Today in crypto, Hyperliquid’s Hypercore team has signaled support for a proposal that would see it expand into prediction markets. New York prosecutors warned that the US GENIUS Act could expose markets to fraud and Strategy disclosed a $75.3 million Bitcoin purchase made during last week’s sharp dip.
HYPE pops 20% after Hyperliquid team nods prediction markets plan
HYPE gained double digits on Monday after the team behind HyperCore, the core infrastructure powering Hyperliquid’s layer-1 network, said it will support the HIP-4 proposal to expand into prediction markets.
The integration would allow fully collateralized contracts on Hyperliquid, the largest decentralized perpetual futures crypto platform, enabling traders to wager on political elections, sports and other markets.
In an X post on Monday, Hyperliquid said the support was driven by “extensive user demand” for prediction markets and bounded options-like instruments, while adding that HIP-4 could allow other novel applications to be built on Hyperliquid.
HIP-4 outcomes would function like a betting slip with a capped payout, settling within a fixed range without leverage, liquidations, or margin calls.
Hyperliquid said the outcomes trading feature is a “work in progress” and is currently only being tested on testnet. The canonical markets would be denominated in Hyperliquid’s native stablecoin, Hyperliquid USDH (USDH).
The news sent Hyperliquid (HYPE) up 19.5% to $37.14, adding to its 46.9% price rally over the last month while the broader crypto market has pulled back, CoinGecko data shows.
NY prosecutors warn GENIUS Act could enable stablecoin fraud
New York Attorney General Letitia James and four other state prosecutors have warned Congress that the GENIUS Act could weaken fraud protections for stablecoin users, CNN reports.
In a letter to lawmakers, as viewed by CNN, the prosecutors said the bill fails to require stablecoin issuers to return funds lost to fraud or theft, arguing it could leave victims without restitution while limiting states’ ability to enforce consumer protection laws. They warned that the legislation may provide “legal cover” for stablecoin companies even when users are harmed.
The letter specifically criticized the lack of mandatory cooperation for issuers during criminal investigations, noting that voluntary policies around freezing or recovering funds are inconsistent. Prosecutors said this could undermine law enforcement efforts and embolden bad actors as stablecoin adoption grows.
The GENIUS Act was signed into law last July and is set to take effect 18 months after enactment, or 120 days after US regulators finalize implementing rules, whichever comes first.
Strategy buys $75.3M in Bitcoin as prices dip
Latest filings show Michael Saylor’s Strategy has bought 855 Bitcoin at about $88,000 each last week, as BTC briefly fell below its average cost for the first time since 2023.
Bitcoin started the week above $87,700 and reached $90,000 before briefly plummeting below $75,000 on Sunday, according to CoinGecko.
The world’s largest public Bitcoin holder now sits on 713,502 Bitcoin, purchased for about $54.26 billion at an average price of $76,052 per coin. The buy came as Bitcoin briefly fell below Strategy’s average purchase cost, marking the first time it has traded below the company’s cost basis in over two years.
While the odds of Bitcoin falling below $65,000 this year climbed to 72% on Monday, Polymarket also shows an 81% probability that Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings will reach 800,000 BTC.
Average Bitcoin ETF buy underwater after investors pull $2.8B in 2 weeks
Bitcoin is trading below the average cost basis of US spot Bitcoin ETFs after they recorded their second and third-biggest outflow weeks last month, according to Galaxy’s head of research, Alex Thorn.
The eleven spot BTC ETFs saw $2.8 billion in outflows over the past fortnight, which includes $1.49 billion last week and $1.32 billion the week before, according to CoinGlass.
“This means the average Bitcoin ETF purchase is underwater,” said Thorn.
The total assets under management for US Bitcoin ETF products is approximately $113 billion, according to Coinglass, and they collectively hold around 1.28 million BTC, according to BiTBO, implying an average cost basis of about $87,830 per Bitcoin.
