As I step onto the plane leaving Gardermoen Airport in Oslo, Norway, the weight and warmth of the past week settles into my chest.

The Oslo Freedom Forum is not a conference. It’s not a summit. It’s something harder to name and even harder to describe — a convergence of courage, truth and defiance that burns through the noise of the modern world and gives you no choice but to listen, feel and act.

For the second time, I leave this city more convinced than ever that something unstoppable is rising. That amid the censorship, surveillance and state repression spreading across the globe, there is a countervailing force rooted in humanity, accelerated by technology and led by those…

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Minnesota-based SharpLink Gaming has made headlines by purchasing over 176,000 ETH worth $463 million to support its Ethereum-focused treasury strategy. The bold move makes the Nasdaq-listed firm the second-largest known holder of Ethereum behind only the Ethereum Foundation. CEO Rob Phythian called the decision a major milestone in public company adoption of digital assets.

SharpLink aims to position Ethereum as its primary reserve asset reflecting strong belief in its role as programmable capital for the future of web3 and decentralized finance. The company recently secured $425 million in a private placement led by Consensys with participation from leading crypto investors like ParaFi Capital and Galaxy Digital.

The firm also raised an additional $79 million through share sales to expand its ETH holdings. Despite a 70% stock drop on June 12 due to a possible resale of 68 million shares SharpLink remains committed to building the largest Ethereum treasury among public companies. ETH traded at $2,544 at the time of reporting.

Arkham

Bluebird Mining Ventures Ltd., a pan Asian gold project development company, recently announced a major strategic shift. It plans to convert future revenues from its gold mining projects into bitcoin and adopt bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. 

“By adopting a ‘gold plus a digital gold’ strategy, it offers the Company an opportunity to turn the page and look to the future and seek to attract a new type of shareholder,” said the Executive Director and CEO of Bluebird Aidan Bishop. “Under the leadership of a new CEO, once identified, it is my sincere hope that Bluebird will finally realise its ambitions for which it was initially established for.”

The…

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With Bitcoin looking as bullish as ever, the inevitable question arises of how high could BTC realistically go in this market cycle? Here we’ll explore a wide range of on-chain valuation models and cycle timing tools to identify plausible price targets for a Bitcoin peak. Although prediction is never a substitute for disciplined data reaction, this analysis gives us frameworks to better understand where we are and where we might be heading.

Price Forecast Tools

The journey begins with Bitcoin Magazine Pro’s free Price Forecast Tools, which compile several historically accurate valuation models. While it’s always more effective to react to data rather than blindly predict…

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Top American retailers like Amazon, Walmart and travel company Expedia are exploring the launch of their own stablecoins to reduce payment processing expenses. This move could help merchants save billions in fees paid to credit card networks such as Visa and Mastercard. These fees typically range between 1 to 3% per transaction which adds up quickly for companies handling massive payment volumes.

Stablecoins offer faster and cheaper transactions allowing merchants to receive funds instantly rather than waiting up to three business days. Faster settlements could improve cash flow and help businesses manage global supply chains more efficiently especially for international supplier payments. Companies are considering developing their own coins or using external stablecoins issued by a consortium.

Major US banks like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are also exploring stablecoin strategies to compete with digital asset platforms. The future of these initiatives hinges on the GENIUS Act which aims to set a stablecoin regulatory framework. A final Senate vote on the bill is expected on June 17.

The Wall Street Journal

Japan-listed tech firm Remixpoint has boosted its cryptocurrency portfolio by purchasing an additional 56.87 Bitcoin. The company revealed this strategic move through an official announcement highlighting a total investment of approximately $5,915,000 dollars. The purchase was made at an average price of $104,000 per Bitcoin signaling strong confidence in the future of digital assets.

With this latest acquisition Remixpoint’s total Bitcoin holdings now stand at 1,038.27 BTC. The growing interest of institutional players like Remixpoint underscores the increasing acceptance of Bitcoin as a legitimate financial asset. This move also reflects a broader trend among companies looking to hedge against traditional market volatility by turning to cryptocurrency.

Source

Shopify is launching native stablecoin payments this month allowing select US merchants to accept USDC through its platform. This marks the company’s biggest crypto step yet powered by partnerships with Coinbase and Stripe. Merchants accepting USDC will get up to 0.5% cashback on transactions while customers paying in USDC will soon enjoy cash-back rewards too.

The program will be opt-out meaning all eligible merchants will automatically accept USDC unless they manually disable it. Shopify aims to expand this feature to all merchants across the US and Europe by the end of 2025. Coinbase built the crypto payments system on its Base blockchain handling refunds and chargebacks. Stripe has added USDC support directly into Shopify’s payment tools.

This integration signals a major leap for stablecoins in mainstream retail. Monthly stablecoin payments have surged to over $6 billion. With crypto infrastructure adopted by giants like Visa PayPal and JPMorgan Shopify is helping bring fast secure borderless payments to millions of businesses.

Source

Coinbase has unveiled the Coinbase One Card its first-ever credit card powered by the American Express network. Announced at the State of Crypto conference the card offers up to 4% back in bitcoin on purchases. Available only to Coinbase One members in the United States the card is issued by First Electronic Bank and offered in partnership with fintech firm Cardless.

American Express leaders emphasized the innovation behind the launch. Will Stredwick from Amex said the card blends crypto rewards with exclusive benefits and protections through the Amex network. Luke Gebb EVP at Amex Digital Labs called crypto and blockchain part of the evolving financial infrastructure highlighting Amex’s focus on real world compliant use cases.

Coinbase also introduced Coinbase Business a new suite designed as an all-in-one crypto account for companies. The dual announcements underline Coinbase and Amex’s commitment to shaping the future of digital payments and financial innovation.

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