Escalating geopolitical tensions drove a sharp crypto market crash after US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, with liquidations exceeding $701 million and major tokens posting steep losses. Regulatory developments accelerated in Europe as Coinbase secured a MiCA license and established Luxembourg as its EU headquarters, while Norway announced a temporary ban on new crypto mining data centres to conserve energy.
The cryptocurrency market experienced a sharp selloff, with liquidations surpassing $701 million, after US President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. The strikes marked the US's first direct military action in the Iran-Israel conflict, leading to significant losses across major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, both of which fell by more than 5% over the past week. The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, including continued missile exchanges, further contributed to the market downturn, with altcoins also posting substantial declines.
Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal stated that macroeconomic data indicates the current cryptocurrency market cycle is unfolding in a way that is "spookily similar" to the 2017 cycle, and could potentially continue into the second quarter of 2026.
Coinbase CEO stated that the world needs cryptocurrency more than ever due to rising economic challenges, including soaring debt, persistent inflation, and declining trust in financial institutions. He emphasized that debt is growing exponentially, inflation is impacting entire nations, and economic freedom is on the decline.
A local expert reports that a growing number of young people in South Korea are investing in cryptocurrency, not due to confidence in the technology, but as a last resort in response to ongoing economic difficulties.
Retail investors' bullish sentiment in the crypto market dropped sharply in June 2025, hitting its lowest level since early April, according to the latest data.
Lionsgate Network CEO and Founder Bezalel Eithan Raviv stated that a recent hack targeting an Iranian crypto exchange demonstrates the evolution of warfare into a digital battlefield, characterized by conflicts fought with code rather than conventional weapons and resulting in no fatalities.
Coinbase has obtained a Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license from Luxembourg's Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), granting the US-based crypto exchange full regulatory clearance to offer its services across all 27 European Union member states. With this approval, Coinbase is shifting its main EU hub from Ireland to Luxembourg and opening a field office there, joining other exchanges such as OKX and Bybit in leveraging regulatory clarity provided by MiCA. The move raises questions about regulatory shopping in smaller EU countries as exchanges seek favorable jurisdictions for their European operations.
Europe has seen an increase in crypto flows due to the regulatory clarity provided by MiCA's licensing framework, according to Paybis. This trend persists even as retail crypto activity in the US has declined, despite the presence of a crypto-friendly Trump administration.
A new OMFIF blog and industry experts highlight that the United Kingdom is losing its early advantage in digital asset and distributed ledger technology (DLT) finance due to delayed regulatory action. While the EU enforces its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework and the US advances with the Genius Act, the UK's regulatory ambiguity is causing it to lag behind, raising concerns about its competitiveness in the sector.
Norway's government has announced plans to impose a temporary ban, effective as early as autumn 2025, on the construction of new data centres dedicated to power-intensive cryptocurrency mining. The move aims to conserve renewable electricity for more productive, job-creating industries and to support national climate goals, amid concerns over the substantial energy consumption of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The ban follows an official investigation into crypto miners' energy use and reflects a policy shift to prioritise sectors that benefit the broader Norwegian economy.
Kraken is establishing a new headquarters in Wyoming, marking its first official base since closing its San Francisco office in 2022. The move comes as the crypto exchange cites Wyoming's regulatory environment as a key factor, following previous reports of employee safety issues in San Francisco.
Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a public consultation on proposed rules that would allow crypto exchanges to issue and list their own utility tokens. The new standards require full disclosure of issuers and related parties, with a 90-day period for exchanges to update legacy token data. The consultation aims to clarify crypto industry regulations, enhance market integrity, and strengthen investor safeguards, with feedback accepted until July 21.
South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has submitted a roadmap to the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning, outlining plans to approve spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and launch a Korean won-based stablecoin market. The proposals aim for implementation by the second half of this year or by late 2025, marking a significant shift in the country's digital asset regulatory framework.
The SEC has adopted a new approach to staking, marking a significant shift in US crypto regulation. This move demonstrates the agency's willingness to engage with the technology behind blockchain, aiming to create more effective policies and encourage blockchain innovation to remain within the United States.
Coinbase is preparing to introduce crypto perpetual futures in the US as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reconsiders its previous position on these high-risk financial products, signaling growing momentum for such offerings in the market.
According to analysts, China could address the risk of stablecoin-driven dollarization by issuing a yuan-based stablecoin. They note that Hong Kong, which has already established regulations for stablecoins, could serve as the origin for such a token.
Shares of South Korea's KakaoPay have soared 200% over the past month as the company, a payment services subsidiary of Kakao, filed patent applications related to stablecoins.
The Wyoming Stable Token Commission is planning to launch its state-backed stablecoin, WYST, in August after years of preparation. The commission has set August 20 as the target date for the mainnet launch and is evaluating several blockchain platforms, including Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, Sei, Solana, Stellar, and Sui, as potential candidates for the stablecoin’s deployment.
According to a newly released report by Fireblocks, 49% of global financial institutions are now using stablecoins. The survey highlights that these institutions are adopting stablecoins as strategic tools for cross-border payments, market expansion, and improving operational efficiency.
Crypto media outlet Cointelegraph confirmed its website was compromised by a front-end exploit on Sunday, allowing attackers to inject a malicious pop-up that falsely advertised “CoinTelegraph ICO Airdrops” and “CTG tokens.” The incident is part of a broader trend of phishing attacks targeting crypto platforms by luring users with fake token rewards.
Crypto data provider CoinMarketCap experienced a security breach on Friday, during which hackers compromised its homepage and displayed a deceptive popup urging visitors to connect or "verify" their crypto wallets. The company has since removed the malicious popup and restored normal website operations.
French police have arrested five individuals, including a minor, in connection with the kidnapping of a crypto mogul's father. The arrests come nearly six months after the high-profile incident occurred in France.
Elliptic and the Internet Watch Foundation have formed a partnership to address the use of cryptocurrencies in financing child abuse material, following findings that cryptocurrencies are the most commonly offered payment method on child abuse websites.
North Korean hacking groups are increasingly targeting cryptocurrency professionals by disguising Python-based malware, such as the newly identified "PylangGhost," within fake job application and interview processes. Researchers at Cisco Talos report that these cybercriminals impersonate recruiters from major companies like Coinbase to steal credentials from over 80 browser extensions and crypto wallets. Decentralized protocols remain particularly vulnerable, as highlighted by previous incidents such as the $625 million Ronin bridge exploit in 2022.
A 23-year-old man was kidnapped in the Paris suburb of Maisons-Alfort, marking France’s tenth crypto-related “wrench attack” of 2025. The attackers forced the victim’s partner to hand over a private key to a Ledger hardware wallet and €5,000 in cash. The number of tokens in the wallet remains unknown, and the perpetrators have not been apprehended. This incident highlights a growing trend of violent attacks targeting digital asset owners in France and across Europe.
Former Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has issued an urgent warning to the cryptocurrency community, advising users not to install software from unofficial sources. The warning follows a sophisticated artificial intelligence-powered deepfake attack that targeted and victimized Japanese crypto influencer Mai Fujimoto, also known as "Miss Bitcoin."
Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky has agreed to forfeit all claims to any recovery from the Celsius bankruptcy. This agreement prevents Mashinsky from receiving any funds from the bankruptcy proceedings, enabling a greater distribution of assets to the company's creditors.
FTX lawyers have rejected Three Arrows Capital's (3AC) $1.5 billion claim against the bankrupt exchange, arguing that creditors should not be responsible for covering losses from 3AC's risky leveraged trading strategy. The legal team stated that 3AC's claim is based on faulty arguments and "defies logic," asserting that the defunct trading firm is owed nothing from the FTX bankruptcy estate.
Crypto exchange OKX is reportedly preparing to go public in the United States, reflecting a broader trend in the crypto industry to take advantage of favorable U.S. market conditions. This move comes on the heels of Circle's highly successful IPO earlier this month, which has spurred increased investor demand and prompted other major crypto firms to consider public listings.
Tools for Humanity, owned by Sam Altman and behind the World project, has acquired the Dawn crypto wallet amid a global expansion campaign. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman confirmed that the platform is considering using World’s iris-scanning “Orb” devices to verify real human users while maintaining anonymity. World assigns unique IDs to individuals who prove their humanity through an eyeball scan with an electronic orb.
Blockdaemon has introduced Earn Stack, a non-custodial service aimed at institutional clients, offering DeFi yield farming and proof-of-stake (PoS) staking across over 50 protocols.
The total value of real-world assets that have been tokenized has reached $24 billion, with major financial institutions increasingly participating by tokenizing assets such as U.S. Treasuries and real estate. This surge reflects growing interest and investment from Wall Street in the tokenization trend, though questions remain about its long-term sustainability.
Former SpaceX manager and Stackup co-founder John Rising has raised $4.2 million for the crypto platform Stackup. The platform uses account abstraction technology, which Rising says allows businesses to avoid catastrophic failures on-chain and improve user safety.
On June 14, 2025, Kyiv hosted Incrypted Conference 2025 at the Parkovy Convention and Exhibition Center, attracting nearly 3,000 attendees from Ukraine and around the world. Organized by Incrypted, Ukraine's largest crypto media outlet, the event reaffirmed its status as the biggest crypto conference in Eastern Europe and served as a major gathering for the Web3 community.
Standard Chartered has identified private equity as the next major sector poised for tokenization, according to a report highlighted in the US Crypto News Morning Briefing. The bank expects increased adoption of blockchain technology in private equity markets, signaling a potential boom in tokenized assets within the sector.
Get access to institutional-grade market intelligence every weekday in your email: