Crypto
Bitcoin enthusiasm rides high as Trump prepares to take presidential office
Bitcoin adjacent stocks got a substantial lift after the cryptocurrency’s price jumped over $104,000 on Friday.
Bitcoin mining behemoth, Mara Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) was the biggest and most vocal, climbing by 13 per cent. It was followed closely by Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ: MSTR) at 7 per cent and Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) at 5 per cent.
The original cryptocurrency’s good fortunes have been at the behest of Donald Trump’s election victory, based on the optimistic take that the incoming administration will take a more favourable approach to crypto, and Bitcoin in particular.
In December, Trump appointed Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins, who previously served as an SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush, has recently focused on digital assets. He is set to replace Gary Gensler, widely regarded as a crypto critic. Trump will also likely replace several SEC commissioners whose terms are set to expire during his administration.
Furthermore, crypto advocates and holders will soon shape U.S. policy on the emerging technology, following a series of nominations and advisory appointments by President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday.
The crypto industry, after years of battling lawsuits and enforcement actions by the U.S. government, hopes the Trump administration will signal a policy shift. Officials will vet political appointees for potential conflicts, and some appointees have pledged to sell their interests.
The industry will host a sold-out black-tie ball in Washington on Friday, with ticket prices ranging from USD$2,500 to USD$10,000. David Sacks, serving as Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar, plans to attend.
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Trump’s tenure will be cryptocurrency friendly
The reasons for the optimism surrounding the cryptocurrency’s future don’t necessarily begin and end with Trump either.
The president-elect has filled his inner-circle with a number of different cryptocurrency friendly personalities, most of whom are well-known and well-respected in the space.
Scott Bessent, a billionare hedge fund manager, is Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary. He has expressed favourable views on cryptocurrency. According to a financial disclosure filed last month, Bessent holds shares in a BlackRock bitcoin exchange-traded fund valued between $250,001 and $500,000.
“Crypto is about freedom and the crypto economy is here to stay,” he said in July. “I think everything is on the table with bitcoin.” ‘
In a letter to the U.S. Treasury last week, Bessent stated he would divest his interests in the fund and other investments within 90 days of his confirmation.
Further, Trump selected Tesla’s chief and the world’s richest man to lead a government cost-cutting initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Elon Musk, a longtime advocate for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and dogecoin, has significantly influenced their prices through his public comments and the actions of his companies. The acronym for Musk’s cost-cutting agency, DOGE, references dogecoin, now the seventh-largest cryptocurrency with a circulation value of $4.5 billion, according to CoinGecko.
In 2021, Tesla purchased $1.5 billion in bitcoin, making it one of the largest companies to invest in cryptocurrency before selling most of its holdings. By September 2024, Tesla reported holding $184 million in unspecified digital assets, according to a financial statement. Musk did not respond to a request for comment via Tesla regarding his personal cryptocurrency holdings.
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Trump to encourage leadership in crypto
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance held between USD$250,001 and USD$500,000 in bitcoin as of August 2024, according to a financial disclosure.
Vance co-founded the venture capital firm Narya, which has invested in Strive, Ramaswamy’s asset management company, and the video platform Rumble, as indicated on its website. In November, Rumble announced plans to allocate its excess cash reserves to bitcoin. The company also received a USD$775 million investment from stablecoin firm Tether last year.
When asked for comment on the crypto stances of Vance and Trump’s sons, Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Brian Hughes stated—without providing evidence—that bureaucrats in Washington had attempted to stifle innovation with increased regulation and higher taxes.
“President Trump will deliver on his promise to encourage American leadership in crypto and other emerging technologies,” he said in a statement.
Finally, set to collaborate with Musk at DOGE, former presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is the founder of Strive Asset Management.
Strive reported managing over USD$1 billion in assets as of September, and filed last month to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests in corporate bonds for bitcoin investments.
In November, the company launched a wealth management arm aimed at integrating bitcoin into Americans’ investment portfolios, according to a press release from Ramaswamy.
In June 2023, Ramaswamy disclosed holding between $100,001 and $250,000 in bitcoin and between $15,001 and $50,000 in ether, a smaller cryptocurrency.
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Crypto
Cryptocurrency News: Pepeto Nears Exchange Listing while the Cardano Price Prediction Could Flip After Hoskinson’s June Move
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —
Pepeto moved into final preparation ahead of a major exchange listing, and the presale became the fastest closing raise of 2026 as rounds close inside days, because $10.29 million is raised, 170% APY staking runs live, three products are in production, and wallets are pouring in at a pace that tells the reader the sharpest capital has already locked the entry before the listing pulls the price out of reach forever.
The reason that capital is flowing this fast becomes clear the moment you check what the large caps are doing right now, since ADA is trading near six-year lows around $0.17 despite the highest stakes catalyst window in Cardano history, and every holder watching that gap should understand why the cardano price prediction and Pepeto keep landing together inside the same cryptocurrency news cycle this June.
Pepeto Exchange Listing Approaches While the Cardano Price Prediction Hangs on the June Rescue Plan
Cardano just walked into the highest stakes quarter in its history because ADA dropped below $0.20 in over five years following Charles Hoskinson’s June 3 break announcement per Yahoo Finance, and the bleeding only stopped on June 18 when ADA touched a $0.148 six-year low while Hoskinson rolled out a 10% protocol revenue buyback plan per CoinDesk.
While the Ouroboros Leios testnet is set to launch on June 23 per CoinMarketCap and Grayscale’s ADA ETF window opens August 9, with the bull cardano price prediction stretching $0.30 to $0.37 and the bear path back toward $0.148.
But the data that actually matters is what failed to follow the catalysts, since ADA stays trapped near six-year lows while daily trading volume has collapsed from $6.3 billion to $500 million and total value locked across Cardano DeFi has dropped 85% from $905 million to $139 million, with capital now flowing toward projects shipping live products rather than those grinding through roadmap delays, because even if the full cardano price prediction plays out a 2x from $0.17 toward $0.37 cannot reshape any portfolio.
That is the reason holders chasing the heaviest upside are pairing their ADA position with the presale carrying the biggest math behind it, since Pepeto walking toward its exchange listing is pulling the heaviest capital in the market right now and keeps showing up next to ADA across every fresh round of cryptocurrency news.
Why Pepeto Is Catching the Attention Cardano Spent Seven Years Trying to Build
The June 2026 data leaves ADA stuck in a sideways range while Pepeto keeps drawing serious money for reasons that run beyond community energy alone, because PepetoSwap runs as a zero-fee exchange across Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana with AI scanning every token for risk patterns.
Holders get zero gas bridging and contract checks that lock dangerous tokens out, a former Binance developer built the engine, and the Pepe ecosystem cofounder who grew a token past $7 billion now leads the team.
The Pepe comparison keeps drawing the heaviest wallets to this presale because Pepe coin lifted early holders into millionaire territory without shipping a single product and grew to roughly $11 billion in market cap while the creator of that same token now leads Pepeto.
Since everything that lifted Pepe higher is in place alongside live trading tools, and a $5,000 entry into Pepe grew into $750,000 at the peak, leaving Pepeto as the second chance at that entry while the cardano price prediction sits stuck under a slow recovery path.
Conclusion
The cardano price prediction and the upcoming Leios testnet both point toward a slow recovery and keeping ADA for stability is reasonable, but every cycle runs the same script because life-changing wealth never came from holding a large cap once the bottom held but from finding the right presale before anyone heard the name, and every signal in this cryptocurrency news cycle now leads to Pepeto as the single play of 2026.
The token remains in presale, and history proves entries placed before a token reaches an exchange carry the kind of returns holders chase for years, but presale windows are short and a simple decision to wait is how millions missed every cycle-defining entry and spent years hoping something this rare would appear again.
So once Pepeto hits a major exchange the entry closes the way Pepe coin pricing closed inside hours when the earliest wallets walked away with the returns the market still talks about today.
Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale
FAQs
What is the Cardano price prediction for 2026?
The cardano price prediction for 2026 targets $0.30 to $0.37 in the bull case per CoinDesk after Hoskinson’s June rescue plan, with $0.148 marking the six-year low.
Is Pepeto a stronger entry than Cardano right now?
Pepeto is a stronger entry than Cardano today because the presale opens access to a live exchange with a major listing approaching, while ADA at $0.17 offers limited multiplier room.
Crypto
Iran Moves to Close the Strait of Hormuz as Tensions Erupt Over Broken Ceasefire Deal
Key Takeaways
- Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, risking renewed oil market stability after an IDF blitz.
- CENTCOM countered on June 20, reporting 55 ships moved 17M barrels to stabilize oil prices.
- Oil dropped to $77, and Bitcoin topped $66K after the ceasefire, but a Strait closure would hit risk assets.
Iran Announced Closure of the Strait of Hormuz After Lebanon Strikes
The Iranian regime is taking action against what it qualifies as a breach of the previously signed memorandum of understanding to end the current conflict in the Middle East.
Local reports indicate that Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the operational headquarters of the Iranian military, announced that it would close the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic passage for 20% of the world’s oil, as a retaliatory measure after the U.S. failed to comply with the first clause of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The first clause of the document stresses that “the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other.”
The measure comes as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launches a massive air strike campaign against objectives in Lebanon, hitting at least 80 targets allegedly linked to Hezbollah, and killing dozens of its members. Nonetheless, Lebanese authorities claim that over 47 people were killed and 97 people were wounded during these strikes.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement contradicting the Iranian regime, stressing that commercial ship traffic “increased June 20 as U.S. forces continued operating in the general area to support freedom of navigation.” “Safe passage through the international waterway remained intact today as 55 merchant ships transited, moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets,” it stressed.
A new closure of the Strait would result in a general rise in prices of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent oil benchmarks, which have fallen to $77 and $80, respectively, in response to actions taken to end the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.
The action could negatively affect crypto markets, as Bitcoin climbed above $66K immediately after the announcement of a framework to end the war, with market actors jumping to risk assets.
Crypto
Ireland Targets Crypto Assets in New Strategy to Disrupt Illicit Cash Flows
Key Takeaways
- On Thursday, Ireland’s Finance Minister, Simon Harris, launched a 30-point action plan to combat Irish money laundering and fraud.
- Crypto-assets and global financial networks face tougher regulations to halt digital illicit cash flows.
- An Garda Síochána and the Central Bank will continuously update enforcement policies through 2026.
Targeting Digital Assets and Crypto Loopholes
Ireland announced a sweeping crackdown on financial crime on June 18, unveiling a national strategy that places a major emphasis on targeting the misuse of cryptocurrency and digital finance by increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.
The new initiative, which includes a National Risk Assessment and a 30-point action plan, was launched by Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan. Officials said the package is specifically engineered to close loopholes created by emerging technologies, with crypto-assets identified as a primary front in the country’s defense against illicit cash flows.
Under the new plan, Ireland will implement enhanced safeguards around crypto-assets to prevent their use in money laundering, fraud, and terrorist financing. The government plans to enforce tougher oversight on digital finance platforms alongside increased transparency around corporate ownership.
“Criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated, exploiting technology, operating across borders and adapting rapidly to change,” Harris said during the announcement. “Government cannot stand still in the face of these threats.”
Harris emphasized that tech-driven financial crimes carry severe human costs. “Financial crime is not a victimless crime,” he said. “Behind every fraud, scam and money laundering operation, there are real victims — older people losing their savings, families being defrauded and communities harmed by criminal activity.”
The risk assessment warns that Ireland’s global financial networks are facing evolving threats. In addition to stricter cryptocurrency regulations, the 30-point plan introduces tougher anti-money laundering measures within the gambling sector, boosts intelligence sharing between state agencies, and mandates closer coordination among financial crime, tax, and customs investigators.
O’Callaghan said the roadmap provides a practical blueprint to keep Ireland’s regulatory and enforcement responses agile enough to match the pace of technological change.
“This National Risk Assessment provides a comprehensive picture of the threats we face and the actions required to address them,” O’Callaghan said, noting that the strategy will unify efforts across regulators, industry, and law enforcement.
Enforcement of the new policies will involve joint operations between government ministries, the Central Bank, Ireland’s tax authority, and An Garda Síochána, the national police force. Officials noted that the regulatory framework for digital assets will be continually updated to ensure Ireland remains a secure jurisdiction for international business.
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