CME Bitcoin Legal Battle

Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today's content: Brothers plead guilty to $8M armed crypto kidnapping, Charles Schwab rolls out S&P prediction markets, Jerome Powell supports Fed's new stablecoin policies, JPMorgan says bitcoin mining has worsened, Amazon won't release Sam Altman film, and so much more

Happy Monday - Let's dive in.

Market Snapshot

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• Bitcoin falls below $63,000 as hawkish Fed shift raises risk of deeper pullback

  • BTC and ETH traders grow bearish, with smart-contract and DeFi coins leading losses

  • STRC's preferred stock falls to record low below par

  • BTC network activity nears record highs as microtransactions make up 80% of transactions

• Renewed Hormuz threat clouds US-Iran ceasefire talks, with Trump's signed deal lifting stocks but not crypto

Prediction Markets

• Bettors on Polymarket are predicting Fed decision in July?

• Track and trade live odds on any event, only on Polymarket

Headline Roundup
^{_{The major headlines driving crypto markets}}

• CME sues CFTC over bitcoin perpetual futures (DC)

• Amazon won't release Sam Altman film (DC)

• House introduces insider trading bill to ban lawmaker bets (DC)

• Fentanyl-linked Chinese network tied to crypto fraud (TB)

• Franklin Templeton files for bitcoin dividend ETFs (DC)

• Morgan Stanley files amendments for ETFs (TB)

• Kalshi holds IPO talks with investment banks (TB)

• BlackRock exec calls bitcoin "too big to ignore" (BM)

• JPMorgan says bitcoin mining has worsened (TB)

• Capital B approves $120B for Bitcoin strategy (CT)

• HIVE spikes as miner lands $220M AI deal (DC)

• Ethereum Foundation co-director departs (DC)

• Ethereum faces funding crisis within nine months (TB)

• Ark Invest buys $18M of Coinbase shares (TB)

• Texas power grid framework lifts bitcoin miners (TB)

• Bitcoin miners report mixed output as AI impacts growth (TB)

• Custodia and Vantage propose token for bank deposits (CT)

• Andre Cronje and two others resign from Sonic Labs (TB)

• Tether winds down stablecoin and Alloy platform (TB)

Venture Capital

• Perps trading venue American Perpetuals Exchange raises $30M led by Lux Capital (TB)

• re, a crypto project, raises $21M from Electric Capital, Tribe Capital, Stratos, and more (X)

• Rulematch, a crypto trading platform, raises $14M from Groundshift (BG)

• El Dorado, a crypto payments platform, raises $9M led by Paradigm (FM)

• Range Labs, a stablecoin compliance startup, raises $8.3M backed by TX Ventures and SixThirty (TB)

Access the complete VC deal flow on Fundable.

Launches

• Charles Schwab rolls out S&P prediction markets (DC)

• Fidelity launches money market fund (TB)

• Kraken integrates DEX trading (TB)

• Ondo adds 173 tokenized stocks and ETFs (TD)

• Tether's gold token added to Ledn (TB)

• Base targets June 25 mainnet launch (TB)

Regulation

• Fed rolls out rulemaking for stablecoin issuers (TB)

• Jerome Powell supports Fed's new stablecoin policies (DC)

• CFTC hits Celsius fraudster with trading ban (DC)

• Ryan Salame's wife faces charges over FTX congressional run (CT)

• Kentucky sues Kalshi and Polymarket in legal battle (DC)

Cybersecurity

• Brothers plead guilty to $8M armed crypto kidnapping (DC)

• Microsoft finds malware that hijacks wallets through USBs (CD)

• 'jaredfromsubway' bot drained for $7.5M (TB)

• Anime girls could steal your crypto (DC)

• Axelar bridge drained for $4.67M (TB)

• Aztec investigates $2M exploit of product (TB)

Extra Reads

• It would end a decade of regulation-by-lawsuit, hand most of crypto to the CFTC, and redraw the line between code and commerce, if the Senate ever passes it - Here's what the CLARITY Act actually is

• The 21M cap is Bitcoin's defining feature, but between coins lost forever and a fee-only future for miners, the real supply story is messier than the number lets on - Here's what happens when Bitcoin hits its 21M cap

Chart of the Day

Ethereum hits record usage in Q1 2026

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