Top Stories of The Week
US Senate Agriculture Committee advances crypto market structure bill
US lawmakers began a key markup session Thursday morning on a long-awaited crypto market structure bill, marking a pivotal step in Congress’ effort to establish clearer rules for digital asset markets.
The bill has been months in the making and follows sustained pressure from the crypto industry and some lawmakers to move beyond enforcement-led regulation.
“The Senate is laser-focused on getting market structure legislation right, and we thank all the lawmakers and stakeholders from across the crypto community who have put in the time and effort to get us to this point,” said Mason Lynaugh, community director of the digital asset advocacy organization Stand With Crypto.
“This bill would provide CFTC spot market authority for digital commodities, clear rules for intermediaries, and robust consumer protections, including listing standards, disclosure requirements, and safeguards for customer property,” said Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim, referring to the market structure bill.
US senators quiz deputy AG over DOJ crypto unit shutdown
Six US senators have challenged Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for shutting down the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) cryptocurrency enforcement team in April last year while holding substantial amounts of cryptocurrency at the time.
Blanche disbanded the DOJ’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team in April 2025, several months after Donald Trump was inaugurated as US president following a pro-crypto campaign.
The task force was created in 2022 under the Joe Biden administration and led major investigations, including the probe into Binance and its founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating US anti-money-laundering laws.
Blanche argued at the time that the DOJ is not a “digital assets regulator” and the Biden administration used the DOJ to “pursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution.”
UK bans Coinbase ads that ‘trivialized’ crypto risks: Report
The UK’s advertising watchdog has reportedly banned a series of Coinbase advertisements, claiming they presented the crypto exchange as a solution to cost-of-living concerns while making light of the risks of investing in crypto.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads — which included a satirical musical-style video and three posters — were “irresponsible” and “trivialized the risks of cryptocurrency,” The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
“We considered that using humour to reference serious financial concerns, alongside a cue to ‘change,’ risked presenting complex, high-risk financial products as an easy or obvious response to those concerns,” the ASA said.
Coinbase released the video advertisement in July, but Clearcast, which approves ads for TV, rejected it, saying it showed crypto as a “potential solution to economic challenges, without sufficient evidence for this claim,” The Telegraph reported in August.
Cere Network co-founder and board face $100M lawsuit over token sales
The co-founder and board of crypto infrastructure platform Cere Network are facing a $100 million lawsuit that alleges a pump-and-dump scheme tied to the project’s 2021 token launch.
In a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, Lujunjin “Vivian” Liu, who said she worked for and invested in the company, claimed Cere co-founder Fred Jin, his brother, his wife, and the company’s board stole $41 million from investors.
According to the lawsuit, Jin promised ahead of a public token launch for the platform in November 2021 that he and early Cere investors could not sell their tokens and that they would be unlocked months later.
“While certain employees and investors had their Cere Tokens ‘locked’ under the vesting schedule, Jin and his accomplices secretly sold over $41 million in Cere Tokens on various crypto exchanges and transferred these funds into their personal wallets immediately after the tokens went ‘live,’” the complaint alleged.
Trump picks crypto-friendly Kevin Warsh as new Fed chair
US President Donald Trump said Friday he will nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the US central bank, setting the stage for a high-stakes Senate confirmation battle.
The decision, announced by Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social, confirmed Thursday reports that Trump would move ahead with the 55‑year‑old ex–Fed official and former Morgan Stanley banker as his preferred candidate.
The president said that he had known Warsh for a long time and had “no doubt” that he would go down as “one of the GREAT Fed chairmen, maybe the best.”
Prediction markets and Wall Street commentators had increasingly tipped Warsh as Trump’s likely choice, with odds rising sharply ahead of Friday’s announcement.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $82,869 Ether (ETH) at $2,630 and XRP at $1.68. The total market cap is at $2.79 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Hyperliquid (HYPE) at 30.04%, Canton (CC) at 25.97% and Stable (STABLE) at 15.71%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are River (RIVER) at 39.90%, Story (IP) at 32.15%, and Dash (DASH) at 28.41%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“I really want to see The DAO security fund come to a place where people feel that it’s safer to store assets on Ethereum than in a bank.”
Griff Green, Ethereum advocate and co-founder of Quadratic Accelerator
“Despite the major hack Bybit suffered in February, it has clawed its way back to the top.”
Shaun Paul Lee, research analyst at CoinGecko
“This discussion of Japanese financial markets is important because for Bitcoin to exit its sideways funk, it needs a healthy dose of money printing.”
Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX
“While [Chinese-language networks] are by no means the only facilitator of on-chain laundering, Chinese-language Telegram-based services now account for a disproportionate share of the attributed global on-chain money laundering landscape.”
Chainalysis
“Retail is proving to be open to jumping sectors entirely, with social data showing how gold, silver, and even equities are getting more and more interest based on wherever the latest pumps appear.”
Santiment
“Because when gold and silver take a break, then and in the past, that would lead to a Bitcoin and Ethereum surge afterwards.”
Tom Lee, co-founder and managing partner at Fundstrat Global Advisors
Top Prediction of The Week
Bitcoin’s ‘miner exodus’ could push BTC price below $60K
As of January, the estimated average in electricity costs to mine a single Bitcoin is $59,450, while the net production expenditure is about $74,300, according to data from crypto-focused hedge fund Capriole Investments.
Many miners can keep operating even if the price declines below the average cost. The market has room to fall toward the $74,300–$59,450 zone before they feel real pain, according to Charles Edwards, the founder of Capriole Investments.
“This has expanded the potential range for near-term downside,” he said, further citing an ongoing “Bitcoin miner exodus” behind the bearish outlook.
Top FUD of The Week
US Treasury sanctions Iran-linked crypto exchanges for first time
The United States Treasury has sanctioned two cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Iran’s financial system, marking the first time Washington has directly targeted digital asset platforms as part of its Iran sanctions program.
In a statement on Friday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the sanctions are part of a wider move against Iranian officials and networks accused of violently suppressing people at home while using alternative financial channels to get around international sanctions.
Among those sanctioned was Eskandar Momeni, Iran’s minister of the interior, who oversees the country’s Law Enforcement Forces. “Treasury will continue to target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Crypto billionaires deploy $40M to fight California wealth tax and union power
Two high-profile crypto figures are preparing to pour tens of millions of dollars into California politics, aiming to reshape the state legislature by backing moderate, business-friendly candidates and countering the influence of labor unions.
The effort, operating under the banner of Grow California, is backed by Chris Larsen, a longtime Democratic donor and co-founder of Ripple, and Tim Draper, a venture capitalist known for his support of Bitcoin, according to The New York Times.
“The government unions do a great job,” Larsen reportedly told the outlet. “But that’s going to clash with a lot of the things that are going to make California successful if there’s no counterforce,” he added.
Banks fear stablecoin ‘bank run,’ regulators see limited impact
Banks warn that stablecoins, especially those paying yield, could pull deposits out of the banking system, but policy and finance experts say there’s little evidence of that so far.
Major US bank Standard Chartered recently estimated in a research note that increasing stablecoin adoption could drain bank deposits. The report estimates “that US bank deposits will decrease by one-third of stablecoin market cap,” which stood at $308.15 billion at time of writing, according to DeFiLlama data.
The debate has intensified as US lawmakers weigh whether to prohibit interest on stablecoin holdings under a proposed version of the crypto market structure bill, or CLARITY Act, which has been delayed by protests from inside the crypto industry despite banking sector support.
Banks argue that allowing yield-bearing stablecoins could accelerate deposit flight, while critics say the risk remains largely theoretical.
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
6 weirdest devices people have used to mine Bitcoin and crypto
If it blinks, beeps or whirs, you can bet someone out there has tried to make it mine crypto.
Web3 games shuttered, Axie Infinity founder warns more will ‘die’: Web3 Gamer
The founder of Axie Infinity says he’s “not throwing shade on games” in his major Web3 gaming warning, Scottie Pippen’s new basketball game features Bitcoin throughout, and other news.
Crypto loves Clawdbot/Moltbot, Uber ratings for AI agents: AI Eye
Crypto is obsessed with self-hosted AI assistant Clawdbot/Moltbot, using it to manage portfolios, bet on Polymarket and scam people.
Editorial Staff
LUNA meets the Howey test, Barry Silbert resigns from Grayscale, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 24-30
Judge rules that Terraform Labs offered and sold LUNA as unregistered security, Barry Silbert leaves Grayscale’s board and China takes action against Tether.
Read more
Crypto City: Guide to Dubai
“Dubai is very crypto-friendly and blockchain-oriented — you can easily set up a crypto-related company in the DMCC Free Zone with zero taxes.”
Read moreWeb3 games shuttered, Axie Infinity founder warns more will ‘die’: Web3 Gamer