Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was the top-performing digital asset in June, gaining 171% over the month, according to market data. This was in stark contrast to Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, which added 14%. “The surge was backed by a notable increase in trading activity on South Korea’s most prominent digital assets exchange, Upbit,” said Matt Kunke, a research analyst at GSR. “Liquidations were also a key component of BCH strength, particularly during the last day, as ~$15m of shorts were liquidated, the most out of any coin excluding BTC/ETH.”
The end of the month saw a number of large institutions pushing further into crypto, igniting positive sentiment. Bitcoin rose as a result, touching a one-year-high above $31,000 a few days after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, applied for a spot ETF on June 15. “In crypto, we’ve been saying ‘the institutions are coming’ every year, and that rallying cry often drives the market narrative,” said Michael Safai, managing partner at Dexterity, an algorithmic high-frequency trading firm.
Other digital assets that gained in June included FTT, the token of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, which climbed 124%, and the native token of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Compound (COMP), which rallied 50% in four days following a spike in volume and outflows on Binance. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) gained 2.7% on the month.