Weekly Market Highlights Review [6.9 - 6.13]: After a general rise in the crypto market, a black swan event occurred, and the narrative around stablecoins and Sol ETF heated up.

This week, the cryptocurrency market experienced a rise followed by a decline. At the beginning of the week, Bitcoin and Ethereum drove the overall market up, especially the DeFi sector, which saw a rapid surge after the SEC chairman released positive signals. Macroeconomic data also generally leaned towards interest rate cuts. However, on Friday, the geopolitical situation in the Middle East suddenly escalated, bringing a black swan impact to the market, causing most altcoins to drop by about 10%. Additionally, due to a misunderstanding of the prospectus submitted by SharpLink Gaming, panic selling was triggered, resulting in a 70% drop in its stock price, which somewhat affected the decline of Ethereum.

This week's report will focus on three aspects: the continued rise in popularity of stablecoins, the Aster project, and the SEC roundtable meeting with Sol ETF hype opportunities.

1. The narrative around stablecoins continues to rise.

On June 12, the U.S. Senate passed the procedural vote for the "GENIUS stablecoin bill" with a vote of 68 to 30, which will initiate full chamber debate and final voting on the bill. If both parties can shorten the debate time, the legislative process could be completed as early as June 17. If the Senate ultimately votes in favor, the bill will be submitted to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

If the bill is ultimately passed, it will become the first comprehensive federal legislation in the United States targeting encryption assets. Senior government advisors have expressed support for the bill and hope to sign stablecoin legislation before August. With the GENIUS stablecoin bill nearing passage and the supportive stance of U.S. government agencies, other countries, regions, and banking enterprises are also rapidly beginning to position themselves in the stablecoin sector, and related speculation is intensifying.

1. South Korea's Trends

The newly elected president of South Korea has an open attitude towards the encryption industry, appointing industry insiders to important positions and planning to establish a digital asset committee directly under presidential control to promote industry policies. The ruling party in South Korea recently introduced the "Basic Law on Digital Assets", aimed at allowing local companies to issue stablecoins to enhance transparency and competitiveness.

The issuance requirements include: the company must have at least 500 million Korean Won in capital, ensure refunds through reserves, and obtain approval from the Financial Services Commission.

The foundation of the South Korean crypto market is solid: by the end of 2024, about 30% of the South Korean population is expected to participate in digital asset trading, with approximately 100,000 new investors each month. Nearly 60% of respondents said they plan to increase their cryptocurrency holdings during the current president's term.

The Governor of the Bank of Korea plans to meet with executives from major commercial banks on June 23 to discuss the development of a stablecoin backed by the Korean won. The central bank is working with relevant institutions to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins to ensure their stability and practicality. However, due to the possibility that a won-backed stablecoin could circumvent capital control measures, South Korea's attitude towards introducing a won stablecoin into the domestic economy is somewhat cautious.

Related projects worth noting:

Kakao Pay: As the fintech division of Korea's leading tech company Kakao, its digital wallet infrastructure and QR code payment system position it as a potential beneficiary of domestic stablecoins. Following the announcement of the "Digital Asset Basic Law", its stock price rose 29% in a single day, marking the highest rise in nearly a year.

Kaia(KAIA): A high-performance Layer-1 blockchain formed by the merger of Kakao's Klaytn and LINE's Finschia, with a user base of 250 million. Recently announced plans to issue a stablecoin pegged to the Korean won. The Kaia token has risen over 50% this week, demonstrating the market's strong recognition of its stablecoin narrative.

2. Traditional Institutional Trends

In 2024, the total transaction volume of stablecoins reached $27.6 trillion, surpassing the combined transaction volume of Visa and Mastercard during the same period. The low cost and streamlined payment process brought by stablecoins have quickly attracted the attention of many enterprises, who are exploring the integration of stablecoins into their payment systems.

2. Aster Project

On June 13, a decentralized exchange incubated by a trading platform, (DEX), completed an airdrop snapshot for the Au points of the Aster project. This project is considered an important initiative within the BNB Chain ecosystem, benchmarking against high-performance DEXs. Aster is a combination of the DeFi protocol Astherus, incubated by a trading platform, and the APX Finance brand, which is funded by an investment institution. It has been confirmed that AST will replace APX, but a specific conversion ratio has not been clearly provided. There are rumors that the project’s contract testing is for a 1:1 exchange, but half of it needs to be locked for six months. Considering the ecological development needs, there is a significant possibility that APX will see a subsequent rise.

A similar coin exchange strategy occurred at the beginning of 2024 when RBN was exchanged for AEVO. At that time, the price of RBN was 0.7U, and AEVO was around 2.3U. RBN could be staked on the official website and converted to AEVO at a 1:1 ratio after two months, creating significant arbitrage opportunities. RBN also experienced a certain rise in the short term, with an increase of about 3 times from the lowest point to the highest point.

Three, Regulatory Policies

1. Key Points from SEC Chairman at the "DeFi and the American Spirit" Roundtable

• The DeFi design philosophy aligns with the American spirit, emphasizing economic freedom, private property rights, and innovation.
• Clearly, activities participating in PoW or PoS networks are not subject to federal securities law jurisdiction.
• Support for self-custody rights, believing that users should have the right to directly control the assets in their personal digital wallets.
• Indicate the exploration of the "innovation exemption" framework, allowing eligible on-chain projects to operate legally.
• Acknowledge the innovation of DeFi technology and indicate the need to update the existing regulatory framework to adapt to on-chain activities.

2. SEC's movements regarding Sol ETF

The SEC requires issuers planning to launch a spot SOL ETF to submit a revised S-1 form within the next week, which could indicate that the ETF will be approved in 3 to 5 weeks. The news also suggests that the SEC seems willing to accept proposals that include a staking mechanism.

The market has currently entered the ETF speculation cycle related to certain tokens. The earliest deadline for the Sol ETF application is around October 11, 2025, with a high possibility of approval. It is advisable to plan positions for Sol's native coin and quality assets such as Raydium (RAY), Orca (ORCA), Jito (JTO), Sanctum(CLOUD) at the appropriate moment.