SBI Backs Morpho's $175M Raise, Metaplanet Hits 40,177 BTC as US Weighs 8 Tax Bills

Crypto News

Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings confirmed on June 10 that it joined a $175 million funding round for Morpho, the onchain credit network that lets developers build lending and borrowing markets directly on blockchains. The raise, led by Paradigm and a16z, ranks among the largest in DeFi history. Morpho's network already holds more than $11 billion in deposited assets and is integrated by exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken and Binance. SBI did not disclose the size of its individual commitment. Chairman Yoshitaka Kitao framed efficient, transparent onchain credit markets as essential as legacy finance migrates onto programmable rails, positioning the stake within SBI's broader global digital-asset push.

Metaplanet chief executive Simon Gerovich revealed the firm's Bitcoin treasury has reached 40,177 BTC, which he described as Asia's largest and the world's third-biggest corporate Bitcoin holding. Gerovich said the company's equity ratio now exceeds 85% with minimal debt, calling the fortified balance sheet a platform for growth rather than a defensive posture. He emphasized that the firm's Bitcoin income business is already generating substantial revenue and will anchor future expansion. Markets remained skeptical: Metaplanet shares closed 5.76% lower at 229 yen in Tokyo on June 10, pressured by Bitcoin's broader decline weighing on the mark-to-market value of its holdings.

The US House Ways and Means Committee convened a legislative hearing on June 9 examining eight separate digital-asset tax bills, aiming to close longstanding gaps in how crypto transactions are taxed. The package addresses network fees, stablecoin gains and losses, and the classification of mining and staking rewards. Chairman Jason Smith argued that unclear rules are untenable for the more than 60 million Americans who hold crypto, noting that a $5 coffee purchase can trigger two tax filings and hundreds of millions of 1099-DA forms annually. One measure, H.R. 9178, would exclude network-fee and regulated stablecoin gains from reporting and create a simplified annual accounting option.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority published a proposal allowing authorized retail funds to allocate up to 10% to crypto exchange-traded notes, opening a channel that had effectively been closed. Released within the regulator's 52nd quarterly consultation, the plan carries a five-week comment window running to July 13. The FCA lifted its ban on selling certain crypto ETNs to retail investors in October 2025 but kept authorized funds restricted; the new measure seeks regulatory consistency. UCITS and NURS funds would gain the 10% cap, while professional QIS schemes face no limit. The authority is not yet weighing direct spot-crypto holdings by such funds, citing custody-rule maturity.

Crypto capital-markets firm GSR completed its acquisition of an SEC-registered broker-dealer after securing the necessary regulatory clearance from FINRA, the company announced on June 9. The acquired entity, previously known as Equilibrium Capital Services, has been rebranded GSR Securities, giving the firm a regulated framework to expand support for US institutional clients and assist issuers and fund managers raising capital in digital-asset markets. The deal extends an aggressive expansion across the blockchain sector: GSR disclosed a strategic investment from SC Ventures in May and acquired advisory firms Autonomous and Architech for a combined $57 million in March. The acquisition price was not disclosed.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korean National Police Agency to strengthen virtual-asset crime investigations, the company said on June 9. The agreement comes amid intensifying threats from North Korea-linked hacking groups, which on-chain data attributes with stealing more than $2 billion in crypto last year and roughly $5.5 billion over the past five years. Under the MOU, KNPA personnel gain access to Chainalysis training content and its certified digital-asset investigator program. The partnership builds on prior success: in September 2025, Seoul police used the firm's platform to dismantle an international ring that stole roughly 39 billion won in crypto.

These developments share a single arc: institutional and regulatory infrastructure for crypto is maturing even as prices buckle. COINOTAG's aggregate market data underscores the tension—total crypto market capitalization sits near $1.78 trillion, Bitcoin dominance has climbed to 70.1%, and our Fear & Greed Index reads just 9 out of 100, deep in Extreme Fear territory and a hallmark of a bear market. That elevated dominance signals capital rotating out of altcoins toward Bitcoin's relative safety, while SBI's Morpho stake, the FCA's fund proposal and GSR's broker-dealer license show builders positioning for the next cycle. Official filings and corporate disclosures—not price action—are where this quarter's most durable signals are emerging.