Bitcoin (BTC) hit a weak decline, temporarily around $64,790 as of June 18. Strategy preferred stock STRC seriously de-pegged; the company claims, “Selling coins can pay 32 years of dividends,” attempting to stabilize the market. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) will sue the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), opposing its approval of crypto perpetual futures.
Macro Events & Crypto Hotspots
1、Strategy (MicroStrategy) issued “Stretch” variable-rate perpetual preferred stock STRC seriously de-pegged again to a new recent low, with the closing price at $88.9. It is understood that STRC is the preferred stock Strategy issues to finance the purchase of Bitcoin in the market. Its par value is roughly pegged to $100, paying a higher dividend; the dividend yield will be adjusted based on price conditions, aiming to keep it trading as close to par value as possible. STRC’s large de-pegging indicates that the market is demanding a higher yield, and that investors’ confidence in its credit/dividend stability has declined.
Strategy previously relied heavily on issuing STRC to finance buying Bitcoin; if the STRC price falls below par value, it is no longer worthwhile for the company to issue new STRC, which is effectively borrowing at a higher cost. As a result, its “ability to keep buying coins” will be weakened. In response, Strategy posted data on social media saying, “The company’s Bitcoin reserves are sufficient to cover 32 years of dividends,” trying to stabilize the market.
2、According to CNBC, Terrence Duffy, the outgoing CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), said that CME will sue the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) because the agency recently approved crypto perpetual contracts. Duffy said perpetual contracts are essentially Swap transactions under the Dodd-Frank Act, which will be the legal basis for the lawsuit; CME will file the lawsuit on Thursday. Duffy said CME and all benchmark providers have exclusive licenses, and all perpetual contracts must go through CME in any case.
At the end of May, the CFTC approved Kalshi to offer Bitcoin perpetual contracts, the first time this asset class has been approved in the United States. Kalshi has since expanded perpetual contracts to other cryptocurrencies. Duffy will step down as CEO in March 2027. He said he has planned for it with the board for eight months: “I never shy away from a fight, and I won’t shy away from this one either.”
News Highlights
1、France will stop issuing certifications for products that do not adopt quantum-safe encryption technology
2、Solana: AWS content publishers can charge AI traffic in USDC via the x402 protocol
3、Andrew Tate was liquidated 8 more times in nearly 16 hours again; his account has only $14.2 thousand left
4、A federal judge in Michigan ruled that sports prediction markets do not fall under the CFTC’s jurisdiction
5、Galaxy Ventures announced it will co-lead with CIM a $140 million Series A funding round for Karta
6、CME will sue the U.S. CFTC to oppose its approval of crypto perpetual futures
7、Huang Licheng closed most of his ETH long positions and was partially liquidated; the remaining position is down more than $35 million
8、PayPal Ventures, which has been active in investing across multiple crypto projects, is gradually shutting down
Market Performance
1、Latest on Bitcoin: $BTC saw a weak selloff and is currently around $64,790. In the past 24 hours, $142 million was liquidated, mainly long positions;
2、U.S. stocks closed broadly lower on June 17. At the first press conference of the new Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, he emphasized price stability and that officials expect potential rate hikes this year. The market interpreted this as a hawkish signal; rate-hike expectations surged rapidly. U.S. Treasuries fell and the U.S. dollar rose. After the Dow Industrial Index hit record closing highs for two consecutive trading days, it fell by 507.12 points, a 1% drop, closing at 51,492.55. The S&P 500 fell by 91.25 points, down 1.2%, closing at 7,420.10; the Nasdaq fell by 354.68 points, down 1.3%, closing at 26,021.66.
(Source: Gate)
3、In the Gate BTC/USDT liquidation map, taking the current 64,468.70 USDT as reference: if it drops to around $63,588, the total amount of long-position liquidation will exceed $161 million; if it rises to around $66,133, the total amount of short-position liquidation will exceed $371 million. The amount liquidated on the short side is significantly higher than on the long side. It is recommended to manage leverage ratios reasonably to avoid triggering large-scale liquidations due to market fluctuations.
(Source: Coinglass)
4、In the past 24 hours, BTC spot inflows were $2.63 billion, outflows were $2.67 billion, for net outflows of $40 million.
(Source: Coinglass)
5、In the past 24 hours, net outflows in contracts including $CL, $DOT, $AGT, $HYPE, $ESPORTS led the way, presenting trading opportunities.
Selected Views from X KOLs
Phyrex Ni (@Phyrex_Ni): “I re-organized what Warsh said in my head. Overall, although the Fed’s dot plot gave up hope for rate cuts in 2026, that’s bearish for the market—because in March the dot plot showed one rate cut would happen, and after three months there was no more hope for any rate cuts. But this was also within expectations, since the inflation data over the past two months shows inflation has been rising.”
“Relative to that, Warsh stated that within the Fed they weren’t discussing rate hikes. For the market, that can be seen as a short-term positive, because many analysts believe that not only will there be no rate cuts in 2026, but there may even be rate hikes. Warsh’s remarks basically eliminated the possibility of rate hikes in the short term, and the market shifted its rate-hike expectations to after September.”
“Also, Warsh said current inflation and geopolitical conflicts have some relationship, but he didn’t discuss it in depth. Overall, this time Warsh didn’t provide very useful information. He mainly talked about reorganizing the Fed, setting up a new group. The only clear point was that for now they aren’t considering rate hikes. Also, Warsh hopes the Fed in the future will give up forward-looking guidance—providing less data.”
“During the deliberation meeting, Trump and Iran also made some statements. First, Trump said Iran’s memorandum of understanding is finalized and will be signed within 48 hours. Iran, meanwhile, said it will develop a mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz together with Oman, and said the two countries will exchange views with other countries when necessary. The gist is: they want to charge fees, and free passage will only apply for the first 60 days after it just opens.”
“This is like slapping Trump in the face again, because Trump said it would be permanently free. Meanwhile, the WTI price is still relatively stable, staying around $75, which suggests the market is not too surprised by charging for Hormuz. After all, if there are fees, they probably won’t be too high—compared with blocking the Strait of Hormuz, this is already much better.”
“During the deliberation meeting, U.S. stocks and $BTC have been continuously falling mainly because the information Warsh provided wasn’t good. Although there are no expectations of rate hikes in the short term, Warsh hopes the Fed will provide less forward-looking guidance in the future, such as the dot plot. That will make the market lose guidance, and then we’ll have to wait for the market to repair itself. At present, the focus has returned to the formal agreement between the U.S. and Iran on Saturday, hoping it can once again boost market sentiment.”
“I also really want to know Trump’s assessment of Warsh’s first appearance.”
Today’s Preview
1、UK April unemployment rate; previous value: 4.41%
2、UK three-month ILO unemployment rate to April; previous value: 5.0%
3、Swiss policy interest rate; previous value: 0.00%
4、UK official bank rate; previous value: 3.75%
5、U.S. weekly initial jobless claims, seasonally adjusted (thousands) (to 0613); previous value: 229
6、Bank of England releases interest rate decision and meeting minutes
