H100 Group, a health and longevity company based in Sweden, recently announced that they have successfully raised $10.5 million (SEK 101 million) from a group of cryptocurrency-focused investors. This includes prominent...
H100 Group, a health and longevity company based in Sweden, recently announced that they have successfully raised $10.5 million (SEK 101 million) from a group of cryptocurrency-focused investors. This includes prominent figures such as Blockstream CEO Adam Back, UTXO Management, and various family offices.
The fundraising initiative involved two share issues totaling SEK 69.65 million and convertible loans amounting to SEK 31.35 million. The share issues attracted a mix of crypto investors and Nordic family offices, while the convertible loans do not accrue interest and have a maturity period of five years. Investors have the option to convert these loans into equity at SEK 1.75 per share.
Following this development, H100 Group’s shares surged by 30% during the Wednesday session, marking an overall increase of nearly 400% since the company’s initial bitcoin purchase on May 22. This fundraising round is just the first step in a larger financial plan that H100 Group had previously announced, with the potential for further growth in subsequent rounds. The company aims to utilize this capital to strengthen its bitcoin treasury strategy.
Under the leadership of CEO Sander Andersen, H100 Group is part of a growing trend among publicly traded companies that are leveraging share and debt issuances to acquire cryptocurrencies for their balance sheets, following a strategy similar to Michael Saylor’s model with MicroStrategy (MSTR).
Everstake, a leading cryptocurrency staking platform, has announced the appointment of David Kinitsky as its new CEO. Kinitsky, a veteran of Grayscale and Fidelity, will be taking over from Sergii Vasylchuk,...
Everstake, a leading cryptocurrency staking platform, has announced the appointment of David Kinitsky as its new CEO. Kinitsky, a veteran of Grayscale and Fidelity, will be taking over from Sergii Vasylchuk, the founder of Everstake who will now serve as the President of the company. This change in leadership signifies Everstake’s move towards catering to institutional and global markets.
Participating in proof-of-stake blockchains to earn yield on crypto assets has become increasingly popular in the industry. With a crypto-friendly administration now in place in the U.S., there is hope for further clarity on staking and its integration into the ETF marketplace.
Kinitsky expressed his vision for Everstake, stating, “As staking becomes central to institutional crypto strategy and an investable asset in its own right, now we’re taking Everstake to the next level.” With his background as the founding general manager of Grayscale Investments and experience at Fidelity Investments, Circle, and Kraken, Kinitsky brings a wealth of knowledge to Everstake.
Everstake has a strong track record, supporting over 85 blockchain networks, bringing in over 735,000 staking users, and securing $6.5 billion in delegated assets. The company is poised for continued growth and expansion in the cryptocurrency staking industry.
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.
Crypto exchange Rails has successfully raised $14 million in a token sale to launch its innovative trading platform that combines self-custody with high-speed execution, as announced in a recent press release....
Crypto exchange Rails has successfully raised $14 million in a token sale to launch its innovative trading platform that combines self-custody with high-speed execution, as announced in a recent press release.
This fundraising round follows a previous investment of $6 million in a seed round that concluded in January 2024. Notable investors in Rails include Kraken, Slow Ventures, CMCC Global, Quantstamp, and Round13 Capital.
Rails aims to address a fundamental trade-off in the crypto industry: the balance between speed and security. By offering users the ability to maintain custody of their assets while accessing the performance typically associated with centralized exchanges, Rails presents a unique solution to this challenge.
Co-founder and CEO Satraj Bambra highlighted the platform’s hybrid model as a key differentiator, providing users with both on-chain custody transparency and fast transaction speeds.
The trading platform will support a range of major crypto assets and will utilize zero-knowledge proofs and Merkle trees to ensure secure trade validation. Additionally, Rails will exclusively operate on Kraken’s layer-2 network, Ink, in order to enhance transaction speeds and reduce costs.
The cryptocurrency bull run has slowed down after bitcoin (BTC) reached a record high above $110,000 last month. However, corporate adoption is still on the rise. Norway-based crypto exchange Norwegian Block...
The cryptocurrency bull run has slowed down after bitcoin (BTC) reached a record high above $110,000 last month. However, corporate adoption is still on the rise.
Norway-based crypto exchange Norwegian Block Exchange saw its shares surge over 100% after revealing the purchase of six BTC, valued at $633K at current prices. The company plans to increase its holdings to 10 BTC by the end of the month.
Classover Holdings Inc, a Nasdaq-listed educational technology company with a market capitalization of $63 million, entered into a securities purchase agreement with Solana Growth Ventures LLC for up to $500 million in senior secured convertible notes, with 80% of the proceeds allocated to purchasing Solana’s native token SOL.
Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD received regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority, allowing the stablecoin to support the Dubai Land Department’s blockchain initiative to tokenize real estate title deeds on the XRP Ledger.
Robinhood completed a $200 million all-cash acquisition of the Luxembourg-based crypto exchange Bitstamp, expanding its presence in Europe.
U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs experienced a net outflow of $268 million on Monday, while Ethereum spot ETFs recorded a net inflow of $78.17 million. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen declined during Asian hours due to the Bank of Japan’s plans to halt its Japanese government bond purchases.
The dollar index remained under pressure due to trade uncertainty and rising concerns in the bond market over the U.S. deficit. Negative surprises in Monday’s ISM manufacturing surveys punctured the U.S. resilience story.
Focus today will be on April’s JOLTS report and durable goods orders. A soft labor market data could push the dollar back to its April lows, according to ING.
A U.S. House hearing on “The Future of Digital Assets” featured Aptos Labs CEO Avery Ching’s testimony, led by the Agriculture Committee. Stay informed!
In the cryptocurrency space, upcoming events include network upgrades on Pocket Network and Sia, congressional hearings, and the announcement of the 3-for-1 share split for ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.
Conferences to watch out for include SXSW London, World Computer Summit 2025, Money20/20 Europe, Non Fungible Conference, Crypto Valley Conference, BTC Prague 2025, Bitcoin Policy Institute’s Bitcoin Policy Summit 2025, and Istanbul Blockchain Week.
Token events include governance votes, unlocks, and token launches across various platforms.
In the market, BTC and ETH prices saw some movement, while the CoinDesk 20 experienced a slight increase. Key market indicators also showed some fluctuations.
Derivatives positioning and crypto equities like MSTR, COIN, GLXY, MARA, and more displayed various performance measures.
ETF flows revealed daily and cumulative net flows for spot BTC and spot ETH ETFs.
Stay updated on overnight flows, technical analysis, and the latest news in the crypto and financial markets.
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Katana, a new decentralized finance (DeFi)-focused blockchain incubated by industry heavyweights Polygon and GSR, announced on Wednesday that its private mainnet has gone live. The new layer-2 blockchain aims to unify...
Katana, a new decentralized finance (DeFi)-focused blockchain incubated by industry heavyweights Polygon and GSR, announced on Wednesday that its private mainnet has gone live.
The new layer-2 blockchain aims to unify all liquidity in a set of protocols and collect yield from all potential sources, with the goal of powering a self-sustaining DeFi engine for long-term growth.
Marc Boiron, the CEO of Polygon Labs, highlighted that Katana emerged to address DeFi fragmentation, where digital assets are spread across various apps and ecosystems, creating challenges for certain types of investing.
Built using AggLayer, Polygon’s platform for building interoperable blockchains, Katana aims to establish a deep liquidity hub for every chain to tap into. This is key as many existing chains lack the necessary liquidity.
Katana aims to enhance blockchain liquidity by integrating with popular apps like Sushi, a major decentralized exchange, and Morpho, a popular decentralized lending ecosystem.
Polygon Labs, the team behind the layer-2 network, designed the chain with input from GSR, the crypto market-maker, which advised on user experience and provided on-chain liquidity to support the platform.
At this early stage, Katana is open to a limited group of users, offering a pre-deposit phase where users can park ETH, USDC, USDT, and WBTC for a chance to win KAT tokens, the network’s new governance and utility token. Further incentives for early deposits include a lootbox-style reward system.
Katana’s public mainnet is anticipated to launch at the end of June.
Cantor, the Wall Street investment bank, announced on Tuesday that it has completed the first transaction of its new bitcoin lending business. This initiative is part of Cantor’s plan to provide...
Cantor, the Wall Street investment bank, announced on Tuesday that it has completed the first transaction of its new bitcoin lending business. This initiative is part of Cantor’s plan to provide $2 billion in financing to support bitcoin investors. The first companies to benefit from this credit facility include Maple Finance, a crypto lender with assets over $1.8 billion, and FalconX, a digital asset prime brokerage.
The launch of this business was first announced by Cantor in July, with the goal of creating a platform to meet the financing needs of bitcoin investors. Christian Wall, co-CEO and global head of fixed income at Cantor, expressed excitement about supporting institutions holding bitcoin in accessing diverse funding sources to drive long-term growth and success.
In addition to its bitcoin lending business, Cantor Fitzgerald also manages the U.S. Treasuries stockpile that backs Tether’s $142 billion stablecoin USDT. The firm’s former CEO, Howard Lutnick, who now serves as the Secretary of Commerce, has been a strong advocate for integrating bitcoin into traditional finance.
Exodus Movement (EXOD), a U.S.-listed self-custody wallet firm specializing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has introduced an Exodus debit card through a partnership with Baanx, a crypto card enabler that collaborates...
Exodus Movement (EXOD), a U.S.-listed self-custody wallet firm specializing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has introduced an Exodus debit card through a partnership with Baanx, a crypto card enabler that collaborates with Mastercard and Visa. This collaboration allows Exodus users to use their crypto for everyday purchases like travel, online shopping, and anywhere Mastercard is accepted, as announced at the BTC Vegas conference.
Enabling debit card functionality for self-custody crypto holders is a rapidly growing sector in the digital assets space, with popular platforms like MetaMask and 1inch also entering the market. Beta testing of the virtual Exodus card, starting with stablecoins USDT and USDC, will begin at BTC Vegas, with a wider rollout planned for later this year to the six million Exodus users.
Exodus CEO JP Richardson emphasized the potential impact of this technology on the unbanked population, stating, “If you consider there are 1.7 billion people who are unbanked out there, well now they don’t need a bank account because they can use something like this.” Baanx chief commercial officer Simon Jones supported this sentiment, highlighting the transformative nature of mobile wallets in providing access to basic financial services.
In December 2024, Nebraska-based Exodus received approval to list on the NYSE American, the sibling market of the New York Stock Exchange. This milestone came shortly after Donald Trump’s election victory.
Bitlayer, a Bitcoin Layer 2 platform based on the BitVM paradigm, has teamed up with Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool, three of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pools. This collaboration marks a...
Bitlayer, a Bitcoin Layer 2 platform based on the BitVM paradigm, has teamed up with Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool, three of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pools. This collaboration marks a significant step towards enhancing the real-world adoption of BitVM, a revolutionary technology that aims to enable Bitcoin-native DeFi applications.
The Ethereum network has been a frontrunner in the world of Layer 1 blockchains, largely due to its support for Turing-complete smart contracts. In contrast, Bitcoin has struggled to keep pace due to technical constraints. Bitlayer’s BitVM paradigm addresses this issue by providing Bitcoin-equivalent security and Turing completeness without altering Bitcoin’s core protocol.
The partnership with these mining pools is crucial for realizing the vision of BitVM. These pools, which collectively represent over 36% of Bitcoin’s total hashrate, have agreed to support non-standard transactions (NSTs) as part of BitVM’s challenge-response mechanism. This support is essential for accelerating the deployment of BitVM and moving closer to widespread adoption.
NSTs are transactions that comply with Bitcoin’s consensus rules but are not relayed by the default Bitcoin Core software. By agreeing to include NSTs in blocks, Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool will play a vital role in ensuring the integrity of the BitVM Bridge and expanding Bitcoin’s utility in DeFi applications.
The BitVM bridge serves as a secure tool for transferring BTC into various blockchain ecosystems, such as rollups and smart contracts, without relying on centralized intermediaries. This partnership not only benefits Bitlayer but also provides a strategic advantage for miners, who are facing diminishing block rewards.
The CEOs of Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool affirm the potential of BitVM in driving economic activity and generating fees for miners. They acknowledge the importance of supporting innovative projects like Bitlayer to enhance Bitcoin’s capabilities and promote long-term sustainability for the ecosystem.
Bitlayer’s collaboration with major mining pools reflects the growing demand for secure Bitcoin-native DeFi solutions. By expanding partnerships with validators and early adopters, Bitlayer aims to strengthen and broaden the BitVM Bridge, positioning it as a cornerstone of Bitcoin’s future evolution.
