Hola DDians! The week has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. Bitcoin rose to $ 110,500 and then somersaulted back to $ 102,300 due to the FUD fueled by the Israel-Iran war.
We are in favor of peace and pray for the immediate cessation of all conflict. Nonetheless, we know that tensions won’t ease overnight – they’ll take their own time..
We remain hopeful of a long and bright summer in crypto land, and on that note, we will start today’s issue to bring you up to speed on all that’s happened recently and how you can make the best of it.
Here’s what we have for you in this issue –
- Bitcoin’s short rollercoaster ride
- SharpLink’s $463M ETH gamble
- Defi’s gravity-defying curve
Bitcoin Dips. Whales Buy, Pump Price. Repeat Till Moon🌙
Let’s analyze Bitcoin’s trend this week and find out why there’s nothing to worry about.
Bitcoin dipped
- Israel’s strike on Iran sparked risk-off sentiment across global markets, including crypto markets.
- Bitcoin nosedived to $102,300, triggering $1.14 billion in long liquidations.
Source: @Cipher2X
- Even though the Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped 10 points to 61, greed (read demand) is still on.
Source: @BitcoinFear
- Traders hit the panic button. But the smart money didn’t.
Whales bought. En masse
- Weak hands sold. Platinum hands grabbed.
- 30,784 BTC (worth ~$3.3 billion) flowed into accumulation wallets on June 11. This is on-chain data.
- Whales now hold about 3 million BTC at an average purchase cost of ~$64,000.
- They have already smelled the sweet fragrance of solid profits. And they want more. A lot more.
Profit taking? That’s for….. (you get the idea)
Whales are strapped in for the ride to the moon, and that too with copious amounts of fuel in the form of funding.
Source: @GIPHY
Futures markets are tepid. And that’s okay
Bitcoin tested $110k price levels, but open interest on Binance was, well, meh…
The observation, though, implies a volatility spike. Bottoming signals show up when withdrawals shoot up, and Net Taker Volume dives 6 feet into the ground.
Like how it did on June 6. Net Taker Volume plunged to $160 million, followed by a 4% rally in Bitcoin prices.
This time, the Net Take Volume sank to $197 million. And we are watching, waiting for the obvious to happen. As BTC’s market strength is intact.
Bitcoin’s recovery to $105K shows this isn’t a full collapse — it’s a pressure test. And BTC passed..
Hope you have enough skin in the game. Because we do.
SharpLink Bought $463M Worth of ETH, Stock Tanked 70%, What?😵
SharpLink Gaming channelised its inner Chad with its $463 million ETH purchase, and became the second-largest Ether holder after the Ethereum Foundation.
But then something happened. In true degen-meets-Wall-Street fashion… the company’s stock crashed by 70%.
Yet, SharpLink CEO Rob Phythian is unfazed. He called ETH “programmable, yield-bearing digital capital.”
Which translates to – “We’re betting the house on ETH being the new gold.”
And that’s quite a bold bet, we would say.
So what’s the source of “Big Chad’s Testosterone”?
- Private placement? $425M led by Consensys (yes, that Consensys)
- Names like Pantera, Electric Capital, Galaxy Digital, and Ondo all joined
- Another $79 million raised via ATM equity sales in June
- Total plan? Build the biggest ETH treasury on Wall Street
But, despite all this, TradFi seems to be unconvinced
After the SEC filing revealed a possible 68 million share resale, SBET’s stock collapsed by ~70%.
Big bags of ETH? ✅
Treasury strategy? ✅
Market confidence? ❌
Investors got spooked, not by the ETH buy, but by the dilution risk — a classic case of Web3 vision clashing with established TradFi structure.
“Duh!” says SharpLink. They are looking at the bigger picture
- Ethereum Foundation: 214K ETH
- SharpLink Gaming: 176K ETH
- Everyone else? Far behind
- SharpLink just made the biggest ETH flex on Wall Street
- They got wrecked short-term, but long-term? The bet is asymmetric
- This isn’t just treasury diversification — it’s establishing ETH as institutional capital
This move sets the precedent for a new wave of ETH treasury adoption, especially with possible multiple altcoin ETF approvals around the corner and yield strategies going mainstream.
If MicroStrategy was Bitcoin’s Trojan Horse…
SharpLink might be ETH’s first domino.
DeFi Summer 2025 Is Already Happening?🤑
If, after the carnage of 2022, you thought DeFi lending would fade into irrelevance, you are gravely mistaken. Why?
Let us explain.
Active DeFi loans just hit $24 billion — the highest since the last bull cycle
Fueled by stablecoin demand, smarter liquidation tools, and resurgent confidence in crypto collateral, DeFi lending is now sitting at a 3-year high, with over $24 billion in active loans and $33 billion in collateral across Ethereum alone.
Want us to explain further? Alright
- More than $24 billion in active DeFi loans, the highest since late 2021
- More than $33 billion is circulating in collateral backing loans, mostly ETH and stablecoins
- Aave dominates, with $16.9 billion in active loans, $24 billion collateralized
- Solana & Base are gaining momentum, but still have a long way to go
- Kamino on Solana now has $1.5 billion in loans — a sleeper breakout
DeFi lending volumes have been rising nonstop since January 2023 — even during market dips.
Aave is ruling the game
The data above should give you an idea of how DeFi lending has risen back to prominence over the last 2 years.
While Compound Finance dominated the DeFi lending arena in 2021, in 2025, AAVE is wearing the crown.
With $16.9 billion in loans and nearly $25 billion in collateral, Aave has claimed its spot as DeFi’s liquidity engine — and its native token is showing strength too, trading at around $277.
Total TVL surpasses $110 billion
Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi lending/borrowing has been rising since bottoming in Q3 2023.
On June 15, TVL figures topped $111 billion, picking up from $87 billion in April 7.
AAVE, Lido, EigenLayer, ether.fi are the top 4 protocols commanding the majority of the activity, as well as monetary volume, with AAVE running on 18 blockchains.
Morpho, Spark, Maple, and Fluid are picking up tailwinds, with Maple up 42% in new loan volume this month alone.
Even Trump’s fund — World Liberty Fi — is reportedly launching its lending vault. That’s how mainstream this play is becoming.
DeFi is now attracting serious capital, serious borrowers, and builders of real yield mechanics.
In 2021, DeFi was the Wild West.
In 2025, it’s Wall Street — on-chain.
As you finish reading the current issue, you will realize that we are progressing towards a deeper and more mature systemic crypto adoption phase. It’s not just about turning profits into our bags anymore.
Although profits are one of the crucial motivation points to remain involved for most of us, we also have to understand that crypto is becoming a part of our daily lives, just like the internet. And, just like the internet could not be ignored, you will find yourself embracing crypto in one way or the other.
On that note, we will take your leave. Ciao! See you in the next one👋
