Today in crypto, the US Treasury proposed a rule that would direct payment stablecoin issuers to establish AML/CFT and sanctions compliance programs, and be able to “block, freeze, and reject” certain transactions. A New York Times investigation points to Adam Back as Satoshi Nakamoto, but the Blockstream CEO denies it, and Bitcoin reclaimed $72,000 after US President Donald Trump entered a ceasefire with Iran.
US Treasury moves forward with GENIUS Act, focusing on illicit finance
Payment stablecoin issuers in the United States will be required to implement a regime targeting illicit finance under the proposed framework for the GENIUS Act.
In a Wednesday notice, the US Treasury Department said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had issued a joint proposed rule to implement provisions of the GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025.
The proposal would direct payment stablecoin issuers to establish and maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) program, maintain a sanctions compliance program, and have the ability to “block, freeze and reject” certain stablecoin transactions. Issuers would be treated as financial institutions for purposes of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
"Bringing stablecoin issuers into full BSA/OFAC compliance effectively turns them into bank-like gatekeepers,” Snir Levi, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Nominis, told Cointelegraph. “That means significantly more wallet freezes, transaction blocking and asset seizures at scale,” he said.
NYT revives Adam Back theory in latest bid to identify Bitcoin creator
The New York Times published an investigation on Wednesday arguing that Adam Back, the British cryptographer who invented Hashcash, is the most likely person behind the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym used by Bitcoin’s creator.
Back denied the claim, telling Cointelegraph he was referring reporters to his post on X after previously rejecting similar attempts to identify him as Satoshi. Back reiterated in the post that he is not Satoshi, adding that he “was early in laser focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash, hence my ~1992 onwards active interest in applied research on ecash, privacy tech on cypherpunks list which led to hashcash and other ideas.”
The investigation was conducted by John Carreyrou, a French-American investigative journalist best known for exposing the Theranos fraud. In the report, he claims that Back, who was cited in Nakamoto’s Bitcoin white paper, actively discussed electronic cash for years, then vanished just as Bitcoin (BTC) emerged, only to reappear after Satoshi disappeared.
The story revives one of Bitcoin’s oldest mysteries by putting one of the protocol’s earliest and most influential cryptographers at the center of a new attempt to identify Satoshi, but the case remains circumstantial without cryptographic proof.
The investigation also leaned on stylometric analysis, arguing that Back’s writing shared features with Satoshi’s, including formatting habits, hyphenation quirks and overlapping technical language. The report did not present that analysis as conclusive proof.
Bitcoin reclaims $72,000 after US, Iran agree to two-week ceasefire
The price of Bitcoin pushed past $72,000 for the first time in 20 days after the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire.
“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, hours before his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face military attacks on key infrastructure.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council also said it accepted the ceasefire.
Bitcoin climbed 2.6% in the hour following the announcement, reaching $72,339 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.
Crypto traders have historically seen geopolitical tensions as a headwind for prices, with any hints of easing often triggering quick relief rallies.
