Crypto weekly is authored by maaria and david blumenfeld
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($3.72T): -3% / +9%
- BTC ($104,607): 0% / +12%
- ETH ($3,302): -4% / -1%
- SOL ($249): -8% / +32%
- UNI ($11.81): -18% / -11%
- OP ($1.61): -15% / -8%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($139B): +1 / 0%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($52B): +9% / +19%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 56% / 11%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning the creation of a US central bank digital currency and ordered banking services for crypto companies be protected (in response to the “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” scandal). He also formed a working group tasked with proposing new digital asset regulations and the creation of a national cryptocurrency stockpile. Link. Link.
- The SEC reversed Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which required banks to account for cryptocurrencies it custodied as a liability on their balance sheet. The resolution had been vetoed by President Biden last year. Link.
- Acting SEC chairman Mark Uyeda announced the formation of a crypto task force to develop a regulatory framework for digital assets led by SEC commissioner Hester Pierce. Link. Announcement.
- President Donald Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015. Silk Road, founded in 2011, was an online black market that accepted bitcoin as its exclusive payment option. Link.
- The Ethereum community is debating leadership changes at the Ethereum Foundation, with some urging Aya Miyaguchi to step down in favor of Danny Ryan, who led the transition to proof of stake in 2022, citing slow progress on the roadmap and lack of support for commercial projects. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin acknowledged ongoing organizational changes but criticized the discourse for being disrespectful and creating a toxic environment for developers. Tweet. Tweet. Link.
- A federal court in Texas overruled US treasury sanctions against Tornado Cash, ruling that immutable smart contracts can not be considered legal property because they are not capable of being owned. Link.
- The department of government efficiency aka DOGE, the newly formed group tasked with reducing government costs and led by Elon Musk, is exploring using blockchain technology to manage federal spending. Link.
- Ledger cofounder David Balland was kidnapped and held for ransom along with his wife. Seven people were arrested in connection with the kidnapping. Link. Link.
- Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin wants to prioritize increasing blob size of the protocol, to lower fees and transaction throughput on the native L1. Buterin also suggested L2s should prioritize ETH as their primary asset, and support the ethereum ecosystem with a percentage of their fees. Link. Blog Post.
- Crypto venture firm Paradigm penned an oped arguing for Ethereum to ship protocol updates more than once a year. Link. Blog Post.
- Nasdaq filed a petition with the SEC to allow institutional investors to buy and redeem shares in Blackrock’s bitcoin ETF in bitcoin rather than cash. Link.
- The US House Oversight Committee started an inquiry into crypto companies who were de-banked (lost access to bank accounts) during the Biden administration, commonly referred to as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0”. Link.
- The European Central Bank is exploring a digital euro in response to the Trump administration’s executive order promoting the development and growth of dollar-backed stablecoins globally. Link.
- Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick said the banking giant would work with regulators to offer crypto products to its customers. Link.
- Coinbase filed a petition for a US appeals court to rule on whether secondary trading of crypto on its platform is subjected to securities laws. The filing is in its ongoing lawsuit with the SEC, which had a rare stay issued by a lower court two weeks ago so that Coinbase could appeal to a higher court for clarity. Link. Filing.
- USDC issuer Circle announced its acquisition of Hashnote, the largest issuer of tokenized money market funds, for an undisclosed amount. Hasnote’s USYC is a yield bearing stablecoin collateralized by US treasuries. Link. Link.
- Crypto.com is relaunching its institutional and advanced trading products in the US after shutting them down in 2023. Link.
- MicroStrategy bought $1.1 billion of bitcoin and now owns over 2% of all bitcoin that will ever exist. The publicly traded company currently holds around $48 billion of bitcoin. Link.
- Trump named CFTC commissioner Caroline Pham as acting chair of the agency. Pham has been a proponent of providing regulatory clarity for digital assets, and has floated the idea of using ‘regulatory sandboxes’ as a way to help companies test products and services with regulatory support. Link.
- AngelList and CoinList announced a partnership that would allow investors to fund with USDC at no additional cost, as well as receive in-kind token distributions from underlying investments. Link.