Standard Chartered's head of digital assets research Geoffrey Kendrick declared "crypto spring" Monday, arguing that bitcoin likely put in its cycle low near $59,000 and that the recovery case is strengthening across multiple signals. His three pillars: Strategy resumed bitcoin purchases, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs returned to net inflows after weeks of heavy redemptions, and oil prices continued to fall as U.S.-Iran peace deal progress reduced energy inflation pressure. Bitcoin was trading near $66,300 as Kendrick made the call, with a decisive break above the early May high of $83,000 seen as the confirmation signal that a new uptrend is underway. The bullish read has bipartisan support — Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong separately said Monday that he too believes bitcoin has probably bottomed near $60,000, pointing to the historical four-year cycle pattern and adding that he remains "as bullish as ever." Caution flags are still present: the U.S.-Iran deal still has to hold, the FOMC meets Tuesday-Wednesday with Warsh's tone closely watched, and ETF inflows are returning but remain modest compared to the scale of recent outflows.
Stablecoin Conference 2026 by Bitso Business is coming on June 15–16 at the World Trade Center in Mexico City.
The event will bring together over 2,500 executives, policymakers, regulators, developers and financial infrastructure leaders from 50 countries to discuss the future of digital money, cross-border payments and financial modernization.
Participants include White House officials, Mexican regulators and policymakers, as well as executives from Tether, Visa, Mastercard, Fireblocks, Bridge, Stellar and other leading global organizations.
Ventuals — the project behind Hyperliquid's OPENAI and ANTHROPIC perpetual futures markets — announced Monday it is winding down and folding its team into another Hyperliquid ecosystem project. The OPENAI contract was settled at $1,341.80 and ANTHROPIC at $1,618.90, both pinned to trailing 24-hour time-weighted average prices to prevent last-minute volatility. Ventuals said it traded more than $650 million in total volume and raised over 500,000 HYPE during its run, but there will be no Ventuals token — ending any expectation of a token airdrop for points holders. The shutdown comes as the broader HIP-3 pre-IPO perp ecosystem faces headwinds: the Anthropic contract had already sold off 3.7% after the U.S. government ordered Anthropic to shut down access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 on national security grounds last Friday, and both OpenAI and Anthropic have warned investors against trading in unauthorized securities tied to their valuations. The closures point to consolidation in one of crypto's hottest new markets — with SpaceX, whose IPO is now live on Nasdaq, the next major test for the pre-IPO perp model.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Monday that his instinct is that bitcoin has probably found its floor near $60,000, pointing to the historical four-year halving cycle that has marked prior lows and adding that he remains "as bullish as ever" on the asset's long-term trajectory. Armstrong's comments align with Standard Chartered's Geoffrey Kendrick, who made a similar call the same day. The dual endorsement from one of the industry's most prominent executives and one of Wall Street's most closely watched crypto analysts adds institutional weight to a thesis that has been building since bitcoin held its 200-week moving average through the recent sell-off. Armstrong stopped short of a specific price target but cited improving macro conditions — falling oil prices from the U.S.-Iran deal, ETF inflows returning — as the evidence behind his read. FOMC on Tuesday-Wednesday remains the near-term wildcard: if Warsh signals rates are on hold rather than moving higher, the confirmation signal Kendrick is looking for above $83,000 could come faster than the market currently expects.
An interim US-Iran peace deal announced Sunday sent bitcoin to a two-week high above $65,500 and pulled the geopolitical premium out of oil, which slid sharply on the news that the Strait of Hormuz is set to reopen. Strategy and Galaxy both advanced in pre-market. But crypto traders are holding the optimism loosely: the April ceasefire collapsed within weeks, and US strikes broke a second truce on June 9 — both times, BTC gave back the entire move. This week adds the Fed rate decision and the formal ceasefire signing on June 19 as the next two tests.
Middle East ceasefire deal, Fed rate decision: the two events that will define this week for crypto.
Sunday’s interim US-Iran peace deal — with the formal signing expected June 19 and the Strait of Hormuz set to reopen — removes the largest single macro headwind that has weighed on crypto since February. BTC jumped nearly 3.5% to above $65,500 on the news, Strategy and Galaxy advanced in pre-market, and oil slid sharply. But the pattern here is two prior ceasefires: April’s collapsed within weeks, and US strikes broke a second truce as recently as June 9, with BTC giving back the entire move both times. The market is treating this as cautiously optimistic rather than categorically resolved. The second catalyst is the Fed rate decision this week — widely expected to hold — with Fed Chair Warsh’s press conference the real variable. Any dovish signal on the rate path would compound the geopolitical relief and give the recovery real legs. The formal ceasefire signing June 19 and the ARB token unlock June 16 ($7.76M) are the other key dates on the calendar.
Bitcoin is not fully out of danger. Trump has warned of further Iran strikes if the deal breaks down.
Even as markets celebrate the interim peace deal, Trump has publicly warned that the US is prepared to resume strikes if Iran violates the terms of the ceasefire agreement — a warning that reflects how fragile the diplomatic progress remains. The track record in this conflict is two failed truces: the April ceasefire collapsed and US strikes broke a second one on June 9, both times erasing BTC’s gains in full within days. The formal agreement signing is scheduled for June 19, and the Strait of Hormuz remains partially contested until the physical reopening is confirmed. Crypto traders have learned to distinguish between a ceasefire announcement and a ceasefire holding — and the options market is pricing residual tail risk accordingly, with BTC implied volatility still elevated relative to the calm in spot prices. The week’s price action will hinge on whether the geopolitical relief can be sustained through the signing date without a fresh incident.
Trump’s stablecoin was used to pay out bonuses at a White House UFC contest.
USD1 — the stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, the DeFi project backed by the Trump family — was used to distribute bonus payouts to winners of a UFC contest held at the White House. The disclosure marks the first documented mainstream consumer use case for a Trump-linked stablecoin, and it arrives at a moment when Congress is still deliberating the GENIUS Act — the stablecoin regulatory framework — with Trump in a position to sign it into law. The conflict-of-interest dimension is impossible to ignore: the sitting president is simultaneously advocating for stablecoin legislation, financially benefiting from a stablecoin issuer, and now deploying that stablecoin through White House events. Proponents say it demonstrates real utility; critics say it is precisely the kind of presidential self-dealing the GENIUS Act’s ethics provisions were designed to address.
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Crypto Daybook Americas: A newsletter from CoinDesk
A unanimous three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Sam Bankman-Fried's bid to overturn his conviction on Friday, upholding all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy and his 25-year prison sentence. The court rejected every argument Bankman-Fried's lawyers advanced — that Judge Kaplan improperly excluded evidence that FTX could have covered customer withdrawals, that the trial was procedurally unfair, and that rulings on cross-examination and evidence presentation prejudiced the defense. The panel's language was blunt: prosecutors' evidence "was, conservatively stated, robust," and the court ruled that fraud occurred the moment Bankman-Fried transferred customer funds to Alameda Research, regardless of his stated intentions to return them. "While he was publicly reassuring customers, investors and regulators that FTX customer funds were safe, he was simultaneously using FTX as his own personal piggy bank," Circuit Judge Barrington Parker wrote. The ruling comes the same week Bankman-Fried submitted a clemency petition to the DOJ's Office of the Pardon Attorney — requesting a presidential pardon from Trump, who has publicly said he will not grant it. A separate motion for a new trial, filed pro se and denied by Judge Kaplan in April as a "reputation-rescue plan," is also exhausted. The 25-year sentence stands.
Stablecoin Conference 2026 by Bitso Business is coming on June 15–16 at the World Trade Center in Mexico City.
The event will bring together over 2,500 executives, policymakers, regulators, developers and financial infrastructure leaders from 50 countries to discuss the future of digital money, cross-border payments and financial modernization.
Participants include White House officials, Mexican regulators and policymakers, as well as executives from Tether, Visa, Mastercard, Fireblocks, Bridge, Stellar and other leading global organizations.
When the CFTC approved Kalshi's BTCPERP contract on May 29 — the first regulated crypto perpetual future in the U.S. — it classified the product as a future rather than a swap. That distinction matters enormously: futures fall under CFTC oversight via Designated Contract Markets, while swaps trigger a separate regulatory regime under the Dodd-Frank Act with different capital, clearing, and reporting requirements. Critics argue that perpetuals are structurally closer to swaps — they have no expiration date, use funding rates to track spot prices, and behave like the offshore instruments long regulated as swaps in other jurisdictions. The CFTC's own procedural paper trail shows Kalshi submitted BTCPERP under Regulation 40.3 voluntary approval rather than self-certification, suggesting the Commission engaged substantively with the classification question. The debate has real stakes: if future courts or a different CFTC majority classify perps as swaps, the entire regulatory framework for onshore crypto perpetuals — and Kalshi's $178 billion annualized trading volume — would need to be rebuilt from scratch.
Bitcoin is trading above $63,000 Friday in choppy, rangebound conditions as the market consolidates ahead of next week's FOMC meeting on June 16–17. The token has held its 200-week moving average through the week — the technical floor that defined prior cycle lows — while most altcoins remain deep in the red. DOGE is essentially flat on the day. Bitfinex margin longs have surpassed 90,000 BTC for the first time since November 2023, a sign of growing conviction among leveraged traders that the worst of the selling is done. The constructive path for bulls requires inflation to soften further, Treasury yields to stabilize, and ETF outflows — which have totaled $5.7 billion over the past four weeks — to slow meaningfully. The FOMC is the week's defining event: Warsh's tone on rate trajectory will determine whether BTC grinds back toward $68–72K or breaks below $60K for the first time in this cycle.
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