Ether treasury company Sharplink has bought Ether for the first time in eight months as the token sank to its lowest price this year on Thursday.

On-chain data from Arkham shows a wallet associated with Sharplink received 5,000 Ether (ETH), worth $7.85 million, from crypto prime brokerage FalconX on Thursday. The last time it received Ether from FalconX was on Oct. 26, when it bought $78.3 million worth of ETH. 

The purchase comes as Ether hit $1,537 on Thursday, its lowest price in 2026. The latest purchase could suggest a revival of the company’s active Ether accumulation strategy.

“I’m seeing genuine corporate accumulation conviction holding strong amid subdued price action,” Andri Fauzan Adziima, the research lead at Bitrue Research Institute, told Cointelegraph. 

Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom told Cointelegraph in May that he saw three catalysts that could spur growth in the price of Ether.

The first was the passage of the CLARITY Act in the US, while the second was a return to market risk appetite, which will depend on an easing in geopolitical tension and cooling of the artificial intelligence investment thesis. Chalom’s third catalyst was the continued growth of real-world asset tokenization. 

The Senate is yet to vote on its version of the CLARITY Act, and the House Financial Services Committee said it would hold a hearing on the bill on July 17. The US and Iran are working toward a final peace agreement to end months of conflict and tokenized real-world assets have now reached a distributed asset value of $31.55 billion, close to its highest level this year.

Sharplink now holds 876,285 ETH

Sharplink was founded in 2019 as an affiliate marketing service provider to the sports betting and gambling industries, but pivoted to become an Ethereum treasury company in June 2025, with Consensys co-founder and CEO Joe Lubin named as chairman.

It became the largest publicly traded corporate holder of ETH, but lost the title to Bitmine in August, just two months after Bitmine launched its own Ether buying strategy. 

Related: Bitmine, Sharplink and Joe Lubin back Ethereum R&D nonprofit

The company now holds 876,285 ETH and ETH equivalents, which it has accumulated over time through active ETH purchases and staking rewards. Its competitor, Bitmine, holds 5.67 million ETH after acquiring another 52,203 ETH last week. 

Source: Sharplink

“We continue to maintain a steady pace of accumulation throughout 2026. We believe we are in the early stages of crypto spring,” Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said. 

Sharplink added to the Russell indexes

The purchase also comes just days before Sharplink is expected to join the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes on Monday. 

Inclusion in the indexes is widely viewed as positive because many active and passive funds, including exchange-traded funds, typically buy stocks from them.

Chalom in May said that joining the Russell indexes would broaden the company’s shareholder base and strengthen its access to capital markets.

Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026

Crypto-focused venture capital firm Blockchain Capital is in the process of raising another $700 million for two new funds, according to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The firm is raising capital for its seventh early-stage fund aimed at experimental or early-stage projects as well as a second growth fund, which covers more mature companies that already have some traction, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Blockchain Capital previously raised a total of $1 billion for crypto investments, the source said. The new funding rounds are expected to be completed in the next six months, but the firm has already begun deploying some of the new capital.

Venture capital funds are responsible for investing in crypto startups. Blockchain Capital has more than $2 billion in assets under management and has invested in crypto exchanges Kraken and Coinbase, and stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether. 

Cointelegraph has contacted Blockchain Capital for comment. 

Average fundraising deal size up 50% in the past 30 days

Despite a crypto market slump, the average crypto funding deal size is up nearly 50% over the last 30 days, according to market intelligence platform Messari.

The average crypto funding deal size is up nearly 50% over the past 30 days. Source: Messari

However, crypto projects have raised only $466 million so far in April, down from $3 billion in March, with Bitcoin miner and artificial intelligence infrastructure company Core Scientific’s $1 billion debt financing through investment bank Morgan Stanley the largest deal of the month.

“Capital concentration is heavily skewed by debt and late-stage mega-rounds, masking a more modest median deal size,” Messari analysts said.

“While total capital inflows were bolstered by massive transactions like Core Scientific’s $1 billion post-IPO debt financing and Polymarket’s $600 million undisclosed round, the majority of activity remains in the sub-$10 million range,” they added.

Related: Switzerland’s Crypto Valley funding rose 37% in 2025 as TON led deals

Monthly crypto fundraising has also cooled significantly since its peaks in November 2021 and May 2022, when funding consistently exceeded $4 billion per month.

However, according to Messari, institutional infrastructure and fintech-adjacent crypto services such as financial platform Slash and cross-border payment company OpenFx are still attracting high-value raises, with capital flowing toward platforms that bridge traditional finance and digital assets.

Magazine: How to fix suspected insider trading on Polymarket and Kalshi

Financial services giant Western Union is targeting May for the rollout of its new stablecoin as part of a crypto plan that includes its digital asset network and US dollar stable card. 

“Over the last few months, we’ve crossed an important threshold. It is no longer a question of if Western Union will be active in digital assets, it is now how fast can we scale,” said Western Union president and CEO Devin McGranahan during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Friday. 

“At the foundation of our strategy is USDPT, our US dollar-backed stablecoin. USDPT is now in its final stages of readiness and is expected to go live next month,” he added. 

A growing number of traditional financial institutions have been adopting stablecoins. Lamine Brahimi, co-founder of crypto custody provider Taurus, told Cointelegraph earlier this month that banks and corporations across Europe are actively selecting infrastructure partners to support stablecoin adoption.

Other banks and financial institutions onboard

Western Union first announced the stablecoin in October, and said it would be built on Solana and issued by Anchorage Digital Bank. It plans to combine it with the digital asset network to allow users to use the token seamlessly.

McGranahan said exchange partners will support access, conversion and distribution of USDPT and banking and financial institution partners in priority corridors will facilitate direct settlement and treasury use cases.

“Together, these relationships position USDPT as a foundational asset for scaling digital payments and settlement across our platform,” he added.

Currently, US dollar-denominated stablecoins account for the lion’s share of the $320 billion stablecoin market capitalization. 

Tether’s USDt (USDT) leads with a market cap of more than $189.7 billion, followed by Circle’s USDC (USDC) at $77.7 billion and Sky Dollar at $8.2 billion, according to DeFi analytics platform DefiLlama.

Tether’s USDT is the leading US dollar-denominated stablecoin. Source: DefiLlama

Digital asset network launching with first partner

McGranahan added that Western Union’s digital asset network (DAN), which aims to allow stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies to move across its global payment system and link to real-world cash access, will add its first partner this week. 

“Our partner pipeline represents tens of millions of crypto wallets globally, creating a powerful distribution channel that brings digital asset users directly into Western Union’s retail and digital network, solving an industry-wide issue of ramping from crypto to cash as a safe and effective utility,” he added.

Western Union’s digital asset network adds its first partner this week. Source: Western Union

Last month, Western Union announced DAN would allow users to convert digital dollars into local currency at more than 360,000 collection points worldwide.

Stable card launch later this year

Meanwhile, Western Union is also planning to launch a US dollar stable card, which will allow users to hold and spend stablecoins later this year.

Related: Western Union teams with Crossmint to support USDPT stablecoin on Solana

McGranahan added that going forward, Western Union plans to make digital assets a core part of its platforms.

“The focus ahead is scaling, expanding adoption, increasing velocity, and embedding digital assets more deeply into Western Union’s core money movement platform.”

Magazine: AI-driven hacks could kill DeFi — unless projects act now

Stock and crypto trading platform Robinhood is cutting 10% of its workforce as it restructures its organization, a move the company said will improve efficiency.

CEO Vlad Tenev told staff the company is reducing 10% of its full-time employees as part of “flattening” its org structure, according to a statement on X by Robinhood on Tuesday.

In an internal memo, Tenev said the company cannot “default to operating as a heavily-layered organization” if it wants to scale its mission, adding that Robinhood must “continuously raise” its performance bar.

The rationale mirrors explanations offered by major crypto companies such as US exchange Coinbase and Jack Dorsey’s Block, which have also linked layoffs this year to reducing management layers and improving efficiency.

Layoffs to affect around 290 employees

The layoffs are expected to affect about 290 employees, as Robinhood currently has approximately 2,900 full-time employees, a spokesperson for the company told Cointelegraph.

Robinhood previously reported roughly 2,900 in full-time staff as of Dec. 31, 2025, according to its Form 10-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a separate Form 8-K filed on Tuesday, the company said the reduction in force also includes the closure of a small number of remaining open roles across the company.

Source: Robinhood Comms

Robinhood estimated it will incur about $28 million in total restructuring-related charges, including roughly $20 million for employee severance and benefits and about $8 million in share-based compensation costs. The company said it expects to recognize these charges in the second quarter of 2026.

Tenev says business “has never been stronger” despite weak Q1 results

Robinhood said it is taking the action “from a position of business strength,” pointing to June month-to-date average daily trading volumes at record levels across equities, options and prediction markets.

Tenev said that the company’s business “has never been stronger,” adding that the workforce reduction is a proactive move aimed at improving execution and focus.

Related: Robinhood enters Canada after $180 million WonderFi acquisition

The announcement did not specifically mention artificial intelligence-driven restructuring, but said the company will continue hiring selectively, invest in top-tier talent and “utilize frontier technologies” to improve performance.

The move comes after first-quarter results missed analyst expectations, with revenue and earnings coming in below forecasts. Crypto trading was a key drag, with volumes down roughly 50% year-on-year, underscoring ongoing volatility in transaction-based revenue streams.

Magazine: China’s 107 Bitcoin memory thief, Bithumb CEO booked: Asia Express

Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest public Bitcoin holder, added to its cryptocurrency reserves last week as BTC continued to trade below the company’s average cost basis of about $75,700.

Strategy acquired 1,587 Bitcoin (BTC) for $100 million between June 8 and Sunday, according to Monday’s 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Source: SEC

The purchase was made at an average price of $63,024 per Bitcoin, bringing the company’s overall average cost basis slightly lower to $75,656.

With the latest buy, Strategy now holds 846,842 BTC, accumulated at a total cost of $64.07 billion. At the current price of about $66,216 per bitcoin, those holdings are worth roughly $56.1 billion, according to CoinGecko data.

MSTR sales behind the purchase

Similar to the previous 1,550 BTC acquisition announced last Monday, Strategy funded the latest acquisition through sales of its Class A common stock (MSTR).

In the filing, the company said it raised about $209 million by selling 1.73 million MSTR shares during the period. Preferred share programs, including STRC, STRF, STRK and STRD, showed no activity during the week.

Related: Bitcoin sales are necessary for Strategy’s digital credit business, Saylor says

According to STRC.live, a tracker of Strategy’s preferred stock programs, STRC traded below its $100 par value for a fourth consecutive week as of June 12. The stock remained in the mid-$96 range, marking its longest stretch below par since launch.

STRC closed at $94.80 on Friday, down around 1%, according to TradingView data.

Source: STRC.live

Strategy executive chairman Saylor hinted at the latest purchase in a post on X on Sunday, writing, “Still adding dots,” a phrase investors have come to associate with the company’s upcoming Bitcoin acquisitions.

Source: Michael Saylor

The latest buy comes about two weeks after Strategy disclosed the sale of 32 BTC on June 1, its first reported Bitcoin sale in years. While the transaction represented only a tiny fraction of the company’s holdings, the sale ignited debate in the community, with some industry observers questioning whether the company was moving away from its long-standing buy-and-hold approach.

Saylor recently defended the sale, telling Cointelegraph that Bitcoin treasury companies must retain the ability to sell holdings to support dividend-paying securities.

Magazine: Bitcoin, the ‘canary in the coal mine,’ XRP transaction demand falls 91.5%: Market Moves

Canadian Bitcoin miner HIVE Digital Technologies’ Bitcoin holdings fell by 331 BTC in the latest quarter, even as the miner reported a sharp rise in annual revenue from Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing (HPC).

The company reported holdings of 150 Bitcoin (BTC) in its fiscal year update on Monday, down from 481 BTC at the end of Q4 2025, according to company figures and CoinGecko data. The 331 BTC reduction represents about $23 million in value at current prices, with Bitcoin trading roughly 21% lower year-to-date.

HIVE did not explicitly say it sold Bitcoin. The company mined 2,885 BTC during fiscal 2026 and generated $297.8 million in revenue, up 158% from a year earlier, driven largely by expanded Bitcoin mining capacity and HPC revenue.

Source: Bitcoin Treasuries

The shrinking Bitcoin treasury highlights how public miners are balancing accumulation against expansion costs as they invest in energy-heavy mining sites and diversify into AI computing infrastructure.

Revenue jumps to $297.8 million as mining drives growth, costs rise

HIVE’s total revenue rose to $297.8 million from $115.3 million a year earlier, with digital currency mining revenue rising to $278.3 million, while HPC contributed $19.5 million, almost doubling year-over-year.

Source: HIVE Digital Technologies

Despite the sharp increase in revenue, rising costs continued to pressure results. Operating and maintenance expenses climbed as HIVE expanded its mining and data center footprint, while depreciation rose to $170.4 million, nearly triple the prior year and one of the largest expenses on the income statement.

Related: TeraWulf acquires Kentucky AI data center site with planned 1 GW capacity

Miner bets on AI alongside Bitcoin

HIVE said its HPC business revenue is up from $10 million a year earlier, as demand for AI computing services increased.

The company said contracted annual recurring revenue from its HPC division reached $35 million by year-end, supported by deployments of Nvidia-powered GPU clusters and new enterprise contracts.

It also highlighted plans for a 320-megawatt AI data center project in the Greater Toronto Area, which it said could eventually host more than 100,000 GPUs.

The expansion underscores a broader trend among public Bitcoin miners, many of whom are seeking new revenue streams from AI and cloud computing as mining economics become more competitive and capital-intensive.

Magazine: HYPE chases $100 target, ETH could dump below $1800: Market Moves

Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, in a deal that expands Samsung affiliates’ exposure to the country’s digital asset market, local media reported.

The three Samsung affiliates held board meetings on Thursday and approved the purchase of 1.39 million Dunamu shares held by Kakao affiliates for 612.8 billion won ($408 million), according to local reports from Yonhap News Agency and ZDNet Korea. Samsung Securities will acquire a 2% stake, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will each acquire 1%. 

The investment extends Samsung’s digital asset push weeks after Samsung SDS reportedly won a contract to build South Korea’s blockchain-based securities platform, placing Samsung affiliates across both regulated tokenized securities infrastructure and private-sector crypto exchange and payment rails. 

The deal also follows another major Dunamu investment by a South Korean financial group. On May 15, Hana Financial Group said that it would acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu from Kakao Investment for more than $668 million, making it the Upbit operator’s fourth-largest shareholder.

Samsung Securities plans to cooperate with Dunamu on tokenized securities issuance and distribution, as well as digital asset services, while Samsung SDS plans to combine its IT, artificial intelligence, cloud, security and data capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain operations experience, according to the reports. 

Samsung Card is expected to explore digital asset payment use cases with Dunamu, including through Samsung Financial Networks’ integrated app Monimo, as South Korea prepares rules for won-denominated stablecoins and tokenized securities. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Samsung and Dunamu for more information, but did not receive a response before publication. 

Samsung builds digital asset ties ahead of regulatory frameworks 

Samsung’s Dunamu investment follows another recent blockchain infrastructure move by the group. Earlier in May, Samsung SDS reportedly won a contract to build and operate the Korea Securities Depository’s blockchain-based securities platform, which is expected to support South Korea’s incoming framework for tokenized securities. 

South Korea is preparing to formalize its tokenized securities framework after lawmakers passed amendments to the Electronic Registration Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act in January. The FSC said the changes legally recognize blockchain-based distributed ledgers as securities registries, placing KSD at the center of the market’s infrastructure. 

The framework is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 4, 2027, after updates to subordinate rules and the setup of related infrastructure. 

Related: Naver-Dunamu filing sets IPO committee, listing timeline for fintech group

According to the local reports, Samsung Card is considering digital asset payment use cases with Dunamu through Samsung Financial Networks’ integrated app Monimo, though the companies have not announced a stablecoin or payment product.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission said in January that it was continuing discussions with related agencies on the country’s second-phase virtual asset legislation, while cautioning that key details, including stablecoin issuer structures, had not been finalized. 

Magazine: 50K investors fight Korean crypto tax, Singapore cancels Bsquared: Asia Express

At least five crypto companies have shuttered this week as a prolonged downturn in the crypto market has put downward pressure on user activity and investor funding. 

Crypto trading card platform Fantasy.top, cross-blockchain infrastructure company Everclear, and Ethereum layer-2 blockchain ZERO Network all announced Thursday that they were winding down, with their products failing to find the right fit in the market or sustain enough revenue.

This came the same week Ethereum infrastructure firm Syndicate Labs announced it was winding down after five years in a shrinking rollup market, and crypto ATM company Bitcoin Depot filed for bankruptcy in the US on Monday, citing financial strain and regulatory pressure. 

Crypto companies have struggled this year amid a broad market downturn that has seen Bitcoin (BTC) fall about 40% from a peak of $126,000 in early October. Many public companies also reported losses in the first quarter, and the crypto industry has laid off more than 5,000 employees this year.

Fantasy.top posted to X on Thursday that it would shut down in June after two years of operations because its trading volume “was not sufficient to sustainably support long-term operations.”

The company added that it explored different products, such as prediction markets, to stay afloat, but “none reached durable market fit.”

Fantasy.top co-founder “Kipit” said the company failed because it “tried to put crypto on top of a model that was never built for crypto,” and attracted people “who want to make money from cards” instead of those who enjoy trading card games.

Source: Kipit

Meanwhile, Everclear said it was winding down the Everclear Foundation and Everclear Labs, the two organizations that help manage and develop the protocol, because it “never developed the commercial depth we needed” and couldn’t sustain meaningful revenue. 

The protocol added that it explored various unsuccessful acquisition options and moved to a different model focused on partnerships, but had “underestimated how long it would take those partners to go live — and our runway ran out before they did.”

Everclear said it is considering open-sourcing its protocol to give its community the option of continuing to run it.

The token tied to Everclear fell sharply on Thursday after the protocol announced it was shutting down. Source: CoinGecko

Also on Thursday, the ZERO Network team posted to X that it was shuttering the network to focus on its sister crypto wallet and data service, Zerion.

Related: Bitcoin treasury Nakamoto plans reverse stock split to save ailing share price

“We launched ZERO believing users shouldn’t pay to transact on-chain,” said Zerion co-founder and CEO Evgeny Yurtaev. “We were obsessed with moving on-chain mainstream. We still are. But the world didn’t need more blockchains — it needs a better way to access them.”

Other recent crypto company closures include crypto mobile superapp Legend, which announced its closure on May 13. Solana aggregator Step Finance, crypto derivatives protocol Polynomial, crypto lending protocol Seamless and Balancer Labs, the team behind the Balancer protocol, have also closed due to the fallout from hacks or for a lack of market fit.

NYDIG research lead Greg Cipolaro said in February that the number of crypto projects that can attract investors is shrinking, with only applications or services that “extend traditional finance products onto blockchain infrastructure” getting the most attention.

Crypto platform Hyperliquid, popular for its crypto perpetual futures, has seen continued interest, pushing its token above $62 on Thursday, according to CoinGecko.

Prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, which use blockchains, have also seen continued growth in trading volume, recording a combined record monthly volume of $23.8 billion in April, according to Token Terminal data.

Conversely, major public crypto companies, including Bullish, BitGo, Galaxy Digital and Coinbase, posted losses in their first-quarter results due to market conditions.

Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026 

Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz appeared in court on Tuesday to face off against BitGo CEO Mike Belshe in a long-running legal fight over a failed proposed $1.2 billion merger in 2021.

The planned deal was the largest-ever crypto merger at the time, set to create a massive conglomerate offering a suite of services at a time when investor interest in crypto was high.

Galaxy called off the deal in August 2022 as the crypto market was reeling from the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. BitGo has asked Galaxy to pay a $100 million fee for pulling out of the deal and also hid it was being probed by US authorities, while Galaxy has claimed BitGo failed to provide financial information on time.

According to Bloomberg, Novogratz testified in Delaware Chancery Court on Tuesday that he was “pushing to get this deal done,” but Galaxy and BitGo realized regulatory approval for the merger was unlikely because the Securities and Exchange Commission, then headed by Gary Gensler, made it “very difficult.”

Mike Novogratz, pictured in 2018 at a conference in Hong Kong, has appeared in court over a failed merger with BitGo. Source: RISE

He also said Galaxy was not the subject of the probe and it would not have affected the merger, while BitGo did not provide the needed financial information in time, forfeiting its right to a $100 million termination fee.

Related: On-Chain, In Court: What happened in crypto legal news this week

BitGo bargained for the termination fee, including a deadline to hand over financial statements, but that was complicated by the SEC’s accounting rules requiring companies to record customer crypto holdings as liabilities.

“This was incredibly damaging,” Belshe testified on Monday, claiming that BitGo had provided all the needed information. “Galaxy is telling the world we can’t pass an audit.”

The trial is set to end this week, and a judge will decide whether BitGo should receive the $100 million fee.

Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

AI Financial Corp., a World Liberty Financial token treasury company, said its working capital deficit and liabilities are casting significant doubt on its ability to continue over the next year. 

The company, which has World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff as its chairman, reported a net loss of $271.5 million in its first-quarter results on Monday, compared to losses of $2.4 million a year ago.

The firm, formerly known as ALT5 Sigma, said that as of March 28, it had a working capital deficit of around $5.5 million, with $39.1 million in liabilities against $32.2 million in assets.

“These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date these financial statements are issued,” AI Financial said.

AI Financial was one of the many companies swept up in the craze of crypto-buying public firms, becoming a buyer of World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the token of the Trump family-backed crypto platform of the same name.

To meet its obligations, AI Financial said it held 7.3 billion WLFI tokens at a value of $703.4 million as of March 28, which it could use to firm up its liquidity.

However, the value of AI Financial’s WLFI holdings has fallen by a third since late December, when the fair value of the tokens was at over $1 billion, leading to an unrealized loss of $348.3 million. The company paid nearly $1.46 billion to acquire its WLFI holdings.

AI Financial added that it also borrowed nearly $15 million from World Liberty in January, drawing down the cash under a loan agreement with the Trump-linked firm, which it said it could use in a share repurchase program and to buy more WLFI tokens.

Shares in AI Financial (AIFC) ended trading down nearly 6.3% on Tuesday at 85 cents, extending its 10% drawdown over trading on Monday.

Source: Google Finance

Related: Trump-backed Truth Social pulls bids for crypto ETFs

The company’s stock has fallen by nearly 87.5% over the past 12 months. It first looked to become a WLFI treasury company in early August after closing a $1.5 billion direct offering and private placement led by World Liberty Financial.

At the time of the deal closing, Witkoff became AI Financial’s chairman, while World Liberty co-founder Zak Folkman became a board observer.

US President Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, joined the company’s board, but was quietly removed from the leadership section of its website late last month. 

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions