Crypto news

This week, the crypto industry once again demonstrates its unique ability to combine absurdity with profound structural shifts. In focus are the ambitious plans of the convicted FTX founder, Tether's sophisticated strategy to circumvent European regulation, and tectonic changes in approaches to privacy and monopolies. Let's break down the key events.

Sam Bankman-Fried: A Genius Behind Bars Building a Startup

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence for the largest financial fraud, is not wasting time. According to information from his cellmates, SBF plans to launch a new crypto project after his release, for which he will need startup capital ranging from $50 to $100 million. Simultaneously, he has appealed to Donald Trump for a presidential pardon, and his parents have already hired lobbyists.

This situation elicits mixed reactions within the community. On one hand, FTX's venture investments, including stakes in SpaceX, Anthropic, and Solana, are collectively valued at $114 billion — and were sold off by bankruptcy administrators for a pittance. On the other hand, even if SBF is truly a genius investor, his crimes (illegal use of client funds) make restoring trust virtually impossible.

Tether vs. MiCA: A Genius Bypass or a Market Risk?

The European regulator ESMA has issued an ultimatum: by July 1, all crypto platforms must obtain a license under the MiCA regulation, or face a complete exit from the EU. Tether deliberately declined the license, deeming the requirement to hold 60% of reserves in European banks as risky. Instead, the company chose an elegant strategy: investing in partners who already have legal status, through whom fully legitimate stablecoins will be issued.

This move allows Tether to indirectly maintain its presence in the EU market without direct subordination to local officials. However, the forced delisting of USDT in Europe will hit market makers: they will have to separate liquidity pools, complicating inter-exchange arbitrage and widening spreads.

US Bans CBDC: A Victory for Stablecoins?

American lawmakers are moving toward a legislative ban on the digital dollar, at least until 2030. The provision prohibiting the Fed from issuing a CBDC is embedded in an affordable housing bill — this packaging allowed it to bypass opposition.

Key concerns include total transaction surveillance, control over spending (as seen with the digital yuan), and the displacement of commercial banks. Private stablecoins are explicitly exempt from the ban. This means the world's largest economy is officially exiting the global CBDC race, and stablecoins are becoming a recognized alternative.

The Meme Coin Bubble Bursts: 96% of Traders in the Red

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 coins. However, nearly 96% of traders either lost money or earned no more than $500. Developers announced the burning of tokens worth $370 million (36% of the supply) to prevent a price drop.

The situation reflects a large-scale capital redistribution process: investors are locking in losses, withdrawing liquidity from unregulated instruments, and returning funds to TradFi. The practice of buying assets with no fundamental value has stopped working — the market is becoming safer.

CME Group Defends Its Monopoly Through the Courts

The operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, is suing the regulator CFTC over its permission for the Kalshi platform to launch perpetual futures. The CME head appeals to investor protection, comparing high leverage to the 2008 mortgage crisis. However, the reality is that CME holds exclusive licenses for all major benchmarks on which futures contracts are built.

The logic is simple: we control the indices, so new instruments based on them must be traded with us. A similar pattern is observed with ICE, which demands "equal rules" due to the growth of the Hyperliquid platform.

Global Trend Toward Destroying Communication Privacy

The UK government is preparing a law that completely bans the use of social media for citizens under 16. In France and the EU, an initiative is being pushed for mass scanning of personal messages before they are sent. Under the pretext of fighting terrorism and protecting children, governments are forcing citizens to give up the basic right to privacy.

As Pavel Durov rightly noted, a forced abandonment of end-to-end encryption will not stop real criminals — they will write their own closed applications. Ordinary law-abiding citizens will be the ones affected, and weakening encryption will make corporate bank networks vulnerable to hacker attacks.

Expert Conclusion: This week demonstrates that the crypto industry is entering a phase of rigid structural reorganization. Regulators, monopolists, and even convicted fraudsters are adapting to new realities faster than many expect. For investors, this is a signal: fundamental assets with real value are becoming not just preferable, but the only viable choice in an environment of tightening rules.