Market on pause, institutions buying assets: Crypto morning digest for June 29
While retail traders lock in losses during the correction, major players are actively reshaping the industry landscape. A controlling stake in Bithumb is moving to financial giant Kiwoom Securities, Loopring is shutting down its DEX, and Sharplink is buying up millions of dollars worth of Ethereum. We break down the key events of the morning of June 29.
Market Dynamics: Bitcoin Stuck in a Sideways Trend
The leading cryptocurrency started the day with minimal changes. As of 07:41 Moscow time, BTC is trading around $59,791, recording a 24-hour low of $58,856 and a high of $60,432. Ethereum is also showing sideways movement, holding near $1,577.
In the top 10 by market cap, Solana shows the best daily performance (+1.85%), but all coins are in the red on the weekly timeframe. The largest daily and weekly losses are recorded for Dogecoin (-1.78% and -12.30%, respectively). Among altcoins in the top 100, Velvet stands out with a 22.85% gain in 24 hours, while MemeCore continues its collapse, losing 9.91% in a day and 77.98% over the week.
South Korean Financial Giant Targets Bithumb
South Korea's largest broker, Kiwoom Securities, is in negotiations to acquire a stake in the crypto exchange Bithumb. The deal involves issuing new shares, which will be purchased by an investment company. The exact size of the stake and the transaction amount have not been disclosed, but the fact of the negotiations confirms the trend of traditional capital penetrating the crypto sector.
This is not the first time South Korean financial institutions have entered the crypto market. Previously, Hana Bank acquired a stake in the operator of the Upbit exchange for $670 million, and Samsung entities invested an additional $407.7 million. Foreign players are also active: OKX Ventures bought 19.6% of the Coinone exchange, and Binance completed the acquisition of Gopax.
Loopring Shuts Down Decentralized Exchange
One of the pioneers of zk-rollup solutions on Ethereum, the Loopring project, has announced the cessation of its decentralized exchange and automated market maker. The team cited three key reasons: lack of real user demand, insufficient competencies for business development, and technological lag behind modern zkEVM solutions.
Notably, the developers acknowledged the absence of a virtual machine, composability, and real payment use cases, which hindered the platform's growth. Recall that in 2017, Loopring raised $45 million in an ICO and proved the very possibility of scaling Ethereum through zk-rollups, but ultimately lost out to more advanced competitors like zkSync, Scroll, and StarkNet.
Sharplink Resumes Aggressive Ethereum Accumulation
After an eight-month pause, the company Sharplink has returned to actively accumulating ether. Over the past week, the organization purchased ETH worth $62.4 million. According to data from the analytics service Arkham, 5,000 ETH were bought on Thursday, another 5,000 ETH on Friday, and 29,196 ETH on Saturday through three over-the-counter deals.
The purchases coincide with support for a new non-profit project, Ethlabs, which Sharplink is developing jointly with Bitmine and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin. The initiative's goal is to prepare the network for institutional adoption. Notably, amid these purchases, ether itself has fallen in price by 22.8% over the month and by almost 50% since the beginning of the year.
My comment: We are witnessing a classic scenario of capital redistribution. While retail investors panic during the correction, institutional structures—from South Korean brokers to large mining companies—are increasing their presence in the industry. The closure of Loopring is further proof that technological superiority is insufficient without a real product-market fit. The market is becoming more mature and demanding.