The United Kingdom’s Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves have proposed new crypto rules aimed at “support[ing] innovation while cracking down on fraudsters.”

In an April 29 notice, the UK government announced draft rules for cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), that would bring “crypto exchanges, dealers and agents” in line with regulations, as many residents were “exposed to risky firms and scams.” It cited discussions with US government officials, including a proposal from the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Hester Peirce for a US-UK cross-border sandbox.

“Today’s announcement sends a clear signal: Britain is open for business — but closed to fraud, abuse, and instability,” said the notice. “The government will bring forward final cryptoasset legislation at the earliest opportunity, following engagement on the draft provisions with industry.”

Related: UK trade bodies ask government to make crypto a ‘strategic priority’

The Treasury and Reeves said the UK was committed to making the country a “global hub for digital asset technologies,” referencing the goals of the previous government under the Conservative Party. A 2023 consultation paper from the Treasury proposed “bringing a wide range of cryptoasset activities,” including trading and issuing stablecoins, in line with UK regulations.

Praise from industry

In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, Ian​​​​ Silvera, the associate director for the self-regulatory trade association CryptoUK, called the government announcement a “very much welcomed and a big victory” for crypto firms. However, he added that the industry could also benefit from regulatory clarity on liquid staking and DeFi.

“Though there has been good regulatory progress from the [Financial Conduct Authority], which published its crypto roadmap late last year, the UK government first committed to becoming a global crypto hub in 2022,” said Silvera. “Progress has been slow since then, but as the Chancellor has recognised, the mainstreaming of the industry has continued, with now 12% of all UK adults owning some sort of crypto, up from 4% in 2021.”

The FCA plans to publish final rules on crypto sometime in 2026, setting the groundwork for the UK regulatory regime to go live. The roadmap to greater regulatory clarity in the UK could follow the European Union, which started to implement its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework in December.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

Opinion by: Felix Xu, co-founder of ARPA Network and Bella Protocol

AI has been a dominant narrative since 2024, but users and companies still cannot completely trust it. Whether it’s finances, personal data or healthcare decisions, hesitation around AI’s reliability and integrity remains high.

This growing AI trust deficit is now one of the most significant barriers to widespread adoption. Decentralized, privacy-preserving technologies are quickly being recognized as viable solutions that offer verifiability, transparency and stronger data protection without compromising AI’s growth.

The pervasive AI trust deficit 

AI was the second most popular category occupying crypto mindshare in 2024, with over 16% investor interest. Startups and multinational companies have allocated considerable resources to AI to expand the technology to people’s finances, health, and every other aspect.

For example, the emerging DeFi x AI (DeFAI) sector shipped more than 7,000 projects with a peak market cap of $7 billion in early 2025 before the markets crashed. DeFAI has demonstrated the transformative potential of AI to make decentralized finance (DeFi) more user-friendly with natural language commands, execute complex multi-step operations, and conduct complex market research.

Innovation alone hasn’t, however, solved AI’s core vulnerabilities: hallucinations, manipulation and privacy concerns.

In November 2024, a user convinced an AI agent on Base to send $47,000 despite being programmed never to do so. While the scenario was part of a game, it raised real concerns: Can AI agents be trusted with autonomy over financial operations?

Audits, bug bounties and red teams help but don’t eliminate the risk of prompt injection, logic flaws or unauthorized data use. According to KPMG (2023), 61% of people still hesitate to trust AI, and even industry professionals share that concern. A Forrester survey cited in Harvard Business Review found that 25% of analysts named trust as AI’s biggest obstacle.

That skepticism remains strong. A poll conducted at The Wall Street Journal’s CIO Network Summit found that 61% of America’s top IT leaders are still experimenting with AI agents. The rest were still experimenting or avoiding them altogether, citing lack of reliability, cybersecurity risks and data privacy as top concerns.

Industries like healthcare feel these risks most acutely. Sharing electronic health records (EHR) with LLMs to improve outcomes is promising, but it is also legally and ethically risky without airtight privacy protections.

For example, the healthcare industry suffers adversely from data privacy breaches. This problem compounds when hospitals share EHR data to train AI algorithms without protecting patient privacy.

Decentralized, privacy-preserving infrastructure

J.M. Barrie wrote in Peter Pan, “All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.” Trust isn’t just a nice to have in AI — it’s foundational. AI’s projected economic boon of $15.7 trillion by 2030 may never materialize without it.

Enter decentralized cryptographic systems like zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge (ZK-SNARKs). These technologies offer a new path: allowing users to verify AI decisions without revealing personal data or the model’s inner workings.

By applying privacy-preserving cryptography to machine learning infrastructure, AI can be auditable, trustworthy and privacy-respecting, especially in sectors like finance and healthcare.

Recent: Blockchain’s next big breakthroughs: What to watch

ZK-SNARKs rely on advanced cryptographic proof systems that let one party prove something is true without revealing how. For AI, this enables models to be verified for correctness without disclosing their training data, input values or proprietary logic.

Imagine a decentralized AI lending agent. Instead of reviewing full financial records, it checks encrypted credit score proofs to make autonomous loan decisions without accessing sensitive data. This protects both user privacy and institutional risk.

ZK technology also addresses the black-box nature of LLMs. By using dynamic proofs, it’s possible to verify AI outputs while shielding both data integrity and model architecture. That’s a win for users and companies — one no longer fears data misuse, while the other safeguards its IP.

Decentralized AI 

We’re entering a new phase of AI where better models aren’t enough. Users demand transparency; enterprises need resilience; regulators expect accountability.

Decentralized, verifiable cryptography delivers all three.

Technologies like ZK-SNARKs, threshold multiparty computation, and BLS-based verification systems aren’t just “crypto tools” — they’re becoming the foundation of trustworthy AI. Combined with blockchain’s transparency, they create a powerful new stack for privacy-preserving, auditable and reliable AI systems.

Gartner predicted that 80% of companies will be using AI by 2026. Adoption won’t be driven by hype or resources alone. It will hinge on building AI that people and companies can actually trust.

And that starts with decentralization.

Opinion by: Felix Xu, co-founder of ARPA Network and Bella Protocol.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Cryptocurrency compliance firm Bitrace found that $649 billion worth of stablecoins flowed through addresses classified as high-risk in 2024, according to an April 29 report.Bitrace defines high-risk blockchain addresses as those used by illegal entities to receive, transfer or store stablecoins.

Crypto compliance firms typically score crypto wallet addresses based on their likelihood of involvement in illicit activities. The higher the risk, the higher the likelihood of foul play, and the less likely compliant crypto businesses are to accept the assets.

Per the report, the amount accounted for roughly 5.14% of all stablecoin transaction volume in 2024. This is down 0.8% from 5.94% the previous year, but significantly higher than the 2.8% reported in 2022 and 1.63% in 2021.

Proportion of high-risk stablecoin transactions. Source: Bitrace

Related: Americans lost $9.3B to crypto fraud in 2024 — FBI

Tron USDT tops high-risk transactions

Tron-based USDt (USDT) dominates high-risk stablecoin transactions, with Bitrace data indicating that well over 70% of the volume moved on the network. The remaining high-risk stablecoin transactions are mostly Ethereum-based USDt and a small amount of USDC (USDC).

A likely explanation for the prevalence of USDT is likely due to its larger market capitalization and adoption compared with other stablecoins. At the time of writing, CoinMarketCap shows that USDt has a market cap of over $148 billion, while USDC stands at over $62 billion.

Tron’s prevalence is not as easy to explain. Ethereum remains the more popular choice for most stablecoin users, with DefiLlama showing nearly $124.3 billion worth of stablecoins circulating on the network. Tron ranks second, with about $71 billion — almost 43% less than Ethereum.

When comparing USDT balances alone, Tron holds slightly more than Ethereum: 47.4% of USDT supply, versus Ethereum’s 45.44%.

High-risk inflows by stablecoin type. Source: Bitrue

Related: Tether stablecoin issuer and Tron launch financial crime unit

Crypto gambling continues its rise

Bitrace also reported that in 2024, online gambling platforms processed $217.8 billion worth of stablecoins — a 17.5% increase over the previous year.

Once again, USDT also dominated this type of activity. Still, USDC’s market share is rapidly rising, clocking in at 13.36% in 2024.

Stablecoin inflows to gambling platforms. Source: Bitrue

The data follows recent reports that crypto casinos generated more than $81 billion in revenue in 2024, even as regulators in key jurisdictions continued to block access to the platforms, according to a new report.

Magazine: Ridiculous ‘Chinese Mint’ crypto scam, Japan dives into stablecoins: Asia Express

Key takeaways:

Strong Ethereum ETF inflows signal high institutional demand.

Ethereum’s $51.8B TVL and 30% DEX weekly volume rise show robust network strength.

A bull flag pattern on the ETH’s four-hour chart targets $2,100.

Ether’s (ETH) price rose to a new range high at $1,860 on April 28, its highest value since April 2.

Several analysts argue that the ETH price needs to hold above $1,800 to increase the chances of rising higher.

“Once ETH confirms this 4H close above resistance [$1,800], Ether and altcoins will finally get their time to shine,” trader Kiran Gadakh said in an April 29 post on X.  

“I can feel it in my bones, $2,000 ETH coming fast.” ETH/USD 12-hour chart. Source: Kiran Gadak

Popular analyst Nebraskangooner opined that if ETH faces high volume rejection from the $1,800 level, it might drop to test support levels around $1,600.

Source: NebraskangoonerEthereum ETF demand returns

Several data metrics suggest that Ether is well-positioned to break out toward $2,000 in the following days or weeks.

One factor supporting Ether’s bull case is resurgent institutional demand, reflected by significant inflows into spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

On April 28, Ethereum ETFs saw a net inflow totaling $64.1 million. This followed inflows totalling $151.7 million during the week ending April 25, the highest since February 2025. 

Spot Ethereum ETF netflows. Source: SoSoValue

The increase in institutional demand was reinforced by net inflows of $183 million into Ethereum investment products last week, ending an eight-week streak of outflows, as reported by CoinShares. 

This trend reflects growing confidence among traditional finance players, as observed by market analysts like CoinShares’ head of research, James Butterfill, who noted:

“We believe concerns over the tariff impact on corporate earnings and the dramatic weakening of the US dollar are why investors have turned toward digital assets, which are being seen as an emerging safe haven.”

Institutional buying creates sustained upward pressure on Ether’s price by absorbing the available supply.

Strong Ethereum onchain activity is back

Ethereum remains the undisputed top layer-1 blockchain with more than $51.8 billion in total value locked (TVL) on the network, according to data from DefiLlama. The chart below shows that Ethereum’s TVL has increased by approximately 16% over the last seven days.

Ethereum TVL and daily DEX volumes. Source: DefiLlama

Aave was among the strongest performers in Ethereum deposits, with the TVL rising 13.5% over seven days. Other notable increases included Lido (12%), EigenLayer (13%), and Ether.fi (12%).

Compared to other top-layer networks, the Ethereum network towers above its rivals in terms of TVL growth in the daily and weekly time frames, except SUI, which has seen a 47% increase in its TVL over the last seven days.

Ethereum’s daily DEX volumes have increased by more than 30% over the last week, to $1.65 billion. However, this is significantly lower than the 78% and 44% increases on SUI and Solana, respectively. 

Related: Ethereum Foundation shuffles leadership, splits board and management

ETH price bull flags targets $2,100

The ETH/USD pair has a good chance of resuming its upward momentum despite the rejection at $1,860, as the chart shows a classic bullish pattern.

Ether’s price action over the past week has led to a bull flag pattern on the four-hour chart, as shown in the figure below. A four-hour candlestick close above the flag’s upper boundary at $1,800 on April 29 suggests the start of an upward move.

The flagpole’s height sets the target, which projects Ether’s price ascent to $2,100 or approximately a 15% increase from the current price.

ETH/USD 4-hour chart w/ bull flag pattern. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Another bullish indicator is the relative strength index, which is moving within the positive region at 60, suggesting that the market conditions still favor the upside.

As Cointelegraph reported, increased demand from the $1,700 area (at the 20-day SMA) should serve as a solid foundation for ETH price to reach the $2,110 level, eventually topping out at $2,500.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

The United States’ rejection of a central bank digital currency has not halted the progress of CBDCs globally, but their success has been questionable so far, according to a former Binance executive.

Global CBDC projects have not failed, but they have also not become what they were anticipated to be, according to Olga Goncharova, CEO at the consulting firm Rizz Go and former director of government relations in the Commonwealth of Independent States at Binance.

“CBDCs were conceived as a technological breakthrough, but so far they look like expensive imitations of existing traditional fiat currencies that citizens and businesses already use through online banking and payment apps,” Goncharova told Cointelegraph at the Blockchain Forum in Moscow.

Olga Goncharova during a panel on Web3 geopolitics at the Blockchain Forum 2025 on April 23. Source: Blockchain Forum

Though some of the CBDC-like creatives date back to the 1990s, modern initiatives are yet to offer users a real added value compared to traditional payment channels, she said.

CBDC leaders like China struggle with adoption

“Today it is clear that the expectations around CBDCs were overestimated,” Goncharova claimed, adding that none of the jurisdictions worldwide have succeeded in the mass adoption of retail CBDCs.

“Even in China, where the digital yuan project has been moving longer and more actively than others, its share in the payment system remains minimal,” she added, referring to multiple online reports suggesting that China’s CBDC has been struggling amid slow adoption.

Source: Mercator Institute for China Studies

With China’s CBDC early-stage research starting in 2014, China’s digital yuan is known as one of the biggest CBDC projects worldwide, offering an electronic version of the Chinese yuan intended for online and offline transactions.

Related: China selling seized crypto to top up coffers as economy slows: Report

The Chinese government has been actively promoting the use of the digital yuan. Still, some reports declared China’s digital project a failure in late 2024, referring to the downfall of Yao Qian, the first director of CBDC development at China’s central bank. Late last year, he was reportedly expelled from public office by the government.

EU pushes a digital euro for autonomy

Every country has its reasons to pursue a CBDC, Goncharova continued, noting that the European Union has been pushing its digital euro project to protect its financial autonomy.

“In the EU, the digital euro is perceived more as an instrument of strategic autonomy than as a response to market demand,” she stated, adding that its goal is to reduce reliance on payment giants like Visa and Mastercard.

Source: Reuters

However, the efforts to create a pan-European payment system have faced serious challenges, such as market share concerns by banks as well as adoption difficulties.

“The European Central Bank has not yet decided whether the digital euro will operate on the blockchain, as it does not see convincing cases for programmability and points to technological risks,” Goncharova said.

Russia delays a digital ruble

Russia has emerged as one of the most active jurisdictions in the global CBDC race, but it’s yet to roll out its digital currency as well, which has been on multiple trials since early 2022.

After seeing many launch delays, a digital ruble could be postponed further as Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina in February announced that the mass adoption of a digital ruble would occur later than planned.

A panel at the Blockchain Forum 2025 in Moscow. Source: Blockchain Forum

At the same time, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has recently claimed that the digital ruble is scheduled to be rolled out for commercial banks in the second half of 2025.

Related: Russian ruble stablecoin: Exec lists 7 ‘Tether replica’ features

“In Russia, there is no urgent need to reduce dependence on foreign payment systems as in the EU,” Goncharova told Cointelegraph, adding:

“The digital ruble is rather perceived as a tool for increasing the efficiency of internal settlements. The project is still at the testing stage. Its further development will depend on how clearly the tasks are formulated and whether there is practical sense for users and the economy.”

While Russia has been delaying its digital ruble, some officials have recently called on the government to create ruble-pegged stablecoins, echoing the US’s stablecoin push.

While several ruble stablecoins have already been introduced, it remains to be seen whether the initiatives can compete with giants like Tether’s USDt (USDT).

Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race

The Beijing city administration has announced a plan for local blockchain development and implementation over the next two years.

According to an April 29 announcement, the plan was jointly developed by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee, the Cyberspace Administration Office, the Bureau of Government Services and Data, the Bureau of Economy and Information Technology and the Bureau of Commerce. The implementation is expected to start this year and continue until 2027.

The announcement. Source: Beijing government

The Beijing Blockchain Innovation and Application Development Action Plan recognizes blockchain as a “critical foundational technology for industrial digitalization and vital digital infrastructure.”

Notably, the objectives also include plans to “enhance the value extraction from digital assets through blockchain,” which may indicate crypto mining. The announcement also claims that the city has already invested heavily in this area of research:

“Beijing has significantly progressed in autonomous blockchain technology development and application scenarios.“

Related: An overview of China’s digital yuan

Beijing bets on blockchain for economic growth

The plan involves developing blockchain software that targets breakthroughs in cryptography, confidential computing and distributed systems. The project also includes the development of blockchain infrastructure, including national blockchain hub nodes and platforms for trusted digital identity and distributed data directories.

Industries targeted for blockchain application include healthcare, education, large artificial intelligence models, financial services and transportation. The objective is to enhance efficiency and trust:

“The aim is to optimize business processes, ensure trustworthy data sharing, and innovate service models, establishing benchmark applications to drive broader blockchain adoption.“

Related: Trump’s crypto push vs. Xi’s digital yuan: What it means for the future of money

One blockchain, one network, one platform

The announcement cites the “one blockchain, one network, one platform” principle. By 2027, the project aims to implement dedicated blockchain chips, privacy protection features, crosschain interoperability and distributed networking.

The project hopes to achieve petabyte-scale trusted node storage, large-scale blockchain interoperability, and a hundred-million-user-scale interoperable trusted identity system. The announcement promises the development of at least 20 blockchain use cases.

The announcement follows Beijing’s release of a white paper to foster innovation and advance the Web3 industry in May 2023. The “Web3 Innovation and Development White Paper” recognized Web3 technology as an “inevitable trend for future Internet industry development.“

The commission behind the paper hoped to establish Beijing as an innovation hub for the digital economy and planned to allocate a minimum of 100 million yuan ($14 million) annually until this year.

Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express

A16z Crypto led a $25 million investment round into Miden, an independent blockchain project spun out of Polygon Labs.

Miden closed its $25 million seed rounds led by a16z Crypto, 1kx, and Hack VC, with participation from Finality Capital Partners, Symbolic Capital, P2 Ventures, Delta Fund, MH Ventures, as well as from angel investors, including MakerDAO’s Rune Christensen and EigenLayer’s Sreeram Kannan.

Miden is a zero-knowledge (ZK) proof-powered blockchain focused on high scalability through its hybrid consensus mode, which moves transaction execution from the mainnet on “edge devices,” referring to users’ devices.

Designed for institutions that value confidentiality, Miden enables applications to execute both public and private transactions with full privacy, according to an April 29 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Execution on edge devices can help with the “bottlenecks that limit traditional chains,” said Bobbin Threadbare, the co-founder at Miden and former engineer at Meta, adding:

“It allows blockchains to scale without relying on supernodes or sacrificing decentralization, while making privacy a built-in feature instead of an afterthought.”

The $25 million will be used to fund Miden’s development, and its mainnet launch is slated for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Related: Coinbase to launch yield-bearing Bitcoin fund for institutions

Miden is “the future of blockchains,” says Polygon Labs’ Nailwal

“Miden is what the future of blockchains looks like. With edge execution at its core, it’s not just an upgrade — it’s the blueprint for the final form of blockchain architecture,” according to Sandeep Nailwal, the founder of Polygon Labs.

“With ambitions to rival Solana, Sui, and Aptos — and to be the epicenter of crosschain liquidity for Agglayer as a native chain and help grow the Agglayer ecosystem— building independently naturally positions Miden to attract the capital and focus needed to compete at the highest level,” Nailwal added.

Miden plans to airdrop around 10% of its native tokens to Polygon (POL) tokenholders and stakers to reward its native ecosystem.

Related: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF buys $970M in BTC as inflows surge, boost market

No existing blockchain is ready for mass adoption: Miden co-founder

“The reality is that no existing blockchain is ready for mass adoption,” either lacking privacy, scalability, or Web3-native principles such as censorship resistance, according to Miden’s Threadbare.

However, Miden’s infrastructure may be a “catalyst for large institutional adoption,” he claimed, adding:

“The reality is that up until this point, blockchains have not been in the position to offer privacy without compromising on performance or programmability, which is a major issue.”

Large tech firms joining the space require privacy solutions with regulatory compliance, leaving a significant gap for solutions like Miden, added the co-founder.

Inco: the fourth layer of the blockchain stack

Other industry watchers have also criticized the industry’s lack of confidentiality for limiting institutional adoption.

Confidential computing technologies such as fully homomorphic encryption could unlock the next $1 trillion worth of capital for the crypto space with continued technological development, Remi Gai, the founder of Inco, told Cointelegraph.

Magazine: Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra’s plan to win trust: Hodler’s Digest, April 13 – 19

The first 100 days of the administration of US President Donald Trump have deeply impacted the crypto industry, starting with his own memecoin and culminating in a Bitcoin reserve and a spate of blockchain policymaking. 

Trump’s trade war with the entire world has had the largest short-term impact on crypto markets, as crypto prices have wavered amid macroeconomic worry and uncertainty. Higher prices on electronics mean Bitcoin (BTC) miners are finding it harder to break even, and de-dollarization concerns abound. 

Still, crypto markets have shown some resilience and cause for optimism in the administration’s crypto-friendly policies. A number of pro-crypto leaders have been appointed to key government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The crypto industry’s long-awaited regulatory framework is also imminent.

Trump’s first 100 days have seen remarkable changes for the crypto industry, and it appears that things are only getting started. Here’s a look at what’s happened so far.

Jan. 20 — Trump’s first 100 days kick off with a memecoin

On Jan. 20, while Trump was sworn into office in the rotunda of the Capitol Building, his family’s crypto investment firm, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), launched its second token sale of WLFI tokens.

Massive demand saw prices initially spike, though the true value of the tokens, if any, is yet to be determined, as WLFI is currently not transferable and cannot be traded on any exchanges. 

The memecoin served as a kickoff for Trump’s crypto agenda, which has seen unprecedented support for the industry in Washington, DC, along with a slew of moral and ethical concerns among observers and lawmakers. 

Related: Trump’s WLFI crypto investments aren’t paying off

Jan. 20 — Pro-crypto leaders head up federal agencies on “day one”

The president of the US sets the tone for several federal regulators, including those overseeing crypto. Trump immediately set out to appoint a number of pro-crypto lawyers and businessmen to head up the SEC, the CFTC and other critical federal agencies.

Trump nominated businessman Paul Atkins to lead the SEC on “day one” of his presidency. Atkins would replace Gary Gensler, who was perceived by many in the crypto industry as an enemy to adoption and the industry’s progress. 

Also on day one, Trump appointed businessman and crypto investor David Sacks as chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology — or the crypto and AI “czar.”

Atkins wouldn’t be confirmed by the Senate until April 9 and sworn in on April 21. But in the meantime, Trump also tapped former CFTC Commissioner and crypto proponent Brian Quintenz to head up that agency. 

Jan. 21 — $500-billion Stargate AI initiative 

In a press conference, Trump announced a $500-billion private-led AI infrastructure investment called “Stargate.” The president claimed the project — led by ChatGPT creator OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle — would create some 10,000 American jobs.

Trump said the US needed to lead the world in AI innovation and keep development onshore. “China is a competitor, others are competitors. We want it to be in this country, and we’re making it available,” he said.

OpenAI claimed that the project would “not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies.”

Jan. 21 — Pardon for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht 

Trump announced on Truth Social that he had called the family of Silk Road 2.0 founder Ross Ulbricht after commuting his sentence.

After his arrest in 2013, Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 without the possibility of parole for his role in facilitating the trafficking of narcotics and other illicit substances. 

Ulbricht’s case became a rallying point for libertarian movements and prison reform advocates alike. Libertarian-minded crypto advocates supported Ulbricht, as his platform was one of the first places people could actually spend Bitcoin. 

Crypto advocates supported Ulbricht, with many believing he did nothing wrong. Source: The Bitcoin Historian

Freeing Ulbricht was one of the many campaign promises Trump made to the crypto community.

Jan. 23 — Ban on digital dollar, establishing a crypto working group

With an executive order, Trump established an internal working group to focus on making the US “the world capital in crypto.” The order also prohibited “the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use” of a US central bank digital currency (CBDC). 

CBDCs are a contentious issue in the crypto community, with many privacy activists claiming that they are another form of state surveillance and government control. Enthusiasm over their creation from central bankers has further set the more libertarian-minded crypto community against their creation.

Trump signing the executive order. Source: ABC News

The working group would kickstart the process for creating the forthcoming US Bitcoin and crypto reserves. 

Feb. 1 — Trade war begins with tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada

One of the promises of the Trump campaign was to rectify the “bad deals” that the US had with many of its oldest allies and most important trading partners. 

Just over a week after he was sworn into office, Trump announced sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, citing border security concerns and the supposed proliferation of cross-border trade of fentanyl from those countries. 

The same day, Canada announced retaliatory measures. On Feb. 3, Mexico promised to step up security of its northern border, responding to American requests for increased patrols. This led Trump to reverse initial tariff plans on both countries. 

The unexpected hostile tariffs from a close partner and ally sent stock and crypto prices tumbling. They marked the beginning of the macroeconomic uncertainty that has come to characterize the early days of the Trump administration. 

Feb. 12 — Vinnik-Foegel prisoner swap with Russia

Alexander Vinnik, the convicted money launderer who funneled Bitcoin stolen in the infamous Mt. Gox hack through his crypto exchange BTC-e, returned to his home country of Russia.

Vinnik pled guilty to money laundering conspiracy charges in 2024. BTC-e processed more than $9 billion in transactions and had over 1 million users worldwide, many of whom were in the US.

Vinnik was exchanged for American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who was teaching at the Anglo-American School of Moscow and had been in a Russian jail since 2021 after being arrested for illegal possession of cannabis.

Feb. 18 — Bankman-Fried makes veiled plea for release

In an interview with The New York Sun, the former CEO of now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, addressed his controversial political contributions, saying the Republican Party was always “far more reasonable.”

Bankman-Fried, or SBF, made widely publicized contributions to the Democratic Party as he purportedly tried to influence democratic policymakers’ approach to the digital asset industry. It later became known that SBF was playing both sides of the aisle, donating significant funds to Republicans, though the exact amount remains unknown. 

In the interview, SBF likened his position to that of Trump, claiming that he’d been unfairly treated by the criminal justice system. SBF called into question the conduct of the federal judge overseeing his trial, Judge Lewis Kaplan. “I know President Trump had a lot of frustrations with Judge Kaplan. I certainly did as well.”

Observers saw the interview as an attempt to elicit a pardon from Trump. Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin advocate facing criminal tax evasion charges, has made an outright appeal.

March 7 — Trump establishes Bitcoin reserve and crypto stockpile

On March 7, the 46th day of Trump’s presidency, he signed an executive order establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.” Trump made big promises about crypto adoption on the campaign trail, including the possibility of a long-sought-after Bitcoin reserve.

The US reserve, however, would fall short of expectations among Bitcoin maximalists. Rather than create a concrete plan for the US government to purchase and hold Bitcoin, it merely created a single reserve to pool all Bitcoin the government had seized during criminal proceedings.

While the order does state that the government may purchase additional Bitcoin, it must do so in a budget-neutral fashion. 

In tandem with the Bitcoin reserve, Trump also established a US Digital Asset Stockpile containing other cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Cardano (ADA).

March 7 — White House Crypto Summit

Leaders of the crypto industry descended on Washington for a meeting at the White House to discuss a wide range of topics related to crypto regulation and the development of the industry in the US.

Attendees included Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and “crypto czar” David Sacks. 

While some attendees, including Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, were optimistic about the event’s focus on strengthening the US crypto industry, some crypto luminaries who were not on the list were less impressed.

Cardano and IOHK co-founder Charles Hoskinson, who did not attend the event, noted in a video stream that real change — i.e., legislation — must be made in Congress.

“Everybody focuses on the White House because it’s simple and easy to do so. […] And as much as we, as an industry, want this to be a short process, it’s going to be a long and methodical process,” Hoskinson said.Others put it more simply:

Source: George MandrikMarch 25 — WLFI goes stablecoin

WLFI expanded its offerings in March with the soft launch of its stablecoin USD1. The coin, “100% backed by short-term US government treasuries, US dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents,” launched on the Ethereum and BNB Chain networks.

News of the token’s launch came just days after WLFI secured more than $500 million by selling its own WLFI tokens.US lawmakers subsequently called for an ethics probe into WLFI and cited the president’s ability to influence stablecoin policy as a major conflict of interest with the project. 

Related: Atkins becomes next SEC chair: What’s next for the crypto industry

April 2 — Liberation Day

Doubling down on his belligerent trade policy, Trump levies tariffs on all US trade partners on what he dubs “Liberation Day.” At a special event at the White House, Trump signed an executive order levying reciprocal tariffs on every country with a tariff on US goods, starting at a 10% minimum.

Markets saw a spate of red across the board following the order, and many economic observers raised concerns over a looming recession. Crypto miners based in the US were further squeezed as their operation costs, namely for buying new mining rigs, increased significantly. Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci told Cointelegraph, “I would say that he’s had the worst 95 days in modern presidential history. The markets recovered a little, but we’ve got $9 trillion taken from the stock market. You had a growing economy that’s now heading into a medium-sized recession, possibly a steep recession.”

He said that Trump declared a trade war “without any real weaponry” and subsequently lied about progress when the president claimed China was attempting to negotiate.“The lies are ok — everyone accepts that he’s a congenital liar […] but when you’re declaring war on people and then you’re lying, it’s really bad.”

April 25 — $300,000-per-plate memecoin dinner raises call for impeachment

Top Trump memecoin holders were reportedly offered an opportunity to have dinner with the president, sparking renewed concerns over his crypto project and prompting one US lawmaker to support impeachment. 

At a town hall meeting in his home state of Georgia, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff said he “strongly” supports impeachment. “When the sitting president of the United States is selling access for what are effectively payments directly to him, there is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense,” he said.

TRUMP holders can register to have dinner with the President. Source: gettrumpmemes.com

Rumors on social media stated that $300,000 would grant tokenholders an audience with the president, a claim the Trump administration later denied.

Trump’s first 100 days could jeopardize change

The first 100 days of Trump’s presidency have brought unprecedented change to the crypto industry. Simultaneously, they have opened it up to increased criticism and controversy as the president’s personal ties with blockchain projects raise ethical questions. 

These controversies may well jeopardize the industry’s efforts to effect change in Congress, according to Scaramucci, who said, “Trump has so inflamed everything that he’s made it even hard for [stablecoin legislation] to happen.”

The STABLE Act, which aims to provide guardrails for stablecoin issuance in the US, was introduced in the House of Representatives on March 26 and passed a committee vote on April 3, with prominent Democrats dissenting. The bill will soon head to the floor for a general vote before going to the Senate.

The Senate’s GENIUS Act has recently made headway, passing a vote in the Banking Committee, largely along party lines.

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USDC stablecoin issuer Circle has received in-principle approval (IPA) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the company announced on April 29.

The approval moves Circle closer to obtaining a full Financial Services Permission (FSP) license, allowing it to operate as a regulated money services provider in the United Arab Emirates, the firm said in an official press release.

Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s Co-Founder and CEO, said the approval “advances our strategy to establish deep roots in markets embracing the onchain economy.” He added:

“It also underscores Circle’s enduring commitment to global stablecoin oversight—strengthening trust, compliance, and adoption worldwide, while laying a resilient foundation for the internet financial system.”

Comments from Circle CEO and Chief of Market Development at ADGM regarding the regulatory nod. Source: PR

Related: Circle files for Initial Public Offering planned for April

Circle partners with Hub71

In addition to regulatory progress, Circle announced a partnership with Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s tech ecosystem. As part of the collaboration, the two firms plan to work together on projects within ADGM’s digital regulatory sandbox.

Circle will also join Hub71’s digital assets group, sharing its experience with a community of more than 500 tech startups and investors.

Circle’s flagship USDC token is the second-largest stablecoin in terms of market capitalization. As of now, there are $62.03 billion USDC (USDC) tokens in circulation, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Meanwhile, Circle has been pushing into new global markets amid rising interest in stablecoins.

In July 2024, Circle became the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.

In Japan, Circle expanded its presence through a partnership with SBI Holdings. On March 26, 2025, SBI VC Trade, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, launched USDC trading, making it the first stablecoin approved under Japan’s regulatory framework.

Related: Circle executive denies claims of seeking US banking license

UAE aims to position itself a major Web3 hub

The United Arab Emirates has been actively working to establish itself as a global Web3 hub, leveraging progressive regulation and strategic partnerships to attract leading digital asset firms.

In August 2024, the country ranked third in a crypto adoption index released by Henley & Partners, an investment migration consultancy firm.

On April 6, Dubai’s real estate and crypto regulatory authorities signed a new agreement aimed at expanding digital asset adoption in the real estate sector. The agreement will link Dubai’s real estate registry with property tokenization through a governance system. 

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Bitcoin mining firm Phoenix Group announced the addition of 52 megawatts (MW) worth of mining capacity to its capabilities in Ethiopia.

According to an April 29 announcement, with this latest addition, Phoenix’s Bitcoin mining capacity in Ethiopia reaches 132 MW. The firm’s global capacity now reportedly exceeds 500 MW.

Phoenix’s co-founder and CEO, Munaf Ali, said the firm’s strategy relies on “securing prime locations with abundant, low-cost energy.”

“Initiatives like our latest expansion in Ethiopia are pivotal steps, not only creating significant value today but also solidifying our position,” he said.

Related: Arkansas city rejects crypto mining proposal after community pushback

Building on previous agreements

The news follows Phoenix Group signing an agreement that secures the right to 80 MW of power in Ethiopia in January. An announcement published at the time noted that the new Bitcoin mining site was scheduled to go live in the second quarter of 2025.

The 52 MW site will be developed in two phases, with the first one using just 20 MW to power 5,300 air-cooled mining units with an expected hashrate of 1.2 exahashes per second. In the second phase — expected to reach completion by the end of Q2 2025 — the site will use the full 52 MW, water cooling, and produce an estimated 2.4 exahashes per second of hashrate.

An exahash is a unit of computational power used mainly to measure the speed of cryptocurrency mining networks, especially Bitcoin. Exahashes quantify how many trillions of calculations a mining network can perform per second.

Reza Nedjatian, the CEO of the firm’s mining, artificial intelligence and data center subsidiary, highlighted that the plant will be powered by renewable energy:

“With 132 MW now running on clean hydropower, we’re proud to set a new benchmark for sustainable mining in Africa and deliver large-scale operations in energy-rich regions.”

Related: LAPD recovers $2.7M worth of Bitcoin miners stolen in airport heist

A fast-burn company

Phoenix Group became a publicly-traded company following its late 2023 listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The firm successfully closed its initial public offering (IPO) with an oversubscription of 33 times, reporting that its offer of 907,323,529 shares saw “overwhelming demand.”

Following the listing, Phoenix Group shares rapidly rose by 50% following the $371 million IPO, opening at 2.25 dirhams ($0.6) and rapidly reaching 1.50 dirhams ($0.41). At the time of writing, shares are trading at around $7.94.

Phoenix Group share price chart. Source: Google Finance

The firm is known for its large-scale mining initiatives, having acquired $187 million worth of Bitcoin mining equipment in a single transaction in early 2024.

Bitcoin mining is not the only activity the firm is involved in.

In 2024, Tether, the largest stablecoin provider in the digital asset industry, announced plans to launch a new stablecoin pegged to the United Arab Emirates dirham. Tether partnered with Phoenix Group and Green Acorn Investments on the project.

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