Here’s what happened in crypto today

Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, Web3 and crypto regulation.

Today in crypto, Kraken is offering access to SpaceX's upcoming IPO through tokenized equity platform xStocks, a new essay from Strategy's Michael Saylor argues that Bitcoin should expand through banks, securities and higher-layer networks while preserving its base layer, and Zcash (ZEC) plunged more than 30% after developers disclosed new details about a now-patched counterfeiting vulnerability.

Crypto exchange Kraken announced that SpaceX will be the first company offered through its xStocks IPO Access program, allowing eligible users in more than 110 markets to participate in the highly anticipated public offering through tokenized equity instruments.

Investors who receive an allocation will be issued SPCXx, a tokenized representation of SpaceX shares backed 1:1 by the underlying stock and tradable 24/7 on Kraken and other participating xStocks platforms. The move marks another step in the convergence of crypto infrastructure and traditional capital markets as tokenized equities gain traction.

Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company is seeking a $1.8 trillion valuation that would rank it among the world's 10 most valuable public companies. Bloomberg reported that investor demand has already outstripped the number of shares available.

The company is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq on June 12.

Source: Kraken

Strategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor said Bitcoin needs “disciplined expansion” through banks, companies, securities, credit and capital markets, laying out a path for the asset as spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows and a broader market sell-off test institutional demand.

On Friday, Saylor published an essay, saying Bitcoin’s base layer should be treated as “sacred infrastructure,” with most innovation occurring through higher layers, applications, custody systems, credit instruments and financial infrastructure.

The comments frame Bitcoin’s next phase as a clash between two institutional channels: passive spot ETF exposure, which has broadened access but remains sensitive to redemptions, and the corporate and credit-market adoption model favored by Saylor’s Strategy.

Saylor argued Bitcoin should become embedded in the machinery of finance rather than depend only on spot buyers or ETF inflows. He said Bitcoin’s future requires balancing adoption, innovation and self-custody while preserving the network’s core properties.

The essay comes during a sharp Bitcoin market sell-off that has put both major institutional channels under pressure. Spot Bitcoin ETFs posted weekly net outflows of $1.42 billion, $1.26 billion and $1 billion in the last three weeks of May, while the current week’s outflows have reached $1.4 billion so far.

Strategy also recently sold 32 Bitcoin to fund preferred stock dividends, its first sale since 2022, denting the “never sell” narrative that has long surrounded Saylor’s corporate Bitcoin strategy.

The pressure has sharpened a broader debate over whether Bitcoin’s recent decline is a temporary reset after excessive leverage, or a sign that institutional demand is weakening after months of ETF-led buying.

Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows and outflows in the last four weeks. Source: SoSoValue

The price of ZEC fell on Thursday after further details were disclosed of a critical counterfeiting vulnerability in Zcash’s Orchard pool that could theoretically allow a bad actor to mint an unlimited amount of ZEC.

According to a post on X, security engineer Taylor Hornby, who was engaged by Shielded Labs, discovered the bug on May 29 and disclosed it to the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), which deployed an emergency response to fix the vulnerability with a hard fork activated on June 3. 

However, there are concerns about the extent to which the vulnerability, which has existed since May 2022, has been used, leading Zcash to fall more than 30% over the past 24 hours to $410 at the time of writing. Its market capitalization has shrunk by more than $3 billion.

However, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said on Friday it is unlikely that ZEC has been illegally minted this way, though he acknowledged “it cannot be formally cryptographically proved impossible.”

“Sadly, due to the Orchard Pool exploit, I had to dump our entire ZEC bag,” he said.

“The Holy Trinity is dead,” he added, referring to Zcash and the two other tokens he sold this week, Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Near Protocol (NEAR).

ZEC crashes 30% in 24 hours after two months of solid gains. Source: TradingView

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