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Susie Ward, CEO of the UK-based think tank Bitcoin Policy UK, has criticized MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor's promotion of the company's perpetual preferred stock (STRC), calling the approach dishonest for downplaying the associated risks. MicroStrategy issues the high-dividend STRC shares to raise capital for additional Bitcoin purchases. In an interview with The Block, Ward argued that a video from Saylor explaining STRC returns portrays the investment as if it were risk-free. She noted that the financing method involves multiple layers of financial engineering and that issuing new shares dilutes the equity of existing shareholders. Ward contended this practice is contrary to the principles that make Bitcoin attractive, such as its scarcity and limited supply, and is inconsistent with the asset's core philosophy.

CIA Director Ratcliffe has told President Trump and senior officials that Iran will not accept the nuclear concessions demanded by the U.S. in any final agreement, Axios reported, citing three sources. Ratcliffe's assessment is based on collected intelligence. He is not the only skeptic. According to two of the sources, Secretary of State Rubio and Secretary of Defense Hegseth also raised concerns about the deal in internal discussions. In contrast, Vice President Vance and envoys Witkoff and Kushner supported the agreement. Before the deal's announcement on June 14, President Trump and his aides held a series of high-level meetings to review intelligence. The information indicated that internal discussions among Iranian officials did not match the positions they had conveyed to mediators and the U.S. This led Ratcliffe and Rubio to conclude that Iran would not agree to the required nuclear measures, two sources said.

On-chain analytics firm Santiment has suggested that the growing negative sentiment surrounding the Layer 1 blockchain Avalanche (AVAX) on social media could be interpreted as a bullish signal. The firm explained that FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) is spreading, centered on skepticism about Avalanche's ability to compete with other Layer 1 chains, concerns over its tokenomics, and a slowdown in developer activity. This has pushed social media sentiment toward AVAX to one of its most pessimistic levels this year. Santiment noted that, paradoxically, investment opportunities often arise when market sentiment reaches such extreme lows. The firm added that despite the negative sentiment, Avalanche maintains its partnerships with major institutions, involvement in government-related projects, and its unique Subnet architecture.

The Oklahoma Department of Securities has warned investors about three suspected cryptocurrency scam platforms: BG Wealth Sharing, DSJ Exchange, and HQI Exchange. The department, acting on complaints from users unable to withdraw their funds, has urged the public to stop sending money to these platforms. Additionally, the regulator cautioned that so-called "fund recovery firms"—which promise to retrieve money sent to the platforms in exchange for an upfront fee—may be part of a secondary scam.

At least three Iranian oil tankers and two cargo ships carrying essential supplies have successfully broken through a U.S. naval blockade, Iran's Press TV reported. The vessels resumed their voyage on the night of June 15, marking the first tangible result since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran. According to sources, the ships had been detained for several months by the U.S. blockade operation before safely passing through international waters. The breakthrough occurred less than 24 hours after the MOU was signed, which calls for an immediate halt to the U.S. naval blockade as part of a comprehensive ceasefire.

Polymarket has climbed to sixth place in the U.S. App Store rankings, a significant jump from its position at 117th earlier this month, according to data from The Block. The outlet added that the platform's trading volume for June has already surpassed $1 billion, driven by interest in the NBA Finals and the World Cup.

A Polymarket trader lost $1 million after Spain, a top contender for the 2026 World Cup, was held to a surprising 0-0 draw by Cape Verde, Decrypt reported. The trader had wagered $1 million on Spain to win its opening Group H match, losing the entire amount when the game ended in a tie. Conversely, another trader who bet against a Spanish victory reportedly earned a $4.3 million profit. This individual had purchased 'No' shares at an average price of nine cents each, which implied a 9% probability of a Spanish win.

BlackRock is set to launch its new Bitcoin Premium Income ETF today, June 16, Watcher.Guru reported on its X account.

The three major U.S. stock indices closed higher today. - S&P 500: +1.65% - Nasdaq: +3.07% - Dow Jones: +0.92%

Strategy's (MSTR) recent Bitcoin purchase has paradoxically led to a decrease in its BTC holdings per share, raising concerns about the dilution of shareholder value, CryptoSlate reported. Last week, the company issued 1.7 million common shares worth $209 million to fund the acquisition. It used $100 million to purchase 1,587 BTC, retaining the remaining cash to bring its total holdings to $1.1 billion. The new share issuance caused the amount of BTC held per share to fall from 13% on June 1 to 12.5% on June 15. As a result, some critics argue that shareholder value has been diluted. Strategy has countered this claim, stating that the increase in its cash reserves, combined with the potential for its stock to rise alongside BTC's price, has actually increased real shareholder value. Others have pointed out the irrationality of issuing more stock to buy BTC while the company's shares trade at a discount, at 0.8 times its net asset value minus debt.

In a report titled "Bye Bye Bitcoin, Hello AI Data Center," Bank of America (BofA) offered a positive assessment of Bitcoin mining firm TeraWulf's (WULF) transition to AI data centers. Analyst Michael Funk described the shift as a wise move, citing growing demand for AI-supported facilities. BofA has initiated coverage of TeraWulf with a buy rating and a price target of $34.

According to a May 2026 exchange data report from Wu Blockchain, spot trading volume on major cryptocurrency exchanges increased by 0.1% month-over-month, while derivatives volume rose by 1.1%. Website traffic for these exchanges, however, saw a 0.26% decline.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the Strait of Hormuz was fully opened on June 12, adding that all related agreements have been signed.

Investment firms Benchmark and TD Cowen have dismissed recent concerns that MicroStrategy (MSTR) could face a "death spiral" of selling its Bitcoin holdings and seeing its corporate value plummet, calling the fears exaggerated, The Block reports. Both firms maintained their "buy" ratings on MSTR, assessing its financial structure as robust. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer noted that the death spiral hypothesis focuses too narrowly on the past week's BTC price decline. "For MicroStrategy to sell its BTC, it would first need to exhaust the $1 billion it has set aside for dividend payments," Palmer said. He added that because the company's structure has no fixed maturity, the likelihood of a sudden surge in selling is low, and numerous steps would have to be taken before any BTC is sold, making the scenario highly improbable. Similarly, TD Cowen stated that given MicroStrategy's cash reserves, its dividend obligations are "sufficiently manageable." While MicroStrategy sold 32 BTC on the first of the month, it also announced last week that it had purchased an additional 1,500 BTC.

A proposal by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to repeal regulations governing stock market structure, including the best execution rule, could be a highly influential development for the cryptocurrency industry, according to U.S. investment bank Benchmark. The bank suggests that repealing the rule could resolve legal and regulatory conflicts between DeFi's Automated Market Maker (AMM) mechanisms, which do not use traditional order book systems, and the trading of stock tokens. According to The Block, Benchmark identified Securitize, the infrastructure provider for BlackRock's tokenized money market fund BUIDL, as the most direct beneficiary. Coinbase (COIN) and Galaxy Digital (GLXY) were also named as potential beneficiaries. However, Benchmark noted that challenges remain, as the proposal is separate from issues concerning alternative trading system registration, custody, and clearing and settlement frameworks. The SEC is expected to collect public comments for 60 days before discussing a vote early next year.

Danny Sanders, CCO of crypto hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor, has warned that the growing trend of Bitcoin investors relying on ETFs instead of holding their own private keys will negatively impact the industry, The Block reported. Speaking at a Bitcoin event in Prague, Sanders acknowledged that self-managing Bitcoin can be burdensome for newcomers. He stated that of the approximately 600 million crypto users worldwide, only about 10% practice self-custody, with just 12 million to 13 million of them using hardware wallets. Sanders argued that the industry should encourage investors to adopt self-custody through better user experiences, educational tools, and backup systems, rather than pushing them to depend on custodians. He described the mindset of simply investing in an ETF as the most difficult challenge to overcome, calling it the "worst outcome for the industry."

A senior U.S. official said the United States plans to maintain its military presence in the Middle East during the negotiation period.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $67,000. BTC is trading at $67,004.13 on the Binance USDT market.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Vance have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, with the speaker of the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly also completing the signing, Reuters reported on June 15. A senior U.S. official stated that details of the agreement will be released within the next 24 to 48 hours.

A senior U.S. official said that under a recent agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened immediately and the U.S. blockade against Iran will be lifted.

Binance holds a market share of over 60% in SpaceX (SPCX) perpetual futures, Walter Bloomberg reported.

Thetanuts Finance, an options-based structured products protocol, has suffered a vulnerability exploit resulting in a loss of $2.1 million in option tokens, blockchain security firm PeckShield reported on X. A white hat address has reportedly recovered $2 million of the stolen tokens. The exploiter swapped $105,000 in USDC for 60 ETH and still holds option tokens valued at $34,000.

Decentralized exchange (DEX) Aster (ASTER) announced via its official X account that it will support perpetual futures trading based on Binance's stock tokenization platform, bStocks. The exchange explained that users can hold tokenized stocks through bStocks and use them as collateral for futures trading. This feature can be enabled by depositing bStocks' stock tokens into a BNB Chain futures account and activating the "Multi-Assets Mode." Up to 90% of the value of the held tokenized stocks can be used as collateral. Initially, support will be available for Tesla (TSLAB), Nvidia (NVDAB), Circle (CRCLB), and SanDisk (SNDKB).

Pharos Network (PROS), a finance-focused Layer 1 blockchain, will now accept PROS and USDC for payments on its AI Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform, the company announced on its official X account. The platform was launched in collaboration with ZAN, an AI agent-friendly development infrastructure. The MaaS platform notably features a built-in x402 protocol and related technologies specifically designed for AI agent payments. Users who pay their subscription fees with PROS will receive a 20% discount on their monthly costs. Pharos Network explained that the integration will not only diversify the use cases for PROS but also provide developers in its ecosystem with cost-effective access to industry-leading AI models.

A wallet believed to belong to Chun Wang, founder of the major Chinese-rooted crypto mining pool F2Pool, has increased its Ethereum holdings on three separate occasions this month, Odaily reported. The address purchased 9,719 ETH on June 5, 17,560 ETH on June 6, and another 15,740 ETH on June 12. Based on the average purchase prices, these trades have generated an estimated unrealized profit of around $8.64 million.