This week was tough for cryptocurrency valuations, with both BTC and ETH experiencing declines. The index that tracks the major cryptocurrencies suffered a 7% drop since Monday, affecting around 80% of the market.
In contrast, less volatile investments demonstrated significant trading activity. Stablecoins took center stage this week.
The U.S. House introduced legislation regarding stablecoins, building on the Senate’s previous approval of a similar proposal last week. Jesse Hamilton covered this development. Meanwhile, Wyoming, popularly known as “The Blockchain State,” is exploring the creation of its own stablecoin, testing it on platforms like Avalanche, Solana, and Ethereum, as reported by Kris Sandor.
This week also marked the confirmation of a new stablecoin (USD1) launch by World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which is backed by Donald Trump and his family. Don Trump Jr. promoted the announcement at the DC Blockchain Summit.
Furthermore, Fidelity Investments, an early player in traditional finance’s foray into cryptocurrency, is making significant strides towards launching its own stablecoin. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to penetrate the tokenized bond market, as shared by Jamie Crawley.
On another note, Circle, which issues the second-largest stablecoin (USDC), has finally obtained a license to operate in Japan through a partnership with SBI Holdings, a major player in the region, according to Sam Reynolds.
In Europe, Ian Allison revealed that Sam Altman’s World Network is in discussions with Visa about integrating on-chain card functionalities into a self-custody crypto wallet.
Will Canny reported that Sam Hill, COO of Zodia Custody, had departed to return to a role in traditional finance. Zodia Custody’s confirmation of this change came after Canny persuaded them to acknowledge it, allowing us to break the news first.
Canny followed up the next day with an exclusive report on the recent exits of senior personnel at crypto prime broker FalconX, contrasting this with BlackRock’s efforts to expand its digital assets team in the U.S.
We also continued to cover MicroStrategy, a trailblazer in corporate Bitcoin holdings. Christine Lee conducted a two-hour interview with executive chairman Michael Saylor, who speculated about Bitcoin’s potential as a $200 trillion asset and expressed intentions to “burn” Bitcoin in the name of immortality.
MicroStrategy has invested around $33 billion in Bitcoin to date through various stock offerings. James Van Straten elaborated on the distinct fundraising mechanisms the company employs for Bitcoin acquisitions, while Tom Carreras provided insights on how MSTR shareholders might be vulnerable due to Saylor’s aggressive acquisition strategy.
Meanwhile, the SEC persistently launched enforcement actions against crypto enterprises, with Immutable being the latest target, as Cheyenne Ligon reported. Interestingly, a case involving Unicoin remains unresolved, much to the displeasure of its CEO.
This week felt relatively typical — more gradual than groundbreaking. However, it took an unexpected turn when the president’s media company announced its plans to introduce ETFs and ETPs in collaboration with Crypto.com. Thankfully, the crypto world still retains its capacity for surprises.