Summary

1. BTC fluctuates in a narrow range near $105,000; $2,500 serves as a short-term support for ETH.
2. The Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged, expects two rate cuts in 2025.
3. Ethereum spot ETF total net assets surpass $10 billion.
4. Over 20,000 Bitcoin addresses hold more than $10 million each, accounting for nearly 9.43% of BTC’s total supply.
5. Ethereum staking exceeds 35 million ETH, setting a new all-time high.
6. Gate Launchpool lists SPK, with a total prize pool of 720,000 SPK.

Market Overview

Market Commentary

• BTC — Last week, BTC saw a sharp drop due to Middle East geopolitical tensions, bottoming at $103,000 before stabilizing and rebounding. However, the overall range remains under pressure, with resistance at $109,000 and $106,000. This week, BTC is in a broad volatile consolidation phase, with short-term resistance at $109,000 and support at $103,000. On the funding side, spot Bitcoin ETF net daily inflows remain active, with some volatility. For example, BlackRock IBIT recorded more than $200 million in inflows over several days, indicating institutional buying remains resilient, but overall market sentiment is cautious. The subsequent trend may continue to be high volatility within range.
• ETH — ETH moved in sync with the broader market, displaying broad volatility. Several attempts to break higher failed, and the ETH/BTC ratio fell to around 0.024, with market share down to 9.22%. Recent spot Ethereum ETF flows have been mixed, sometimes net inflow, sometimes outflow, reflecting fluctuations in short-term sentiment. ETH is expected to continue range trading with relatively larger volatility than BTC in the short term.
• Altcoins — The altcoin market remains split, major sectors saw clear declines, and there is a lack of a strong unified narrative. The Fear & Greed Index is between 48-61, reflecting neutral to cautious sentiment. In the short term, altcoins may continue to see divergence and adjustment, while investor sentiment remains on the sidelines.
• Futures Market — Inflows to BTC and spot ETH ETF have persisted for several days, showing ongoing institutional demand. However, the amounts and market responses diverge, pointing to choppy short-term sentiment. In the last 24 hours, 95,385 traders were liquidated globally, totaling $221 million in positions.
• Macro Data — US May retail sales fell 0.9% month-on-month, steeper than expected. The US Census Bureau reported a 0.9% MoM drop, more than the 0.5% decline economists had anticipated. April’s data was revised to -0.1% from a preliminary +0.1%.
• Stablecoins — The total market cap of stablecoins rose 0.27% to $251 billion, with more off-market capital flowing in.
• Gas Fee — Along with the market pullback, Ethereum on-chain activity fell. As of June 19, the average daily Gas fee stood at 0.689 Gwei.
• Hot Sectors

This week, BTC pulled back at high levels as market sentiment turned more cautious. The altcoin market continued a split pattern, and major sectors saw declines. According to Coingecko, ZK, L2, and AI Agents sectors fell significantly this week, dropping about 23.2%, 15.1%, and 14.9% respectively in seven days. These sectors share features of high technical barriers and innovation narratives and have been long-term hotspots.

ZK

The ZK (Zero-Knowledge Proof) sector focuses on encryption assets using zero-knowledge proof technology, mainly for privacy, scalability, and efficient data validation, represented by ZK-rollups and privacy chains. ZK projects quickly rose to attention with the growing demand for blockchain privacy and performance. Their technical barriers and Layer 2 optimizations attract developers and institutional investors, but the hype also made them a focus for speculative capital rotation. — This sector dropped 23.2% in the past seven days, with ZKJ, ZKB, and MOZ leading the decline.

L2

The L2 (Layer 2) sector refers to crypto assets based on second-layer blockchain solutions to enhance speed and lower costs, typically through Rollups and sidechains. As scalability and low fees become more desirable, L2 projects gained traction, benefiting from efficient architecture and mainnet compatibility. — In the past seven days, this sector dropped 15.1%, with SWAN, GLS, and GEL among the biggest losers.

AI Agents

The AI Agents sector comprises crypto assets applying AI agent technologies, focusing on autonomy and intelligence, interfacing with blockchain for decentralized AI services. With the surge of AI popularity in crypto, AI Agent projects rose quickly, attracting capital and developer interest. Their smart narratives and cross-industry use cases appeal to speculators during sector rotations. — This sector fell 14.9% in the week, with former hot tokens like AI16Z, VIRTUAL, and AIXBT down over 10%.

Focus of the Week

Fed Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged; Expects Two Cuts in 2025

At 2 a.m. today, the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark rate at 4.25%-4.50% for the fourth consecutive meeting, in line with market expectations. The Fed’s dot plot also keeps the 2024 rate cut outlook unchanged, projecting two cuts in 2025.

According to market data, US rates futures now price a 71% chance of a rate cut in September, up from 60%, and predict a 46bp total cut in 2025. The Fed’s stance of policy stability provides a supportive environment for risk assets in the short term. Although inflation is near target, the Fed remains cautious against overheating and premature easing. The “higher-for-longer” message is reinforced. A higher September cut probability could support crypto and tech assets, but volatility remains and short-term sentiment swings require close attention.

Ink Announces Native Token INK, Airdrop for Early Liquidity Protocol Participants

Layer 2 network Ink announced its native token, INK, with total supply capped at 1 billion and no further minting through governance. The chain remains under Optimism’s Superchain governance; INK powers users and applications, and will be airdropped to early liquidity protocol participants.

This aims for long-term DeFi stability: INK will not participate in Optimism Superchain on-chain governance but will focus on incentivizing users and developers. The first application is a liquidity protocol based on Aave, with early adopters receiving airdrops. Some users believe that low airdrop participation could yield high returns. INK’s introduction marks a new stage in L2-DeFi development, potentially attracting more developers and capital to Optimism’s ecosystem.

Truth Social Proposes BTC & ETH Dual ETF

Trump’s social platform, Truth Social, submitted an S-1 filing to the SEC on June 16 to propose the “Truth Social Bitcoin & Ethereum ETF (B.T.)”. The fund would allocate 75% to BTC and 25% to ETH, offering simplified dual-asset exposure. This follows Truth Social’s previous BTC ETF filing, highlighting ongoing Trump family interest in crypto.

Approval is still required via the SEC’s 19b-4 process, which may take up to 240 days. Regulatory uncertainty and competition from traditional institutions remain. Meanwhile, Trump Media raised $250 million for BTC reserves, stepping up its crypto strategy; however, its stock (DJT) recently fell ~2%, showing market caution about its path. Political considerations may also mean stricter scrutiny and volatility for this ETF.

Key Market Data Highlights

Ethereum Spot ETF Net Asset Value Surpasses $10 Billion

As of June 19, 2025, Ethereum spot ETF total net assets stood at $10.103 billion, accounting for 3.27% of ETH’s market cap. ETH spot ETFs have seen six consecutive weeks of strong inflows; in the past three weeks, BlackRock’s ETHA led with $683 million in net inflow, with total AUM of $4.18 billion, dominating among institutions.

Surpassing $10 billion in ETH ETFs shows ETFs are now crucial to the ETH market. Ethereum’s ecosystem is expanding, with DeFi and NFT use driving network activity and ETH demand. If regulation remains friendly and institutional participation grows, ETFs could push ETH prices higher and attract more investment, boosting network effects and fundamental value.

Over 20,000 Bitcoin Addresses Hold $10 Million+ Each; Nearly 9.43% of Total BTC Supply

According to Alphractal, more than 20,000 BTC addresses now hold over $10 million each, totaling about $200 billion, nearly 9.43% of the total BTC supply and over 21% of its “realized cap”.

“Realized cap” calculates the cost basis of actual coins entering the network based on on-chain coin movements, reflecting true capital invested. The large concentration of high-value addresses—over $10 million each—owning ~$200 billion shows significant capital centralization.

Institutions and HNW users are driving this, often as long-term holders, stabilizing the market—though also concentrating market power.

ETH Staking Exceeds 35 Million, Sets All-Time High

According to CryptoQuant, ETH staked now exceeds 35 million, a new record. At the same time, “accumulation addresses” (never having sold) reached an all-time high, holding 22.8 million ETH.

ETH’s recent price strength is backed by this on-chain data, strong institutional inflows (e.g. ETFs), and bullish sentiment. Staking and accumulation rising shows more long-term “diamond hands”, reducing sell pressure. Institutional ETF flows have added over $1B in the past month alone. BlackRock’s daily ETF accumulation sometimes exceeds 10,000 ETH, providing strong price support.

Risks include short-term derivatives participants getting cautious (buy/sell ratio < 1), which may lead to pullbacks, and ETH staking APY down to 3%, below some stablecoins (e.g. sUSDe at 6%), possibly diverting opportunistic money. Long-term, Ethereum is shifting focus from “staked amount” towards “revalued ecosystem”, with institutions positioning ETH as a “real yield asset” (such as RWA tokenization base). Upgrades like “The Purge” at end-2025 to improve efficiency further strengthen this bullish narrative.

Market Opportunities

Gate Launchpool

The featured IDO this week: Spark Protocol

Spark Protocol, born from the MakerDAO ecosystem, is a DeFi lending market deeply integrated with direct lending functionality. Users can collateralize major crypto assets (e.g., ETH, stETH, sDAI) to obtain DAI loans.

The protocol positions itself as an “on-chain capital allocation platform”, spanning DeFi, CeFi, and Real World Assets (RWA), with $3.86 billion AUM. Its key innovation is an algorithm that dynamically balances asset allocation for greater capital efficiency while maintaining prudent risk management.

How to Participate

• Gate Account: Register and complete verification.
• Deposit Assets: Ensure you have enough SPK, as only SPK staking is supported for this Launchpool.
• Staking Window: Until June 25, 8:00 PM Beijing time
• Steps: Log in to Gate, go to Launchpool, choose SPK, click “Participate”, enter amount, and confirm.
• Total Pool: 720,000 SPK
• APY: 636%

Funding Weekly Recap

This week saw several successful fundraisers across infrastructure and developer platforms. According to RootData, from June 13–19, 15 projects reported funding. Highlights include:

EIGEN

Raised $70 million in a Series B round on June 17, with a16z participating.

EigenCloud, built on Ethereum, introduces the concept of “restaking”. Users staking ETH can restake via EigenCloud’s smart contract to extend economic security to other apps.

Yupp

Raised $33 million on June 13. Investors include a16z and Coinbase Ventures.

Yupp is an AI blockchain platform to discover and compare the latest AI models, with users submitting prompts and seeing side-by-side AI outputs, helping to create “preference datasets” for model fine-tuning and evaluation. Feedback earns rewards, and data verifies AI performance transparently on-chain.

PublicAI

Raised $8 million on June 17, with MH Ventures, YGG, etc. participating.

PublicAI.io offers high-quality, on-demand AI training data, helping grow the AI ecosystem and letting individuals monetize expertise. Based in the SF Bay Area, the company connects demand for top AI data with income opportunities for individuals.

Next Week to Watch

Token Unlocks

According to Tokenomist, the following major token unlocks are coming up in the next 7 days (2025.6.21–6.27):

• MRS will unlock about $193 million over the next 7 days, making it one of June’s largest, mainly to fund AI partnerships.
• H1 will linearly unlock ~$3.43 million (1.04% of total locked) over 7 days.
• ID will unlock ~$11.48 million (3.63% of circulating supply) linearly over the next week.
  
  
  References:
  X, https://x.com/Grayscale/status/1927463971335909625
  defillama, https://defillama.com/stablecoins
  Alphractal, https://x.com/BitcoinNewsCom/status/1934997211890524167
  Gate, https://www.gate.com/zh/launchpool/SPK?pid=319

Gate Research is a comprehensive blockchain and crypto research platform that provides readers with in-depth content including technical analysis, market insights, weekly reviews, industry research, trend forecasts, and macroeconomic policy analysis.

Disclaimer
Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risk. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets or products before making any investment decisions. Gate assumes no liability for any losses incurred from such decisions.