Top Stories of The Week
XRP spikes 3% after Garlinghouse says Ripple dropping SEC cross-appeal
XRP’s price jumped over 3% on Friday, just hours after Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the company is dropping its cross-appeal against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and expects the regulator to do the same.
“Ripple is dropping our cross-appeal, and the SEC is expected to drop their appeal, as they’ve previously said,” Garlinghouse said in an X post on Friday. XRP, the cryptocurrency associated with Ripple Labs, spiked 3.36% to $2.18 just five hours after the post, according to CoinMarketCap data.
“We’re closing this chapter once and for all and focusing on what’s most important – building the internet of Value. Lock in,” Garlinghouse added.
Anthony Pompliano’s crypto venture buys $386M in Bitcoin
Crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano’s firm ProCap made its first Bitcoin purchase just days after revealing that it plans to go public later this year.
The Bitcoin financial services firm, ProCap BTC, said on Tuesday that it purchased 3,724 Bitcoin (BTC) for $386 million. The investment is now worth just shy of $400 million at current market prices, as the asset has gained since the buy.
The firm purchased the assets at a time-weighted average price of $103,785 per BTC. The buy follows the ProCap’s announcement on Monday that it plans to go public via a merger with the blank-check company Columbus Circle Capital to become ProCap Financial.
Coinbase claims ‘key role’ in Secret Service’s biggest-ever crypto seizure
Crypto exchange Coinbase says it played a “key role” in supporting a US Secret Service investigation that resulted in the seizure of $225 million linked to crypto investment scams earlier this month.
On June 18, the Department of Justice filed to seize more than $225 million in crypto recovered by the Secret Service that was allegedly stolen by online investment scammers, which Agent in Charge Shawn Bradstreet said at the time was the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the agency’s history.
Coinbase said in a blog post on Tuesday that it joined several other exchanges in an “investigative sprint” with the Secret Service in 2024 to identify scam victims, analyze chain flows and help build a case to seize the crypto.
Bitcoin treasury trend is new altseason for crypto speculators: Adam Back
Bitcoin treasury adoption by public companies has become the new altcoin season for cryptocurrency speculators, Adam Back said on Monday.
Bitcoin treasury season “is the new ALT SZN for speculators,” said Back, co-founder and CEO of Blockstream and the inventor of Hashcash. “Time to dump ALTs into BTC or BTC treasuries,” he added.
Bitcoin treasury firms are buying BTC “on repeat to increase Bitcoin per share,” tapping into different funding methods such as convertible note offerings to accumulate more of the world’s first cryptocurrency, making them attractive for investors, Back explained.
FTX rejects 3AC’s $1.5B claim, citing ‘failed trading strategy’
Lawyers acting for the collapsed crypto exchange FTX have rebuked a $1.53 billion recovery claim from Three Arrows Capital’s (3AC) liquidators, arguing the losses resulted from a risky trading strategy that should not be paid for by creditors.
3AC liquidators initially filed a $120 million claim in FTX’s bankruptcy case in June 2023 and expanded it to $1.53 billion in November 2024, alleging claims including breach of contract, fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.
The liquidators alleged FTX held $1.53 billion in the hedge fund’s assets that were liquidated to settle liabilities in 2022, contributing to 3AC’s collapse, arguing the transactions were avoidable and FTX debtors had delayed providing the information that would have uncovered the liquidation.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $107,465, Ether (ETH) at $2,425 and XRP at $2.19. The total market cap is at $3.29 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Maple Finance (SYRUP) at 28.43%, Sei (SEI) at 28.00% and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) at 22.85%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Curve DAO Token (CRV) at 10.80%, Kaia (KAIA) at 10.30% and Celestia (TIA) at 10.24%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“I believe there is about a 91% chance of MSTR qualifying for the S&P 500 in Q2.”
Jeff Walton, financial analyst
“Weekly view on $COIN looks very bullish, even if it is due for a pullback.”
Andy Heilman, investment adviser
“We believe Bitcoin is the new hurdle rate. If you can’t beat it, you have to buy it.”
Anthony Pompliano, crypto entrepreneur
“US stock futures nearing all-time highs, fueled by geopolitical easing and Fed rate-cut expectations, are bolstering investor risk appetite as Bitcoin’s recent rebound increased speculation of a new record high in the near future.”
Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research
“H1 2025 marks a pivotal shift in crypto hacking: escalating strategic intent from state actors and other geopolitically motivated groups.”
“Stablecoins have significant shortcomings when it comes to promoting the integrity of the monetary system.”
The Bank for International Settlements
Top Predictions of The Week
Bitcoin’s ‘bull pennant’ targets $165K as BTC exchange flows hit 10-year lows
Bitcoin price registered a weekly high of $108,200 on June 25 after a 10% rise from its local low at $98,400 three days prior. BTC has now reclaimed a key support level as prices continued to consolidate below its $112,000 all-time high range.
Can Bitcoin price rise over 50% in the next few days?
Bitcoin rallied by 52% between April 8 and May 22 to reach an all-time high of $112,000. Since then, BTC price has oscillated between the all-time high and $100,000. The latest recovery from six-week lows below $100,000 suggests that the bulls are aggressively defending this level.
“Bitcoin reclaimed the key support area,” said popular pseudonymous crypto analyst Jelle in a Wednesday post on X, adding that the BTC is now back inside a pennant on the daily chart.
A bull pennant is a continuation pattern that occurs after a significant rise, followed by a consolidation period at the higher price end of the range.
Top FUD of The Week
Fake IT insiders behind $1M in crypto losses across NFT protocols — ZachXBT
Hackers posing as legitimate information technology (IT) workers who have infiltrated Web3 projects have stolen roughly $1 million in crypto during the past week, according to onchain investigator and cybersecurity analyst ZachXBT.
Several entities were impacted, including Favrr, a Web3 fan-token marketplace, non-fungible token (NFT) projects Replicandy and ChainSaw, along with other teams the onchain sleuth did not name in his Friday X post.
The hackers exploited the minting mechanism for the NFT projects, minting mass quantities of NFTs, selling them, and causing the price floor to drop to zero while they extracted profit, ZachXBT said.
Anchorage ‘Safety Matrix’ faces backlash over stablecoin delistings
Anchorage Digital is drawing criticism from at least one stablecoin issuer after announcing plans to phase out support for three stablecoins, citing “regulatory expectations” and internal risk assessment.
Nick van Eck, co-founder and CEO of Agora, criticized Anchorage’s move to remove support for stablecoins USDC, Agora USD, and Usual USD in a Thursday X post, claiming the decision was based on “easily verifiable and known factual inaccuracies.”
He said that Anchorage failed to disclose its relationship with stablecoin issuer Paxos, which could potentially benefit from the phasing out of tokens issued by other platforms.
‘Major bummer’ — Users discover Ledger is sunsetting the ‘OG’ Nano S
Users across social media are dismayed after noticing Ledger, a major provider of hardware crypto wallets, announced last month it was sunsetting support for the Nano S.
In its Spring update on May 30, Ledger said it was transitioning away from the Ledger Nano S, and as a result, new applications, feature submissions and app updates would no longer be accepted. Another notice urging users to transition to a new device was published in April.
The Nano S was launched in 2016, making some devices close to 10 years old.
The wallet provider also encouraged users to check they have their 24-word Secret Recovery Phrase to maintain support.
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
GENIUS Act reopens the door for a Meta stablecoin, but will it work?
The GENIUS Act will allow Big Tech conglomerates like Meta to issue a stablecoin, but legal experts are debating whether it’ll work in practice.
North Korea crypto hackers tap ChatGPT, Malaysia road money siphoned: Asia Express
North Korean hackers sit back as ChatGPT helps them with crypto theft, crypto riches fuels Indian espionage, and more.
Why being a Gen Z crypto founder is a ‘blessing and a curse’
From dorm-room all-nighters to multi-million dollar raises, these young crypto founders are building the future — one “no” at time.
Editorial Staff
Powers On… Summer musings after two particularly bad months in cryptoland
“I believe Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptocurrencies are here to stay. No one country, or group of countries or regulators, can stop their use and development.”
Read more
Earn Bitcoin for eating tickets, Immutable says ‘big studios are showing up’ — Web3 Gamer
Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson says the Web3 ecosystem is at a “critical inflection point,” and Notcoin’s price jumps 17% as other gaming tokens tumble.
Read moreXRP jumps on Ripple-SEC update, Pomp scoops up $386M BTC: Hodler’s Digest, June 22 – 28