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For the bitcoin (BTC) price, SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut could go either way: Crypto Daily

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For the bitcoin (BTC) price, SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut could go either way: Crypto Daily

The months of waiting have ended, and SpaceX is set to begin trading on Nasdaq today after investors pumped $75 billion into the largest IPO in history. What happens next could ripple across financial markets, including crypto.

One theory making the rounds is that recent outflows of over $5 billion from bitcoin BTC$63,621.19 ETFs, which dragged the price of the largest cryptocurrency below $60,000, were partly driven by investors pulling funds to participate in the IPO. If so, some of that capital could find its way back into crypto in the coming days, providing a lift to valuations.

The IPO cuts both ways. On one hand, a blockbuster debut signals broad market confidence, potentially drawing fresh capital and sustaining the risk-on mood that tends to lift bitcoin and the wider crypto market alongside equities.

On the other hand, there’s a note of caution. Pseudonymous analyst Doctor Profit, who correctly called bitcoin’s selloff since October, argues that record IPOs are often a hallmark of excess optimism and market tops rather than new beginnings.

Monero (XMR) prices rocket to $438 amid $120 million onchain laundering maze

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Monero (XMR) prices rocket to $438 amid $120 million onchain laundering maze

The rest was scattered. ZachXBT traced more than $12 million to deposit addresses at the KuCoin exchange and about $8 million to instant swap services, which convert one coin into another quickly and often without identity checks.

Another $8 million was moved off Tron onto the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks through Near Intents, a cross-chain swap tool. Spreading funds across coins, exchanges and blockchains is a common way to break the trail.

Then Tether stepped in. The company can freeze USDT held at a specific address, and ZachXBT said it blacklisted an address tied to the entity holding 72 million USDT. Once frozen, those tokens cannot be moved or cashed out.

It is unclear where the $120 million originally came from. But the pattern, fast movement into a privacy coin, instant swaps and cross-chain hops, is the kind used to launder illicit funds, and Tether’s freeze suggests it reached the same conclusion.

BitGo Launches Lightning Earn To Let Institutions Put Bitcoin To Work On Lightning Network

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BitGo Launches Lightning Earn To Let Institutions Put Bitcoin To Work On Lightning Network

BitGo, an OCC-regulated digital asset trust bank, has introduced Lightning Earn, a new product that allows corporate bitcoin treasury companies and institutional allocators to deploy their bitcoin as liquidity on the Lightning Network and earn bitcoin-denominated routing fees.

The offering is built on an integration with Amboss Technologies’ Rails product, a Lightning infrastructure platform that enables participants to capture routing fees by routing payments and leasing liquidity across the network. BitGo, a subsidiary of BitGo Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BTGO), said the integration gives institutional clients access to Lightning Network infrastructure without sacrificing custody or governance standards.

Through the BitGo-Amboss integration, clients deploy bitcoin into Lightning Network channels. Those funds then route payments across the network and provide liquidity to new payment destinations. 

In return, participants receive fees denominated in bitcoin — not a token, synthetic instrument, or third-party yield product.

BitGo said its existing security controls, operational workflows, and governance infrastructure carry over into the Lightning Earn product, giving institutions the compliance framework they require to participate.

BitGo commits its own treasury

The bank has deployed a portion of its own bitcoin treasury into Amboss Rails, a move the company described as a direct expression of confidence in the product.

“We believe Rails gives our clients a credible way to deploy their bitcoin without compromising on custody or governance,” said Mike Belshe, CEO and Co-founder of BitGo. “We’ve allocated a portion of our own treasury to Rails, and we are excited to bring this capability to the institutions we serve.”

The decision to commit company funds signals that the company views Lightning Earn as more than a client-facing product. It also positions the firm alongside its clients in exposure to Lightning Network routing economics.

Amboss CEO Jesse Shrader said the partnership marks a turning point for institutional participation in the Lightning Network. 

“BitGo’s integration of Rails sends a clear signal that Lightning is fit for institutions,” Shrader said. “With the capital brought by BitGo and their clients, Bitcoin can serve instant payments at enterprise scale while capturing the benefits of Lightning’s proliferation.”

Amboss builds data, software, and infrastructure products for the Lightning Network, with Rails serving as its primary institutional infrastructure offering.

Metaplanet acquires Siiibo Securities in $13.1m deal to advance Bitcoin strategy

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Metaplanet acquires Siiibo Securities in $13.1m deal to advance Bitcoin strategy

Metaplanet (3350) acquired Siiibo Securities, a Tokyo-based Type I Financial Instruments Business Operator, in a deal valued at approximately 2.1 billion yen ($13.1 million), the Japanese bitcoin treasury company announced on Friday.

Following the completion of the transaction, Siiibo Securities will become a wholly owned subsidiary, renamed Metaplanet Securities.

The acquisition marks the first major step in Metaplanet’s “Project Nova,” a long-term strategy aimed at building a bitcoin-focused financial ecosystem. The company, which holds 40,177 BTC ($2.6 billion) as of May 31, views bitcoin not only as a treasury asset but also as the foundation for a new generation of financial products and services.

Siiibo Securities specializes in corporate bond issuance and distribution through an online platform and has supported more than 100 bond offerings for over 40 companies. Metaplanet believes the firm’s regulatory licenses, customer base, and securities expertise complement its ambitions in digital assets and tokenized finance.

The companies expect synergies including the development of bitcoin-linked investment products, expanded securities distribution capabilities, and the creation of tokenized financial instruments. Metaplanet also plans to leverage Siiibo’s platform to provide new yield-generating opportunities for investors and strengthen its presence in Japan’s evolving digital asset market.

Congress Proposes DOJ Task Force for Crypto Theft Probes

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Congress Proposes DOJ Task Force for Crypto Theft Probes

US lawmakers have introduced legislation that would create a Department of Justice-led task force to coordinate investigations into cryptocurrency theft, scams and other digital asset-related crimes across federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Under the proposal, the Justice Department would serve as the primary federal coordinator for cryptocurrency theft investigations, bringing together agencies including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The bill introduced by Republican Representative Lance Gooden and his Democratic House colleague Josh Gottheimer directs the task force to develop best practices for evidence collection, blockchain forensics, asset tracing and victim support. It would also provide training and technical assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies.

According to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, Americans reported more than $11 billion in crypto-related losses last year.

Source: Gooden.house.gov

The task force would coordinate with international law enforcement agencies on cross-border investigations and submit annual reports to Congress on emerging threats, enforcement challenges and potential policy recommendations.

The bill specifies that it would not authorize new regulation of cryptocurrency markets, expand the authority of federal agencies or create new criminal offenses, instead focusing on coordination among agencies already responsible for investigating financial crimes.

Related: Chainalysis, South Korean police link up to fight crypto crime

Crypto investigators turn to AI-powered analytics

The proposed task force comes as blockchain intelligence firms increasingly deploy artificial intelligence tools designed to help investigators trace stolen funds, identify illicit activity and analyze complex transaction flows across digital asset networks.

In March, TRM Labs launched Co-Case Agent, an AI investigative assistant for crypto crime and compliance teams. The company said the tool can trace fund flows, audit blockchain transaction graphs and suggest investigative steps from natural language prompts.

Source: TRMLabs

Chainalysis announced similar blockchain intelligence agents later that month, saying the tools would be rolled out over the summer for investigations and compliance. The company said the agents were designed to help users trace funds and gather intelligence as crypto criminals increasingly use AI to scale their operations.

The growing focus on investigative tools comes as crypto-related exploits continue to generate significant losses. According to DeFiLlama, hackers stole roughly $630 million in April alone, marking the industry’s largest monthly loss total since February 2025.

Magazine: Vietnam preps crypto pilot, HK pushes tokenization: Asia Express

Bitcoin traders eye $75,000 as Japan set to hike rates to 31-year high

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Bitcoin traders eye $75,000 as Japan set to hike rates to 31-year high

The Bank of Japan is expected to raise its policy rate to 1% from 0.75% when its meeting concludes on June 16, the highest level since 1995, and to signal readiness to keep going.

It puts the yen carry trade back in focus, which has tended to impact crypto markets. Since decades, a cheap yen has funded leveraged bets on risk assets, crypto among them.

Higher Japanese rates and a firmer yen make that borrowing more expensive and can force an unwind that drains global liquidity. The last time the BOJ surprised with a hike, on August 5, 2024, the resulting unwind dropped bitcoin from about $64,000 to $49,000 in two days.

The move would line Japan up with the ECB, which hiked on Thursday, and a Fed that this week’s energy-driven inflation has kept on hold. Policy is tightening on every front, the opposite of the easy liquidity that fuels crypto.

As such, the hike is widely expected and mostly priced, and even at 1% Japan’s real rates stay deeply negative, so the carry trade is not dead. Japanese investors have kept buying foreign assets, and there is little sign of an unwind so far.

A sign of caution, however, is a hawkish forward signal landing on stretched positioning, with speculative bets against the yen back near their July 2024 levels.

Crypto is shrugging for now. Bitcoin trades up on SpaceX’s IPO day near $63,000, per CoinDesk data.

There’s one simple signal for whether the BTC price has bottomed. Right now, it hasn’t.

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There’s one simple signal for whether the BTC price has bottomed. Right now, it hasn’t.

Crypto traders, having seen bitcoin BTC$62,895.02, the largest cryptocurrency, bounce overnight to $64,000 from recent lows under $60,000, may be wondering whether the bottom has been hit and a fresh bull run has started.

There is a simple signal to get that confirmation. Right now, it is saying the rebound has not started.

That signal comes from the widely followed momentum gauge called the relative strength index, or RSI. The measure can range from 0 to 100. Readings above 70 indicate that an asset is running hot and potentially overbought, while readings below 30 suggest the opposite. Between those extremes, specific levels often emerge as dividing lines between bullish and bearish environments.

For the bitcoin price, the line is at 41.5, according to crypto data analytics platform Material Indicators. Above that level, BTC has historically had a stronger argument for being in a bullish macro trend. Below it, bearish pressure tends to dominate.

“Right now, Bitcoin is below it, and still trending down,” Keith Alan, an analyst at Material Indicators, said in an email. “That does not mean price has to collapse, but it does mean the burden of proof is still on the bulls.”

Tokenized Stocks to Win Big on SEC Rule Rescission

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Tokenized Stocks to Win Big on SEC Rule Rescission

The US Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to rescind rules around order protections and price quotes could remove a major legal barrier for tokenized US stocks.

The SEC on Thursday proposed to scrap two rules in its national market system regulations. Rule 611 that bans “trade-throughs,” where a stock order on one exchange can’t be for a worse price than on another, and Rule 610(e) banning exchanges from displaying a bid at the same or higher price than what is available elsewhere.

Galaxy head of research Alex Thorn said the proposal is “one of the biggest unlocks yet for tokenized stocks” as it would remove “one of the biggest structural barriers to tokenized US equities trading in DeFi.”

The SEC has been looking to undo rules that restrict crypto and blockchain technology. It launched “Project Crypto” in August 2025 with the goal of making rules for the use of digital assets and blockchain in US markets.

Source: Alex Thorn

Thorn said that automated market makers (AMM) in crypto, or programs that facilitate trading by pooling assets, can’t comply with trade-through rules as they execute orders against “whatever the pool price is.”

He added that an AMM also can’t stop a trade if a better quote exists elsewhere, meaning any pool in a tokenized stock governed by the current rules “would commit trade-throughs constantly and arguably be an illegal trading center.”

Related: SEC makes digital assets strategic priority through 2030

Prices from AMMs also constantly fluctuate and would also be in constant violation of the rule aiming to guarantee investors get the best price across all platforms, Thorn said.

The SEC is likely to replace the rules with a “best execution” framework, which could permit AMMs under the rules, Thorn said.

The agency put its proposal up for feedback for 60 days, where it will then review responses and may change its proposal in response to comments.

It comes as the SEC was reportedly set to release a plan last month allowing tokenized stock trading, but postponed the plan after officials from stock exchanges raised concerns over how the plan would be executed.

Magazine: Can Robinhood or Kraken’s tokenized stocks ever be truly decentralized?

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Ripple-linked token jumps 3% as resistance test looms

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Ripple-linked token jumps 3% as resistance test looms

XRP bounced sharply from last week’s selloff, reclaiming $1.14 on its strongest volume in weeks. Buyers pushed the token through resistance near $1.12 and kept buying into the close, a change from the short-lived rebounds that have repeatedly faded since February.

The next test sits higher up, as every major recovery this year has stalled before reaching the $1.20-$1.25 area.

News Background

• Ripple said Bitso’s MXN-backed stablecoin MXNB will launch on the XRP Ledger and integrate with its Payments on Decentralized Exchange infrastructure, expanding regulated cross-border settlement between the U.S. and Mexico.

• Ripple’s RLUSD and Bitso’s MXNB are designed to provide on-chain dollar and peso liquidity for enterprise payment flows, adding another institutional use case for XRPL infrastructure.

• The initiative builds around XRPL’s Permissioned DEX, a framework aimed at regulated financial participants rather than retail users.

Price Action Summary

• XRP rose from $1.1080 to $1.1442 during the 24-hour session, gaining 3.3%.

• The key move came during the June 11 17:00 UTC session, when volume surged to 120.2 million XRP, more than 160% above average, pushing price through resistance near $1.1220.

U.S. Charges Two Men For $389 Million Bitcoin And Crypto Money Laundering Scheme Tied To Dark Web

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U.S. Charges Two Men For $389 Million Bitcoin And Crypto Money Laundering Scheme Tied To Dark Web

Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia charged two men Wednesday with running an international bitcoin and crypto money laundering operation that processed nearly $400 million in illicit funds over five years, part of a sweeping multinational law enforcement takedown that dismantled the group’s criminal infrastructure across multiple continents.

Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, a Ukrainian national, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, a Russian national, were arrested in Batumi, Republic of Georgia, where both men reside, according to U.S. Attorney David Metcalf of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

Each faces one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of sting money laundering — charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors allege the two men were senior members of an organization that called itself “AudiA6,” which operated a cryptocurrency mixing service and managed a cybercrime forum known as Dark2Web, where users could negotiate the commission of cybercrimes for pay. Since launching in 2021, 

$389 million in bitcoin

AudiA6 accepted approximately 10,333 Bitcoin — valued at roughly $389.7 million at the time of the transactions — into its wallets, earning at least $10 million in commission fees by charging clients up to 5% per transaction.

Of those funds, approximately 393 Bitcoin, valued at around $19.2 million, were traced directly to known darknet markets, ransomware groups, and other illicit sources, with additional funds flowing in indirectly from criminal actors. 

Despite AudiA6’s promises to clients that the mixed funds would be untraceable, investigators said blockchain analysis revealed the transactions could be followed directly through exchange records.

The case, built partly on six undercover operations conducted between December 2022 and May 2026, featured FBI and Secret Service agents posing as criminals seeking to launder proceeds from scams and narcotics sales. 

In one exchange, an AudiA6 operator responded to an agent asking whether stolen Bitcoin was acceptable by saying simply, “don’t care.” In another, when asked whether drug sale proceeds posed too great a risk, the operator replied, “Everything like that needs to go through a mixer.”

The arrests were part of a coordinated international takedown involving the U.S. Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Europol, Eurojust, and law enforcement partners from Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Authorities searched three properties, seized digital devices, froze cryptocurrency assets, blocked associated Telegram accounts, and replaced the AudiA6 and Dark2Web websites with law enforcement seizure banners.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it will seek extradition of Tkachuk and Ledenev to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin D. Traster and Sima Kazmir.

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