Bitcoin and stablecoins dominated digital asset discussions last week.
Bitcoin
“Trump gave markets the biggest inflation-fighting event of 2026, and Bitcoin soared on the news. But I would be cautious about assuming this is the end of Bitcoin’s troubles. There is more pressure on prices than just the Iran war, and these headwinds remain, which is why the bounce has been so muted.”
“First, there’s the Strategy overhang. The company holds about 4% of the circulating Bitcoin supply, but is trading at 84% of Bitcoin’s value and is quickly running out of options to support its share price. On top of that, the quantum threat remains unresolved and ETF flows are slow at best. Additionally, investors are too focused on the current momentum trade (AI) to give Bitcoin the time of day.”
“So far, I don’t see anything on the chart that indicates a return to the structural bull trend. Bitcoin has failed to recover any of the important levels I’m watching, such as the 200-week exponential moving average. If it confidently moves above $70,000 and reclaims previous support levels like $74,000, that would give me more confidence. Until then, this looks more like a dead cat bounce.”
– Nic Puckrinfounder Office Corner
“I’m framing this as a relief move that the market hasn’t quite bought into yet, rather than a redeployment at obvious risk to Bitcoin. The price action itself as described – oil is down 4%-plus and Asian stocks are up 3%-plus in the truce, but BTC has barely budged, holding on to its recent ~$63-$65K range and only reclaiming its two-week high around $65.5K.”
“This hesitation makes sense: this is the third ceasefire attempt, and BTC has completely replaced its aid rallies after the April ceasefire, and both of the June 9 strikes collapsed. Investors appear to be waiting for the June 19 signing in Switzerland to price in anything durable.
“On-chain, I don’t see a convincing reallocation to BTC yet. Spot ETFs have had outflows for four consecutive weeks (~$5.4bn, including a week’s record of ~$3.4bn) and the streak has only paused – so marginal institutional bidding has not clearly returned. Large holders and long-term holders saw net disruption towards the end of May. A constructive signal is steady net outflows from exchanges into cold storage; demand is returning.”
“Net: I’m calling this a short-term relief rally for now, not a regime shift. A real retest of $70,000 would probably need two things to align: ETF flows shifting decisively to the upside and a soft macro backdrop (cheaper oil feed, towards less hawkish central bank policy and less carry trade pressure). With the Fed on the scene this week, that’s the swing factor I’ll be watching.”
– Jimmy Xueco-founder and COO Axis
“Sentiment strengthened in both stock markets and cryptocurrency markets as the macro environment began to become more supportive of risky assets. The US-Iran interim peace deal caused markets to reduce expectations for a Fed rate hike, and the decline in oil prices helped support risk-driven speculation. According to Fed Funds futures, traders are looking at a 75% chance of a Fed hike by the end of the year, a significant drop from the 100% chance just two weeks ago.
“Thus, we saw Bitcoin (BTC) briefly trade at $67,000 after falling to the lowest level last seen in October 2024 earlier in the month, while ETH reclaimed the $1,700 level it had previously tried to break.
“Our data shows us that we are seeing a return to a low volatility environment following the peace agreement announcement. The seven-day BTC ATM IV is trading around 33%, which is just a few points above the 28% low since the beginning of the year. We have seen this pattern of seasonality over the last three years, with demand for options falling to the lowest levels in the summer period between May and September since 2023.”
– Tahbib Rahmanresearch analyst, block Scholes
Stablecoins
“People, companies, and corporations are not going to stop using stablecoins because the stock price of Circle is falling or because a particular protocol token is falling. So if there is a particular company that adopts USDT and other stablecoins because it is faster, cheaper, and better to use in a particular corridor, they will continue to use it regardless of the price of Bitcoin or Ethereum.
“Brazil is one of the 20 largest economies in the world with a currency that cannot be exchanged outside of Brazil. You cannot have a dollar account in Brazil. So by enabling a BRL stablecoin, we can now create a connection, a bridge, for example, between the liquidity of domestic markets and Tether.
“You have a lot of companies offering euro accounts and IBANs, but you don’t see the same thing for the Brazilian real. So I think the end of euro stablecoins is coming, but it’s not as dire as it is for the Brazilian real.
“It’s great to be regulated on one side of the transaction. But I think it really gets the most value from both sides of the transaction being regulated. And also being able to create systems and flows that you wouldn’t normally be able to create if you weren’t regulated on both sides of the transaction.”
– Bernardo BritishCEO, Track Your Finances
SpaceX’s IPO
“From a marketing perspective, SpaceX has done something few companies have done. It has turned extremely complex engineering into mainstream entertainment. Rocket launches are watched like sporting events. Starship test flights make global headlines. Even mishaps often become part of the story rather than detrimental to it. This is an incredibly powerful brand position.”
“The strongest brands don’t just sell products. They sell participation in a larger narrative. SpaceX isn’t actually marketing rockets. It’s marketing the future. Investors, customers, and even casual observers feel like they’re participating in something bigger than themselves. That’s a big reason why demand for a potential IPO is likely to be huge from Day One.”
The company also benefited from something that is becoming increasingly important in modern markets: originality. Whether people like Elon Musk or not, SpaceX has little corporate polish compared to traditional aerospace companies. The company feels ambitious, experimental and mission-driven. In an age where many public companies’ communications are nearly identical, this differentiation is important.
The success of SpaceX’s IPO will likely extend far beyond the company. It could reignite interest in long-term innovation investments. Over the past few years, markets have generally focused on AI, crypto, and short-term trading opportunities. SpaceX reminds investors that some of the biggest opportunities can emerge when real-world engineering problems are solved over decades rather than quarters.
I also think the IPO will be an important test case of how much modern investors value advanced technologies. SpaceX sits at the intersection of aviation, telecommunications, defense infrastructure, manufacturing and data networks through Starlink. Traditional valuation frameworks have difficulty capturing businesses operating across many industries simultaneously. This is a challenge investors will increasingly face as technology companies continue to blur industry boundaries.
“Perhaps the most important implication of this is what happens next. A successful SpaceX IPO could create a roadmap for other ambitious private companies to eventually reach public markets without compromising their long-term vision. For years, most fast-growing companies stayed private longer because founders worried public markets would prioritize quarterly earnings over innovation.”
– Ivan Patriarchco-founder, QuantMap
