Bitcoin prices have climbed roughly 10% since Sunday as global investors respond to cooling geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
GameStop just secured another $450 million in its debt-fueled sprint toward becoming a Bitcoin-heavy treasury, bringing its total capital raise to $2.7 billion. But unlike Strategy, the company is doing so with a retail business in free fall. According to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, video game retailer GameStop (GME) secured an additional $450 million through the full exercise of a “greenshoe” option tied to its $2.25 billion convertible notes offering earlier this month. The offering brought GameStop’s total capital raise to $2.7 billion, a war chest it says will fund corporate investments, including inquiring Bitcoin ( BTC ) as a treasury reserve asset. You might also like: US Bitcoin ETFs record 11 consecutive days of net inflows despite macro jitters A strategic imitation or reinvention in motion? GameStop’s aggressive pivot to Bitcoin echoes a now-familiar playbook. The company’s recent filings reference an “investment policy” that includes acquiring BTC as a treasury reserve asset. That language mirrors the model pioneered by Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which began stockpiling Bitcoin in 2020 amid macroeconomic uncertainty and balance sheet stagnation. However, the divergence is just as important as the resemblance. Where Strategy was a steady, if unexciting, software firm when it began buying BTC, GameStop is a declining retailer. Strategy’s core revenue has shrunk modestly, down 6.2% year-over-year, but the business remains intact. Its Bitcoin strategy has massively inflated its balance sheet, with information on its website showing total assets have ballooned from $2.4 billion in 2022 to over $43 billion as of Q1 2025. That’s a 591% annual increase. Additionally, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm has more than tripled its stock price, largely untethered from the fundamentals of its core enterprise software revenue. By contrast, GameStop’s fundamentals are deteriorating. Q1 2025 revenue dropped 17%, and the company closed over 400 stores. The collectibles segment and a leaner retail footprint helped produce a $44.8 million net profit in Q1, but the long-term growth trend remains negative. That makes the Bitcoin pivot feel less like vision and more like a gamble. Market reactions remain jittery. GME shares plunged 20% after the initial convertible note announcement in June, barely a month after its first Bitcoin acquisition. Unlike MSTR, which has historically traded at a premium to its BTC holdings, GME has yet to build that investor confidence. The make-or-break factor: Bitcoin’s price Strategy’s success relied on Bitcoin’s bull runs. Its $70,681 average cost basis versus the current $107,798 BTC price means even a significant crash wouldn’t wipe out gains. GameStop, however, entered the race when Bitcoin was trading above $108,000 in May, leaving almost no margin for error. Worse, GameStop’s $1.48 billion in long-term debt, per Q1 filings, demands constant market access. If Bitcoin stagnates or dips, the company could face a liquidity crunch, something Strategy avoided by front-running the 2021 and 2024 rallies. Read more: BitGo weighs IPO in H2 2025 following $100B in assets under custody in H1
Users across several blockchains can now take non-custodial, crypto-backed loans in just days, the two firms claim. DeFi is racing to close the usability gap with traditional platforms. On Wednesday, June 25, Web3 cloud firm Gelato and Defi lending protocol Morpho announced the launch of embedded crypto-backed loans. According to the two firms, the platform would be as easy to use as a banking app. Today, in collaboration with @MorphoLabs , we're introducing Embedded Crypto-Backed Loans. A new way for wallets, exchanges, and fintech applications to offer instant, non-custodial, and web2-like stablecoin loans directly in their products. Available now on @arbitrum ,… pic.twitter.com/EfWnDif5i3 — Gelato (@gelatonetwork) June 25, 2025 Paul Frambot, CEO of Morpho Labs, said that the partnership will make DeFi self-custodial crypto loans more accessible than before. He explained that users can borrow the USDC stablecoin by using crypto assets, including Bitcoin, as collateral. “We’re excited to see more platforms bring crypto-backed loans to users in a self-custodial way. Morpho is built to be integrated, and Gelato makes it easy to deliver a seamless UX on top,” Paul Frambot, Mopho Labs CEO. You might also like: The 5 top crypto loan platforms of 2025 Crypto loans won’t require credit checks According to Morpho and Gelato, these loans are meant for both retail and institutional users. The platform will include features such as one-click borrowing with collateral, as well as wallet creation with social logins. At the same time, borrowing will not require credit checks. Morpho’s non-custodial loans are available on Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Scroll, and will soon be available on the Katana blockchain. The two teams also stated that they would add support for more blockchains in the future. You might also like: NFT lending volume collapses 97% from peak as market activity collapses Crypto-collateralized loans are an attractive way for holders to leverage their digital assets. They enable users to get liquidity from their crypto without having to sell. Moreover, some traders use crypto loans as leverage instruments to seek more upside in trading. Still, there are risks involved in crypto lending, both for users and platforms. For instance, a sharp drop in crypto prices could render a platform’s collateral insufficient to back outstanding loans, potentially leading to a collapse. Read more: Crypto lending market plunges 43% as CeFi collapse reshapes market, survey shows
Bitcoin is poised for a potential surge, with analysts forecasting its price could reach $120,000 amid shifting economic landscapes and growing institutional interest. Macroeconomic trends, including rising inflation and evolving
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released a proposal to cut the capital buffer that big US banks are required to hold, triggering internal backlash from within the Fed board itself. This decision came directly from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who argued that the current rule—the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio, or eSLR—has become too restrictive. Per Powell’s testimony to the Senate Banking Committee today, the suggested changes would significantly loosen a regulation originally put in place after the 2008 financial crisis to prevent another banking meltdown. The eSLR was meant to act as a hard floor on how much top-quality capital big banks had to hold. The idea was simple: keep the financial system from falling apart if banks get reckless again. But Powell now says the system is outdated. “This stark increase in the amount of relatively safe and low-risk assets on bank balance sheets over the past decade or so has resulted in the leverage ratio becoming more binding,” he said in a statement. “Based on this experience, it is prudent for us to reconsider our original approach.” Fed plan lowers capital floor by billions The Fed has opened a 60-day public comment window on the proposal. The draft would lower the capital requirement for bank holding companies by 1.4%, freeing up about $13 billion. The drop is even steeper for bank subsidiaries at $210 billion, though that capital would remain on the books at the parent level. Under the current framework, the eSLR requires holding companies to keep capital at 5%. The new range would bring that down to somewhere between 3.5% and 4.5%. Subsidiaries, which currently face a 6% threshold, would also move to that same range. This shift comes after years of pressure from Wall Street executives and Fed officials who say the rule treats all assets, risky or not, the same. US Treasurys, which are generally considered safe, are given the same weight as high-yield bonds under the current eSLR setup. With bank reserves ballooning and liquidity in the Treasury market becoming a major concern, Powell and others are pushing for what they describe as a more flexible rulebook. Not everyone agrees. Two Fed governors, Adriana Kugler and Michael Barr, are firmly against the proposal. Michael, who previously served as vice chair for supervision, said the change would not make banks more helpful during a financial crunch. “Even if some further Treasury market intermediation were to occur in normal times, this proposal is unlikely to help in times of stress,” he said. “In short, firms will likely use the proposal to distribute capital to shareholders and engage in the highest return activities available to them, rather than to meaningfully increase Treasury intermediation.” Two officials back change, two others push back On the other side, the plan has support from Michelle Bowman, who now holds the vice chair for supervision role, and Fed Governor Christopher Waller. Michelle claimed the change could help stabilize Treasury markets by allowing banks to hold more safe assets without getting penalized. “The proposal will help to build resilience in US Treasury markets, reducing the likelihood of market dysfunction and the need for the Federal Reserve to intervene in a future stress event,” she said. “We should be proactive in addressing the unintended consequences of bank regulation, including the bindingness of the eSLR, while ensuring the framework continues to promote safety, soundness, and financial stability.” Christopher also supported the change, echoing Powell’s concerns that the leverage ratio is now acting more like a constraint than a protection. The rule’s equal treatment of all assets is being criticized as outdated, especially when applied to banks holding large volumes of low-risk assets. But for opponents like Adriana and Michael, the concern is that banks won’t use the freed-up capital for anything productive. They worry it’ll be used to increase shareholder returns or chase risky profits, exactly the kind of behavior the post-crisis rules were meant to stop. Adriana hasn’t released a full statement, but is aligned with Michael’s concerns on the direction of the rule. This isn’t the first time the eSLR has been in the crosshairs. Big banks have argued for years that it discourages them from holding US Treasurys, especially during periods of high demand. The Fed’s proposal now claims it is fixing that exact issue by reclassifying how low-risk inventory is handled. The rule tweak also aims to align the US framework with Basel standards, the global baseline for banking regulations. These international guidelines are meant to standardize how banks operate across borders, and the Fed says this change is part of aligning with that structure. Official documents released Wednesday point to that alignment as one of the driving reasons behind the proposal. Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now
Ethereum (ETH) has rebounded sharply after nearing the $2,000 mark earlier this week amid geopolitical unrest. Renewed optimism followed President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, alongside a return of inflows to US spot Ethereum ETFs, pushing ETH above the $2,400 level with fresh bullish momentum. Ether is once again testing its 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). This level has historically served as a key turning point for the asset. With renewed attention from traders and growing market anticipation, a crucial breakout could set the stage for a significant rally. ETH Approaches Major Resistance In its latest analysis , CryptoQuant said that a decisive breakout above the $2,500-$2,600 range could pave the way for a short-term rally toward the $2,800 resistance. If ETH manages to breach that level with momentum, the next target could be $4,000, a price last seen when the leading altcoin broke out of a long consolidation zone between $2,100 and $2,800. The current setup matches that prior pattern, which has raised optimism about a potential repeat rally. Meanwhile, the 50-week EMA remains a significant resistance zone, and clearing it may signal a more explosive upside move. However, broader market risks persist. Geopolitical tensions involving the US, Israel, and Iran continue to inject volatility into crypto markets. Ethereum’s Next Major Breakout Adding to the growing bullish outlook, Bitcoinsensus’s latest findings revealed that Ethereum is entering the final and most “explosive” phase of its 4-year market cycle. Drawing parallels with the 2017 and 2021 bull runs, the tweet highlighted a pattern of consistent timing between market tops, with current price action showing similar signs of accumulation and breakout structure. According to the analysis, Ethereum’s next parabolic move appears to be forming, fueled by months of consolidation and historical rhythm. While past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, Bitcoinsensus noted that crypto cycles often “rhyme,” while hinting that the 2025 market top could arrive sooner than expected. The post Ethereum (ETH) Still Facing Serious Selling Pressure at This Critical Level appeared first on CryptoPotato .
TRON DAO has officially integrated Chainlink’s oracle network to secure over $5.5 billion in decentralized finance (DeFi) assets, marking a significant advancement in blockchain security and data integrity. This strategic
Crypto treasury firms are attracting significant investor interest, but recent PIPE investors are quickly cashing out, triggering sharp stock price declines. This trend highlights the volatility and liquidity challenges faced
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