.

Derivatives positioning

• Market volatility continues to weigh on leveraged futures positions. Over the past 24 hours, another $1 billion in positions were liquidated, with long positions once again accounting for the majority. Notably, ETH saw more liquidations than BTC in the past 12 hours.
• Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) rose for a second consecutive day to 778,000 BTC, a sharp increase from recent lows near 730,000 BTC. The open interest surged during Thursday’s late selloff, suggesting traders added shorts into the dip in anticipation of further downside.
• The picture is different in ether futures, where open interest has remained stable near the 14 million ETH level since at least June 15. This is somewhat constructive, as it indicates traders are not aggressively shorting the price decline. A similar pattern holds for XRP.
• Solana’s open interest has pulled back from record highs but remains elevated compared with recent months, pointing to the potential for continued volatility.
• The OI-adjusted 24-hour cumulative volume delta continues to show bearish dominance across most of the top 25 cryptocurrencies, with the notable exceptions of BNB, SOL and TON. The negative reading suggests bears are more aggressive than bulls, favoring market orders over passive limit orders. This trend has persisted since Tuesday.
• Annualized 30-day implied volatility indexes are signaling rising levels of concern. Bitcoin’s BVIV index jumped to 53% early today, its highest level since June 7 and a sharp rise from the June 16 low of 39%. ETH’s index climbed to 66%.
• Wall Street’s equivalent, the VIX, has also risen to 20% from 15% recently but remains within the range seen since early April, indicating that equities are not yet in panic mode. A similar message is coming from the U.S. Treasury market’s implied volatility index, MOVE.
• On Deribit, the one-week bitcoin options skew is approaching 30%, reflecting a substantial premium for puts, or defensive positions, over calls and underscoring strong downside fears. The one- and three-month skews are conveying a similar message.
• Block flows included a large trade in the $53,000 put expiring July 10, along with demand for ether risk reversals.

Token talk

• Aave outperformed the broader altcoin market, and an honorable mention goes to solana (SOL), which has added 2% since midnight and now trades around $68.95 after tumbling to $64.05 on Thursday.
• AI tokens continue to unwind; RENDER, NEAR, FET and TAO lost between 1% and 1.5% on Friday, extending their declines.
• Hyperliquid (HYPE) also fell, dropping 2.6%. It has now lost 18.5% since touching a record high 12 days ago.
• Ethena (ENA) remains one of the worst-performing altcoins, losing another 5% on Friday. It’s now dropped 34% after touching the month’s high on June 3.
• ENA’s plight can be attributed to the ongoing bear market, as a portion of the platform’s yield-generation strategy is tied to positive funding rates, which have now flipped negative.

• Binance will halt services for EU users after MiCA setback.
• BNB token price has fallen 13.2% over the past month.
• Bitcoin miner inflows to Binance hit a four-month high.

BNB token remained under pressure on Friday as investors weighed Binance’s regulatory setback in Europe against the token’s long-term role within the Binance ecosystem.

The token traded at $566.26, down 0.3% over the previous 24 hours.

During that period, Binance coin (BNB) moved between $541.77 and $569.04, showing that buyers managed to push the price close to the day’s high despite negative headlines.

Even so, the broader trend has remained weak.

BNB has fallen 1.4% over the past seven days, 5.5% in the last two weeks, 13.2% over the past month, and 12.5% over the last year.

The latest decline in sentiment comes after Binance confirmed that it will stop providing services to customers across the European Union after failing to obtain a license required under the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations.

Regulatory setback raises fresh questions

Binance’s withdrawal from the European market represents another regulatory challenge for the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

The company informed affected users that services in the European Union will end after it failed to secure the required MiCA authorisation before the regulatory deadline.

Binance had previously sought approval through Greece before withdrawing its application and has indicated that it intends to pursue authorisation through another EU member state.

Although Binance said Europe remains an important market and expects to secure a license in the future, the interruption creates uncertainty for one of its largest regional user bases.

That uncertainty matters because the BNB token is closely tied to the Binance ecosystem.

While the token has expanded well beyond its original purpose as an exchange utility token, Binance’s trading activity still plays an important role in overall demand.

Any reduction in exchange activity could temporarily affect demand for BNB tokens, particularly from users who hold the token to receive trading fee discounts or participate in Binance products.

BNB token still has utility beyond the exchange

Despite the regulatory headwinds, the BNB token is no longer dependent solely on Binance’s centralised exchange.

The token serves as the native asset of BNB Chain, where it is used to pay transaction fees, support decentralised finance applications, participate in staking, and access Binance Launchpad token offerings.

These use cases continue to generate demand independent of spot trading on the exchange.

The BNB token also benefits from a deflationary supply model.

The token launched with a maximum supply of 200 million coins, and Binance continues to remove tokens from circulation through scheduled burns.

The token burn mechanism has so far removed 289,896.29 BNB tokens from the circulating supply, according to BNBBurn info, and remains one of the key features supporting the asset’s long-term economics.

However, utility alone may not fully offset the impact of negative regulatory developments in the short term.

Investor sentiment often reacts quickly to news involving Binance because of the close relationship between the exchange and its native token.

The wider crypto market decline adds another layer of pressure

The regulatory news arrives at a time when the broader cryptocurrency market is already facing fresh concerns.

Recent blockchain data showed that Bitcoin miners transferred more than 150,000 BTC to Binance during June, marking the highest miner inflows to the exchange in four months.

Large transfers from miners to exchanges are closely monitored because they can precede increased selling activity.

Although deposits do not automatically mean that coins have been sold, they often indicate that miners are preparing to access liquidity after periods of lower mining profitability.

If Bitcoin (BTC) experiences additional selling pressure, the effect can extend beyond the largest cryptocurrency.

And major altcoins, including the BNB token, frequently move in the same direction as Bitcoin during periods of broader market weakness.

If that happens, then the BNB token price could drop below the key support at $541.

However, if the market sentiment improves, then we could see the token recover above $588 and above.