Stablecoin

The European Central Bank is aiming to run a technical pilot for the digital euro in the second half of 2027, with readiness for a possible first issuance in 2029, while stressing that any launch still depends on EU legislation. Euro-denominated stablecoins remain small, with a combined market cap below 350 million euros and under 1% of the global stablecoin market. In parallel, a MiCA-based technical experiment involving nine Italian banks began on June 3, 2026, and a separate nine-bank consortium is working on a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin targeted for the second half of 2026.

As of June 8, 2026, ETH was trading near $1,689.83, down about 15% over the prior week. A wallet linked to Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin transferred 110,000 ETH into Sky (formerly MakerDAO) vaults, adding collateral behind an existing $259 million DAI debt position rather than sending funds to exchanges.

More than 200 crypto companies and trade groups called on Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer to bring the CLARITY Act to the full Senate, via a joint letter dated June 7. The push follows bipartisan approval in the Senate Banking Committee and comes as Senator Cynthia Lummis publicly signaled the bill's next step is a floor vote. Industry backers argue the legislation would clarify federal rules and registration pathways, while JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has said banks would "fight" parts tied to stablecoin oversight.

HTX, the exchange backed by Justin Sun, delisted USD1 on Sunday, June 8, 2026 after World Liberty Financial (WLFI) froze certain HTX on-chain addresses, citing sanctions compliance. The move led HTX to halt USD1/USDT, BTC/USD1, ETH/USD1, and WLFI/USDT pairs and convert user USD1 balances to USDT at a 1:1 ratio. The delisting follows Sun's $276M federal lawsuit filed in April 2026, which has since developed into litigation in two U.S. jurisdictions.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis is urging the Senate to bring the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to a full floor vote after it cleared committee. The bill previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives last July and advanced through the Senate Banking Committee on May 16, but still faces procedural and vote-count hurdles.

US lawmakers are set to deepen work on cryptocurrency taxation as the House Ways and Means Committee prepares a June 9 hearing on seven draft proposals. The package would update tax treatment for areas including stablecoin payments, staking rewards, mining income, and methods for calculating gains and losses, with one draft proposing a capital-gains exemption for regulated dollar-backed stablecoin transactions under $200.

Stablecoin capitalization on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) has grown to roughly $762 million, including a 22% increase in recent weeks, after spending much of 2025 below $100 million. The expansion has been driven largely by Ripple USD (RLUSD), a shift that could support higher on-ledger settlement liquidity and potentially lift network usage if supply keeps rising.

Iran is reported to be collecting about $1.5 million to $2 million per ship for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, with some payments allegedly settled in Tether's USDT rather than cash or barter. A parliament member said the proceeds are deposited into the treasury under the budget law and spent in designated areas. U.S. OFAC has cautioned maritime firms that digital-asset payments connected to Iranian blocked entities could expose them to secondary sanctions.

Coinbase said earlier this week it rolled out pre-IPO perpetual futures, launching first with a SpaceX-linked contract for eligible users outside the United States. The product lets traders take long or short exposure to SpaceX's implied valuation with P&L settled in USDC, and Coinbase says positions will convert into a standard SpaceX perpetual contract if the company later completes an IPO.

Circle minted an additional $500 million USDC on Solana, helping push the network's stablecoin market cap toward its $16 billion peak and bringing more than $370 million in weekly inflows. Despite USDC making up over 51% of Solana's stablecoin liquidity and Solana seeing a near 6% weekly supply increase, SOL has slid to multi-month lows and the SOL/ETH ratio fell nearly 3% this week.