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The Big Story
Kalshi is lining up one of the biggest fintech IPOs in years
The CFTC-regulated prediction market exchange has begun informal discussions with investment banks about a potential IPO, according to The Information. Top executives have engaged in early talks as the company weighs going public following a surge in revenue and user activity. If Kalshi moves forward, it would mark one of the most significant fintech public offerings in recent years and the first major prediction market platform to list on traditional exchanges. The timing comes as Congress introduces legislation that would ban members, their spouses, and dependent children from placing bets on prediction markets tied to government policy or political outcomes.
Breaking News
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire — The halt in fighting took effect at 4 p.m. local time on June 19, brokered by the US and France, ending an escalation that had threatened broader regional peace talks.
Iran and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding — The Islamabad MoU aims to end months of active conflict between the two countries and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil markets.
Congress reached a bipartisan deal to ban a Federal Reserve CBDC until 2030 — The provision was folded into the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, blocking any Fed-issued retail digital dollar through the end of the decade.
Federal regulators proposed bank-style KYC rules for stablecoin issuers — The Fed, FinCEN, FDIC, OCC, and NCUA jointly proposed requiring Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers under the GENIUS Act to verify customer identities the same way banks do.
Top Stories
Morgan Stanley is trying to win the ETH and Solana ETF race on price
Morgan Stanley filed second-amended S-1 registration statements with the SEC for two spot crypto funds: the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (MSSE) and the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (MSOL). The headline detail is price—both funds carry a sponsor fee of just 0.15%, undercutting nearly every competing ETF on the market. The filings position Morgan Stanley as the low-cost leader in the next wave of spot crypto products, assuming the SEC approves both funds for listing.
Solana is quietly beating Coinbase and Kraken at their own game
Spot trading volume across Solana's decentralized exchanges has been consistently running ahead of both Coinbase and Kraken, according to Blockworks data. The shift underscores how much market share centralized exchanges are losing to on-chain liquidity, particularly on high-throughput chains where transaction costs remain negligible. Solana's DEX ecosystem is now processing more daily spot volume than two of the largest regulated exchanges in the world.
Ethereum hit record users as network activity explodes
Ethereum recorded all-time highs in users, transactions, and throughput during the first quarter of 2026, according to Token Terminal's quarterly ecosystem report. The figures mark what analysts describe as a structural acceleration in network adoption, driven by Layer 2 scaling solutions, restaking infrastructure, and decentralized finance activity. The data arrives as the Ethereum Foundation navigates leadership turbulence, with approximately 19 staff exits and layoffs throughout 2026, including the departure of co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang.
Deep Dive of the Week
Aster's Aims for Deflation With New Tokenomics
Aster has rewired its tokenomics to push $ASTER toward deflation, sending 99% of daily platform fees into open-market buybacks and burns. The structural change eliminates the previous staking rewards model and ties token supply directly to protocol revenue. For traders watching deflationary mechanics in DeFi, this is a clean case study in how fee redirection can flip a token's long-term supply trajectory.
By the Numbers
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$22 billion — Kalshi's reported target valuation for its potential IPO, which would make it one of the largest fintech public offerings in years.
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0.15% — Morgan Stanley's sponsor fee for its proposed Ethereum and Solana ETFs, undercutting nearly every competing product on the market.
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19 senior exits — The number of staff departures and layoffs at the Ethereum Foundation throughout 2026, including eight senior-level roles within five months.
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5,000 TPS — Polygon's new payment throughput capacity, putting it in the same tier as traditional card networks like Visa, according to Polygon Labs.
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25,838 BTC — The amount of Bitcoin accumulated by Binance users in a single month, pushing total user balances to roughly 630,000 BTC, per the exchange's latest Proof of Reserves report.
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$2.5 trillion — SpaceX's market cap following its historic Nasdaq debut, eclipsing the aggregate valuation of the entire cryptocurrency market.
On Our Radar
Base's Beryl upgrade — Coinbase's Layer 2 is moving token creation out of smart contracts and into the chain itself with its upcoming Beryl upgrade, introducing the B20 token standard to make stablecoin and real-world asset issuance simpler and cheaper.
CME sues the CFTC — CME Group filed a federal lawsuit against the CFTC and Chairman Michael Selig, escalating a legal battle over the classification of cryptocurrency perpetual futures and whether the agency overstepped its authority.
Warsh's first Fed meeting — The Federal Reserve held rates unchanged in Kevin Warsh's first meeting as chair, but the accompanying projections signaled the next move may be a hike, not a cut, as inflation expectations remain elevated.
CLARITY Act enters final stretch — Lawmakers are holding a last round of meetings to finalize the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act ahead of the August recess, with the House signaling it will move swiftly if the Senate advances the bill in the coming weeks.
Until Monday.