Tag: cryptocurrency

Senate Crypto Bill At Risk Beyond Midterms If Not Passed By August: NYDIG

The US Senate’s crypto market structure bill could take until August to pass and risks not advancing at all if lawmakers cannot pass it before the midterms, said Greg Cipolaro, head of research at financial services firm NYDIG.

Patrick Witt, a senior White House crypto adviser, said earlier this month that he was targeting July 4 for the Senate’s crypto bill to pass, saying there was enough time for a Senate markup, floor vote and House vote. 

“This may represent an aspirational benchmark rather than a fixed legislative deadline,” Cipolaro said in a note on Friday. “The realistic window, however, is June through early August.”

The crypto market structure bill would outline how US watchdogs would regulate crypto and is seen as one of the most important pieces of crypto legislation this year. However, it has been marred by delays as lawmakers and lobbyists have sought to add or amend provisions around stablecoins and government officials’ use of crypto, among other issues.

The bill passed a long-delayed markup in the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, which voted largely along party lines to advance it to the Senate floor, where it will need 60 votes to avoid prolonged debate and pass.

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False Framing of the GENIUS Act: Democrats Love Regulation, But Not When It Comes From President Trump

In July 2025, President Trump signed the GENIUS Act, the first federal law in U.S. history to regulate stablecoins, which passed with strong bipartisan support: 68–30 in the Senate and 308–122 in the House.

Democrats oppose the GENIUS Act because they claim its lighter regulatory framework could benefit large, well-funded stablecoin issuers, including companies they allege may have ties to President Trump or his associates. Critics argue the bill gives non-bank issuers a potential regulatory advantage and raises concerns about political favoritism and conflicts of interest.

However, the GENIUS Act is necessary because stablecoins have already grown into a massive, systemically important financial market operating largely outside the federal regulatory framework. Without clear U.S. rules, the industry would continue developing under foreign regulations, creating consumer and national-security risks while allowing strategic competitors to shape the future of dollar-backed digital finance.

A stablecoin is a privately issued digital currency pegged to $1.00. Unlike Bitcoin, it doesn’t fluctuate. You can send it anywhere in the world instantly. The biggest issuers are Tether and USD Coin (USDC). Private companies run them, not governments. The business model is simple: a user deposits $1,000, gets 1,000 digital tokens, and the company invests that $1,000 in U.S. Treasury bonds and keeps the interest, say 4–5%, while the user collects nothing. At scale, this is enormously profitable.

Tether alone holds over $100 billion in reserves and earned roughly $6.2 billion in 2023. Before the GENIUS Act, none of this was federally regulated. Companies were not legally required to verify that they held the dollars they claimed to hold, faced no mandatory audits, had no anti-money laundering obligations, had no consumer protections, and had no mechanism for law enforcement to freeze or seize funds.

Tether had for years resisted full independent audits, raising legitimate questions about whether it actually held the dollars backing its tokens. The law changed that, requiring issuers to hold $1 in cash or short-term Treasury bills for each token issued, to publish monthly disclosures of reserve composition, to follow anti-money laundering rules under the Bank Secrecy Act, and to comply with court orders to freeze or destroy tokens.

The necessity of the law is factually grounded. Stablecoin transaction volumes had grown to exceed those of Visa and Mastercard combined by 2024, up 28% year over year. This represented a systemically significant payment infrastructure operating entirely outside the federal regulatory framework governing every other payment system of comparable scale. Dollar-denominated stablecoins also extend the reach of the U.S. dollar globally, including into economies where people distrust their local currency.

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Warren Whines As Senate Banking Committee Advances Crypto CLARITY Act, Two Democrats Break Ranks

The Senate Banking Committee advanced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on a 15–9 vote Thursday, with Sens. Ruben Gallego (D‑Ariz.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D‑Md.) joining all 13 Republicans to move the sweeping crypto market structure bill to the full Senate.

The Clarity Act is the Senate’s bid to build a federal framework for digital asset trading, stablecoins and intermediaries, splitting oversight between the SEC and CFTC and setting registration, disclosure and compliance rules for exchanges, brokers and custodians. It now advances alongside a related bill from the Senate Agriculture Committee, with the two texts expected to merge before a floor vote.

Chair Tim Scott (R‑S.C.) cast the markup as a turning point after years in which crypto firms operated in what he called a “regulatory gray zone” under “outdated rules.” 

He said the bill aims to protect consumers, keep innovation in the United States and “close the doors that criminals, terrorists and hostile regimes have tried to exploit,” after months of cross‑party talks that expanded the draft by more than 200 pages.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R‑Wyo.), who leads the committee’s digital assets panel, called the Clarity Act “the hardest piece of legislation” she has worked on across decades in state and federal office. She described it as a “case of first impression” that tries to fit new asset types and software into a regulatory code built for earlier markets.

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American Bankers Attempt Last Ditch Effort To Kill Crypto Market Structure Bill Regarding Stablecoins

American Bankers Association (ABA) CEO Rob Nichols sent an emergency Sunday letter to every bank CEO in the country, urging “immediate engagement” against what he called a stablecoin yield loophole in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, days before a Senate Banking Committee markup scheduled for Thursday.

The letter, dated May 11 — Mother’s Day — and addressed to ABA member bank CEOs, asked bank leaders to contact their senators and mobilize their employees to do the same before the committee convenes for a scheduled May 14 executive session on the bill.

“I am reaching out to make every bank leader in this country aware of an urgent advocacy fight that requires your immediate engagement,” Nichols wrote, according to the letter.

He warned that, without further changes, “we believe the current proposal would unnecessarily incentivize the flight of bank deposits into payment stablecoins, putting both economic growth and financial stability at risk”.

The timing of the letter drew sharp public pushback from Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, who posted on X that the ABA’s alarm bells were misplaced.

“Maybe the CEO didn’t get the message from the people actually in the room at the WH in meeting after meeting,” Grewal wrote.

“We’ve already had ‘immediate engagement.’ You got ‘idle yield’ killed. I know because I was there — you weren’t. Take yes for an answer. Move on. Stop wasting the time of the Senate and the American people.”

Sen. Bernie Moreno, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, fired back at the ABA in a social media post, saying “the banking cartel in full panic mode” and accusing it of deceiving lawmakers by characterizing stablecoin yield as a “loophole” – a term he said was an insult to the bipartisan work already done during the GENIUS Act debate. 

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‘Bitcoin Isn’t Going Anywhere’: Trump Officials Discuss DOJ, FBI Refocus on Crypto Crime, Not Developers

At the Bitcoin 2026 Conference, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel outlined a shift in the U.S. government’s approach to digital assets like Bitcoin.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel used a Bitcoin 2026 Conference panel to signal a shift in how the U.S. government approaches digital assets, stressing support for developers and a focus on crime rather than code.

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, moderating the virtual discussion, opened by asking Blanche and Patel for their Bitcoin origin stories. 

Blanche said his son pushed him toward Bitcoin and called him a “clown and idiot” for not investing, while also noting that his government role bars him from owning assets. Patel framed Bitcoin and other virtual assets as economic infrastructure, saying they are assets “just like business and everything else” that “power and muscle the world.”

Blanche: Prior administrations suppressed bitcoin and crypto

Grewal then pressed the officials on past prosecutions tied to crypto. Blanche said some prior FBI and Justice Department efforts were misguided, suggesting that earlier administrations pursued cases against developers in ways that cut across core rights. 

He argued that the government should not treat software builders as stand‑ins for criminals and said the focus should be on “the third party criminal and not… the builders and platform builders.” 

According to Blanche, aggressive enforcement caused some platforms to leave the United States and reflected a lack of understanding that “stifled innovation” and “suffocated enthusiasts.”

“In the last administration, we were stifling innovation and depriving US citizen and Bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts from doing what they should be able to,” Blanche said.

Blanche drew a line between criminal use of crypto and the underlying technology. He said the government will not excuse bad actors who use Bitcoin or other digital assets for crime, but he rejected the idea that ordinary participants should live in constant fear of prosecution. 

On policy questions tied to cases such as Tornado Cash, Roman Storm, and Samourai Wallet, he said that if a person is developing software and is not the third‑party user committing a crime, “you are not going to get investigated and/or get charged.” He told coders that if they are under investigation, “your lawyer should feel very comfortable working with the FBI.”

Patel echoed that stance while stressing active enforcement against fraud. He said the FBI has spent the past year targeting scam centers that use crypto, including networks tied to foreign adversaries that seek to “police Americans and fleece them from their hard earned assets.” 

His goal, he said, is for the bureau to “look at the right people” and for Americans who buy digital assets to feel their funds are safe. Patel added that the FBI is proactively investigating crime in Bitcoin and other digital assets and is pushing prevention work on the “front end” to stop schemes before they reach victims.

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Crypto fund manager probed in the suspicious death of his fiancée in Zanzibar

According to an NBC News report, Zanzibar police investigating the death of Robinson confirmed she died by suicide following a “misunderstanding” between the couple.

Police confirmed the couple had been involved in a heated dispute before being separated twice by hotel staff and sent to separate rooms. However, police said Robinson’s death is still being investigated and have therefore withheld McCann’s passport, according to the news outlet.

Police have questioned McCann and have asked him to remain in the country while they receive the forensic results from Ashly’s autopsy.

The hotel said it was “deeply saddened” by what happened. “Our sincerest thoughts and sympathies go out to the family and loved ones during this painful time. We are providing our full cooperation to the local authorities and the U.S. Embassy,” the hotel said in a statement.

Robinson’s family, who said they doubt she died by suicide, have set up a GoFundMe page seeking to raise $50,000 to help with travel costs, arrangements and other unexpected expenses, they said. They have raised more than their target.

McCann, with an estimated net worth of $45 million, is a prominent figure in institutional crypto, leading Asymmetric, a hedge fund and venture firm backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz co-founders Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon.

However, in December, he announced he would shut down Asymmetric’s Liquid Alpha Fund following claims of massive financial losses throughout 2025. McCann’s decision to wind down the fund followed unconfirmed social media chatter that the liquid fund was down 78% this year.

Robinson and her fiancé, McCann, traveled to Zanzibar on April 4, according to a translated video statement from Tanzanian police.

CoinDesk called Zanzibar police several times, but the staff answering the phones immediately hung up, refusing to answer any questions. The Tanzania Police Force has also not responded to an email request for information.

The U.S. State Department said it had no further comment, only offering its condolences to the Robinson family.

“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“Due to privacy and other considerations, we have no further comment. For additional questions about any investigation, we refer you to local authorities. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family of Ms. Robinson and her loved ones on their loss.”

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Tether Freezes $344 Million USDT Stablecoins Flagged For Illicit Activity

Tether froze more than $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses on Thursday, in coordination with the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), marking one of the stablecoin issuer’s largest compliance actions on record.

While Tether did not name the network of the frozen funds, blockchain security firm PeckShield identified the blacklisted addresses as TNiq9…QZH81 and TTiDL…pjSr9, holding approximately $213 million and $131 million respectively.

The action comes weeks after the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit; an incident that put the entire stablecoin industry under public scrutiny and drove hard questions about issuer’s crisis responses. Tether addressed the incident by proposing a $127.5 million recovery contribution. 

“USDT is not a safe haven for illicit activity,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, in a statement. “When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively. Recent events have shown what happens when platforms fail to move quickly, enforcement breaks down, users are exposed, and trust erodes.”

“Our approach is different,” he continued. “We combine blockchain transparency with real-time monitoring and direct coordination with law enforcement to stop funds before they can move. That’s a responsibility we take seriously as one of the largest issuers in the market.”

As Decrypt notes, the freeze underscores Tether’s expanding compliance infrastructure, which now encompasses partnerships with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 65 countries. The stablecoin issuer said it has supported over 2,300 cases globally and frozen more than $4.4 billion in assets overall—including $2.1 billion tied specifically to U.S. authorities.

Thursday’s action follows a pattern of large-scale Tether freezes coordinated with US authorities. In November 2023, the company froze about $225 million in USDT linked to a Southeast Asia human-trafficking and pig butchering scam investigation. In January 2026, Tether froze roughly $182 million across five Tron wallets in another action.

To date Tether has supported more than 2,000 cases globally, including over 1,050 tied to U.S. law enforcement, and has led to the freezing of more than $4 billion in assets, including over $1.9 billion connected to U.S. authorities. This latest action adds to a series of high-profile enforcement efforts in which Tether has supported U.S. and international authorities in tracing, freezing, and seizing funds tied to fraud, terrorism financing, and sanctions evasion.

These freezes typically involve the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Treasury Department agency that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions. The increasing frequency and scale of such actions reflect both the growing use of stablecoins in illicit finance and Tether’s efforts to maintain regulatory compliance.

Tether’s latest action follows a pair of high-profile crypto project hacks that have been linked by investigators to North Korean hackers: the $285 million Drift Protocol attack, and $292 million Kelp DAO exploit. Tether’s biggest competitor, USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, faced criticism following the Drift Protocol hack for not taking action to freeze funds linked to the attack. The firm defended its inaction, saying that it can only freeze funds when identified by law enforcement or required through court orders.

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Billionaire entrepreneur Justin Sun sues Trump family’s crypto firm

Billionaire entrepreneur Justin Sun has sued the cryptocurrency platform co-founded by US President Donald Trump and his sons, accusing the company of fraud.
Mr Sun, a 35-year-old Chinese-born crypto mogul, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, US time, accusing World Liberty Financial of blocking him from selling his tokens after they became tradeable last year.

In the filing, Mr Sun claimed to have purchased $45 million worth of WLFI, an electronic currency launched by World Liberty Financial – founded by Donald, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump – in October 2024.

To thank him for the investment, which came at a time when WLFI was generating little initial interest, World Liberty Financial appointed him as an adviser and awarded him an additional one billion WLFI tokens, the lawsuit states.

Sales to investors subsequently accelerated, and in March 2025, World Liberty Financial announced that it had sold $550 million worth of the digital currency.

WLFI became tradeable on September 1, 2025.

Its value has since plummeted from 46 cents per unit to its current price of eight cents.

Mr Sun, the founder of another cryptocurrency platform TRON, claims his WLFI assets were unilaterally frozen by World Liberty Financial and he has been unable to resell any of them to date. He alleges platform executives even threatened to destroy his holdings if he attempted to take legal action.

“I have always been — and remain — an ardent supporter of President Trump and his Administration’s efforts to make America crypto friendly. This lawsuit does not change how I feel about President Trump or the Trump Administration,” he wrote in a post on social media.

“Unfortunately, certain individuals on the World Liberty project team have been operating the project in a manner that goes against President Trump’s values. They wrongfully froze all of my tokens, stripped me of my right to vote on governance proposals, and have threatened to permanently destroy my tokens by “burning” them — all without any proper justification.”

Mr Sun is demanding the unfreezing of his assets as well as compensatory damages for the harm he has suffered.

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Regulation by hostility: the real legacy of Biden-era crypto policy

Thorn argues that a recent New York Times op-ed rewrites history through omission, glossing over the collateral damage caused by the previous administration.

Former Biden economic advisers Ryan Cummings and Jared Bernstein would have you believe the decline in bitcoin’s price from its 2025 peak somehow vindicates their administration’s approach to cryptocurrency. A masterclass in selective memory, their February 26 New York Times opinion piece omits the most consequential fact about Biden-era crypto policy: it was not a reasoned regulatory framework.

The authors credit the Biden administration with “increasingly aggressive regulatory efforts to curb scams and fraud.” This framing is extraordinary, given what happened on their watch. FTX grew to enormous scale during the Biden administration. Sam Bankman-Fried was a top Democratic donor and met with senior administration officials (including then-Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler) while running what became one of the largest financial frauds in history.

The administration’s strategy of regulation-by-enforcement, rather than establishing clear rules, had a perverse effect: legitimate, compliance-minded companies were driven offshore or out of business, consumers were harmed, and American innovation was stifled. Meanwhile, bad actors like Bankman-Fried (who knew how to play political games) thrived in the confusion. When you refuse to write clear rules, the only people who benefit are those who never intended to follow them.

The authors conveniently ignore one of the most troubling episodes of the Biden era: “Operation Choke Point 2.0.” Under pressure from federal regulators, banks systematically debanked lawful crypto businesses, cutting them off from the financial system without due process, formal rulemaking, or legislative authority. The debanking campaign swept up ordinary individuals and small businesses who had turned to crypto because the traditional banking system had long underserved them. The Biden administration’s approach cut consumers off from tools they were using to participate in the financial system, without putting a single policy through the democratic process of notice-and-comment rulemaking.

The authors dismiss crypto as a “painfully slow and expensive database” with “almost no practical use.” They acknowledge in passing that crypto is used to wire money

internationally, but wave this away as though enabling fast, low-cost cross-border remittances for millions of people is a trivial achievement.

It is not. Global remittance fees average nearly 6.5%, costing migrant workers and their families billions of dollars each year. Stablecoins running on blockchain networks can execute the same transfers in minutes for a fraction of the cost. This is an immediate, material financial improvement for families in developing countries. The Biden economists sat in “dozens of meetings” and apparently came away unimpressed. One wonders whether they spoke to any of the people these tools serve.

Beyond remittances, blockchain technology underpins a rapidly growing ecosystem of financial applications. Fidelity, JPMorgan, BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Morgan Stanley, Visa, Mastercard, Meta, Stripe, Block Inc. and Franklin Templeton are actively building on blockchain infrastructure. The Biden economists’ claim that no “giant tech firms” are using this technology is flatly wrong.

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Trump’s World Liberty Financial uses five billion WLFI to borrow $75 million from a platform its adviser co-founded

World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture co-founded by the Trump family, has executed a series of transactions through decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Dolomite that raises questions about insider access, circular token economics, and concentrated risk to other depositors.

Onchain records analyzed by CoinDesk, sourced from Etherscan, Arkham and publicly accessible wallet data, show the sequence began on Feb. 8, when WLFI’s treasury deposited 14 million USD1, its own dollar-pegged stablecoin, into Dolomite as collateral and borrowed 11.4 million USDC against it.

Minutes later, 11.45 million USDC moved to a Coinbase Prime deposit address, per Arkham. Two days later, 12.5 million USD1 was sent from the treasury to a separate Coinbase Prime deposit address. Coinbase Prime is typically used for converting crypto to fiat or for institutional OTC trading.

That 12.5 million USD1 was not borrowed from Dolomite. It moved directly from WLFI’s treasury wallet to the exchange, meaning the venture sent its own stablecoin straight to a fiat off-ramp.

But the WLFI token entered the picture twelve days later. On Feb. 20, the treasury deposited 890 million WLFI into Dolomite and borrowed 20 million USD1 against it.

On March 24, another 1.1 billion WLFI followed. In total, 1.99 billion WLFI tokens now sit as collateral inside Dolomite, and the treasury has received roughly 31.4 million in stablecoins from the protocol across both episodes.

The choice of protocol is not incidental, however.

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