TL;DR

• The Fed made the decision to maintain interest rate in June FOMC meeting, while expressing dovish signals about a clearer outlook.
• This week’s incoming data US GDP, core PCE, durable goods orders, personal income and spending, home sales and consumer confidence data.
• In the absence of strong crypto-native narratives, institutional engagement and RWA themes are driving the market.
• Ethereum and Solana fell 14% amid escalating geopolitical tensions, while bitcoin remains resilient.
• Spark got listed on Binance spot with the FDV of 441 million, but has yet to get hyped with a good fundamental.
• “Invisible DeFi’ gains institutional traction as onchain yield matures as lending TVL hits $50B.
• Fold secures $250M equity facility to scale Bitcoin treasury strategy.
• New Web3SOC framework sets operational tiers for Institutional DeFi adoption.
• Most funded projects are in the infrastructure sector.

Macro Overview

The Fed made the decision to maintain interest rate in June FOMC meeting, while expressing dovish signals about a clearer outlook.

The Fed’s decision to maintain the benchmark interest rate at 4.2%–4.5% is fully aligned with market expectations. The updated “dot plot” continues to project two rate cuts this year (to 3.75%–4%). The FOMC’s latest adjustments to future economic projections show that the real GDP growth rate for 2025 is lowered to 1.4% from March’s 1.7%, the PCE inflation level has been raised to 3.0% from March’s 2.7%, and the unemployment rate has been increased to 4.5% from March’s 4.4%. This indicates that concerns about stagflation persist under the uncertainty of tariff policies.

During the press conference, Powell reiterated that the “labor market remains strong,” but he expressed concern about the reduction in new job creation. Regarding inflation, he stated that although recent inflation data has been better than expected, it is still necessary to remain vigilant about the upward inflation risks and rising oil prices in the coming period. Powell also mentioned that without tariffs, he would have more confidence in a downward inflation trend. If the basic results of tariff negotiations can be determined by July and August, the subsequent inflationary impact will also become clearer.

This week a series of economic data updates are anticipated in the US, including the final reading for Q1 GDP and May’s core PCE price index. A more modest rise in core PCE is expected inline with the softer-than-expected core CPI data recently released. Additionally, durable goods orders and personal income and spending figures will be closely watched for a check on economic conditions in May.

The dollar index has been rising back from last week’s low point below $98 and showed a three-week high against yen, as the conflict in the Middle East remains a focus

The total assets added back $3.9bn last week, and while the overall assets level didn’t see too much changes in the past few weeks, the dovish signal from Waller, the Fed Governor, might hint on some future changes.

While gold price fell and poised for a weekly loss due to the Fed’s decision of no interest rate change and the US delayed decision on the Iran issue last week, the gold price remained at a relatively high level.

Crypto Markets Overview

1. Main Assets

As of Monday, BTC is trading around $10,000, while ETH stands at approximately $2,200 — down 4.6% and 14.6% respectively compared to the previous Monday. Solana is priced at $134, down 14%, with the SOL/ETH ratio holding steady at 0.06.

Overall, the market remained subdued last week. However, altcoins experienced significant declines, largely driven by external macro events, including geopolitical tensions and the outbreak of war.

2. Total Market Cap

Last week, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $3.08 trillion. Excluding BTC and ETH, the altcoin market cap was $785.4 billion,suggesting a significant decline of 6.6% and 7.6%, respectively. Altcoins remain in a weak position, and Ethereum also lost its previous strength last week.

3. Top 30 Crypto Assets Performance

Most of the top 30 tokens recorded declines last week, with Hyperliquid down 20% and SUI falling 14.2%. In recent months, the industry has seen a lack of truly innovative projects, contributing to the overall market stagnation — a trend that shows little sign of reversal in the near term.

Currently, market attention is largely focused on the intersection of TradFi and crypto, where institutional engagement and RWA development continue to drive narrative momentum.

4. New Token Launched

Last week, the most notable token issuance came from Spark Protocol, a lending market developed by Sky Protocol. The token was recently listed on Binance Spot. We recommend keeping an eye on this project — it currently holds a TVL of $5.8 billion, with a market cap of $75 million and an FDV of $441 million. Despite its strong fundamentals, the project has yet to attract significant hype.

The Key Crypto Highlights

1. “Invisible DeFi’ gains institutional traction as onchain yield matures as lending TVL hits $50B

A new report by crypto research firm Artemis, in collaboration with Vaults, reveals a rising wave of institutional interest in “invisible DeFi”. According to the report, DeFi is evolving into backend financial plumbing for exchanges, fintechs, and wallets, allowing users to earn onchain yields without interacting directly with smart contracts. This model improves capital efficiency, enhances user retention, and unlocks new monetization avenues.

The trend is underscored by the success of Coinbase’s integration with Morpho, enabling Bitcoin deposits to be converted into USDC loans. The platform has originated over $300M in credit as of June 2025. Meanwhile, leading collateralized lending protocols including Aave, Spark, and Morpho, now account for more than $50B in TVL, with USDC yields ranging from 4% to 9%, outpacing traditional benchmarks like 3-month Treasury bills. In parallel, crypto-native asset managers like Gauntlet and Steakhouse Financial have seen their AUM grow from $1B to $4B since January, deploying capital across complex stablecoin and credit strategies. These managers apply professional risk frameworks that resonate with institutional standards.

2. Fold secures $250M equity facility to scale Bitcoin treasury strategy

Fold Holdings (FLD), the parent company behind the Fold Bitcoin wallet and debit card, has secured a $250M equity purchase facility to fuel its growing BTC treasury strategy. The facility gives Fold the right, but not the obligation to issue and sell up to $250M in new shares, providing capital flexibility for accumulating Bitcoin over time.

Fold’s business model has evolved beyond its origins as a wallet provider. Today, its financial services suite includes the Fold Card, which rewards users in BTC cashback, and a broader treasury strategy modeled after leveraged BTC exposure through equity instruments. By adopting flexible, equity-backed funding mechanisms, Fold is aligning itself with the Bitcoin-native treasury movement, offering public investors direct access to Bitcoin upside via traditional equity markets.

3. New Web3SOC framework sets operational tiers for Institutional DeFi adoption

Initiated by Uniswap Labs, Morpho, Maple Finance, Kiln, and Steakhouse Financial, with support from Cantina and Secureum, Web3SOC introduces a structured methodology to help institutions assess whether a DeFi protocol is suitable for partnerships or integration. At its core, Web3SOC introduces a self-assessment toolkit and a four-tier maturity model, ranging from nascent to enterprise-grade, modeled conceptually after Web2’s SOC (System and Organization Controls) standards. These tiers reflect how well a protocol handles operational risk, regulatory compliance, security controls, and treasury governance.

The framework is being released at a time when Ethereum is increasingly positioning itself as a global settlement layer, prompting renewed institutional interest in DeFi infrastructure. Web3SOC serves both builders — who can benchmark their protocol’s readiness — and institutions seeking standardized diligence metrics before engaging with onchain platforms.

Key Ventures Deals

1. Stackup secures $4.2M Seed to deliver Enterprise-Grade Account Abstraction

Stackup, a business-focused crypto operations platform, has secured $4.2M in Seed funding led by 1kx, with backing from Y Combinator, Digital Currency Group, and others. Key features include spending limits, whitelisted recipients, batch transaction approvals, and built-in recovery, all designed to prevent on-chain errors and ensure secure, compliant execution.

The platform also links traditional bank accounts for seamless fiat–crypto conversions, simplifying treasury workflows and auditability. Built by a team experienced in high-stakes systems and Web3 wallet infrastructure, Stackup aims to bridge DeFi and corporate finance. Stackup will expand support across EVM-compatible chains and enhance enterprise controls such as role-based access and advanced multisignature operations.

2. A16z CSX-Backed PrismaX with $11M aims to advance decentralized Robotics infrastructure

PrismaX, a robotics intelligence platform, has officially launched with $11M in funding from a16z CSX, Stanford Blockchain Builder Fund, Symbolic, Volt Capital, and others. The platform focuses on three key pillars: large-scale incentivized visual data collection, standardized teleoperation protocols, and foundational AI model development. This architecture aims to close the gap between centralized robotic systems and scalable, diverse, real-world datasets.

PrismaX’s incentive design rewards global contributors who help gather and verify visual data, enabling model developers to access high-quality, low-bias datasets at scale. The collected data fuels a feedback loop, improving teleoperation efficiency, which leads to better data and more advanced autonomous capabilities. The platform is also attracting AI contributors who engage in dataset creation, contributing to foundational models that support real-world use cases from logistics and automation to healthcare robotics.

3. BitVault raises $2M to launch BTC-backed stablecoin on Polygon’s Katana

BitVault, a new DeFi protocol focused on BTC-backed stablecoins, has raised $2M in a Pre-Seed round led by GSR, Gemini, Auros, and Keyrock. The project will support the launch of bvUSD, an overcollateralized Bitcoin stablecoin, and sbvUSD, a yield-bearing variant powered by institutional delta-neutral strategies. Unlike fiat-pegged or algorithmic stablecoins, bvUSD is backed by BTC derivatives, with minting access limited to vetted institutional borrowers. Retail users can still mint via stablecoin swaps and earn yield by staking into sbvUSD. GSR will manage strategy execution, ensuring composable and risk-adjusted yield generation.

BitVault will launch as a core protocol on Katana, a DeFi-first blockchain incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR, built for liquidity depth and reward optimization. It utilizes a licensed fork of Liquity V2, enabling permissioned borrowing, user-defined interest rates, and automated liquidation.The upcoming $VCRAFT token will govern BitVault’s parameters and reward participants across its ecosystem. Launch integrations include Morpho, Sushi, and cross-chain vault infra. With $700M in TVL pre-launch and Katana support,

The number of deals closed in the previous week was 21, with Infra having 13 deals, representing 62

% for each sector of the total number of deals. Meanwhile, Data had 3 (14%), Gamefi had 3 (14%) and DeFi had 2 (10%) deals

The total amount of disclosed funding raised in the previous week was $198M, 5% deals (1/21) in previous week didn’t public the raised amount. The top funding came from Infra sector with $157M. Most funded deals: EigenCloud $70M; PrismaX $11M

Total weekly fundraising rose to $198M for the 3rd week of Jun-2025, an increase of +1% compared to the week prior. Weekly fundraising in the previous week was up +65% year over year for the same period.

About Gate Ventures

Gate Ventures, the venture capital arm of Gate, is focused on investments in decentralized infrastructure, middleware, and applications that will reshape the world in the Web 3.0 age. Working with industry leaders across the globe, Gate Ventures helps promising teams and startups that possess the ideas and capabilities needed to redefine social and financial interactions.

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