Crypto news

This week, the crypto world was shaken by a series of events that are changing the rules of the game: from the ambitious plans of the convicted FTX founder to Tether's strategic maneuver in Europe and the legislative ban on CBDCs in the US. Let's break down the key trends and their implications for the market.

Sam Bankman-Fried's Ambitions: A Startup Behind Bars

Sam Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence for fraud at FTX, is not wasting time. According to information obtained from his cellmate, SBF plans to launch a new cryptocurrency project after his release, requiring between $50 and $100 million in startup capital. He has already appealed to Donald Trump for a presidential pardon, and his parents have hired lobbyists.

Interestingly, the topic of FTX's venture investments has resurfaced in the community—stakes in SpaceX, Anthropic, and Solana, which peaked at $114 billion, were sold off by bankruptcy administrators at bargain prices. However, despite SBF's potential genius as an investor, his crimes—the illegal use of client funds—make a return of trust nearly impossible. Any future project of his will be met with extreme skepticism.

Tether vs. MiCA: A Bypass Maneuver in Europe

The European authority ESMA has demanded that all crypto platforms obtain a license under the MiCA regulation by July 1, or face a complete halt in servicing EU clients. Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, deliberately refused a license, deeming the requirement to hold 60% of reserves in European banks a threat to its financial stability.

Instead, the company chose a strategy of indirect presence: investing in partners that already have legal status in the EU. Through them, fully legitimate stablecoins will be issued, allowing Tether to maintain its market share without direct subordination to European regulators. However, the forced delisting of USDT will deal a serious blow to professional participants: market makers will have to split liquidity pools, inter-exchange arbitrage will become more complicated, and spreads will widen. This will create temporary instability, but in the long term, it could spur the creation of more transparent alternatives.

US Digital Dollar Ban: A Victory for Stablecoins

The US is moving toward a legislative ban on the issuance of a digital dollar (CBDC) at least until the end of 2030. The provision prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC is embedded in a bill on affordable housing—this packaging allowed it to overcome the resistance that had stalled a separate anti-CBDC document.

American lawmakers fear total surveillance of transactions, control over spending (similar to the digital yuan), and the displacement of commercial banks. Private stablecoins, meanwhile, are exempt from the ban. This means the world's largest economy is officially exiting the global CBDC race, and stablecoins are becoming a state-recognized alternative. For the market, this is a powerful signal: the future lies with decentralized digital currencies, not state-issued ones.

The Meme Coin Bubble Bursts: Pump.fun Loses 70% of Revenue

Revenue for the Pump.fun platform, which allowed anyone to issue their own token for a few dollars, has plummeted by more than 70%. Nearly 96% of traders either lost money or earned no more than $500. To prevent further decline, developers announced the burning of tokens worth $370 million (36% of the supply).

The situation reflects a massive process of capital redistribution: investors are locking in losses, withdrawing liquidity from unregulated instruments that major players consider gambling, and returning funds 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, but also less volatile.

CME Group Defends Its Monopoly: Lawsuit Against CFTC

The operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, will sue regulator 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 the Dodd-Frank Act.

However, in reality, CME holds exclusive licenses for all major benchmarks on which futures contracts are based. Duffy combined investor protection and monopoly defense in the lawsuit: "We control the benchmarks, so new instruments on these indices must be traded with us." A similar pattern is seen with ICE, demanding "equal rules" due to the rise of the Hyperliquid platform. This is a classic case of traditional exchanges trying to stifle innovation through regulatory barriers.

Destruction of Communication Privacy: A Global Trend

The UK government is preparing a law that completely bans the use of social media (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube) for citizens under 16. In France and the EU, an initiative is being pushed for mass scanning of personal messages on smartphones before they are sent.

A troubling global trend is emerging: 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 criminals—they can easily write their own closed applications. Ordinary law-abiding citizens will be the ones affected. Additionally, weakening encryption makes corporate networks of banks and funds vulnerable to hacker attacks. To preserve privacy, users will have to switch to decentralized services—this could become a catalyst for mass migration to crypto ecosystems.

My analysis: The week showed that the crypto market is entering a phase of maturity. Tether's regulatory maneuvers and the US CBDC ban strengthen the position of stablecoins, while the collapse of meme coins clears the market of speculative junk. However, lawsuits from traditional exchanges and attacks on privacy remind us that the battle for control over finance and data is just beginning. Investors should prepare for a more structured, yet more competitive environment.