Kategorie: Crypto News

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Best crypto to buy now as Bakkt Holdings maybe planning a Bitcoin purchase

  • As institutional involvement increases, major cryptos are becoming less attractive to investors.
  • Traders looking for asymmetric opportunities are looking at early-stage projects such as Bitcoin Pepe.
  • The project’s presale has raised close to $16 million.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $107,000 on Friday, placing it just 4% below its all-time high.

Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) are also nearing key resistance levels, with potential breakouts in these assets likely to draw renewed investor interest and signal further upside.

After dipping to a daily low of $98,200 on Sunday, Bitcoin avoided a close below the critical $100,000 psychological threshold.

The recovery began on Monday and carried through midweek, with BTC closing above $107,000 on Wednesday and maintaining that level into Friday.

Should Bitcoin sustain its current momentum, a move toward the May 22 all-time high of $111,980 appears within reach.

A decisive close above that mark could open the door to further gains, with the next major target at $120,000.

Institutional adoption remains a key pillar of the ongoing rally, with more firms actively expanding their exposure to digital assets.

As market volatility subsides and institutional involvement increases, major cryptocurrencies are becoming less attractive to investors seeking high-risk, high-reward opportunities.

This environment is driving a shift toward early-stage tokens like Bitcoin Pepe, which are drawing renewed interest from risk-tolerant capital amid improving sentiment across the crypto market.

With traders increasingly turning to speculative corners of the space, high-volatility assets such as Bitcoin Pepe are emerging as prominent beneficiaries of the current momentum.

Bakkt is looking to raise $1 billion

Crypto software firm Bakkt Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange—the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange—is seeking to raise up to $1 billion through a mix of securities offerings, with potential plans to allocate some of the proceeds toward Bitcoin purchases.

In a Form S-3 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Bakkt outlined its intention to offer a combination of Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, or other hybrid instruments, up to a total of $1 billion.

The filing also disclosed a recent update to the company’s investment policy, allowing it to allocate capital into Bitcoin and other digital assets as part of its broader treasury and corporate strategy.

While no purchases have been made yet, the company stated that acquisitions could be funded using excess cash, future equity or debt financing, or other capital sources.

This shelf registration gives Bakkt the flexibility to access capital markets quickly when conditions are favorable—a significant consideration given its ongoing financial challenges, including a history of operating losses and going-concern warnings.

Bitcoin Pepe rides the BTC wave

As Bitcoin continues its strong rebound and approaches a potential new all-time high, institutional participation remains a key factor supporting broader market sentiment.

Simultaneously, investor appetite is shifting toward higher-beta segments, with meme coins once again attracting capital inflows.

Among the projects gaining traction is Bitcoin Pepe, which distinguishes itself by blending meme culture with Layer 2 infrastructure capabilities.

Unlike typical meme tokens driven solely by social momentum, Bitcoin Pepe is positioned as the first meme-centric Layer 2 solution on the Bitcoin network.

The project seeks to deliver scalability and transaction speeds comparable to platforms like Solana, while preserving the security of Bitcoin’s base layer.

Its ongoing presale has raised over $15.9 million, with the BPEP token currently priced at $0.0437.

A price increase is expected once contributions cross the $17.07 million threshold.

According to the team, BPEP will be listed on BitMart and MEXC, with another listing announcement planned for June 30.

These upcoming milestones continue to support investor interest as the presale enters its final phase.

The post Best crypto to buy now as Bakkt Holdings maybe planning a Bitcoin purchase appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Across Protocol price drops 11% amid allegations of $23M ACX token misappropriation

  • Across Protocol price dropped 11% in 24 hours, testing critical support at $0.13.
  • Declines come amid allegations that Across Protocol’s team misappropriated $23 million in ACX tokens.
  • The allegations are “lies”, according to a response on X by an Across Protocol co-founder.

The Across Protocol, a cross-chain intents platform, has seen its native token ACX plunge 11% in the past 24 hours amid an alleged insider misconduct.

Market data shows ACX price falling sharply to lows of $0.13. It coincides with allegations that the protocol’s team manipulated governance proposals voting to benefit from approximately $23 million in ACX tokens.

The claims have added significant downward pressure to Across Protocol’s price, even as Bitcoin holds above $107k to bolster overall sentiment.

Observers note that the claims could erode investor trust, including in other decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

Across Protocol team allegedly misappropriated $23m ACX tokens

Allegations against the Across Protocol team emerged on X, raised by Ogle, co-founder of cross-chain Layer 1 Glue Network and advisor at World Liberty Financial (WLFI).

Ogle shared the accusations in a post on X early Friday, June 27, 2025.

The main part of the accusation is that the Across Protocol team orchestrated a scheme to misappropriate $23 million in ACX tokens.

What happened?

According to the post, the team manipulated governance votes to transfer 150 million ACX tokens to Risk Labs through two separate proposals.

The first, in October 2023, allocated 100 million ACX tokens under the pretext of supporting future development, with assurances that the tokens would not be sold for two years.

However, Ogle claims Risk Labs began selling token option agreements to external investors shortly after.

A second vote in October 2024 secured 50 million ACX tokens for “retroactive funding.”

The vote allegedly passed due to votes from insider-controlled wallets. The vote would unlikely have passed without the insider manipulation.

“More directly, the extraction of these $ACX tokens directly harms the current and future holders by not only draining the treasury, but also creating significant future potential sell pressure during the “unlocks,” Ogle wrote.

Notably, Hart Lambur, co-founder of Across Protocol dismissed the claims in a post on X, responding to Ogle:

“The allegations in here are  categorically untrue and I will vigorously defend our protocol and our team.”

Lambur said his team will respond fully to Ogle’s “lies.”

ACX price drops amid market reaction

The ACX token was already facing some sell-off pressure having dropped from highs of $0.23 in late May.

But the reaction to the allegations has helped push ACX lower, with the token shedding 11% of its value in the past 24 hours to see its losses in the past month reach 41%.

Data from CoinMarketCap indicates that the Across Protocol price has declined by 14% over the past week.

The declines, however, happen amid a broader crypto market that remains volatile. Geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties are the major concerns.

The post Across Protocol price drops 11% amid allegations of $23M ACX token misappropriation appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Bitcoin holds above $107K ahead of major quarterly options expiry

  • Bitcoin (BTC) held steady above $107,500 ahead of a major options expiry on Friday.
  • 38% of Deribit’s $40B in BTC options open interest will expire, with a “max pain” price of $102,000.
  • Bitcoin’s implied volatility has dropped from 50% in April to 38%, signaling increased market confidence.

Bitcoin traded within a narrow range during US hours on Thursday, holding steady above the $107,000 mark as traders positioned themselves ahead of a significant quarterly options expiry scheduled for Friday.

While the broader crypto market saw slight declines, Bitcoin’s stability belied the underlying tension of a massive volume of derivatives contracts nearing their conclusion.

The top cryptocurrency was last changing hands around $107,500, down a negligible 0.2% over the past 24 hours.

In contrast, the CoinDesk 20—an index tracking the top 20 digital assets excluding stablecoins, exchange coins, and some memecoins—lost 0.9% during the same period, indicating some weakness in the altcoin market.

Market participants are keenly focused on Friday’s event, which is set to be one of the largest options expiries of the year.

“This Friday marks one of the largest option expiries of the year on Deribit,” Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer at the popular derivatives exchange Deribit, told CoinDesk.

He noted that the total open interest for Bitcoin options currently stands at a staggering $40 billion, and a substantial 38% of these contracts are set to expire on Friday.

A key metric that traders are watching is the “max pain” price, which is the strike price at which the largest number of options (both puts and calls) would expire worthless, theoretically causing the maximum financial loss for option holders.

“Max pain price for Friday is at $102,000, with a put/call ratio of 0.73,” Péquignot said. This suggests a potential gravitational pull towards the $102,000 level as the expiry approaches.

Volatility eases, but caution remains

Despite the looming expiry, market volatility has shown signs of calming down.

Bitcoin’s implied volatility, as measured by the Deribit DVOL index, has dropped to 38% from the 50% levels seen during a wild April.

According to Péquignot, this could signal that “the market is increasingly confident in the cryptocurrency’s macro-hedge role.”

However, an analysis of put-call skews reveals no clear directional bias among traders in the short term, indicating a state of market neutrality.

Péquignot emphasized that the $105,000 level for Bitcoin is pivotal from a technical standpoint, suggesting that “technicals suggest caution if support fails.”

He also noted that “low open interest in perps [perpetual futures] and fairly depressed Bitcoin implied volatility and skew are indicative of limited expectations for sharp price movements going into Friday’s expiry.”

Crypto stocks show divergent performance

In the equity markets, several crypto-related stocks managed to post gains on Thursday.

Core Scientific (CORZ) was a standout performer, surging more than 33% following a report from The Wall Street Journal suggesting that the Bitcoin miner may soon be acquired by AI Hyperscaler CoreWeave (CRWV).

Other notable gainers included Circle (CRCL), Coinbase (COIN), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and Hut 8 (HUT), which were all higher by 5%-7%. In contrast, Strategy (MSTR) was down nearly 1%.

While stablecoins like USDT and USDC have been dominating US headlines recently, thanks to the GENIUS Act and Circle’s (CRCL) blockbuster IPO, a quieter but equally significant strategic adoption of these assets is reshaping cross-border finance in Asia.

Behind the scenes, stablecoins are already playing an important role in the region’s financial plumbing.

Asian banks are increasingly viewing stablecoins not just as a speculative asset class, but as a defensive tool to guard against potential deposit flight and to protect against lost transaction revenue.

Amy Zhang, Head of Asia at Fireblocks, explained in a recent interview with CoinDesk that major banks across Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong are proactively exploring the creation of their own local-currency stablecoins to mitigate these emerging threats.

“If I’m not one of the banks banking Circle or banking Tether, am I going to lose deposits?” Zhang told CoinDesk, articulating the core concern driving this exploration.

“That’s a huge risk for banks.”

This strategic consideration highlights a deeper, more utility-focused integration of digital assets that is unfolding in the East, often away from the glare of Western market speculation.

The post Bitcoin holds above $107K ahead of major quarterly options expiry appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Ledger to discontinue its Nano S hardware wallet model

  • Nano S devices already in use will still function, but future compatibility with apps and protocols is not guaranteed.
  • Ledger has advised all Nano S owners to ensure they have securely backed up their 24-word Secret Recovery Phrase.
  • The decision to discontinue the Nano S hardware wallet has been met with serious criticism.

In a move that has stirred debate across the crypto community, Ledger has announced it will discontinue its long-standing Nano S hardware wallet.

The announcement, made as part of Ledger’s Spring 2025 update, marks the end of an era for one of the most widely used crypto security devices launched in 2016.

Nano S has reached its technical limits

Ledger stated that the Nano S hardware has reached its technical limits, making it increasingly difficult to support modern blockchain applications and advanced security features.

According to the company, the device’s limited flash memory and RAM have become a major constraint in today’s evolving crypto environment.

The Nano S was originally equipped with a Secure Element chip (ST31H320) offering 320 KB of flash memory, which was sufficient at the time of release.

However, Ledger now says that memory is no longer enough to support features such as Clear Signing, Ledger Recover, NFT transfers, swaps through THORChain and Uniswap, or even multiple apps running simultaneously.

The company emphasised that while the Nano S is still usable, it will no longer receive firmware updates, security patches, or new app support.

Ledger wants Nano S users to upgrade

Ledger is urging its customers to transition to newer models such as the Nano S Plus, Nano X, Ledger Stax, or the recently introduced Ledger Flex.

The company maintains that upgraded devices come with more storage, enhanced usability, and compatibility with upcoming blockchain technologies.

Ledger also introduced the Ledger Recovery Key, a new offline tool for private key recovery that works without internet or cloud services.

This innovation allows users to store their keys securely on a smart card protected by a PIN and accessible via NFC, while avoiding the identity verification process that drew criticism for its predecessor, Ledger Recover.

Despite these additions, the transition away from Nano S has not been smooth in the eyes of many long-time users.

Backlash over the forced migration

Numerous crypto users have expressed disappointment and anger over what they describe as an abrupt and unnecessary discontinuation.

On platforms like X (formerly Twitter), users argue that the Nano S remains functional and accuse Ledger of pushing forced upgrades that compromise trust.

One user, @BAYC5511, called Ledger “absolutely worthless,” criticising the company for disregarding customers who bought Nano S devices during the 2021–2023 bull run.

Another user, @STRYED0R, pointed out that the memory limitations have always existed and are not a valid reason for ending support now.

These sentiments reflect a broader concern that Ledger is abandoning backward compatibility, thereby risking the trust it spent years building.

Ledger has defended its decision

In response to the backlash, Ledger has reiterated that the Nano S reached end-of-life status back in 2022, and this final phase-out was part of a long-communicated transition.

The company clarified that the Nano S Plus, which retains the same form factor but includes more memory and ongoing support, remains fully operational.

To ease the shift, Ledger is offering a 20% discount for users upgrading from the Nano S to a newer device.

Despite this gesture, many users have called for free replacements, claiming that security should not come at an extra cost for early adopters.

The post Ledger to discontinue its Nano S hardware wallet model appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Wormhole price jumps 12% amid Ripple’s XRPL integration

  • Wormhole (W) price rose 12% amid news of a Ripple partnership.
  • Ripple has integrated Wormhole’s cross-chain protocol with XRPL mainnet and EVM Sidechain to connect to 35+ blockchains.
  • Wormhole’s integration strengthens XRPL’s open, flexible infrastructure.

Wormhole’s native token, W, surged by more than 12% on Thursday as the market reacted to a major announcement for Ripple.

As of writing, W traded to highs of $0.068, reflecting overall enthusiasm as multiple altcoins rode market sentiment to record decent gains.

Ripple and Wormhole partner to bolster XRPL’s multichain interoperability

Ripple announced on June 26 that it was teaming up with Wormhole, a leading cross-chain interoperability protocol, to expand XRPL’s multichain capabilities.

The integration will see Ripple tap into Wormhole’s interoperability network to connect both the XRP Ledger mainnet and the XRPL EVM Sidechain to over 35 blockchain networks.

With the multichain capabilities, developers can transfer XRPL assets like XRP, Issued Assets (IOUs), and Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPTs) across the supported chains.

Developers will also be able to interact with smart contracts using cross-chain messaging, Ripple said in the blog post.

“By integrating Wormhole into the XRP Ledger, we’re helping unlock even greater potential spanning all major blockchains for one of the most established blockchain networks in enterprise finance—further advancing its role as a foundation for regulated, interoperable digital asset ecosystems,” Robinson Burkey, co-founder of Wormhole Foundation, said in a statement.

The partnership aligns with XRPL’s open architecture, which emphasizes flexibility and composability for developers and institutions building applications in DeFi, tokenized assets, and real-world assets (RWAs).

Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, emphasized the importance of interoperability for mass adoption, noting that this collaboration broadens XRPL’s reach while maintaining its reliability for institutional use cases.

“If you want real mass adoption, interoperability is essential. The infrastructure has to be there, not just on one chain, but across them. With this integration, tokens natively issued on the XRP Ledger are being set up for that reality by being able to move between blockchain networks while maintaining native issuance, and control,” Schwartz noted.

W price jumps 12% as market reacts to news

Following the announcement, Wormhole’s token experienced a notable surge.

Data on CoinMarketCap showed the W price was up more than 12% in the past 24 hours.

The W token’s price jumped from lows of $0.059 to $0.068 after Ripple, the company behind XRP and RLUSD, announced its integration of Wormhole to bring multichain interoperability to the XRP Ledger.

Upside momentum saw the daily volume for Wormhole spike a staggering 570% to over $187 million, with the market cap hitting $315 million.

This price movement highlights the market’s recognition of interoperability as a critical driver of blockchain adoption, with Wormhole positioned as a leading facilitator.

XRP, which traded above $2.02, did not react as much, with its price down 2.8% in the past 24 hours at the time of writing.

The post Wormhole price jumps 12% amid Ripple’s XRPL integration appeared first on CoinJournal.