Coindesk

Crypto majors slid further on Thursday and the dollar gained ground as fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East intensified.XRP XRP, Cardano’s ADA ADA, and Solana’s SOL SOL lost over 1% in the past 24 hours, while dogecoin DOGE is flat on the day but down over 10% for the week, wiping out its early June rally. Ether ETH lost 0.7%, reversing all gains from earlier in the week.As such, spot bitcoin BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. continued to attract inflows, with over $389 million in fresh buys on Wednesday, data shows. Spot ETH ETFs racked up $19 million in positive flows.U.S. officials are reportedly weighing a direct strike on Iran, while the Federal Reserve flagged...

Bitcoin's BTC bull market has stalled, and how.Despite a surge in spot ETF inflows, stablecoin market caps, and positive regulatory developments in the U.S., the leading cryptocurrency by market value continues to trade directionless, fluctuating between $100,000 and $110,000.It's been a record 42 straight days of back-and-forth trading above the $100 mark, and the question is: Who has been selling BTC and quietly counteracting the ETF inflows amid mounting concerns about the U.S. fiscal situation?According to Alexander Blume, managing partner at the SEC-registered investment adviser Two Prime, BTC is facing a unique crosswind of participant composition as it transitions from speculative buyers to long-term investors."Amidst the recent geopolitical turmoil, it makes sense that speculators and leverage traders are taking risk...

A Kansas banker who looted millions from his small-town bank in 2023, which triggered its collapse, lost much of the money to overseas crypto scammers targeted in a record-breaking DOJ bust, according to a complaint filed Wednesday.Prosecutors have filed a civil forfeiture action targeting over $225 million in laundered USDT, part of a butchering scam with ties to a Philippines call center that ensnared Shan Hanes, the disgraced former CEO who embezzled $47 million from Heartland Tri-State Bank, a theft which was directly attributed to the agricultural lender's demise in 2023.According to the Department of Justice complaint, OKX, a crypto exchange, provided key information that helped identify an intricate network of accounts on the exchange used to launder the crypto...

There's a quiet transformation underway in decentralized finance (DeFi).While DeFi's previous bull market was driven by eye-watering—and dubious—yields and speculative frenzy, the current growth has been powered by the sector becoming a backend financial layer for user-facing apps and increasing institutional participation, according to a Wednesday report by analytics firm Artemis and on-chain yield platform Vaults.fyi.The total value locked (TVL) on top DeFi lending protocols—including Aave, Euler, Spark and Morpho—has surged past $50 billion and approaching $60 billion, growing 60% over the past year, the report showed. This growth has been driven by rapid institutionalization and increasingly sophisticated risk management tools."These are not merely yield platforms; they are evolving into modular financial networks undergoing rapid institutionalization," the authors said.The 'DeFi...

SUI SUI experienced a turbulent 24-hour trading window marked by sharp intraday swings and heavier-than-usual trading activity. After initially plunging to $2.71, the token mounted a brief rally toward $2.92 before encountering strong resistance near $2.82. That zone capped the recovery, triggering a swift reversal that dragged prices back toward the $2.78–$2.79 area.What made the move more notable was the accompanying surge in 24-hour trading volume, which spiked 11% above the 30-day average. That level of participation amplified the volatility, with fast-moving price swings exposing both bulls and bears to whiplash moves. The rejection from $2.82 and failed attempts to retake that level set the stage for more cautious trading in the near term.Support around the $2.72–$2.75 region proved durable,...