Bitcoin owners are becoming a significant voting group in the United States, and their influence is poised to grow ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Following their noticeable role in the 2024 presidential vote, recent polling from Cygnal shows that these crypto-aligned voters are aligning more closely with pro-Bitcoin candidates, most notably from the Republican Party.

Cygnal’s president Brent Buchanan noted that while the general electorate and the Bitcoin community still differ on several issues, the political relevance of this group is undeniable. He pointed out that President Donald Trump gained strong support from Bitcoin owners in 2024, a trend that continues to benefit Republican lawmakers today.

Considering this, the poll found that 76% of Bitcoin holders are more likely to vote for candidates supporting easier digital asset access. Meanwhile, 43% of all voters said a politician’s stance on Bitcoin could sway their decision at the ballot box.

This suggests that crypto ownership is no longer just about investment and is now a political identity.

Crypto owners distrust regulators and demand clarity

Despite their growing influence, Bitcoin owners remain skeptical of government oversight.

According to the poll, only 29% of Bitcoiners express strong trust in federal regulators to manage digital assets fairly, which is slightly more than the 12% of the general public who share that trust.\

Meanwhile, 33% of voters do not trust federal regulation of crypto, revealing a significant trust gap between policymakers and the crypto community.

The mistrust presents a significant challenge for policymakers, as most voters are either unaware of or unclear about the impact of some proposed pro-crypto legislation.

This is evident in the fact that only one-third of voters support the idea of a Bitcoin reserve despite its widespread adoption across US States and globally.

To bridge this divide, lawmakers may need to do more than simply propose policy and may need to invest in educating the electorate.

So, as the 2026 midterms approach, engaging Bitcoin voters could prove crucial for candidates hoping to ride the next wave of political momentum.

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A new proposal from HOT Protocol, a decentralized group operating on the NEAR Protocol, has called for a significant reduction in the AI crypto project‘s token inflation rate.

On June 24, the decentralized organization submitted a plan to slash NEAR’s annual inflation rate from 5% to 2.5%. The proposal aims to enhance the long-term sustainability of the crypto project’s token and realign incentives across the network.

According to the proposal, the current 5% inflation rate has become a liability, harming NEAR’s competitiveness by “causing unnecessary token supply growth and dilution.”

HOT protocol explained that NEAR’s inflation rate was designed with the assumption that fee burns from high transaction volumes would offset much of the supply growth. In practice, however, only 0.1% of the token supply was burned over the past year.

As a result, the full inflation rate continues to inflate the circulating supply by over 60 million NEAR annually, outpacing actual network growth and user activity.

To counter this, the new proposal suggests reducing the staking yield from 9% to 4.5%, which could make NEAR-based DeFi offerings more competitive.

While this might lead some validators to exit, it also opens space for new demand-generating features, including transaction fee revenue from Intent-based models.

The DAO highlighted the importance of its proposal, stating:

“Reducing NEAR’s inflation is an urgent priority. Every additional month of the status quo means millions of new NEAR entering circulation, which is not only dilutive but also unnecessary given the low fee burn. High inflation without high usage is unsustainable.”

Community support

The proposal has drawn strong backing from the NEAR ecosystem, with many industry players expressing support.

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol, endorsed the plan, saying it better positions NEAR as a potential store of value in emerging AI-focused environments.

He also highlighted the need to reduce the reliance on staking as the primary source of yield, a dynamic that has limited DeFi innovation on NEAR so far.

Avichal Garg, the co-founder of Electric Capital, echoed similar views, while adding:

“[I am a] big fan of this for the NEAR ecosystem. The future of crypto [is] lower emissions, fee switches to drive revenue to tokenholders, and [rewarding] long-term holders via more revenue.”

Meanwhile, the proposal is currently undergoing a validator vote and requires a two-thirds majority to pass. As of press time, 13.36% of the required 66.67% threshold has been secured.

If approved, implementation is expected by Q3 2025, pending a smooth technical rollout and final community validation.

The Ethereum Foundation is adopting a more structured and transparent treasury policy that ties operational costs and cash needs to its Ether reserves and sales to strengthen its financial position as it anticipates a pivotal 18 months ahead.

Its annual operating cost — measured as a percentage of the EF’s treasury — and the number of years of runway will be reassessed regularly, factoring in market dynamics and community input to ensure the foundation’s short-term operations remain aligned with its long-term strategy, one of the foundation’s directors said on June 4.

Hsiao-Wei Wang said the Ethereum Foundation currently only has 2.5 years before it runs out of cash, setting the stage for a crucial 18 months as it seeks to deploy resources more deliberately and provide more ecosystem support:

“This policy reflects our conviction that 2025-26 are likely to be pivotal for Ethereum, warranting enhanced focus on critical deliverables.”

The tightened treasury policy follows community backlash over the EF’s unexpected Ether (ETH) sales in recent months, a series of moves which some critics claimed have undermined trust in the Foundation.

To uphold its transparency commitment, the EF will publish quarterly and annual reports outlining its asset holdings, investment performance and any significant developments during each period.

As of Oct. 31, the foundation’s treasury totaled approximately $970.2 million, split between $788.7 million in crypto and $181.5 million in non-crypto assets.

Over 81% of the foundation’s total position was in ETH. Since then, ETH has fallen roughly 1.8%, CoinGecko data shows.

Foundation to engage more with DeFi

The EF said it will aim to “earn acceptable returns” on treasury assets by engaging with permissionless protocols that are immutable and thoroughly audited.

This approach allows the EF to support protocols that champion what it calls “Defipunk principles” while strengthening its treasury position.

In February, the Foundation set aside 45,000 ETH — worth $120 million at the time — to deploy to various decentralized finance protocols.

It has already supplied ETH and borrowed $2 million worth of the GHO (GHO) stablecoin from Aave’s lending protocol, Aave founder Stani Kulechov said on May 29.

Spark and Compound were among the other DeFi protocols that received support from the foundation.

Related: Ether poised for ‘significant breakout’ as ETH price strengthens vs BTC

The Ethereum Foundation historically refrained from supporting specific protocols to maintain credible neutrality and avoid favoring any projects. However, this stance drew criticism from some ecosystem innovators, including Infinex founder Kain Warwick, who accused the foundation of being anti-DeFi.

The EF also announced a restructuring of its internal development team on June 2, which involved some members being laid off. 

It didn’t disclose how many individuals were affected.

The changes come amid ETH’s underperformance this bull cycle, lagging behind the likes of Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL), which recently notched all-time highs. ETH, by contrast, remains 46.5% below its November 2021 peak of $4,878.

Magazine: Baby boomers worth $79T are warming up to Bitcoin… but suspicions remain

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Veteran market analyst with X handle Daan Crypto has shared an intriguing insight on the present Bitcoin market structure. In a recent post on May 16, Daan Crypto provided some technical pointers for BTC investors while highlighting the potential fundamental developments that could influence the price action of the premier cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Break Above ATH Key To Bullish Momentum

In a major breakthrough for investors, the US and China have agreed to a 90-day pause on the recent steep tariffs, aiming to de-escalate a looming trade war between the world’s two largest economies. The announcement sparked a surge in market confidence, with over $600 billion flowing into global financial markets.

According to Daan Crypto, Bitcoin recorded a sharp price gain following this development, even outperforming the US stock market for a while almost trade at $106,000. However, the crypto asset’s price growth has since stalled, entering a range-bound market between $101,000 – $105,000, while the stock market has recorded a continuous price growth.

With a current market price around $103,000, Bitcoin trades a few price levels below its all-time high at  $109,000. Daan Crypto explains that the premier cryptocurrency must surpass this ATH level and enter price discovery to rediscover a bullish momentum for a long-term uptrend. Barring this development, the market expert predicts BTC will likely remain in consolidation for the foreseeable future.

$90k Support Zone Crucial To BTC Bull Structure – Analyst

In other developments, Daan Crypto has picked $90,000 as the critical support level for the current market uptrend. The analyst has stated that a fall below this price would produce a bearish signal, indicating that Bitcoin has fallen out of its bullish range and may experience a significant downswing.

Notably, a price dip below $90,000 has not occurred since the BTC price rebound began in mid-April. Daan Crypto states that as long as the maiden cryptocurrency maintains this support zone, investors can be “cautiously bullish”.

However, the renowned market expert also notes that Bitcoin is showing much weakness relative to the stock market compared to a month ago, when its price was 20%-30% lower than the present market. In this present situation, Bitcoin is likely to follow the stock markets, which have surged by 30%-50% in the last month, in the event of any potential price pullback.

At press time, the leading cryptocurrency continues to trade at $103,509, reflecting a 0.51% decline in the past day.

Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview

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Solana is trading at critical levels after a volatile week that saw major surges across the crypto market. While the rally has sparked optimism, analysts remain sharply divided. Some believe this is just a healthy correction within a broader bull cycle, while others warn that the crypto market may have already entered a new bear phase.

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For Solana, the next few weeks are expected to be decisive. Top analyst Inmortal shared insights on X, highlighting that within the next 30 days, the market will likely reveal whether Solana’s latest recovery attempt is a simple bear market bounce or the beginning of a bull market dip and new expansion.

As Solana holds above key technical levels, price action will be critical to determine sentiment. The stakes are high, especially as macroeconomic uncertainty, driven by global trade tensions and monetary policy shifts, continues to cloud the broader financial landscape.

Investors should stay cautious, but alert. Solana’s next move could set the tone not just for its own trajectory, but for the altcoin sector as a whole heading into the summer months. The clock is ticking on this crucial phase.

Solana Approaches Critical Level Amid Sharp Recovery

Solana has rebounded sharply from its April 7 local low around $95, gaining an impressive 54% in just a few weeks. Bulls have regained momentum as Solana trades near critical resistance levels, with analysts calling for a potential push above $160 in the short term. However, despite this strong recovery, risks of a downside reversal remain high.

Since January, Solana has been one of the hardest-hit major cryptocurrencies. It lost over 65% of its value during the most recent downtrend, highlighting the intense selling pressure and increased speculation across the broader market. While the recent rally is encouraging, many are questioning whether it marks the start of a new bullish phase or just a temporary rebound within a larger bearish trend.

Inmortal’s insights emphasize that May will be a decisive month for Solana. According to him, “you can’t imagine how vital May is.” Over the next 30 days, the market is expected to reveal whether Solana’s recent strength represents a simple bear-market bounce or the beginning of a true bull-market dip that could lead to further gains.

The coming weeks will be critical, and Solana’s price action will likely set the tone for the entire altcoin market this summer.

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Price Action Details: Key Levels To Watch

Solana (SOL) is trading at $146 after losing around 6% of its value since Friday. Despite the strong rally earlier this month, bulls are now facing increasing pressure to defend current levels. SOL must reclaim the $180 level, which aligns closely with the 200-day moving average (MA), to resume the bullish trend and regain market confidence.

The $180 mark is critical because a decisive move above it would signal strength and open the door for a push toward higher resistance zones. Without this breakout, however, the current rally risks fading into another lower high, further weakening Solana’s structure.

On the downside, losing the $140 level would be a major red flag for bulls. A sustained breakdown below this support could trigger a deeper correction, with price potentially dropping below the psychological $100 mark. Such a move would likely accelerate bearish sentiment and invite further selling pressure, especially as macroeconomic risks and global uncertainty continue to weigh on the crypto market.

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The next few days will be key for SOL. Bulls must act quickly to defend, support, and attempt a recovery, or risk opening the door to another major leg down.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView