Bitcoin Nears $65K as U.S. Moves to Ban CBDC | Daily Crypto Roundup

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Welcome back to the Daily Crypto Roundup. Today we have a huge mix of stories because while Bitcoin is once again pushing towards that crucial $65,000 level, some of the biggest developments are happening away from the price chart. The United States is on the verge of banning a government-issued digital dollar for four years. Hyundai has become the first major South Korean company to move real money between international subsidiaries using stable coins. Circle has secured final approval to establish a federally supervised national trust bank. Standard Chartered is still backing Bitcoin to reach $100,000 by the end of this year, despite recent fears around strategy selling Bitcoin. And Donald Trump's latest comments about possible talks with Iran have helped improve sentiment across risk assets. At the time of recording, Bitcoin is trading around $63,900.
Ethereum is close to $1,790.
XRP is at $1.10.
BNB is around $576. And Solana is just under $78.
Before we get into the news, a quick reminder that if you are thinking about signing up to Kraken, make sure you use our link in the episode description. Anyone who signs up to Kraken through our link will receive 20 XRP from us as a thank you for supporting the show.
Simply sign up using the link below, and once your account is set up, get in touch with us so we can arrange your 20 XRP. It costs you nothing extra to use our link, but it helps support Crypto News Today and allows us to keep doing more giveaways and rewards for the community. Now let us start with Bitcoin. Bitcoin rallied to an intraday high of around $64,400 on Friday, while the total crypto market cap rose to roughly $2.21 trillion.
The move came after President Donald Trump said Iran had reached out to Washington to discuss a possible agreement, helping to ease some of the geopolitical pressure hanging over markets. That matters because Bitcoin has recently been reacting sharply to developments involving the United States and Iran. Fears of escalation have pushed money toward safety, while signs of de-escalation have encouraged traders back into Bitcoin and other risk assets. The big level now is between $64,565,000.
According to the technical setup highlighted by Crypto.News, Bitcoin has formed an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern on the four-hour chart. A confirmed breakout above the neckline could point towards around $71,800.
But another rejection at $65,000 could send Bitcoin back towards $62,000. Derivatives activity is also increasing. Bitcoin futures' open interest rose about 4% to $48.16 billion, while options volume jumped more than 27% to $2.81 billion.
That does not guarantee a breakout, and more leverage can make the market more volatile in both directions. But traders are clearly positioning for a bigger move. And Standard Chartered certainly has not given up on the bull case. The bank has reaffirmed its $100,000 Bitcoin price target for the end of 2026, and says the recent sell-off was driven more by fear surrounding strategy than by any real deterioration in Bitcoin's fundamentals. This matters because strategy has become a huge part of the Bitcoin story.
When Michael Saylor's company was constantly raising money to buy more Bitcoin, the market became used to seeing it as a permanent source of demand. But earlier this year, a strategy Bitcoin sale triggered a major reaction. Bitcoin fell from around $80,000 towards $60,000, as investors began asking what happens if one of Bitcoin's biggest corporate buyers becomes a seller. Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets research, Jeff Kendrick, believes the market has misunderstood strategy's changing treasury model.
The company is increasingly using its Bitcoin holdings to support credit-focused products, including its perpetual preferred stock, rather than simply following the old model of raising money and buying more Bitcoin forever.
The bank's argument is simple. Uncertainty around strategy created fear. But that fear did not change Bitcoin itself.
Standard Chartered is still standing by $100,000 by year end. That is obviously not guaranteed. But the fact that a major global bank is maintaining that target after this level of volatility shows how much institutional thinking around Bitcoin has changed. Now to one of the biggest stable coin companies in the world. Circle, the issuer of USDC, has received final approval from the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank called Circle National Trust. This does not mean Circle is becoming a normal commercial bank. National trust banks can provide custody and fiduciary services, but they do not take consumer deposits or make loans like traditional banks. What it does mean is that Circle will have a federally supervised entity capable of providing digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates, with the possibility of later serving a limited number of institutional clients. The charter could also eventually allow Circle to manage the reserves backing USDC under direct OCC supervision, although Circle says that remains a future capability.