Bitcoin Soars Past $106K, DeFi Heats Up with ByReal and HYPE

Happy Monday, TM Family!

Welcome to the Token Metrics Research | Daily newsletter, where we cover key market movements, regulatory updates, and early alpha for our readers and investors. 

Let's dive in! 

The cryptocurrency market exhibits strength and resilience, even amidst global geopolitical tensions. Bitcoin is trading at $107,457, reflecting a 1.72% increase over the past 24 hours. This upward momentum underscores Bitcoin's role as a leading digital asset, with market sentiment cautiously optimistic.

There is a potential volatility boom for Bitcoin. The MACD histogram has turned positive, a technical signal that has historically preceded significant price movements, such as the bull runs in late 2020 and 2024. While this volatility could be bullish or bearish, it suggests heightened market activity.

Ethereum has surged 4% in the last 24 hours, reaching $2,641, aligning with the broader market strength and growing institutional interest. It continues to solidify its position as the backbone of the digital economy, often referred to as "digital oil."

A recent report by Etherealize highlights Ethereum's dominance, powering over 80% of all tokenized assets and serving as the default infrastructure for stablecoins and institutional blockchain deployments. This narrative positions ETH as undervalued relative to its long-term utility, making it a compelling asset for institutional portfolios.

Large Ethereum holders, or "whales" (wallets holding 1,000–100,000 ETH), have accumulated 1.49M ETH over the past 30 days, increasing their combined holdings by 3.72%. These whales now control 26.98% of the total ETH supply, signaling firm long-term conviction among key stakeholders. 

Despite external pressures, digital assets remain attractive to investors, with global crypto funds recording $1.9B weekly inflows for the ninth consecutive week. This brings the year-to-date total to $13.2B, a new record, with total assets under management reaching $179B. Bitcoin funds saw $1.3B in inflows, while Ethereum funds attracted $585M, marking its strongest performance since February.

Bybit has announced the launch of ByReal, its first Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX), marking a significant step toward integrating centralized and decentralized finance. The testnet is scheduled for June 30, 2025, with the mainnet launch planned for Q3 2025. ByReal aims to combine the liquidity and efficiency of centralized exchanges (CEX) with the transparency and autonomy of DeFi, offering a suite of innovative features. 

This initiative aligns with a broader industry trend in which major CEXs embrace DeFi to create hybrid solutions. Coinbase announced in-app DEX this month, and their verified pools feature went live in March 2025. Similarly, Binance has Binance Alpha, which routes token swaps on different chains, and soon, the Alpha 2.0 tab will be inside the CEX app.

Hyperliquid's HYPE token has achieved a remarkable milestone, becoming the fifth-largest digital asset by futures open interest with $2.06B, surpassing Dogecoin's $1.83B but trailing XRP. The token has experienced a fourfold rally over the past three months, reaching a record price of $44. Hyperliquid, the platform behind HYPE, now accounts for 60% of the total on-chain perpetuals trading volume, which amounted to $94.3B last week.

The launch of HyperEVM, Hyperliquid's DeFi layer, has created a dynamic ecosystem with significant opportunities for airdrop farming. HyperEVM leverages Hyperliquid's Layer 1 infrastructure and HyperBFT consensus mechanism to offer a high-performance environment for smart contracts. Key advantages include seamless integration with Hyperliquid's core components, access to deep liquidity, and real-time market data without bridging risks.

The adoption of Bitcoin by institutions and governments continues to accelerate. MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, has acquired an additional 10,100 BTC for approximately $1.05B at an average price of $104,080 per bitcoin between June 9 and June 15, 2025.

This brings their total holdings to 592,100 BTC, valued at over $63B, purchased at an average price of $70,666 per bitcoin. The acquisition was funded through equity offerings, primarily the sale of STRD perpetual preferred stock, which offers a 10% non-cumulative annual dividend. This move is part of MicroStrategy's "42/42" plan to raise $84B for Bitcoin acquisitions through 2027.

Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and State Minister Bilal Bin Saqib met with Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, to explore Bitcoin's potential role in the country's sovereign reserves and long-term financial strategy. The government also plans to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve and allocate 2,000 megawatts of energy for cryptocurrency mining, signaling a bold commitment to integrating Bitcoin into its economic framework.

That's all for today, people. Let's talk tomorrow.

Your Friends at Token Metrics