Author: Michelle Lazo

Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) criticized Bitfarms (NASDAQ:BITF) for adopting a poison pill strategy to prevent a takeover, calling the move “shareholder unfriendly” and highlighting Bitfarms’ weak corporate governance.

Riot stated on Wednesday that it had privately urged Bitfarms to remove its chairman and interim CEO, Nicolas Bonta, and to appoint at least two independent directors to its board. This dispute follows Riot’s unsolicited $950 million acquisition offer made in April, which Bitfarms rejected, deeming it undervalued. In response, Bitfarms approved a poison pill plan to block hostile takeover attempts.

The plan specifies that if any entity acquires more than a 15% stake in Bitfarms between June 20 and September 10, Bitfarms will issue additional shares to other stockholders, diluting the acquiring entity’s stake. Riot contended that the 15% trigger “conflicts with established legal and governance standards.”

Riot CEO Jason Les stated, “We will continue to address the serious corporate governance issues at Bitfarms and ensure that shareholders have a say in the company’s direction.”

Bitfarms did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

In a separate regulatory filing, Riot revealed that it had increased its stake in Bitfarms to 13.1% from 12% earlier this month, making it Bitfarms’ largest shareholder, according to LSEG data.

Despite a surge in the crypto industry due to the approval of exchange-traded funds tied to bitcoin’s spot price, shares of Riot and Bitfarms have declined by 35% and 19%, respectively, this year.

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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rallied on Wednesday following U.S. inflation data that came in slightly below expectations, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve might start cutting interest rates later this year. The world’s largest cryptocurrency surged over 4% to above $69,500 shortly after the inflation report’s release.

The Labor Department reported that the annual inflation rate decreased to 3.3% in May, down from 3.4% in April.

While still elevated, the lower-than-expected inflation readings could prompt the Fed to ease its aggressive rate hike measures eventually.

Crypto prices jumped on the news, with Bitcoin rising over $1,900 within minutes. Ether and other altcoins also saw gains as traders reevaluated the macroeconomic landscape.

However, despite the optimistic market response, Wednesday’s report alone might not persuade Fed Chair Jerome Powell and colleagues to start cutting rates immediately. At 3.3%, inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target.

The Fed is set to conclude its latest policy meeting later on Wednesday.

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The U.S. Consumer Price Index remained unchanged in May, outperforming economists’ expectations of a 0.1% rise and down from 0.3% in April. On a year-over-year basis, CPI increased by 3.3%, slightly lower than both the forecast and April’s reading of 3.4%.

The core CPI, excluding food and energy costs, rose 0.2% in May, better than the anticipated 0.3% rise and down from April’s 0.3%. Year-over-year, core CPI was up 3.4%, below the expected 3.5% and April’s 3.6%.

Bitcoin responded positively to the lower inflation reading, jumping to $69,400, an increase of nearly 4% over the past 24 hours.

After significant drops in inflation throughout 2022 and 2023 due to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes, the decline had stalled at higher levels than the Fed’s 2% target, dampening market hopes for imminent rate cuts.

At the beginning of this year, traders anticipated five or six 25 basis point rate cuts in 2024 by December. This expectation had decreased to one or two cuts before today’s CPI report, with the first cut not expected until September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Crypto prices have shown high sensitivity to U.S. economic data, noted K33 Research earlier this week. Rising inflation figures and reduced expectations for rate cuts caused Bitcoin to fall from its all-time high above $73,000 in March to below $57,000 in May. Traders believe that looser monetary policies will drive the next phase of the crypto rally to new record prices.

Contrary to U.S. trends, several major central banks worldwide, including the European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada, have begun lowering benchmark rates, pushing the U.S. dollar index to a one-month high.

Investors are also keenly awaiting the Federal Reserve’s “dot plot,” scheduled for release later today, which outlines the Federal Market Open Committee members’ interest rate projections and could significantly impact asset prices.

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Solana crypto wallet startup TipLink is simplifying blockchain access for newcomers by eliminating the need for traditional wallet browser extensions. Their new service, TipLink Wallet Adaptor, enables users to create in-browser wallets linked to their Google accounts, bypassing the need to set up wallets like Phantom or Solflare before receiving tokens.

TipLink CEO Ian Krotinsky stated, “It unlocks the rest of the world for easy onboarding.” This approach aims to attract the majority of internet users who lack a crypto wallet and the knowledge or inclination to set one up. Users can receive a wallet link, log in with their Google credentials, and start using it immediately.

While this might not sit well with staunch advocates of self-custody—those who emphasize “not your keys, not your coins”—Krotinsky isn’t concerned about that niche. He explained that TipLink’s app secures private keys to minimize the risk of users unintentionally exposing them to phishing attacks. Google’s security measures, especially for accounts with two-factor authentication, add another layer of protection.

“It’s currently not the place users will likely store a million dollars in,” Krotinsky noted, but assured that the team is working to introduce “more layers of security” in the future.

TipLink operates within a controlled environment for decentralized applications, only interacting with vetted programs to ensure user safety and prevent fund theft, as demonstrated in a promotional video shared with CoinDesk.

Additionally, TipLink is developing a “Pro” service aimed at helping developers distribute cryptocurrencies to hundreds or thousands of users via campaign links.

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The Ethereum Name Service topped CryptoSlam’s non-fungible token market on Monday with over $4.27 million in sales. Although not classified as a typical NFT collection, ENS utilizes NFT technology to offer decentralized domain names on the Ethereum blockchain. This allows users to convert Ethereum addresses into human-readable formats, with each registered ENS domain corresponding to a unique NFT that can be transferred or sold.

Ranking second for the day were the $PIZZA BRC-20 NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain, which generated $2.18 million in sales. This collection saw a decrease from its $7.12 million in sales on Sunday.

Guild of Guardians Avatars, hosted on the Immutable network, secured third place with $1.24 million in sales. Other notable collections included Blast’s Fantasy Top, which ranked fourth with $987,910, and Genesis Fanta Field on Solana, debuting in the top 10 with $635,539 in sales.

The DMarket collection on the Mythos network, featuring game-related NFTs, ranked sixth with $583,411. The Bored Ape Yacht Club from Yuga Labs, a leading NFT collection by all-time sales, placed seventh with $470,907. Polygon-based OKX NFT Creation followed in eighth place with $414,817 in sales.

Rounding out the top 10 were two more Polygon collections: Matr1x Fire Weapon and TTAvatars, each with approximately $350,000 in sales.

The Ethereum blockchain, led by ENS, recorded the highest daily sales among all blockchains with $8.45 million, up from $4.51 million the previous day. The Bitcoin blockchain saw a daily sales volume of $4.11 million, a significant drop from $11.03 million on June 9.

Solana recorded sales of $2.68 million, while the Polygon blockchain had a higher transaction volume, totaling $2.44 million in sales. Immutable reported sales of $1.56 million, and the Blast blockchain saw $988,646 in sales.

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