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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Republicans declared it 'crypto' week in the House. It's not going as planned
WASHINGTON (AP) — A trio of cryptocurrency bills that had been expected to pass the House this week stalled on Tuesday after a bloc of Republicans unexpectedly joined with Democrats to prevent the legislation from coming up for debate and votes. The procedural snafu brought the House's so-called 'crypto week' to a standstill — and dealt a blow to President Donald Trump, who had strongly urged Republicans to pass the bills as part of his push to make the U.S. the ' crypto capital of the world.' A group of 13 Republicans joined all Democrats in opposition to a procedural vote needed to bring the crypto bills to the floor. Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters it was just part of 'legislative process' and that negotiations were underway between the House, Senate and White House. He suggested they could try again Tuesday evening. 'We expected there might be some 'no' votes, but we thought it was important to put it on the floor to advance it because time's of the essence on this,' Johnson said. 'So stay tuned. We'll have lots of discussions over the next few hours.' But just hours later, House leadership canceled votes for the remainder of the day, potentially throwing the crypto bills into limbo. The stalled legislation includes a Senate-passed bill to regulate a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, along with far more sweeping measures aiming to address cryptocurrency market structure. Another bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. The disagreement blocking the bills from advancing centers on how the three bills would be passed. Johnson explained that 'some of these guys insist that it needs to be all in one package.' Packaging the bills would require them to be sent back to the Senate, since the chamber has only taken up one of the three bills so far. Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania, a Republican co-sponsor of one of the cryptocurrency bills, told reporters that some of the Republicans wanted to package the bills together due to them 'not having a lot of faith in the Senate moving our legislation.' Trump and Republican leaders have called on the House to pass the bills individually, so that the stablecoin legislation can get to Trump's desk for his signature before an August recess. The stablecoin legislation took the Senate nearly a month and half to pass, and the more sweeping market structure legislation is expected to take even longer. In a post Tuesday morning on social media, Trump called on Republicans to advance the crypto bills that afternoon, saying that 'all Republicans should vote 'yes.'' Asked Tuesday evening about the stalled legislation, Trump told reporters that Republicans who voted against it wanted it to be 'stronger.' Trump has pushed hard for the passage of the stablecoin legislation, with him and his family standing to profit from a boost to stablecoins. They hold a significant stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that recently launched its own stablecoin, USD1. The stablecoin legislation passed by the Senate includes a provision that bars members of Congress and their families from profiting off stablecoins. But notably, that prohibition does not apply to the president or his family, even as Trump builds what some are calling a crypto empire from the White House. The cryptocurrency industry hopes the bills as a whole will aid in their push for legitimacy and increasing consumer trust. And road bumps like those seen Tuesday may not have been expected after spending heavily in the 2024 election to elect a large number of crypto-friendly lawmakers. Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer of Coinbase, the nation's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said in a statement after the failed procedural vote that 'every few steps forward there's inevitably a step back.' 'It's in these moments we'll see who is trying to get pro-crypto legislation done and who is not,' Shirzad said on social media. Passage of the bills could have implications on the 2026 midterm races. Fairshake, a crypto super political action committee, said that it and its affiliated organizations already have more than $140 million in the bank ready to spend on midterm races. 'The voters last year were clear — Congress needs to stop playing politics with crypto and finally pass responsible regulation,' said Josh Vlasto, spokesperson for Fairshake. 'We are building an aggressive, targeted strategy for next year to ensure that pro-crypto voices are heard in key races across the country.' ___ Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report. Joey Cappelletti, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Republicans declared it 'crypto' week in the House. It's not going as planned
WASHINGTON (AP) — A trio of cryptocurrency bills that had been expected to pass the House this week stalled on Tuesday after a bloc of Republicans unexpectedly joined with Democrats to prevent the legislation from coming up for debate and votes. The procedural snafu brought the House's so-called 'crypto week' to a standstill — and dealt a blow to President Donald Trump, who had strongly urged Republicans to pass the bills as part of his push to make the U.S. the ' crypto capital of the world.' A group of 13 Republicans joined all Democrats in opposition to a procedural vote needed to bring the crypto bills to the floor. Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters it was just part of 'legislative process' and that negotiations were underway between the House, Senate and White House. He suggested they could try again Tuesday evening. 'We expected there might be some 'no' votes, but we thought it was important to put it on the floor to advance it because time's of the essence on this,' Johnson said. 'So stay tuned. We'll have lots of discussions over the next few hours.' But just hours later, House leadership canceled votes for the remainder of the day, potentially throwing the crypto bills into limbo. The stalled legislation includes a Senate-passed bill to regulate a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, along with far more sweeping measures aiming to address cryptocurrency market structure. Another bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. The disagreement blocking the bills from advancing centers on how the three bills would be passed. Johnson explained that 'some of these guys insist that it needs to be all in one package.' Packaging the bills would require them to be sent back to the Senate, since the chamber has only taken up one of the three bills so far. Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania, a Republican co-sponsor of one of the cryptocurrency bills, told reporters that some of the Republicans wanted to package the bills together due to them 'not having a lot of faith in the Senate moving our legislation.' Trump and Republican leaders have called on the House to pass the bills individually, so that the stablecoin legislation can get to Trump's desk for his signature before an August recess. The stablecoin legislation took the Senate nearly a month and half to pass, and the more sweeping market structure legislation is expected to take even longer. In a post Tuesday morning on social media, Trump called on Republicans to advance the crypto bills that afternoon, saying that 'all Republicans should vote 'yes.'' Asked Tuesday evening about the stalled legislation, Trump told reporters that Republicans who voted against it wanted it to be 'stronger.' Trump has pushed hard for the passage of the stablecoin legislation, with him and his family standing to profit from a boost to stablecoins. They hold a significant stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that recently launched its own stablecoin, USD1. The stablecoin legislation passed by the Senate includes a provision that bars members of Congress and their families from profiting off stablecoins. But notably, that prohibition does not apply to the president or his family, even as Trump builds what some are calling a crypto empire from the White House. The cryptocurrency industry hopes the bills as a whole will aid in their push for legitimacy and increasing consumer trust. And road bumps like those seen Tuesday may not have been expected after spending heavily in the 2024 election to elect a large number of crypto-friendly lawmakers. Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer of Coinbase, the nation's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said in a statement after the failed procedural vote that 'every few steps forward there's inevitably a step back.' 'It's in these moments we'll see who is trying to get pro-crypto legislation done and who is not,' Shirzad said on social media. Passage of the bills could have implications on the 2026 midterm races. Fairshake, a crypto super political action committee, said that it and its affiliated organizations already have more than $140 million in the bank ready to spend on midterm races. 'The voters last year were clear — Congress needs to stop playing politics with crypto and finally pass responsible regulation,' said Josh Vlasto, spokesperson for Fairshake. 'We are building an aggressive, targeted strategy for next year to ensure that pro-crypto voices are heard in key races across the country.' ___ Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Traders Eye $130K Bitcoin as Majors Price-Action Shows Market Structure Shift
Bitcoin's rally to $120,000 this week has sparked a broader breakout across major crypto assets, with ether (ETH), Solana's SOL, XRP, and dogecoin (DOGE) all posting high single-digit percentage gains. However, this time, price action isn't just about momentum, as traders claim that market structure is evolving under the weight of institutional influence. 'This isn't a frenzied boom with no foundation,' said Seamus Rocca, CEO of Xapo Bank. 'It's a measured ascent, backed up by large institutional players with the long-term in mind.' Rocca pointed to tight monetary policy and geopolitical volatility as reinforcing Bitcoin's emerging role as a macro hedge, adding that 'the momentum we've seen over the last 48 hours is clear. Bitcoin isn't just growing in value, but also as a genuine asset class that is rivalling traditional finance.' Ethereum, up over 17% on the week and briefly crossed $3,000, remains a primary beneficiary. "In Q2, corporate treasury purchases of BTC outpaced inflows into spot ETFs," said the analytics team at Bitcoin yield protocol TeraHash in a note to CoinDesk. "That points to strategic positioning. At the same time, custodians like Anchorage and Fidelity are scaling institutional pipelines, while OTC desks are tightening spreads." Solana, now trading around $163, gained over 11% on the week amid renewed demand across retail and memecoin ecosystems. The chain continues to act as a high-beta proxy for risk-on sentiment. XRP, meanwhile, jumped 25%, benefiting from both a technical breakout and rising speculation around regulatory resolution. 'Price action may grab the spotlight,' TeraHash added, 'but the real breakthrough this summer is structural.' The altcoin move is broad-based. Dogecoin has rallied 23% over the past week, driven by increased retail participation through platforms like Robinhood and Binance. XRP volumes have spiked on Korean exchanges, while Cardano, TRX, and AVAX are all trading firmly in the green. Meanwhile, Bitpanda Deputy CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad said that 'strong bitcoin rallies are often followed by significant movements in altcoins with a slight delay — and a potential comeback of meme coins can't be ruled out either.' But not everyone sees a straight line up. 'Despite briefly touching this key milestone, BTC remains below a major resistance zone,' said Ruslan Lienkha, Chief of Markets at YouHodler, said in an email. 'A decisive breakout and sustained move above this level could trigger a sharp upward rally, potentially targeting the $130,000 range,' Lienkha added. Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State of Crypto: Previewing Congress' 'Crypto Week'
U.S. lawmakers may actually get a crypto bill to the president's desk. The House is set to vote on market structure and stablecoin legislation next week, bringing the U.S. a vital step closer to drafting new rules for the industry. You're reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a market structure bill, a stablecoin bill and a bill banning a U.S. central bank digital currency next week. Perhaps it's premature to suggest the industry will notch a major win — but all signs indicate that U.S. President Donald Trump will sign a stablecoin bill into law before the August recess, as his team has sought since February. The crypto industry has long sought "regulatory clarity" on its own terms — previous rule proposals it disagreed with were fervently opposed and the industry's political action committees poured tens of millions of dollars into the 2024 elections to try and create a Congress that would be friendlier to crypto policies. Next week, those efforts may pay off, as the House of Representatives gets set to vote on a stablecoin bill that may become law within weeks and a market structure bill that could get to the White House before Christmas. The House of Representatives dubbed next week — July 14 to July 18 — "Crypto Week." The main event will be the House vote on, and expected passage of, the "Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025" (Clarity), the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act and the "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025" (GENIUS). The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Monday at 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss each of the bills. That means there may be a floor vote, where the entire House votes, by Tuesday. Though there was some discussion of packaging the Clarity and GENIUS Acts into one larger bill, it appears there will instead be separate votes for each of the bills. If the GENIUS Act does receive its own vote, U.S. President Donald Trump may sign it into law as soon as next Friday or the following Monday, I'm told, though at this point none of this is confirmed (and obviously depends on the actual House vote). Notably, the House Financial Services Committee confirmed on Thursday that the House would vote on the GENIUS Bill sent to it by the Senate, and not its own "Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy" (STABLE Act), as previously reported by CoinDesk's Jesse Hamilton. It is likely that all three bills will pass, and with bipartisan majorities. To recap: The Clarity Act will create a framework for how different cryptocurrencies are treated by federal regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. There's no Senate counterpart to this bill yet, though the Senate Banking Committee has already held multiple hearings on market structure issues, and the Senate Agriculture Committee has scheduled a hearing for this upcoming Tuesday on the same topic. Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott previously said he expects the Senate to wrap up its work on market structure by Sept. 30. The House's last effort to pass market structure legislation, last year's Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, saw massive bipartisan support with 279 lawmakers (208 Republicans and 71 Democrats) voting in favor of the bill. While there is no public whip count yet for this year's version, the Clarity Act passed out of the House Agriculture Committee with massive bipartisan support (47-6) and the House Financial Services Committee with some bipartisan support (32-19). Either number suggests both Democrats and Republicans will vote for the bill on the House floor. The GENIUS Act will set up a framework for overseeing stablecoins. The Senate already passed the GENIUS Act, meaning once the House passes it, it goes to Trump's desk for his signature into law. This could mark the stablecoin bill as the first major crypto-focused bill to become law. The GENIUS Act could then also be one of the few bills that isn't a "must-pass" to go through the legislative process, meaning it's not a budget bill and it's not the annual National Defense Authorization Act. While the House is voting on the Senate version and not its own STABLE Act, updated House text in the Clarity Act would add some additional rules around stablecoins. The Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act would, as the name suggests, ban the U.S. from developing or launching a central bank digital currency. The House passed a version of this bill in 2024 as well. In theory, the passage of these bills is positive for the industry. Though it may take time for regulators to write and implement rules after these bills become law, within the next few years crypto companies will have firm guidelines to operate within. Less clear is what these bills may actually do for usage or adoption. A recent publication by Moody's Ratings suggested that while passage of the GENIUS Act will "have significant implications for banks" but that stablecoins writ large "need to offer a compelling advantage over existing consumer and commercial payment systems" to become a more broadly accepted transaction tool. "While there appears to be solid bipartisan political support for U.S. stablecoins, assuming issuers are prohibited from paying any kind of financial incentive, we view the likelihood of a significant shift in domestic payments toward stablecoins as relatively modest," the report said. Democrats are raising concern about the potential for these bills' passage to enable or further corruption, with Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters and Rep. Stephen Lynch pointing to Trump's crypto ventures and their potential for enriching the president. "These bills serve as a brazen stamp of approval for the blatant abuse of power we're witnessing in real time," Waters said in a statement. The House Ways and Means Committee is also holding a hearing on crypto taxation next Wednesday, though it hasn't shared many details yet. To recap the schedule for next week, or if you want to just see it at a glance: Monday, July 14, 4:00 p.m. ET: The House Rules Committee will meet and discuss the Clarity Act, GENIUS Act and Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act. Tuesday, July 15, 3:00 p.m. ET: The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on market structure legislation. Tuesday, July 15, time TBA: The House may meet and begin voting on all three bills discussed above. Wednesday, July 16, 9:00 a.m. ET: The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on crypto taxation. Thursday, July 17: Nothing is scheduled (at least right now). Friday, July 18: If the House votes to advance GENIUS on Tuesday, there may be a bill signing. : The House of Representatives will vote on the GENIUS Act next week, Jesse Hamilton reported, rather than its own STABLE Act. : Circle had previously revealed revenue sharing agreements with Coinbase and Binance, but also has one with ByBit, CoinDesk's Ian Allison reports. : The European Securities and Markets Authority has reviewed how Malta applied the Markets in Crypto Assets multinational framework to an unnamed crypto asset service provider, following CoinDesk's Ian Allison and Camomile Shumba's reporting on Malta's approach. : A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department's now-ended sanctions against Tornado Cash can't come up in Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm's criminal trial, which is set to begin on Monday and may last up to four weeks. : But elsewhere, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit against Tornado Cash as moot, given the end of the sanctions and a separate federal judge ruling barring the Treasury Department from reinstating sanctions against Tornado Cash's smart contracts. : The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked applicants for Solana exchange-traded funds to amend their filings by the end of July to resolve outstanding issues. : Bitcoin hit a new all-time high this week. CoinDesk hosted a live blog to track immediate analysis on the news. : Jack Dorsey announced he was working on a new peer-to-peer messaging tool that communicates using Bluetooth and claims to enable encrypted communications. A security researcher shared some concerns about how this could work in practice. : The U.S. Senate confirmed Jonathan Gould as the new Comptroller of the Currency. Gould was previously at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and later the chief legal officer at blockchain firm Bitfury. Tuesday 14:30 UTC (10:30 a.m. ET) A federal judge held a final in-person pretrial conference for Roman Storm. Wednesday 14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on market structure issues. () Last month, Dubai-based Aqua 1 Foundation said it would invest $100 million in the Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial. Aqua 1, however, does not appear to actually exist, reports Jacob Silverman in The Nation. () McDonald's uses an AI bot to filter applicants, but this bot may have exposed applicants' personal information to any hacker due to "absurdly basic security flaws," Wired's Andy Greenberg reports. () The Times has a long read into how U.S. President Donald Trump went from being a crypto skeptic to a pro-crypto president. () Grok, the large language model artificial intelligence built by xAI — the AI firm associated with X, the company formerly known as Twitter — posted some very antisemitic statements, called itself MechaHitler and said the actual Adolf Hitler would be the best 20th century figure to address "anti-white hate." This came just days after X owner Elon Musk said he was making some changes to the bot. () Polymarket got weird after bettors could not come to an agreement over whether Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskyy wore a suit or not. He wore some form of formal clothing at a recent appearance, which the Polymarket pool initially resolved as "yes." UMA token holders disputed that resolution, and it was later changed to resolve the bet as "no." Derek Guy, an expert on formal clothing and historical clothing styles, told 404 Media that in his view, Zelenskyy's garments did qualify as a suit. If you've got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you'd like to share, feel free to email me at nik@ or find me on Bluesky @ You can also join the group conversation on Telegram. See ya'll next week! Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
Coin Geek
10-07-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
US Senate talks crypto market structure as Tornado Cash trial looms
The U.S. Senate keeps putting the digital asset market structure cart before the horse, the Trump family's crypto ties get deeper, and Roman Storm's trial draws ever nearer. On July 9, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee held a hearing titled 'From Wall Street to Web3: Building Tomorrow's Digital Asset Markets,' which focused squarely on digital asset market structure regulation. There's just one problem: the Senate has yet to introduce a market structure bill, and the expected discussion draft failed to appear ahead of Wednesday's hearing. This left only the set of 'principles' the committee's GOP leadership issued late last month to guide the proceedings. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the committee's ranking member, used her opening statement to declare her own principles. These include ensuring investor protections, enforcing anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, and preventing President Donald Trump and his family members from profiting off their growing list of digital asset ventures. But the Dems don't run this committee, so Warren's principles aren't worth much. Initially, the invited guests were Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Blockchain Association CEO/former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Summer Mersinger, Paradigm partner Dan Robinson, and Jonathan Levin from blockchain analysts Chainalysis. However, the GOP has been accused of stacking the witness decks with undeniably pro-crypto figures (as above), so at the 11th hour, some crypto critics were hastily summoned. These seats were filled by former CFTC chair Timothy Massad and Richard Painter, a current University of Minnesota Law School professor and a former White House ethics lawyer. At times, it seemed the critics had been invited solely so pro-crypto committee members could abuse them. For example, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) provoked Painter's ire by repeatedly claiming the latter thought all politicians were crooks. When Kennedy directly asked Painter whether he thought pro-crypto Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) was a crook and whether Painter should apologize, Painter retorted that he didn't want Kennedy to 'have to apologize for passing legislation that destroys our economy.' Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) took some real shots at Massad, quibbling over his definition of 'native token' by saying 'this is why we need to have this market structure legislation because the idea that we would turn over this industry to some bureaucrat working at some agency is insane … when you have people who are just completely … lacking the fundamental technical base.' The Senate may not have a bill to discuss, but the House of Representatives is advancing its CLARITY Act, which is scheduled for a floor vote next week. That left Senate committee members and witnesses largely discussing what they liked or didn't like about CLARITY, speaking mainly in general terms, with the pro/con sides mostly living up to their reputations. However, there were a few unexpected moments, particularly when Kennedy commented on the pro-crypto witnesses all declaring digital assets to be 'different' and thus requiring bespoke rules to govern them. While Kennedy said he largely agreed with this, the request reminded him of how Congress had let the current tech giants 'draft their own rules and, uh, frankly … what we got as a result looks like somebody knocked over a urine sample.' Much of the discussion involved CLARITY assigning primary responsibility for digital asset oversight to the CFTC, leaving only a minor role for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) noted that CLARITY would exempt certain digital assets from SEC oversight if they were deemed to be 'collectible or as art or as something that has inherent value or utility.' Smith called this 'a loophole you could drive a truck through and I don't think that is an accident.' Massad agreed, saying CLARITY contained an 'innovation exemption' for so-called 'mature' blockchain systems. The definition is vague and reliant on the principals behind these networks to self-report only their intention to achieve 'mature' status, effectively allowing them to embark upon ICO-style fundraising like it was 2017 all over again. Most of the Dems on the committee singled out Trump's crypto ties and the need for clear conflict-of-interest rules. But Sen. Bill Haggerty (R-TN), who helped steer the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act through the Senate last month, dismissed these comments, noting that many Dems made similar pronouncements before ultimately voting in favor of GENIUS. Coinbase spends/warns Congress not to screw this up Given the CFTC's featured role in the looming crypto regulatory landscape, the Senate Agriculture Committee has scheduled its own hearing for July 15. The hearing, titled 'Stakeholder Perspectives on Federal Oversight of Digital Commodities,' has yet to release its witness list or other details. In the meantime, crypto operators are ratcheting up their lobbying pressure on Congress. On July 7, the Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) digital asset exchange's grassroots/astroturf group, Stand with Crypto, delivered a letter' to the House of Representatives. The letter was 'signed by over 65 Crypto Founders representing 6,100+ jobs across 21 states,' all of them urging House members to support CLARITY. The letter struck an ominous tone, claiming that crypto is 'approaching a pivotal crossroads' but '[t]here are already signs of U.S. crypto leadership slipping.' A 'no' vote on CLARITY will push 'talent and businesses to more crypto-friendly jurisdictions abroad,' and 'the U.S. risks falling behind unless we adopt pro-crypto policies that fully embrace blockchain technology.' On July 8, Coinbase paid for a full-page ad in the Washington Post claiming that 'America voted pro-crypto' and thus it is 'time for Congress to act.' (Emphasis in the original.) Similar ads appeared in the Wall Street Journal along with video ads on X and Facebook, as well as physical ads at D.C. bus stops and on billboards. The Hill reported that Coinbase's ad campaign was a 'six-figure' spend and quoted Kara Calvert, Coinbase's VP of U.S. policy, warning politicians that 'crypto voters are watching' to see how they vote on bills during the House's 'crypto week.' Among the bills expected to come up for floor votes in the House next week are CLARITY, GENIUS, and the 2025 version of Rep. Tom Emmer's Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. Some House Dems have already signaled that they won't vote in favor of CLARITY unless GOP leaders agree to add guardrails to restrict the Trump family from profiting off their burgeoning crypto ventures. On July 8, Politico quoted Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) saying 'For me, and I suspect for some other Democrats, if we can satisfy this question of conflict of interest—meaning there's a prohibition on the president being an issuer — a lot of us can get to 'yes.'' Himes claimed that GOP leadership was 'working in good faith to try to get us to 'yes.'' It's worth noting that leaked chat group messages suggest Dems will engage in this kind of performative resistance before they inevitably 'get to yes,' because an actual 'no' vote might result in big-spending crypto groups targeting them for destruction ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Back to the top ↑ Trump family crypto ventures not letting up The reach of Trump-related crypto activity grew a little wider this week on news that Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) had filed an application with the SEC for its third crypto-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) that it hopes to launch 'later this year.' TMTG's first ETF focused on BTC, while the second was a mix of BTC (75%) and ETH (25%). This new 'blue chip ETF' application is a multi-token affair, comprising BTC (70%), ETH (15%), SOL (8%), CRO (5%), and XRP (2%). The exchange will act as this blue-chip ETF's 'exclusive digital asset custodian and prime execution agent, as well as staking and liquidity provider.' The announcement lit a fire under CRO, the native token of Cronos chain. CRO started Tuesday at $0.08, then shot up by one-fifth to just under $0.10, before retreating slightly to $0.096 as of mid-Wednesday. Earlier Wednesday, Thumzup Media Corporation informed the SEC that a certain Donald Trump Jr. now held 350,000 shares in the company worth ~$3.3 million as of Wednesday's closing price of $9.50. That's down 23% from Tuesday's close of $12.36, but still better than their position below $7 on July 1. Bloomberg reported that Don Jr. acquired the shares 'on the recommendation of his investment adviser and has no other involvement with the company.' However, the $6 million private placement of Thumzup shares was handled by Dominari Securities, whose parent company Don Jr. and his brother Eric serve as advisers. Thumzup is a struggling social media firm that posted revenue of $151 (not a typo) in the first quarter of this year, resulting in a net loss of $2.1 million. On January 7, Thumzup announced it had bought 9.8 BTC worth ~$1 million at the time as part of a previously announced plan to join the crypto treasury hordes. Thumzup announced this week that it now holds 19.1 BTC and will soon add ETH, XRP, SOL, DOGE, and LITE to its treasury. We're not done recapping all things Trump, as Justin Sun, founder of the TRON network, declared Wednesday that '[w]e are committed to buying $100M of' the president's $TRUMP memecoin. 'We' in this case is likely a reference to TRON, which revealed this week that it would launch $TRUMP (previously available only on Solana) at some point in the not-too-distant future. Sun has been among the biggest backers of the president's crypto ventures, having previously purchased over $20 million worth of $TRUMP. That followed Sun purchasing $75 million worth of WLFI, the governance token of the Trump-linked decentralized finance (DeFi) platform World Liberty Finance (WLF). (Sun's big-spending ways scored him an appointment as a WLF advisor.) That's still not the end, as the Bybit exchange announced Wednesday that it had officially listed USD1, the WLF stablecoin that made its debut this spring. Bybit joins Binance, Bitget, MEXC, and the Sun-affiliated HTX (formerly Huobi), as well as decentralized exchanges such as PancakeSwap and in making USD1 available to their users. Bybit is celebrating the launch by giving away $300,000 worth of USD1 to users who make trades with USD1, which is currently paired only with USDT (Tether) and MNT (Mantle), but it's still in the early days. Back to the top ↑ DWF-backed stablecoin depegs Speaking of Trump-linked stables, market-maker DWF Labs is coming under fire after Falcon Labs' dollar-denominated Falcon USD (USDF) stablecoin abruptly lost its 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar late July 7. The token briefly dipped below $0.98 before regaining some ground but had yet to regain its full 1:1 peg as of late Wednesday. The depeg appears to have been sparked by fresh concerns over USDF's liquidity and lingering concerns over the soundness of the reserve assets backing the ~$547 million in circulating USDF. Concerns over USDF aren't new, as ChainArgos recounted the project's lack of adequate data disclosure back in March. On July 8, DWF/Falcon Finance managing partner Andrei Grachev tweeted 'a short summary' of Falcon's activities in a bid to calm the waters. Grachev claimed USDF's 'reserves are audited,' but Falcon's transparency page suggests it's only the protocol's smart contracts that are audited. The company handling USDF's reserve reports stresses that 'we have not performed any procedures over the control and ownership of the above assets, nor any procedures over whether any security has been placed on these assets.' Grachev claimed the transparency page was being updated 'next week' to show 'a proper assets breakdown, lock BTC, stables, altcoins.' Given Grachev's previous claims re USDF's 'audits,' only time will tell whether the update meets user expectations. If you're wondering what this has to do with Trump, DWF recently struck a 'strategic liquidity partnership' with the Bitget exchange to promote USD1 adoption. DWF also purchased $25 million worth of WLFI (which might soon be tradable on the open market, pending the results of a governance vote). Back to the top ↑ Storm brewing over Tornado Cash founder's trial During his Senate committee testimony on Wednesday, Chainalysis CEO Levin was asked about the role that 'coin mixing' services like Tornado Cash play in facilitating illicit finance. Levin acknowledged mixers' role in obfuscating the trail of digital assets but claimed 'it's possible to continue to trace through certain types of mixers in certain instances.' Levin also claimed his company has 'seen less use of mixers in the context of terrorist financing actually than you would expect.' While it's true that obfuscation options aren't limited to mixers—cross-chain bridges and decentralized exchanges also play a role—terrorists and other criminals do make frequent use of mixers. Last month, the individuals behind the 2023 hack of Singapore's Bitrue exchange began laundering $22 million in stolen tokens through Tornado Cash. North Korea's infamous Lazarus Group of hackers has also patronized mixers like Tornado Cash, leading the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) to file charges of money laundering and sanctions violations against the mixer's co-founders in 2023. The trial of one of those co-founders, Roman Storm, is set to start on July 14. Last month, Storm tweeted that if he loses his case, 'DeFi dies with me.' Ahead of the trial, there has been the usual flurry of motions to determine what evidence will be permitted, what experts will give testimony, and the like. At a pre-trial hearing this week, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla granted the Storm team's motion to bar discussion of the sanctions imposed on Tornado Cash by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in August 2022. Failla claimed the trial was already too complicated for a jury without including the sanctions discussion, particularly since OFAC's new management lifted those sanctions in March. However, Failla warned that she might yet allow a 'unicorn document' that prosecutors might introduce regarding Storm's post-sanction activities. Failla also won't allow testimony referring to 'the Van Loon case,' a reference to the civil suit filed by several Tornado Cash users who claimed OFAC had no right to apply sanctions on software. Last November, a federal appeals court ruled that OFAC couldn't sanction Tornado Cash's smart contracts. The same court later ruled that smart contracts aren't property and thus they're beyond OFAC's ability to sanction. While Failla's rulings were a mixed bag for Storm, he likely took heart from the fact that the Treasury Department announced this week that it was dropping its appeal of the November sanctions ruling. Treasury claimed the issue was moot following OFAC's delisting of Tornado Cash. In another positive development, when the House was advancing the CLARITY Act, it included language excluding 'any 'non-controlling blockchain developer or provider of a blockchain service' from having to conform to money transmitting rules and regulations.' This language was previously part of a standalone bill called the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. So perhaps DeFi will survive just fine regardless of Storm's fate. Back to the top ↑ Not helping, guys… Earlier this month, Storm gave his first podcast interview since his indictment. Speaking to Crypto in America, Storm offered the standard DeFi defense that all he and his fellow developers did was write code and had no control over how their tools were used. That defense didn't save Alexey Pertsev, the Tornado Cash developer who was sentenced to 64 months in prison in May 2024 after a Dutch court convicted him of facilitating money laundering. Pertsev was released from pre-trial detention in February as he prepares to appeal his sentence. Around the same time, Pertsev received $1.25 million from the Ethereum Foundation to help pay his legal bills. Pertsev received a similar amount from venture capital firm Paradigm the previous month. The Ethereum Foundation also donated $500,000 to Storm's legal fund, offering to match a further $750,000 in community donations, for which Storm offered 'a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU.' Less helpful was the $24,000 sent to Storm's defense fund by the individual(s) who exploited the Cork Protocol in May. Last month, PeckShield reported that the hacker(s) were busy laundering $11 million worth of stolen ETH through Tornado Cash, but apparently felt the need to throw Storm a bone for building such a fine product. Storm later tweeted that he 'couldn't accept such funds' and returned the stolen loot to the Cork team. Back to the top ↑ Watch: Bringing the Metanet to life with Teranode title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen>
