Ripple enters the Japanese market with the RLUSD stablecoin, Kalshi targets $40 billion, and MIM loses its peg — digest for June 25
The morning of June 25 brought several significant events. Ripple officially launched its dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD in Japan, the prediction market platform Kalshi is preparing for a funding round with a $40 billion valuation, and the MIM stablecoin from Abracadabra lost half its value. Let's break down the key points.
Crypto Market: Sideways Movement Without a Clear Trend
Bitcoin (BTC) started the day with sideways movement. At the time of writing this review, the asset is trading near the $60,799 mark, having set a 24-hour low of $59,029 and a high of $63,097. Ethereum (ETH) is also showing a flat trend, hovering around $1,616.
In the top 10 by market cap, Hyperliquid shows the best daily performance (+3.44%), while Tron leads the weekly gains (+2.17%). Dogecoin is the laggard, losing 3.55% in a day and 10.27% over the week. In the top 100, Aave leads with a nearly 15% increase in 24 hours, while DeXe surged 67.89% over seven days. The weakest positions belong to MemeCore — the asset fell 73.80% in a day and 74.38% over the week.
Ripple and SBI Launch RLUSD in Japan
Ripple, in partnership with Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, has launched the RLUSD stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. The token received approval from Japan's FSA regulator, which classified it as a new type of electronic payment instrument. RLUSD is backed 1:1 by reserves in US dollars and short-term US Treasury bonds; the asset's total market cap stands at $1.6 billion. Trading is available through SBI's crypto division — the SBI VC Trade exchange.
Kalshi Aims for $40 Billion Valuation
The prediction market platform Kalshi, according to my information, is negotiating a new funding round. The company's valuation could reach $40 billion — nearly double the May figure of $22 billion. If the deal goes through in the third quarter, Kalshi's value would increase eightfold in a year and significantly surpass competitor Polymarket, valued at $15 billion. As a reminder, in May Kalshi raised $1 billion in a Series F round involving Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Morgan Stanley, and Ark Invest. The company's metrics are impressive: monthly volume in May was $17.9 billion compared to Polymarket's $7.1 billion.
Abracadabra Fails to Maintain MIM Stablecoin Peg
The DeFi protocol Abracadabra is facing a crisis: its stablecoin Magic Internet Money (MIM) crashed 50% below its dollar peg. Problems began in mid-June when the token fell to $0.74, briefly recovered to $0.89, and then collapsed to $0.49. The team is urgently raising interest rates to incentivize debt repayment and reduce the circulating supply of MIM.
The MIM issuance mechanism is tied to yield-bearing token collateral, and the stability of the peg depends on the depth of liquidity in Curve Finance pools. Currently, liquidity is extremely thin and unbalanced, amplifying selling pressure. This case clearly demonstrates the vulnerability of even overcollateralized stablecoins when secondary market liquidity is insufficient.
My comment: The MIM case is yet another reminder that algorithmic and hybrid stablecoins remain a high-risk zone. Even with formal overcollateralization, weak liquidity can trigger cascading destabilization. Investors should carefully evaluate not only issuance mechanisms but also the depth of trading pools.