SBF builds a $100 million prison startup, Tether challenges MiCA, and the US bans the digital dollar: weekly crypto-anarchy digest
This week, the crypto world once again demonstrates its non-linearity: the founder of the collapsed FTX empire is planning a $100 million startup capital from his prison cell, Tether is inventing an elegant legal bypass of European regulations, and U.S. lawmakers are finally burying the idea of a digital dollar until 2030. We break down the key events shaping the new landscape of the industry.
Sam Bankman-Fried's Ambitions: Genius or Madman?
Sam Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence for the largest financial fraud, is not wasting time. According to sources close to him, he is already discussing with fellow inmates the launch of a new crypto project requiring between $50 and $100 million. Simultaneously, 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 bankruptcy administrators sold for pennies, are now valued at $114 billion. However, even if SBF is a genius investor, his actions involving the illegal use of client funds negate any prospects of restoring trust. It is unlikely the market will forgive him for this.
Tether vs. MiCA: A Strategy of Indirect Presence
The European regulator ESMA has issued an ultimatum: by July 1, all crypto platforms must obtain a license under the MiCA regulation. Tether has demonstratively refused, considering the requirement to hold 60% of reserves in European banks a threat to its financial stability. Instead, the company has chosen a workaround—investing in partners that already have legal status, through whom fully legitimate stablecoins will be issued. Thus, Tether will maintain its presence in the EU without directly submitting to local authorities. However, the forced delisting of USDT will hit market makers, complicating arbitrage and widening spreads.
The U.S. Buries CBDC: Stablecoins as a New Alternative
U.S. lawmakers have made a decision that changes the global digital currency race. The affordable housing bill includes a provision banning the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar until the end of 2030. The reason is fear of total surveillance, programmable money, and the displacement of commercial banks. Private stablecoins, however, are exempt from the ban. The world's largest economy is officially exiting the CBDC race, recognizing stablecoins as a tolerable alternative.
The Meme Coin Bubble Bursts: Pump.fun Loses 70% of Revenue
Revenue on the Pump.fun platform has plummeted by over 70%. Nearly 96% of traders either lost money or earned no more than $500. Developers have announced the burning of tokens worth $370 million, but this is merely a symptom of a deeper process: investors are massively withdrawing liquidity from unregulated instruments, returning funds to TradFi. The practice of buying assets without fundamental value has stopped working—the market is returning to basic rules.
CME Group vs. Kalshi: Protecting Monopoly or Investors?
The operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, is suing the CFTC over its permission for platform Kalshi to launch perpetual futures. Formally, it is about investor protection, but in reality, it is a battle for monopoly. CME holds exclusive licenses for all major benchmarks, and the logic is simple: new instruments on these indices must be traded with us. A similar pattern is observed with ICE, which demands "equal rules" due to the rise of Hyperliquid.
Global Destruction of Communication Privacy
The UK is preparing a law banning social media for children under 16, while France and the EU are pushing for mass scanning of personal messages. Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, governments are forcing citizens to abandon privacy. As Pavel Durov rightly noted, embedding backdoors will not stop criminals—they will create their own closed applications. Ultimately, ordinary users will be affected, and weakening encryption will make bank and fund networks vulnerable to hackers.
Expert Opinion: The week has shown that the crypto industry is entering a new phase—from the Wild West to institutional confrontation. Tether and SBF demonstrate that even under strict regulation and criminal prosecution, loopholes can be found. However, the burst meme coin bubble and legal battles over monopolies signal that the market is maturing toward assets with real value, rather than speculative instruments.