On Monday, June 22, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission asked market participants to weigh in on two potential changes to U.S. energy derivatives: 24/7 trading for standard futures and perpetual contracts tied to physical energy commodities such as crude oil. The initiative would test whether a crypto-style always-on market structure can be applied to energy products. The agency is seeking public input on how these shifts could affect trading, operations, and risk management.

On Monday (June 22), Hong Kong-based on-chain trading platform TurboFlow raised $6 million in seed funding. The round was led by Pantera Capital, with Susquehanna Crypto and Digital Currency Group also participating. The raise comes as expectations build that global prediction market volumes will increase fivefold this year.

Five former Ethereum Foundation researchers have launched Ethlabs, an independent nonprofit R&D group backed by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin and major ETH treasury firms. The move signals that some core Ethereum research is shifting into independently funded organizations outside the Ethereum Foundation. The shift could influence how Ethereum evolves as more institutional capital moves on-chain.

About $4.67 million in tokens was drained from Secret Network after an attacker exploited an ICS-20-based smart contract used for cross-chain transfers, according to Axelar’s June 19 statement. The incident highlighted another weakness in bridge infrastructure linking Cosmos-based blockchains. Axelar said the issue was confined to the Secret-side ICS-20 smart contract and did not impact its core protocol or other connections.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission permanently barred Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky from commodity trading and from registering with the agency under a consent order entered on June 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The order closes the regulator’s July 2023 fraud case and what the CFTC has described as its first crypto-lending enforcement action. The ban also prevents Mashinsky from soliciting customer funds for commodity transactions and from taking senior or operational roles at CFTC-registered firms.

Abu Dhabi-backed AI investor MGX is weighing a multibillion-dollar acquisition of DayOne, which operates a data center in Singapore. The deal would be MGX’s first acquisition in Asia. It would underscore intensifying competition to secure the data center infrastructure needed to support AI growth.

Japan on June 19 outlined a plan to direct 10.5 trillion yen ($65.1 billion) in combined public and private funding into physical artificial intelligence across 17 strategic sectors by fiscal 2040, according to Nikkei Asia. The initiative is intended to address labor shortages tied to Japan’s shrinking workforce, including in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and eldercare. It is also the fifth major policy move under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government within four days.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao told Galaxy Research that artificial intelligence may pose an existential risk to humanity, but not to crypto. He argued that digital assets could become the payment rails for autonomous AI systems before traditional banks are ready for machine-driven transactions. Zhao said wallets and stablecoins could be easier for autonomous software to use than bank accounts, according to the interview released on June 18.

Solana has overtaken other blockchain networks by the number of wallets holding tokenized real-world assets, reaching 285,971 RWA wallets as of June 18, according to RWA.xyz. The shift highlights where both retail and institutional interest is concentrating across tokenized assets. The data suggest that networks attracting the broadest base of users—not just capital—may draw more activity in the months ahead.