Institutional capital is flowing in, Bitcoin DeFi activity is picking up, and builders are giving BTC real utility. From yield vaults to tokenized assets, Bitcoin is finally starting to look like the financial layer people imagined.

Here’s what we’re seeing this June.

Bitcoin maintained its momentum through June ($104K) amid relentless institutional inflows. Crypto investment funds’ assets hit a record $167B AUM in May after $7.05B of net inflows, and that wave carried into June. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw an eight-day streak of inflows mid-month, with $2.41B pouring in over two weeks. These funds now hold ~6.1% of Bitcoin’s market cap($127B) – a testament to surging demand for regulated BTC exposure.

Corporates, too, are deepening their bets, with publicly traded companies now holding over 800,000 BTC (≈4% of supply) on their balance sheets. The signal is clear: Bitcoin is evolving from a passive asset into core financial infrastructure.

DeFi Growth on Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s DeFi ecosystem keeps climbing, transforming BTC from a static asset into productive on-chain capital. Total Value Locked (TVL) in Bitcoin DeFi is around $6.4–6.5 billion as of mid-June, a slight uptick from May’s levels and more than 10× higher than a year ago. While that TVL is still modest next to Ethereum’s, the growth underscores a maturing financial stack for Bitcoin. The gains are driven by Bitcoin-enabled liquid staking and lending protocols, which allow BTC holders to earn yield without relinquishing custody. For instance, sidechains like Core are enabling smart contracts for Bitcoin: the Core network alone hosts ~$500M in DeFi TVL with ~1 million weekly users tapping into Bitcoin-backed dApps. Innovations such as self-custodial bitcoin staking, decentralized bitcoin lending markets, and BTC-collateralized stablecoins are beginning to gain traction, expanding Bitcoin’s utility beyond “HODL”.

Equally notable is the rise of Bitcoin in Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization and cross-chain activity. Developers are leveraging Bitcoin’s liquidity and security to bring real-world assets on-chain – from tokenized treasury bills to real estate – often using BTC as collateral. The tokenized RWA market has exploded 260% in H1 2025 to $23B in value, and Bitcoin’s robust liquidity is poised to play a role in that trend (e.g. using BTC to back tokenized bonds or invoices).

On the cross-chain front, interoperability is improving: projects are building bridges that let Bitcoin flow into EVM-based DeFi and even non-EVM ecosystems. Enhanced swap and wrap protocols mean BTC can increasingly interact with Ethereum, Solana, and others, effectively acting as base collateral across the crypto universe. This interoperability is critical – it allows Bitcoin’s vast capital (~$2T market cap) to fuel DeFi innovation elsewhere while still ultimately settling back to Bitcoin’s ledger.

In short, Bitcoin’s on-chain economy – though early – is fast expanding.

Bitcoin scaling sidechains, permissionless lending/borrowing, and Bitcoin-backed stablecoins are all part of a new Bitcoin DeFi stack coming online. The result: more yield opportunities for BTC holders and more ways for developers to build financial products around Bitcoin’s pristine collateral. With each technical breakthrough, Bitcoin’s role shifts further: from a passive store-of-value to the foundation of a new decentralized financial system.

Institutional adoption

In late May through mid-June 2025, institutional engagement with Bitcoin accelerated markedly. Global capital flows into Bitcoin-linked investment products turned decisively positive, corporate balance sheets further embraced BTC, and new regulatory tailwinds improved clarity – all contributing to Bitcoin’s mainstream momentum.

Digital asset funds saw sustained inflows throughout this period. Over nine consecutive weeks through mid-June, crypto investment products accumulated record net new money (over $13 billion year-to-date). In May alone, U.S. spot Bitcoin funds attracted more than $5 billion in net inflows – a record pace underscoring strong institutional demand. These inflows persisted despite broader market jitters, signaling that many investors now view Bitcoin as a resilient store-of-value.

Policy developments provided a favorable backdrop. On June 17, the U.S. Senate passed a landmark stablecoin bill – establishing the first clear federal rules for tokenized dollars. Observers expect that such clarity will unlock broader institutional use of digital assets by providing legal certainty for crypto-based payments and reserves In parallel, major banks have begun exploring crypto services (from internal stablecoin pilots to crypto-backed loans) following encouraging signals from regulators. Overall, U.S. policymakers’ increasingly pro-crypto stance has bolstered confidence, as traditional financial institutions start integrating Bitcoin into their strategies rather than treating it as a fringe experiment.

Taken together, these signals point to a definitive narrative shift. Bitcoin is increasingly seen as a legitimate asset class – supported by institutional capital, regulatory clarity, and robust infrastructure – rather than a speculative outlier. Sentiment among investors and firms has evolved toward viewing Bitcoin as a mainstream store-of-value and strategic asset, marking an inflection point in its institutional adoption

Core Ventures Portfolio Updates

June was another busy month for the Core Ventures portfolio, with multiple projects hitting milestones and expanding Bitcoin’s on-chain utility:

Core Ventures announced its investment in BITS, which has launched a Bitcoin-backed yield marketplace connecting BTC holders with institutional demand. Through on-chain vaults, institutions pay to encumber BTC (for strategies like arbitrage or liquidity needs) and in return, BTC depositors earn real yield (in BTC) with zero token emissions. This novel approach unlocks compliant, transparent yields for Bitcoin – bringing TradFi-grade returns on-chain without sacrificing Bitcoin’s principles. (Simply put, BITS turns dormant BTC into income-generating assets by bridging lenders and institutional borrowers).

Sats Terminal – Incentivizing BTC DeFi: Sats Terminal, a Bitcoin DeFi aggregator backed by Core Ventures, rolled out a revamped Amber Points rewards program via its platform. Users who swap or provide liquidity through Sats Terminal’s interface now earn “Amber” loyalty points (tracking sats volume) that will play a key role in the ecosystem’s future incentives. This gamification aims to drive user engagement and unify the fragmented BTC DeFi landscape by rewarding active participants. In other news, Magic Eden and Sats Terminal have joined forces — every Runes swap on Magic Eden is now powered by SatStream algo, a bitcoin trade routing engine – unlocking the best prices and deepest liquidity on Bitcoin.

Core Ventures announced its support for Akka Finance, an AI intelligence layer designed for Bitcoin DeFi.

b14g Network – TVL Growth: The b14g network, a modular dual-staking protocol for Bitcoin, continues its rapid growth. In late May, b14g surpassed $210M TVL; as of June it’s grown further to around $214+ million locked.

Overall, the Core Ventures portfolio is driving Bitcoin’s evolution – turning inert BTC into an active, yield-bearing asset across various use cases. From yield vaults (BITS) to aggregators (Sats Terminal) to stablecoins and staking (BIMA, b14g), builders are pushing the envelope of what’s possible with Bitcoin’s liquidity. June’s updates show real adoption: more users, more BTC locked, and more bridges between Bitcoin and the broader financial world.

Brendon Sedo, Initial Contributor, Head of Core Ventures is set to speak at Permissionless 2025, focusing on Bitcoin's utility and where builders should focus next.

Final Word

Bitcoin’s role in the global financial system is deepen­ing with every passing month. What started as a “digital gold” is now blossoming into a productive base layer for finance – one that offers yield, supports lending, and underpins new economic activity on-chain. The signals this June point to an asset maturing from speculative commodity to strategic reserve and DeFi collateral. Institutional buy-in, from Wall Street ETFs to state treasuries, is shrinking the free float of BTC, while builders are unlocking ways to do more with each coin (think Bitcoin-backed loans, yield vaults, and tokenized assets). Less supply, more utility, deeper liquidity: the Bitcoin flywheel is clearly turning faster.

For founders and investors, the message is one of opportunity and urgency. As Bitcoin’s on-chain economy expands, there is immense open terrain for innovation – whether in BTC-denominated stablecoins, Bitcoin-native credit markets, or real-world asset bridges tied to Bitcoin. The coming months and years will see Bitcoin’s financial stack built out to rival Ethereum’s, but with Bitcoin’s unmatched liquidity and security at the core. Now is the time to build the products and services that will ride this wave.

If you’re a founder building on this Bitcoin flywheel – be it stablecoins, yield engines, or bridges between Bitcoin and traditional finance – we want to hear from you. And if you’re an investor bullish on the Bitcoin economy’s next chapter, let’s connect.

Reach out to us at investments@coredao.org.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice.