24H Hot Tokens and Headlines｜BTC Briefly Drops Below 59,000 USDT; STRC Depeg Intensifies (June 26)

1. Popular CEX Tokens

CEX Top 10 by Trading Volume & 24h Change:

• BTC: -1.89%
• ETH: -3.16%
• XPL: +9.74%
• SOL: +0.18%
• XRP: -3.56%
• ZEC: +0.69%
• BNB: -0.73%
• SYN: +8.39%
• TRX: -0.98%
• DOGE: -2.4%

24h Gainers (Data Source: OKX):

• G: +38.43%
• IP: +26.97%
• HUMA: +18.12%
• APE: +15.99%
• ETHFI: +12.5%
• RESOLV: +11.28%
• RPL: +10.59%
• PARTI: +10.51%
• XPL: +10.22%
• TNSR: +9.76%

24h Crypto Equity Gainers (Data Source: msx.com):

• SNXX: 40.16%
• MUU: 25.07%
• SNDK: 21.09%
• BB: 20.19%
• MSTZ: 18.24%
• RAM: 17.7%
• AMAT: 13.35%
• MU: 13.32%
• BNC: 13.01%
• GLW: 11.35%

2. Popular On-Chain Meme Coins (Data Source: GMGN):

• Solana: KOG, AIAIAI
• BSC: PVE

Headlines

BTC Briefly Fell Below 59,000 USDT Last Night

According to OKX market data, BTC briefly fell below 59,000 USDT last night.

Strategy Preferred Stock STRC Hits All-Time Low, MSTR Falls Below $90

According to MSX.COM data, MicroStrategy's preferred stock $STRC fell to an all-time low of $75, while its common stock $MSTR dropped below the $90 mark. This dual decline has further heightened market concerns regarding its balance sheet structure and exposure to Bitcoin-related risks, continuing to weigh on investor sentiment.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Warns: Ships Using Hormuz Strait Routes Without Tehran's Approval Will Be Struck

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a stern warning to international shipping on Wednesday, stating that any new shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz established without coordination with Tehran are unacceptable and dangerous, threatening direct action against vessels that ignore its directives.

The IRGC stated that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is only possible via routes designated by Iran. The IRGC Navy added that all vessels seeking passage through the strait must coordinate with the Iranian military via international maritime distress frequency channel 16, a requirement that effectively places Iranian military permission at the core of all commercial shipping through this strategic chokepoint. (Jin Shi)

Industry News

OpenAI May Wait Until Next Year for IPO

According to the New York Times, citing three individuals involved in internal discussions at OpenAI, the company is leaning towards postponing its IPO until next year. Sources say OpenAI initially planned an IPO as early as the third or fourth quarter of this year. CEO Sam Altman urged financial advisors to find ways to boost the company's valuation to $1 trillion. However, a series of recent developments have forced OpenAI's executives to abandon their initial aggressive plans. Among the most notable is the post-IPO performance of Elon Musk's SpaceX this month. SpaceX's stock price has been declining, closing at $153 on Thursday, down from a high of $202 last week. Global markets have also experienced volatility in recent weeks, with tech stocks dragging indices lower as investors question whether AI companies can deliver on their lofty promises. According to two sources, OpenAI's advisors warned the company over the past week that retail investors may not generate significant enthusiasm for its stock. (Jin Shi)

Investment Banks Raise Micron Price Targets

Susquehanna: Raised Micron Technology (MU.O) price target from $1750 to $2000.

JPMorgan: Raised Micron Technology (MU.O) price target from $550 to $1540.

Investment bank D.A. DAVIDSON: Raised Micron Technology (MU.O) price target from $1500 to $2000. (Jin Shi)

SK Hynix Countdown to US Listing, $30 Billion Raise Could Trigger Valuation Reassessment

According to US media reports, SK Hynix is expected to issue American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the Nasdaq on July 10. The listing aims to raise nearly $30 billion, potentially becoming one of the largest ADR issuances in history. Market observers widely believe this move will significantly expand its global investor base and could trigger a valuation reassessment.

Several asset management firms predict a 30% upside in the stock price over the next year if its valuation converges with Micron's. One fund manager noted that SK Hynix should trade at least on par with Micron's valuation, as memory chip demand is likely to outstrip supply for several years. This listing occurs during a rare boom period for the memory chip industry. Shares of Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics have all risen over 200% this year, marking their best annual performance in decades. The AI server demand for HBM is widely seen as a driver of a structural 'memory supercycle'. (Jin Shi)

JPMorgan Raises KOSPI Index Target to 15,000 Points

JPMorgan raised its target for South Korea's KOSPI index and recommended buying on dips, maintaining the highest exposure to South Korean stocks. JPMorgan strategists wrote in a report: "This stems from our constructive view on AI and the earnings of related hardware companies. There is room for further increase in retail buying momentum."

JPMorgan's bull case scenario suggests the KOSPI index has 77% upside from Wednesday's closing level of 8,471.02 points. JPMorgan also raised its base case and bear case scenario targets to 12,500 points and 8,000 points, respectively. (Jin Shi)

Ark Invest Increases Stakes in Coinbase, Circle, Bullish, and Robinhood

The Block posted on X that Cathie Wood's Ark Invest purchased more shares of Coinbase, Circle, Bullish, and Robinhood during Thursday's market decline.

Sharplink Signs Securities Purchase Agreement to Raise $75 Million to Expand ETH Reserve and Buy Back Stock

Nasdaq-listed Ethereum treasury company Sharplink announced it has signed a securities purchase agreement to sell 10,013,400 common shares and warrants for an equal number of common shares, raising approximately $75 million in total funds. Proceeds will be used for working capital, continuing to accumulate ETH assets, and repurchasing company shares under its stock buyback program.

Sharplink also disclosed that as of June 16, the company held a total of 875,776 ETH. (B2i)

SBI Group Acquires Bitbank for $289 Million

SBI Group announced the acquisition of Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen, approximately $289 million. Through this acquisition, SBI's cryptocurrency custody balance is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen, about $6.2 billion, making it the largest crypto business in Japan by industry scale.

An SBI Holdings subsidiary will acquire Bitbank shares from individual shareholders, including founders, starting in August. Subsequently, Bitbank will acquire shares held by existing shareholders Mixi and Ceres by the end of October. Combined with SBI VC Trade's account data as of April, the total aggregate accounts will be approximately 2.92 million, with total custody assets around 1.1 trillion yen.

WSJ: Iran-Linked Wallets Moved Over $3.84 Billion in Assets Via CoinEx

Since 2019, wallets clearly linked to Iran have transferred more than $3.84 billion in transaction funds through the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx. Wallets hosted by CoinEx received hacked crypto assets obtained by the Central Bank of Iran and directly transacted with accounts previously attributed by US officials to the IRGC.

Blockchain data shows that in 2024, CoinEx replaced Binance as the largest foreign trading counterparty for Nobitex, Iran's largest domestic crypto exchange. Fund flows between Nobitex and CoinEx exceeded $763 million last year. Additionally, between 2022 and 2025, wallets hosted by CoinEx processed transactions for Alireza Derakhshan, an Iranian allegedly involved in a sanctioned oil sales network. (WSJ)

CoinEx Responds to Wall Street Journal Report: Never Had Cooperation with Iran, Highly Values Compliance, AML, and Sanctions Risk

CoinEx stated that regarding the transactions related to Alireza Derakhshan and Zedcex/Zanjani mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal report, based on currently available information, all related transactions occurred before the US Treasury imposed sanctions on those entities. CoinEx does not provide services to any sanctioned entity or individual and has never knowingly facilitated any form of services for parties under sanctions. CoinEx has never established any commercial partnership with entities related to the Iranian government or domestic exchanges in Iran, nor has it ever provided funding channels or any form of active assistance to Iranian government agencies, IRGC-related entities, or other sanctioned parties.

Project News

Circle and Nomura Plan Stablecoin Settlement Service in Japan by 2027

Circle and Japanese financial institution Nomura plan to launch a stablecoin settlement service for businesses in Japan, targeting a launch as early as 2027. The service will support companies using stablecoins for instant foreign exchange conversion and cross-border payments.

Kalshi in Talks to Raise Funds at $40 Billion Valuation

Prediction market platform Kalshi is in discussions to raise a new round of funding at a valuation of approximately $40 billion. A deal could potentially be completed as early as the third quarter. Last month, Kalshi completed a $1 billion funding round from investors including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, and Morgan Stanley, at a valuation of $22 billion.

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour stated the company is considering an IPO but will not go public in 2026, with a possible listing not occurring before late 2027 or 2028. Kalshi claims that as of April 2026, its annualized trading volume reached $178 billion, a 32-fold increase year-over-year.

Kalshi is currently involved in a legal dispute between US state and federal regulators over the regulation of prediction markets, including whether sports event contracts are derivatives regulated by the CFTC or illegal gambling. CME has sued the CFTC over its approval of Kalshi's "perpetual" futures. Kentucky sued Kalshi and Polymarket this month, and the CFTC subsequently sued Kentucky to block its enforcement action. (Decrypt)

Sonic: Studying How to Stop Increasing Supply, Did Not Mint 47.625 Million Tokens This Year as Per Tokenomics

Sonic stated on X that its tokenomics stipulate minting 47.625 million tokens annually to fund growth, with the first distribution originally scheduled for June 18, 2025. Sonic said it did not carry out this minting this year and is actively working towards ceasing the increase in token supply. The only issue not yet resolved is validator rewards, as the network needs to fund its own security, and the team is researching ways to achieve this. Sonic stated the decision is a direct response to requests from the community and stakeholders, and will share more details as work progresses.

Sophon Shuts Down Its Own Layer 2, Migrates to Base, Shifts Focus to Consumer App Development

Sophon, which has raised a total of $70 million, announced it will shut down its own Layer 2 blockchain and migrate to Base, shifting its future focus to consumer-grade application development. Sophon stated that spending millions of dollars annually to maintain its own chain is no longer justifiable.

Sophon co-founder Sebastien said the project determined that true value lies not in "who runs the underlying rails," but in the products built on top. Therefore, Sophon will no longer maintain the infrastructure, instead concentrating resources on the application layer.

Reportedly, Sophon previously spent approximately $3.4 million annually maintaining its blockchain, covering costs for chain infrastructure, RaaS, data, analytics, and development tools. Closing its own chain is expected to reduce annual spending by about $3 million, thereby extending its funding runway and allowing more capital to be directed towards application development.

Taiko Provides Security Incident Update: Initiates Fix Testing, Will Fully Collateralize Bridged Assets Before Restart

Ethereum Layer 2 project Taiko provided an update on a security incident, stating that it will not result in any user fund losses. Currently, bridged assets are under-collateralized, but the team will fully replenish collateral before the bridge reopens, ensuring every user balance is backed 1:1, exactly as before the incident. Since the incident, cautious measures have been taken, including controlling the scope of impact, determining the root cause, and collaborating with the board to devise a plan to protect user assets.

Fundraising

Cloud Computing Startup Runpod Raises $100 Million

Cloud computing startup Runpod announced it has raised $100 million and stated it has rejected multiple acquisition offers. Specific investor details were not disclosed. The company focuses on providing GPU computing power rental services for developers, supporting open-source models and AI application deployment. This sector generally relies on Nvidia GPU servers for computing resources. As AI applications expand, the market demand for low-cost, high-flexibility computing infrastructure continues to rise, driving up valuations and fundraising activity for cloud service providers like Runpod. (The Information)

AI Agent Infrastructure Sail Research Raises $80 Million, Led by Kleiner Perkins and Others

AI Agent infrastructure company Sail Research announced the completion of an $80 million Seed and Series A funding round, led by Kleiner Perkins and