😳 Celebrity Shilling Sends Shivers Through Investors' Spines

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Traders are wondering if a local top is in after a spate of celebrity-endorsed memecoins entered the market. The trend is bringing up memories of the peak of the 2021 and 2017 bull cycles, both of which saw an influx of celebrities shilling tokens offering questionable utility.

BlackRock updated the S-1 filing for its proposed spot Ether ETF. The move coincides with the DTCC listing several Ether ETFs.

PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin is now live on Solana. The token’s market cap has doubled over the past six weeks.

The U.S. Treasury Department said unregulated stablecoins pose a threat to national security. The department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence warned that criminal actors are using crypto to skirt U.S. regulations.

Plus, ZKasino offers refunds to users after an alleged rug-pull attempt, PEPE outshines NFTs, EtherFi taps Veda for tokenized vault infrastructure, and markets waver as U.S. treasury yields rise.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

• Celebrity shilling gives traders pause
• BlackRock amends S-1 filing
• PayPal’s PYUSD launches on Solana
• Treasury Department slams unregulated stablecoins
• ZKasino offers refunds to users
• PEPE outshines NFTs by market cap
• EtherFi taps Veda
• Markets trend down on rising U.S. treasury yields

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👀Celebrity Memecoins Spark ‘Top Signal’ Debate

A spate of celebrity-endorsed memecoins has some analysts warning of a historic top signal. Droves of celebrities threw their support behind a variety of dubious crypto tokens during the heights of the 2017 and 2021 bull cycles.

📄BlackRock Amends S-1 Filing For Spot Ethereum ETF

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, submitted an updated S-1 filing for its spot Ether ETF to the SEC. Analysts anticipate that the prospective Ethereum ETFs will likely begin trading by mid-July as applicants amend their filings.

💵PayPal Brings PYUSD Stablecoin to Solana

PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin is now live on Solana. The move comes as PayPal is looking to gain stablecoin market share, with Venmo’s 100 million U.S. users recently gaining access to the token.

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⚠️Unregulated Stablecoins Pose Risk To National Security: U.S. Treasury Department

The U.S. Treasury Department believes unregulated stablecoins and offshore virtual asset service providers threaten national security. The U.S. Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence claimed that ransomware providers, North Korean hackers, and terrorist organizations are embracing digital assets.

💲ZKasino Gives Users 72 Hours To Claim Their ETH After Rug-Pulling Them

ZKasino is giving its users three days to claim their ETH back from the protocol. The move comes after ZKasino appeared the pull the rug out from under its users, resulting in a team member’s arrest by Dutch authorities.

🐸PEPE Is Now Worth More Than Most Major NFT Projects Combined

The recent spate of memecoin mania has propelled PEPE to a market cap of $6.2 billion, positioning it among the top 25 cryptocurrencies by capitalization. The milestone positions PEPE ahead of many of the top NFT collections combined.

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🤝Veda Announces Partnership With EtherFi Providing Tokenized Vault Infrastructure

EtherFi is leveraging technology from Veda, an upstart yield tokenization layer, to power its Liquid vaults. Veda and Liquid now boast a TVL of nearly $750 million.

📉Crypto Markets Falter as Rising Treasury Yields Pressure Risk Assets

Global markets are posting weak performances as U.S. Treasury yields rise. Increasing Treasury yields typically reflect expectations of tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.

🌍 ELSEWHERE

• Terraform Labs, Do Kwon agree to settle SEC civil fraud case (The Business Times)
• Singapore's Largest Bank DBS Is an Ether Whale With Nearly $650M in ETH: Nansen (CoinDesk)
• A16z Crypto donates an additional $25 million to pro-crypto super PAC Fairshake (The Block)
• Gemini Earn Users Receive $2.18 Billion in Crypto (Unchained)

🔥 TRENDING

• White House Said It Will Not Veto Crypto Bill in Major Industry Win
• Spot Ether ETF Hopefuls Update Filings, Extending Timeline For SEC Approval
• zkSync Could Launch Token This Week
• Ethereum Ecosystem Tokens Surge on Spot ETF Approval Hopes
• Whales Market Token Surges 30% After Releasing Memecoin Launchpad
• Here Are All the Signs an ETH ETF Approval May Be Around the Corner
• Bitcoin Halving Strains Miners as Revenues Drop
• Web3 Gaming Token GALA Crashes After $240M Exploit
• Ethereum Soars As ETF Analysts Increase Odds for ETH ETF Approval To 75%
• Institutions Ramp Up Crypto Exposure As Weekly Volume Plummets: CoinShares
• LayerZero Labs Identifies 800,000 Potential Sybil Addresses in Public List
• Solana Surges While Rest of Crypto Majors Start Week Flat
• Purported Pump.Fun Hacker Claims To Be In Hospital After Arrest and Release
• Web3 Teams Compete To Bring Restaking To $1.2T Bitcoin Ecosystem
• Our Most Read Stories This Week: Pump.fun Hack, Blast Token, S&P on RWA, SOL vs. ETH, Sonne Exploit, Lido Takes on EigenLayer