demand

According to Cambodian media KohsantepheapDaily, a 53-year-old Chinese real estate company owner, Yang Weixin, was kidnapped by a criminal gang in Phnom Penh. The suspects demanded a ransom of 2 million dollars in cryptocurrency from the victim's wife via the victim's phone in the early hours of May 30. After failing to receive the ransom, they subsequently killed the victim and abandoned the body in a car.Surveillance footage shows that three suspects forcibly took the victim away from his residence parking lot on the evening of May 29. Local police have confirmed that the case is classified as kidnapping for ransom resulting in death, and the investigation is ongoing.

According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF has seen a net outflow of funds for 9 consecutive trading days, totaling approximately $2.84 billion, setting the longest consecutive decline record since the product's launch in 2024, and surpassing the consecutive outflow record from February 8, 2025. Among them, BlackRock's IBIT has become a major source of outflows.Analysis indicates that this round of capital outflow reflects a significant cooling of institutional demand for Bitcoin ETF exposure, while the market shows a trend of differentiation: ETFs related to Hyperliquid and some XRP spot ETFs still recorded inflows, while Ethereum spot ETFs have faced outflows for 13 consecutive days, with a total outflow of approximately $694 million, indicating that capital in crypto asset ETFs is being reallocated.

According to The Block, CryptoQuant's research director Julio Moreno stated that the accumulation of Bitcoin whales (wallets holding 1,000 to 10,000 Bitcoins, excluding exchanges and mining pools) and dolphins (wallets holding 100 to 1,000 Bitcoins, primarily dominated by ETFs and corporate treasury companies) has stagnated, with demand continuing to weaken. The year-on-year contraction rate of whale balances is the fastest this year, while the annual growth rate of dolphin balances, although still positive, has significantly slowed, and the monthly growth rates for both are approaching zero, indicating that the structural demand engine is in a state of ongoing slowdown.Although the supply of long-term holders has reached a record 15,800,000 Bitcoins, this is not a bullish signal, as short-term demand is too weak to absorb the tokens of long-term holders. The supply of short-term holders has decreased from 6,400,000 Bitcoins in December 2025 to about 4,200,000 Bitcoins, of which approximately 900,000 Bitcoins came from Coinbase exchange reserves that have been passively converted to long-term holdings due to holding periods exceeding 155 days. Moreno reiterated that the current market conditions are similar to the bear market pattern of March 2022.

CryptoQuant analyst MorenoDV_ pointed out that Bitcoin's recent price trend has shown a dangerous divergence: the Taker buy volume on Binance has continued to decline, reaching a low not seen in months, indicating a significant weakening of the market's willingness to buy actively; meanwhile, the funding rate on Binance has risen back into positive territory, suggesting that traders are increasing their long positions through leverage.Historical patterns show that when the funding rate rises while spot demand simultaneously shrinks, it often signals that the market is entering a later stage of speculation—leverage-driven trends lack support from spot capital, making them structurally fragile. If buying pressure does not effectively rebound, the current high funding rate may reflect more potential risks rather than market strength.

Recently, the volatility in the metal market has continued to intensify, with gold and silver prices maintaining high-level fluctuations. According to market data from the Gate platform, silver (XAG) reached a 24-hour high of $77.61 and is currently reported at $76.89; gold (XAU) reached a 24-hour high of $4,549.78 and is currently reported at $4,514.90, with an overall strong trend. According to CoinGlass data, the 24-hour contract position for silver (XAG) on the Gate platform reached $100 million, with a 24-hour trading volume of $131 million; the 24-hour contract position for gold (XAU) reached $180 million, both ranking among the top two globally. As global macro uncertainty increases, market risk aversion continues to rise, further driving the growth of metal trading activity.Gate has pioneered the metal contract trading sector, providing 24/7 uninterrupted trading, offering users greater strategic flexibility and asset management efficiency in volatile markets. Gate contracts cover a variety of traditional financial assets, including stocks, metals, foreign exchange, indices, and commodities, supporting trading in core assets such as gold, silver, and globally popular stocks. Gate continues to build a more efficient and professional multi-asset one-stop trading platform for global users.

According to on-chain data analysis platform CryptoQuant (@cryptoquant_com), Bitcoin spot demand has fallen to the most bearish level of the year, and the Bitcoin capital flow ratio has also dropped to a key area that historically marks each major market turning point. Although the short-term trend is bearish, such environments have historically created better positioning opportunities for long-term investors.

CITIC Securities believes that the U.S. and Iran are increasingly close to reaching an agreement, and the market has basically priced this as the baseline scenario. The biggest change after reaching an agreement will be the simultaneous replenishment of supply and demand and a rapid warming of economic activity. Currently, some economic indicators are noticeably weak, reflecting a delay in demand ahead of the U.S.-Iran agreement and the resumption of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Micro entities are waiting rather than rushing to replenish inventory and start operations, which is an abnormal disturbance. As the agreement is reached and navigation in the Strait is restored, supply and demand will return to normal, and economic activity will show significant improvement after June. Changes in macro variables will also alter the environmental assumptions of market strategies, leading to a gradual balancing of styles. The reduction of large funds is nearing its end, and after macro stability is achieved, allocation funds will gradually return, driving the recovery of some undervalued sectors. In terms of allocation, continue to actively reduce volatility and reconstruct the barbell structure of AI + energy.

CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler stated that Bitcoin has lost its structural upward momentum amid a sharp deterioration in the macro environment, which is an important signal indicating that the market is currently more in a "Risk-off" phase. Until its on-chain "Impulse" indicator returns above the zero axis, every rebound of BTC still lacks confirmation.He pointed out that the recently released fourth part of "Decision Architecture for Bitcoin" focuses on building a macro framework based on the Dollar Index (DXY), 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, and VIX volatility index. The core idea is that not all macro fluctuations will disrupt on-chain structure, but when macro factors truly enter a "dominant mode," even if on-chain data is positive, the market may temporarily lose upward momentum.In addition, CryptoQuant has added a U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF dashboard this week, covering data such as weekly net inflows, cumulative flow, 30-day ETF Flow Momentum, changes in demand over the past four weeks, and fund distribution among various ETFs. Currently, the 30-day ETF momentum is only $362.8 million, while this indicator reached a peak of $13.21 billion in December 2024 and fell to a low of -$5.36 billion in November 2025.Adler emphasized that the Coinbase Premium Index remains an important indicator for observing U.S. spot demand: when this index consistently stays above zero, it indicates that U.S. buying is still supporting the market; if it turns negative, even if BTC rises, its movement may lack genuine support from U.S. demand.

According to Jin Shi reports, Sky Links Capital Group CEO Daniel Takieddine stated that the dollar trading trend is stable and remains close to multi-week highs, thanks to the strong performance of U.S. economic data and the uncertainty of U.S.-Iran negotiations. He pointed out that recent U.S. data has strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain high interest rates for a longer period, and although market pricing indicates that rates will remain unchanged this year, there is still a possibility of rate hikes if inflationary pressures persist.

According to monitoring by Hyperinsight, there are addresses on Hyperliquid placing buy orders in batches using TWAP (Time-Weighted Average Price) to accumulate positions. Among the existing orders, there are 5 whales planning to buy over 10,000 HYPE each, totaling more than 182,000 HYPE, corresponding to an amount of approximately $10.8 million.Currently, some of the buy orders have already been partially filled. As of the time of writing, among the existing orders, the net buying momentum for HYPE in the next 24 hours is expected to reach $6.7 million, and $1.45 million in the next hour.

Research firm Bernstein released a report stating that as the demand for AI data centers explodes, Bitcoin mining companies are becoming important participants in large-scale computing infrastructure, with a positive outlook on the future performance of miners such as IREN, Riot Platforms, CleanSpark, and Core Scientific.The report points out that major cloud providers, AI cloud service providers, and chip companies have announced over $90 billion in AI infrastructure collaborations, involving approximately 3.7 GW of power capacity. Bernstein states that "Follow the Gigawatts" is becoming the core of competition in AI infrastructure, and the large-scale power resources controlled by mining companies hold strategic value.Analysts have given IREN, Riot, CleanSpark, and Core Scientific an "outperform" rating, with a target price of $100 for IREN, indicating about a 98% upside potential from the current stock price; CleanSpark has a target price of $24, corresponding to about a 78% upside potential.The report states that Bitcoin mining companies currently control over 27 GW of planned power capacity, and in some areas of the United States, the new 1 GW power connection cycle may take up to 50 months, making existing mining sites important locations for the expansion of AI data centers.Bernstein also mentioned several AI collaboration cases, including IREN planning a 5 GW AI computing park based on NVIDIA's AI Factory architecture, and Riot reaching a collaboration with AMD for an AI data center of up to 200 MW.However, analysts also warned that the industry still faces challenges such as environmental reviews, grid capacity, and regulatory approvals. Additionally, if mining companies overly shift their computing resources towards AI, they may miss out on future gains during the Bitcoin bull market cycle.

Nomura published a report indicating that AI-driven demand is growing exponentially, while memory supply is limited, suggesting that memory stocks are set for a valuation reassessment. The firm significantly raised the target prices for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, with Samsung's target price soaring from 340,000 KRW to 590,000 KRW, and SK Hynix's target price rising from 2,340,000 KRW to 4,000,000 KRW, both rated as "Buy." Nomura stated that as AI semiconductor demand shifts from training to inference workloads, memory demand is entering a period of exponential expansion.In contrast, the firm believes that industry supply growth during the same period may still be constrained to about 5 to 6 times (with a compound annual growth rate of about 30%), raising serious questions about whether the structural supply-demand imbalance can truly be resolved. The firm mentioned that currently, the industry is attempting to narrow this widening supply-demand gap through various software and architectural optimizations, but Nomura believes these solutions can only slow the growth rate rather than reverse the trend.

On-chain analyst Tom Wan posted on the X platform, stating that the current ETH utilization rate has fallen below 90%, and the lending APY has dropped to 1.9%. Since the rsETH LayerZero cross-chain bridge was attacked, the deposit scales of wstETH and weETH have decreased by approximately $1.2 billion and $1.76 billion, respectively.As the wstETH/weETH circular leverage strategy returns to profitability, the market's focus shifts to whether the demand for ETH circular leverage will return or if funds will continue to observe or flow to protocols like Spark and Morpho.

According to Axios, American Republicans are increasingly dissatisfied with the flow of political donations in the cryptocurrency industry, demanding that the pro-crypto super PAC Fairshake, which holds about $165 million in funds, clarify its stance and focus on supporting Republican candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.Republicans pointed out that, against the backdrop of significant progress in promoting pro-crypto legislation such as the CLARITY Act, Fairshake has yet to announce specific election investment plans, which is disappointing. The points of contention include:Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown: Fairshake spent over $40 million in 2024 to defeat incumbent Senator Brown, but Brown's attitude towards the cryptocurrency industry has noticeably softened in recent years.New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas: His Stand With Crypto rating rose from "F" to "A" within 8 months, and Republicans initially expected Fairshake to focus on his campaign.In response, Fairshake supporters stated that it is still too early to speak out and emphasized that the PAC is bipartisan in nature, aiming to "reward supporters and punish critics," rather than unconditionally supporting a particular party. Some pro-crypto Republicans (such as the Winklevoss brothers) have established separate independent groups specifically to support Republican candidates.

Luo Yonghao called out to Zhao Changpeng on social media, stating, "Recently, a virtual currency named 'Luo Yonghao' (which also used my avatar as its logo) has been traded on the Binance trading platform. Although it has not officially entered the 'trading platform' tab yet, it is still on the 'wallet' tab, but it is still part of the Binance trading platform. To prevent people from being deceived, please take it down or provide a formal complaint channel for removal."

According to a report by Cryptopolitan, a market report released by Wintermute indicates that Bitcoin's breakthrough of $80,000 is primarily driven by a short squeeze in the perpetual futures market, rather than by spot demand. Over the past month, Bitcoin futures open interest has increased by about $10 billion to $58 billion, while spot trading volume has dropped to a two-year low. When Bitcoin surpassed $70,000, a large number of shorts were forced to close their positions, triggering a buying spree that pushed prices higher. Wintermute warns that the rally, lacking support from spot demand, is fragile, and the market may face a sharp reversal.In the long term, recent net inflows into spot ETFs have reached $623 million, and the exchange's Bitcoin inventory has fallen to a seven-year low, but these factors are not enough to offset short-term risks. The U.S. CPI data being higher than expected and the uncertainty surrounding the nomination of the Federal Reserve Chair may also exacerbate market pressures. Wintermute states that $85,000 is still a possibility, but the risk-reward ratio for buying at the current price level is poor.

Glassnode pointed out that after Bitcoin broke through resistance and entered the $82,000-$83,000 range, market volatility has significantly rebounded. Options data shows that the implied volatility (IV) has rebounded sharply from the low in October 2025, with 1-week IV rising by 6 points, indicating a recovery in short-term options demand. The 25D skew continues to compress towards neutrality, with bearish hedge demand weakening.The volatility risk premium (VRP) has turned positive, and the future volatility priced in options is now higher than the realized volatility in the spot market. Additionally, there is a short-term gamma short cluster of nearly $2 billion around the $82,000 mark, and traders' hedging behavior may amplify the current price volatility.In the past 24 hours, selling call options accounted for 81% of trading flow, indicating that some traders are starting to cash in on gains, with overall positions leaning towards consolidation rather than panic hedging.

According to Jinshi reports, New York Fed President Williams stated that despite the large scale of government borrowing, demand for U.S. Treasuries remains strong. He pointed out that the Federal Reserve is "very closely" monitoring the government's borrowing levels and emphasized that market demand for U.S. Treasuries is still "huge." Williams also mentioned that the U.S. economy has shown resilience amid the energy shock caused by the war in the Middle East and stated that the Federal Reserve is committed to bringing the inflation rate back down to the target level of 2%.

Tushar Jain, co-founder of Multicoin Capital, disclosed on social media that he has significantly increased his holdings in the privacy coin Zcash since the beginning of this year. Multicoin Capital pointed out that Zcash has returned to the "cypherpunk" ideals on which cryptocurrency was founded. The proposed wealth confiscation bill in California is a warning signal.As the trend of confiscating private wealth through political means continues to grow, individuals and institutions will increasingly seek private assets that can protect their interests. Additionally, while Bitcoin has censorship resistance and cannot be frozen or blocked from use, this does not prevent governments from confiscating known held assets through wealth taxes. Therefore, assets that truly possess privacy, censorship resistance, and seizure resistance have a clear product-market fit, and the related demand is accelerating. In their view, ZEC is the most direct vehicle to express this investment theme in the public market.