Crypto news

This week, the crypto industry once again demonstrates its paradoxical nature: while the founder of the collapsed FTX empire makes billion-dollar plans from a prison cell, Tether invents legal loopholes to bypass European regulations, and the US legislatively abandons the digital dollar. We break down the key events that will reshape the market landscape.

Sam Bankman-Fried's Ambitions: From Prison to a $100 Million Startup

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

Notably, FTX's venture investments, including stakes in SpaceX, Anthropic, and Solana, are currently valued at a combined $114 billion. Bankruptcy administrators liquidated these assets for a sum tens of times smaller, sparking heated debates within the community. However, most experts agree: even if SBF is a brilliant investor, his criminal actions of illegally using client funds have permanently undermined trust in him. His return is practically impossible.

Tether vs. MiCA: A Strategy of Bypass Without Direct Compliance

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has set a deadline: by July 1, all crypto platforms must obtain a license under the MiCA regulation, or face a complete halt in servicing clients from the EU. Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, made a conscious decision not to obtain a license, deeming the requirement to hold 60% of reserves in European banks too risky for financial stability.

Instead, the company chose a more elegant strategy: it invests in partners who already have legal status in the EU. Through them, fully MiCA-compliant stablecoins will be issued, allowing Tether to indirectly maintain its presence in the European market without direct subordination to local regulators. Meanwhile, the forced delisting of USDT in Europe will deal a serious blow to professional participants: market makers will have to split liquidity pools, cross-exchange arbitrage will become more complicated, and spreads will widen.

US Officially Exits the CBDC Race: Ban Until 2030

The United States is moving toward a legislative ban on the issuance of a digital dollar (CBDC) at least until the end of 2030. This provision, embedded in an affordable housing bill, helped overcome the resistance that had stalled a separate anti-CBDC document. American lawmakers fear total surveillance of transactions, control over spending (programmable money with the ability to freeze without a court order, as in the digital yuan), and the displacement of commercial banks.

Private stablecoins, however, are exempt from the ban. For the global CBDC race, this means the world's largest economy is officially stepping out, and stablecoins are recognized as an acceptable alternative. This decision could fundamentally change the balance of power in the digital currency market.

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 over 70%. The explosive growth in the number of new coins led to nearly 96% of traders either losing money or earning no more than $500. To prevent further decline, developers announced the burning of tokens worth approximately $370 million (36% of the supply).

This situation reflects a massive process of capital redistribution: investors are broadly realizing losses, withdrawing liquidity from unregulated instruments that major players view as gambling, and returning funds to TradFi. The practice of buying assets without fundamental value has stopped working. Traders are forced to return to basic rules and seek digital assets with real practical applications, making the market healthier and safer.

CME Group Defends Its Monopoly: Lawsuit Against CFTC Over Kalshi

The operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, is preparing to sue the regulator CFTC over its approval 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 cites the Dodd-Frank Act.

However, behind this facade lies a struggle for 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 growth of the Hyperliquid platform. This is a classic example of protecting an outdated business model from innovation.

Global Trend Toward Destroying Communication Privacy

The UK government is preparing a law that would completely ban the use of social media (Instagram, TikTok, and 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. An alarming 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 rightly noted, the forced abandonment of end-to-end encryption (embedding backdoors) will not stop real criminals—they can easily write their own private applications. Ultimately, ordinary law-abiding citizens will be the ones affected. Furthermore, 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. This is not just a matter of free speech—it is a matter of economic security.

My analysis: The market is going through a phase of "cleansing"—meme coins are dying, regulators are tightening, and traditional giants are trying to maintain control. However, it is precisely such periods that create the foundation for real innovation. Keep an eye on decentralized solutions and projects with genuine value.