Bitcoin may fix Apple Stock Buybacks: Saylor

Bitcoin exposure may provide a lucrative financial opportunity for Apple’s stock buyback program, according to Strategy’s Michael Saylor.

Saylor’s proposition follows a Bitcoin (BTC) rally of over 11% since the beginning of 2025, which outperformed the 18% decline of Apple shares during the same period.

Illustrating a growing corporate shift, increasingly more traditional companies are adopting digital assets beyond Bitcoin.

On Wednesday, Interactive Strength (TRNR), a Nasdaq-listed fitness equipment manufacturer, announced plans to raise up to $500 million to establish the world’s largest corporate Fetch.ai (FET) token treasury.

Meanwhile, an unidentified whale opened a $300 million leveraged Bitcoin bet, sparking speculation about the investor’s identity, as the long position was opened hours after millionaire trader James Wynn announced that he was back under an anonymous account.

“Apple should buy Bitcoin,” Saylor says, as share buyback disappoints

Apple, the world’s fourth-largest company by market capitalization, should buy Bitcoin to address the poor performance of its stock buyback program, according to Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor.

“Apple should buy Bitcoin,” Saylor said in a Tuesday X post.

Saylor’s comment responded to Jim Cramer’s criticism of the Apple buyback program.

“The Apple buyback is not working right now,” Cramer had written in an X post.

“The company can leave it to earn a lot, or it can take some and integrate. It is not a badge of dishonor. It just isn’t,” he said.

Source: Michael Saylor

Apple’s buyback program aims to reduce the number of outstanding shares and return value to investors, according to the $110 billion stock buyback strategy announced in a May 2024 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Apple’s stock has declined more than 17% since the start of the year.

Over the same period, Bitcoin has gained more than 17%, according to data from TradingView. Zooming out, Bitcoin has surged over 1,000% in the past five years, compared with a 137% increase in Apple shares.

SEC chair bashes Gensler’s approach to crypto, defends self-custody

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins took aim at the previous administration’s crypto policies in a roundtable event exploring digital asset regulation.

In a Monday event led by the SEC’s crypto task force titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” Atkins said the prior administration, suggesting the agency’s stance on digital assets under former chair Gary Gensler, took a heavy-handed approach through the courts. He added that the SEC’s policies on staking as a service provider needed congressional approval to have lasting authority, and touted self-custody as a “foundational American value.”

“I’m in favor of affording greater flexibility to market participants to self-custody crypto assets, especially where intermediation imposes unnecessary transaction costs or restricts the ability to engage in staking and other onchain activities,” Atkins said at the event.

“Unfortunately, the prior administration undermined innovation in self-custodial digital wallets and other onchain technologies by asserting through regulatory actions that the developers of such software may be conducting brokerage activities.”

SEC, Self Custody, Gary Gensler — Paul Atkins addresses “DeFi and the American Spirit” roundtable participants on Monday. Source: SEC

FTX users fight to unlock $2.2 billion in still-disputed bankruptcy claims

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX is facing fresh scrutiny from users fighting for at least $2.2 billion worth of disputed claims still pending approval, with numerous creditors continuing to struggle to get their repayments approved.

The FTX Recovery Trust started its second round of payments on May 30, repaying over $5 billion worth of digital assets to eligible creditors who had completed pre-distribution requirements.

Still, at least $2.25 billion worth of repayments remain in dispute, according to estimates shared by Sunil, FTX creditor and Customer Ad-Hoc Committee member.

“Current allowed claims: $7.5bn. Total Estimated allowed claims: $10.6bn. 30% of allowed claims are disputed – legit claims will be allowed,” Sunil wrote in a Wednesday X post.

The FTX estate holds an additional $6.5 billion worth of reserves for disputed claims, which are likely to be paid at the next distribution, Sunil told Cointelegraph, adding:

“I foresee most of the disputed [claims] getting allowed for the next distribution.”

“However, there is much uncertainty regarding the Chinese claims, which made up 8% of claims on the bankruptcy,” Sunil said, adding that it is difficult to predict a timeline for these payments until a distribution provider supporting China is announced.

MapleStory revives Avalanche, tops 1 million daily transactions twice in one week

The Avalanche blockchain surpassed 1 million daily transactions twice in one week, the first time the network hit this milestone since February 2024.

Avalanche transactions topped the mark on June 1 and again on Saturday. Total transactions for the week beginning June 2 reached 5.8 million, the highest weekly total since early 2024, according to data from blockchain analytics platform Nansen.

The spike in activity was largely driven by MapleStory Universe, Avalanche noted on X. MapleStory Universe is a Web3 gaming ecosystem built on Avalanche. Its first game, MapleStory N, launched on May 15.

Before the side-scrolling online role-playing game landed on Avalanche, the blockchain’s daily transactions rarely topped 500,000 in 2025.

Avalanche transactions remain low for second half of 2024 and most of 2025 until MapleStory launch. — Avalanche network activity stayed quiet until MapleStory’s May 15 launch. Source: Nansen

MapleStory became a cultural phenomenon among gamers in the 2000s and early 2010s. It was a proto-metaverse for socializing, making friends and even forming romantic relationships.

PancakeSwap launches one-click crosschain swaps to simplify DeFi UX

Decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap has launched one-click crosschain swaps using the Across Protocol, aiming to address one of the most pressing user experience (UX) issues in decentralized finance (DeFi).

The integration allows users to swap assets without complex blockchain bridges or other external third-party infrastructure that complicate the user experience and incur additional fees.

Across’s intent-based transfers allow users to simply define their desired outcome, such as swapping USDC (USDC) on Base for Wrapped Ether (WETH) on Arbitrum, and a network of relayers competes to fulfill the transaction.

One-click crosschain token swaps go directly through PancakeSwap’s interface among BNB Chain, Arbitrum and Base, simplifying transfers across siloed blockchain networks.

PancakeSwap’s crosschain swaps. Source: PancakeSwap

Historically, crosschain activity has relied on blockchain bridges, which have proven to be vulnerable.

In 2022, Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge was drained for more than $600 million worth of cryptocurrency in one of the largest crypto exploits in history. The hack targeted a private key multisignature scheme, a security measure that proved inadequate.

DeFi market overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the red.

The Sonic (S) token decreased 14% as the biggest decline in the top 100, followed by the Jupiter (JUP) token, down over 13% on the weekly chart.

Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlama

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.

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