President Trump’s tariff war has been roiling markets for months, and this week was no different. Markets rose mid-week as the Court of International Trade blocked the tariffs as an abuse of emergency powers. However, an appeals court put a temporary stay on the order, and the White House insists tariffs will remain, one way or another. Concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war and China’s military build-up also weighed on sentiment. June has been a bearish month for Bitcoin in four of the past six years. Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, says crypto investors remain hesitant. “Uncertainty around inflation, tariffs, and the US economy slowed bullish trends in crypto, while geopolitical risks have also pushed investors to pull some capital from assets.”
On the upside, Bitcoin is also being seen by some as a hedge against the trade war. The Australian Financial Review reports local investors tipped A$87.3 million (US$56.7M) into Australian Bitcoin ETFs last month, far exceeding the A$1.5 million (US$974K) into gold ETFs. And in other positive news, FTX has just distributed more than A$7.7B (US$5 billion) to creditors of the failed exchange. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 64 or greed, after falling to 50 during the week.
In Headlines
Ethereum’s MicroStrategy moment
The Strategy equivalent for Ethereum has arrived in the form of Sharplink Gaming, a listed sports betting firm, which is raising up to US$1 billion (A$1.54B) via stock offerings to buy ETH as a reserve asset. Last week, the company announced it had secured a US$425 million (A$655M) private placement for the strategy, led by Consensys and backed by Pantera Capital, ParaFi Capital, Electric Capital, Galaxy Digital, Arrington Capital, and Republic Digital. Joe Lubin, the billionaire co-founder of Ethereum and Consensys, will be the chairman of the board. The stock price of the company is currently up around 1,162%.
Bitcoin reserve asset companies
Everybody seems to be buying Bitcoin for their corporate treasuries. Last week, Trump Media denied reports that it was planning on raising US$3 billion (A$4.62B) to buy Bitcoin. This week, it announced it has raised US$2.44 billion (A$3.75B) in stock and convertible bonds to buy Bitcoin for its treasury. Twenty One Capital, another Bitcoin treasury company, has raised US$685 million (A$1B) for its scheme, with Tether today moving 25,812 Bitcoin to a new address as part of its pre-funding commitment to the plan. Hong Kong firm, Reitar Logtech Holdings Ltd, today also announced plans to invest up to US$1.5 billion (A$2.3B) in Bitcoin. And Strategy itself has just launched another US$250 million (A$385M) raise via a stock offering (STRD). Over the past three quarters, public companies have added more Bitcoin to their balance sheets than the Bitcoin ETFs have seen in inflows.
Finally, in a potential Australian-first, ASX-listed delivery start-up, Locate Technologies, plans to allocate cash in excess of its working capital requirement to Bitcoin. Co-founder and CEO, Steve Orenstein, noting, “those that have been following Bitcoin over a number of years have seen how it has grown substantially in value”, and he expects this will continue.
Staking is not a security
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that staking activities do not constitute securities transactions. In a statement the SEC said, “participants in Protocol Staking Activities do not need to register with the Commission transactions under the Securities Act.” The guidance applies to proof-of-stake networks, custodians and node operators. Meanwhile, two new staking ETFs from REX Financial and Osprey for ETH and SOL emerged using a novel mechanism to get listed within weeks. However, the SEC said the ETFs may fail to meet the legal definition of an investment company and thus be unable to list. Greg Collett, general counsel at REX Financial said, “We think we can satisfy the SEC on the investment company question, and we don’t intend to launch the funds until we do that.”
Asia diversifies away from US dollar
Asian economies are gradually reducing their reliance on the US dollar, with a recent study by Forex Complex pointing to a reduced share of US dollars in national reserve, a rise in gold’s share, and increased use of digital assets like stablecoins in bilateral trade. Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, and India are forming regional trade agreements to promote local currency use, driven by concerns over sanctions, trade restrictions, and geopolitical risks. Bitcoin has also continued to gain popularity as an alternative store of value.
Thailand adopts crypto payments
Thailand is preparing to launch crypto-linked credit cards that would allow tourists and locals to make payments using digital assets, while merchants receive settlements in the local currency. The government also plans to streamline financial regulations by merging laws governing digital assets and traditional securities, an effort to modernise fund transfers and align with evolving investment behaviours. These measures build on earlier pilot programs in tourist destinations like Phuket and form part of a broader strategy to stimulate tourism amid declining visitor numbers.
Ethereum ETFs overtook Bitcoin last week
In an unusual turn of events, the week ended with ETH ETFs taking US$285.8 million (A$440M) of new inflows as Bitcoin ETFs lost US$144.8M (A$223M). Ether ETFs saw their best month of inflows since December, with around US$400 million (A$616M) pouring in through May. That said, the Bitcoin ETFs are overwhelmingly more successful, and BlackRock’s IBIT alone saw a monthly record inflow of almost US$6.5 billion (A$10B) in May.
World warms up to Bitcoin
At the Bitcoin 2025 conference, Pakistan’s new crypto czar, Bilal Bin Saqib, announced the country would pursue a strategic Bitcoin reserve plan. As with the US plan, the reserve will simply hang on to digital assets already in state custody. UK Reform party leader, Nigel Farage, also pledged to introduce legislation to create a Bitcoin reserve, and outlaw crypto-related debanking. “We are going to launch in Britain a crypto revolution,” he said.
Meanwhile, Poland has just elected its first pro-crypto President, Karol Nawrocki. The Trump-backed politician has criticised “oppressive regulations” on digital assets. “More and more people and companies are investing in cryptocurrencies,” Nawrocki said earlier this year. “Poland must be a place where innovations are created, not regulations.”
Ethereum sentiment flips bullish
After two years of bearishness, social media sentiment has flipped positive on Ethereum. Santiment reports that social media mentions of Bitcoin currently see 1.3 bullish comments for every 1 bearish comment. However Ethereum mentions see 3 bullish posts for every 1 bearish post. “This is likely due to the fact that $ETH’s market value has soared +41% in just under 4 weeks,” the analytics company posted. “For retailers, the average trader is now excited about crypto’s #2 asset after largely sidestepping it for the past 3 years.”
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