The crypto market at a crossroads: Ripple conquers Japan, stablecoin MIM collapses, and Kalshi aims for unicorn status
The morning of June 25 brought several landmark events to the crypto community, once again confirming that the market is in a phase of active restructuring. While major assets consolidate, real dramas are unfolding on the periphery and new trends are emerging. Let's break down the key news without any fluff.
Market in a Sideways Trend: BTC and ETH Marking Time
Bitcoin (BTC) started the day with sideways movement. At the time of analysis, according to TradingView, the leading cryptocurrency is trading near the $60,799 mark, after testing a local low of $59,029 and a high of $63,097 over the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) is also showing similar dynamics, settling around $1,616. This indicates a temporary equilibrium between buyers and sellers, but volatility remains high.
In the top 10 by market cap, the best performer over the day is Hyperliquid (+3.44%), and over the week — Tron (+2.17%). Dogecoin once again became the laggard, losing 3.55% in a day and 10.27% over seven days. In the broader top 100, Aave (+14.93% in 24 hours) and DeXe (+67.89% over the week) are leading, while MemeCore continues its deep correction, crashing 73.8% in a day.
Ripple Launches RLUSD in the Japanese Market: A Strategic Move
One of the main news items was the official launch of the Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in Japan. Ripple, in partnership with SBI Holdings, received regulatory approval from Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA), which classified RLUSD as a new type of electronic payment instrument. The token, backed by dollar reserves and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds at a 1:1 ratio, is now available on the SBI VC Trade exchange.
RLUSD's current market cap stands at $1.6 billion. This move is not just an expansion but a serious bid for dominance in the Asian region, where regulatory clarity is becoming a key competitive advantage. I believe we will see a wave of interest in such instruments from traditional Japanese financial institutions.
Kalshi Aims for $40 Billion: The Prediction Market Heats Up
Decentralized prediction platform Kalshi is in talks for a new funding round that could value the company at $40 billion. This is nearly double its May valuation of $22 billion. If the deal goes through in the third quarter of this year, Kalshi's value would have soared eightfold in less than a year, significantly outpacing its main competitor Polymarket, valued at $15 billion.
Recall that in May, Kalshi raised $1 billion in a Series F round with participation from giants like Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, and Morgan Stanley. The platform's monthly trading volume has already reached $17.9 billion, compared to $7.1 billion for Polymarket. The prediction market is clearly becoming a new "gold mine," and such valuations look ambitious but quite justified against the backdrop of growing interest in alternative financial instruments.
The MIM Stablecoin Crisis: A Lesson in DeFi Fragility
DeFi platform Abracadabra found itself at the epicenter of a crisis: its stablecoin Magic Internet Money (MIM) crashed 50% below its dollar peg, falling to $0.49. Problems began in mid-June when the token dropped to $0.74, briefly recovered to $0.89, and then collapsed. The team is urgently raising interest rates to incentivize debt repayment and reduce the circulating supply of MIM.
The cause of the depeg lies in the issuance mechanism backed by yield-bearing tokens and a critical dependence on liquidity on Curve Finance, which is currently extremely thin and unbalanced. This incident is a stark reminder that even overcollateralized stablecoins are vulnerable when pool liquidity is weak. We are seeing how the fragility of DeFi infrastructure can trigger a cascade of liquidations at any moment.
My conclusion: The market is clearly searching for new footholds. While Bitcoin consolidates, institutional players are betting on regulated stablecoins and prediction markets, while the DeFi sector undergoes yet another stress test. Investors should be extremely cautious and closely monitor liquidity in pools — this is currently the main indicator of the system's health.