Filtering the noise: June 19, 2025

Important news for today:

Macro

• The monetary policy committee (Copom) of Brazil’s central bank (BCB) has raised the country’s benchmark interest rate (Selic) from 14.75% to 15.00%.
• The US Federal Reserve opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, as it awaits further information on the impact of tariffs and other possible disruptions on the economy in the current year.
• Bank of England (BoE) decided to keep its benchmark rate at a 2-year low of 4.25% on Thursday.
• The Philippine central bank on Thursday trimmed its benchmark rate by 25 basis points as it moved to support economic growth, wielding policy flexibility recently gained from the deceleration of inflation.
• The Swiss National Bank has cut interest rates by a quarter point to zero but did not go so far as negative rates, as it battles to restrain its currency, which has surged on global trade tensions.
• China’s central bank chief Pan Gongsheng has pledged to expand the footprint of the digital yuan, reaffirming the country’s vision for its central bank digital currency (CBDC).
• Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, saying, closing the economically important waterway remained an option.

• 16 billion passwords from Apple, Facebook, Google, and more exposed: pretty much any online service imaginable.
• Trump says the EU isn’t offering a fair trade deal and calls Japan tough in ongoing negotiations.
• US Initial Jobless Claims: 245k (pre: 248k).
• The Fed’s accompanying letter: Fed forecasts 0.5% rate cut in 2025 (2 rate cuts); Inflation remains elevated; Note no upside risks to unemployment and inflation; Economic activity is growing at a solid pace; Labor market is stable.

Crypto

• OKX has partnered with Ethereum software firm Consensys to launch its DEX aggregator on MetaMask, offering users faster trade execution and reduced slippage.
• Elastos, developer of Bitcoin DeFi protocol BeL2, unveiled its Bitcoin Dollar ($BTCD).
• The Bitcoin ecosystem is rapidly evolving, with a strong focus on scaling solutions. Once the Bitcoin scaling challenge is addressed, a flourishing DeFi ecosystem on Bitcoin seems almost inevitable.

• The first XRP Spot ETF launches on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

• XRP Ledger embraces decentralized governance with upcioming launch of XAO DAO, its first community-led organization to drive proposals, grants, and on-chain decision-making using $XRP.
• Alchemy Pay will launch Alchemy Chain in the 4th quarter and plans to issue its own stablecoin.
• The Trump Organization has quietly reduced its stake in World Liberty Financial from 60% to 40% in the last 11 days. The Trump family made $190 million from the sale of the stake.
• More Americans own $BTC than have student loans:

Corporate

• Nasdaq-listed Lion Group Holding (LGHL) is establishing a $600 million cryptocurrency treasury reserve, with the $HYPE token as its main asset, signaling a growing institutional interest in altcoins beyond Bitcoin.
• Bitdeer Technologies Group, a Bitcoin mining company based in Singapore, announced the offer of $330 million in senior convertible notes to support multiple initiatives, including data center expansion and further development of ASIC-based mining rigs.
• Deribit and Crypto.com are accepting BlackRock’s tokenized US Treasury fund as trading collateral for institutional and experienced clients.
• SOL Strategies filed with the US SEC to list on the Nasdaq Exchange.
• Coinbase has launched Coinbase Payments to expand into the global payments market using Base.
• KuCoin is now allowing institutional clients to trade without having to pre-fund wallets.
• Kraken has launched Bitcoin staking through a new integration with Babylon.
• Visa has expanded its stablecoin capabilities across the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region, and has also formed a strategic partnership with African crypto exchange Yellow Card.
• Elon Musk’s X to launch in-app investing and trading.
• In the first half of 2025, the number of publicly traded companies holding Bitcoin has tripled compared to 2024. This surge is driven by increasingly crypto-friendly regulations in the US, which are encouraging corporate adoption of $BTC. Additionally, rising geopolitical tensions are boosting Bitcoin’s appeal as a form of digital gold and a hedge against uncertainty.

• Healthcare firm Prenetics has purchased $20 million worth of $BTC for its corporate treasury.
• FalconX have had preliminary IPO talks and could file as early as this year.
• Over 100 companies now collectively hold more than 830,000 $BTC.

Regulations

• Bitget has received regulatory approval from Georgia to operate as a digital asset exchange and custodial wallet provider within the Tbilisi Free Zone (TFZ).
• The tiny Pacific nation of Nauru has passed legislation to establish a dedicated virtual asset regulatory authority covering crypto, digital banking and Web3 innovation, aiming to become a crypto hub.
• The Bank of England plans to introduce new proposals on banks’ exposure to crypto by 2026 to protect financial stability, a key official said.
• Bank of Korea expresses concerns that local stablecoins could increase US dollar demand against its presidential goals to promote won-pegged stablecoins.
• The Ohio Blockchain Basics Act was unanimously passed by the state House Technology Committee.

Fundraising and M&As

• Project Eleven has secured $6 million to protect the Bitcoin blockchain from quantum computing threats.

On-chain data

• Plume is the leading chain by holders for non-stablecoin RWAs:

• Stablecoin capitalization on Aptos has surged 10x in the past year:

• Lending protocols have reached a new all-time high in total value locked (TVL), crossing $56B.

• VanEck Tokenized Treasury Fund (VBILL) saw explosive growth. AUM is up +628% in the past 30 days, reaching $54.6M. Number of holders jumped +266%.

• Top 15 lending protocols by 30-day borrowing growth:

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