Crypto news

This week in the crypto industry has been unusually eventful: from the ambitious plans of a convicted fraudster to the strategic maneuver of the largest stablecoin issuer and a legislative ban on the digital dollar. Let's break down the key events that will reshape the market landscape.

SBF's Prison Startup: $100 Million for a Crypto Project

Sam Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence for fraud related to FTX, is not wasting time. According to prison sources, he is already making plans for life after release. SBF confessed to his cellmate that he would need between $50 and $100 million in startup capital to "make serious money." He mentioned a certain cryptocurrency project that, in his words, "everyone will flock to." Simultaneously, he has appealed to Donald Trump for a presidential pardon, and his parents have hired lobbyists.

The community has once again brought up the topic of FTX's venture investments — stakes in SpaceX, Anthropic, and Solana, which were worth $114 billion at their peak. Bankruptcy administrators sold these assets for a fraction of that amount. However, most analysts agree: no matter how talented SBF is as an investor, his crimes — the illegal use of client funds — overshadow any prospects. Restoring trust after such actions will be nearly impossible.

Tether vs. MiCA: A Strategy of Circumvention Without War

The European authority 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 risky for financial stability. Instead of direct confrontation, the company chose an elegant circumvention strategy — investing in partners who already have legal status. Through them, fully legitimate stablecoins compliant with MiCA will be issued. Thus, Tether will maintain its presence in Europe without directly submitting to local bureaucrats.

It's important to understand: the forced delisting of USDT in the EU will deal a serious blow to professional market participants. Market makers will have to split liquidity pools, cross-exchange arbitrage will become more complex, and spreads will widen. This will create temporary chaos, but Tether, as always, is playing ahead of the curve.

US Bans CBDC: Victory for Stablecoins

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

Lawmakers fear total surveillance of every transaction, 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 are exempt from the ban. For the global CBDC race, this means the world's largest economy is officially stepping out, and stablecoins gain status as a tolerated alternative.

Memecoin 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 a token for a few dollars, leading to an explosive growth in the number of memecoins, but nearly 96% of traders either lost money or earned no more than $500. To prevent a collapse, developers announced the burning of tokens worth $370 million (36% of the supply).

The situation reflects a massive capital redistribution process: investors are broadly 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 no longer works. The market is forced to return to basic rules, seeking digital assets with real-world applications. This makes it safer, but also less "fun."

CME Group Defends Its Monopoly: Lawsuit Against CFTC

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

However, the real underlying motive is protecting the monopoly. CME holds exclusive licenses for all major benchmarks on which futures contracts are based. Duffy combined investor concern with defending his position in the lawsuit. The 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.

Global Trend: Destruction of Communication Privacy

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 abandon the basic right to privacy. As Pavel Durov rightly noted, a forced abandonment of end-to-end encryption (embedding backdoors) will not stop real criminals — they will write their own private applications. 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 migrate to decentralized services to preserve privacy.

My comment: This week showed that the crypto industry is entering a new phase — maturity and conflicts with institutions. SBF, Tether, CME, and governments — all are fighting for control and survival. Investors should be cautious: bubbles are bursting, and regulators are tightening the screws. But it is precisely in such moments that true innovations are born.