Bitcoin at $1 million? MicroStrategy buys more

Today's Edition of the Weekly Digest: Bernstein Predicts bitcoin (btc) to Hit $1 Million in 2033; ethereum ETFs Expected to Launch in July; MicroStrategy seeks to buy more btc; and more and more scammers are developing romantic relationships to defraud victims.

Bernstein sees btc at $1 million despite market uncertainty

• Pepe coin (PEPE) saw an 11% rise in 24 hours to $0.0000129, with a rapid increase in volume to $1.27 billion. Toncoin (TON) also saw a similar rise, reaching a new all-time high of $8.13.
• Interestingly, Mantra (OM) also hit a new all-time high of $1.0924 last week amid expansion efforts in the UAE and project development.
• The nft market saw a 17% increase, reaching $145.3 million in sales. bitcoin led this surge with a 50% increase in nft sales, surpassing ethereum in volume.
• bitcoin price fell to $66,000 ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision. Analysts noted that similar market behaviors have been observed in previous FOMC-related scenarios.
• Despite the bearish sentiment across the market last week, asset manager Bernstein forecast bitcoin to rise to $1 million by 2033. They also predicted bitcoin would hit $200,000 this cycle, driven by ETF-driven demand.
• bitcoin and ethereum balances on exchanges hit a four-year low, falling below 2.3 million and 16 million respectively, as investors continued to withdraw their assets from exchanges.

crypto ETF Developments

• btc ETF outflows hit $200 million on June 11 ahead of the Federal Reserve's inflation data. These outflows occurred as investors anticipated the impacts of the upcoming data release.
• Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas suggested that ethereum ETFs could go live in July. The potential launch follows recent SEC filings and market preparations.

Main regulatory actions

• Nigeria dropped tax charges against Binance executives Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan. The government dropped the charges after reviewing the evidence and circumstances.
• In a regulatory effort, Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the operating license of crypto exchange Zipmex, citing regulatory compliance issues.
• Meanwhile, in the US, the Federal Trade Commission warned of cryptoromance scams. The FTC reported an increase in scams in which scammers develop romantic relationships to defraud victims of their cryptocurrency holdings.
• Additionally, OFAC sanctioned an employee at Polyus, a Russian state-owned gold producer, for laundering money through cryptocurrencies. The individual used cryptocurrencies to facilitate money laundering operations.

Investments in blockchain increase

• Last week, Paradigm announced an $850 million fund for early-stage crypto projects. The fund will support startups developing blockchain technology and applications.
• Blockchain startups raise $109.3 million in major funding rounds.
• MicroStrategy revealed plans to buy more bitcoin with an offering of $500 million in convertible notes. Shortly after, the company increased the offer to $700 million.
• Fireblocks expanded its connectivity by joining forces with Coinbase International Exchange.
• Ripple bets on dominance in Asia with new blockchain fund. The fund is designed to support blockchain projects in the Asian market. Ripple aims to strengthen its presence in the region through this initiative.

Cryptocurrency Hits and Runs

• OKX customers were victims of a SIM swapping attack. Hackers hijacked phone numbers to intercept SMS-based 2FA codes and withdraw funds. OKX recommended users adopt app-based authentication methods.
• crypto scammers impersonated Binance co-founder Yi He to defraud victims of $210,000. They used fake identities and convincing communications to trick people into transferring cryptocurrency.
• Hackers stole more than $22 million from British stock exchange Lykke. The platform launched an investigation to identify the attackers and is strengthening security protocols.
• UwU Lend also lost $19.3 million in a hack. The attackers exploited a vulnerability in the platform's smart contracts. UwU Lend suspended operations to conduct a security audit and fix the issues.

Innovations and partnerships

• Last week, Nuffle Labs, an affiliate of the NEAR Foundation, raised $13 million. The funds will be used to develop blockchain solutions and expand Nuffle Labs' operational capabilities.
• The IOTA Foundation's Web3 protocol was chosen for the EU Blockchain Sandbox Initiative. This includes IOTA in its efforts to provide Web3 solutions for blockchain integration across Europe.
• Polygon launched a new grant program with 1 billion POL. The program supports and funds innovative projects within the Polygon ecosystem.
• Polygon also committed 35 million MATIC to support projects developing on its network.