Binance Debuts Pre-IPO Perps with SpaceX Exposure

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In Today's Note

• BTC remained under pressure, falling as low as $76K and failing to hold above $78K, while spot Bitcoin ETF outflows extended to a fifth consecutive day.
• US equities recovered on hopes of a diplomatic path forward, with the Dow closing at a record high and the Nasdaq-100 ending slightly higher as Iran reviewed the latest US proposal.
• Binance launched pre-IPO perpetual futures, Zerion announced the shutdown of its gasless ZERϴ Network, Galaxy and BitGo continued their Delaware court battle, and the Blockchain Leadership Fund announced bipartisan endorsements for the 2026 midterms.

Market Snapshot: Overnight Moves

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Macro & Markets

• Optimism that a diplomatic exit from the US-Iran war is still possible helped US equities pare back their earlier losses in trading yesterday, while BTC fell to as low as $76K before attempting and failing to hold above $78K once more. 
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed up 0.55% to a new record high and the Nasdaq-100 index ended the day up 0.2%.
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs continued their streak of outflows, which has now extended to a fifth day, as ETF holders sold more than $100M of bitcoin yesterday. Since late January 2026, BTC has continued to trade below the average ETF cost-basis, which currently sits at $83K.

• Meanwhile, US crude oil settled around $96 after Iran said on Thursday that it received and was reviewing the US’s response to its latest ceasefire proposal. 
• Iran claimed the latest proposal from the US had partly bridged the gap between the sides, though media reports over the past 24 hours have provided mixed messages on Tehran’s stance of reaching a deal.
• According to Iranian media and Reuters, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive that near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad — an issue that has been a sticking point for the US. Al Jazeera, however, later said that no new uranium directive had been issued. 
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday however there were “some good signs” that a deal with Iran could be reached and that Pakistani mediators may travel to Tehran. 
• Earlier in the week, President Trump had said if the US did not “get the right answers” from Iran it was “all ready” to resume strikes.

• According to a speech from Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin yesterday, the resilience of US consumers and businesses to the current supply shocks in the economy will guide the Fed into deciding whether it can continue to “look through” higher inflation without raising interest rates.
• Barkin said, “With inflation above our 2% target for over five years now, it’s worth asking whether the cumulative impact of so many waves risks loosening the anchor … For me, it comes down to how much businesses, consumers, and inflation expectations can take.”

• Speaking to reporters after his speech, Barkin said “I really believe that actual inflation matters for next year’s inflation” and that the Fed being above target for five years and a “succession of supply shocks” doesn’t help. 
• Barkin also showed concerns over the labour side of the US economy — "I'm still in a world where everyone I talk to is talking about AI and AI-related job loss”.

DeFi & TradFi

• Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz and BitGo CEO Mike Belshe are in a Delaware court battle over Galaxy’s failed $1.2B acquisition of BitGo, with BitGo seeking at least $100M in termination damages tied to the collapsed 2021 merger agreement.
• BitGo alleges Galaxy failed to use “reasonable efforts” to complete the transaction and concealed regulatory scrutiny tied to Galaxy’s Luna trading activity, while Galaxy argues BitGo forfeited its right to the breakup fee by failing to provide compliant audited financial statements on time.
• The dispute also revisits Galaxy’s historical exposure to Terraform Labs and the Luna ecosystem, including nearly $400M in profits from Luna trades, later regulatory investigations, and a $200M 2025 settlement with the New York Attorney General related to promotional disclosures around the token.

• Binance has launched Pre-IPO perpetual futures, starting with SPCXUSDT, a USDT-margined contract designed to give eligible users exposure to expected SpaceX public-market valuation before any IPO takes place.
• Binance said the contracts “are expected to reflect publicly available pricing signals, including announced price ranges and final offering prices. Once the underlying company begins trading on public markets, the contracts will transition to reflect live market performance. In the event that an IPO is postponed or canceled, Binance will provide advance notice of any delisting and settle contracts according to a transparent process designed to support a consistent user experience. Binance may transition the contract into a standard TradFi perpetual contract framework once it determines that a stable mark price can be derived for the underlying asset.”

• Zerion said it is shutting down ZERϴ Network, its Ethereum Layer 2 focused on fully gasless transactions, after roughly 1.5 years of operation as the team shifts resources back toward the Zerion wallet and API business.
• The project was launched as an EVM-compatible “gasless rollup” designed to remove transaction fees for users through an open paymaster model, aiming to simplify onchain UX and mainstream crypto onboarding.
• Bridging into ZERϴ has now been disabled, while users have until July 31, 2026 to bridge assets including ETH, tokens, and NFTs off the network before block production stops and the chain fully shuts down.

• The Blockchain Leadership Fund, a crypto-focused PAC backed by firms including Chainlink Labs and Anchorage Digital, announced its bipartisan endorsements for the 2026 U.S. midterm cycle, backing four Senate and six House candidates across both parties.
• The endorsed candidates include Senate hopefuls Barry Moore, Kurt Alme, Jon Husted, and Rep. Angie Craig, alongside House candidates including Adrian Boafo, Don Davis, Houston Gaines, and Christian Menefee, reflecting the industry’s push to build bipartisan support around digital asset legislation.

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