Doohyun Hwang

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on the 21st (local time) that "three nuclear facilities in Iran were successfully attacked." President Trump stated on Truth Social that "Iran's Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan nuclear facilities were precisely targeted," adding, "The operation was successfully completed and all aircraft are now out of Iranian airspace, returning safely." He said, "A full-scale bombing was carried out on the key target, the Fordow facility. This operation showcased the U.S. military's precision strike capabilities. No other military in the world can conduct such an operation. I pay tribute to America's great warriors." He continued, "Now is the time for peace." Following these remarks, both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) switched to an upward trend. Expectations grew that the U.S.'s swift military intervention would ease Middle East risks. Bitcoin rose about 1.5%, climbing from $108,370 to $102,900, while Ethereum surged nearly 4%, breaking above the $2,216 to $2,300 level.

According to Kaito, an AI-based Web3 search platform, the top five keywords in the virtual asset sector that people are currently most interested in—based on Token Mindshare (a metric that quantifies the influence of specific tokens in the virtual asset market)—as of the 20th, are MagicNewton (NEWT), Bitcoin (BTC), OKB, Solana (SOL), and Symphony (SYMPHONY). Ranked first is MagicNewton by AutoFi. MagicNewton is a protocol designed to easily handle complex blockchain tasks on behalf of users. Instead of traditional smart contracts, it operates based on smart accounts (EIP-4337). By automatically checking and executing conditions, it enhances user convenience. MagicNewton's token issuance is scheduled for next week. Bitcoin is currently trading sideways at around $104,000, undergoing corrections amid external challenges such as instability in the Middle East. Although the deepening conflict between Iran and Israel has increased selling pressure, on-chain indicators show that selling is not significant. There is continued buying interest from institutional investors as well. On this day, the U.S. Nasdaq-listed company Semler Scientific announced, "We aim to hold 100,000 Bitcoins within 3 years," drawing attention. Additionally, positive institutional news includes the passage of the 'Bitcoin Reserve Establishment Bill' in the Senate of the State of Arizona in the U.S. Expectations also remain high for Solana (SOL), a major asset alongside Ethereum (ETH). VanEck has registered a Solana ETF product with the U.S. Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) under the ticker 'VSOL,' raising the possibility of its launch as early as July. However, the recent price trend has been disappointing. Solana has fallen 14% over the past 7 days and is currently trading at $145.36, down 0.85% from the previous day, in the Binance USDT market. In addition, investors are showing interest in Symphony, Aptos (APT), Ethereum, and Toncoin (TON).

Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, predicted that "Bitcoin will face obstacles of a different nature in the future, rather than regulatory uncertainty." On the 19th (local time), Horsley said on his X account, "The biggest barrier for Bitcoin investors used to be regulatory uncertainty. But that is no longer the case," he commented. He stated, "As the regulatory environment has been clarified, a major barrier in the market has been removed, but its effect has not yet been fully revealed," and explained, "In the coming months, the market will encounter two new barriers." The first is investors' 'lack of time.' CEO Horsley analyzed, "Asset allocators such as institutional investors and family offices are extremely busy," and added, "When opportunities promising 10-fold returns appear every day, some question why they should spend time on a complex concept like Bitcoin." The second is the perception of Bitcoin as 'digital gold.' Recalling a recent conversation with a family office investor, he shared, "The investor said, 'I understand Bitcoin as digital gold, but we don't invest in gold anyway.'" He went on to add, "Gold is one of the most unpopular assets in the United States, and comparing Bitcoin to gold could actually act as a barrier to entry."

Kaia DLT Foundation (hereafter Kaia) announced on the 20th that it has joined the Japan Blockchain Association (hereafter JBA) as a full member. This is the first case for a blockchain mainnet. Through this full membership, Kaia will collaborate to create a Web3 business environment and ensure regulatory compliance in Japan. In addition, Kaia plans to strengthen communication in the Japanese blockchain business, including operating Mini Dapp businesses based on the LINE messenger, and a Japanese Yen stablecoin business that will take off in earnest after the establishment of the regulatory framework. JBA is a leading blockchain industry association in Japan founded in 2014, conducting a variety of activities for ecosystem development, such as policy recommendations, consultations with government and regulatory agencies, and the establishment of self-regulatory guidelines. There are subcommittees under the association related to tax rates, accounting, and NFTs, and the opinions they collect are conveyed to policy authorities such as the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan. Since the beginning of this year, Kaia has been operating a Dapp Portal within LINE, Japan's largest messenger platform. Alongside this, Kaia is also preparing a stablecoin business aimed at the Japanese and Asian markets, in cooperation with global stablecoin companies such as Tether (USDT). JBA commented, "We sincerely welcome Kaia as a full member," and added, "Going forward, the association will share knowledge and experience with Kaia for the development of the industry." Sangmin Seo, Chairman of the Kaia DLT Foundation, said, "Kaia has been building the Web3 ecosystem on LINE, which is used by 70% of Japanese people," and added, "This membership with JBA will be an important milestone for regulatory compliance and the development of consumer-centric services." He further remarked, "We will work with local partners and developers to succeed in Japan, Korea, and Asia, and use this as a foundation to leap into the global blockchain industry."

Jack Zhang, CEO of Airwallex, criticized the claim that stablecoins can reduce foreign exchange fees as unrealistic. CEO Zhang recently pointed out on his X account, "Even when remitting from US dollars to euros, if the recipient ultimately has to receive euros in a bank account, using a stablecoin is actually more expensive," highlighting this issue. He further explained, "The off-ramping process from stablecoins to fiat currency incurs even greater costs than interbank FX markets," evaluating that the technology does not provide any real help in cutting FX fees. Even if stablecoins have low volatility, they are of no real use for B2B transactions except in extremely illiquid, specialized currencies. CEO Zhang stated, "We currently offer real-time transfers of major G10 currencies with fees below 0.01%. It simply cannot get cheaper or faster than this," emphasizing that "the idea of using stablecoins for cross-border payments between developed countries is unrealistic." He continued, "Back when the crypto market overheated in 2021, many talked about the future of Web3, but I still haven’t seen that future. Even in 2025, I don’t see what real utility stablecoins will have in payments between developed countries," he said. He added, "In the past 15 years, I haven't seen any practical case where virtual assets have genuinely solved a real problem. Of all the counterarguments I’ve received, only the demand for dollars in emerging markets made sense. I will soon post refined data on my blog showing the actual stablecoin volumes used for real economic activities like payments, remittances, and commerce."

Jon Ma, founder of the virtual asset institutional data platform Artemis, evaluated the corporate value of Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), at $55 billion and diagnosed that "it is difficult to expect substantial upside under the current model." On the 19th (local time), founder Ma stated on his X that "based on 2025 estimates, Circle is valued at 58.1x of total profit, 125.2x EBITDA, and 163.7x net profit," revealing this view. He also supplemented the outlook by adding the Circle Payments Network (CPN) as a new revenue line. The scenario assumes that, by 2029, B2B payment volume will exceed $570 billion, with 20% processed through CPN. Applying a 0.1% fee rate, it is analyzed that CPN alone could generate significant revenue. Ma also shared his outlook on the stablecoin market. He predicted, "the supply of stablecoins will grow at an annual average rate of 30% to reach $1.2 trillion in 2029," and "USDC's market share will rise to 28.5% with its supply expanding to $370 billion." In addition, Ma forecast that Circle's revenue will reach $9 billion by 2029, maintaining an average annual growth rate of 25%. He noted, "the gross margin will be 35%, gross profit at $3.1 billion (annual growth of 26%), and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) at $2.4 billion (annual growth of 32%)," adding, "however, even with optimistic application of all figures, the additional upside within the current model is limited."

Crypto asset (cryptocurrency) investment firm Arca has reportedly made an additional acquisition of decentralized finance (DeFi) Pendle (PENDLE). On the 20th, on-chain data analyst Yu Jin stated via his X account, "Arca has withdrawn a total of 2,183,000 PENDLE (worth about $8.31 million) from Binance over the last six days." The average purchase price was around $3.8 each. Over the past year, Arca has already made three rounds of PENDLE purchases. This acquisition marks their fourth investment. However, the overall investment yield to date remains negative, with cumulative losses estimated at about $960,000. On this day, Pendle was trading at $3.88 on the Binance Tether (USDT) market, up 3% from the previous day.

The Arizona State Senate in the United States passed a bill allowing state-level ownership of Bitcoin (BTC). According to Cointelegraph on the 19th (local time), the Arizona Senate passed the 'Seized Digital Asset Reserve Bill (HB 2324)' with 16 votes in favor and 14 against. This bill stipulates that the state government can create digital reserves by utilizing digital assets seized through criminal forfeiture procedures. The bill was initially rejected but was reintroduced through the reconsideration process. The bill that passed the Senate will now undergo final review in the House of Representatives. If the bill passes the final stage, Arizona will become one of the few states in the United States to legally specify that the state government can directly hold digital assets such as Bitcoin. Previously, Texas also introduced and passed a bill allowing Bitcoin holdings. That bill has passed both the House and Senate and is currently awaiting the governor's signature.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, evaluated his company's value at $2 trillion. On the 19th (local time), CEO Ardoino said in an interview with Anthony Pompliano, "Even if the same multiple as Circle is applied, Tether's value reaches $2 trillion," adding, "Given our holdings of gold and Bitcoin as well as our proprietary distribution network, we could be valued even higher." He also emphasized that Tether will not be listed on Nasdaq. He said, "With sufficient profitability, I see no need for a public listing. Last year's profit was $13.7 billion, and we will exceed that this year," adding, "We manage the company very conservatively, with only a highly specialized and small team." New investments are also expanding. The investments are centered on real assets such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), telecommunications, and farmland. CEO Ardoino remarked, "Land and agriculture are key to social stability," and stated, "We will continue to increase these investments moving forward." Part of the reason for refusing to list lies in the distance from 'traditional finance.' He said, "We don’t want to be a company that constantly tries to satisfy JP Morgan analysts every quarter," adding, "We will focus on supporting hundreds of millions of real users."

Recently, Bitcoin has continued to move sideways amid macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical factors. According to an analysis, on-chain indicators signal that investors' selling sentiment remains low. On the 19th (local time), Darkfost, an analyst at the on-chain data analysis platform CryptoQuant, stated, "Based on the 7-day moving average, Bitcoin's Realized Profit is currently below $1 billion. This level is similar to that at the end of the correction phase in October 2024." He added, "Even at the recent time when Bitcoin hit its all-time high, realized profit saw only a slight increase, falling short of the selling surge witnessed last January. This indicates investors have not yet realized sufficient profits. At the same time, fear sentiment has weakened, so this is not leading to large-scale selling."

There has been an influx of institutional funds into Bitcoin (BTC) spot ETFs and a surge in Binance deposits by large investors (whales) at the same time, leading to an analysis that Bitcoin is on the verge of entering a bull market. On the 19th (local time), Amr Taha, a CryptoQuant analyst, stated, "Over the past 30 days, the net inflow into Bitcoin ETFs has reached 128,000 BTC, which is the largest amount since the peak of the bull market at the beginning of 2024," and added, "This suggests that institutional investors' confidence in Bitcoin spot ETFs has been restored. In other words, expectations for long-term price increases or macroeconomic conditions favorable to risk assets have risen." During the same period, whale funds flowing into the Binance exchange also surged. According to CryptoQuant's whale-exchange flow chart, the amount of funds deposited from whale wallets to Binance nearly doubled in just one day from $2.3 billion to $4.59 billion. Taha interpreted, "This signals that institutional-grade investors or large holders are moving substantial funds into centralized exchanges," and explained, "It appears they are repositioning themselves ahead of a potential bullish breakout for Bitcoin." On this day, Bitcoin was trading at around $104,730 on Binance's Tether (USDT) market, down 0.15% from the previous day.

U.S. Nasdaq-listed healthcare technology company MicroStrategy has announced a long-term plan to possess a total of 105,000 Bitcoins by 2027. On the 19th (local time), MicroStrategy stated in a press release that as part of its Bitcoin financial strategy, it plans to acquire 10,000 Bitcoins by 2025, 42,000 Bitcoins by 2026, and a total of 105,000 Bitcoins by the end of 2027. MicroStrategy explained, "This strategy will be executed through equity and debt financing as well as operating cash flow," and described it as a "long-term asset strategy designed to deliver high returns to shareholders." The company continued, "Bitcoin is the ultimate long-term asset," and stated, "MicroStrategy has a vision to become one of the world's largest corporate Bitcoin treasuries." Currently, MicroStrategy holds a total of 4,449 Bitcoins. MicroStrategy said, "We are the second publicly listed company in the U.S. to adopt the 'Bitcoin Standard,'" adding, "Since the announcement of the strategy in May last year, we have realized approximately $177 million in Bitcoin gains by the 3rd of this month, achieving a return of about 287%."

Can virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) such as Bitcoin be recognized as political donations? This topic surfaced publicly during the policy seminar 'Political Donations, Now as Digital Assets,' held at the National Assembly on the 13th. At the event, an official from the National Election Commission stated, "If immediate conversion to cash is possible as in the United States, political donations based on Bitcoin could also be permitted." The core issue lies in the legal interpretation of whether virtual assets can be included in 'donations' under the current Political Funds Act. According to Articles 2, Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Act, donations and contributions are defined as 'money, securities, or other valuables.' Some argue that, due to the lack of a clear definition of virtual assets, the National Election Commission suggested the ambiguous condition of 'immediate conversion upon receipt.' A legal expert commented, "Given that definitions for Bitcoin remain unclear, and it doesn't exactly fit as 'money' or 'securities,' it may be difficult to outright prohibit it." The United States already accepts virtual assets as political donations. In 2014, the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) permitted Bitcoin as a means of political contributions. Through Advisory Opinion 2014-02, the FEC clarified its grounds by stating, "Bitcoin constitutes a 'thing of value' donated for the purpose of influencing federal elections." U.S. political committees receive Bitcoin in a manner similar to in-kind contributions and evaluate its value based on the market price at the time of receipt for reporting donation details. Bitcoins may be kept in the committee's electronic wallet until conversion, and the committee is recommended to include the number of Bitcoins held and whether they have not yet been converted in the report as notes or memos. Such accounting standards are seen as mechanisms to prevent conflicts with regulations regarding donor limits or restrictions on sources. Likewise, opinions have been raised that for Korea to accept Bitcoin political donations, a comprehensive legal framework—including eligibility criteria, reporting obligations, identity verification, and regulatory limits as in the United States—is necessary. Ho-Sung Lee, the representative of Ichon Tax Accounting, advised, "If digital assets are utilized as political donations, it is necessary to prepare for practical issues such as asset value assessment, expense processing, and accounting standards," and added, "As political funds accounting standards are designed for existing cash flows, separate guidelines for virtual assets should be established." Hyun-Soo Jin, the managing attorney at Decent Law Firm, noted, "The National Election Commission's interpretation is significant because it represents the first case of conditionally recognizing virtual assets as a form of political donation under the Political Funds Act," and diagnosed, "However, there are still many practical and legal challenges regarding real-name verification, donor limits, and accounting processes." He further added, "Due to the anonymous and volatile nature of virtual assets, institutionalization to ensure transparency and fairness in political funding must be implemented concurrently."

Interview with Hart Lambur, Co-founder of Across Protocol 'Intent' technology… Improved speed and security compared to traditional bridges Transfers native assets without replication… Minimizes hacking risks "In the era of stablecoins, the speed issue will be solved" "South Korea, the most important market… We will actively engage in communication" "The most important value in the Web3 era is connection speed and user experience. Across Protocol is the fastest and most secure bridge designed for this purpose." Hart Lambur, Co-founder of Across Protocol, stated this in an interview with BloomingBit on the 17th. Across Protocol was born as a 'next-generation bridge' to solve the problems of existing bridge protocols. A bridge protocol refers to the essential infrastructure that enables asset transfers between blockchains such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). As more and more blockchains develop their own ecosystems, the importance of bridge protocols is increasing. However, many users are still hesitant to use bridges due to a complicated user experience (UX), transfer times that can take several minutes, and numerous hacking cases. Lambur stated, "We believe that in Web3, every chain should feel like one unified network," adding, "The structure of Across Protocol has the advantage of combining chain-to-chain transfer speeds of under 2 seconds, security, and decentralization." Across Protocol overcomes bridge limitations with intent-based architecture The technical core of Across Protocol is its intent-based architecture. When a user expresses the desire to move assets from Chain A to Chain B, a third-party participant known as a 'Solver' detects this and uses their own funds to immediately pay the asset on Chain B. The protocol then verifies the transaction has been fulfilled and returns the user's pre-deposited assets to the Solver. Lambur emphasized, "Among bridges adopting this structure, we are the fastest and most efficient." They also improved the chronic security problems of bridges by not creating 'replicated assets' to transfer assets across blockchains. Existing bridge protocols mainly use a 'lock and mint' structure, where the user deposits an asset on Chain A and a new token is issued on Chain B representing the replicated asset. This structure has several technical and security risks, such as message transmission delays, interchain consensus waits, and reliability issues with replicated assets. In fact, a number of hacking incidents exploiting this have resulted in damages worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Lambur explained, "Across Protocol rewards Solvers who move funds faster to other chains," and "in this way, we achieve transfer speeds averaging just a few seconds, providing users with an almost real-time chain-to-chain transfer experience." He added, "Across Protocol moves originally existing assets as they are, without issuing separate replicated tokens; thus, the system's security remains at the same level as the underlying chains," stating, "Risks of bridge hacking can be greatly reduced." He continued, "Currently, we connect more than 20 blockchains, including Ethereum. Recently, integration with PancakeSwap and BNB Chain has also been completed," adding, "Support for large-scale L1 chains will be announced soon." He also saw Across Protocol's role becoming even more important in the era of stablecoins. Lambur said, "Stablecoins will play a core role in global payment infrastructure," adding, "If interchain transfers take 2 minutes each, users will eventually return to traditional systems like Visa or Mastercard. We are the infrastructure that can solve this exact 'speed problem.'" Regarding the protocol’s native token 'ACX', he said, "Through the 'fee switch' function, a portion of protocol revenue may be distributed to token holders," explaining, "In the future, token holders will be able to vote on whether to introduce this feature. If adopted, a portion of the revenue currently distributed to Solvers will also be shared with token holders." "South Korea, the most important strategic market... Communication will be strengthened" Lambur emphasized South Korea as one of the most strategically important markets. He said, "South Korea is the country where virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) are used most actively in the world," and "In the United States, it's rare for ordinary people in their twenties to have a crypto wallet, but in South Korea it is much more common." He added, "With such a solid user base, South Korea is not just a trend but a window into the future of the global crypto ecosystem." He also clearly expressed his intention to target the South Korean market. Lambur said, "We are very interested in expanding our presence in the South Korean market," and "We plan to build the market based on a deep understanding of Korean users and relationships with them." He went on, "Just as Korean culture has greatly impacted the world, the way Korean users utilize crypto could show the future of global crypto adoption," adding, "We will devote even more effort to understanding and communicating with Korean users." Finally, he said, "The growth of the virtual asset market means the simultaneous growth of various blockchains," and "Now, what is needed is infrastructure that can quickly connect them, and Across Protocol will play that key role." He continued, "We aim to connect various blockchains like a single internet to provide users with a completely seamless experience," stating, "Users don’t even need to be aware of which chain they’re using—they should just be able to take desired actions with a single click." Reporter Doohyun Hwang of BloomingBit cow5361@bloomingbit.io

The decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap announced on the 11th the launch of a new feature, 'Crosschain Swaps,' which simplifies asset exchange between blockchains. This feature allows users to swap tokens between chains with just one click within the PancakeSwap interface, without the need for separate bridging services or external applications. The new feature can be used easily without moving to a different platform. Users simply access PancakeSwap's swap page, specify the input/output tokens and chains, and approve the transaction. Completed transactions can be checked through the wallet's records. Currently supported chains are BNB Chain, Arbitrum (ARB), and Base (BASE), totaling three options. Crosschain Swaps operate in the same way as conventional swaps, and most transactions are completed within a few seconds up to a maximum of one minute. Available tokens are limited to assets with liquidity pools on PancakeSwap. No additional platform fees are charged. However, a separate bridge fee is incurred by relayers of the Across protocol that relays the transactions; this fee is automatically calculated, similar to gas fees. The technical foundation is provided by the Across protocol. Across achieves both security and scalability through an optimistic settlement structure based on UMA oracle. To date, cumulative trading volume exceeds $2.3 billion, with over 16 million transactions, accounting for about 20% of all bridging transactions. A PancakeSwap representative said, “We expect that this feature will significantly lower the entry barrier for decentralized finance (DeFi) and greatly improve user convenience. The focus is on providing a unified interface while minimizing the complexity and delay of cross-chain asset transfers.” Hart Lamber, the co-founder of Across, commented, “PancakeSwap has one of the most intuitive interfaces in DeFi. Users can swap in the same way without knowing the concept of bridging, and all processes are executed automatically within the system.”

According to the top gainers on the AI-based Web3 search platform Kaito (Token Mindshare: an indicator that quantifies the influence of specific tokens in the virtual asset market), the top 5 virtual asset-related keywords that people are most interested in as of the 11th are Ethereum (ETH), Hyperliquid (HYPE), Solana (SOL), DeFi app (HOME), and VaderAI by Virtual (VADER). Ethereum has surpassed $2,800 in about four months, drawing focused attention from investors. The main factors cited are expectations for the passage of the U.S. stablecoin regulation bill, the GENIUS Act, and the SEC’s stance on relaxing decentralized finance (DeFi) regulations. Ethereum is the base chain where more than half of all stablecoins are issued, leading to expectations that it could greatly benefit from policy shifts. On this day, Ethereum was trading around $2,790 on the Binance Tether (USDT) market, up about 4% from the previous day. As both Bitcoin and Ethereum rise, funds are continuing to flow into Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives exchange that allows high-leverage trading. An anonymous whale investor reportedly took a 20x leveraged Bitcoin long (buy) position on Hyperliquid that day. Hyperliquid recorded a trading volume of $248 billion in May—a new all-time high on a monthly basis. The platform token 'HYPE' is currently trading at around $41, up about 7% in the last 24 hours. Solana is showing an upward trend, backed by expectations for approval of a spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). According to Blockworks, the SEC could approve a Solana spot ETF in as little as 3 to 5 weeks. Recently, the SEC reportedly requested issuers to submit revised S-1 registrations by next week. Industry sources interpret this as the SEC showing a willingness to approve quickly through communication with issuers. On this day, Solana was trading at $164 on the Binance Tether market, up about 4.2% from the previous day. In addition, investors have also been showing interest in coins such as Katana (KATANA), Aave (AAVE), and Aura (AURA).

Renowned American crypto (cryptocurrency) trader Peter Brandt indicated the possibility of a major correction, noting that the price movement of Bitcoin (BTC) is showing patterns similar to the 2022 bear market. On the 10th (local time), Brandt compared the Bitcoin charts of 2022 and now on his X account and posed the question, "Will Bitcoin undergo a 75% correction like in 2022?" He added, "Are you aware that with each bull cycle, there has been exponential decay?" Brandt also predicted on the 7th that if Bitcoin repeats the technical weakness similar to 2021, the price could fall to the $64,000 level. However, as of now, the market trend remains bullish. On this day, Bitcoin briefly surpassed $110,000 intraday, continuing its strength. Currently, according to Binance USDT market data, Bitcoin is trading around $109,700, up 0.2% from the previous day.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its review of the application for a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) for Hedera (HBAR). On the 10th (local time), the SEC announced that it had extended the review period for the Hedera ETF applied for by Canary Capital and started additional procedures for gathering opinions and conducting reviews. Accordingly, the final decision will be made according to the newly set review date. The SEC stated, "We have determined that it is appropriate to extend the review period to allow sufficient time to examine the issues raised regarding the proposed rule change."