BlackRock gives Bitcoin a portfolio lane

June 24, 2026

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Strategy’s Bitcoin bet cracks below $100

Key points:

  • Strategy’s MSTR fell below $100 for the first time since March 1, 2024, as Bitcoin weakened toward the $60,000 to $61,000 range.

  • STRC’s slide below par, shrinking cash reserves, and rising dividend obligations deepened concerns around Strategy’s Bitcoin-buying model.

News - Strategy’s Bitcoin-linked stock came under fresh pressure after MSTR dropped below $100 for the first time since March 2024, marking a sharp reversal for one of Wall Street’s best-known Bitcoin-linked stocks.

The stock fell as low as $97.30 on Wednesday, while Bitcoin slipped to around $60,935, its lowest level in two weeks. MSTR was down about 20% over the past week and more than 38% over the past month, showing how quickly investor confidence has weakened as Bitcoin moved farther from last year’s highs.

A funding engine starts to wobble - The selloff was not just about Bitcoin’s price. Strategy’s STRC preferred shares, used to help fund Bitcoin purchases, also traded far below their intended $100 level after recently falling to a record low near $82.50. That raised concerns about Strategy’s ability to keep raising capital efficiently while annual dividend obligations have climbed to about $1.2 billion.

CryptoQuant added that Strategy’s cash reserve has dropped 38% year-to-date and now covers only about 14 months of dividends, down from more than seven years.

The Saylor playbook faces a test - Strategy’s 32 BTC sale to fund preferred stock distributions also challenged its long-running “never sell” image. CryptoQuant said the company should pause Bitcoin purchases, rebuild reserves, and adopt a more disciplined buying framework.

For investors, the break below $100 raised a bigger question: whether Strategy’s Bitcoin treasury flywheel can still work when BTC falls, STRC weakens, and dilution risk returns.

BlackRock gives Bitcoin a portfolio lane

Key points:

  • BlackRock advised investors to consider a 1% to 2% Bitcoin allocation as a small risk-budget sleeve, not an aggressive crypto bet.

  • IBIT’s scale gives the guidance institutional reach, though ETF flows, token transfers, and Bitcoin volatility keep caution in view.

News - BlackRock gave Bitcoin a clearer place in institutional portfolios after setting a 1% to 2% allocation range for investors seeking measured exposure.

The recommendation came through a BlackRock Investment Institute note, “Sizing Bitcoin in Portfolios,” and centered on position size rather than conviction. A small Bitcoin sleeve, the firm argued, could support diversification and long-term return potential without letting BTC dominate portfolio behavior.

Risk math sets the boundary - Under BlackRock’s model, a 1% Bitcoin allocation contributes roughly 2% of a standard portfolio’s total risk. A 2% allocation raises that contribution to about 5%, comparable to holding one large-cap “Magnificent Seven” tech stock. A 4% allocation, however, could contribute about 14% of total risk, making BTC a larger driver of gains and losses.

IBIT gives the framework reach - BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) manages approximately $62 billion and accounts for nearly half of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF assets. That makes the guidance more than a research note for advisors weighing client exposure.

The backdrop stayed mixed. Bitcoin traded near the low $60,000s, while on-chain data showed large BlackRock Bitcoin and Ethereum transfers to Coinbase Prime during weak ETF performance. Still, CryptoQuant said long-term holders had cut selling activity to the lowest level since late 2024.

For advisors, the takeaway is practical: Bitcoin may fit in portfolios, but only as a controlled allocation that absorbs volatility without steering the entire portfolio.

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Standard Chartered bets Aave could surge 50x on RWA boom

Key points:

  • Standard Chartered initiated coverage on Aave with a $3,500 price target by the end of 2030, implying a roughly 50x gain.

  • The call depends on tokenized assets moving into DeFi and restoring momentum across Aave’s lending markets.

News - Standard Chartered put Aave back in focus after forecasting that AAVE could reach $3,500 by the end of 2030.

The call, led by Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research, implied a roughly 50x increase from current levels near $70 to $76. It also suggested AAVE could outperform Bitcoin and Ethereum over the period if DeFi recovers as the bank expects.

The real bet is tokenization - Standard Chartered’s thesis hinges on tokenized finance moving on-chain at scale. The bank expects tokenized assets active in DeFi to grow 37-fold by 2030, with earlier research pointing to $2.7 trillion in assets locked in DeFi by the end of the decade. Since Aave’s model depends on deposits and borrowing activity, that shift could directly support the protocol.

Aave still carries fallout from April’s KelpDAO-related cybertheft, which involved roughly $292 million and contributed to assets leaving the platform. Kendrick said Aave had moved past the disruption as assets began returning.

Horizon links Aave to RWAs - Aave’s Horizon initiative is central because it supports lending against tokenized real-world assets in a permissioned environment. Early RWA activity has included VanEck and WisdomTree, while mGLOBAL, a Midas token tied to a Fasanara Capital private credit strategy, drew $17.1 million in supplied funds on day 1.

For now, the $3,500 target depends on whether tokenized collateral becomes a real lending market, not just whether DeFi sentiment rebounds.

World Liberty Financial faces Senate pressure

Key points:

  • Five Senate Democrats requested hearings into a reported $500 million UAE-linked investment in World Liberty Financial.

  • Lawmakers want Trump administration officials to testify under oath about what they knew regarding the deal and later UAE-related policy decisions.

News - World Liberty Financial came under sharper Senate scrutiny after five Democratic lawmakers called for hearings into a reported $500 million investment tied to UAE-linked buyers.

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Dick Durbin, and Ron Wyden asked Republican committee chairs to examine whether the reported investment in the Trump family-backed crypto firm created conflicts of interest or foreign influence concerns.

The deal sits at the center - The senators pointed to a reported agreement in which an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for roughly $500 million. 

The deal was reportedly signed four days before U.S. President Donald Trump’s January 2025 inauguration and backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser. Lawmakers also said the arrangement included upfront payments to entities tied to the Trump family and Steve Witkoff’s family.

The letter connected the investment to later UAE-related decisions, including a $1.4 billion arms sale, advanced AI chip approvals for G42, a streamlined investment review program, and steps to ease crypto oversight.

Officials reject the conflict framing - The White House denied wrongdoing and said Trump’s assets are held in a trust managed by his children. It also said UAE-related AI agreements had nothing to do with World Liberty Financial, while a person close to Witkoff said he was briefed on G42 discussions but did not negotiate them.

For Democrats, the demand now is sworn testimony on what officials knew and whether U.S. policy was affected.

Wall Street’s New Shopping List

Big money is rotating into a select group of stocks for the second half of 2026.

MarketBeat’s analysts tracked the move and identified 10 companies attracting fresh capital right now.

The updated 10 Best Stocks to Own in 2026 report lays out the tickers, trends, and catalysts.

Did you know?

  • Bitcoin’s data debate got a quiet software rewrite: Bitcoin Core 30.0 increased the default -datacarriersize setting to 100,000 and now permits multiple OP_RETURN outputs for relay and mining, effectively loosening how much data can be carried in standard Bitcoin transactions.

  • Binance is turning the crypto app into a stock gateway: Binance now lets eligible users access more than 7,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs from the same app used for crypto, with fractional stock purchases starting from $5.

  • Bitcoin ETFs are learning Wall Street’s income tricks: Goldman Sachs filed for its first cryptocurrency ETF product, the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, which seeks Bitcoin-linked exposure while generating income through an options-based strategy.

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Top 3 coins of the day

Jupiter (JUP)

Key points:

  • JUP cooled after its push toward $0.225-$0.230, with price rejecting near the upper Bollinger Band at $0.223 and slipping toward the $0.211 midline.

  • The Squeeze Momentum Indicator turned negative at -0.0078, while volume stood at 2.74M, showing active participation during the pullback.

What you should know:

JUP’s latest 4H candle shifted the story from breakout chase to pivot defense. After stretching toward $0.225-$0.230, price rejected near the upper Bollinger Band at $0.223 and slipped to around $0.212, close to the middle band at $0.211. Volume stood at 2.74M, showing the pullback came with active participation rather than quiet consolidation. The Squeeze Momentum Indicator also flipped negative at -0.0078, so momentum needs to stabilize before bulls retest $0.220-$0.223. Beyond the chart, Jupiter’s Solana DeFi exposure, 50% protocol-fee buybacks through the Litterbox Trust, and its Polymarket integration keep the utility and demand narrative alive. Holding $0.211-$0.212 is key, while $0.199-$0.200 is deeper support.

Avalanche (AVAX)

Key points:

  • AVAX rejected $6.45-$6.50 and slipped back toward the 20 MA at $6.308, keeping the recovery attempt fragile.

  • The Squeeze Momentum Indicator stayed positive at 0.108, but volume rose to 337.25K on the red candle, exhibiting sellers were active near resistance.

What you should know:

AVAX had a stronger narrative than its latest 4H candle showed. FIFA Collect’s World Cup 2026 ticketing initiative and the Avalanche Payments Collective, which includes institutional names like VanEck, Anchorage Digital, and Paxos, gave the network fresh real-world utility and payments momentum. Still, price rejected $6.45-$6.50 and slid toward $6.307, almost matching the 20 MA at $6.308. The 50 MA sits higher at $6.382, so buyers still need to reclaim that area before retesting $6.45-$6.50. The Squeeze Momentum Indicator stayed positive at 0.108, but volume rose to 337.25K on the pullback. Holding $6.30-$6.31 is key, while $6.10-$6.15 is the next support.

Worldcoin (WLD)

Key points:

  • WLD struggled to reclaim $0.55 after its sharp drop, leaving $0.526-$0.53 as the immediate support zone.

  • Price stayed below the 20 MA at $0.589 and 50 MA at $0.615, while RSI at 35.81 showed buyers had not regained control.

What you should know:

WLD’s latest setup was less about a rebound and more about damage control after a sentiment shock. Price hovered near $0.536 after losing the $0.55 area, while the 20 MA at $0.589 and 50 MA at $0.615 now form the main recovery wall. RSI sat at 35.81, showing weak momentum, and volume stood at 13.79M as traders reacted to the breakdown. Beyond technicals, probe-related headlines around Tools for Humanity and WLD’s June 23 Robinhood listing appearing to act as a sell-the-news event added pressure. The broader tech and AI sell-off also weighed on sentiment. Holding $0.526-$0.53 matters, while $0.50-$0.51 is lower support.

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