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New York, Maryland and Utah to Hold Primaries with Crypto PAC Money Hanging over Voters

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New York, Maryland and Utah to Hold Primaries with Crypto PAC Money Hanging over Voters

Political action committees (PACs) backed by cryptocurrency companies and aligned interest groups have bet more than $8 million to support candidates in Tuesday’s primaries across three US states, which could impact the makeup of the country’s Congress in 2027.

As of Monday, the Protect Progress PAC, an affiliate of Fairshake that supports Democratic candidates, reported spending more than $516,000 on media for April McClain Delaney, running in Maryland’s 6th congressional district. However, much of the PAC’s attention has been focused on two races in Maryland and New York, where it reported combined expenditures of more than $5.5 million and $1.4 million, respectively, for primary races in the states’ 5th and 15th congressional districts, for Adrian Boafo and Ritchie Torres.

Filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) showed that Protect Progress had spent about $24,000 on ads to oppose Quincy Bareebe and $74,000 for media opposing Harry Dunn, both running against Boafo in Maryland’s 5th district. Dunn and Bareebe, along with Rushern Baker, who is running in the same primary, issued a statement on June 15 against what they called the “influence of dark money and special interests” in the race: 

“We are calling on Governor Moore, Senator Alsobrooks, and Congressman Hoyer to answer directly: Do you support nearly $8 million in outside spending from crypto billionaires and AIPAC in a Maryland Democratic primary? If not, they should say so publicly and call on Adrian Boafo to reject it.”

Defend American Jobs, another Fairshake affiliate, reported spending more than $400,000 on Republican Blake Moore’s primary in Utah’s 2nd congressional district. All expenditures followed what a Fairshake spokesperson called the “biggest spend of the cycle” in last week’s Alabama primary runoff, resulting in a win for Republican Barry Moore after the PAC spent more than $12 million on ads.

Source: FEC

Related: NYSE owner ICE to launch oil-linked futures with OKX

The Fellowship PAC, another committee backed by $11 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage, disclosed $300,000 in spending to support Torres’ New York run.

Are Colorado and Arizona next?

With the three US state primaries to be decided on Tuesday, many expect Fairshake and other crypto-aligned PACs to turn their attention to Colorado and Arizona, which are scheduled to hold primaries on June 30 and July 21, respectively.

As of Monday, none of the PACs had disclosed significant spending in any congressional races in the two US states. However, in 2024, Fairshake and its affiliates poured more than $10 million into media to support Ruben Gallego’s Senate race in Arizona and $2.1 million for Democratic Representative Yadira Caraveo in Colorado’s 8th district.

Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves

NYSE Parent ICE and OKX Form 50-50 Joint Venture for Tokenized Equities, Co-Chaired by Andrew Cuomo

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NYSE Parent ICE and OKX Form 50-50 Joint Venture for Tokenized Equities, Co-Chaired by Andrew Cuomo

Intercontinental Exchange and OKX will build a U.S. broker-dealer to route OKX’s customers into NYSE tokenized equities and ICE futures, pending regulatory approval.

Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, and crypto exchange OKX are forming a 50-50 joint venture to bring NYSE-listed equities on-chain. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will co-chair the venture.

The two companies announced the venture Monday in a joint statement. Pending regulatory approval, the venture is expected to operate as a U.S. registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant, giving OKX’s customers in the U.S. and abroad access to ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities. ICE will co-chair the venture alongside Cuomo, who began working with OKX in 2023 and served as New York’s 56th governor. The structure follows ICE’s March investment in OKX, which valued the exchange at $25 billion.

Wall Street Onchain

The venture pairs one of the most established names in regulated market infrastructure with an exchange that serves more than 120 million customers. ICE operates the NYSE, multiple futures and options exchanges, and clearing houses, and it carries a Fortune 500 designation. The press release said the venture will focus on “building next-generation infrastructure for tokenized and digitally native financial products” and will explore further regulated, blockchain-enabled markets.

OKX-side framing put the target plainly. The project will focus on taking NYSE-listed assets and tokenizing them, an OKX spokesperson told Fortune, which also reported that ICE Senior Vice President Trabue Bland will co-chair the project with Cuomo.

Cuomo’s Crypto Turn

“You can virtually walk through the front door of the New York Stock Exchange through your smartphone, and you can do that seven days a week in a way you never could before,” Cuomo told Fortune. The former governor, who lost the 2025 New York City mayoral race, said he would spend the majority of his time overseeing the venture.

Cuomo began advising OKX in 2023, Fortune reported. OKX pleaded guilty in 2025 to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering laws and agreed to a $500 million settlement before relaunching in the United States.

The Tier-1 Onramp

ICE’s move extends a run of Wall Street incumbents wiring equities onto public chains. The exchange operator already sat among the institutional backers of Circle’s Arc blockchain presale, and Citi has projected a $5.5 trillion tokenized-securities market by 2030 with DTCC, Nasdaq and ICE all named as participants. OKX has separately built out tokenized-equity exposure, adding Magnificent 7 stocks to its European perpetuals lineup.

The regulatory path is the gate. The venture’s broker-dealer and FCM registration remains subject to approval, and a SEC trading-division framework for tokenized securities is still taking shape. Neither company has put a public start date on when the joint venture would begin operating.

Crypto’s second U.S. lobbying front — tax policy — sees industry push on mining, staking

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Crypto’s second U.S. lobbying front — tax policy — sees industry push on mining, staking

While the top focus of the industry remains the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that would establish a full U.S. regulatory regime for crypto activity, its second priority has been on crypto taxation, which was the central thrust of a June 9 committee hearing discussing several bills, including the legislation from Carey, an Ohio Republican.

Democrats on the committee revealed some concerns about how this bill would be utilized by the industry in practice, and outside critics such as the Revolving Door Project argued that crypto mining firms — including American Bitcoin, in which President Donald Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. have a significant stake — could defer taxes indefinitely while still getting a financial benefit from their holdings.

The industry letter countered that the bill “does not provide unlimited deferral or full parity with all forms of self-created property; instead, it ensures income is recognized while avoiding immediate taxation before taxpayers can monetize the asset.”

Crypto tax policy has been approached by a number of legislative efforts over the years. The latest House bills remain at a fairly early stage of the process, while the current congressional session is facing its final months, so it’s uncertain what their viability is at this stage.

Three Reasons Why Bitcoin Holding $63K May Mark The Bottom

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Three Reasons Why Bitcoin Holding $63K May Mark The Bottom

Bitcoin (BTC) continues to exhibit a strong technical setup after holding a weekly close above $63,000 for three consecutive weeks since tagging a new 2026 low near $59,000. This pattern closely resembles a bottom-building phase seen in previous trend reversals in bearish periods.

At the same time, Bitcoin futures open interest has fallen 19.5% from its June peak, funding rates have cooled to 0.02% from 0.1%, and spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows have slowed sharply to $540 million over the past two weeks from $5.5 billion the prior month. 

Together, the data points to a market that is shedding excess selling pressure while holding near a key support zone for BTC. 

Bitcoin’s weekly chart echoes prior market bottoms

Bitcoin’s recent weekly price action resembles a pattern seen several times since 2023. Once a local bottom is established, the price often trades close to that range for weeks before a sustained uptrend develops. One exception came in November 2025, when the price spent roughly 10 weeks moving sideways above $88,000 before breaking lower to the $60,000 level. 

BTC/USD, one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The current setup also resembles the price from late 2022 and early 2023. During that period, the weekly relative strength index (RSI) entered oversold territory, recovered, and later formed a higher low, while the BTC price printed a lower low, creating a bullish divergence. That bullish divergence marked a key turning point, preceding the broader uptrend that developed during 2023. 

The focus is now on the $63,000 area, where the price has formed a positive RSI divergence. The repeated weekly closes above $63,000, keeps Bitcoin trading above its recent low at $59,000 rather than extending towards it. The behavior fits a range-building phase that has appeared near previous turning points, as identified in the chart. 

Related: US dollar strength hits highest since May 2025: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

BTC futures turn less crowded as ETF sell-pressure eases 

Bitcoin derivatives markets have become notably less crowded over the past three weeks. Bitcoin funding rates cooled to 0.02% from 0.1% at the start of June, reducing signs of aggressive long positioning.

Bitcoin funding rate on all exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant

Crypto analyst Woominkyuu noted that total Bitcoin open interest across exchanges peaked at $25.96 billion on June 1, then fell to $20.89 billion by June 21. The 19.5% decline exceeded Bitcoin’s 11.4% price drop during the same period.

The simultaneous decline in the price and open interest typically signals that existing positions are being closed or liquidated rather than new leveraged bets entering the market. This indicates a significant reduction in excess leverage. It also points to limited evidence of aggressive new short positioning at current levels.

Spot Bitcoin ETF flows show a similar shift with $5.5 billion leaving the spot ETFs between May 15 and June 11. The outflows over the past two weeks total about $540 million, marking a sharp slowdown in selling activity.

Weekly spot BTC ETF netflows. Source: SoSoValue

Onchain data paints a mixed but constructive picture. Bitcoin researcher Axel Adler Jr. highlighted that long-term holders’ realized supply recently reached 12.42 million BTC, a level associated with supply maturation and coins moving into stronger hands. 

At the same time, Bitcoin’s sales pressure metric has stayed inactive for 1,256 consecutive days, the longest stretch on record. The data points to continued supply maturation alongside other signs that Bitcoin may be stabilizing near a potential cycle low.

Bitcoin LTH realized supply. Source: Axel Adler Jr.

Related: Strategy adds $300M to USD Reserve, acquires 520 BTC

South Korea Pushes Crypto Travel Rule Expansion

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South Korea Pushes Crypto Travel Rule Expansion

Financial regulators in South Korea are pushing for broader reporting requirements on crypto transfers to further align with global Anti-Money Laundering standards for digital assets.

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) raised proposals to expand the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Travel Rule requirements to smaller crypto transfers during a plenary meeting in Paris last week, according to an announcement on Monday.

The crypto Travel Rule is a global AML standard that requires crypto exchanges to share sender and recipient information for transfers above certain thresholds. It is designed to improve the traceability of funds moving between platforms.

South Korea already applies Travel Rule requirements to crypto transfers above 1 million won ($650), and the latest proposal calls for extending those obligations to smaller transactions.

Ongoing gaps in global oversight and DeFi risks

The FIU said Travel Rule obligations should apply to both originating and receiving crypto asset service providers (CASPs) to close gaps in cross-border transfers.

The FIU also called for stronger action against offshore and unregistered crypto platforms, citing increased misuse in illicit finance cases and risks of regulatory arbitrage.

FIU Commissioner Lee Hyung Ju at the FATF plenary session in Paris. Source: FIU

Beyond the Travel Rule discussion, FATF also approved a new report examining risks associated with decentralized finance (DeFi), according to the FIU.

Related: South Korea police raid Bithumb over lawmaker hiring favoritism probe: report

FIU Commissioner Lee Hyung Ju welcomed the adoption of a DeFi-related report during FATF discussions. However, he said regulatory arbitrage across jurisdictions mainly stems from differences in licensing, supervision and offshore oversight.

Seven years after FATF extended Travel Rule scope to crypto

The proposal was part of broader discussions on the implementation of FATF Recommendation 15, the international standard updated in 2019 to apply AML measures to crypto assets and CASPs.

Seven years after FATF extended its AML framework to cover crypto assets, global implementation of Recommendation 15 remains uneven, according to a targeted update by FATF in 2025.

Source: FATF

The FATF assessment found that 49% of jurisdictions were only partially compliant with requirements for CASPs, while 21% remained non-compliant as of April 2025, leaving only about 29% of jurisdictions rated largely compliant or compliant.

Magazine: China’s 107 Bitcoin memory thief, Bithumb CEO booked: Asia Express

talent exodus sparks fresh debate over foundation leadership

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talent exodus sparks fresh debate over foundation leadership

The departures also come as the foundation has unveiled a new strategic framework known as “CROPS,” an acronym standing for cypherpunk values, resilience, open-source development, permissionlessness and security. Foundation leaders presented the framework as a way to clarify the EF’s mission and reinforce Ethereum’s core values as the ecosystem becomes increasingly decentralized. Supporters viewed it as a reaffirmation of Ethereum’s founding principles, while critics argued it did little to address concerns about execution, organizational effectiveness and the network’s competitive position.

Among the most vocal critics was former Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist, who suggested the recent spate of executive departures reflected deeper management issues rather than disagreements over strategy.

“The people who are leaving the Ethereum Foundation are CROPS believers,” Feist wrote on X. “The problem isn’t with the strategy, it’s with management.”

Feist’s comments were notable because they challenged the prevailing idea that recent departures stemmed from dissatisfaction with the foundation’s new direction. Instead, he argued that many of those leaving supported the CROPS vision itself, making the loss of talent a reflection of leadership shortcomings rather than ideological disagreements. “The exodus of talent is truly bearish for Ethereum, sadly,” he added.

Other community members echoed concerns about the Foundation’s internal dynamics. “It makes me sad to see the dysfunction at the Ethereum Foundation,” head of engineering at Coinbase Yuga Cohler wrote on X.

Anchorage Digital aims to bring banks onchain with new tokenized deposit platform

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Anchorage Digital aims to bring banks onchain with new tokenized deposit platform

Federally chartered crypto bank Anchorage Digital is rolling out infrastructure that allows banks to issue tokenized deposits, joining a growing effort by financial institutions to bring traditional bank money onto blockchain networks.

The bank said on Monday that its new platform will help banks to offer round-the-clock payments and settlement services using blockchain technology without replacing their existing core banking systems.

“Many of the banks that we’re starting to work with are thinking about tokenized deposits, and how do we start to do [them],” Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley said in an interview with CoinDesk.

The product works by creating a blockchain-based representation of customer deposits while keeping the underlying funds within the bank’s traditional deposit accounts. Anchorage will provide the blockchain infrastructure, wallet management and smart contract technology, while banks maintain customer relationships and custody of deposits.

The move comes as banks increasingly look for ways to offer faster payments and settlements in a financial system that still largely operates on business hours and batch processing.

Bank of England Publishes Stablecoin Rules, Targets 2027 Launch

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Bank of England Publishes Stablecoin Rules, Targets 2027 Launch

The Bank of England (BoE) published a policy statement and draft rules for systemic stablecoins on Monday, outlining how regulated British pound-backed stablecoins would operate in the United Kingdom.

The BoE defines systemic stablecoins as those that are widely used in payments and may pose risks to the UK’s financial stability. HM Treasury is responsible for determining whether a stablecoin falls within the systemic regime.

Under the policy statement, systemic stablecoin issuers will be allowed to hold up to 70% of reserves in interest-bearing government debt, up from 60% under the previous proposal. Proposed holding limits have also been replaced with a temporary 40-billion-pound ($52.8 billion) issuance cap.

“This guardrail will be reviewed regularly and removed once risks to credit provision have been addressed,” the central bank said in an announcement published on Monday.

The proposal means that the UK is the only country capping issuance of stablecoins in its own currency, said Katie Harries, Coinbase’s head of policy, Europe.

“Two questions remain if the UK is to fully capitalize on the benefits stablecoins can bring: what ‘temporary’ means for the per-coin issuance cap and whether stablecoins can be used for settlement in core wholesale markets, without which the UK’s tokenization ambitions will not be delivered,” she said in a statement shared with Cointelegraph.

Aiming for 2027 rulebook rollout

However, this moves the UK closer to launching a dedicated regulatory framework for stablecoins, with the BoE aiming to finalize its rulebook by the end of 2026 ahead of a planned 2027 rollout.

“The Bank of England has clearly listened on holding limits, moving away from a complex and restrictive approach towards a more proportionate framework. That is a positive step,” said ClearBank CEO Mark Fairless in a statement shared with Cointelegraph. “But further progress is needed to ensure the regime does not constrain sustainable business models, particularly through the backing asset requirements.”

Related: Critics tell UK Lords stablecoins are not future money

Bank shifts approach after industry feedback

The issuance guardrail replaces the holding limits proposed in the BoE’s November 2025 consultation, which would have limited individuals to 20,000 pounds per stablecoin and businesses to 10 million pounds per stablecoin.

Systemic stablecoins entail payments and retail-focused tokens.
Source: Bank of England

At the time, the Bank argued the limits were needed to prevent large-scale shifts of deposits out of the banking system, which could reduce the availability of credit to households and businesses. Respondents to the consultation warned that the restrictions could limit the usability of stablecoins and create operational challenges for issuers.

The Bank said the new approach is intended to achieve the same policy objective while allowing unrestricted use by households and businesses.

“The endgame should be a truly risk-based framework rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, otherwise the UK is in danger of leaving sterling stablecoins at the starting line while other markets move ahead,. ClearBank’s Fairless said.”

The regime will apply only to stablecoins deemed systemic, while non-systemic stablecoins used mainly for crypto trading will remain under the Financial Conduct Authority’s supervision.

In May, BoE Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said the the central bank was reconsidering its proposed holding limits and reserve requirements following feedback from digital asset companies, which argued that the restrictions could hinder adoption and make UK-issued stablecoins less competitive with US dollar-backed rivals.

Secret Network Loses $4.67M in Infinite Mint Exploit

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Secret Network Loses $4.67M in Infinite Mint Exploit

An attacker has used an “infinite mint” bug in a vulnerable smart contract on the Secret Network to create unbacked, wrapped versions of Axelar-wrapped assets, resulting in a $4.67 million exploit. 

The exploit happened on June 10 but was discovered a week later on Wednesday, after a failed cross-chain transaction caused by an “insufficient funds” error in the drained account was detected, blockchain research firm Common Prefix reported on Friday.

The attacker redeemed the Axelar-wrapped assets (saTokens) back over legitimate channels to drain the real Axelar-wrapped assets held in escrow because the smart contract did not verify the source of the inbound transfer before minting, so “deposits forged over an attacker-controlled channel minted genuine saTokens with no assets backing them,” Common Prefix said.

It is the latest in a series of crypto protocol hacks and exploits this month, which now number at least 22, according to DeFiLlama. The Secret Network was one of the largest, behind the Humanity Protocol and Syscoin Bridge, which lost $32 million and $8 million, respectively, earlier this month.

The Secret Network is a privacy-focused, layer-1 blockchain built on the Cosmos ecosystem, and Axelar is a decentralized interoperability network that connects different blockchain ecosystems.

The Axelar-wrapped assets minted without backing in the exploit included saUSDT, saUSDC, saDAI, saWETH, saWBTC, saWBNB and sawstETH.

Related: Aztec Connect’s abandoned smart contract exploited for $2.1M

The attacker moved the exploited assets to the Ethereum blockchain and converted them to Ether (ETH). They then split the haul between around 30 wallets, eventually depositing the funds into exchanges including KuCoin, ChangeNow, and HitBTC, according to Common Prefix.

“If you hold Axelar-bridged saXXX tokens on Secret, please be aware their backing was affected, and your funds may be lost,” the Secret Network said on Saturday. 

Stolen funds split into multiple wallets for obfuscation. Source: Common Prefix

The Secret Network’s token, Secret (SCRT), was not impacted by the incident, but it remains down 99% from its 2021 all-time high, currently trading at $0.058. Axelar’s native token, Axelar (AXL), is in a similar state, trading at $0.045, down 98% from its 2024 peak. 

Axelar posted a confirmation on Saturday following “some confusion” around the incident.

“Neither Axelar nor IBC [Inter-Blockchain Communication] was compromised. The exploited token smart contract was not developed, deployed, or maintained by Axelar. Axelar’s firewalling prevented the impact from spreading to other chains,” it said. 

Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves

MoneyGram takes role validator role amid stablecoin payment push

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MoneyGram takes role validator role amid stablecoin payment push

MoneyGram said Monday it has become a validator on the Solana (SOL) blockchain, the latest step in the remittance firm’s ongoing push into crypto infrastructure as it builds payment services around stablecoins.

By operating a validator, MoneyGram will help process transactions and secure Solana’s proof-of-stake network, becoming a key part of the infrastructure that keeps the network running.

The company also joined Solana Developer Platform, an initiative aimed at helping institutions build financial products on the blockchain.

The move comes weeks after MoneyGram unveiled its MGUSD stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain, a sign of the company’s growing commitment to blockchain-based payments infrastructure. After spending several years integrating crypto into remittances and settlement, MoneyGram is now taking a more active role in the networks that support those services.

“MoneyGram has spent the past several years integrating blockchain into our payment infrastructure, and everything we are building now leverages this foundation,” CEO Anthony Soohoo said in a statement. “We believe the future of global money movement will be built on open, interoperable stablecoin rails that anyone, anywhere can access.”

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