Crypto news

This week, the crypto industry once again demonstrates its unique ability to blend absurdity, intrigue, and systemic shifts. From Sam Bankman-Fried's prison ambitions to Tether's European rebellion and the ban on the digital dollar in the U.S., a real drama is unfolding before us. Let's break down the key events that are reshaping the rules of the game.

Ambitions Behind Bars: SBF Plans a Comeback

Sam Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence for the largest fraud in cryptocurrency history, is not wasting time. In conversations with fellow inmates, he discusses launching a new crypto project after his release, which would require startup capital of $50–$100 million. Simultaneously, he has appealed to Donald Trump for a presidential pardon, and his parents have already hired lobbyists.

However, the community remains skeptical. Even if SBF is indeed a genius investor—recall that FTX's venture stakes in SpaceX, Anthropic, and Solana are now valued at $114 billion, though bankruptcy administrators sold them for pennies—his crimes (illegal use of client funds) destroy any trust. Restoring a reputation after that? Unlikely.

Tether vs. MiCA: Bypassing the System Without a License

The European regulator ESMA requires all crypto platforms to obtain a license under the MiCA regulation by July 1. Tether, however, took its own path: the company refused the license, deeming the requirement to hold 60% of reserves in European banks a threat to financial stability.

Instead, Tether is investing in already licensed partners who will issue fully legitimate stablecoins. This allows the company to maintain a presence in the European Union without direct subordination to local regulators. Meanwhile, the forced delisting of USDT in Europe will deal a serious blow to market makers: splitting liquidity pools, complicating inter-exchange arbitrage, and widening spreads will become inevitable.

Digital Dollar Banned Until 2030

The U.S. is moving toward a legislative ban on CBDCs at least until the end of the decade. A provision prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar is embedded in the affordable housing bill—such "packaging" allowed it to bypass the resistance that had stalled a separate anti-CBDC document.

American lawmakers fear total transaction surveillance, control over spending (as in the digital yuan), and the displacement of commercial banks. Private stablecoins, however, remain outside the ban. For the global CBDC race, this means the world's largest economy is officially exiting it, while stablecoins become an alternative the state is willing to tolerate.

Memecoin Collapse: The Bubble Bursts

Revenue on the Pump.fun platform has plummeted by over 70%. The platform allowed anyone to issue their own token for a few dollars, leading to an explosive increase in the number of new coins. But the outcome is grim: nearly 96% of traders either lost money or earned no more than $500. To stop the decline, developers announced the burning of tokens worth $370 million (36% of the supply).

The situation reflects a large-scale process of capital redistribution: investors are locking in losses, withdrawing liquidity from unregulated instruments, and returning to TradFi. The practice of buying assets without fundamental value has stopped working. Traders will have to return to basic rules and seek digital assets with real-world applications—this makes the market safer.

CME Group vs. Regulator: Protecting a Monopoly

The operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, will sue the CFTC over its permission for the Kalshi platform to launch perpetual futures. CME CEO Terrence Duffy formally appeals to investor protection, comparing high leverage to the 2008 mortgage crisis, and to the Dodd-Frank Act.

However, the real reason is protecting a monopoly. CME holds exclusive licenses for all major benchmarks on which futures contracts are built. The logic is simple: we control the benchmarks, so new instruments on these indices must trade with us. A similar pattern is seen with ICE, demanding "equal rules" due to the growth of the Hyperliquid platform.

Destruction of Communication Privacy: A Global Trend

The UK is preparing a law that completely bans the use of social media for citizens under 16, while in France and the EU, an initiative to mass-scan personal messages before sending is advancing. 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, a forced abandonment of end-to-end encryption will not stop real criminals—they can easily write their own closed applications. In the end, ordinary law-abiding citizens will be the ones affected. Weakening encryption makes corporate networks of banks and funds vulnerable to hacker attacks, and users will have to switch to decentralized services to maintain privacy.

My take: This week is a vivid example of how the crypto industry simultaneously destroys old systems and creates new ones. Tether and SBF show that even behind bars or under regulatory pressure, loopholes can be found. But the main lesson is that the market is clearing out the junk. Memecoins are fading, while real assets and decentralization become the only way forward. Investors should remember: trust is the most valuable asset, and it cannot be bought for $100 million.