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The second quarter of this year saw a record number of hacking incidents, with around 70 attacks, according to Unfolded. This figure is double the previous quarterly record. The firm noted that this quarter was characterized by a continuous stream of relatively smaller hacks, in contrast to past periods that saw large-scale, single incidents.

On-chain analyst Darkfost reported that BTC short-term holders have deposited a cumulative 80,000 BTC, worth $5 billion, to Binance over the past seven days. He noted that this volume is still small compared to February, when over 100,000 BTC was sent to exchanges as Bitcoin tested the $60,000 level, creating stronger selling pressure. Darkfost added that short-term holders have so far been highly sensitive to market volatility, showing a tendency to trade emotionally whenever it increases.

A new governance proposal has been submitted on the Ethereum Research forum to use a portion of validator staking rewards for an ecosystem support fund, CoinDesk reported. The proposal outlines a mechanism to redistribute validator revenue, allowing validators to convert between 0% and 10% of their staking rewards into the fund. The proposer argued that the Ethereum ecosystem currently suffers from an imbalance where numerous projects benefit from core infrastructure—such as research, development tools, and security—while a small number of entities bear the financial burden. According to the proposal, Ethereum validators receive approximately 700,000 ETH in staking rewards annually. Diverting 5% to 10% of these rewards could generate 50,000 to 70,000 ETH per year for the ecosystem fund, equivalent to about $120 million at current prices.

Two of the seven technical analysts affiliated with CoinNess predicted a decline in Bitcoin's price this week, while five forecast a rise. The highest price target among the analysts is $67,300, and the lowest is $59,500. Note: Readers can vote for the forecast that aligns with their views via the provided link. A total of 100 voters will be randomly selected to receive a coffee coupon.

A new analysis suggests that even if nine out of ten merchants in South Korea were to accept a won-backed stablecoin, its usage rate would likely not exceed 4.4%. According to Money Today, the Korea Institute of Finance projected in a recent report that a 90% merchant acceptance rate would lead to an 18.5% adoption rate, where customers register and hold the stablecoin in a wallet. However, the actual usage rate for payments would be just 4.4%. This means that even with widespread availability, only about four out of every 100 customers would use the stablecoin for transactions.

BTC perp long/short ratios on top exchanges by open interest 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: 45.1% long, 54.9% short - Binance: 50.35% long, 49.65% short - OKX: 49.72% long, 50.28% short - Bybit: 50.41% long, 49.59% short

The Spot Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) chart analyzes the order book for the BTC/USDT spot pair. The top section shows the Volume Heatmap, while the bottom displays the CVD. - The Volume Heatmap tracks trading volume at specific price levels. The background brightens when the price lingers in a range or moves significantly, with these brighter areas potentially acting as support or resistance. - The CVD indicator represents buy and sell orders categorized by trade size. As buy orders increase, the corresponding colored line rises. The yellow line represents orders between $100 and $1,000, while the brown line indicates large orders between $1 million and $10 million.

Binance announced the addition of the XLM/U and XLM/USD1 spot trading pairs, effective at 8:00 a.m. UTC on June 23.

The operator of Jaredfromsubway.eth (ae13), a long-running Ethereum MEV bot, has pleaded with a hacker to return stolen funds after losing over $7.5 million in an attack that exploited a vulnerability in its automated execution system. The operator sent a message offering a 50% white-hat bounty if the hacker returns 2,150 ETH within 48 hours, threatening legal action otherwise. MEV bots are automated trading programs that profit from arbitrage by intercepting or reordering transactions on a blockchain network.

South Korean crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb have added Taiko (TAIKO) to their delisting watchlists. The exchanges cited the potential for user harm following a security incident, such as a hack with an unresolved cause, on the asset's wallet or distributed ledger.

The Bank of Korea's central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment is advancing to a new stage that will connect it with commercial banks' actual account systems, the Electronic Times Internet reported. Participating banks are currently building the necessary infrastructure within a test environment designated by the BOK and based on Naver Cloud. This infrastructure includes electronic wallets for customers and merchants, a voucher system for executing treasury fund payments, digital currency management tools, and blockchain integration. The system will ultimately link to the banks' core account ledgers and smart banking services.

The Bank of Korea is pursuing its deposit token project with the clear intention of full-scale commercialization, not just as a pilot program, Maeil Business Newspaper reported. The country's banking sector has expressed concerns, stating that subsequent phases, which include enabling peer-to-peer transfers and expanding use cases, would require procedures on par with launching an entirely new business and have requested a schedule adjustment. According to a document submitted by the Korea Federation of Banks to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Lee Heon-seung, the central bank and commercial banks are planning follow-up tests to build a foundation for the formal introduction and widespread use of the tokens, aiming for continuous operation without service interruption.

With the possibility of resignation growing for UK Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, is emerging as a potential successor. Burnham is known as a prominent pro-cryptocurrency figure within the party. The most likely scenario is that Starmer will remain in office until the party conference at the end of September before handing over the premiership to a new leader. Burnham is one of the few senior Labour politicians to have publicly supported digital assets, having once declared at a Web3 event his ambition to make Manchester the home of the Web3 revolution, just as it was for the Industrial Revolution.

HashKey Cloud has announced the official launch of the EAG Contribution Pool, a program co-developed with the global non-profit cooperative organization Ethereum Application Guild (EAG). The EAG Contribution Pool is an ETH staking support program for participants in the Ethereum ecosystem and operates as a non-custodial DApp. Users can stake their ETH and voluntarily contribute a portion of the resulting rewards to the pool. These funds will be used to support the development of both EAG and the Ethereum native application ecosystem.

South Korea's top financial and foreign exchange regulators have signaled their opposition to any immediate easing of virtual asset regulations, Edaily reported. The stance comes in response to a review by the country's Ministry of SMEs and Startups into rationalizing the current rules. On June 22, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Bank of Korea concluded after an internal review that it would be difficult to pursue the deregulation measures requested by the industry. The regulators noted that there has been no confirmed shift in policy toward deregulation and that many of the proposed changes would be impossible without amending existing laws. The review followed a meeting held on June 8 by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups with industry representatives. An FSC official stated that the agency is currently listening to the industry's opinions on sub-regulations rather than planning to ease them, adding that nothing has been confirmed. An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance also said the ministry is not currently reviewing any deregulation related to virtual assets.

24-hour crypto futures liquidations The following shows estimated liquidation volumes and position ratios for major crypto perpetual futures over the past 24 hours: - BTC: $66.39 million liquidated (65.46% shorts) - ETH: $43.20 million liquidated (52.16% shorts) - SOL: $11.80 million liquidated (53.11% shorts)

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net outflows of $227 million last week, marking the sixth consecutive week of net outflows, according to data from SoSoValue. Grayscale's GBTC saw the largest outflow for the week, totaling $156 million.

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) plans to expand its regulatory sandbox to include the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, Digital Asset reported. The move is part of a broader plan to prepare for the future of finance by expanding services to reflect changes in the financial environment and market demand. At a recent event chaired by FSC Chairman Lee Eog-weon, the commission stated it would continuously identify and include laws related to new sectors and services, such as the Internet Banking Act and the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, within the sandbox's scope.

Prediction market platform Polymarket paid dozens of content creators to film videos of themselves placing bets on a fake version of its site, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. One creator posted a video claiming to have won $100,000 by betting that President Trump would say "McDonald's" during an official appearance in a specific month. In reality, around 50 accounts that made the same bet on the actual site all lost money. According to a WSJ analysis, the promotional videos featured a total of about $1.9 million in bets, none of which were real trades. The roughly $900,000 in "profits" portrayed by the creators would have actually resulted in a loss of over $166,000 if the bets had been placed for real. Polymarket has been banned from operating in the U.S. since 2022, but the creators were paid to encourage viewers to access the platform using a virtual private network (VPN). Meanwhile, Polymarket announced it would conduct an audit of all its promotional content.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced it has suspended deposits and withdrawals for Taiko (TAIKO), citing a potential security incident.

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has urged the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City to reconsider the Fed account held by crypto exchange Kraken, Cryptoslate reported. The ICBA stated that Kraken Financial's one-year special purpose account, which is approaching its renewal date, should be re-evaluated for risks related to fraud, anti-money laundering (AML), legal issues, and the precedent it sets. The association has called for a review that could lead to additional restrictions, non-renewal, or termination of the account. Kraken had previously been approved for the one-year limited-purpose account following a three-stage review by the Fed.

Ranveer Arora, CEO of the hyperEVM-based yield protocol Altura, has announced that the Altura Vault will be phased out. He stated on X that the decision was made after an unprecedented volume of withdrawal requests over the past 24 hours, during which the protocol immediately processed redemptions of more than 8.5 million USDT. Arora added that while some positions can be redeemed immediately, others will require more time. He explained that funds are being returned as the underlying positions are redeemed.

Long-term Bitcoin holders are remaining calm amid the market correction that has heightened anxiety among short-term investors, according to on-chain analyst Darkfost. On X, he noted that a 2020 Glassnode study found that BTC held for over 155 days is significantly less likely to be moved. Darkfost pointed to the Cumulative Value Days Destroyed (CVDD) indicator, a key metric for tracking selling by long-term holders, which has fallen to around 0.3—a level historically seen during bear markets or major corrections. In contrast, when the CVDD surged past two and even four in March 2024, it was widely interpreted as a market top signal accompanied by active selling from this cohort. He assessed that long-term holders are currently maintaining their composure and are likely to wait for higher prices before taking profits, suggesting this may be the most prudent course of action at present.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is facing growing industry criticism over its financial and organizational management. Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave governance group Aave Chan Initiative (ACI), said on X that the EF could have been operated easily with common-sense budgeting. He argued the foundation should have used its reserves as collateral and funded valuable projects instead of things like "52 clients that nobody uses or meetups in Lesotho." Zeller added that after the delayed transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), the EF could have staked its vast ETH holdings to operate indefinitely on the returns. "If the EF hits a wall, it doesn't deserve help. Ethereum will be fine though," he concluded. Similarly, Keyring Network founder Alex McPharlane stressed that financial management and DeFi were "taboo subjects" at the EF, where those concerned about finances were seen as not focusing on the big picture. "Now the funding shortage is a reality," he said. McPharlane noted that the EF holds between $500 million and $900 million in liquid assets, which should be sufficient to support a $20 million to $30 million annual budget, calling an inability to manage this "incompetent." This follows a previous warning from Trent Van Epps, who formerly handled core development funding at the Ethereum Foundation. He had pointed out that the Ethereum core development sector could face a funding crisis within three to nine months.

The Altcoin Season Index from crypto data platform CoinMarketCap is currently at 49. The index is calculated by comparing the price performance of the top 100 coins by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins and wrapped coins, against that of Bitcoin over the last 90 days. An "altcoin season" is declared when 75% of these top coins outperform Bitcoin during that period, while the opposite is considered a "Bitcoin season." A score closer to 100 indicates a stronger altcoin season.