Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) ended the week on a down note as a tentative recovery stalled after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled that interest rates are likely to rise in coming months.
BTC was trading right around $63,000 U.S. on June 19, down from $65,000 U.S. at the start of the week. Crypto prices got a boost earlier this past week after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a peace deal and crude oil prices fell below $80 U.S. per barrel.
However, analysts say that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum (CRYPTO: $ETH) and XRP (CRYPTO: $XRP), are now reacting to the U.S. central bank turning hawkish on interest rates.
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On June 17, the Fed indicated that it expects to raise interest rates by at least 25 basis points in this year’s second half. That news sent cryptocurrencies lower. Risk assets such as crypto tend to perform best when interest rates move lower rather than higher.
At the same time, investor sentiment towards digital assets remains weak. While some analysts say that Bitcoin likely bottomed when it recently fell below $60,000 U.S., others are not so sure. Bearish analysts continue to say that there are few near-term catalysts for Bitcoin and other digital assets.
Here’s what else happened with cryptocurrencies in recent days…
Options Traders Bet Bitcoin’s Price Will Fall To $52,000: Options traders are betting that Bitcoin’s price will fall as low as $52,000 U.S. in coming weeks. Options traders have turned bearish and are now placing bets that the largest cryptocurrency has further to fall and that its price could slide all the way to $52,000 U.S. by the end of July.
Strategy’s Preferred Stock Hits All-Time Low: Strategy’s (NASDAQ: $MSTR) preferred stock (NASDAQ: $STRC) has fallen to an all-time low. The preferred stock, known as “Stretch,” is designed to pay a high dividend to shareholders while maintaining a stable price of $100 U.S. However, the stock has lost its par value and fallen below $90 U.S. On June 18, the stock hit an all-time intraday low of $83 U.S. It ended trading at $88.59 U.S. a share. It’s the first time that the preferred stock has traded below its initial public offering (IPO) price of $90 U.S.
Ethereum Foundation’s Executive Director Resigns: The Ethereum Foundation’s (EF) executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang has resigned from her role leading the organization, the latest in a series of high-profile departures in recent months. On social media, Wang said she has left the Ethereum Foundation effective immediately. Her exit adds to a series of upheavals. At least eight senior figures have left the organization in the past five months.
Wealthsimple Provides Access To Kalshi: Online brokerage Wealthsimple is providing Canadians access to Kalshi’s prediction market. Privately held Wealthsimple, which is based in Toronto, says it plans to introduce a new app called “Wealthsimple Predict.” The app will enable retail investors in Canada to access bets through Kalshi. Wealthsimple says it will offer prediction market trading to 4,000 events tied to economic, financial, and climate events.
New ETFs Turn Dividends Into Bitcoin: Asset manager Franklin Templeton (NYSE: $BEN) says that it is developing new exchange-traded funds (ETF) that turn corporate dividends into Bitcoin. The proposed ETFs would use corporate dividends to buy exposure to Bitcoin. The company has registered the “Franklin US Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF” and the “Franklin US Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF” with Wall Street’s regulator. If approved, the new ETFs could begin trading this September.
Microsoft Says Malware Hijacks Crypto Wallets: Microsoft (NASDAQ: $MSFT) is warning that it has discovered malware that spreads via USB sticks and targets cryptocurrency wallets. The malware has been infecting Windows personal computers since February of this year and is capable of draining funds from crypto wallets. Engineers at Microsoft have labeled the malware as a “crypto clipper.”
Kalshi Explores IPO: Prediction market Kalshi is reportedly exploring an initial public offering (IPO) as its platform explodes in popularity among retail investors. Media reports say that Kalshi has begun early discussions with investment banks about a potential IPO as its annual revenue run rate surpasses $2 billion U.S. Reports that the company is planning to go public come after Kalshi recently secured $1 billion U.S. in funding at a $22 billion U.S. valuation.
HIVE Digital’s Stock Jumps On Investment: HIVE Digital’s (NASDAQ: $HIVE) stock is up 12% on news that the company secured a $220 million U.S. investment from Bell Canada (TSE: $BCE) and artificial intelligence (A.I.) firm Cohere. The investment is a three-year deal that will see HIVE’s high-performance computing (HPC) unit deploy 2,304 Nvidia (NASDAQ: $NVDA) processors at Bell’s A.I. facility in British Columbia.
Moody’s Embeds Credit Ratings On Solana: Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: $MCO) is placing its credit ratings on the Solana (CRYPTO: $SOL) network as it pushes further into tokenized assets. Going forward, Moody’s is allowing issuers of tokenized bonds and other fixed-income securities to embed its assessments directly into blockchain-based assets. The move builds on a pilot project completed last year. Tokenization is the process of creating blockchain-based versions of traditional assets such as stocks and bonds.
BitGo Announces $50 Million Stock Buyback: The stock of BitGo Holdings (NYSE: $BTGO) rose 13% after the crypto firm announced a new $50 million U.S. share repurchase program. The stock buyback is effective immediately and has no expiration date. The share repurchase program will see BitGo buyback up to 8% of its outstanding shares.
Pump.fun Activity Plunges: Activity on memecoin launchpad Pump.fun (CRYPTO: $PUMP) has plunged 80% as investors abandon the platform for perpetual futures and prediction markets. User engagement on Pump.fun skyrocketed earlier this year. But it has deteriorated in recent months, with token graduation rates, revenue, and broader network fees all dropping sharply. The platform’s revenue has averaged $800,000 U.S. per day so far in June, a big drop from $4.8 million U.S. a day six months ago.