🇦🇪 Crypto.com becomes the first VASP in the UAE to receive an SVF license; Bitmine slows ETH accumulation

Quick Take

• Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) notably slowed its ETH acquisitions as it approaches its strategic treasury target.
• U.S. spot BTC ETFs saw a net outflow of US$996 million last week, compared to a $632 million inflow the week prior. Spot ETH ETFs saw a net outflow of $255 million in the same period, compared to a $70 million inflow the week prior.
• The U.S. stock market experienced highly volatile, bifurcated trading. Large-cap equities narrowly clung to positive territory, extending the S&P 500’s winning streak to seven weeks after a fresh all-time high on Thursday. However, a triple threat of hot inflation data, surging crude oil, and spiking Treasury yields forced a late-week pullback that erased most of the week's early optimism.
• • S&P 500 (+0.13%) secured its seventh straight weekly gain despite Friday's steep retreat. Nasdaq Composite finished flat (-0.08%). Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.17%) suffered a fractional weekly loss under the weight of industrial and macro headwinds.
  • Key market drivers: April CPI rose to 3.8% annually, and PPI surged to a blistering 6.0% annual rate, fueling hawkish policy expectations. Macro risks took center stage as the Trump-Xi summit yielded no progress on reopening the restricted Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. Consequently, WTI crude oil skyrocketed to close at $105.42 a barrel (+4.2% on Friday alone), further feeding into global inflation anxieties. The bond market sell-off accelerated dramatically. The 10-Year Treasury yield surged to a 12-month high of 4.60% and the 30-year yield to 5.12% (its highest level since 2007). This rapid move heavily pressured high-valuation growth sectors.
  • Sector and Style Dynamics: Information Technology and Consumer Staples managed to outpace the broader market over the full five days, alongside Energy, which benefited directly from the crude oil spike. High yields hammered capital-intensive and cyclical sectors. Consumer Discretionary, Real Estate, Materials, and Utilities led the week's declines. High borrowing costs and escalating input costs heavily penalized small-cap equities, leading to a stark -2.4% underperformance in the Russell 2000 compared to large caps.

Research Dashboard

According to our research dashboard, the price, volume indices dropped -4.68% and -8.35%, respectively, while the volatility index grew +35.88% last week.

Most tokens in the index saw a downtrend. BTC and ETH prices decreased by -5.7% and -10.2%, respectively. Toncoin (TON) and Ondo (ONDO) consolidated following the previous week’s spike to lead the price drop, while Polygon (POL), Chainlink (LINK), and Hyperliquid (HYPE) led the volatility surge.

Bitwise Asset Management launched a NYSE-listed fund (BHYP) providing spot HYPE exposure and staking yields. CME Group and ICE urged the CFTC to increase oversight of Hyperliquid, warning that its synthetic asset trading could distort benchmarks and aid sanctions evasion. Driven by a capital exodus from other bridges, migrations to Chainlink topped $4 billion, fueled by transfers from several DeFi protocols. Additionally, the DTCC is developing its Collateral AppChain platform by integrating Chainlink infrastructure.

Chart of the Week

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) significantly reduced its ETH acquisition pace, purchasing approximately 26,659 ETH last week compared to an average of over 100,000 ETH in previous weeks. This strategic moderation, announced by Chairman Tom Lee, aligns with the firm's goal of acquiring 5% of total Ethereum supply, a target it would have reached by mid-July had the aggressive buying rate continued.

The firm acquired more than 1 million ETH since the start of 2026 and now holds over 5.2 million ETH, representing roughly 4.31% of the circulating supply. Over 90% of its ETH holdings (4.7 million ETH) are staked via its MAVAN platform, generating approximately $11.1 billion in asset value.

The slowdown suggests that Bitmine is shifting from an aggressive accumulation phase to a more measured approach as it nears its strategic allocation goal. This move highlights a maturation in corporate treasury strategies within the crypto sector, where firms balance rapid asset growth with long-term sustainability and staking yield generation.

Weekly Performance

Most top-cap tokens declined last week, with TON, SUI, OP, and APT leading the plunge.

RWA and Liquid Staking led the market capitalization (MC) drop.

Notable Updates

News Highlights

Crypto.com News

• Crypto.com’s UAE entity, Foris DAX Middle East FZE, was granted a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) license by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), the first such approval for a VASP in the UAE. This milestone enables Crypto.com to activate its partnership with the Dubai Department of Finance, enabling residents to pay government fees using virtual assets. Transactions will settle in dirhams or CBUAE-approved dirham-backed stablecoins under the SVF framework, aligning with the Dubai Cashless Strategy.

Regulation

• The U.S. Senate Banking Committee approved the Clarity Act via a bipartisan 15–9 vote, advancing legislation that seeks to define whether digital tokens are commodities or securities and divide explicit regulatory jurisdictions between the SEC and CFTC. The bill addresses multi-year regulatory ambiguity in the U.S., providing a clearer legal framework that could stabilize the domestic digital asset industry, reduce ongoing litigation, and encourage broader institutional investment.

Adoption

• Societe Generale-FORGE, the digital assets subsidiary of Societe Generale, announced plans to deploy its euro-denominated EURCV and U.S. dollar-denominated USDCV stablecoins on the institutional Canton Network to drive short-term financing and collateral management. 
• Brokerage giant Charles Schwab announced a phased rollout of "Schwab Crypto," enabling U.S. retail clients to directly trade spot BTC and ETH alongside traditional assets from a unified dashboard. Custody will be handled by Charles Schwab Premier Bank and Paxos. 

Investment Instruments

• Fidelity International partnered with Chainlink and Sygnum to tokenize its Fidelity USD Digital Liquidity Fund (FILQ) money market fund, using decentralized oracles to provide real-time transparency and cross-chain accessibility for institutional-grade investment products.
• CME Group partnered with Nasdaq to launch financially settled Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures on June 8, tracking seven prominent cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, and XLM) in standard and micro sizes. The product expands institutional access to multi-asset vehicles, allowing market participants to efficiently hedge risks or acquire diversified exposure to the broader digital asset economy using a single regulated contract.
• Major Japanese brokerages SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities are preparing to introduce in-house crypto investment trusts and ETFs tracking BTC and ETH, pending finalized guidelines from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). 
• JPMorgan filed with the SEC to launch the Ethereum-based OnChain Liquidity-Token Money Market Fund (JLTXX) via its Kinexys Digital Assets unit. The yield-bearing Treasury fund is structured to comply with stablecoin reserve mandates under the GENIUS Act.

Catalyst Calendar

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