Crypto News Today (June 19): BTC Crashes Below $64K, Kalshi IPO Rumors Begin and G7 Leaders Target North Korean Crypto Hackers

In crypto news today (June 19), Bitcoin has fallen another -2% overnight, dropping below $64,000, with ETF flows bleeding once more, while Michael Saylor’s STRC stock continues to crash, fueling fears that Strategy will be forced to dump Bitcoin to stabilize the STRC price.

Liquidations have picked up, with over $452M over the past 24-hours and more worryingly, $361M of that figure coming from long positions. With longs making up the majority of daily liquidations, this signals the market is back in a downtrend, although optimistic traders haven’t quite got the memo yet.

While the majority of the market is red on the day, Stellar (XLM) and Algorand (ALGO) are defying the odds, up +7.5% and +5%, respectively. The uncertainty across the market has caused a slowdown in trading volume, which has dropped to $86Bn over the past 24 hours, down from around $110Bn just a few days ago.

The Fear & Greed Index is another signal that investors aren’t as optimistic as they were earlier in the week, dropping to 14/100 from 22/100 on Wednesday. These figures are still firmly planted in ‘Extreme Fear’, with recent price action unable to break the index out of this reading.

Crypto News Today: Kalshi Eyeing IPO, Valued at $22Bn as Annualized Revenue Hits $2Bn

Kalshi, a prediction-markets platform, has recently begun preliminary discussions with investment banks about a potential initial public offering (IPO). This move comes as the company experiences rapid growth.

According to a report from The Information, which cited sources familiar with the matter, Kalshi has already held informal talks about an IPO. The report indicates that Kalshi’s annualized revenue has surpassed $2Bn, a significant increase from $1Bn reported in March.

In May, the platform successfully raised $1Bn in a Series F funding round, bringing its valuation to $22Bn. This round was led by Coatue, with participation from prominent firms including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, IVP, Paradigm, Morgan Stanley, and ARK Invest.

Kalshi and its competitor, Polymarket, remain the largest players in the prediction markets sector. According to data from The Block, Kalshi’s monthly trading volume reached $16.81Bn in May, up from $14.81Bn in April. In contrast, Polymarket reported a trading volume of $7.08Bn last month, down from $9.01Bn in April.

#NEW Kalshi passes $2 billion in annualized revenue, in early IPO talks, according to The Information

CNBC’s @JBoorstin reports.https://t.co/Mow7qab7qv

— CNBC’s Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) June 18, 2026

World Leaders at G7 Summit Target North Korean Crypto Hacker Crackdown

In other crypto news today, the recent G7 summit statement expressed significant concern regarding North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, highlighting cryptocurrency theft as part of the broader security threat.

While the leaders did not announce specific measures, they left open the possibility of future actions, including tighter screening for exchanges, expanded sanctions, pressure on mixing services, or closer coordination with blockchain analytics firms, according to Cointelegraph.

This language builds on the G7’s position from last year. Following the June 2025 summit in Canada, the group’s chair urged members to address North Korean cryptocurrency thefts that contribute to the country’s nuclear and missile initiatives.

The latest statement expands the warning to encompass cybercrime more generally, indicating that governments now perceive the issue as larger than just isolated cryptocurrency hacks.

This renewed call comes after several significant incidents suspected to be linked to North Korean actors, including the approximately $285M exploit of Drift Protocol in April and the $36M breach of Humanity Protocol in June.

BREAKING: G7 leaders issue joint call to crack down on North Korea’s multi-billion dollar Bitcoin and crypto thefts. pic.twitter.com/v7tXvKmFwi

— Bitcoin Archive (@BitcoinArchive) June 18, 2026