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Paul Atkins and Hester Peirce said the US Securities and Exchange Commission supports clarifying how tokenised securities fit within existing federal securities laws, arguing that clearer rules would provide greater regulatory certainty for developers and investors. Speaking at ETHDenver, they addressed recent cryptocurrency price volatility, with Bitcoin and Ether both experiencing sharp declines over the past month. Atkins emphasised that regulators should focus on ensuring market participants have the information needed to make informed decisions about buying, selling, or holding assets.
Although neither official directly commented on ongoing market structure legislation, Peirce noted that the SEC had provided technical assistance. The CLARITY Act, which has progressed through Congress, could shift significant regulatory authority over digital assets to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Attention has also turned to the CFTC’s limited leadership, with Michael Selig currently serving as the agency’s only confirmed commissioner and chair, prompting some lawmakers to propose minimum staffing requirements before new legislation takes effect. Source
Brian Armstrong dismissed concerns that quantum computing poses an existential threat to blockchain security, describing the challenge as manageable and technically solvable. Speaking to CNBC at the World Liberty Forum in Mar-a-Lago alongside Bernie Moreno, Armstrong said Coinbase has taken a proactive stance by forming a quantum advisory council and maintaining regular discussions with major blockchain networks about migrating towards post-quantum cryptography. His remarks reflect a broader industry view that, while current quantum systems remain far from breaking modern encryption, planning for future upgrades is essential.
Preparation efforts across the sector have accelerated, with the Ethereum Foundation elevating post-quantum security to a strategic priority and Vitalik Buterin urging developers to adopt quantum-resistant cryptography well before it becomes urgent. Similar initiatives are underway within other ecosystems, including testing of quantum-resistant signatures and proposals aimed at reducing potential vulnerabilities. Armstrong also addressed regulatory developments, explaining Coinbase’s objections to earlier drafts of the CLARITY Act, particularly regarding stablecoin rewards, while expressing confidence that lawmakers could still reach a workable compromise and supporting a larger role for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in certain digital asset markets. Source
Sasha Shilina argues that prediction markets cannot credibly claim to aggregate information unless they address Sybil attacks, where one actor can impersonate many participants. Recent regulatory scrutiny, including cease-and-desist actions against Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com, illustrates how quickly markets framed as information tools can be treated as wagering platforms when legitimacy is questioned. Concerns about synthetic activity are not merely theoretical, with research indicating that a meaningful share of trading volume may stem from artificial behaviour. If displayed signals can be shaped by manufactured participation, prices risk reflecting coordination power rather than genuine collective judgement.
The risks become more severe in scientific markets, where apparent consensus can influence funding, replication priorities and reputations. Shilina warns that decentralisation and transparency do not solve identity problems, as influence still scales with the number of wallets controlled. Without Sybil resistance, coordinated clusters could drive premature convergence, creating misleading signals of certainty before evidence justifies it. She points to existing approaches such as Human Passport, BrightID, Proof of Humanity and Humanode Biomapper as imperfect but necessary safeguards. The core argument is that scientific prediction markets must ensure participation corresponds to unique humans, otherwise they risk producing persuasive charts that track synthetic consensus instead of reality. Source
CME Group announced plans to introduce round-the-clock trading for its cryptocurrency futures and options starting on May 29, pending regulatory approval. The change will remove the existing weekend closure gap, allowing trading to continue from Friday through Sunday, aside from a brief weekly maintenance break. Transactions executed during the weekend period will carry the next business day’s trade date, with clearing, settlement and reporting processed accordingly. CME said continuous access would allow clients to manage risk and respond to volatility at any time, reflecting the inherently non-stop nature of digital asset markets.
Support for 24/7 crypto markets was echoed by Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Mike Selig, who described such trading hours as well suited to crypto, while noting they may not fit all asset classes. The move aligns with broader efforts across Wall Street, where Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange executives have indicated they are pursuing similar around-the-clock equity trading models. The shift highlights how traditional financial institutions are adapting to competitive pressures and market structure innovations influenced by the crypto sector, particularly as investors seek greater flexibility during periods of heightened weekend volatility. Source
Robinhood’s Ethereum layer-2 network recorded 4 million transactions during its first week of public testnet activity, with CEO Vlad Tenev highlighting growing developer experimentation. The Robinhood Chain testnet, built using Arbitrum technology after roughly six months of private testing, is designed as a high-throughput environment focused on tokenised real-world assets and blockchain-based financial services. The company says the network is intended to support tokenised equities, ETFs, and other traditional financial instruments, with infrastructure support from partners including Alchemy, LayerZero, and Chainlink.
A mainnet launch is planned later this year, while the testnet continues hosting experimental assets such as stock-style tokens and deeper integrations with Robinhood’s crypto wallet. The expansion aligns with Robinhood’s broader digital asset strategy, which already includes tokenising nearly 500 US stocks and ETFs on Arbitrum. Financially, the firm reported 1.28 billion dollars in Q4 2025 net revenue, reflecting year-on-year growth but pressured by weaker crypto trading income following a market downturn. The developments come amid continued growth in tokenised real-world assets, which have risen to nearly 24.83 billion dollars issued on-chain, alongside increasing wallet participation and stablecoin adoption, according to RWA.xyz. Source
Google Trends data shows that searches such as “Bitcoin going to zero” and “Is Bitcoin dead?” have surged to their highest levels since 2022 as Bitcoin continues retreating from its October peak above 126,000 dollars. The spike reflects deteriorating market psychology, with the Crypto Fear and Greed Index recently falling to 5, matching its lowest level since 2019 and signalling Extreme Fear. Prediction markets echo the cautious mood: Myriad Markets assigns higher odds to a decline towards 55,000 dollars than a rally to 84,000 dollars, while traders on Polymarket see Bitcoin reaching 60,000 dollars before 80,000 dollars. Kalshi predictors have also priced in a notable probability of Bitcoin trading below 40,000 dollars this year.
Despite the pessimism implied by search behaviour and betting markets, major financial and analytics firms argue against collapse scenarios. Standard Chartered projects that further downside, potentially towards 50,000 dollars, could precede a recovery, while CryptoQuant analysts identify 55,000 dollars as a likely bear market floor based on realised price dynamics. Prominent Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor has maintained his long-term conviction, stating that his company will continue accumulating the asset regardless of volatility. Bitcoin remains roughly 47% below its October all-time high, underscoring the tension between fearful sentiment and persistent institutional optimism. Source
Dash has announced the integration of Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool into the Dash Evolution chain, the network’s smart contract layer. The upgrade, scheduled for launch in March pending cybersecurity audits, will initially enable basic ZEC transfers on Evolution before expanding to include Orchard’s privacy features for tokenised real-world assets. The move strengthens Dash’s privacy-focused positioning, coming after notable volatility in the DASH token, which experienced a sharp rally earlier this year amid renewed interest in privacy narratives across crypto markets.
The integration lands against a backdrop of intensifying debate over blockchain privacy. Industry figures argue that privacy-preserving tools are essential for mainstream payment adoption, particularly for businesses concerned about exposing sensitive financial data. Critics counter that anonymity protections can still be circumvented through forensic analysis and regulatory oversight. Regulatory tensions remain evident, with Dubai’s Financial Services Authority recently prohibiting regulated exchanges from offering privacy tokens such as ZEC and XMR, underscoring the ongoing friction between privacy technologies and financial supervision frameworks. Source
The article explains Markethive’s KEY Validation protocol as an alternative to conventional Know Your Customer procedures, positioning it as a privacy-focused identity verification system within the platform’s crypto-driven ecosystem. It traces the origins of KYC regulations from the Bank Secrecy Act through to modern cryptocurrency compliance requirements, highlighting tensions between regulatory oversight and the decentralised ethos of digital assets. Against this backdrop, Markethive presents its approach as independent of government data sharing, using encrypted video-based verification stored within its internal vault system primarily for account security and recovery purposes.
The piece also outlines Markethive’s tiered qualification and reward structure, where users select validation levels that unlock varying benefits such as bonuses, airdrops, micropayments, wallet functionality, and revenue participation features. Higher qualification tiers are framed as offering greater economic incentives and expanded platform capabilities, while Promo Codes are described as an additional rewards mechanism tied to successful validation. Overall, the article portrays the protocol as balancing user anonymity with platform security, emphasising community authenticity, fraud prevention, and a merit-based economic environment built around Hivecoin. Source
Sharplink, Inc. has completed a brand refresh as it reports an increase in its Ethereum holdings and a rising share of institutional investors. Formerly Sharplink Gaming, the company now positions itself as an Ethereum-focused treasury vehicle, holding 867,798 ETH valued at roughly $1.68 billion. The firm emphasises productivity over aggressive accumulation, staking nearly all of its ETH to generate yield, with recent growth driven primarily by staking rewards. According to its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, institutional ownership of SBET stock has climbed to 46%, with around 60 new institutional investors taking positions by the end of 2025.
Despite this expansion, market conditions remain challenging. Ethereum has fallen more than 60% from its August peak, leaving major ETH treasury firms facing substantial unrealised losses. Data from DropsTab estimates Sharplink’s paper loss at approximately $1.39 billion, although larger treasury holder BitMine Immersion Technologies has seen even steeper losses in absolute terms. Sharplink’s leadership continues to stress disciplined management, signalling that 2026 will prioritise stability, measured growth of ETH concentration per share, and avoidance of headline-driven accumulation strategies. Source
Monthly transaction volume on the Lightning Network surpassed $1 billion in November 2025, reaching an estimated $1.1 billion across 5.2 million transactions, according to a report from Bitcoin financial services company River. The growth came despite subdued price action for Bitcoin throughout much of 2025, with adoption largely driven by cryptocurrency exchanges and a rising number of businesses accepting Bitcoin payments. Although total transaction counts remain below the 2023 peak of 6.6 million, previously fuelled by gaming and messaging micropayment experiments, River anticipates renewed momentum as individuals and businesses increasingly explore AI-driven payment use cases.
The Lightning Network continues to gain traction among institutional players due to its ability to reduce settlement times and transaction costs by processing payments offchain. Network capacity rose to 5,606 BTC in December 2025 as more firms integrated Lightning-based services. Institutional adoption has also been demonstrated through high-value transfers, including a $1 million Lightning transaction sent to Kraken by Secure Digital Markets. Such activity highlights the network’s expanding role not only in small retail payments but also in facilitating large, near-instant institutional transactions. Source
Kraken’s tokenised equities platform, xStocks, has surpassed $25 billion in cumulative transaction volume less than eight months after its launch, highlighting rapid adoption of blockchain-based versions of US stocks. The figure includes trading on both centralised and decentralised exchanges, as well as minting and redemption activity, representing a 150% increase since November 2025. xStocks tokens are issued by Backed Finance, which provides 1:1 backed representations of publicly traded equities and ETFs, while Kraken serves as the primary distribution and trading venue. Since debuting in 2025, xStocks has offered over 60 tokenised equities, including shares tied to major US technology companies.
Onchain activity has been a significant growth driver, with xStocks generating $3.5 billion in onchain trading volume and exceeding 80,000 unique onchain holders. Transactions conducted on public blockchains allow self-custody and greater transparency compared with centralised exchange activity, and growing participation indicates integration into broader decentralised finance ecosystems. The xStocks platform now hosts eight of the 11 largest tokenised equities by unique holders, signalling expanding market share. Tokenised stocks continue to grow rapidly, reaching a market capitalisation of $1.2 billion in December 2025, suggesting a “stablecoin moment” for tokenised real-world assets amid a broader crypto market decline. Source
U.S. officials, banking representatives, and crypto industry groups met at the White House to continue discussions on how stablecoin rewards could be treated under proposed digital-asset market-structure legislation. The talks aimed to determine whether incentives, often referred to as rewards or yield, can be offered without classifying stablecoin issuers as deposit-taking institutions. Stablecoin rewards have become a central sticking point in advancing the CLARITY Act, with banks warning that such incentives could blur the line between payment instruments and traditional deposits, while crypto firms argue that prohibiting them could hinder the competitiveness and utility of dollar-pegged tokens.
The meeting included administration officials, lenders, and members of the Crypto Council for Innovation, reflecting ongoing efforts to balance regulatory oversight with innovation in the U.S. digital-asset market. Discussions are expected to continue, as no agreement was reached during the session and it remains uncertain whether lawmakers can resolve the issue in time to progress the CLARITY Act this legislative session. CCI leadership emphasised the commitment to constructive engagement to advance legislation that maintains American leadership in responsible digital asset innovation. Source
Illicit use of stablecoins reached approximately 141 billion dollars in 2025, marking a five-year high, according to TRM Labs. The increase reflects a deeper reliance on stablecoins in specific types of illicit activity, rather than a general rise in crypto-enabled crime. Sanctions evasion was the dominant driver, accounting for around 86 per cent of all illicit crypto flows, with roughly half of the stablecoin volume linked to a Russian ruble-pegged token used primarily within sanctions-related networks. Other state-linked networks tied to countries including China, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela were also involved, showing how stablecoins have become a tool for moving value outside traditional financial systems.
Stablecoins were also heavily used in guarantee marketplaces and large-scale money movement services, with some platforms processing over 17 billion dollars almost entirely in stablecoins, highlighting their role in settlement rather than speculation. Other illicit activities, such as scams, ransomware, and hacking, tend to convert volatile crypto into stablecoins later in the laundering process. Certain sectors, including illicit goods and human trafficking, showed near-total reliance on stablecoins due to their liquidity and payment certainty. Despite the high dollar figure, illicit activity represents a relatively small proportion of the total stablecoin ecosystem, which exceeded trillions of dollars in transactions during 2025. Source
Capital is moving out of DeFi and into tokenised real-world assets as investors seek lower-risk opportunities amid a broader crypto market downturn. Over the past month, tokenized real-world assets grew by 8.7 per cent to 24.8 billion dollars, while DeFi’s total value locked fell 25 per cent to 94.8 billion dollars, with major protocols posting double-digit declines. Experts say this divergence reflects a rotation of capital rather than a full exit, as investors shift from compressed DeFi yields into tokenised treasuries and other regulated assets that provide stable on-chain returns with minimal risk.
Growth in distributed value has been strongest in tokenised U.S. Treasury debt, commodities, and private credit, which saw gains of 10, 20, and 15 per cent respectively. Despite this, tokens linked to these assets have struggled in price due to the broader market downturn, as much of the value accrues to the underlying instruments rather than the tokens themselves. Analysts highlight that the rotation is structural, with real-world asset protocols offering enforceable rights, regulatory clarity, and reliable cash flows, suggesting that the market is maturing and adoption may continue even if token prices do not immediately reflect fundamentals. Source
The White House convened a meeting between representatives from the cryptocurrency and banking sectors to discuss a market structure bill currently under consideration in the US Senate, focusing in particular on stablecoin yield provisions. Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, confirmed that the company’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, attended the meeting. This follows a series of similar discussions, including a Trump administration forum on the CLARITY Act, which aims to establish a framework for the digital asset market but has faced delays in the Senate due to government shutdowns, concerns over conflicts of interest, and calls for inclusion of decentralised finance and tokenised equities.
The legislation has encountered opposition from key industry figures, such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who argued that restrictions on stablecoin rewards and a shift in regulatory authority from the CFTC to the SEC could undermine the bill. While the Senate Agriculture Committee has advanced its version of the market structure bill, the Senate Banking Committee has yet to mark up its version, having postponed the process indefinitely. Crypto Council for Innovation described the latest White House meeting as constructive, aiming to create a framework that protects consumers while supporting US competitiveness. Source
The White House hosted a third meeting between cryptocurrency and banking representatives to discuss stalled provisions in the crypto market structure bill, focusing on how stablecoin rewards should be administered. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt pushed for a compromise allowing third parties, such as exchanges, to offer rewards tied only to transaction activity rather than account balances. Executives from Coinbase and Ripple described the session as constructive, with Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, noting detailed discussions on specific legislative language and Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger calling it a step forward in advancing the bill.
The House previously passed a similar version of the legislation, the CLARITY Act, but the Senate Banking Committee has struggled to secure bipartisan support. Banks have expressed concern that stablecoin rewards could intensify competition with traditional banking, potentially affecting deposit levels, though some representatives indicated competitive pressure is a greater concern than actual deposit flight. Discussions are ongoing, with banking groups set to deliberate on whether to accept the proposed trade-off, and talks are expected to continue in the coming days. Source
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
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