Anthony Pompliano, a prominent advocate of cryptocurrency and CEO at Professional Capital Management, is slated to take on the role of CEO at ProCapBTC, a new investment entity focused on acquiring...
Anthony Pompliano, a prominent advocate of cryptocurrency and CEO at Professional Capital Management, is slated to take on the role of CEO at ProCapBTC, a new investment entity focused on acquiring substantial amounts of bitcoin BTC. This information was reported by the Financial Times, with input from three sources familiar with the discussions.
As part of the proposed arrangement, ProCapBTC intends to raise $750 million, with $500 million coming from equity and $250 million from convertible debt, through a merger with Columbus Circle Capital 1, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) supported by Cohen & Company. While negotiations are ongoing and final terms remain uncertain, an announcement of the deal could be made as soon as next week.
The trend of companies investing in bitcoin for their treasuries has been gaining momentum, with 126 publicly traded companies currently holding nearly 820,000 bitcoin, as per data from BitcoinTreasuries.net. One notable example is Strategy (MSTR), a software company led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, which holds $61 billion worth of BTC. If ProCapBTC were to allocate all $750 million towards bitcoin, it would place just outside the top 10 in terms of the largest holders of the cryptocurrency.
This development mirrors the increasing optimism in crypto markets following the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently expressed his support for cryptocurrencies. The administration’s efforts to streamline regulations governing the industry have spurred several companies to consider going public. For instance, stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) saw a 168% surge in its stock price on its first day of trading, while Bullish, backed by Peter Thiel, is reportedly eyeing an IPO. Bullish Group, the parent company of both CoinDesk and Bullish Exchange, is involved in this move.
Pompliano, also known for his podcast, refrained from providing a statement to the Financial Times, and Cohen & Company did not respond to requests for comment.
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing! As Asia starts its trading day, major cryptocurrencies are facing a downturn due to market uncertainty following an Israeli attack on Iran. Israel’s military carried out...
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing! As Asia starts its trading day, major cryptocurrencies are facing a downturn due to market uncertainty following an Israeli attack on Iran.
Israel’s military carried out multiple airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities early Friday Hong Kong time, causing BTC and ETH prices to drop. Despite this, ETH is still up almost 40% in the last three months, outperforming bitcoin and the CoinDesk 20 index, according to CoinMarketCap.
Market observers are monitoring investors’ risk appetite, with a focus on ETH’s rally as an indicator of interest in altcoins. Ethereum’s recent dominance surge, along with a drop in BTC dominance, signals a shift towards alternative sectors like DeFi, modular infrastructure, and decentralized AI.
Institutional interest in ETH remains strong, with spot ETH ETFs attracting over $1.25 billion since mid-May. This could pave the way for a sustained altcoin rally, especially if ETH continues to anchor liquidity in emerging ecosystems.
In other news, MAS recently enforced a ban on offshore exchanges operating in Singapore solely for foreign clients. This move was anticipated, as MAS had been hinting at tighter regulations since 2023.
Additionally, Quranium has introduced the QSafe Wallet, a quantum-secure wallet designed to protect digital assets from quantum computing threats. Built with post-quantum encryption, the wallet supports various cryptocurrencies and aims to preempt potential quantum breaches.
Market Movements:
– Bitcoin is down 4.7% to $103.3K due to geopolitical tensions from the Israeli attack on Iran.
– ETH remains under pressure, trading within a descending channel.
– Gold surged over 3% to $3,426.95.
– Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix fell after the Israeli military strike.
– The S&P 500 rose 0.38% on Thursday.
For more on the latest in crypto, be sure to check out the articles linked below:
– ‘Attack of the Clones’: Coinbase Raises Alarm on Risks With Bitcoin Treasury Model (Decrypt)
– Galaxy’s Novogratz suggests Bitcoin hits $1 million if adoption trend persists (The Block)
Let’s see how these market movements play out in the coming days.
Conduit, a company specializing in stablecoin-focused cross-border payments, announced a partnership with Brazil’s Braza Group to facilitate real-time foreign exchange swaps between the Brazilian real and major foreign currencies using stablecoins....
Conduit, a company specializing in stablecoin-focused cross-border payments, announced a partnership with Brazil’s Braza Group to facilitate real-time foreign exchange swaps between the Brazilian real and major foreign currencies using stablecoins.
This service enables users to quickly convert Brazilian real to U.S. dollars or euros and settle transactions in minutes using stablecoins, in contrast to the traditional FX infrastructure where settlement can take several days.
Braza, the owner of Brazil’s largest FX bank with $67 billion in transactions processed last year, introduced its own real-pegged stablecoin BBRL on the XRP Ledger earlier in the year. BBRL tokens are minted by Braza when a payment originates in Brazil. Conduit then exchanges the BBRL for dollar- or euro-pegged stablecoins and transfers the funds to the recipient’s bank or wallet abroad.
Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies with values tied to fiat currencies, have become a rapidly growing sector in the crypto industry. Their use in cross-border payments and remittances is expanding, especially in developing markets where traditional banking methods can be costly or unreliable.
Citi, a global bank, predicts that the stablecoin sector could grow from $250 billion to $1.6 trillion by 2030. Lawmakers in the U.S. are also advancing stablecoin-specific regulations to encourage businesses and financial institutions to explore the use of stablecoins for payments.
CEO of Conduit, Kirill Gertman, stated, “Creating seamless on-ramps between fiat and digital currencies, along with on-chain stablecoin FX swaps, has the potential to revolutionize cross-border payments.” Conduit provides the infrastructure that connects blockchains with traditional financial systems. The startup, based in Boston, recently secured $36 million in funding and reported an annualized transaction volume of $10 billion.
Find out more about Conduit’s expansion of stablecoin-based cross-border payments beyond SWIFT here.
Ether (ETH) struggled to maintain momentum on Tuesday, falling 0.15% to $2,758 amid selling pressure during U.S. afternoon trading on June 11. The pullback came after a brief rally to $2,872.42,...
Ether (ETH) struggled to maintain momentum on Tuesday, falling 0.15% to $2,758 amid selling pressure during U.S. afternoon trading on June 11. The pullback came after a brief rally to $2,872.42, which was not sustained as the price reversed sharply between 15:00 and 17:00 UTC. The late-session sell-off continued in early Asia hours, with a 1.29% dip from $2,772 to $2,736 before ether slightly rebounded to $2,758.
Despite the downturn, key metrics suggest increasing confidence among bulls. Glassnode reported that options skew turned sharply negative in the past 48 hours, indicating a higher demand for short-dated calls. Put-call ratios also show a preference for upside exposure, with open interest and volume ratios remaining near multi-week lows.
On-chain flows further supported the bullish sentiment, with analytics firm Sentora flagging the withdrawal of over 140,000 ETH worth approximately $393 million from exchanges on June 11 — the largest single-day outflow in over a month. Additionally, ETH-based ETFs saw another $240.3 million added, surpassing the day’s Bitcoin ETF totals. Analyst Anthony Sassano highlighted that Ethereum has not experienced a single net outflow day since mid-May, calling the trend “accelerating” and suggesting that the asset is undervalued structurally.
Although price action indicates short-term weakness, market positioning and capital flows suggest that traders might be buying the dip in anticipation of another upside attempt.
Technical Analysis Highlights:
– ETH traded within a range of $139 between $2,733 and $2,872 before closing at $2,758.
– Heavy selling was observed near $2,870–$2,880 during the late U.S. session on June 11.
– Support near $2,745–$2,755 was breached after multiple tests, leading to a quick decline.
– Volume spiked above 34,000 ETH during a rapid drop from $2,772 to $2,736 early on June 12.
– Despite a temporary bounce towards $2,752, a new support zone may be forming near $2,735.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, please refer to CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Bitcoin treasury-holding companies are an essential factor driving momentum as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap hovers just below the $110,000...
By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
Bitcoin treasury-holding companies are an essential factor driving momentum as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap hovers just below the $110,000 mark, showing a 2% increase in the past 24 hours and standing just 2% away from its previous record high set last month.
Despite this, Bitcoin is lagging behind the broader market, as indicated by the CoinDesk 20 Index, which has grown by 3.4%, and Ethereum (ETH), which has surged by over 6%, according to CoinDesk data.
As per BitcoinTreasuries.net, the number of publicly listed companies holding Bitcoin as a treasury asset has climbed to 126, marking a growth of 22 within a month. Together, these companies possess approximately 819,000 BTC, representing a 3.25% increase during the same timeframe.
Insights from Matthew Sigel, who serves as the head of digital assets research at VanEck, emphasize the escalating institutional interest in Bitcoin. He highlights that companies such as Strategy (MSTR), Cantor Equity Partners (CEP), Asset Entities (ASST), Semler Scientific (SMLR), Kindly (NAKA), and Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) have a combined capital-raising potential of $76 billion. This sum accounts for 56% of the assets under management of all Bitcoin ETFs and 169% of the total net inflows into these ETFs over the past 16 months.
Further displaying institutional support, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the fastest fund to exceed $70 billion in assets under management, achieving this feat in just 341 days. This surpasses the previous record held by SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) which took 1,691 days. IBIT experienced $2.7 billion in trading volume on Monday alone, positioning it as the sixth highest in daily volume among all ETFs.
However, institutional influence is not the only factor impacting Bitcoin. A recent Telegram note from QCP Capital pointed out one-year lows in implied volatility and a trend of subdued price action, highlighting that Bitcoin has been “stuck in a tight range” as the middle of the year approaches. The note mentions that a decisive break below $100,000 or above $110,000 is necessary to reignite broader market interest.
Looking ahead, U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data set to release on Wednesday and any updates from the U.S.-China trade discussions in London may provide clearer market direction. It’s advised to stay vigilant!
In the realm of cryptocurrency, some key events to watch include:
– June 10: U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing for Markup of Various Measures, including the crypto market structure bill, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act.
– June 11: Stratis (STRAX) activates a mainnet hard fork at block 2,587,200 to enable the Masternode Staking protocol.
– June 12: Coinbase’s State of Crypto Summit 2025 (New York). Livestream link available.
– June 16: 21Shares executes a 3-for-1 share split for ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), with ticker and NAV remaining unchanged.
– June 16: Brazil’s B3 exchange launches USD-settled ether (0.25 ETH) and solana (5 SOL) futures contracts, approved by Brazil’s securities regulator.
Stay informed and watch out for these upcoming events in the crypto space.
Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets: Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and...
Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.
Bitcoin is trading below $110,000, changing hands at $109.7K, as Asia continues its trading week.
The move challenges a prevailing market narrative of summer stagnation, coming on the heels of a note from QCP Capital that emphasized suppressed volatility and a lack of immediate catalysts.
A recent Telegram note from QCP pointed to one-year lows in implied volatility and a pattern of subdued price action, noting that BTC had been “stuck in a tight range” as summer approaches.
A clean break below $100K or above $110K, they wrote, would be needed to “reawaken broader market interest.”
Even so, QCP warned that recent macro developments had failed to spark directional conviction.
“Even as US equities rallied and gold sold off in the wake of Friday’s stronger-than-expected jobs report, BTC remained conspicuously unmoved, caught in the cross-currents without a clear macro anchor,” the note said. “Without a compelling narrative to spark the next leg higher, signs of fatigue are emerging. Perpetual open interest is softening, and spot BTC ETF inflows have started to taper.”
That context makes the current move all the more surprising.
Over the weekend, Bitcoin surged 3.26% from $105,393 to $108,801, with hourly volume spiking to 2.5x the 24-hour average, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model. BTC broke decisively above $106,500, establishing new support at $107,600, and continued upward into Monday’s session, reaching $110,169.
The breakout coincides with a tense macro backdrop: US-China trade talks in London and a $22 billion U.S. Treasury bond auction later this week have injected uncertainty into global markets. While these events could drive fresh volatility, QCP cautioned that recent headlines have mostly led to “knee-jerk reactions” that quickly fade.
The question now is whether BTC’s move above $110K has true staying power, or whether the rally is running ahead of the fundamentals.
A ‘Massive Shift’ in Institutional Staking May Drive ETH’s Next Rally
Ethereum’s critics have long highlighted centralization risks, but that narrative is fading as institutional adoption accelerates, infrastructure matures, and recent protocol upgrades directly address past limitations.
“Market participants will pay for decentralization because it’s in their economic interest from a security and principal protection standpoint,” Mara Schmiedt, CEO of institutional Ethereum staking platform Alluvial, told CoinDesk. “If you look at [decentralization metrics] all of these things have massively improved over the last couple of years.”
There’s currently $492 million worth of ETH staked by Liquid Collective – a protocol co-founded by Alluvial to facilitate institutional staking
While this figure may appear modest compared to Ethereum’s total staked volume of around $93 billion, what’s interesting is that it originates predominantly from institutional investors.
“We’re really on the cusp of a truly massive shift for Ethereum, driven by regulatory momentum and the ability to unlock the advantages of secure staking,” she noted.
Central to Ethereum’s institutional readiness is the recent Pectra upgrade, a significant development Schmiedt describes as both “massive” and “underappreciated.”
“I think Pectra has been a massive upgrade. I actually think it’s been underappreciated, just in terms of the tremendous amount of change it introduces into the staking mechanics,” Schmiedt said.
Additionally, Execution Layer triggerable withdrawals—a key component of Pectra—provide institutional participants, including ETF issuers, a crucial compatibility upgrade.
This feature enables partial validator exits directly from Ethereum’s execution layer, aligning with institutional operational requirements such as T+1 redemption timelines.
“EL triggerable withdrawals create a much more effective path to exit for large-scale market participants,” Schmiedt added.
Ultimately, Schmiedt said, “I think we’ll see that a lot more [ETH] in institutional portfolios going forward.”
News Roundup
Trump Media May Be the Cheapest Bitcoin Play Among Public Stocks, NYDIG Says
Trump Media (DJT) may be one of the cheapest ways to get bitcoin exposure in public markets, according to a new report from NYDIG, CoinDesk recently reported.
As a growing number of companies adopt MicroStrategy’s strategy of stacking BTC on their balance sheets, analysts are rethinking how to value these so-called bitcoin treasury firms.
While the commonly used modified net asset value (mNAV) metric suggests that investors are paying a premium for BTC exposure, NYDIG’s Greg Cipolaro argues mNAV alone is “woefully deficient.” Instead, he points to the equity premium to NAV, which factors in debt, cash, and enterprise value, as a more accurate gauge.
By that measure, Trump Media and Semler Scientific (SMLR) rank as the most undervalued of eight companies analyzed, trading at equity premiums of -16% and -10% respectively, despite both showing mNAVs above 1.1. In other words, their shares are worth less than the value of the bitcoin they hold.
That’s in stark contrast to MicroStrategy (MSTR), which rose nearly 5% Monday as bitcoin crossed $110,000, while DJT and SMLR remained mostly flat—making them potentially overlooked vehicles for BTC exposure.
Circle Stock Nearly Quadruples Post-IPO as Bitwise and ProShares File Competing ETFs
Two major ETF issuers, Bitwise and ProShares, filed proposals on June 6 to launch exchange-traded funds tied to Circle (CRCL), whose stock has nearly quadrupled since its IPO late last week, CoinDesk previously reported.
ProShares is aiming for a leveraged product that delivers 2x the daily performance of CRCL. At the same time, Bitwise plans a covered call fund that generates income by selling options against held shares, two very different ways to capitalize on the stock’s explosive rise.
CRCL surged another 9% Monday in volatile trading, continuing to draw interest from both traditional finance and crypto investors. The proposed ETFs have an effective date of August 20, pending SEC approval. If approved, they would further blur the lines between crypto and conventional finance, giving investors new tools to play one of the hottest post-IPO names of the year.
Market Movements:
BTC: Bitcoin is trading at $109,795 after a 3.26% breakout fueled by institutional buying, elevated volume, and macro uncertainty from US-China trade talks and an upcoming $22B Treasury auction.
ETH: Ethereum rebounded 4.46% from a low of $2,480 to close at $2,581, with strong buying volume confirming support at $2,580 and setting up a potential breakout above $2,590.
Gold: Gold is trading at $3,314.45, edging up 0.08% as investors watch US-China trade talks in London and a subdued dollar keeps prices attractive.
Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets rose Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 0.51%, as investors awaited updates from ongoing U.S.-China trade talks.
S&P 500: The S&P 500 closed slightly higher Monday, boosted by Amazon and Alphabet, as investors monitored U.S.-China trade talks.
IOST, a modular blockchain platform, has successfully completed a funding round, raising $21 million in strategic investments. The aim of this funding round is to support the expansion of its real-world...
IOST, a modular blockchain platform, has successfully completed a funding round, raising $21 million in strategic investments. The aim of this funding round is to support the expansion of its real-world asset (RWA) infrastructure into regulated markets. Leading the round were institutional investors DWF Labs, Presto, and Rollman Management Group. This influx of capital will allow IOST to accelerate product development, grow its validator network, and integrate with various ecosystems.
Tokenization, a key use case of blockchain technology, is garnering significant interest and investment from the traditional finance (TradFi) sector. IOST is set to focus its initial rollouts in Japan and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, where it is among the few public blockchains approved by the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA). Additionally, expansion plans are already underway in the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
IOST’s CEO, Blake Jeong, emphasized that this funding round signifies more than just capital raise; it showcases a dedication to constructing scalable and compliant infrastructure capable of supporting the next wave of tokenized assets. The protocol’s architecture includes a high-performance Layer 1 chain, EVM-compatible subnets, and a permissionless deployment model specifically designed for real-world asset issuance and compliant DeFi.
For further information, you can read more about the project’s developments in the recent launch of Plume’s Genesis Mainnet to bring real-world assets to DeFi.
President Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT), parent company of the social media platform Truth Social, has registered up to $12 billion in new securities with the...
President Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT), parent company of the social media platform Truth Social, has registered up to $12 billion in new securities with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a recent S-3 filing. This filing allows DJT to issue up to 84,657,181 shares of Common Stock.
In addition to this, the company recently finalized a $2.44 billion fundraising deal to establish a bitcoin treasury. Following this, DJT filed paperwork with the SEC to list a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), joining existing 11 spot BTC products that are traded in the U.S.
Despite these developments, DJT shares closed at $20.12 on Thursday, marking an over 8% decrease following news of the President’s public disagreement with Elon Musk.
Circle (CRCL) made its highly anticipated debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday, with shares opening at $69 and surging to over $100 at one point, marking a...
Circle (CRCL) made its highly anticipated debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday, with shares opening at $69 and surging to over $100 at one point, marking a more than 200% increase from the $31 price set the night before.
In its initial public offering, Circle sold approximately 34 million shares, raising $1.1 billion and achieving a valuation of $6.9 billion. This listing comes after previous attempts by the company, including a failed SPAC deal in 2021.
Ark Investment Management, led by Cathie Wood, expressed interest in purchasing up to $150 million worth of Circle shares, while BlackRock also plans to acquire 10% of the shares, as reported by SEC filings and Bloomberg.
Drawing comparisons to Coinbase’s volatile IPO on Nasdaq in 2021, where shares initially traded as high as $430 before dropping to $200 a month later, Circle’s debut was closely watched by investors. Despite this, other crypto-related stocks like Coinbase and MicroStrategy (MSTR) were trading lower on Thursday, along with bitcoin (BTC). Circle’s shares have since stabilized around $80 to $83 per share.
The IPO event occurred amidst a macroeconomic environment filled with uncertainty, with many companies reporting weak outlooks for the next quarter. However, Circle’s core business of issuing the USDC stablecoin has seen increased demand in 2025, partly due to progress in U.S. regulation surrounding stablecoins. Policymakers have been signaling closer steps towards establishing clearer rules, which could help promote and expand the use of stablecoins in mainstream finance.
A recent report by Deutsche Bank predicted that stablecoins are on the brink of becoming mainstream, citing their growing role in digital payments, cross-border settlements, and treasury management, while also reinforcing the dominance of the U.S. dollar globally. Circle’s IPO reflects investor confidence in this shift, betting not just on a crypto company but on stablecoins becoming integral financial infrastructure.
The debut of Circle’s shares on the NYSE signals a significant milestone for the company and the broader crypto industry, showcasing the potential for stablecoins to revolutionize the financial landscape.
The yield-bearing vault offered by the decentralized exchange HyperLiquid has seen significant growth in the past two months, increasing from $163 million to $418 million. Despite concerns about centralization following the...
The yield-bearing vault offered by the decentralized exchange HyperLiquid has seen significant growth in the past two months, increasing from $163 million to $418 million. Despite concerns about centralization following the JELLY market incident in March, data from DefiLlama shows this impressive growth.
In March, the vault experienced losses amounting to $13.5 million after a user manipulated the index price of JELLY. By forcibly closing the JELLY market and settling it at $0.0095 instead of the manipulated $0.50, HyperLiquid managed to minimize these losses. This incident resulted in a decrease in total value locked (TVL) from $510 million to $150 million and a 20% decline in the HYPE token.
However, the platform quickly rebounded with the rise of James Wynn, a derivatives trader who made and lost $100 million on HyperLiquid in just a week. His public trades and commentary generated positive sentiment around HyperLiquid, showcasing the platform’s ability to handle large positions effectively.
As a result, TVL and the HYPE token have both experienced significant increases, with HYPE up by 72% in the past 30 days. The HyperLiquid vault currently offers an annual interest rate of 13.42%, outperforming other restaking protocols that typically offer around 9.1%. You can check out the HyperLiquid vault for yourself here.
