Crypto weekly is authored by maaria and david blumenfeld
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($3.45T): -6% / +2%
- BTC ($94,632): -4% / +1%
- ETH ($3,276): -10% / -2%
- SOL ($189): -11% / 0%
- UNI ($13.76): -10% / +4%
- OP ($1.79): -14% / +2%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($137B): 0% / -1%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($45.7B): 0% / +4%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 54% / 11%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- The CFPB announced a new rule that would allow it to regulate digital asset wallets as financial institutions offering electronic funds transfers, including self-custodied wallets. This interpretation would allow the CFPB to hold wallet providers like MetaMask and Phantom responsible for fraudulent and “unauthorized” transactions. The proposed rule is open to two months of public comments. Link. Tweet. Proposal.
Note: You may submit comments by email through March 31, 2025.
Email: 2025-Emerging-Payments-Interpretive-Rule@cfpb.gov
Subject: Docket No. CFPB-2025-0003
- A New York district court judge granted a rare interlocutory appeal to Coinbase in its ongoing case with the SEC. Coinbase claimed substantial grounds for differences of opinions on how the Howey Test applies to crypto. The lawsuit will be paused while the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reviews the appeal. The SEC sued Coinbase in 2023 for allegedly operating as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency. Link.
- Crypto assets faced a sell-off and erased this year’s gains as the dollar strengthened and the US government received approval to sell $6.5 billion in bitcoin it seized in 2020 from a hacker tied to the Silk Road. Link. Link.
- Cynthia Lummis (R-Wy) and Bryan Steil (R-Wi) will chair the Digital Assets Subcommittees in the US Senate and House, respectively. Both received an “A” grade from Crypto Advocacy group Stand With Crypto and Lummis has been leading the effort to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Link. Link.
- State legislatures in North Dakota and New Hampshire are considering proposals to invest state funds in digital assets. Link.
- Analysts expect the SEC will delay responding to Solana ETF applications, which currently have a January 25th approval deadline. Link.
- The crypto industry lost $3 billion in 2024 hacks and scams, a 15% increase from $2.6 billion in 2023. Link.
- CFTC chair Rostin Behnam and enforcement director Ian McGinley announced they were stepping down on January 20th. Both were responsible for leading the agency’s enforcement actions against the crypto industry, including against Binance and its CEO CZ, Falcon Labs, and KuCoin. Link. Link.
- 0.4% of the traders on Solana’s Pump.fun memecoin platform traders have made more than $10,000. Link.
- Terra Labs founder Do-Kwon will face trial in the US in January 2026 on nine fraud charges related to the $40 billion UST/Luna collapse. Kwon was sent to the US in December after his 2023 arrest in Montenegro and an 18-month extradition dispute between South Korea and the US. Link.
- A research report from Fidelity predicts nation-states, central banks, and sovereign wealth funds may begin to accumulate Bitcoin positions in 2025. Link.
- Solana-based decentralized exchange Mango Markets is winding down operations. The DEX settled an SEC lawsuit last year alleging the MNGO token is an unregistered security and is required to destroy all MNGO tokens held by the DAO. Link.