Digital money keeps taking shape

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Bitcoin and the broader crypto market finished the week little changed, with renewed spot ETF and institutional demand helping to steady bitcoin after the early June outflow shock. Macro uncertainty, however, kept a lid on upside momentum.

Over the seven days to 21 June 2026, Bitcoin and Ethereum edged higher by 0.80% and 0.35% respectively. Bitcoin’s market capitalisation rose to US$1.28 trillion, while the global crypto market stood at US$2.2 trillion. Bitcoin’s market dominance remained elevated at 58.4%, underscoring its continued leadership through a cautious market backdrop.

Price

High

Low

Change from previous week

BTC (in US$)

$64,118

$67,236

$62,292

0.80%

ETH (in US$)

$1,730

$1,840

$1,657

0.35%

Source: CoinMarketCap. As at 21 June 2026. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Performance is shown in US dollars and does not consider any USD/AUD currency movements.

Source: Glassnode. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Crypto news we’re watching

The GENIUS act raises the bar for stablecoins

US regulators are proposing customer identification requirements for stablecoin issuers that closely resemble the rules banks already follow under Know Your Customer (KYC) frameworks. The proposal, developed under the GENIUS Act, would require issuers to verify customer identities and strengthen anti-money laundering controls1.

Rather than operating outside the financial system, stablecoins are increasingly being brought inside it. As regulatory standards converge with those applied to banks, digital dollars are continuing their transition from crypto-native products to regulated components of mainstream payments infrastructure.

Tokenisation continues to broaden

Tokenised real-world assets (RWAs) have remained one of crypto’s stronger growth areas despite the broader market pullback. According to Binance Research, active tokenised RWAs have grown sharply since early 2025, with bonds, money market funds, tokenised stocks, gold and real estate all contributing to a more diversified market.2

Tokenisation is moving beyond a Treasury-only story and into a broader financial infrastructure theme, with banks, institutions and exchanges increasingly using blockchain to represent, trade and settle RWAs. Even as crypto prices weaken, the underlying rails for tokenised finance continue to expand.

CRYP company spotlight

Cipher Extends Its AI Infrastructure Pivot

Cipher Mining shares hit a new all-time high of US$28.64 as investors continue to value the company less as a pure Bitcoin miner and more as an AI infrastructure play. Recent funding, data centre momentum and stronger power strategy reinforce the broader signal: miners with energy, land and compute capacity are increasingly being rewarded by the market.3

Cipher is held in the Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP)5. CRYP provides exposure to global companies at the forefront of the crypto economy.5

Bitcoin (BTC): Accumulation Trend Score

Accumulation trend score shows whether larger Bitcoin holders are broadly adding to, or reducing, their balances over the past month.

It combines two things: how large an entity is and how much BTC it has recently bought or sold. A score near 1.0 means large entities are accumulating strongly across the network. A score near 0 means they are distributing or not meaningfully accumulating.

According to data from Glassnode as of 20 June 2026, the score is 0.88 indicating strong accumulation by larger entities at current prices.

Source: Glassnode. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Bitcoin (BTC): Number of Active Addresses (30d Moving Average)

This metric shows the number of unique addresses active in the network as a sender or receiver.

According to data from Glassnode as of 20 June 2026, the 30-day SMA for number of active addresses is approaching 1-year lows. Ideally, price stabilisation is more credible when accumulation is accompanied by resilient settlement activity, not just exchange or ETF positioning.

Source: Glassnode. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Altcoin news

Stellar (XLM) has outperformed theweek to 21 June, up 14.52%, and 45% over the last month. Pushing prices higher is investors’ increasing focus on its role in cross-border payments and tokenisation. Recent momentum has been supported by growing interest in RWAs, speculation around institutional use cases and a broader rotation into payment-focused networks as stablecoins and on-chain settlement continue to gain traction6.

Investing in crypto-assets or companies servicing crypto-asset markets should be considered very high risk. Exposure to crypto assets involves substantially higher risk than traditional investments due to their speculative nature and the very high volatility of crypto-asset markets. Investing in crypto assets or crypto-focused companies is not suitable for all investors and should only be considered by investors who (i) fully understand their features and risks or after consulting a professional financial adviser, and (ii) who have an extremely high tolerance for risk and the capacity to absorb a rapid loss of some or all of their investment. Any investment in crypto assets or crypto-focused companies should only be considered as a very small component of an investor’s overall portfolio.

References:

1. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/06/18/u-s-agencies-seek-stablecoin-customer-id-rules-akin-to-banks-in-new-genius-act-rule

2. https://cointelegraph.com/news/tokenized-rwas-stocks-gold-real-estate-institutional-adoption-binance

3. https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/cipher-mining-stock-reaches-alltime-high-of-2864-usd-93CH-4750299

4. As at 19 June 2026. No assurance is given that this company will remain in the portfolio or will be a profitable investment.

5. CRYP does not invest in crypto assets directly and does not track price movements of any crypto assets. For more information on risks and other glaer features of CRYP, please see the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination (TMD), available at www.betashares.com.au.

6. https://www.bitget.com/amp/news/detail/12560605468860

Photo of Justin Arzadon

Written By

Justin Arzadon
Director - Digital Asset Sales
C4 Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) and Blockchain Council Certified Bitcoin Expert™ with over 18 years’ experience in the ETF market. Passionate about the future of money. Read more from Justin.
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