It was a pretty darn impressive week in crypto — mostly good news on the legal and regulatory front paired with big market moves. Pakistan experienced a healthy debate over the state of crypto mining. At the same time, regulatory rollbacks in the US and positioning by dominant actors such as Binance and Ripple created a tumultuous time for the digital asset space.
Bilal Bin Saqib, CEO of the Crypto Council, and advisor to Pakistan’s finance minister, is currently leading discussions with a number of different mining outfits. Such discussions have fueled an optimistic boom of new cryptocurrency mining operations in the area. This decision comes while Pakistan is looking for ways to tap into the opportunities for growth provided by the digital economy.
President Donald Trump acted swiftly and decisively when he signed resolution H.J. Res. 25. This resolution repealed the IRS’s final DeFi broker rule that had been finalized under President Joe Biden. Pro-repeal advocates claimed that the regulation was killing innovation. Critics of the regulation said it would:
"Create impossible reporting requirements, putting onerous burdens on decentralized participants like miners and node operators."
The other, unnamed NFT marketplace, whose name rhymes with Bankless, is already in progress. Like Coinbase, Kraken has recently called on U.S. regulators to spell out that platforms like its own shouldn’t be treated as securities exchanges or brokers. The request underscores persistent confusion over how digital assets are classified and regulated.
Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would be disbanding its crypto unit. The DOJ’s announcement is a welcome signal that it will be narrowing the scope of its cryptocurrency enforcement activities. The ruling undoubtedly indicates a new direction in the DOJ’s strategy towards regulating digital assets.
The Trump-linked DeFi project that Trump and his family have been promoting has already issued a vehement denial of the charge, claiming that it didn’t sell $8 million in ETH earlier this week. This announcement followed news that a wallet—which blockchain data firm Arkham named as belonging to the project—had dumped liquidated ETH.
An Indian cryptocurrency exchange received approval from more than 93% of its creditors. Such strong support for its restructuring proposal lays the groundwork for a robust revival to pass.
Binance co-founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao’s agreement to advise Pakistan’s recently formed Crypto Council coincides with Binance getting cozy with U.S. Treasury officials. Recently, Binance CEO Richard Teng said that:
"Trade protectionism" could actually "accelerate interest in crypto as a non-sovereign store of value."
According to a court filing, this unexpected development has thrown Binance’s lengthy legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into limbo. At the same time, the SEC has stopped its investigation of Ripple for violations of federal securities laws, at Ripple’s request. Ripple (XRP) concluded its protracted legal fight with SEC, and it only set them back $50 million. Ripple just disclosed its acquisition of brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. This purchase ranks as one of the biggest purchases in the short history of the cryptocurrency market.
Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson took to the airwaves recently to discuss an amazing prediction he received on a CNBC podcast. He predicted Bitcoin will skyrocket to $250,000 by the end of this year or next. TRUMP) token is set to receive about $320 million in new tokens minted next week.
