SBF seeks $100 million for a new startup in prison, Tether challenges MiCA, and the US bans CBDC until 2030
This week, the crypto industry is experiencing several tectonic shifts. From Sam Bankman-Fried's ambitious plans, who even behind bars does not lose hope for a comeback, to Tether's strategic maneuver bypassing European regulations and an unexpected legislative ban on the digital dollar in the US. We break down the key events.
SBF's Ambitions: From 25 Years in Prison to a $100 Million Startup
The founder of the bankrupt FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence for the largest financial fraud, is already making plans for life after release. According to confidential conversations with a cellmate, he will need between $50 and $100 million in startup capital to launch a new cryptocurrency project that, in his words, "will attract everyone." Concurrently, he has appealed to Donald Trump for a presidential pardon, and his parents have hired lobbyists. The topic of FTX's venture investments has resurfaced in the community — stakes in SpaceX, Anthropic, and Solana, which were worth $114 billion at their peak, were sold off by bankruptcy administrators for a tiny fraction of that amount.
My opinion: even if SBF is truly a genius investor, his reputation is destroyed forever. Using client funds without permission is not a mistake, but a crime. Regaining trust after something like this is nearly impossible, and any new project of his will be viewed with extreme suspicion.
Tether vs. MiCA: A Bypass Strategy Without a License
The European regulator ESMA has demanded that all crypto platforms obtain a license under the MiCA regulation by July 1, or face a complete exit from the EU. Tether deliberately refused this procedure, considering the requirement to hold 60% of reserves in European banks a threat to its financial stability. Instead, the company chose a "bypass" tactic: it invests in partners who already have legal status and will issue stablecoins fully compliant with MiCA. Thus, Tether will maintain its presence in Europe without directly submitting to local regulators.
The forced delisting of USDT in the EU will hit professional market participants: market makers will have to separate liquidity pools, cross-exchange arbitrage will become more complicated, and spreads will widen. This will create instability that will primarily affect retail traders.
US Bans CBDC Until 2030: A Victory for Stablecoins
America is moving towards a legislative ban on the digital dollar (CBDC) at least until the end of 2030. The provision blocking the issuance of a CBDC by the Federal Reserve is embedded in a bill on affordable housing — this packaging allowed it to bypass the resistance that had stalled a separate anti-CBDC document. Lawmakers fear total surveillance of transactions, control over spending (programmable money with the ability to freeze without trial, as in the digital yuan), and the displacement of commercial banks.
Private stablecoins are explicitly exempt from this ban. This means the world's largest economy is officially exiting the global CBDC race, and stablecoins are becoming a state-recognized alternative. The market perceives this as a signal for the capitalization of USDT and USDC to grow.
The Meme Coin Bubble Burst: 96% of Traders in the Red
Revenue for the Pump.fun platform has collapsed by over 70%. This platform allowed anyone to issue their own token for a few dollars, leading to an explosive increase in the number of new coins. However, nearly 96% of all traders either lost money or earned no more than $500. To prevent further decline, developers announced the burning of tokens worth approximately $370 million (36% of the supply).
This is a clear example of capital redistribution: investors are massively realizing losses, withdrawing liquidity from unregulated instruments that large players consider gambling, and returning funds to TradFi. The practice of buying assets with no fundamental value has stopped working. Traders are forced to return to basic rules and seek digital assets with real practical applications, making the market safer.
CME Group Defends Its Monopoly: Lawsuit Against the CFTC
The operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, will sue the regulator CFTC over its permission for the Kalshi platform to launch perpetual futures. CME head Terrence Duffy formally appeals to investor protection (comparing high leverage to the 2008 mortgage crisis) and the Dodd-Frank Act. However, the real reason is protecting its monopoly: CME holds exclusive licenses for all major benchmarks on which futures contracts are built.
Duffy's logic is simple: "We control the benchmarks, so new instruments on these indices must be traded with us." A similar pattern is observed with ICE, demanding "equal rules" due to the rise of the Hyperliquid platform. This is a classic struggle by traditional exchanges to maintain their dominant position.
Global Trend: The Destruction of Communication Privacy
The UK government is preparing a law that will completely ban the use of social networks (Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube) for citizens under 16. In France and the EU, an initiative is being promoted for the mass scanning of personal messages on smartphones before they are sent. Under the pretext of fighting terrorism or protecting children, governments are forcing citizens to give up the basic right to privacy.
As Pavel Durov noted, the forced abandonment of end-to-end encryption (embedding backdoors) will in no way stop real criminals — they can easily write their own private applications. Ultimately, ordinary law-abiding citizens will be the ones affected. Weakening encryption systems makes corporate networks of banks and funds vulnerable to hacker attacks, and users will have to switch to decentralized services to maintain privacy.