Trump: The Strait Will Soon Be Fully Open

On June 18, according to Bitget market data, the three major U.S. stock indexes delivered mixed performances. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.31%, while the S&P 500 edged down 0.09% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.10%. Cryptocurrency-linked stocks posted broad gains, with individual changes as follows: Robinhood (HOOD) surged 12.36%; American Bitcoin (ABTC) rose 6.73%; Gemini (GEMI) gained 5.52%; Circle (CRCL) advanced 3.54%; Bitmine (BMNR) climbed 2.28%; Coinbase (COIN) added 2.06%; Sharplink (SBET) notched a 1.88% increase.

On June 18, Dragonfly General Partner Haseeb Qureshi posted a message revealing he’d long believed the divide between open-source and closed-source AI models would widen—fueled by data discrepancies, hardware gaps, and growing constraints around distillation. That assessment, however, was off. Smart Spectrum Z.ai has moved to another tier entirely: its model benchmark testing is performing exceptionally well, and it’s drawing strong early user feedback. Qureshi added that he’s currently running his Hermes Agent on GLM 5.2 via the AskVenice API, and he’ll share his full user experience thoughts later.

On June 18, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. would provide a $300 billion fund only if Iran "does things right," adding Iran’s reconstruction would take 15 to 20 years. Trump noted frozen Iranian funds belong to Iran and that Washington would return the money to Tehran at some point. He also claimed the U.S. dollar has grown significantly stronger during his tenure, warning failing to return the funds would be detrimental to the greenback, and that the U.S. reserves would run out in about four weeks. Source: FX168

June 18 — U.S. President Trump delivered a speech Wednesday following the conclusion of the G7 summit in France, defending the agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran. He expressed reluctance to see the Middle East conflict continue, fearing it could spark an economic disaster. Speaking at the lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains in France, Trump said: “The last thing I want to see is a financial disaster. If this conflict persists, such a scenario is entirely possible.” Trump also stated he does not want to end up like Herbert Hoover. In October 1929, Hoover was serving as U.S. president during the U.S. stock market crash. That crash wiped out billions of dollars in wealth and ultimately triggered the economic crisis later known as the Great Depression. (FXStreet)

June 18th: U.S. President Trump says he believes Israel will be satisfied with the Iran deal. (Forex Live)

June 18 (HTX Market Data) — With the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on the horizon, Bitcoin has rebounded above $66,000, now trading at $66,401 for a 0.97% 24-hour gain. Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S.-Iran agreement will be signed either tomorrow or the day after, possibly as early as Friday. A copy of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) has already been sent to Israel. Investors are closely monitoring two key developments: the Federal Reserve’s first policy decision under its new chair, Kevin Wash, and additional details of the U.S.-Iran peace accord, to evaluate future market trends.