Cryptopolitan

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced two major leadership appointments today, June 15, 2026.
Donald Battle now joins the agency as Chief Data Innovation Officer, bringing expertise in blockchain forensics and data science from his time at the SEC and FinCEN.
On the other hand, J. Matthew Haws has been named Senior Advisor to the Chairman and Regional Director for Chicago, drawing on his 13 years of experience in derivatives regulation and legal counsel for global financial institutions.
Battle and Haws are the latest additions to a series of leadership changes initiated by Chairman Michael Selig. Since becoming the agency’s sole commissioner in January 2026, Selig has filled at least eight senior-level positions across departments, including legal, economics, public affairs, and agricultural advisory, in a bid to reshape his leadership team.
Who are the new CFTC hires?
Before the CFTC, Battle worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where he served as a senior advisor to Commissioner Hester Peirce on the SEC’s Crypto Task Force.
Before that role, though, he served as an assistant director in the SEC Enforcement Division’s Data Science Group. He also spent a short while as a virtual currency enforcement officer at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), where he focused on anti-money laundering and counterterrorism obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act.
At the CFTC, Battle will serve in the Division of Data and as a member of the Innovation Task Force.
Selig mentioned that Battle’s background in “data science, blockchain forensics, programming interfaces, and cutting-edge AI solutions” would help drive the agency’s technology efforts, according to the press release.
Battle framed the move as a continuation of his work with Selig. “I was lucky enough to work for Chairman Selig on the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, and to be asked to follow him to the CFTC is a true honor,” he said in the announcement.
Haws, meanwhile, will serve a two-in-one role as senior advisor in the Office of the Chairman and as Chicago regional administrator. He spent more than 13 years advising global financial institutions on derivatives and regulatory compliance, most recently as senior legal counsel at Marex.
Before that, he was a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, representing futures commission merchants, broker-dealers, and swap dealers. Selig called Haws “a vital addition to our Chicago office as the agency continues to staff up throughout the country.”
Building out staff while fighting on multiple fronts
The appointments also arrive with the intention of helping the CFTC navigate some of the most aggressive periods in its recent history.
Last Wednesday, the agency proposed its first formal regulatory framework for prediction markets, outlining a three-step test to determine which event contracts should be prohibited under the Commodity Exchange Act, according to Cryptopolitan. Selig described the proposal as “a durable, transparent framework” for identifying contracts that Congress directed the agency to scrutinize.
Three days before announcing the new hires, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against New Mexico to block the state from applying its gaming laws to federally registered prediction market platforms. New Mexico had sued Kalshi in state court, claiming the company’s event contracts amount to illegal online sports betting.
The CFTC’s complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that federal law gives it exclusive authority over these contracts.
New Mexico joined a growing roster of states facing CFTC litigation over the same issue. The agency has filed suits against Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, all of which have tried to restrict or shut down prediction market operators within their borders.
A New York Times investigation published last month claimed that several veteran CFTC officials were placed on administrative leave after expressing regulatory concerns regarding Polymarket, Crypto.com, and a Gemini affiliate, which are all tied to the Trump family.
Enforcement activity has also dropped sharply, as the report noted that the agency filed just two crypto-related enforcement actions under the current administration, compared to over 80 cases during the Biden era.
Chairman Michael Selig is currently leading the agency as the only active commissioner on what is typically a five-member panel. He has consistently emphasized his commitment to defending the agency’s authority, recently stating during the New Mexico lawsuit announcement that the CFTC possesses both the specific expertise and the mandate to uphold its exclusive federal jurisdiction over commodity derivatives.
The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

Something big just happened in US crypto trading. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has cleared the way for a brand new kind of crypto product to be sold inside the country, and one trading platform has already jumped in to offer it.
According to a cryptopolitan report, Kalshi, a platform best known for letting people bet on real-world events, started selling Bitcoin perpetual futures to American customers on June 3.
These are called BTCPERP, and Kalshi is now the first company to sell this kind of product after getting the green light from the CFTC.
Perpetual futures are financial contracts tied to Bitcoin’s price that do not have a set expiration date.
Rather than expiring and settling on a specific day, they use a funding-rate mechanism to keep the contract price closely aligned with the underlying market.
Profits and losses are paid in cash, meaning traders do not take delivery of actual Bitcoin.
These products are widely traded around the world, with offshore platforms recording more than $90 trillion in volume last year.
The official launch of Kalshi’s strategic integration with Haruko, a digital markets risk and portfolio management platform, marks a significant milestone in bringing regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures to the U.S. market.
In addition to traditional asset classes, this framework is intended to provide institutions with an instantaneous, compliant solution to handle their new onshore perpetual positions.
How risk software opens the door to Kalshi’s new crypto perps
Getting approval from regulators is only part of the story.
Big investors and institutions follow strict rules about how they manage money and risk, and that’s a much bigger hurdle than just having a legal product to trade. This is where a company called Haruko comes in.
Large institutional investors in a variety of asset classes employ Haruko’s portfolio and risk management software.
By integrating its platform with Kalshi’s recently established perpetual futures market, the business enables customers to trade the new Bitcoin contracts while using the same interface to track their exposure and risk in real time.
Haruko partners with Kalshi to elevate institutional crypto risk management.
Source: Haruko
This connection allows companies like Galaxy Digital to monitor Kalshi’s perpetual futures on the same platform as their other holdings, which include traditional assets, spot cryptocurrency positions, and investments in decentralized finance.
Because of this, investors can integrate these regulated contracts into their current processes without having to create new infrastructure or redesign their current systems.
Shamyl Malik, who runs Haruko as CEO, said the CFTC’s approval marks a big moment for institutions trading crypto derivatives in the US.
He pointed out that perpetual futures have been hugely popular in crypto markets around the world for a long time, but until now, there was no way for US based institutions to access them through a regulated channel.
He said that with Haruko, firms adding Kalshi’s perpetuals don’t need new infrastructure and don’t have to give up any of their existing oversight or standards.
What institutions are saying about the new market
Michael Harvey, Galaxy’s head of trading, said the lack of a regulated U.S. market for perpetual futures had been a major challenge.
With Kalshi’s new offering, Galaxy can now manage these positions using the same risk management system it already relies on for the rest of its portfolio, without changing its existing processes.
Andy Ross, who oversees institutional business at Kalshi, described perpetual futures as a natural extension of the company’s prediction market products.
He said the goal is to give traders a way to bet on price movements without having to predict exactly when something will happen.
Ross added that a regulated marketplace serving both institutional and retail traders is the next logical step for the industry, and said Kalshi is pleased to work with Haruko and Galaxy to make the product easily accessible to institutional investors.
Industry participants expect this development to encourage greater trading activity and pave the way for additional products, especially as trading, compliance, and reporting become more integrated and easier to manage.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.

The Canadian payment processor Nuvei will pay $7.40 per share to take over the cross-border payments firm Payoneer Global (NASDAQ: PAYO).
The New York-based company is valued at roughly $2.75 billion, making this deal one of the largest fintech acquisitions of 2026 so far.
Why is Nuvei buying Payoneer?
The New York-based Payoneer Global (NASDAQ: PAYO) is being acquired by the Canadian payment processor, Nuvei.
Payoneer sold its shares at $7.40 each, representing a 44% premium over its closing price on June 8. The company’s shares also climbed 3.4% in premarket trading following the announcement.
Both companies’ boards have approved the deal, but the transaction still needs approval from Payoneer’s shareholders and regulators in multiple countries before it can be completed in mid-2027.
The deal combines Nuvei’s ability to process payments in over 200 markets and support 720 alternative payment methods with Payoneer’s ability to help businesses move money across borders, manage different currencies, and receive large payments by major online marketplaces.
Once merged, the two processors will serve upward of 2.4 million customers across more than 190 countries, handle more than $500 billion in annual payment volume, and pull in approximately $3 billion in combined yearly revenue.
Some of Payoneer’s existing clients include Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Shopify, and Airbnb.
Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital function as the financial advisors for Nuvei, while Qatalyst Partners is Payoneer’s exclusive financial adviser. BMO Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, Barclays, UBS, and Wells Fargo have committed financing for the transaction.
What does Payoneer’s bank charter application mean?
In February this year, after the U.S. passed the GENIUS Act, Payoneer filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank charter tied to a stablecoin strategy.
If approved, this new trust bank would let Payoneer issue its own stablecoin called PAYO-USD. The bank would also manage the reserves backing the stablecoin and provide custody services for digital assets.
Payoneer currently holds money-transmitter licenses across U.S. states, an EU e-money authorization from Ireland, UK Financial Conduct Authority approval, and government clearances in Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and India.
Payoneer’s CEO, John Caplan, said in a statement that stablecoins will play a big role in the future of global trade, and the new bank would give customers a trusted and regulated way to use the new payment methods.
The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

Forward Industries (NASDAQ: FWDI) disclosed on June 15 that it submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire Solana Company (NASDAQ: HSDT) through an all-stock deal.
However, Solana Company’s board rejected the offer without negotiation, according to Forward’s public statement.
The proposal offered HSDT shareholders 0.386 newly issued Forward Industries shares per HSDT share, valuing each at roughly $1.63, a 10% premium over HSDT’s $1.48 closing price the day before the bid was made.
“We are disappointed and surprised that the HSDT board has chosen to reject Forward’s offer without any discussion or communication,” the company stated.
Which firms rejected Forward Industries’ acquisition offer?
The HSDT proposal is not Forward’s first attempt at acquiring a company in recent times. Forward disclosed that it had launched a separate bid for SkyAI (NASDAQ: SKYA). It offered 0.367 Forward shares per SKYA share at an implied value of $1.55, which is a 20% premium.
That proposal expired on June 12 without a response from SkyAI’s board.
Forward Industries also recently approached Brera Holdings (NASDAQ: SLMT) with a similar acquisition pitch. Three takeover bids within a short period are quite telling and suggest the company is pursuing an aggressive consolidation strategy across the small-cap Solana treasury sector.
For Ryan Navi, Forward’s chief investment officer, the push was necessary given current market conditions, as he stated, “In the current market environment, it can be difficult for subscale treasury companies to perform when high relative fixed operating costs cause meaningfully lower yields and negative cash flows, which continue to erode shareholder value.”
What is the current state of Forward’s own treasury?
While Forward Industries has launched an acquisition campaign, all is not so rosy on the home front, as its treasury is facing pressures of its own. The company has spent approximately $1.59 billion acquiring 6.83 million SOL at an average cost of $232 per token. SOL currently trades around $75, leaving Forward with unrealized losses exceeding $1 billion.
Forward recently broke a month of inactivity by depositing 455,784 SOL (worth roughly $31.9 million) to Coinbase Prime, Arkham Intelligence data shows, as reported by Cryptopolitan. The company also unstaked 500,000 SOL through Sanctum, signaling potential further sales.
Forward’s stock has lost roughly 90% from its summer 2025 peak, reflecting investor skepticism about the digital asset treasury model as SOL prices have fallen to levels last seen in 2023.
Is Forward trying to consolidate the Solana ecosystem?
Forward describes itself as the largest public Solana treasury company and says it aims to become “the Berkshire Hathaway of Solana,” according to its press release. The company stakes most of its holdings through validator infrastructure, and it launched a liquid staking token called fwdSOL and deploys capital into Solana-based protocols.
Forward says that smaller treasury companies face structural disadvantages such as fixed operating costs eating into yields, limited scale reducing investor interest, and compressed net asset value multiples restricting capital-raising ability. The company cited backing from Galaxy Digital and Jump Crypto as evidence of institutional support.
How consolidation solves the above problems is yet to be known. What is known is that three companies that Forward Industries has recently targeted have either declined or ignored its proposals.
Any future deal would require due diligence, definitive agreements, and shareholder approval from both sides.
For now, Forward holds 3.787 million SOL in self-custody, according to Arkham data cited by Cryptopolitan, while continuing to sell portions of its treasury into a market where SOL has dropped more than 19% since early June.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.

Anthropic has had a class action lawsuit filed against the company by a Washington, D.C.-based customer, with claims that the AI provider’s Claude Max subscription tiers delivered far less usage than was advertised, and offered less value for money than expected.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Claude user and subscriber Karl Kahn, is based on alleged fraud in Anthropic’s Claude Max 5x and Max 20x plans, priced at $100 and $200 per month. Both tiers promised multiples of the base Claude Pro plan’s usage, however, Kahn claims the actual limits were not as distinct and shifted without adequate notice, according to reporting by the WSJ.
The lawsuit seeks class-action certification covering subscribers who have used the Max plans since April of last year.
Difference in promised features and delivered product
The lawsuit filed by the Claude user focuses directly on the gap between the language used in marketing of these Anthropic products, and the actual service received.
Anthropic has widely marketed the Max 5x and 20x tiers of its standard Claude Code Pro subscription as direct scaling options and multipliers of base usage limits for the product. However, a lot of heavy users, particularly developers who rely on Claude for coding and technical solutions, are said to have raised complaints about the actual amount of usage they received from the premium service.
The suit alleges the advertised limits were not adhered to, and that Anthropic altered them without giving subscribers any clear notice.
Usage caps have become a major topic of conversation across users and providers of subscription-based AI services. Unlike traditional software subscriptions, where the marginal cost of serving additional users is relatively low, every interaction with an artificial intelligence model requires the use of computing resources that carry real operational costs. Each prompt and response consumes processing power, driving expenses tied to data centers, chips, and energy usage.
That economic reality has pushed AI providers toward implementing stricter usage controls, including throttling mechanisms, rate limits, and daily message caps designed to manage infrastructure demand and maintain profitability.
Google now publishes fixed daily prompt limits for its Gemini service, while Anthropic has taken steps to block third-party tools that allowed subscribers to run high-volume workloads through consumer-tier plans at flat subscription rates.
Anthropic and its power-user cost problem
According to PYMNTS, heavy users on Anthropic’s $200/month Claude Code plan can consume between $600 and $1,500 worth of compute for a flat fee. Lower prices attract more subscribers, but the premium tier customers tend to be the most expensive to serve due to their heavy usage.
That dynamic makes AI subscriptions structurally different from other plans like Netflix or Spotify, where one more viewer or listener adds almost nothing to the bill. For AI companies, each heavy user is a direct cost center for the service.
The pricing pressure is also intensifying from the other AI companies and competitors, with Google dropping its entry-level AI Plus plan from $7.99 to $4.99 per month and cutting its top-tier offering from $250 to $200. OpenAI is also reportedly weighing its own reductions, while Meta has started testing paid AI subscriptions for the first time.
If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.

Crypto traders poured money into products tied to Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite business SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX), but blockchain markets still could not give them the same thing Ron Baron bought: $1 billion worth of SPCX.
The public debut created a funny split, as traditional investors received shares while crypto users received price exposure through perpetual futures, which were supposed to track the listing closely, yet they sadly did not turn token holders into owners of SPCX.
At the time of its launch, the IPO had a value of about $2 trillion, closing higher than $2.1 trillion after its initial trading period. Close to 500 million shares were traded.
SpaceX was listed at $150 and went up to as high as $176.52, ending up at $160.95. Banks were negotiating the terms of the deal amid speculations that the value was close to $175.
Hyperliquid and Binance let traders price SpaceX before Wall Street opened
However, Hyperliquid and Binance derivatives, which are known as perps, remain open indefinitely. They are popular among foreign traders, but they are finding their way into the regulated market of the United States as well. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has just authorized the listing of bitcoin perps on prediction platform Kalshi.
Traders on the Hyperliquid exchange were buying and selling SpaceX futures worth close to $180 during opening bell. Right before the stock began trading at $150, those futures declined to about $153. The difference between them was too small to ignore – crypto traders managed to define a relevant price range.
Hyperliquid saw more than 7 million perp trades on Friday related to SpaceX, valued at over $1.2 billion. This was derivative trading rather than ownership, meaning the traders profited or lost depending on the price but did not gain any voting rights or claims on the firm.
It came amid tough competition from the exchange companies as well. Shares of CME Group (CME), Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), and Nasdaq (NDAQ) fell last month when Kalshi said it will roll out regulated perpetual futures. It appears that event contracts and continuous derivatives are not easily ignored anymore for old players in the market.
However, the IPO itself went off quite smoothly compared to the usual Wall Street procedure, considering its size. The crypto market still offered some trading instruments even amid tough times for the industry. Bitcoin has been underperforming equities for over 18 months, and the treasury company Strategy (MSTR) is down significantly. However, the HYPE token issued by Hyperliquid gained over 150% this year according to CoinMarketCap.
Ron Baron buys real shares while crypto traders settle for contracts
Early investor Ron Baron did not sell into the debut. Baron Capital added another $1 billion of SpaceX stock, taking the firm’s total position to about $25 billion. Ron said the purchase protected the firm from dilution as SpaceX issued new shares to public investors.
“I didn’t want to get diluted,” Ron said. “I wanted a billion dollars to keep our percentage the same …. I’m an investor in a business. I’m not buying and selling or trading.”
First entering SpaceX in 2017 via tenders offered to employees, when the firm was valued at less than $22 billion, Baron Capital would eventually participate in 27 capital-raising events, creating one of the investment vehicle’s largest positions in an unlisted company.
To CNBC on Monday, Ron said, “I think we’re going to make hundreds of billions of dollars.” He added, “What they’ve done isn’t possible for anyone else to accomplish. Not possible. And so he’s at least 10 years ahead of everyone else, as far as making satellites, as far as making rockets, as far as building networks.”
As of March 31, SpaceX made up 33% of the $10.4 billion Baron Partners Fund and 25.5% of the Baron Asset Fund. When combined with Baron Capital’s large stake in Tesla (TSLA), companies run by Elon account for about half of the money in some Baron portfolios.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.

Nvidia is looking to sell at least $20 billion in an investment-grade bond offering, in a bid to lock in more financing amid a perpetually increasing demand for AI-based debt securities. This would be the tech giant and major chipmaker’s first visit to the corporate market in five years.
This offering will be managed by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs.
Details behind Nvidia’s bond offering
The offering is divided into seven different parts, with maturities ranging from two to 30 years, according to a term sheet noted by Reuters. The longest-dated bonds, maturing in 2056, are being marketed at slightly above Treasury yields.
Nvidia said proceeds will go toward general corporate purposes, including paying down and refinancing existing notes. The company last dealt in the corporate bonds market in June 2021, when it raised $5 billion, a quarter of what it currently seeks in the market.
The timing aligns with an increasing demand for blue-chip tech debt securities throughout 2026, regardless of the volatility that has struck the equity markets this year. Alphabet and Amazon have both completed large bond sales over the past year to fund AI infrastructure buildouts, collectively raising hundreds of billions of dollars.
How does this affect Nvidia value?
For Nvidia, the bond offering is seen as an opportunity to refinance the company’s existing debt at current market rates while preserving its cash reserves for other strategic priorities. These include acquisitions, research and development for new technology, and capital expenditures linked to the production of better and more efficient next-generation chips.
The financing move also comes shortly after Nvidia announced new partnerships with LG and Doosan Group as part of efforts to expand its global AI footprint.
Shares of NVDA rose 1.35% in pre-market trading on Monday following reports of the bond sale, according to data from TradingView.
AI infrastructure has become even more expensive over the years, and big tech’s interest in debt markets only helps to further stress the scale of capital required to build these levels of infrastructure.
Technology companies are expected to spend more than $700 billion on AI this year, according to Binance News. Nvidia sits at the center of that spending as the dominant supplier of AI training chips globally.
At $20 billion, this offering would rank among the largest corporate bond sales of 2026.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.

Per rwa.xyz, roughly $25B in tokenized real-world assets (RWA) were under management as of May 2026. In January 2024, that value was $8B. The market is projected to grow, backed by institutional leaders such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton.
The important question for a self-directed crypto investor is no longer “are RWAs real?” — it’s “where do I actually buy one, and what am I trading off in the process?” This guide compares the five platforms worth shortlisting in 2026, splits the field between issuance and secondary-market access, and shows which platform fits which use case.
Quick Glance Summary Table
Platform Category Asset categories Investor eligibility Best for ChangeNOW Secondary market Tokenized stocks, gold-backed tokens (XAUT, PAXG), ETFs Simplified onboarding and frictionless crypto-to-crypto swapping Retail crypto holders wanting self-custody RWA exposure without issuer onboarding Ondo Finance Primary issuance Tokenized US Treasuries (OUSG, USDY), 100+ stocks & ETFs Non-US users; OUSG institutional-only; US persons excluded Non-US retail & HNW investors seeking on-chain T-bill yield Backed Finance Primary issuance Tokenized US stocks & ETFs, short-duration treasuries Non-US, non-UK; KYC required; min $5,000 Non-US investors wanting regulated on-chain equity exposure Centrifuge Primary issuance Private credit, real estate debt, US T-Bills, structured pools Qualified/professional investors; eligibility set per pool Investors seeking diversified credit yield beyond T-bills Maple Finance Primary issuance Institutional credit, US Treasury exposure, syrupUSDC/syrupUSDT Non-US accredited/qualified investors; KYC required Non-US accredited investors wanting institutional lending yield
What Is an RWA Token?
Real-World Assets (RWAs) are tangible assets that exist in the physical world. They can range from bonds to commodities, real estate properties, and machinery. In the blockchain context, RWA tokens are digital tokens that represent physical and traditional financial assets. This includes currencies, commodities, equities, and bonds. The tokenization of RWAs is seen as one of the largest market opportunities in the blockchain industry, with a market potential of hundreds of trillions of dollars.
Types of RWA Tokens
Tokenized treasuries and money-market funds: These are funds that provide on-chain access to low-risk, yield-bearing government debt and cash-equivalent assets. Examples: BUIDL, FOBXX, USDY, OUSG, USDM.
Tokenized private credit: These are decentralized lending pools that package private loans into tradable tokens. Examples: Maple, Centrifuge pools, Goldfinch.
Tokenized real estate: RWA tokens that provide fractional property ownership made liquid and globally accessible via blockchain. Examples: RealT, Lofty, Tangible.
Tokenized commodities: These are digital claims to physical assets such as gold, oil, or industrial metals. Examples: PAXG, XAUT, tokenized oil/copper.
Tokenized equities and other securities: Equity shares and structured financial products issued as blockchain tokens. Examples: Backed bIB01, bCSPX, Securitize-issued equity tokens.
Primary Issuance vs Secondary-Market Access
Buying RWA tokens can mean two different things: primary issuance and secondary-market purchases.
Primary issuance involves subscribing to RWA tokens directly from the issuer. The issuer is a regulated entity with the capability and infrastructure to back up RWA tokens with real-world value; these can be private credit, real estate, commodities, or treasuries. The issuer is also responsible for redeeming the RWA tokens for their underlying assets.
Secondary markets provide a privacy-enhanced access to RWA tokens. These markets are non-custodial and aggregate RWA liquidity from different sources. The markets let you swap your crypto for these assets. Some RWAs are permissioned and only settle to addresses on the allowlist; others are freely transferable.
The market you choose depends on whether you can pass the issuer’s eligibility checks or prefer the open liquidity of secondary swaps.
What to Look For in an RWA Token Platform
Accessibility and investor eligibility
Primary issuance platforms will only provide their services to accredited investors or institutions. The same applies to redemption services. The platforms require strict Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements, as the underlying asset is considered a security in many jurisdictions. They also restrict access to some jurisdictions, such as the US and Russia.
Secondary market swaps are non-custodial and impose no eligibility requirements. Traders can trade at will; some assets may still require allowlisting by the issuing platform. Non-ustodial swap platforms require only wallet access to use their services.
Jurisdiction availability
Primary-issuance and redemption platforms typically exclude US persons, EU persons, or both on specific products. They also expect users to check with local regulators to see whether they can use the products. In secondary markets, access is broader because liquidity is available through decentralized contracts.
Asset breadth across issuers
An issuance platform will collaborate with market makers and custody platforms to tokenize traditional financial assets. They sell and redeem their own products. A secondary market will aggregate liquidity from centralized and decentralized exchanges to list RWA tokens from different issuers. This matters to a buyer who wants to compare or hold across issuers without having to onboard to each one separately.
Operating history and trust signals
You need to check the platform’s performance metrics and operating history. Look at the numbers: total assets under management (AUM), total value locked (TVL), user count, and review ratings on third-party platforms like Trustpilot. These values help you gauge a platform’s reliability and market position.
Custody model
After purchase or issuance, RWA tokens settle on-chain. Centralized providers may hold your assets in third-party custody accounts until redemption, at which point payments are sent to your wallet. Non-custodial swap settles directly to the user’s wallet.
Issuer reputation and counterparty risk
Who actually holds the underlying T-bill, loan, or property? BlackRock or BNY Mellon will have a different risk profile compared to a lesser-known issuer. Counterparty risk arises when the value of an asset you hold is backed by another held by a counterparty.
Audit, attestation, and redemption mechanics
Audits give you an in-depth analysis of a platform by a third-party professional. Audits help determine and verify accuracy, evaluate performance, and ensure compliance with best practices.
Redemption mechanics determine how you are paid after redeeming your RWA. Some platforms will settle redemptions in stablecoins, while others provide the option to wire cash. Some assets have a redemption timeline.
The 5 Best Platforms to Buy RWA Tokens in 2026
The article must state plainly that ChangeNOW does NOT issue, originate, attest to, or custody RWA tokens. It provides a path to BUY tokens already issued by others.
That distinction belongs in the entry description and in section 12. The lead position reflects who the article is for — a retail crypto holder who wants to buy, not a claim that ChangeNOW is the right tool for every RWA need.
1. ChangeNOW (secondary-market access)
Name: ChangeNOW
URL: https://changenow.io/real-world-assets
Category: Secondary-market access — non-custodial swap service for existing on-chain RWA tokens
ChangeNOW is a crypto management platform with secondary market access to existing on-chain RWA tokens. ChangeNOW was established in 2017 and has over 1,500 listed cryptocurrencies across various asset classes. A user holding crypto can swap into an RWA token that already trades on-chain, with the proceeds settling to a wallet the user controls.
Key features:
RWA is listed among the supported asset categories, alongside DeFi, stablecoins, AI coins, and others. (1,500 supported assets across 110+ blockchain networks)
Secondary market: ChangeNOW does not issue, originate, attest to, or custody RWA tokens; it only provides a pathway to swap tokens issued by others.
Simplified onboarding and non-custodial- connect and swap funds that settle directly in your wallet.
Fixed-rate and floating-rate swap models
Limit order functionality lets you dictate your sell or purchase price.
70+ fiat currencies via partner ramps (Transak, Simplex, Guardarian)
Private transfers for confidential on-chain RWA transactions
Asset categories offered: Listed RWA assets include tokenized stocks such as Tesla and Nvidia, gold-backed assets such as XAUT and PAXG, and ETFs.
Custody model: Non-custodial. Trades settle directly on user wallets.
Investor eligibility/jurisdiction: Streamlined onboarding via non-custodial crypto-to-crypto flows.
Redemption mechanics: ChangeNOW does not redeem RWA tokens — it facilitates secondary-market swap into and out of them.
Fees: Spread baked into the quoted rate. Fixed-rate quotes carry a small premium for the rate lock—no setup or signup fees.
Pros:
Simple onboarding, connect your wallet, select tokens, and swap.
Streamlined Access: Features a frictionless onboarding flow for crypto-to-crypto swaps. This ensures broad accessibility for retail users, eliminating the need for complex accredited-investor verification steps.
4.5-star Trustpilot rating across 13,000+ user reviews
RWA assets from multiple issuers under one roof, no separate onboarding.
Broad chain coverage, 110+ blockchain networks.
ChangeNOW claims an average swap time of 1 minute and a 98% success rate.
Cons:
Secondary market: ChangeNOW does not offer facilities to originate or redeem RWA tokens.
Availability depends on liquidity. Exotic routes are not available for most RWA tokens.
Permissioned RWAs are available only to allowlisted wallets and cannot be acquired via an open-market swap.
No yield management, attestation reporting, or coupon handling.
Best for: Retail crypto holders (ETH, USDC, BTC, etc.) who want exposure to an RWA token with on-chain liquidity, prefer not to (or cannot) go through an issuer’s onboarding process, and want self-custody settlement.
Entry 2: Ondo Finance
Name: Ondo Finance
URL: https://ondo.finance/
Category: Primary issuance — tokenized US Treasuries and money-market funds
Ondo Finance designs and builds the infrastructure to bring traditional finance markets onto the blockchain. The platform has a total value locked (TVL) of $3.66B. To get started with Ondo, browse the available funds to learn their underlying mechanics, expected yields and risks, eligibility requirements, and much more. You can invest by connecting your wallet and depositing stablecoins (or, in some cases, wiring USD). The RWA tokens are redeemable for stablecoins (or USD)
Key features:
OUSG token: offers exposure to short-term US Treasuries with 24/7 instant mints and redemptions.
USDY: a yield-bearing permissionless stablecoin backed by US Treasuries, and it accrues yield daily, whether you’re staking, borrowing, pledging, or just holding it.
165 integrated projects
Multi-chain availability: 12 supported chains, including Ethereum, Solana, Aptos, Sui, and Mantle.
Ondo Global Markets for tokenized stocks and ETFs, Flux for borrowing and lending RWAs, and Nexus for instant liquidity for asset issuers.
Asset categories offered: 100+ tokenized stocks and ETFs via the Global Markets platform, including the stock of popular companies (e.g., Tesla, Nvidia, Figma), indexes (e.g., QQQ, SPY), and fixed income ETFs (e.g., TLT, TIP, AGG)
Custody model: Underlying assets custodied by a third-party qualified institutional custodians (Coinbase, StoneX, BNY). RWAs are self-custodied by the user once issued.
Investor eligibility/jurisdiction: Ondo prohibits business activities from certain jurisdictions in accordance with its security issuance requirements. Some of these include the United States, Myanmar, Russia, Canada, Syria, and Sudan. Some products, such as OUSG, are only available to institutional investors.
Redemption mechanics: The minimum you can redeem at Ondo markets is $1.00. Redemptions are made to USDon or USDC. Redemptions to USD via bank wire are not currently supported.
Fees: Fees at Ondo global markets are baked into the spread. Investors pay for gas.
Pros:
Reportedly, the largest RWA platform by TVL, signaling product-market fit and audit cadence sufficient for serious treasury allocators.
Multi-chain availability means a wider set of self-custody wallets can hold the tokens.
USDY is among the more accessible yield-bearing tokenized treasury products for non-US users.
Structured to provide strong investor protection – full asset backing, transparent holdings, independent audits by Spearbit and Cyfrin.
Cons:
Eligibility restrictions exclude US retail. A US-based retail user generally cannot subscribe directly to OUSG, and USDY is unavailable to US persons.
Some offerings (like OUSG, backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund) remain institutional-only.
Self-custody works, but the wallet must be onboarded by Ondo first.
Best for: Non-US retail and HNW investors wanting direct on-chain US Treasury yield exposure via the highest-TVL issuer in the category.
Entry 3: Backed Finance
Name: Backed Finance
URL: https://backed.fi/
Category: Primary issuance — tokenized equities, ETFs, and short-duration treasuries
Backed Finance works with different service providers and protocols to bring US stocks and ETFs on-chain. The tokenized assets are available to a global audience 24/7, with cross-chain mobility and DeFi composability. They also offer collateralized lending services. The platform’s compliance regulatory framework is based on the Swiss DLT Act.
Key features:
A proof-of-reserves mechanism for users to verify on-chain collateral reserves.
1:1 Backing with underlying collateral assets.
Tokenized assets are redeemable for the cash value of the underlying assets.
Multichain support, available on Ethereum, Solana, Mantle, TON, Ink, and other EVM-compatible networks.
Asset categories offered: Backed Finance offers tokenized US stocks and ETFs. Listed assets include SP500, NVIDIA, TSLA, NFLX,
Custody model: Underlying assets are held by regulated 3rd party custodians. Tokenized assets are self-custodied after issuance.
Investor eligibility/jurisdiction: Primary issuance restricted to non-US and UK persons. Tokens themselves may trade on secondary venues subject to the platform’s transfer-restriction rules.
Redemption mechanics: Only KYC and AML-verified users can redeem the underlying asset’s cash value.
Fees: Issuance/redemption fees + ongoing management fees passed through from the underlying ETF.
Pros
RWAs can be used as collateral in lending markets, deployed in liquidity pools, and integrated into structured products.
Broad coverage of US stocks and ETFs
xStocks can be held and transferred in fractional amounts. xStocks are permissionless tokenized representations of publicly traded stocks and ETFs.
Token balances always reflect a 1:1 exposure of the underlying equity.
Cons:
Excludes US and UK citizens from primary issuance.
Only allowlisted addresses can issue or redeem assets on the primary market.
Liquidity on secondary venues varies sharply by product; less-traded tokens can have thin pools.
For direct interactions with the issuer for issuance or redemption, the minimum transaction size is $5,000.
Best for: Non-US investors seeking on-chain exposure to US equity markets and S&P/Nasdaq ETFs, with a clearer, regulated legal wrapper than most issuers offer.
Entry 4: Centrifuge
Name: Centrifuge
URL: https://centrifuge.io/
Category: Primary issuance — tokenized private credit and structured pools
Centrifuge is a product for asset managers and investors. The platform provides the infrastructure for asset tokenization with automation, multi-chain reach, and DeFi composability. For investors, Centrifuge provides exposure to institutional RWA across treasuries and credit, index products, and structured vehicles. Centrifuge connects tokenized assets to DeFi liquidity, for transparent yield and diversified access.
Key features:
Self-serve and white-glove asset tokenization and management services
Decentralized, objective credit risk reporting and analysis for assets and portfolios.
A diverse portfolio of assets, including US Treasury Bills, asset-backed securities, Real Estate, and more
Multi-chain pool deployment under Centrifuge V3
Asset categories offered: Tokenized private credit (invoice finance, real estate debt, consumer credit, trade finance), structured pools, US Treasury Bills, and real estate
Custody model: Underlying loans/assets held by issuer SPVs (special-purpose vehicles). Self-custody of the pool token after purchase.
Investor eligibility/jurisdiction: Generally restricted to qualified or professional investors, depending on the pool; some pools have broader eligibility. Centrifuge asserts eligibility criteria set per-pool by the issuer, not globally.
Redemption mechanics: Pool-dependent. Most pools settle redemptions periodically (weekly, monthly) tied to the underlying loan cash flows, not on demand.
Fees: Per-pool management/origination fees; protocol-level fees on Centrifuge.
Pros:
Real-time on-chain data on asset performance and holdings
A broad spectrum of asset classes, such as treasuries, real estate, and private credit.
Exposure to off-chain credit yield, not just T-bill duplication. Useful for portfolio diversification beyond rate exposure.
Pool-level transparency (NAV, default rates, borrower disclosures) is among the strongest in the RWA category.
Long operating history; one of the earliest functional RWA protocols.The
DeFi-composable token model means pool tokens can be used elsewhere in DeFi, where supported.
Cons:
Private-credit risk: defaults happen. Tokenization does not change underlying credit risk, and historical drawdowns have hit some pools.
Liquidity is not on demand. Redemption windows tie to the underlying loan book.
Eligibility varies per pool; some pools are closed to retail entirely.
Best for: Investors seeking on-chain exposure to private credit and trade finance, willing to accept periodic-redemption liquidity in exchange for higher yield than tokenized treasuries.
Entry 5: Maple Finance
Name: Maple Finance
URL: https://maple.finance/
Category: Primary issuance — institutional lending and tokenized credit
Maple Finance moves institutional-grade lending and yield strategies on-chain. They run lending pools where verified lenders deposit stablecoins, professional pool delegates underwrite loans to vetted institutional borrowers, and depositors receive yield from interest payments. At press time, Maple had $3.65B in assets under management (AUM) and $21.97B in originated loans.
Key features:
Backed by industry leaders Circle, Spartan, Framework, Castle Island Ventures, Veris Ventures, Blocktower, and Tioga Capital.
Institutional lending pools with verified borrower underwriting
Syrup token, the native governance token of Maple Finance, is used for key voting decisions.
Multi-chain availability
syrupUSDC & syrupUSDT are ERC-4626 vaults that generate yields primarily from overcollateralized institutional loans and other yield strategies.
Asset categories offered: Tokenized institutional credit, tokenized US Treasury exposure (Cash Management), syrupUSDC, and similar yield-bearing tokens.
Custody model: Lender capital pooled on-chain; loans extended to off-chain institutional borrowers under loan agreements.
Investor eligibility/jurisdiction: Lender pools restricted to non-US, accredited, or qualified investors with permissioned access.
Redemption mechanics: Borrowers can repay principal when a loan is called. Partial
repayments lower your LTV (loan-to-value ratio) and can cure a margin call.
Fees: Origination fees paid by borrowers for loan funding and refinance operations. Service fee paid by borrowers during loan repayments—management fees taken as a portion of gross interest paid by Borrowers when payments are made.
Pros:
25% of platform revenue used to buy back the Syrup token- deflationary tokenomics.
syrupUSDC and syrupUSDT provide a consistent high yield available to everyone in DeFi
Easy earn, lenders deposit into a pool to earn interest denominated in the pool’s liquidity asset.
Offers institutional borrowers access to secured, overcollateralized credit facilities backed by digital assets.
Overcollateralization of loans to prevent default risk.
On-chain settlement with off-chain enforceable loan documentation — a hybrid that matters if a borrower defaults
Cons:
Lenders must complete KYC for their wallets to be added to Maple’s Global Allowlist.
Maple has had borrower defaults that crystallized losses for some lenders.
Eligibility excludes retail US users.
Best for: Non-US accredited investors comfortable with credit risk, wanting institutional-grade on-chain lending yield as a complement to tokenized treasury holdings.
How to Choose an RWA Platform by Use Case
Yield-seeking treasury exposure (parking stablecoins for T-bill yield)
Can go for Ondo USDY/OUSG, BUIDL via Securitize or Backed by IB01. Users who can’t access primary issuance can opt for secondary-market access via a swap service like ChangeNOW.
Real estate fractional exposure
Pick RealT and Tangible. RealT allows global investors to buy and own fractional shares of real estate.
Private credit / on-chain yield from real-world borrowers
Centrifuge pools and Maple lending pools. Maple Finance specializes in moving institutional-grade lending and yield strategies on-chain.
Tokenized equities or commodities
Go for Backed (bCSPX, bIB01) or PAXG/XAUT for gold.
Risks and Regulatory Considerations
Issuer/counterparty risk: Your RWA token represents the underlying asset that the issuer holds in custody. Therefore, an RWA token is only as solvent as the entity holding the off-chain asset.
Smart-contract risk on the on-chain wrapper. Any flaw in the contract logic can lead to security incidents or hacks.
Custodian risk for the underlying asset. The RWA is held in collaboration with third-party custodians. In the case of solvency issues, the impact reverberates down to RWA token holders.
Regulatory ambiguity: tokenized securities are subject to securities law in most jurisdictions; as a result, they are subject to strict eligibility requirements and transfer restrictions.
“On-chain” does not mean “off-balance-sheet”. Tokenization changes the rail, not the underlying credit/legal claim.
Tax treatment varies by jurisdiction. Consulting with a tax professional about the real implications of holding on to RWA tokens.

Bitcoin hit $67,196, Ether jumped 11% to $1,845, and Solana and XRP posted even bigger gains, although Bitcoin remains down nearly 24% this year.
US stocks rallied sharply, with the Dow gaining 630 points to a fresh intraday record, the S&P 500 rising 1.6%, and the Nasdaq climbing 2.4%.
SpaceX added more than 7% after its 19% debut surge, while Strategy resumed Bitcoin buying with another $100 million purchase last week.

Chilean prosecutors have just issued an arrest warrant for Jose Manuel Rios Guaido, the founder of crypto platform Plusspay, after an investigation revealed that his fintech business was connected to a money laundering network run by a criminal organization called Tren de Aragua.
The Southern Metropolitan Regional Prosecutor’s Office conducted the raid as part of a broader crackdown on Tren de Aragua’s financial infrastructure in Chile, also known as “Operación Tokio”.
However, prosecutors have not yet filed formal charges against Ríos Guaidó.
Chilean founder implicated in gang crypto laundering
Detectives from Chile’s Organized Crime Investigation Brigade raided Plusspay’s offices in the Santiago borough of Providencia on June 13, according to CriptoNoticias. The 38-year-old Ríos Guaidó from Zulia state, Venezuela, was not found at the premises or at any of his registered addresses.
Authorities believe he may have left Chile and could be in Venezuela or Colombia.
According to the prosecution’s case file, over $84 million in suspicious financial activity was connected to the Plusspay network.
Apparently, Plusspay accepted transfers in Chilean pesos and converted them into stablecoins, mostly Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), before diverting the funds to wallets and bank accounts abroad, El Mostrador reported.
The platform operated from a Providencia office and advertised itself as regulated by Chile’s Financial Market Commission (CMF).
Why are prosecutors looking for Plusspay founder?
Prosecutors claim that Ríos Guaidó set up several shell companies, including a group of businesses bearing a “Bex” prefix (BexGroup SpA, BexDigital Services SpA, and Bexpay Business Enterprises SpA) to hide and move illegal funds through Chile’s banking system.
Investigators also discovered a related Florida-based entity that shares the same address with the Chilean organization.
Ríos Guaidó co-founded Inversiones Plusservice SpA in 2021 with his fellow countryman Jesús Alberto Morillo Medina.
In 2023, he launched the Plusspay domain and formally expanded the company’s scope to include crypto custody and brokerage services. By early 2024, the firm was officially registered as a fintech provider with Chile’s Financial Market Commission (CMF).
CMF clarifies that registration does not mean authorization
The CMF quickly tried to clarify its role after El Mostrador published its investigation. According to Chile’s Fintech Law, through a CMF statement issued on June 12, a financial services provider must complete two steps before they can operate: registering in the CMF’s registry and obtaining another separate authorization.
“Registration alone does not enable operations, as the authorization process is required to provide services,” the CMF said. They also noted that Inversiones Plusservice was one of several companies that had failed to update their records as required under General Rule No. 502, and that it was conducting a supervisory review of all registered entities.
Following the raid, Plusspay halted its operations and posted a website banner attributing the shutdown to “legal reasons beyond the platform’s control.”
Screenshot of the notice on the Plusspay portal. Source: Plusspay.
The company also issued a public statement where it rejected “any connection to illicit activities or organized crime structures.” It also mentioned that it had retained specialized lawyers to defend itself and prove the legitimacy of its operations.
Chile cracking down on illegal operations
The Plusspay case seems to be the latest enforcement action targeting Tren de Aragua’s finances in Chile.
The Chilean police arrested almost 20 people on June 5 for being linked to another money laundering ring that moved up to $88 million through bank accounts and crypto remittances. Prosecutor Héctor Barros called that operation “one of the largest money laundering cases we have seen in our country” while sharing that authorities froze over 140 bank accounts.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Tren de Aragua as a global criminal organization in 2024. Recent reports from InSight Crime also claim that the gang has progressively refined its laundering methods, moving from basic wire transfers to complex schemes blending shell companies, multiple bank accounts, and crypto conversions.
If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.

Zinc, one of Solana’s top revenue-generating protocols, is currently in the middle of a governance dispute with MetaDAO over a proposal that would allow Zinc holders and its founder to buy out ZKFG token holders at $0.15.
The governance proposal will also see that the associated Turbine Cash DAO LLC is taken private.
Both sides said on June 14 that they are in private talks to resolve the matter, though the standoff has already drawn accusations of investor abandonment from some community members.
What is behind the dispute between Zinc and MetaDAO?
MetaDAO released a proposal called proposal ZKFG-007, which, if implemented, would create an escrow-funded buyout path for ZKFG holders (the token representing Zinc’s listing on MetaDAO’s futarchy governance platform) at $0.15 per token.
If funded, the proposal would also take Turbine Cash DAO LLC private, removing it from MetaDAO’s decentralized governance structure.
On June 14, reports emerged that Zinc had rejected proposal 007 because it had run its own proposal called 006, which proposed a similar buyout. Proposal 006 passed but was not executed.
According to the 007 proposal’s authors, which include Proph3t, the cofounder of MetaDAO, the reason why there is proposal 007 is because of the flaws of the initial proposal, 006.
They stated that the proposal did not make provisions for IP rights transfer or who will be receiving the rights. Also, the proposal did not include executable instructions, and it went against their policy on buybacks above net asset value (NAV), among others.
Zinc posted on X that it is “in an ongoing conversation with the MetaDAO team regarding proposal 007” and that “a resolution is being worked on that serves the best interest of all parties involved.” The protocol said it would release full details jointly with MetaDAO once an agreement is reached.
Proph3t confirmed private discussions were underway. He added that the team is “actively pursuing a good resolution here, monitoring the situation closely, and thinking of ways to improve the mechanism.”
He stopped short of sharing more information, citing the legal implications of tweeting things publicly.
How is the community reacting to the dispute?
Community members are divided on the dispute with Malisha, the cofounder of Streamflow, asking in a thread on June 13 if Zinc was rugging its investors, adding that it is “a pretty serious accusation.”
The White Whale, another prominent Solana commentator, pushed back on Malisha’s question the following day, writing that “this is not about poor early investors being abandoned as some accounts try to spin the narrative.”
White Whale gave an account of what happened, the dispute, and the current state of efforts to reach a resolution, while also calling out Malisha and other actors who are pushing FUD, according to him.
Nearly $60M in annual revenue makes dispute high stakes
Zinc has seen considerable growth since launch, and this current dispute has the potential to impact that growth as it carries huge financial weight.
The gamified mining protocol crossed 500,000 SOL in cumulative round volume (roughly $33 million) in under 17 days after launch.
DeFiLlama data shows that Zinc has generated approximately $3.01 million in revenue over the past 30 days, putting its annualized revenue run rate near $57.8 million.
Zinc is one of the highest revenue-generation protocols on Solana and has a market capitalization of $3.21 million.
Solana’s DeFi sector has generated $2.36 million in total application revenue over the most recent 24-hour period tracked by DefiLlama, and Zinc alone accounted for $469,504 of that in the same window, which is nearly 20% of the total.
The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

A Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Bitbank, has told its customers that it may suspend accounts found transferring funds to prediction market platforms.
The announcement represents a tightening of the noose as Japan becomes one of the newest countries on the growing list of those restricting prediction market platforms even as their operators continue to seek regulatory approval.
Bitbank’s announcement about prediction market platforms
Bitbank, an exchange registered with Japan’s Kanto Local Finance Bureau as crypto exchange operator No. 00004, said in an official notice that using platforms like Polymarket from within Japan for financial gain could constitute a gambling offense under domestic law.
Bitbank specifically named Polymarket in its announcement and referenced other “betting-natured” prediction market services operated by overseas firms.
Accounts that make deposits to or withdrawals from prediction market services will be flagged and lose their account login access, all their crypto deposits and withdrawals, Japanese yen withdrawals, and trading capabilities.
The exchange stated that these measures are to follow the law and protect users from legal risks. It added that it bears no liability for damages resulting from these restrictions.
In Japan, gambling is mostly against the law, except for a few specific things like horse racing and lotteries. Prediction markets currently sit in a “gray zone” where the law is not fully clear.
Japan is currently listed among jurisdictions subject to frontend restrictions from Polymarket. Several other countries are blocked entirely or limited to close-only trading activity due to regulatory requirements.
What is South Korea doing about prediction platforms?
South Korea’s communications regulator, the Korea Communications Standards Commission, is evaluating whether Polymarket qualifies as an illegal gambling service. If it is eventually classified as such, it would lead to ISP-level blocking across the country.
Cryptopolitan previously reported that the country opened its first criminal investigation into domestic Polymarket users after heavy trading activity around the June 3 national election. The Gangwon Provincial Police Agency is examining whether the activity on the platform violated local gambling rules after receiving a referral from the national police headquarters.
The Brazilian government has also made moves, banning 27 prediction platforms in April 2026, including Polymarket and Kalshi, after the National Monetary Council issued Resolution No. 5,298 and banned derivative contracts tied to non-economic events such as elections and sports outcomes.
Spain followed in May by temporarily banning the platforms and ordering internet providers to block them.
France, Germany, Italy, India, Australia, Argentina, and Indonesia have all either restricted access to prediction market platforms or escalated enforcement operations against them.
U.S. support for prediction market platforms remains strong
Cryptopolitan reported that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under Chairman Michael Selig recently proposed a framework for evaluating which event contracts serve the public interest and which violate federal law.
Rather than imposing an outright ban, the CFTC introduced a three-step “balancing test” that would evaluate a contract’s hedging utility, price discovery value, and potential to encourage illegal activity.
However, a coalition of 39 state officials argue that prediction markets function as unregulated gambling operations.
Supporters of prediction markets have pushed back against the gambling classification, stating that it misses what these platforms actually produce.
The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

Aztec Connect’s smart contract has reportedly lost $2.1 million after an attacker took advantage of a verification flaw in the privacy bridge that was shut down three years ago. This attack also comes with a twist, as the flaw sits beyond anyone’s ability to patch per the Aztec Labs team.
The stolen funds included approximately 909 ETH, 270,000 DAI, and 167 wstETH, according to blockchain security firm BlockSec, which flagged the suspicious transaction through its Phalcon monitoring system.
Before it was deprecated by Aztec Labs in March 2023, Aztec Connect was a zk-rollup bridge that let users interact with DeFi protocols like Aave and Lido while shielding transaction details through zero-knowledge proofs. Aztec Labs stopped running its sequencer by March 2024.
The AZTEC token is up more than 5% as of the time of Cryptoplitan’s report.
What was the flaw that enabled the attacker to exploit Aztec Connect?
The flaw was due to a mismatch involving the boundary between the verified transaction set and L1 settlement processing per BlockSec Phalcon’s analysis on X.
According to security firm CertiK, the flaw was an incomplete validation of submitted proof data.
One contract function checked only the beginning of the proof while token transfer instructions embedded elsewhere went unverified, and this was what allowed the attacker to manipulate withdrawals.
What is Aztec Labs’ response to the exploit?
Aztec Labs confirmed it was investigating but said it has no mechanism to intervene. “Aztec Connect was deprecated 3 years ago. Aztec Labs holds no admin keys or control over the system; it cannot be paused or upgraded by us,” the team wrote on X.
In a separate statement, the Aztec Foundation posted on X, stating that the foundation stressed that the incident has no connection to any smart contracts tied to the AZTEC ERC-20 token or the current Aztec network, which focuses on private smart contracts.
“Aztec Connect was deprecated 3 years ago and Aztec Labs retains no controls over the system,” Aztec Foundation wrote.
When Aztec Labs wound down the bridge, it renounced admin keys to the contracts given the fact that it was a privacy-focused protocol. However, the tradeoff is that once the keys are gone, nobody can deploy a fix when a vulnerability surfaces.
What is the cost of the exploit?
Aztec Connect contracts held about $2.15 million in total value locked before the attack, according to DefiLlama data, and those were the funds that the exploiter was able to access.
Exploiters removed the $2.15 million that was sitting in Aztec Connect. Source: DefiLlama
The funds were unmonitored, and the team did nothing about them, as any assets left inside them depend entirely on the original code’s integrity.
Aztec Connect’s exploit also brings to the fore the recurring risk for users who leave their funds in legacy contracts after a project migrates.
June exploits continue to mount
It is already halfway into the month of June, and with exploits picking up, crypto protocols do not seem to catch a break. May was also punctuated with various exploits, and recently deprecated platforms are seeing increased attacks
Cryptopolitan has previously reported on exploits hitting Gnosis Pay and TesseraDAO in the first days of June, with TesseraDAO alone losing $2.5 million in a mint-and-dump attack on BNB Chain.
Per DeFiLlama data, June exploits have already reached approximately $43.93 million in cumulative losses as of mid-month.
The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

The U.S. venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) officially opened the doors of its Seoul office, becoming the latest major crypto investor to enter a major market where nearly one in three adults owns digital assets.
Aside from a16z, South Korea has received a wave of acquisitions, trademark applications and investments from other companies like Ripple, Cosmos Labs and Tether, who are also looking to get on the moving train.
Why did a16z choose Seoul?
a16z’s official announcement states that it chose to launch its first Asian office in Korea after evaluating the country’s technical workforce, consumer adoption rates, and competitive position across multiple industries ranging from AI and manufacturing to defense and content.
a16z first announced plans to expand into Asia in December 2025. The announcement showed that roughly one in three Korean adults holds crypto, representing a participation rate that is higher than the stock-market ownership in the country. The firm noted that South Korea is the “second-largest crypto market” globally by trading activity.
Other major crypto firms have been making similar expansions into Korea over the past two months. For instance, Tether filed seven trademark applications with Korea’s intellectual property office in May, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire toured Seoul, meeting executives at KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, and Hana Financial Group, and Ripple signed pilot programs with KBank, a local financial institution, back in April. Cosmos Labs acquired the Mintscan blockchain explorer and set up a Seoul subsidiary the same month.
Korea is also preparing its Digital Asset Basic Act that will require foreign stablecoin issuers to maintain domestic branches if they want to distribute tokens locally. By establishing a physical presence now, a16z is positioning itself and its portfolio companies to comply with these rules before they officially take effect.
What is a16z’s strategy for its Asian market?
a16z has shared that its Seoul operation will start with crypto-focused work and then widen its scope over time.
Sungmo Park, who joined a16z as its crypto Asia-Pacific go-to-market lead when the Asia expansion was announced in December, will run the Seoul office. Park previously held APAC roles at Monad Foundation and Polygon Labs and speaks Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and English.
Unlike Circle, which has signed partnerships with exchanges Dunamu (operator of Upbit) and Bithumb while telling Korean media it would seek a local subsidiary and license, a16z does not require a license, nor does it intend to launch a product.
Instead, it is building go-to-market infrastructure so its existing portfolio companies, which span crypto protocols, infrastructure, and applications, can reach Korean users and partners more easily.
Due to South Korea’s proposed Digital Asset Basic Act, a lot of foreign crypto firms are already jockeying for a position in the country.
The firm has not disclosed which portfolio companies will be first to use the Seoul office for market entry, but Park’s mandate covers all of Asia-Pacific, so the office could also serve as a staging point for expansion into Japan, Singapore, and India, all markets a16z flagged as high-growth in its December announcement.
If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.

Over the course of the past thirty days, around $440 billion has been wiped out from the total cryptocurrency market cap. Bitcoin fell from the highs of roughly $81K to a low of $59K set on June 5. The broader altcoin market, measured through the TOTAL2 chart, fell by around 14% over the same window. All in all, the selloff across the market accelerated last month. Most trading platforms lose users and volume when the tape turns ugly. Hyperliquid, on the other hand, did the exact opposite.
Over the past five weeks, monthly active users on the decentralized exchange have grown by 21.8% to 220.76K for the week of June 8 to 14, according to Artemis.
Market Share Keeps Climbing
The user growth sits on top of a much larger shift in where perp volumes live. Hyperliquid currently dominates the lion’s share of perp DEX volume at 56.31%, growing from around 23% at the start of the year. In other words, it now runs more than half of all onchain perp activity with no rival being close to keeping up.
While this is impressive in itself, the more noteworthy figure is the platform hitting a record 7.6% share of all exchange perpetual volume, centralized platforms included. The platform is no longer winning the DEX race alone but also taking volume from the biggest centralized names in the space.
There are two main reasons for this growth. Number one, there is structural migration, with traders leaving centralized platforms and rival DEXs for Hyperliquid’s onchain orderbook. Secondly, the recent volatility in itself helps bolster activity. Perp venues feed on active markets, and the June drawdown handed them plenty to work with. The fear that pushed users away from everywhere else is the same fear that gave Hyperliquid more to trade.
The Flywheel Keeps Widening the Funnel
Hyperliquid’s design routes money back into the system as it grows. Fees from trading flow into HYPE buybacks, which tightens supply and rewards the token as activity rises. The loop gets stronger the more the platform gets used.
HIP-3 adds another layer. Builder-deployed markets let outside teams launch their own perps on Hyperliquid’s infrastructure, expanding what traders can access without the core team building every market by hand. More markets means more reasons to show up, which feeds straight back into the active-user count.
The Macro Picture Just Shifted
The forward question is whether the recent risk-off mood holds. On June 14, the U.S. and Iran reached a peace deal, with signing set for June 19 in Switzerland and the Strait of Hormuz set to reopen. The energy shock that hung over markets for weeks is starting to lift.
A resolution like this is a risk-on catalyst. It could pull broader participation back into crypto and bring the kind of upside volatility that has been missing through the selloff. Both outcomes tend to grow the active-trader pool, and Hyperliquid has spent this year proving it captures that pool better than anyone else in the space.
The platform grew during fear. Whether it can keep growing once greed returns is the next test.
If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.

Worldcoin (WLD) is attempting a breakout after finding support from the AI narrative. WLD may break its trend of behaving like a forgotten token to reflect the value of OpenAI.
Worldcoin (WLD) broke above $0.59 on Monday, gaining 15.4% in the past 24 hours. The asset rallied following the general recovery of the crypto market, but may be writing its own new narrative.
WLD rallied in the past day, after a two-month trend of increasing volumes, derivative open interest, and general mindshare on social media. | Source: Coingecko
As Cryptopolitan reported, OpenAI, founded by Sam Altman, recently filed to become one of the big IPOs in the summer of 2026. As with other crypto tokens going through irrational rallies, WLD is partially reflecting the AI narrative.
Some of the support for WLD comes from Eightco Holdings (Nasdaq: ORBS), a major investor in OpenAI. The holding has acquired and controls 8.4% of the WLD supply, working similarly to a treasury company.
Worldcoin gets a boost from increased volumes, open interest
Despite the general weakness of the altcoin market, WLD had its own set of factors to set it apart. After launching as a VC-backed, high FDV asset, WLD traded with relatively low volumes. In the past two months, WLD activity rose to a higher baseline level, with over $860M in daily trading volumes.
WLD is up more than 48% in the past 90 days, lining up among the top 15 of the most active altcoins and tokens. Previously, WLD has also risen in response to Sam Altman’s future plans, suggesting real use cases for its biometric database. With the improvement in AI, proof of humanity may come to attention again, which was the original mission of Worldcoin.
The past few days saw WLD further accelerate its growth. Mindshare increased to 0.1%, rising by nearly 200% in the past day. WLD is now preparing for a monthly close above $0.60 to potentially break out of its long slide.
If the WLD rally continues, it would indicate the crypto market still holds value, only limited to specific projects. WLD is in no way related to OpenAI’s IPO, but the general hype and attention may boost the asset’s performance.
WLD open interest is also back to its higher range, rising to over 307M. The token has over 40% in short open interest, potentially leading to a short squeeze.
The token trades with a higher market cap compared to its initial launch and a price record above $12. WLD will have to show it can overcome the dilution following a long series of unlocks. Another 1B WLD tokens will be released in 2027, as unlocks and new production accelerate.
WLD gets a boost from South Korean markets
WLD is also showing a niche trading profile, gaining liquidity from the South Korean crypto market.
Up to 35% of WLD volumes are against the South Korean won, making the asset relatively independent from US and European market liquidity. WLD also became the top traded asset on Upbit as of June 15. Analysts have noted WLD is among the handful of coins that are highly dependent on Upbit trading for their breakouts.
The WLD rally follows a slump in the South Korean stock market, as investors abandoned stocks following the biggest drawdown for 2026. Even with lowered crypto sentiment, Upbit remains a key source of liquidity for older altcoins, potentially triggering a wider recovery on global derivative markets.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.

Trump said Sunday that the United States and Iran had completed a peace agreement and would put their signatures on it Friday, June 19, in Switzerland.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said:
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
Pakistan sets the signing schedule while regional mediators prepare for the next talks
The Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, made the first official announcement on X just minutes prior to President Trump making his own statement. Shehbaz said that both countries have come to an agreement that military operations will cease immediately and permanently on all fronts, including Lebanon.
According to him, mediators would conduct meetings all throughout the week leading up to the signing ceremony. During this time, neither side would stop attacking until an agreement had been drafted for signing. The discussions would involve technical terms, actions to be taken, and preparations for implementing the agreement.
Shehbaz said the official event would take place in Switzerland on Friday. He added that:
“We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to our brothers in this mediation effort, the great leadership of State of Qatar, for their support in reaching this agreement. I would also especially thank the visionary leadership of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Republic of Türkiye for their immense contributions in this regard.”
The Pakistani leader said the coming meetings would prepare both sides for the technical negotiations and the signing itself.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had discussed part of a possible memorandum on state television two days before the announcement. Abbas said the plan covered an end to fighting on every front, with Lebanon specifically included. He also confirmed that the Strait of Hormuz formed part of the package.
Abbas said Iran and Oman were getting ready to introduce a different system for ships using the strategic route. He said the legal rules and the future management structure would be decided during a 60-day negotiation window. Sanctions relief and Iran’s nuclear program were left for the following stage rather than being settled in the first document.
Iranian news outlets had already published several claims about what the agreement contained. Abbas responded on X by telling the media not to guess at terms that officials had not released. Trump later shared Abbas’s post on Truth Social.
A senior Iranian official had allegedly told Reuters that Washington would unlock $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets under the draft. Tehran would agree not to build or obtain nuclear weapons. Iran would also keep its present nuclear position during the talks, meaning no added uranium enrichment and no enlargement of its nuclear facilities before the final document was completed.
The Beirut attack raises new tensions as Iran, Israel, and Trump issue warnings
The agreement came after an Israeli strike in Dahieh, a southern Beirut suburb, added fresh tension on Sunday. Lebanon’s state media reported three deaths and 15 injuries. Israel’s military said it hit a Hezbollah command site after the Iran-backed group fired toward northern Israel earlier that day.
Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the strike showed that Washington lacked the “will and ability” to keep its promises. Iran’s Foreign Ministry placed responsibility on the United States. Tehran warned of a “strong response,” while the country’s top joint military command said its “finger is on the trigger” and ready to strike the “enemy’s heart.” Iran said the United States would be answerable for any Israeli action that disrupted the talks. That warning came before Trump posted publicly.
Before publishing his final-deal announcement, Trump said the Beirut attack “should not have happened.” He added that it came while the United States and Iran were close to completing peace talks.
Israel said it had no role in the planned U.S.-Iran agreement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had disagreed with Trump over American demands that Israel cut back its operations in Lebanon while Washington tried to close the deal with Tehran.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon started again after the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began in February. The Friday agreement now brings together the Lebanon ceasefire, navigation through Hormuz, the release of frozen Iranian money, and another round of negotiations over sanctions and Iran’s nuclear activities.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.

Kevin Warsh faces his first test as Federal Reserve chair. During the week, he will lead the meeting that decides US interest rates. Investors expect rates to stay between 3.5% and 3.75%, according to the CME’s FedWatchTool.
The futures market doesn’t expect another rate cut from the Fed until March of 2027, at which time there is a projection of a .25 point rise in the rate, thanks to the latest jobs report and consumer inflation at 4.2% annually, a figure last seen three years ago.
Fed officials may drop softer language as inflation pressure grows
The Federal Reserve’s committee had in its last statement leaned toward easier policy, but officials may remove that signal this week.
As Cryptopolitan previously reported, three regional Fed presidents opposed the wording at the April meeting. Keeping it now would draw attention because hiring remains strong while prices are rising faster.
There is the issue of oil. Oil prices dropped last week with the prospects of peace becoming more likely in the ongoing war in Iran, but crude prices are still much higher than they were before the war. High oil prices lead to higher costs of transport, production, and at home.
Any attempt by Kevin to dismiss those risks or preserve the softer message could look like support for Donald Trump’s position. Trump nominated him and keeps demanding lower rates. He also abandoned decades of US presidential restraint by publicly attacking former Fed chair Jerome Powell for refusing to cut rates.
Those attacks followed Kevin into his confirmation hearing. Senators pressed him about loyalty to Trump and his ability to protect the central bank’s independence.
His first decision and press conference will offer an answer. Most board members are expected to support a hold, which matches the latest employment and inflation numbers.
Kevin also has room to resist the president. Removing a Fed leader over a policy dispute is difficult. Earlier campaigns against Powell and Fed governor Lisa Cook failed. That protection allows Kevin to put longer-term financial stability ahead of short-term political demands.
Kevin’s record gives markets reasons to question his next policy choices
Kevin has appeared more receptive to cuts over the past year because he thinks AI might reduce inflation and mentioned the trimmed-mean indicators pointing to lower prices.
His statements of course resonate with Donald Trump, but they have also been beneficial to Kevin himself, since this largely helped him get the Fed chair position, as Trump made clear when he announced it.
Kevin’s background has been contradictory. During the administration of Barack Obama, Kevin was advocating for an increase in interest rates after the financial crisis. He has even accused the Fed of buying government and mortgage-backed bonds excessively.
However, during Trump’s first presidential term, Kevin and his previous employer Stanley Druckenmiller were against tightening monetary policy despite historically low unemployment.
When the Fed cut rates in September 2024 under President Joe Biden, after inflation had cooled, Kevin called the decision “puzzling.” Interesting, isn’t it?
Even if Kevin maintains a politics-free room, the challenge is no easier. Before the oil shock from Iran, inflation was a pre-existing issue. Artificial intelligence may help businesses save money, but there’s a possibility that it can hurt job growth and lower demand.
As Cryptopolian reported, Kevin is eager to reduce the $6.7 trillion balance sheet of the Fed, and this process of quantitative tightening could also lead to less liquidity in the market, thanks to the instability in US Treasury markets.
Kevin has been criticizing forward guidance and intends to abolish the Fed’s dot plot, which helps predict rate movements for the committee members. This would enable policymakers more freedom, whereas the same would deprive investors of information on future interest rates.
According to Kevin, the former Feds had become dependent on past data and were ignoring the aspect of institutional credibility. It will be up to the markets to prove whether Kevin’s interest rate predictions, balance sheet plan, communication approach, stability, and equity are correct.
The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

A fresh 12.5% tariff threat hangs over U.S.-India trade talks as Donald Trump prepares to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in France. The two leaders will discuss the deal, but Washington does not expect signatures during the gathering.
Negotiations will continue after the summit, when U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer travels to India for another session.
The summit will run from June 15 to June 17 in Evian-les-Bains. Trump will attend with leaders from major industrial economies, while India will send a high-level delegation. A U.S. official allegedly said Modi wants a larger global role for India and considers close ties with Washington part of that goal.
According to Reuters, the official said Trump will accept only terms he considers strong, adding, “We think a very good deal is possible.”
Trump and Modi review tariff demands before Greer continues talks in India
The G7 meeting will not produce any conclusive deal on trade. Trump and Modi will be able to gauge where negotiations currently stand before the delegation starts discussing issues such as tariffs and market access again. The subsequent trip of Greer in the following week will push the process towards another stage.
India wishes for reduced tariffs and favorable treatment according to the preliminary deal. According to Piyush Goyal, India’s commerce minister, the initial phase of the bilateral deal would likely be completed by mid-July. That gives both countries just a few more weeks to solve the rest of their differences.
Relations have faced pressure for two reasons. Washington imposed tariffs on Indian products, and Trump repeatedly said he helped end last year’s brief fighting between India and Pakistan. New Delhi rejects that account. The tone has become less hostile in recent weeks, allowing officials to keep negotiating.
The leaders are also expected to discuss energy security. Indian officials said possible purchases of Venezuelan oil may come up. That topic now sits beside another urgent problem involving ships, tankers, and the Strait of Hormuz.
India demanded on Thursday that the United States stop attacking commercial shipping after three tankers carrying Indian crew members were hit during the week. One strike killed three Indian sailors. They were the first reported deaths since the U.S. campaign against Iran-linked shipping began on April 13.
India presses Trump on shipping deaths as G7 leaders discuss the Iran war
Since the blockade started, U.S. forces have disabled eight vessels and forced more than 100 others to turn back. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Friday with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar about the latest events in the Strait of Hormuz. The State Department disclosed the call Saturday.
Trump is expected to ask allies about clearing mines from the strait. Britain and France have shown interest in helping once the fighting pauses. The waterway carries a large share of global oil cargoes, so disruptions can affect fuel prices, financial markets, and crypto trading.
Trump also plans separate meetings with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates during the summit. Those talks will focus on efforts to end the Iran war. The U.S. official who described the plans spoke anonymously under White House briefing rules.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said an agreement to stop the conflict was closer than “ever before” and could be completed within 24 hours. Pakistan was preparing for an electronic signing, followed by technical talks next week.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that an agreement “has never been closer.” Trump shared the post after saying several times that a deal was near. On Thursday, he said negotiators had made major progress only hours after threatening to take control of Iran’s oil industry.
Iranian state television separately said funeral ceremonies for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will take place in July.
The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.