Crypto news

This week, I analyzed several landmark events that will shape the market's development in the coming months: from pressure from Russian banks on crypto companies to the historic Tether audit and hidden risks of Solana. These are not just news — they are markers of maturity or, conversely, vulnerability of the entire ecosystem.

Russian banks tighten compliance before the law takes effect

A key trend for the local market — Russian banks have begun requiring crypto companies to confirm inclusion in the Central Bank registry, which does not yet exist. This is classic de-risking ahead of September 1, when cryptocurrency settlements for foreign economic activity will cease to be an experiment and become permanent practice. In practice, businesses will face stricter checks, rising operational costs, and the risk of legal liability for illegal exchanges.

It is telling that the transition period has begun ahead of schedule. Manual checks right now are chaos, but they will inevitably transform into a transparent procedure for legal settlements. The question is how many companies will survive this stage without losses.

Tether audit: breakthrough or one-off move?

Tether has for the first time undergone a full independent audit by KPMG US, receiving an unqualified opinion on its 2025 financial statements in accordance with US standards. The auditors not only verified the balance sheet but also physically counted the gold reserves. Total assets exceeded liabilities by $6.81 billion — this is a strong signal to the market.

However, I would not rush to conclusions. The opinion does not provide indefinite guarantees, but the very fact of such an audit is a crucial shift toward transparency. If this becomes an industry standard for all major stablecoin issuers, trust in the sector will grow manifold.

Solana: 33 minutes to disaster

The Solana blockchain came within a step of a complete halt due to a routing failure at provider TeraSwitch. Validators controlling 28.83% of staked SOL went offline simultaneously. This brought the network dangerously close to the critical threshold of 33.34%, beyond which transaction finalization becomes impossible.

The incident was resolved in 33 minutes, but the aftertaste remains. This is a vivid illustration of the risks of infrastructure centralization — and it is precisely such cases that undermine institutional investors' trust in the network. Technically, Solana is strong, but its dependence on a few providers is an Achilles' heel.

AI: the battle shifts from algorithms to infrastructure

The potential acquisition of startup Decart by Anthropic for $6 billion and reshuffling at Google have exposed the main problem of the AI industry — the colossal cost of maintaining models. Competition is moving away from creating the algorithms themselves to the fight for GPUs, infrastructure, and inference optimization technologies.

In the long term, this sharply raises the barrier to entry. Winners will not be those who generate the smartest ideas, but those who can effectively manage product economics at scale. Crypto projects trying to integrate with AI should take this into account.

Bitcoin: identity crisis

Bitcoin is experiencing an existential crisis. Miner revenue from fees has fallen to a 10-year low — just 0.69% — and the hashrate has collapsed due to competition with AI for energy capacity. Meanwhile, funds like BlackRock are buying up the asset, but it has stopped correlating with stocks and gold, failing to live up to its "safe haven" status during crisis shocks.

The coin has already outgrown the status of pure speculation, but it is still searching for its real macroeconomic role. Until Bitcoin finds clear positioning, its volatility will remain high, and institutional adoption — fragmented.

My verdict: the week showed that the market is entering a phase of harsh consolidation. Regulatory pressure, stablecoin transparency, and infrastructure risks are the three fronts on which the industry's future is being decided. Investors should be more cautious with assets dependent on centralized providers and pay closer attention to the actions of regulators in Russia and the US.