Open Range | Reserves Rise, Hackers Strike, and Futures Cool
Bitcoin marched deeper into the mainstream this week, even as cyber-skirmishes flared, revealing a market that’s broadening and hardening at the same time. Texas joined the strategic-reserve club, Ukraine and Arizona queued up similar bills, and corporates from MicroStrategy to Semler added to their treasuries, while spot-ETF inflows notched their longest winning streak since launch. Meanwhile, leverage traders held a different view as futures premiums collapsed to a three-month low, hinting at traders tamping down risk just as hacker collective Predatory Sparrow torched $90 million at Iran’s Nobitex and knocked Bank Sepah offline.
Bitcoin Update
Bitcoin slipped roughly 2.5% this week amid uncertainty geopolitically. However, the drawdown was mostly orderly, suggesting the bids emerging any time the asset flirts with the psychologically charged $100k handle, indicating that macro jitters are softening but not reversing the broader up-trend.
Early Riders Media
Michael, Brian, and Liam discuss the latest in bitcoin adoption amid volatility, public corporate adoption, and capital mismanagement on this week's podcast.
You can find all our episodes on our podcast website as well as listen on YouTube and Spotify.
Industry & Institutional Updates
Israeli-linked hackers drained $90 million from Nobitex, an Iranian crypto exchange, then leaked its full source code. The funds were “burned” to protest the IRGC before posting the exchange’s entire repository.
The same hacker group says it wiped critical data at Iran’s state-owned Bank Sepah, just a day before draining Nobitex. Tehran’s largest lender remained offline after the June 17 breach, underscoring the escalating financial cyber-war between the two nations.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs logged an eight-day inflow streak, pulling in $388 m on June 18 alone, despite a slowing BTC price.
Coinbase seeks SEC nod for “tokenized equities." The exchange filed to list blockchain-based stocks, arguing they can trade 24/7 and settle in minutes while remaining under existing securities rules.
Strategy added 10,100 BTC, reaching 592,100 BTC in total.
UK-listed Smarter Web Co. bought another £8.1m of Bitcoin for treasury, lifting holdings to ~346 BTC.
Prenetics, a Nasdaq-listed health-tech firm, opened a Bitcoin treasury with a $20m purchase and plans deeper integration into its consumer platform.
Semler Scientific set an aggressive target of 105,000 Bitcoin by 2027 and hired a Director of Bitcoin Strategy to steer accumulation.
JP Morgan pilots stablecoin token. The bank will issue a permissioned USD deposit token on Coinbase’s Base network, touting it as a superior, insured alternative to stablecoins for institutional settlement.
The corporate treasury strategy is being adopted with tokens other than Bitcoin as Lion Group lines up a $600m facility for a Hyperliquid treasury. The Nasdaq-listed firm plans to accumulate HYPE, SOL and SUI.
Regulatory Updates
Texas signs SB 21 into law. Governor Greg Abbott created a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” making Texas the third state able to hold Bitcoin.
The U.S. GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin framework passed the Senate 68-30 and now heads to the House, buoyed by a push from President Trump.
The SEC quietly withdrew proposed digital-asset custody rules as part of a broader détente with the industry, while a “Bitcoin Reserve” bill was introduced alongside the GENIUS vote.
The Arizona Senate advances Bitcoin-reserve bill, HB 2324, which would let the state hold seized or abandoned crypto as part of its unclaimed-property fund; it now returns to the House for final approval.
A drafted law would allow the National Bank of Ukraine to hold Bitcoin alongside gold and FX reserves to buttress wartime finances.
Norway proposed a one-year moratorium on new proof-of-work mining to prioritize energy for traditional industries.
Chart of the Week
Laevitas data shows the annualized premium on 2-month Bitcoin futures slid below 4% on June 20, its lowest level in three months, just as U.S. spot-BTC ETFs logged eight straight inflow days and $5.14 billion in net subscriptions over the 30-day span ending June 18. The divergence underscores how leveraged traders are turning cautious even while long-only institutional demand keeps vacuuming up spot supply.
