Category: Ethereum price

Bull Bitcoin exchange, recently licensed under MiCA, is challenging the European directive in French courts that sets up a mass surveillance database, putting millions of crypto users at risk.

Bull Bitcoin, the world’s oldest Bitcoin-only and non-custodial exchange, recently licensed under MiCA by France’s financial markets regulator AMF, has filed a legal challenge before the Conseil d’État, France’s supreme administrative court. The challenge seeks to annul Decree No. 2025-1276, the main measure transposing the European DAC8 directive into French law, on the grounds that it creates a massive surveillance grid and database that institutions can not secure from leaks and data hacks, ultimately putting civilians at risk of kidnapping and physical harm.

Alongside the legal action, the company is making dac8.com public: “a complete, fully sourced resource for citizens, journalists and policymakers,” according to a press release shared with Bitcoin Magazine.

In recent years, there has been an alarming rise in kidnappings and physical attacks on crypto users, most concentrated in Europe, with France being an epicenter. Organized crime seems to be exploiting poor data reporting laws of law-abiding crypto users who, by paying their taxes, expose their ownership of crypto assets.

Given that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not reversible and can be transferred internationally with ease, criminals are hunting down crypto users. France has had the second most physical attacks on crypto users after the USA, which has a much larger population, according to Gart, a company dedicated to protecting users from this rising threat.

High-profile figures in the Bitcoin and broader crypto industry have been targeted in recent years, such as Binance France CEO David Prinçay and Ledger co-founder David Balland, who lost a finger during the incident, among many others. Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Casa, a high-security Bitcoin and Ethereum wallet company, has organized ‘wrench attack’ data for years in a database on GitHub showing an accelerating trend of attacks.

Bull Bitcoin argues in its legal challenge to the DAC8 that further consolidation and sharing of crypto user data will only perpetuate this trend of physical attacks. However, they also argue that these personal security risks created by the DAC8 are also working against the stated intentions of the regulations.

They argue that users will simply find legal alternatives to centralized, regulated exchanges, opting to purchase the assets off the grid via peer-to-peer exchanges, home mining or offshore unregulated alternatives, making tax collection even more difficult.

User Data Honey Pots
DAC8 turns the natural incentive a company has to protect its users’ data into a valuable multinational database with many entry points, which cybersecurity experts have for a long time called a honey pot. Bull Bitcoin points out that regulated crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) under MiCA, DORA and the GDPR are supervised, sanctionable professionals with financial incentives to protect their customers. DAC8, in turn, does the opposite: it moves data into administrative reporting networks where access is broader, and accountability is harder for users to assess. The security of the whole — Bull Bitcoin concludes — is then only as strong as its weakest link.

The history of data security over the past decades shows that amassing user data and keeping it safe over time is very difficult. Just this year, the French National Agency for Secure Credentials (ANTS, also known as France Titres) suffered a major breach detected on April 15, 2026, exposing data from up to 11.7–19 million accounts. Compromised information included login IDs, full names, email addresses, dates of birth, account identifiers, and, in some cases, postal addresses, places of birth, and phone numbers.

Months earlier, the French National Bank account registry also suffered a major hack, exposing data tied to approximately 1.2 million accounts. The compromised information included IBANs, account holder names, addresses, and, in some cases, tax identification numbers, though officials stated the attacker could not view balances or conduct transactions.

In the United States, the situation is not much better. The Equifax Data Breach in 2017 affected 147 million Americans, and the National Public Data Breach of 2024 affected over 200 million Americans, leading to leaks of social security numbers among other critical information. And back in 2015, the Office of Personal Management of the U.S. government was also breached, compromising a large number of U.S. Government officials. The data stolen included everything from social security numbers to medical records.

The list of such breaches is long, and the only logical conclusion to draw from it is that the less user information that ends up in these honeypots, the better, as ultimately all of these hacks put civilians at risk either from physical attacks or from identity-theft related fraud.

Families On the Front Lines
Of the many issues identified by Bull Bitcoin and documented on the DAC8 website, the most alarming one might be how even individuals who have not purchased crypto might end up harmed by this concentration of data, just by familial association with a Bitcoiner or crypto user.

Citing data by Certik, Bull Bitcoin highlights that more than half of the violent incidents recorded in 2026 against crypto owners targeted a family member — spouse, child, elderly parent — as a direct victim or as a pressure lever over the key holder. On the topic, Bull Bitcoin assets that “DAC8 therefore exposes not only crypto-asset holders, but their entire close family circle: between 40 and 135 million Europeans fall into a physical-risk zone, without any of them ever having consented.”

Francis Pouliot, CEO of Bull Bitcoin considers this overreach into the privacy of Euroeans to be potentially catastrophic for the prosperity of the continent, he minced no words in the press release saying that “DAC8 has transformed the concept of Know Your Customer into Kill Your Customer.” He added, “We cannot let the very foundations of civilization be shattered by this attack on privacy rights. We must draw a line in the sand and refuse to cede any more territory before we have nothing left. Someone must take a stand. It appears that no one else is willing and able to do so. Therefore, it falls to BULL to lead this fight.”

The DAC8.com is rich with facts, figures, official sources (EUR-Lex, OECD, Legifrance) and analysis, in French, English and other European languages for those interested in reviewing it and freely using it.

While Bitcoin is often viewed strictly as a financial asset, a growing number of 2026 operators are treating it as something entirely different: a stack of operational capabilities to vertically integrate.

In traditional manufacturing, vertical integration is one of the oldest competitive moves in the playbook. A car company that owns its tire factory is vertically integrated; Apple, by owning its silicon, operating system, storefront, and device, is the modern textbook case. The structural advantages,

lower costs, fewer dependencies, and tighter control over quality, are now being claimed by companies integrating Bitcoin into multiple stages of how they produce, hold, move, and earn money. The businesses furthest along this path aren’t necessarily those with the largest treasuries, but those that treat Bitcoin as a core infrastructure.

This article is the operator’s guide to that decision. We define the vertical integration of Bitcoin in concrete terms, lay out the four stages every integrated company moves through, provide a diagnostic to figure out how far you should climb, and deliver a sequenced roadmap for getting there.

What “vertical integration” means when applied to Bitcoin
In the classical sense, vertical integration means owning multiple stages of your supply chain rather than renting them. A vertically integrated business produces its own inputs, makes its own product, and controls its own distribution. Each stage feeds the next. Each stage adds margin that would otherwise leak to a vendor.

Applied to Bitcoin, vertical integration means owning multiple stages of how your business interacts with Bitcoin, rather than renting any single piece of it. The four stages are:

Accept: taking Bitcoin from your customers as payment, instead of (or alongside) cards and ACH
Hold: putting Bitcoin on your balance sheet as a treasury reserve asset, instead of (or alongside) cash
Produce: generating Bitcoin yourself by mining, converting electricity and hardware into BTC at cost
Build: offering Bitcoin products, infrastructure, or financial instruments to other businesses or to investors as a revenue line
A company that does all four owns the full operational stack. A company that does two has integrated partially. A company that does one is using Bitcoin but not yet integrated. None of these are wrong. But the deeper the integration, the more durable the strategic position, because each stage feeds the next. Payments fund reserves. Reserves enable productive deployment and underwrite financial products. Financial products attract capital that funds more reserves. Productive deployment generates more Bitcoin. The flywheel runs in this direction for a reason.

Stage 01: Accept
The first stage is taking Bitcoin from your customers. For most businesses with a payment terminal or a checkout flow, accepting Bitcoin via the Lightning Network is the lowest-friction entry into the integrated stack. The economics are not subtle. Credit card processing typically costs 2.5% to 3.5% per transaction, settles in two to three business days, and exposes the merchant to chargeback risk. Lightning settles in seconds, costs less than 0.1%, and is final on receipt.

The clearest case study is Steak ‘n Shake. The chain enabled Lightning payments across all U.S. locations in May 2025. At the Bitcoin 2026 Conference, executive Michael Boes reported that the company saves approximately 50% on processing fees when customers pay with Bitcoin compared to traditional credit card transactions, and that universal Bitcoin adoption among its customer base would translate to roughly $6 million in annual savings. Same-store sales rose 11% in Q2 2025 and accelerated to 15% in Q3.

What makes Steak ‘n Shake an integration case rather than just a payments case is what happens after the customer pays. Bitcoin payments do not get auto-converted to dollars. They flow into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve on the company’s balance sheet, which underwrites a $0.21-per-hour Bitcoin bonus paid to hourly employees and helps fund a menu overhaul that includes 100% grass-fed beef. Stage 01 (Accept) is wired directly into Stage 02 (Hold). The savings on the payment rail do not sit in a P&L line. They become inventory in the strategic reserve.

This is the first principle of vertical integration applied to Bitcoin. A move taken in isolation is just a feature. A move wired to another stage is integration.

For many operators, Stage 01 is no longer a project. As of March 30, 2026, Square switched on Bitcoin Lightning payments by default for eligible merchants globally, covering approximately 4 million businesses. Bitcoin payments through Square are free through 2026, with a 1% flat fee applying from 2027.

The first stage of the integrated stack is effectively the default for most merchants. The integration question is whether you wire the inflow to the next stage or let it auto-convert to fiat and disappear.

The second stage is putting Bitcoin on your balance sheet. Where Stage 01 is a payments decision, Stage 02 is a treasury decision. The question every CFO has had to answer for a century is where to park retained earnings.

The default answer of cash and short-term Treasuries is a slow leak when measured against a fixed-supply asset. Stage 02 says a portion of the company’s reserves should be denominated in something that cannot be diluted by anyone, including its issuer.

The canonical example is the work Michael Saylor began in August 2020, when his company (then MicroStrategy, now Strategy) became the first major public corporation to declare Bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset. As of June 1, 2026, Strategy holds 843,706 BTC at an average cost basis of approximately $75,500 per coin, an aggregate position of $60.4 billion that represents nearly 4% of all Bitcoin in existence.

Saylor’s argument was never that Bitcoin would go up. It was that cash was going down, and the right unit of account for a long-duration corporate treasury was the asset with the most credible scarcity.

Strategy is the deepest expression of Stage 02 in existence, but it is not the only shape this stage can take. Mining companies like Marathon and Riot hold mined production rather than selling it.

Metaplanet in Japan has built a similar accumulation strategy in the Asian market, providing yen-denominated Bitcoin exposure through a Tokyo-listed structure. Block holds 8,997.89 BTC in its corporate treasury, separated from a further 19,357 BTC held in custody for Cash App customers, and verifies the distinction on-chain through quarterly Proof of Reserves disclosures.

Most operators will not run a 100% Bitcoin treasury. They do not have to. Even a 1% to 5% allocation of retained earnings is a meaningful hedge, and the policy decision to denominate a slice of the balance sheet in Bitcoin is more important than the size of that slice. The board resolution comes first. The accumulation comes after.

A note on custody, which is part of this stage and not separable from it. Holding Bitcoin without controlling the keys is not actually holding Bitcoin. Operators integrating Stage 02 should set up institutional multi-signature cold storage from day one to maximize balance sheet sovereignty. The cost of getting custody wrong is total. The cost of getting it right is a one-time setup fee and a quarterly verification routine.

Stage 03: Produce
The third stage is generating Bitcoin yourself, by mining. This is the most operationally intense stage in the stack and the most niche, but it is also the one that gives the integrated operator the deepest cost advantage.

The cost basis of mined Bitcoin is your cost of power and amortized hardware, typically far below the market price of BTC itself. For the right kind of business, that gap is structural margin that no competitor can replicate without similar inputs.

Stage 03 is not for most operators. It requires industrial-scale operations, low-cost electricity (often dedicated power purchase agreements or stranded energy), and operational expertise in data center management. The pure-play public-market exemplars are Marathon Digital (MARA),

with roughly 50,000 BTC accumulated almost entirely through self-mining, and Riot Platforms, with approximately 19,000 BTC. Their cost basis is not a market price. It is electricity, hardware depreciation, and operational scale.

What makes Stage 03 integrated rather than isolated is the connection to Stage 02. Both Marathon and Riot retain the majority of their mined production rather than selling it on the open market. The mining operation feeds the treasury directly. Each block reward is inventory for the strategic reserve, denominated in the same asset the company is accumulating long-term.

What makes Stage 03 newly accessible in 2026 is who else is moving into it. Block, through its Proto division, is developing an open-source 3-nanometer custom ASIC chip and a complete mining system designed to make industrial-grade mining accessible to operators who are not themselves miners. The strategic implication is that production is becoming a primitive any sufficiently committed operator can adopt, particularly those with stranded power assets, surplus electricity, or operational synergies with existing energy businesses.

A power utility, a data-center operator, an industrial real-estate holder, or a company sitting on cheap behind-the-meter power can now consider Stage 03 in a way that would have been unrealistic five years ago.

For most readers of this article, Stage 03 will not be the right move to integrate. The capital and operational requirements are too specific to most business models. But for the subset whose existing business already produces or controls the inputs, this is the stage with the largest structural margin advantage and the most defensible moat.

Stage 04: Build
The fourth and deepest stage is offering Bitcoin products, infrastructure, or financial instruments to other businesses or to investors, capturing fees, network effects, distribution, or capital as a result. Where the first three stages are about using Bitcoin internally, Stage 04 is about selling Bitcoin-related services and products externally. It is the stage that converts the integrated operator from a Bitcoin user into a Bitcoin business.

Four sub-categories matter inside Stage 04, and they map to different kinds of businesses.

Custody products. Bitkey (a Block product), Casa, and Unchained sell secure Bitcoin storage as a service. The market exists because every Stage 02 operator needs a custody solution and few want to build one in-house. The business model is subscription, hardware sales, and institutional service fees.

Network infrastructure. LQWD Technologies (TSXV: LQWD) is the clearest example. The company holds 262 Bitcoin, with no debt or convertible obligations against the position, but the Bitcoin is not in cold storage. It is deployed as liquidity across a global network of enterprise-grade Lightning nodes, where it earns routing fees on every transaction it helps settle. CEO Shone Anstey has noted the Lightning Network now processes over $1 billion in monthly transaction volume, and LQWD’s own infrastructure has routed more than two million transactions and over 2,012 Bitcoin since launch. The novelty is that the same Bitcoin functions simultaneously as a Stage 02 balance-sheet asset and as Stage 04 productive infrastructure earning fees in the same asset, without selling, lending, or staking it.

Consumer products. Cash App is the most-used Bitcoin on-ramp in the United States, with millions of consumers buying, sending, and now automatically earning Bitcoin through routine app activity. Strike serves a parallel function with a Lightning-first design and global remittance focus. River targets long-term Bitcoin accumulators with low-fee dollar-cost averaging and account-level Lightning support. The strategic point of consumer distribution is moat. A company that owns the on-ramp does not just earn fees, it shapes how an entire generation forms its relationship with the asset.

Bitcoin-backed financial products. This is the fastest-growing sub-category and the one most operators have not yet recognized as part of Stage 04. Strategy is the canonical case. Beginning in 2024 and accelerating through 2026, Strategy has built a full preferred stock suite designed to give institutional and retail investors exposure to Strategy’s Bitcoin treasury thesis without holding Bitcoin directly. The suite currently includes STRF (10% perpetual strife preferred), STRC (variable rate perpetual stretch preferred, currently yielding 11.50% annually paid monthly), STRK (8% perpetual strike preferred), STRD (10% perpetual stride preferred), and STRE. Together, these products represent over $30 billion in remaining issuance capacity under active at-the-market programs.

Saylor describes the category as “digital credit” — an emerging asset class of income instruments built on Bitcoin treasury balance sheets. STRC in particular, with its variable rate, monthly cash payment, and par-targeting mechanism, is designed to compete directly with money market funds and short-duration fixed income.

View the STRC Tracker for live data on Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation.

The $43+ billion Strategy has raised across equity, preferred, and convertible debt in less than two years has been deployed into Bitcoin acquisition. The reflexive flywheel is the part worth studying closely: the larger Strategy’s Bitcoin treasury grows, the stronger the collateral story behind the preferred stock, the better the preferred stock prices, the more capital it raises, the more Bitcoin Strategy can buy. Stage 04 (Build) and Stage 02 (Hold) reinforce each other directly. This is the integration.

The same model is now being adapted by other operators. Bitcoin-collateralized lending products, structured notes, exchange-traded products, and ABCP-style facilities using Bitcoin treasury equity as underlying collateral are all extensions of the digital credit thesis. For operators with sufficient Bitcoin treasury scale, Stage 04 financial products can become the dominant mechanism by which Stage 02 funds itself.

How to decide how far to integrate
Not every business should integrate all four stages. The right depth depends on what the business already does, what assets it already controls, what kind of capital it can access, and what kind of operational complexity its leadership can absorb. The diagnostic below is the simplest version of the question every operator should answer before choosing how deep to go.

Question 01. Do customers pay your business directly?
If yes, Stage 01 is available immediately and produces measurable value from the first transaction. If most revenue is invoiced or B2B, Stage 01 still applies but the implementation shifts toward Bitcoin invoicing rather than point-of-sale. If the business has no customer payment flow, integration starts at Stage 02 instead.

Question 02. Does your business carry retained earnings or cash reserves on its balance sheet?
If yes, Stage 02 is available at any size from 1% to 100% of reserves. If the business runs lean with no meaningful cash position, Stage 02 is premature and integration begins or ends at Stage 01.

Question 03. Do you control cheap electricity, stranded energy, or capital scale that could support an industrial mining operation?
If yes, Stage 03 becomes feasible and adds the deepest cost-basis advantage in the stack.
If no, Stage 03 should be skipped, not deferred. Most operators will integrate Stages 01, 02, and 04 without ever touching Stage 03.

Question 04. Do you have a technology or platform business, or a balance sheet large enough to support Bitcoin-backed financial products as new revenue?
If yes, Stage 04 is the natural extension of existing capabilities, and the relevant sub-category (custody, infrastructure, consumer, financial products) should match your existing competencies. A fintech goes to consumer products. An infrastructure company goes to network operations. A hardware firm goes to custody devices. A capital-markets-active operator with significant Bitcoin treasury goes to financial products.

Galoy is widening its push into U.S. banking at a moment when many institutions still wrestle with how, or whether, to bring Bitcoin into their product stack.

Ahead of this week’s Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, Galoy unveiled an expanded version of its Bitcoin-native core banking platform, aiming to turn a fragmented set of experiments into something closer to a coherent operating model for banks and credit unions.

The update bundles six core use cases into a single system: Bitcoin-backed lending, Lightning payments, stablecoin payments aligned with emerging legislative frameworks, Bitcoin exchange under the OCC’s riskless principal model, custody options, and embedded wallet infrastructure.

Rather than replacing existing core systems, Galoy said the software acts as a “sidecar,” a layer that sits alongside legacy rails. That framing reflects a reality inside most institutions, where replacing core infrastructure remains a multi-year effort few are willing to undertake.

For many banks, the most tangible entry point may be BTC-backed lending. The logic feels familiar. Lenders already understand collateralized loans tied to equities or real estate. Bitcoin introduces volatility, but the structure maps onto existing credit practices.

What has been missing is tooling that can handle real-time collateral monitoring and liquidation triggers without adding operational strain. Galoy’s platform leans into that gap, offering LTV tracking, accounting systems, and approval workflows that resemble traditional credit processes.

Addressing bitcoin uncertainty
The company also introduced three tools meant to address a quieter obstacle: uncertainty.

Regulatory posture in the U.S. has shifted in tone but remains complex. Galoy’s “Regulatory Radar” aggregates guidance from federal and state agencies into plain language summaries, a nod to compliance teams that need interpretation as much as raw information.

Meanwhile, its “Portfolio Analyzer” and “LTV Risk Scenarios” tools speak to a deeper concern inside banks: how BTC exposure behaves under stress. By pre-loading data from thousands of U.S. financial institutions, the analyzer allows executives to see how a Bitcoin lending book might fit within their balance sheet.

The risk scenarios tool pushes further, modeling how sharp price moves could ripple through collateral and capital.

Behind the product expansion sits a broader shift in tone across the industry. A few years ago, Bitcoin in banking often lived in innovation labs or pilot programs. Now, the conversation has moved closer to revenue lines and risk committees. That shift brings a different kind of scrutiny.

Last year, Galoy launched Lana, software that enables smaller banks to offer bitcoin-backed loans, aiming to expand access and drive down high borrowing rates as more institutions enter the market.

For anyone new to trading, one of the first big questions is whether to start with crypto or forex. Both markets offer opportunities, but they operate differently and attract different types of traders. Understanding these differences can help beginners choose the market that best fits their goals, personality, and risk tolerance.

Understanding the Crypto Market

The crypto market is relatively new and highly dynamic. Assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum trade 24/7, which gives traders flexibility but also creates constant exposure to price movements. Crypto prices are driven by a mix of market sentiment, adoption, technological developments, and speculation.

One of the main attractions of crypto for beginners is accessibility. Anyone can start with a small amount of capital, and the potential for large price movements is appealing. However, this same volatility can be dangerous for inexperienced traders who lack risk management skills.

Crypto markets can also be influenced heavily by social media and hype. Sudden price spikes and crashes are common, making emotional discipline essential.

Understanding the Forex Market

Forex is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. It operates five days a week and is driven by global economic factors such as interest rates, inflation, and geopolitical events. Major currency pairs tend to move in more structured ways compared to many cryptocurrencies.

For beginners, forex offers a more mature and regulated environment. Price behavior is often cleaner, and technical analysis can be more reliable. However, the use of leverage is widespread, which can increase both profits and losses.

Forex trading requires an understanding of macroeconomics, but many beginners start by focusing on technical setups before gradually learning fundamental drivers.

Volatility and Risk Comparison

Crypto markets are generally more volatile than forex. Large percentage moves can happen within hours, which can be exciting but risky. Forex moves are usually smaller, but leverage can make them just as impactful.

Beginners often underestimate how quickly losses can accumulate in both markets. Regardless of the market chosen, risk management is critical.

Capital Requirements and Accessibility

Crypto trading platforms allow beginners to start with very small amounts, making entry easy. Forex brokers also have low minimum deposits, but leverage can give a false sense of security.

In both markets, starting small is an advantage. It allows beginners to focus on learning rather than chasing profits.

Learning Curve and Education

Crypto may appear simpler at first, but understanding market cycles and avoiding hype takes time. Forex has a steeper learning curve due to economic factors, but it rewards structured analysis and discipline.

Beginners who enjoy fast-paced markets may prefer crypto. Those who value structure and predictability may find forex more suitable.

Which Market Should You Choose?

There is no universal answer. The better market depends on the trader. Some beginners start with crypto because of its accessibility and later move to forex for stability. Others do the opposite.

The key is not the market itself, but how it is traded. A disciplined trader with a solid plan can succeed in either market.

Final Thoughts

Crypto and forex both offer opportunities and risks. For beginners, the focus should not be on choosing the “best” market, but on building strong habits: risk management, patience, and continuous learning.

The market you choose is less important than the mindset you bring into it.

The latest acquisition pushes The Ether Machine’s total holdings to 334,757 ETH, far outpacing the Ethereum Foundation’s reported 234,000 ETH.

The Ether Machine added 15,000 ETH to its balance sheet in a $56.9 million purchase, resuming its long-term accumulation strategy, the company said on Wednesday.

The latest acquisition, made at an average price of $3,809 per Ether
ETH
$3,861
, pushes the company’s total holdings to 334,757 ETH, it said in a news release, noting that it was timed to coincide with Ethereum’s 10-year anniversary.

“We couldn’t imagine a better way to commemorate Ethereum’s 10th birthday than by deepening our commitment to Ether,” said Andrew Keys, chairman and co-founder of The Ether Machine. “We are just getting started,” he added.

The Ether Machine was formed earlier this year through a business combination by The Ether Reserve and Nasdaq-listed Dynamix Corp. The deal, expected to close in Q4, would see the firm go public under the ticker ETHM, with a targeted $1.6 billion raise.

Ether Machine becomes third-largest ETH holder
With this latest purchase, The Ether Machine becomes the third-largest corporate holder of ETH, outdistancing the Ethereum Foundation’s reported 234,000 ETH, according to StrategicETHReserve data. The firm trails only Bitmine and SharpLink Gaming.

The Ether Machine still has $407 million in reserve for additional purchases, per the announcement.

Meanwhile, Keys also donated $100,000 to the Protocol Guild, a major Web3 funding initiative that supports Ethereum’s core developers and has distributed millions to over 150 contributors.

“Ethereum has been proving to be more than just a smart contract platform for institutions in recent times — they are seeing it as the foundational infrastructure for the new era of digital finance,” Ray Youssef, CEO of NoOnes, told Cointelegraph.

Youssef said Ethereum is driving the convergence of traditional finance and crypto by hosting tokenized assets, onchain payments and institutional-grade custody, with much of programmable finance’s core infrastructure built directly on its network.

Corporations accelerate ETH buying
Corporations are now accumulating Ether at twice the pace of Bitcoin
BTC
$118,643
, according to a recent report from Standard Chartered. Since early June, crypto treasury firms have acquired 1% of Ethereum’s total supply, fueling ETH’s recent outperformance.

The bank noted that this surge, along with strong inflows into US spot Ether ETFs, has supported Ether’s rally and could help push the price above its $4,000 year-end forecast. Despite these gains, ETH remains over 20% below its all-time high of $4,890.

Bitcoin fell 11% from its $111K all-time highs as traders say BTC price could drop to $97K if key support levels don’t hold amid rising trade tensions.

The emergence of a bear flag on the four-hour chart projects a Bitcoin price drop to $97,000.

Traders say BTC price may drop as low as $85,000 if key support levels are broken, including the $100,000 psychological level and the yearly opening at around $92,000.

Bitcoin’s
BTC
$107,671
price is forming a classic bearish pattern on lower time frames, triggering fears that a breakdown could lead to a drop toward $97,000.

Breakout points to $97K target
Bitcoin’s price action has formed a textbook bear flag pattern on the four-hour chart, a bearish continuation setup formed when the price consolidates upward in a parallel channel after a sharp downward move.

In Bitcoin’s case, the flag began forming after BTC bottomed at nearly $103,100 on May 31. The consolidation persisted over the weekend, with the price continuously retesting the support line of the flag.

The bearish continuation will be confirmed once the price breaks below the lower boundary of the flag at $104,800. The pattern’s projected downside target is now sitting near $97,690, measured after adding the height of the initial flagpole to the breakout point.

Momentum indicators, including the relative strength index (RSI), are also supportive, with the RSI currently at 44, suggesting that the market conditions still favour the downside.

Watch these Bitcoin price levels in June — Traders
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the BTC/USD pair has dropped 6.3% from its all-time highs above $111,000.

While BTC price closed 11% higher in May, traders are questioning which direction the price might take moving forward.

The month of June has historically produced mixed results with an average of 0.3% losses.

For crypto analyst Daan Crypto Trades, the mid-range at $99,600 and the previous all-time high at $108,000 are crucial levels to watch during the first week of June.

“I think there’s a good chance that the first week is likely a move that can be faded upon seeing the first signs of local reversals” at either of these points, the trader said in a June 1 post on X.

An accompanying chart showed that a break above $108,000 would see the BTC/USD pair rise toward its $111,900 all-time high, where it would likely meet strong resistance, occasioning a drop back into the range.

Similarly, a break below $99,600 would see the pair drop lower before finding solace from the 200-day simple moving average at $97,600.

“No strong bias toward either direction here, so will just remain nimble and play with what I get.”

“BTC looks like it has started a larger correction, which is likely to take it into the 2nd week of June,” said fellow analyst AlphaBTC in a June 2 post on X.

According to the analyst, a breakdown of the bear flag in the four-hour timeframe could see Bitcoin’s price drop toward the $102,000 demand zone. Losing this support would bring the yearly open above $92,000 into the picture.

“The question will be what happens at around 92K?” AlphaBTC asked, adding that if it provides a buying opportunity, BTC could rebound from here to initiate a sustained recovery into price discovery.

Conversely, if tariff tensions continue, BTC may drop further toward $85,000, as shown in the chart below.

 

Lee Jae-myung has plans to enable the state pension fund to invest in crypto, approve Bitcoin ETFs, and launch a Korean won-backed stablecoin.

South Korea’s opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has been sworn in as president following a decisive snap election victory, after campaigning on a platform that included a range of pro-crypto policies.

Lee claimed victory in the June 3 election held six months after the country’s previous leader, Yoon Suk-yeol, declared martial law and threw the nation into political chaos.

With 99% of the votes counted on June 4, the center-left Democratic Party’s Lee fetched over 49% of votes against the 41% won by rival conservative People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo, according to National Election Commission data.

Reuters reported that almost 80% of South Korea’s 44.4 million eligible voters cast their ballots in the highest turnout for a presidential election since 1997.

Satoshi Action Fund founder Dennis Porter, who was in South Korea on election day, said the turnout figure was “wild,” while noting that Lee has committed to allowing South Korea’s $884 billion national pension fund to invest in Bitcoin
BTC
$105,699
and crypto and has also promised to allow the launch Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Lee also has ambitions to launch a Korean Won-backed stablecoin to modernize the country’s financial system and stem capital outflows.

“We need to establish a won-backed stablecoin market to prevent national wealth from leaking overseas,” he said during a policy discussion in May.

Kim also ran a campaign that supported the launch of spot crypto ETFs and pledged to ease regulations and expand crypto adoption.

Bitcoin prices spiked to 149,000 won ($108,480) on the country’s leading exchanges, Bithumb and Upbit, as the so-called kimchi premium saw the asset trade almost 2% higher compared to global exchanges, where it topped around $106,600 before retreating slightly.

Lee to also tackle raft of policy decisions
Lee is taking office as South Korea faces significant challenges, including economic struggles with rising living costs, ongoing trade negotiations with the US and regional geopolitical tensions.

It’s not clear how high he will prioritize his crypto-related promises, but in addressing crowds of supporters in the country’s capital of Seoul, Lee promised to “work to restore the economy” from day one and to ensure military coups are a thing of the past.

Lee has promised to focus on economic recovery through increased investment in artificial intelligence and defense, to depoliticize the prosecution system, and to introduce social changes, including a four-and-a-half-day work week.

The Justice Department has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize crypto and NFTs allegedly tied to laundering efforts by North Korea.

The US Department of Justice has moved to seize $7.74 million in crypto allegedly earned by North Korean IT workers using fake identities and working at blockchain firms as remote contractors.

The funds were initially frozen in April 2023 as part of an indictment against Sim Hyon Sop, a China-based banker allegedly helping North Korean IT workers launder money, the DOJ said in a June 5 statement.

The Justice Department is looking to seize multiple cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins and Bitcoin
BTC
$104,811
in varying amounts, along with non-fungible tokens and Ethereum Name Service domains that are held in multiple self-custody wallets and Binance accounts, according to its civil forfeiture complaint filed June 5 in a Washington, DC federal court.

Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said the case highlights how the North Korean government is trying to exploit the “cryptocurrency ecosystem to fund its illicit priorities.”

“The Department will use every legal tool at its disposal to safeguard the cryptocurrency ecosystem and deny North Korea its ill-gotten gains in violation of US sanctions,” he said.

The DOJ claimed that the North Korean IT workers who earned the crypto were active in multiple countries and used phony identification documents and other obfuscation strategies to gain employment.

IT workers allegedly launder ill-gotten gains
After being paid, often in stablecoins such as USDC
USDC
$0.9993
and Tether
USDT
$1.00
, the IT workers allegedly used laundering techniques, including chain hopping and token swaps to NFTs, to obscure the funds’ origins.

The Justice Department alleged the funds were supposed to be sent back to the North Korean government via Sim and Kim Sang Man, another North Korean sanctioned by the OFAC for money laundering offenses.

In recent years, North Korea has been ramping up its efforts to infiltrate the crypto industry and raise funds to send back to the hermit kingdom.

Google’s Threat Intelligence Group released an April report detailing North Korea expanding its infiltration operations to blockchain firms outside the US after increased scrutiny from authorities, with a notable focus on Europe.

Bitcoin’s “power curve” is churning out giant six-figure BTC price targets this year — can BTC/USD really reach $220,000 or more?

New Bitcoin price targets leverage interplay with gold to deliver $200,000 and higher this year.

Bitcoin price cycles remain in focus as part of the BTC price “power curve” model.

Eating gold’s market cap could propel BTC/USD to nearly $1 million by the decade’s end.

Bitcoin
BTC
$102,693
has a “decent chance” of hitting $250,000 or more in 2025 as attention turns to gold copycat moves.

In his latest analysis, X analytics account Apsk32 argued that the four-year BTC price cycle should provide unprecedented highs this year.

Bitcoin “power curve” delivers $200,000+ target
Bitcoin following gold to new all-time highs is a popular theory among bulls. Historically, BTC/USD follows XAU/USD higher with a delay of several months.

For Apsk32, the implications are considerable this time around; with gold hitting a record $3,500 per ounce, the future for BTC price action is bright.

“Bitcoin’s position relative to gold has improved considerably since April,” he told X followers alongside his dedicated “power curve” tool.

“This is the indicator that gives me hope for higher than expected returns later this year.”

The power curve concept involves measuring Bitcoin price in gold ounces to avoid the inflationary nature of the US dollar.

“Here, I’m measuring the value of the Bitcoin network (market cap) in gold ounces and fitting that value to a power curve,” Apsk32 explained in a dedicated X post in March.

Among the results is a potential bull market top target that contextualizes the old 2017 top of $20,000.

“If Bitcoin’s network value measured in gold continues to follow a power curve, and gold holds its current value, and Bitcoin’s price returns to ‘five years ahead of support,’ we could hit Josh’s $444K this year,” it added.

This week, Apsk32 suggested that a more “reasonable” target for 2025 would be up to $220,000.

“If we start getting above $250k, that’s what I would consider ‘higher than expected,’” he responded when asked about the outlook.

“I do think there’s a decent chance we get there, it’s just not the most likely outcome.”

Half gold’s future market cap means $1 million BTC
Continuing the gold theme, Bitcoin analyst Sam Callahan considered data showing how high BTC/USD could go if it were to capture varying portions of gold’s market cap.

This could come about thanks to a shift toward “digital gold,” something widely anticipated to gain momentum in the coming years.

“If gold hits $5,000/oz by 2030 and Bitcoin captures 50% of its market cap, that puts BTC at $924K,” Callahan noted, alongside the data from the latest report by In Gold We Trust, released this week.