24H Trending Coins & Headlines｜Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged as Expected; Bipartisan US Bill Proposes Banning Pardon for SBF (June 18)
- Key Takeaways: The cryptocurrency market faces broad downward pressure, with major coins like BTC and ETH generally declining, while certain small-cap coins and crypto-related stocks saw significant gains. Meanwhile, the Fed's hawkish stance, industry regulatory developments, and infrastructure upgrades have become market focal points, indicating the industry is shifting from narrative-driven speculation to data-driven validation.
- Key Elements:
- The top ten coins by CEX trading volume collectively declined over the past 24 hours, with drops ranging from 0.55% to 7.25%, led by UNI and WLD.
- OKX data shows that small-cap coins like XPL, BIO, and ENA bucked the trend to rise over 17%, revealing structural capital rotation.
- The Fed held interest rates steady, but the dot plot indicated a hawkish lean, with nine officials anticipating at least one rate hike in 2025, suggesting potential market repricing of rate expectations.
- Bipartisan lawmakers in the US have jointly proposed legislation explicitly opposing any presidential pardon or sentence commutation for FTX founder SBF, reinforcing a message of regulatory accountability.
- Base is set to launch the Beryl hard fork, introducing the B20 native token standard, shortening the withdrawal confirmation period from 7 days to 5 days, and improving network efficiency.
- a16z crypto notes that the crypto industry has entered the "Show Me Era," where the market now focuses more on real data and product adoption rather than visions and whitepapers.
1. Popular Tokens on CEX
CEX Top 10 by Trading Volume & 24h Changes:
- BTC: -1.92%
- ETH: -2.25%
- SOL: -2.03%
- XRP: -2.53%
- BNB: -0.76%
- WLD: -6.12%
- ZEC: -3.75%
- UNI: -7.25%
- XAUT: -0.55%
- DOGE: -1.57%
24h Gainers (Data Source: OKX):
- XPL: +17.45%
- BIO: +13.14%
- ENA: +9.89%
- ETHFI: +8.35%
- ZAMA: +7.49%
- XLM: +7%
- ROBO: +7.01%
- ASTER: +6.92%
- ENJ +5.74%
- MEGA: +5.14%
24h Stock Token Gainers (Data Source: msx.com):
- EBON.M: +23.59%
- PDYN.M: +20.69%
- QNT.M: +15.44%
- EOSE.M: +15.12%
- MNTS.M: +12.67%
- WOLF.M: +12.44%
- MRNA.M : +11.93%
- SIMO.M: +11.61%
- BTGO.M : +11.21%
- MUU.M: +11.06%
2. Top 5 on-chain Meme Coins (Data Source: GMGN):
- SPACEMOON
- Lobster
- The Crab Effect
- Mindset
- Mars
Headlines
Fed Holds Rates Steady as Expected,but Overall Hawkish with Major Policy Statement Overhaul
The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady in the 3.50%-3.75% range for the fourth consecutive meeting, in line with market expectations.
"Fed Whisperer" Nick Timiraos commented on the Fed's rate decision: The dot plot from this meeting showed a clear hawkish tilt. Among the 18 officials, 9 expect at least one rate hike this year, with 6 of them even anticipating multiple hikes. In contrast, only one official expects a rate cut this year. Furthermore, one participant (presumed to be Fed Chair James Bullard) did not submit a Summary of Economic Projections (SEP).
Concurrently, the Fed's policy statement underwent a comprehensive revision from beginning to end, with the text length significantly shortened. Overall, the communication framework for this meeting has notably shifted, and market expectations for the interest rate path may be readjusted as a result.
Bipartisan US Lawmakers Propose Resolution: Oppose Presidential Pardon or Sentence Reduction for SBF
US Senators Rubén Gallego (Democrat, Arizona) and Cynthia Lummis (Republican, Wyoming) jointly introduced a bipartisan resolution calling on Congress to formally oppose any presidential pardon, commutation, or other forms of federal clemency for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried under any circumstances. The senators stated that SBF has completed the trial process and should not seek forgiveness, with Gallego calling him "unrepentant" and Lummis stating he should bear his established responsibility rather than "chasing unwarranted clemency."
Polymarket Celebrates 6th Anniversary, Cumulative Trading Volume Exceeds $88 Billion
Polymarket founder celebrated the 6th anniversary on June 17th on X platform, stating, "I am genuinely grateful to be doing this work that means so much to me. It's breathtaking to see the world gradually catching up to this crazy idea called 'information markets.' But we still have a long way to go."
According to Dune data, Polymarket's cumulative trading volume has surpassed $88 billion since its launch six years ago.
Industry News
Fed Chair: Inflation Remains Well Above 2% Target
Fed Chair: Inflation remains well above the 2% target. Persistently high prices are a burden, and recent history should not be a prelude to inflation issues.
Project News
Lighter Updates Buyback Data: Over 15 Million LIT Repurchased, Representing 6% of Circulating Supply
Lighter official posted on X updating protocol buyback data, stating that since TGE, it has repurchased over 15 million LIT tokens, representing approximately 6% of the circulating supply.
Base to Activate Beryl Hard Fork Upgrade, Introducing B20 Native Token Standard
According to official news, Base is about to launch the Beryl hard fork upgrade, introducing the B20 native token standard, which shortens the finality confirmation period for single-proof withdrawals from 7 days to 5 days, and upgrades Reth V2, reducing disk usage by 50% and increasing throughput by 33%.
Beryl will be activated on the Sepolia testnet at 2:00 AM UTC+8 on June 19th, and on the mainnet at 2:00 AM UTC+8 on June 26th.
B20 is Base's native token standard. It is an ERC-20 compatible token implemented via Rust precompiles, specifically designed for stablecoin, RWA, and long-tail token issuers, featuring a built-in compliance toolkit including transfer strategies, freezing and clawback, role-based access control, memos, and supply caps.
Fundraising
Karta Raises $140 Million in Series A, Co-Led by Galaxy Ventures and CIM
Karta announced the completion of a $140 million Series A funding round, co-led by Galaxy Ventures and CIM. Karta is a US credit card product for global travelers, requiring no US Social Security Number for application.
Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure Trace Finance Secures $32 Million Series A, Led by CoinFund
Stablecoin payment infrastructure provider Trace Finance announced the completion of a $32 million Series A funding round, led by CoinFund, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and others. Trace Finance plans to use the funds to expand operations in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region and advance more license applications. The company claims to have processed over $10 billion in institutional cross-border transaction volume cumulatively.
Sharon AI Announces Issuance of Convertible Senior Notes to Raise $700 Million
Sharon AI announced the issuance of convertible senior notes to raise $700 million, with proceeds intended to support a computing agreement with NVIDIA.
AI financial compliance infrastructure provider Flagright announced the completion of a $12.5 million Series A funding round, led by Infinity Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Sella Direct Ventures, and existing investor Frontline. The funds will be used to drive its expansion in the 'Explainable AI Compliance' space, accelerate its US market presence, and strengthen its enterprise-grade standard in the financial crime compliance sector. Flagright stated that financial crime compliance is entering a phase of platform-based transformation, where banks, payment firms, lenders, and brokerages face higher transaction volumes, stricter regulations, and more complex financial crime methods, making traditional compliance systems inadequate for current demands.
People & Voices
Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour said in a FOX interview: "Honestly, when I think of competitors, I don't think of Polymarket the most. I think about some other platforms. We're surrounded by a group of competitors."
In the follow-up interview, Tarek mainly mentioned CME and Robinhood. The former helped gaming giant FanDuel launch its own prediction market product, while the latter has also launched its in-house prediction market, Rothera. Tarek also mentioned DraftKings, Novig, and Coinbase.
a16z crypto: Crypto Industry Enters 'Show Me' Era, Shifting from Narrative-Driven to Data-Verified
a16z crypto published an article stating that the crypto industry is entering what is called the 'Show Me' era. Markets and media are no longer accepting projects that rely solely on vision and whitepapers, demanding real data and verifiable product delivery. Over the past decade, crypto projects often relied on a 'vision-is-product' logic, gaining market attention through whitepapers, token narratives, and proof-of-concepts. However, with increasing regulation, negative industry events, and institutional entry, this model is fading. Concurrently, the accelerated entry of traditional financial institutions into the crypto space is significantly raising industry standards. This includes BlackRock's tokenized money market funds, Fidelity's ETF strategy, and JPMorgan Chase's advancements in on-chain settlement and building its own blockchain network, making 'real products and actual usage' the new standard for competition.
Michael Burry, famous for successfully shorting the US subprime mortgage market, stated that he currently holds neither a long nor a short position in SpaceX. The primary reason isn't fundamental analysis of the company, but rather the prohibitively high cost of shorting. Burry wrote that SpaceX is essentially "a small aerospace company, a niche telecom operator, a troubled social media company, and a CoreWeave-light computing services provider," with annual revenue under $20 billion yet a market valuation of approximately $3 trillion. These remarks came as SpaceX's stock price continued to rise after its public listing. The company surged 20% on its first trading day, accumulating gains exceeding 25% over the following week. Its market capitalization has not only surpassed Berkshire Hathaway but has also entered the global top five, trailing only Nvidia, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
