Hodler’s Digest, June 2-8 – Cointelegraph Magazine

Top Stories This Week

GameStop rally sends Roaring Kitty’s shares to $1B

Keith Gill, also known by his internet nicknames “Roaring Kitty” and “DeepFuckingValue,” could soon emerge as a billionaire due to his investments in GameStop (GME) shares. The trader, known for the GameStop short squeeze in 2021, has seen his holdings rise in value after he announced a new $180 million investment in GME shares. The announcement led to a significant increase in GameStop’s stock price, boosting its market capitalization and ranking it among the top 400 public companies in the U.S. Meanwhile, Gill faces scrutiny and a potential investigation for market manipulation.

Bitcoin open interest goes meteoric, traders warn of a ‘whipsaw’

Bitcoin’s open interest increased by $2.02 billion over three days, totaling $36.92 billion on June 6. The spike has led traders to speculate about a potential “whipsaw” effect — a sudden reversal in price direction — due to the high volume of leveraged positions. Experts suggest that while this might lead to short-term price corrections, it also shows increased speculative activity that could influence Bitcoin’s price volatility.

New law grants US president power to block digital asset access

A new U.S. law grants the president significant powers to block access to digital assets, specifically targeting foreign entities linked to terrorism. The law, called the Terrorism Financing Prevention Act, defines digital assets broadly, encompassing any digital representation of value cryptographically recorded on distributed ledgers. Critics argue that the law’s expansive scope could push users toward Know Your Customer-compliant, permissioned blockchains, effectively controlling the digital asset landscape.

Largest Bitcoin mining firm sold 63% of mined BTC in May

Marathon Digital sold 63% of its Bitcoin production in May, which amounted to 390 out of 616 BTC mined, according to its first report following the Bitcoin halving event. The large sale was contrasted by other mining firms like Riot Platforms, which sold none of its Bitcoin, and CleanSpark, which sold a small portion. Miners are seeking to expand their fleets and improve efficiency to remain competitive as rewards shrink. CleanSpark, for example, is said to be “highly active in the M&A space,” while Marathon is exploring overseas opportunities.

Crypto exchanges see $3B Ethereum exit since ETF approvals

Over $3 billion worth of Ether has been removed from centralized crypto exchanges since the May 23 approval of spot Ether exchange-traded funds in the United States — signaling a potential upcoming supply squeeze. The amount of Ether on exchanges fell by around 797,000 between May 23 and June 2, equivalent to $3.02 billion, according to CryptoQuant data. Lower exchange reserves imply fewer coins are available for sale as investors move their own coins to self-custody for purposes other than immediate selling.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $71,248, Ether (ETH) at $3,813 and XRP at $0.52. The total market cap is at $2.64 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Notcoin (NOT) at 82.72%, JasmyCoin (JASMY) at 38.05% and ORDI (ORDI) at 26.99%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Bitget Token (BGB) at -11.60%, Beam (BEAM) at -10.93% and Bonk (BONK) at -9.70%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“This is really the first wave of the early adopters, and I think the next wave is the much bigger institutions.”

Jenny Johnson, president and CEO of Franklin Templeton

“By the end of the decade, they [AGI machines] will be smarter than you or I; we will have superintelligence, in the true sense of the word.”

Leopold Aschenbrenner, former researcher at OpenAI

“Carefully balancing sensible regulation with strong research is the foundation of Switzerland’s success. […] Innovation needs freedom to be creative!”

Alexander Brunner, adviser for AI, blockchain, and Web3 companies

“If people understood the ramifications of the shift in [Washington D.C.], the crypto market would be at new all-time highs.”

Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management

“We aren’t Ethereum maxis; we are scaling maxis.”

Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare

“[The] SEC knew it was in a corner on ETH ETF.”

Bernstein

Prediction of the week

Bitcoin bull run’s ‘most important chart’ hits new $94T all-time high

Bitcoin stands to boost its current bull run thanks to a record high in global liquidity. A recent analysis by Philip Swift, creator of on-chain data platform LookIntoBitcoin, shows liquidity worldwide nearing $100 trillion.

Bitcoin and crypto markets are famously sensitive to global liquidity trends. That is the conclusion from Swift, whose platform tracks the world’s M2 money supply and compares it to BTC price behavior.

In United States dollar terms, M2 is now at $94 trillion — more than ever before and $3 trillion higher than when Bitcoin hit its old $69,000 all-time high in late 2021.

Since hitting local lows of $85 trillion in late 2022 — coinciding with the pit of the crypto bear market — M2 has rebounded a full 10%.

“The most important chart for this bull run has just made a new all-time high,” Swift wrote, in part, on X. “Are you ready?

FUD of the Week

Hackers exploit Chrome plugin to steal millions from Binance accounts

A Chinese trader lost $1 million to a hacking scam using a promotional Google Chrome plugin called Aggr. The promotional plugin steals cookies from users, which hackers use to bypass password and two-factor authentication verification and log into the victim’s Binance account. Pseudonymous trader CryptoNakamao shared the distressing experience on May 24 after discovering unauthorized trading activity on their Binance account. By the time they sought help from Binance’s support, all the funds had already been withdrawn by the hacker.

NY Attorney charges 3 tied to ‘Evolved Apes’ NFT scam

Three British nationals tied to the “Evolved Apes” nonfungible token “rug pull” scam have been charged in the United States for conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The defendants allegedly drove up the prices of 10,000 NFTs on false promises that they would develop a video game before transferring the funds out and abandoning the project, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a June 6 statement.

Developer posts secret key on GitHub, loses $40K in 2 minutes

Brian Guan, the co-founder of the Web3 streaming app Unlonely, reported losing $40,000 after accidentally making his wallet keys public on GitHub. He shared on X that the secret keys were in a repository he made public. The developer said he forgot that his secret keys were in the repository. When asked about the timeline of the theft, Guan revealed that it took just two minutes for someone to exploit the exposed keys and drain his funds.

Top Magazine Pieces of the Week

Become a Bali crypto digital nomad like me: Here’s how

It’s 61.5% cheaper to live as a Bali crypto digital nomad in an island paradise than it is to live in the US. So what’s stopping you?

Polygon never set out to beat Ethereum: Anurag Arjun, X Hall of Flame

Polygon and Avail co-founder Anurag Arjun says the pivot to a PoS network was to “ship something useful to users to get feedback again.”

Longevity expert: AI will help us become ‘biologically immortal’ from 2030

“Longevity Escape Velocity” is when our lifespans are extended by technology faster than we’re aging. Jose Luis Cordeiro says it’ll happen around 2030.

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Editorial Staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.