The Fed wraps its two-day meeting today, with a rate decision arriving this afternoon. Markets are watching closely. While traders wait for the Fed, Wall Street is not pausing. BlackRock just launched a Bitcoin yield ETF. State Street entered the stablecoin reserves race. Coinbase opened stock transfers to its platform. Ripple backed Africa’s largest fintech. The infrastructure layer keeps expanding regardless of where rates land today. Let’s dive in.
Coinbase Just Became an Everything Exchange
Coinbase announced on June 16 that US users can now transfer existing stock portfolios onto the platform without selling their holdings. Once transferred, stocks sit alongside crypto in a single account. Zero-commission trading, fractional shares, and TradingView charting tools are included in the offering. What does Coinbase’s head of financial services say customers want from a single account? Read more.
State Street Just Entered the Stablecoin Reserves Race
State Street Investment Management launched a money market fund on June 16 specifically designed for stablecoin issuers to park their reserves. Built to meet GENIUS Act requirements, it maintains a stable $1 share price while offering daily liquidity and yield. Anchorage Digital is among its initial investors. What types of assets does the State Street stablecoin reserves fund invest in? Read more.
The IMF Just Flagged Stablecoin Risk in Nigeria
The IMF warned on June 16 that Nigeria’s stablecoin adoption creates risks for monetary policy, regulatory oversight, and illicit finance. The country received roughly $59 billion in crypto inflows in a single year and accounts for 60% of all stablecoin flows across sub-Saharan Africa. The Fund recommended pragmatic regulation over suppression. What does the IMF say would happen if Nigeria tried to ban stablecoin use? Read more.
Ripple Just Backed Africa’s Biggest Payments Network
Ripple invested in Flutterwave’s Series E round on June 16, establishing a partnership to integrate RLUSD and the XRP Ledger across 34 African markets. RLUSD will be embedded directly into Flutterwave’s remittance corridors as a settlement asset. Flutterwave has processed more than 1 billion transactions worth over $50 billion to date. What settlement time improvements does Ripple expect the XRPL integration to deliver? Read more.
BlackRock Launches BTC Income ETF BITA on Nasdaq
BlackRock began trading its Bitcoin Premium Income ETF under ticker BITA on Nasdaq on June 16, offering monthly distributions from a covered call strategy. Options are sold against 25% to 35% of its portfolio each month. The strategy targets a mid- to high-teens annual yield with roughly 70% of Bitcoin’s upside retained. Which three investor groups did BlackRock say the fund is designed to serve? Read more.
How does a covered call strategy generate yield from a Bitcoin ETF without selling BTC?
- TLDR: A covered call Bitcoin ETF earns yield by selling call options on the BTC it already holds, collecting option premiums as income while still holding spot BTC, at the cost of capping upside. The ETF owns BTC and sells covered call options on that BTC, so buyers pay the ETF an option premium that becomes yield distributable to investors.
- Because the calls are “covered” by the ETF’s BTC holdings, it is not short BTC and does not need to sell BTC immediately to create the income, it is just monetizing upside volatility.
- If BTC rallies above the strike, the ETF’s upside is capped since it must deliver BTC or cash-settle at the strike, so over strong bull runs these products often underperform simply holding BTC even though they pay higher ongoing yield.
Disclaimer: This alpha is provided by CryptoMx. CryptoMx can make mistakes—please DYOR. Not financial advice.
