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Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has hired Iskandar Vanblarcum, who previously worked at the London Stock Exchange Group and Barclays, as its new managing director, The Block reported via X. Vanblarcum will be tasked with attracting institutional clients and driving the exchange's future businesses in prediction markets and tokenized real-world assets (RWA).

Ethereum Layer 2 project Taiko announced it has restarted its network after fully restoring its bridge collateral on a one-to-one basis. In a post on X, the project stated that all assets now correspond one-to-one with those on the Ethereum network, allowing users to resume normal transfers, swaps, and trades. Taiko added that its Ethereum bridge is scheduled to reopen soon. The network restart follows a phased recovery plan Taiko unveiled after a $1 million exploit occurred in one of its vaults on June 22.

U.S.-based unlisted mining firm Ionic Digital has pivoted to become an AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure provider and has applied for a direct listing on the Nasdaq, Cointelegraph reported. The company was formed by acquiring the mining equipment of the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius. The business transformation appears to be well underway, as the company's digital infrastructure leasing revenue reached $44 million in the first quarter, while its mining revenue fell 82% year-over-year to just $7.4 million.

According to Coinglass data, if BTC breaks through $61,115, short positions worth $902.36 million on major centralized exchanges (CEX) are projected to be liquidated. Conversely, if the price falls below $58,883, long positions worth $518.70 million will be liquidated.

Bitcoin is exhibiting an inverse correlation with the U.S. dollar-Japanese yen exchange rate, a trend that runs contrary to market concerns about the unwinding of the yen carry trade, CoinDesk reported. The 52-week correlation coefficient between the BTC/USD pair on Coinbase and the USD/JPY pair in the foreign exchange market is currently -0.90, its strongest negative correlation since the end of 2022. This means that Bitcoin has been falling when the dollar-yen exchange rate rises, signifying a decline in the yen's value. The outlet noted that conventional logic previously suggested a falling yen would coincide with a rise in BTC, while a strengthening yen would stimulate risk-off sentiment. For example, when the Bank of Japan raised interest rates in July and August 2024, causing the yen to surge, Bitcoin's price fell. "While correlation does not imply causation, a rebound in the yen could now potentially act as a downside support for BTC," the report explained.

Spanish coffee brand Vanadi Coffee announced it has purchased an additional 10 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 223 BTC. The company stated last year that it would pivot from its coffee business to a Bitcoin-focused strategy, announcing plans to invest a total of $1.1 billion to build its BTC reserves.

On-chain analyst Darkfost reported on X that asset managers have sold more than 100,000 BTC from spot Bitcoin ETFs this year amid sustained outflows. He noted that this figure represents only the net outflows for the current year. Since October of last year, when BTC reached its peak price, the total amount sold exceeds 160,000 BTC, with the value of the outflows estimated at over $11 billion. Darkfost also pointed out that the current realized price for BTC holders is around $73,000, meaning most investors are at a loss. He added that the downturn is affecting all market participants, including institutional investors like BlackRock.

Binance has announced the delisting of nine spot trading pairs, effective at 3:00 a.m. UTC on July 3. The affected pairs are BIGTIME/USDC, BTC/EURI, CTK/BNB, CTK/BTC, ETH/EURI, ETH/PLN, GUN/BNB, JST/BTC, and ZEN/BTC.

Binance Japan has appointed Arisa Toyosaki, co-founder of the DeFi options protocol Cega, as its new representative, The Block reported. The current representative, Takeshi Chino, is set to become Chairman Emeritus and a board member.

The Ethereum Foundation has staked 4,938 ETH ($7.86 million) on Lido, Onchain Lens reported.

The South Korean government may impose access restrictions on DeFi services, treating them as unlicensed businesses, BloomingBit reported exclusively. The move follows the release of a government-commissioned study by the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF) in the first half of this year, which argued for regulatory intervention in the DeFi sector. The KIF report recommended classifying decentralized operators as "unlicensed virtual asset service providers" due to the difficulty of establishing regulatory jurisdiction. It proposed that authorities should "actively utilize measures such as restricting access for domestic users and limiting transactions." The institute also suggested that anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations should be broadly interpreted to apply to DeFi services. South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) commissioned the study in the second half of last year to help draft a foundational digital asset law. As government ministries typically use such reports as a key basis for legislation, the study's recommendations are likely to be reflected in the government's future bill.

U.S. investment bank Benchmark has maintained its "Buy" rating and $570 price target for MicroStrategy (MSTR). This implies a potential upside of approximately 515% from the stock's closing price of $92.68 on June 29.

Despite Bitcoin's price approaching their average cost basis and their profitability hitting a three-year low, long-term holders (LTHs) continue to accumulate rather than sell, according to crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr. He noted that the supply held by LTHs has reached an all-time high of approximately 16.1 million BTC. On-chain data shows the LTH MVRV (market value to realized value) ratio has dropped to 1.24, nearing its lowest level in three years. While the MVRV has not yet entered the "capitulation" zone, it is approaching it. Historically, a drop to around the 1.0 level has often signaled a market cycle bottom. However, Adler warned that if the BTC price falls below the LTH average cost basis of $48,400, selling pressure could intensify.

Australia is set to fully implement the crypto Travel Rule starting July 1, Cointelegraph reported. Under the new regulations, users of regulated crypto exchanges in the country will be required to submit additional information for all deposit and withdrawal transactions, regardless of the amount. This approach is similar to that of countries like France, the Netherlands, and Japan, which have no minimum transaction threshold. In contrast, the U.S. only requires information collection for transactions exceeding $3,000.

A growing number of European crypto companies are relocating to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), particularly Dubai, ahead of the full implementation of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, CoinDesk reported. Dubai-based lawyer Irina Heaver said inquiries from European crypto firms about the cost, timing, and uncertainty of obtaining local licenses have surged, with her firm receiving 120 consultation requests per week. She explained that these companies prefer the UAE's faster licensing process and clearer regulatory environment over the complex regulations and administrative procedures in Europe.

The following are the 24-hour long/short ratios for BTC perpetual futures on the world’s three largest crypto futures exchanges by open interest: Overall: 49.83% long, 50.17% short - Binance: 49.45% long, 50.55% short - OKX: 50.29% long, 49.71% short - Bybit: 50.4% long, 49.6% short

A Michigan court has issued a temporary restraining order banning the prediction market platform Kalshi from offering bets on sports events, Reuters reported. The court imposed a fine of $120,000 per day for non-compliance, citing violations of state gambling laws. The judge argued that Kalshi was causing irreparable harm to citizens by operating sports betting disguised as investment opportunities. With this order, Michigan becomes the second state after Nevada to prohibit Kalshi's operations. A similar ban in Massachusetts is currently on hold pending an appeal from the company. Kalshi has announced its intention to pursue legal action, countering that prediction markets fall under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not individual state governments.

While the price of Chainlink (LINK) is trading near recent lows, the number of addresses holding the token has steadily increased, according to on-chain analytics firm Santiment. Over the past five days, the number of LINK wallets with a non-zero balance has grown by more than 8,000 to a total of 892,800. According to CoinMarketCap, LINK is trading at $7.29, down 6.84% over the last seven days.

Binance announced that it has selected OpenGradient (OPG) for its 65th HODLer Airdrop.

Upbit announced that it will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals for Injective (INJ) at 9:00 a.m. UTC on July 2 due to a network upgrade.

At least one, and possibly two, sovereign wealth funds are currently accumulating spot Bitcoin (BTC), according to Basil Al Askari, CEO of Abu Dhabi-based crypto exchange MidChains. Speaking on a podcast, he noted that the current price is viewed as a suitable entry point for large institutions to make phased purchases of BTC with a long-term perspective, Cointelegraph reported. Al Askari added that while prices are unlikely to surge in the short term, the accumulation by these funds could serve as a signal to encourage other institutional investors to enter the market.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net outflow of around $231 million (357.7 billion won) on June 29, marking the eighth consecutive day of net outflows, according to data from Farside Investors. - BlackRock's IBIT: $300.4 million net outflow - Fidelity's FBTC: $3.9 million net outflow - Ark Invest's ARKB: $50 million net inflow - VanEck's HODL: $3.8 million net inflow - Morgan Stanley's MSBT: $7.3 million net inflow - Grayscale's GBTC: $35.1 million net inflow - Grayscale's Mini BTC: $22.9 million net outflow

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded a net outflow of $29.9 million on June 29, marking the eighth consecutive day of net outflows, according to data from Farside Investors. The detailed flows included a $5.9 million inflow for BlackRock's ETHA, a $37.5 million outflow for Fidelity's FETH, a $5.3 million inflow for Bitwise's ETHW, a $2.1 million inflow for Grayscale's ETHE, and a $5.7 million outflow for Grayscale's Mini ETH.

Guo Wengui, a real estate tycoon who sought asylum in the U.S. after exposing corruption within the Chinese Communist Party leadership, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison on fraud charges, The Block reported. He was arrested in 2023 on charges of conspiring in a fraud scheme that raised over $1 billion through cryptocurrency.

According to data from Tokenomist, the major token unlocks scheduled for this week (June 29–July 5) are as follows: - GPS: 708 million tokens ($6.4 million), representing 15.90% of circulating supply, at 12:00 a.m. UTC on July 1 - SUI: 13.72 million tokens ($9.62 million), representing 0.34% of circulating supply, at 12:00 a.m. UTC on July 1 - EIGEN: 36.82 million tokens ($8 million), representing 6.15% of circulating supply, at 4:00 a.m. UTC on July 1 - ENA: 40.63 million tokens ($3.19 million), representing 0.48% of circulating supply, at 8:00 a.m. UTC on July 3