Morning Report | Digital Asset completes $355 million financing led by a16z Crypto; Meta completes operational separation from Manus

Compiled by: ChainCatcher

Important News:

• Tom Lee once again supports Ethereum, due to supply contraction, BitMine may only need to hold no more than 5% of total supply
• Circle plans to launch Arc Privacy, providing optional privacy solutions for on-chain finance
• Strategy CEO: Selling Bitcoin is a "market immunity" test, not a strategic retreat
• Coinbase approved to offer global crypto perpetual contracts in the U.S.
• Bloomberg: Meta completes operational separation from Manus, halting data sharing between the two companies
• Futu approved to launch virtual asset trading financing services for qualified clients in Hong Kong
• Canton developer Digital Asset completes $355 million financing, led by a16z Crypto

What important events occurred in the past 24 hours?

Michael Saylor: Altcoins are losing monetary premium due to fierce competition, future value depends on actual utility

According to ChainCatcher, Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of Strategy, recently stated that the current crypto market is in fierce competition, with ongoing struggles between Ethereum, Solana, and BNB. Sui was once seen as the "next Solana," but that narrative has collapsed, and the market is now starting to focus on Hyperliquid.

At the same time, projects like Arbitrum and Base are also fiercely competing in the Layer 2 space. All this competition has weakened the "monetary premium" originally assigned to these cryptocurrencies.

Saylor believes that even the most steadfast supporters of these tokens are beginning to realize that they are not currencies and will not receive the premium associated with currency attributes; future value will depend on actual utility.

The past 12 months have been extremely favorable for Bitcoin, further solidifying its position as the dominant digital currency network. The market has established Bitcoin as "digital capital" and proven that the concept of "digital credit" is viable.

Canton developer Digital Asset completes $355 million financing, led by a16z Crypto

According to ChainCatcher, The Block reports that Canton developer Digital Asset has completed a $355 million financing round, led by a16z crypto, with participation from subsidiaries of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Apollo Global Management, BNP Paribas, Bodhi, Castle Securities, CME Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Greenwulf Asset Management, Hanwha Investment & Securities, HSBC, Liberty City Ventures, Optiver, Polychain, S&P Global, SBI Group, SoFi, Tradeweb, and William Blair.

The company stated that after this round of financing, Digital Asset has entered a profitable state. Its CEO Yuval Rooz pointed out that the financing has expanded the balance sheet, enhancing the company's financial flexibility and allowing it to more freely pursue mergers and acquisitions, participate in emerging projects, and assist partners in building on-chain financial business systems.

Futu approved to launch virtual asset trading financing services for qualified clients in Hong Kong

According to ChainCatcher, Aastocks reports that Futu Securities has officially received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for the upgrade of its Type 1 (Securities Trading) service, launching virtual asset trading financing services for qualified clients in Hong Kong. It is understood that the collateral for this service must be traditional securities, and the credit limit obtained by clients through traditional securities financing cannot be used for cryptocurrency trading, which has now been relaxed to allow for cryptocurrency trading.

As for using virtual assets directly as collateral for "margin trading," although the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission's circular published in February relaxed the use of virtual assets as collateral, it also mentioned that before the capital regulation amendments, virtual asset collateral would be subject to a 100% haircut according to the Securities and Futures (Financial Resources) Rules, which is expected to pose certain challenges to the industry's capital efficiency in practice.

Coinbase approved to offer global crypto perpetual contracts in the U.S.
According to ChainCatcher, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated on the X platform that Coinbase has been approved to offer global crypto perpetual contracts to users in the U.S. He noted that for years, crypto trading has shifted overseas due to the lack of clear rules in the U.S., and perpetual contracts are high-quality products that traders want but are not allowed in the U.S. It is estimated that about half of the perpetual contract trading volume comes from Americans using offshore products with relaxed regulations via VPN.
ZachXBT: The community's expectations are too high, which may reduce the public release of investigation content
According to ChainCatcher, on the X platform, on-chain detective ZachXBT stated that the crypto community's expectations for his investigative work are often difficult to meet.

ZachXBT mentioned that when he publishes token manipulation investigations before insiders exit, he is accused of shorting related projects, such as RAVE, M, and LAB; while when he announces investigation results after events occur, he is criticized for failing to issue warnings in advance.

He stated that continuously facing such doubts has gradually diminished his motivation to regularly publish investigation reports, as he prefers to continue investigations privately rather than endure public pressure. ZachXBT also criticized some community members for overly relying on his investigative results instead of conducting their own research.

Strategy CEO: Selling Bitcoin is a "market immunity" test, not a strategic retreat

According to ChainCatcher, Strategy CEO Phong Le responded to criticism regarding the company's first sale of Bitcoin since 2022 in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, stating that this move was a deliberate limited test aimed at demonstrating operational flexibility rather than abandoning the belief in holding coins. Between May 26 and 31, Strategy sold 32 BTC at an average price of $77,135 (approximately $2.5 million), accounting for only 0.004% of total holdings, but it triggered a strong market reaction.

Le listed three reasons for the sale: to prove the company's ability to sell when necessary, to confirm that internal disposal processes are fully operational, and to capture tax loss opportunities. He emphasized that the sale was not due to financial difficulties, as the company did not need to sell coins to pay STRC preferred stock dividends and continued to net buy about 1,500 BTC during the same period. Le admitted that the most intense criticism came from retail investors and "crypto anarchists," while institutional shareholders were not unsettled by it.

"When selling Bitcoin benefits common shareholders, we will sell." Currently, Bitcoin is priced at around $61,600, down over 40% from last October's peak of $126,198, and MSTR's stock price has fallen about 67% from its 52-week high. As of the end of May, Strategy held 845,256 BTC and resumed purchases in early June.

Fortune releases 2026 Cryptocurrency 100 list, Hyperliquid ranks first in the DeFi category
According to ChainCatcher, Fortune has released the 2026 Cryptocurrency 100 list, which is divided into 10 categories: CeFi (Coinbase ranks first, Binance ranks second), TradFi (Franklin Templeton ranks first), Fintech (Robinhood ranks first), DeFi (Hyperliquid ranks first), Venture Capital and Stablecoins (Andreessen Horowitz ranks first), Stablecoins (Tether ranks first), Crypto Services (Chainalysis ranks first), DAT and ETF (BlackRock ranks first), Mining (MARA Holdings ranks first), and Blockchain and Protocol (Bitcoin ranks first).
Bloomberg: Meta completes operational separation from Manus, halting data sharing between the two companies
According to ChainCatcher, Bloomberg reports that Meta Platforms Inc. has completed its operational separation from Manus and has halted data sharing between the two companies. According to insiders, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has effectively established a firewall between itself and the Chinese company Manus. Insiders stated that since the beginning of this month, Meta has prohibited Manus and its employees from accessing the internal data systems of this American company. Insiders also indicated that Meta employees can no longer use Manus's tools for internal projects. Due to the involvement of internal decisions, these insiders requested anonymity.

An internal memo seen by Bloomberg News shows that Meta is gradually winding down Manus's business. The memo indicates that employees have been instructed to migrate existing Manus projects to Meta's systems and not to undertake new work on the AI platform. Insiders stated that these measures aimed at separating the operations of the two companies mark a step forward in the eventual divestment of Manus.

Circle plans to launch Arc Privacy, providing optional privacy solutions for on-chain finance

According to ChainCatcher, Circle plans to launch the Arc Privacy confidential smart contract engine, aimed at addressing the barriers to institutional adoption caused by the current blockchain's default complete transparency through "opt-in privacy." Arc Privacy will allow users and developers to selectively mask sensitive information in transactions and smart contracts based on actual needs, rather than mandating all data to be public. It will also retain authorized access needed for compliance, auditing, and governance, achieving a balance between privacy and auditability.

The engine supports the EVM environment and emphasizes composability, allowing developers to build multi-step private application processes in the Ethereum environment. The article lists several real business scenarios, including confidential payroll distribution, treasury fund transfers, tokenized asset management, confidential perpetual contract trading, and privacy lending.

Tom Lee once again supports Ethereum, due to supply contraction, BitMine may only need to hold no more than 5% of total supply

According to ChainCatcher, Tom Lee stated at the DACFP conference for investment advisors that the current financial system is built on a multi-layer technology stack, with a large number of "false or fraudulent transactions," while Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) have "never had fraudulent transactions" at the blockchain level, and the operating costs of the blockchain are lower.

Tom Lee further pointed out that investing in blockchain is similar to holding real estate assets, and in the future, "agent-type AI" will rely on blockchain for higher speeds and to prevent system failures. He also mentioned that the supply of ETH is contracting, and BitMine may not need to hold more than 5% of the total supply of ETH. Additionally, he stated that BitMine may be included in the Russell 1000 index by the end of June, which could provide stability support for its stock price, and mentioned the company's holdings in MrBeast-related financial companies.

Caixin: A female crypto tycoon from China was scammed out of over 60 million yuan in the U.S.

According to ChainCatcher, a female crypto tycoon from China was scammed out of over $9.4 million (approximately 60 million yuan) in the U.S. Reports indicate that this individual is a CEO of a computing power technology company in Southwest China, whose mining pool reportedly accounted for about 9% of the global Bitcoin total computing power at its peak.

The report pointed out that two brothers, claiming to have "Middle Eastern royal family" backgrounds, perpetrated the scam by forging identities. One claimed to be a "Middle Eastern royal family prince" and asserted control over Middle Eastern family funds, international business relations, and local government resources in the U.S.; the other mimicked a character from the TV show "Billions," packaging himself as a hedge fund manager. The two successfully contacted and influenced Michael Smedley, chief of staff to the mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio, ultimately inducing the CEO to sign a cryptocurrency mining field development contract.

Raydium confirms legacy AMM pool attack loss of $1.34 million, official treasury fully compensates

According to ChainCatcher, Solana DeFi protocol Raydium officially confirmed that its legacy AMM V3 program pool, which was abandoned in 2021, suffered an unauthorized liquidity removal attack, involving five pools: Sollet USDT-RAY, Sollet ETH-RAY, SRM-RAY, USDC-RAY, and RAY-SOL, resulting in a loss of approximately 150,000 RAY, 5,603 SOL, and 893,700 USDC, totaling about $1.34 million.

Current users are unaffected, the attacker's address has been flagged, and the Raydium treasury will cover all compensation.

SpaceX IPO may become a short-term pressure source for Bitcoin

According to ChainCatcher, analysts believe that SpaceX's upcoming IPO may become a new source of short-term pressure for Bitcoin and the crypto market. As the company is reportedly opening up to retail investors for up to 30% of the IPO shares, some investors may sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other high-risk assets to free up funds for this hot issuance. SpaceX plans to issue shares at $135 each, aiming to raise $75 billion, with an estimated valuation of about $1.77 trillion. The head of trading at GSR stated that crypto assets may become one of the sources for some investors to raise IPO funds.

Recent opinions suggest that SpaceX, along with potential future hot IPOs like OpenAI and Anthropic, may prompt funds to flow out of the crypto market, putting pressure on Bitcoin and Ethereum prices. However, SpaceX's listing may also drive an increase in on-chain related trading activities. Currently, platforms like Hyperliquid and Binance have already offered SpaceX-related perpetual contracts and tokenized stock products, and the trading volume of related assets may further increase with the IPO.

OpenAI considers significant price cuts to respond to escalating competition with Anthropic

According to ChainCatcher, OpenAI is considering significantly lowering product prices to respond to potentially escalating competition with Anthropic.

Reports indicate that OpenAI expects competition in the AI services market to intensify further and may evolve into a price war. Meanwhile, some enterprise clients have begun to show higher sensitivity to current AI product pricing levels.

Insiders stated that in the context of enterprise users continuously focusing on AI usage costs, the industry pricing system may face reshaping, and competitors may also be forced to adjust their pricing strategies. Analysts believe that as the generative AI industry enters a new phase of commercial competition, price and reasoning cost control are becoming important factors for major companies vying for market share.

Figure to acquire AI real estate loan platform Kiavi for $717 million

According to ChainCatcher, Figure Technology Solutions announced that it will acquire the AI real estate loan platform Kiavi for a total price of $717 million; simultaneously, Figure and Sixth Street's joint venture will acquire the loan assets on Kiavi's balance sheet.

Figure stated that Kiavi is a leading platform in the U.S. residential transitional loan (RTL) sector, and this transaction is expected to add over $7 billion in first mortgage loan scale to the Figure Connect market annually, bringing over $100 million in asset flow to its on-chain warehousing market, Democratized Prime, each month.

Meme Popularity Rankings

According to the meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of June 12, 09:00,

The top five popular tokens on ETH in the past 24 hours are: HEX, SHIB, LINK, PEPE, UNI

The top five popular tokens on Solana in the past 24 hours are: 1B, TROLL, WORLDCUP, neet, Buttcoin

The top five popular tokens on Base in the past 24 hours are: PEPE, toby, ELSA, SKI, cbETH

What are some must-read articles from the past 24 hours?

Oracle delivers its strongest earnings report ever, why did the stock price drop?

Oracle has delivered a record earnings report. However, behind the data growth, AI cloud orders are driving up the company's data center investments and capital expenditures, resulting in negative free cash flow for the year.

On June 10, local time in the U.S., Oracle released its fourth-quarter earnings report for fiscal year 2026 (corresponding to February 2025 to May 2026) as well as the full-year report.

The report shows that Oracle's total revenue for the fourth quarter was $19.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21%. Excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, the year-on-year growth was 20%, outperforming market expectations. According to data provided by LSEG, analysts had previously expected Oracle's fourth-quarter revenue to be $19.1 billion.

Galaxy in-depth report: Is Solana still worth watching?

Solana has not fallen behind in the bear market. Trading activity has cooled, but the network is more stable, RWA and stablecoins are expanding, and the capital base is much thicker than in the previous cycle. The real question is: when the speculative tide recedes, can perpetuals, prediction markets, and lending take over and solidify traffic into a lasting financial market?

How long can Ethereum's last big buyer hold out?

As the crypto market continues to decline, BTC and ETH once fell to around $60,000 and $1,500, with Strategy and Bitmine both facing unrealized losses exceeding $10 billion. At the end of May, Strategy sold 32 BTC, breaking a narrative of not selling coins that had persisted for years, putting the financing and buying model under pressure testing.

In this context, Bitmine announced the issuance of 9.5% annualized Series A perpetual preferred shares, net raising approximately $274 million. As of the time of writing, Bitmine increased its holdings by 127,000 ETH last week, accumulating 125,000 ETH over the past three days. Its total holdings are currently about 5.66 million ETH, still short of the 5% target by less than 400,000 ETH.

As the most persistent and aggressive marginal buyer of ETH in the market, Bitmine continues to accumulate despite facing over $10 billion in unrealized losses. Now, even it needs to rely on preferred shares to replenish its flywheel; if the financing market undergoes changes and the coin-hoarding machine is forced to slow down, who else can support Ethereum's price?