American retail giants Amazon and Walmart are reportedly considering the possibility of launching their own stablecoins. This move could potentially change how consumers pay for goods online while helping large retailers reduce costly transaction fees. A Cheaper Payment Alternative According to the Wall Street Journal, both companies are mulling whether to create brand-specific coins or to adopt external stablecoins through a possible merchant-led consortium. Amazon’s efforts are still in the early planning stages. Sources familiar with the matter said the firm is discussing the potential for an in-house token that could be used for purchases on its platform. Walmart is also weighing similar options and has been lobbying for reforms in the payment space that would support digital payment innovation. By using stablecoins, the mega retailers could bypass traditional financial systems where merchants currently pay 1% to 3% per card transaction. This fee can add up to billions of dollars annually for companies processing high transaction volumes. Stablecoins offer an opportunity to cut these costs, with the added benefit of nearly instant settlement times compared to the one to three business days required for card payments. The move comes as other major e-commerce players begin to adopt stablecoin-based transaction systems. Shopify recently announced plans to fully integrate USD Coin (USDC) payments into its platform via Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer-2 network, Base. The feature is being launched through Shopify Payments and Shop Pay, with the official kick-off date set for the end of this year. The payment mechanism is also already available to selected merchants and includes incentives such as 1% cash back in local currency for customers. Execution Still Dependent on Clear Regulation However, future stablecoin use by major retailers could depend on upcoming legislation. The proposed GENIUS Act, which aims to create a clear regulatory framework for such digital assets in the United States, recently cleared another procedural step but still requires approval from both the Senate and the House. The final Senate vote on the bill has been scheduled for June 17. In the meantime, trade groups have been actively engaging with lawmakers to support its passage. The Merchants Payments Coalition believes that clear rules for stablecoins would enable lower-cost payment options and introduce more competition to Visa and Mastercard. Meanwhile, major U.S. banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo are also in the early stages of discussions about launching a joint stablecoin venture. The post Amazon, Walmart Exploring Plans to Launch Stablecoins: Report appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-14 00:35

In the early hours of Friday, June 13th, the cryptocurrency market faced intense downward pressure following a surprise military strike by Israel on Iran. The geopolitical shock sent global risk assets tumbling, with Ethereum (ETH) experiencing a sharp drop below the crucial $2,600 support level. Geopolitical Shock According to the latest analysis shared by CryptoQuant, this sudden plunge triggered a cascade of long liquidations on Binance, where data from liquidation heatmaps revealed concentrated wipeouts in the $2,650-$2,430 range. Many traders had opened long positions at around $2,800, expecting continued upside, only to be caught off guard by the sell-off. As prices fell through key levels, stop-losses and liquidation orders were triggered en masse, which resulted in a rapid flush of overleveraged positions. Bitcoin also felt the impact, as Binance’s funding rates for BTC perpetual contracts fell to deeply negative levels not seen since June 8. This drop in funding rates reflects a market-wide shift in sentiment, which means that traders are now heavily shorting BTC amid fears of continued downside. The panic-driven trading behavior suggests extreme caution across crypto markets, and derivatives data are pointing to increased bearish expectations. However, the aggressive liquidation of ETH longs and the return of negative BTC funding rates may indicate an overly pessimistic market stance. Such conditions often precede a potential price rebound, as excessive leverage is cleared out and markets stabilize. While uncertainty remains high due to the geopolitical backdrop, the removal of speculative build-up could create a healthier setup for recovery. Flight to Safety Grips Markets In a note released Friday, QCP Capital also echoed these concerns and stated that the digital asset complex remains tightly tethered to geopolitical tail risks, and markets now appear to be poised to trade “headline to headline.” Bitcoin fell around 3% while Ethereum posted a sharper 9% drop, as risk sentiment evaporated across Asia and safe-haven assets like oil and gold surged. Interestingly, crypto volatility spiked, with front-end BTC risk reversals flipping decisively in favor of puts, which indicated a sharp rise in demand for downside protection. While over $1 billion in long liquidations rattled major crypto assets, Bitcoin’s relatively muted decline indicated underlying institutional support. However, the firm warned that any escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict could threaten oil supply corridors and add to inflationary pressure, thereby complicating the Fed’s rate trajectory. Exacerbating the uncertainty, a widespread internet outage involving Google Cloud and Cloudflare added further stress to equities and tech-linked crypto sentiment. With Tehran’s response pending, the outlook for crypto remains fragile, which is currently not shaped by fundamentals but by geopolitical volatility and macro headline flow. The post Bitcoin, Ethereum Hit Hard by Geopolitical Tensions: Binance Funding Rates Signal Deep Bearish Shift appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-13 22:44

Sharplink Gaming has taken a major step into the crypto space by establishing an Ethereum Treasury Reserve and acquiring over $462 million worth of ETH. This move makes the company the largest public holder of ETH, second only to the Ethereum Foundation. According to a press release , Sharplink purchased 176,270.69 ETH at an average price of $2,626, totaling approximately $462.9 million. The acquisition reflects a major shift in the firm’s strategy, placing Ethereum at the center of its digital asset reserves. Sharplink’s ETH Funding Strategy To fund the purchase, Sharplink raised $425 million through a private placement deal and another $79 million via an at-the-market (ATM) equity offering. The company used most of these proceeds to acquire ETH, highlighting its strong commitment to building a substantial crypto reserve . As a result, Sharplink reported an 11.9% increase in ETH per share since June 2. It has also deployed over 95% of its ETH into staking and liquid staking protocols , contributing to Ethereum’s network security while generating passive yield. Stock Dips Despite Ethereum Bet Despite Sharplink’s bullish ETH announcement, its stock (SBET) experienced sharp volatility. According to Google Finance, the stock dropped 12.25% on Thursday to close at $32.50, then plunged to as low as $8 in after-hours trading. However, by Friday, it had recovered slightly to $11.05, still down about 66% over 24 hours. Nonetheless, the stock remains up nearly 230% over the past month and 37% year-to-date. Meanwhile, the steep drop came after Sharplink filed an S-3 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing outlined a possible resale of 58.7 million shares issued during a previous private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering, involving more than 100 investors. In turn, this triggered fears of dilution, prompting a wave of selling. In response, Sharplink Chairman Joseph Lubin clarified on X that the filing doesn’t reflect any current sales. He explained that it only registers shares in case past investors choose to sell later. The post Sharplink Becomes Largest Public ETH Holder With $462M Purchase but Shares Tumble appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-13 21:32

TL;DR Shibarium made the headlines after the SHIB team unveiled a huge upgrade that simplifies gas payments and offers other benefits. Additionally, Shiba Inu revealed a partnership with TokenPlay, aiming to dive deeper into Web3 gaming. Enter Shib Alpha Layer Several hours ago, the Shiba Inu software developer, using the X moniker Kaal, revealed that the team had released a new feature, dubbed Shib Alpha Layer—a “rollup abstraction stack” settled on Shibarium. The feature unifies every RollApp into a single “ultra-fast layer, so users feel like they’re on one chain while dozens of rollups hum beneath the surface.” Kaal clarified that the ShibArmy will no longer have to switch between different blockchain bridges or “fragmented wallets.” Additionally, Shib Alpha Layer will enable “near-instant finality” and allow people to pay however they prefer for gas fees. “Instant bridging and native interoperability” is yet to be introduced. Kaal did not stop there, saying the “end-game” for Shibarium is to eventually become “a world computer where high-performance Web3 dApps thrive without compromise.” The X user explained that the latest upgrade was pulled off by a small core team supported by the efforts of engineers from ElderLabs. “No VC war chest, no hype-cycle smoke. Just code. Next up: unleash full FHE, open RollApp deployment to everyone, and watch the Shib interconnected ecosystem eclipse blockchains that promised the moon and shipped markdown. Meme era ends here. The Shib Alpha era begins. Keep watching,” they concluded. Shiba Inu’s lead developer, Shytoshi Kusama, who hasn’t been very active on X lately, shared Kaal’s post, urging their one million followers to get informed about the update. Just a few days ago, LUCIE, the pseudonymous marketing strategist of Shibarium, unveiled another upgrade involving the layer-2 blockchain solution. Perhaps the most important improvement is related to the burning program, with the X user stating that users will no longer have to wait for announcements to destroy tokens, as they will occur on-chain in real time . The mechanism has become a signature move for Shiba Inu, which aims to reduce the tremendous supply of tokens and thus potentially influence a price rally. It was adopted in 2021, and since then, the team and the community have burned over 410.7 trillion tokens, leaving roughly 584.5 trillion in circulation. Shiba Inu Supply, Source: shibburn.com More Big News Earlier this week, there was another major update concerning the second-largest meme coin. The project announced a partnership with TokenPlay – an AI-powered gaming platform developed by Astra Nova. The collaboration’s main goal is “to bring the future of Web3 gaming to SHIB.” The team behind the meme coin revealed that the deal will kick off with an exclusive Shiba Inu-themed game, which will later be proceeded by the launch of an arcade called Shib .fun . The post Shiba Inu (SHIB) Unveils a Key Upgrade to Shibarium: Details Here appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-13 21:29

Following Israel’s airstrikes on Iran, crypto markets have sharply declined. Amid the turbulence, Santiment data shows a spike in large wallet activity across altcoins like Shiba Inu, Compound, and UMA. Such movements could potentially indicate that whales may be repositioning as the broader market struggles to find stability. Whale Accumulation Whale activity across several mid- and low-cap cryptocurrencies has surged in recent days, indicating potential price trend reversals, both upward and downward. In its latest report , Santiment explained that spikes in high-value transactions suggest whales may be strategically accumulating or offloading assets. Among tokens showing signs of accumulation, Shiba Inu, Ankr, and LCX have each seen large upticks in whale transactions that correlate with price gains or potential recoveries. Shiba Inu (SHIB), the second-largest meme coin by market cap, recorded 527 whale transactions on June 5, the highest single-day spike in five months. This activity coincided with a modest price increase, leading Santiment to believe that it could be the early phase of a larger rally, especially as the transaction spike occurred while prices were falling. Similarly, Ankr (ANKR), a decentralized infrastructure platform, saw eight $100,000+ transactions on June 8, which follows a 23% decline over the past month. While largely ignored recently, previous whale spikes have often preceded price rebounds. Meanwhile, LCX, the utility token for the Liechtenstein Cryptoassets Exchange, logged 12 large whale transfers on June 9, the highest since February. After falling 31% from its April peak, the token has since gained 8%, which prompted speculation about renewed investor interest due to its regulatory positioning and low market cap. Whale Dumping On the flip side, Santiment has identified signs of whale dumping in assets such as SPX6900, Compound (COMP), and UMA. SPX6900, a satirical meme coin that has surged 486% in three months, recorded 134 large transactions on June 9, likely pointing to profit-taking by whales and a potential local top. Similarly, Compound, a DeFi token that allows users to earn interest on crypto deposits, saw its highest whale transaction count since April 1, with 157 transfers on June 9. This comes amid a double-digit monthly price surge, which the crypto analytic firm notes may suggest overbought conditions in the short term. UMA, a platform for creating synthetic assets without real-time price feeds, also raised red flags. It saw 27 whale transactions on June 8, the most in 2025, just as its price soared 52% from June 5-8. The timing implies coordinated profit-taking. Abrupt increases in high-value transactions, particularly after rapid price gains, can be early indicators of local market tops and potential pullbacks. The post Shiba Inu (SHIB) Leads Whale Accumulation Wave Amidst Rising Geopolitical Tensions appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-13 17:36

It was another significant week from a global geopolitical standpoint that, expectedly, impacted the ever-volatile cryptocurrency market. The main focus in the past several days was the US-China trade deal, which finally saw a positive breakthrough at the start of the week when the two superpowers met in London to discuss terms. Just a few days later, the POTUS announced on his social media platform that the delegates had reached an agreement that needed to be signed by him and Chinese President Xi Jinping. These developments influenced BTC’s price to a large extent as the asset started the business week at around $105,500 but quickly started to gain traction as the events progressed. By Tuesday morning, the cryptocurrency knocked on the $110,500 door, but it was shut in its face. The scenario repeated a few more times by Wednesday, when Trump said the US is happy with the terms, and the nation’s CPI numbers for May went live, which were slightly better than anticipated. However, bitcoin couldn’t resume its run and started to nosedive. The landscape worsened on Friday morning when Israel hit several Iranian military targets, claiming to have killed numerous high-level generals and nuclear scientists. Trump said he gave Iran “chance after chance” to sign the nuclear deal, and he urged the local authorities to do so “before there’s nothing left.” As the dust is currently settling, BTC’s price managed to recover some ground since the early morning low of under $103,000 and now stands around $105,000. This puts it actually slightly in the green on a weekly scale, but nothing compared to the massive gains registered by HYPE. The high-flyer notched a 15.5% weekly surge and even tapped a new all-time high above $42 earlier this week. The other big gainers on a weekly scale include UNI, AAVE, and BCH, while SOL, SUI, TON, SHIB, ADA, DOGE, and TRX are in the red. Market Data Weekly Market Overview: Source: QuantifyCrypto Market Cap: $3.382T | 24H Vol: $173B | BTC Dominance: 61.6% BTC: $104,800 (+1%) | ETH: $2,540 (+2.8%) | XRP: $2.15 (-0.06%) This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss Institutional Appetite Grows as Bitcoin ETFs Rebound with $1.07B in 4 Days . The spot Bitcoin ETFs had a rough start to June, but the trend changed once again as the current business week progressed. In the span of just a few days, they managed to attract over a billion dollars in net inflows, led by BlackRock’s IBIT. BlackRock’s IBIT Becomes Fastest ETF to Hit $70B AUM as Flows Turn Positive . Speaking of the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF, it broke another record this week as it became the fastest exchange-traded fund to hit $70 billion in AUM in less than 18 months after its launch last January. Spot Ethereum ETFs Outshine Bitcoin with $240M Daily Flow . While we are on the subject of ETFs, let’s take a look at one of the impressive daily performances by the Ethereum counterparts. After registering a massive 18-day positive inflows streak, the ETH ETFs managed to outpace the BTC products on June 11 by capturing over $240 million in net daily inflows. Ripple’s XRP Ledger Welcomes the World’s Second-Biggest Stablecoin . Circle’s USDC officially launched on Ripple’s layer-1 network – the XRP Ledger. As a result, the second-largest stablecoin is now available on 22 blockchains. Michael Saylor’s Strategy Buys $110 Million Worth of Bitcoin . Let’s rewind to Monday when Saylor’s Bitcoin-focused brainchild announced another acquisition, worth roughly $110 million. Consequently, the company’s stash has shot up to precisely 582,000 BTC, purchased for $40.79 billion. Mercurity Fintech to Raise $800M for Strategic Bitcoin Treasury Reserve . There’s a growing trend among large corporations to accumulate more and more BTC. After Metaplanet and GameStop joined Strategy, Mercurity Finance outlined plans to raise $800 million for its own strategic Bitcoin treasury reserve. Charts This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Hype, and Solana – click here for the complete price analysis . The post HYPE’s Latest ATH and Bitcoin’s Volatile Journey Amid Escalating Global Tension: Your Weekly Crypto Recap appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-13 16:24

Bitcoin’s institutional narrative looks to be back on track, with spot BTC ETFs attracting more than $1 billion in fresh capital against a backdrop of significant market upheavals triggered by Middle East tensions. On-chain data shows a four-day inflow streak into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, decisively reversing a brief period of outflows and signaling strong institutional appetite. Over $1B in Four Days According to the market intelligence platform Santiment, between June 9 and June 11, the BTC-backed financial instruments raked in north of $970 million . Data from the crypto investment research website SoSoValue corroborated this, revealing that spot Bitcoin ETFs flipped from notable outflows late last week to four straight days of positive inflows. The reversal started on Monday this week, when the ETFs absorbed $386.27 million, followed by a much heftier $431.12 million on Tuesday. This coincided with the news that BlackRock’s IBIT had shattered records by becoming the fastest exchange-traded fund to reach $70 billion in assets under management (AUM), having done it in just 341 days. Flows stayed positive on Wednesday, with an additional $164.57 million entering the regulated BTC investment products. Thursday’s more modest $86.31 million brought the four-day total inflow to $1.07 billion. The surge effectively erased the $278.44 million and $47.82 million in outflows recorded on June 5 and June 6, respectively, pushing cumulative net inflows for all spot Bitcoin ETFs to $45.31 billion and total net assets to $130.26 billion as of June 12. Bitcoin Stumbles Amid Middle East Flare-Up Interestingly, the bullish flows arrived during a sharp market shakeup. On June 13, details emerged, confirming Israel’s missile strike on Iranian nuclear sites, triggering fears of wider conflict in the Middle East. The immediate fallout wiped out more than $190 billion in total crypto market capitalization. Bitcoin alone tumbled from an intraday high of $108,369 to a low of $103,081 within hours. It has since clawed back slightly to about $103,971, but was still down 3.6% over 24 hours at the time of this writing. Despite the turmoil, BTC remains 1% higher than a week ago, edging out a global crypto market that dipped 0.6% over the same period. Still, there are signs the king cryptocurrency’s crown may soon face a challenge. Spot Ethereum ETFs have now posted 19 straight days of net inflows, even overtaking Bitcoin for the first time with a record $240 million in daily net additions on June 11. According to some market watchers, this flip may hint at a subtle shift in investor preference as traders diversify into Ethereum following growing regulatory optimism regarding decentralized finance (DeFi) and clarity around ETH’s classification. The post Institutional Appetite Grows as Bitcoin ETFs Rebound with $1.07B in 4 Days appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-13 15:30

TL;DR Meme coins suffered a significant decline today (June 13), with their total market capitalization dropping by 8% in hours. DOGE and SHIB are among the affected ones, heading south by 6-7% each, but SPX and FARTCOIN lead the adverse trend. Memes Bleed Out The cryptocurrency sector and the meme coin niche recorded a substantial resurgence earlier this week. According to CoinMarketCap’s data, the market cap of all the memes reached almost $65 billion on June 11 , but currently , it is hovering around $55 billion. The downtrend was most likely triggered by the latest geopolitical tension caused by the military conflict between Israel and Iran. Some of the worst-affected meme coins include SPX6900 (SPX) and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN). The former is down 22% on a daily scale, while the latter retraced by 17% within that timeframe. SPX Price, Source: CoinGecko Interestingly, those assets were among the best performers during the recent rally. As CryptoPotato reported , SPX became the fifth-biggest meme coin, with its market cap surging well above $1 billion. Other tokens of that type that have posted double-digit losses on a 24-hour basis are Pepe (PEPE), Bonk (BONK), dogwifhat (WIF), Floki (FLOKI), Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT), and many more. On the other hand, lesser-known meme coins such as REKT, AURA, and TST have charted some gains. How Are the Big Shots Doing? Dogecoin (DOGE) – the undisputed leader in the meme coin sector – has also nosedived, albeit posting less substantial losses than the aforementioned tokens . It currently trades at around $0.17, representing a 7% decline for the past 24 hours. Shiba Inu (SHIB) – DOGE’s biggest contender – briefly dipped to as low as $0.0000114, the lowest point since April. As of this writing, the self-proclaimed Dogecoin killer is worth roughly $0.00001170, or a 6% decrease on a daily scale. Meme coins are notorious for their heightened volatility and typically decline more significantly and rapidly than well-established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) during periods of uncertainty and market turmoil. Having that said, investors should tread carefully with them, conduct proper research before committing funds, and invest only as much as they are ready to lose. The post Friday the 13th Meme Coin Massacre: SPX and FARTCOIN Plunge by Double Digits appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-13 15:27

This week, we examine Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Solana, and Hype in greater detail. Ethereum (ETH) Ethereum began the week on a strong footing by testing the $2,800 resistance following a 10% rally. However, this suddenly came to a stop in the past 24 hours after Israel bombed Iran. The geopolitical tension pushed the whole crypto market down, and ETH erased much of its recent gains, closing the week with a modest 1% gain. The price briefly visited the $2,400 support during its recent drop and is hovering around $2,500 at the time of this post. Hopefully, buyers will defend this support level as a breakdown here could open the way to $2,000 next. With the market on edge due to the geopolitical context, volatility could continue to be high. So far, ETH has made a higher low, and on Wednesday, it made a higher high. This supports a bullish bias as long as the key support holds. Chart by TradingView Ripple (XRP) XRP reversed on Monday and turned bearish when it was rejected at the $2.3 resistance. With sellers taking back control, the last four daily candles closed in red, which brought the price back to the $2 support. This is why XRP closed the week in red with a 1% loss. While this is not too concerning, the support at $2 has to hold if this cryptocurrency hopes to make higher highs later. The current momentum is bearish, but due to the low volume, sellers don’t seem interested in doing much more at this time. Looking ahead, this cryptocurrency remains stuck in a tight range with low volatility. This has been ongoing for months, and there has been no decisive breakthrough to date. This is likely to continue to suppress the price. Chart by TradingView Cardano (ADA) ADA tried to distance itself from the $0.64 support, but in the past three days, sellers brought it back to this key level, closing the week with a 2% loss. Ит struggled throughout May and June, and it has not been much better to date. This supports a bearish bias with momentum favoring sellers at this time. The daily MACD also turned bearish today which could put in danger the current support. Looking ahead, if Cardano can’t hold its price above $0.64, then it could revisit $0.5 in the near future. This is a level where buyers returned in the past. Hopefully, they do it again if the key support is lost. Chart by TradingView Solana (SOL) Solana gave market participants a brief excitement when its price moved above $152, which used to act as a resistance. However, that did not last, and in the past three days, sellers returned and pushed it under $150. With a lower low confirmed, the downtrend for Solana is likely to continue. If so, the next major support levels will be found at $130 and $118. The momentum indicators, such as the daily MACD and RSI, also remain bearish at this time. If nothing changes in the days to come, which is unlikely considering the wider market context, then SOL has a good chance to revisit $130. This is a level that could attract buyers and lead it into a relief bounce. Chart by TradingView Hype (HYPE) HYPE made waves in the past few months, and this week is no different. It made a new all-time high at $44 and closed this week with a 15% gain. This makes it the best performer on our list and across most of the market. This achievement also got HYPE next to ADA in terms of market cap on sites such as CoinMarketCap. If this performance continues, HYPE is well placed to challenge ADA or even TRX and DOGE in the future. Looking ahead, HYPE remains in a clear uptrend with key resistances at $41 and $44, at the time of this post. The support level is found at $38, and the price bounced on it during its most recent pullback. If the rally continues, then expect new record prices in the future. Chart by TradingView The post Crypto Price Analysis June-13: ETH, XRP, ADA, SOL, and HYPE appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-06-13 14:45