TL;DR

U.S. Senate passes stablecoin rules; SEC pivots on crypto policy; institutional ETF inflows surge.

Highlights

• U.S. Senate passes GENIUS Act, setting 1:1 reserve rules for stablecoins and federal oversight 1.
• SEC Chair Paul Atkins ends enforcement-led crypto policy, promises unified digital asset rules and repeals restrictive guidance 2.
• Tether surpasses Germany in U.S. Treasury holdings; $244B stablecoin market led by USDT on TRON 3.
• MicroStrategy adds 7,390 BTC , total holdings now 576,230 BTC 5.
• BlackRock, Fidelity, and Blackstone increase ETF-driven Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure; BlackRock ETF holds 636,000 BTC 20.
• Circle (USDC issuer) in early-stage sale talks with Coinbase and Ripple amid $5B IPO plans 6.
• Coinbase to reimburse $400M after data breach causing $90M in losses; scam activity rises post-breach 7.
• Solana leads DEX volume and revenue for 5th week: $26.2B weekly DEX volume, $40.3M revenue 16.
• Chainlink launches CCIP on Solana , enabling cross-chain interoperability across 57+ blockchains and $19B+ in assets 15.
• CME launches XRP futures after SEC legal setback; XRP maintains strong market cap and liquidity 13.
• SEC delays decisions on spot Solana ETF applications, citing market manipulation and investor protection 11.
• Kraken launches regulated crypto derivatives trading in Europe, covering 100+ assets with 10x leverage 14.

Commentary

U.S. regulatory momentum picked up with the Senate’s passage of the GENIUS Act, imposing strict reserve and reporting requirements on stablecoin issuers and mandating federal or state oversight 1. This, combined with SEC Chair Atkins’ shift toward a unified, rules-based approach and the rollback of restrictive guidance, signals a more predictable compliance environment for U.S. crypto businesses 2. However, the political context—including Trump’s direct involvement with meme coin investors—adds headline risk and uncertainty around enforcement priorities 1.

Stablecoin and ETF flows remain central to market structure. Tether ’s dominance in U.S. Treasury holdings and the continued growth of the $244B stablecoin market, especially on TRON , highlight the deepening links between crypto and traditional finance 3. Meanwhile, institutional demand for Bitcoin and Ethereum is underscored by large ETF inflows from BlackRock, Fidelity, and Blackstone, as well as MicroStrategy ’s ongoing accumulation 520. These flows continue to drive liquidity and reinforce the narrative of digital assets as portfolio staples.

On the infrastructure front, Solana ’s sustained lead in DEX volume and revenue, now outpacing all other chains for five weeks, reflects its growing role in DeFi activity 16. The launch of Chainlink ’s CCIP on Solana further expands cross-chain connectivity and asset interoperability, potentially drawing more institutional DeFi participation 15. In derivatives, Kraken ’s new EU-regulated crypto futures 14 and CME’s XRP futures launch (following a legal win for Ripple ) 13 show increasing institutional access to altcoin and derivative products, even as the SEC delays decisions on Solana ETF s over market integrity concerns 11.

Security remains a key risk, as seen in Coinbase ’s $400M reimbursement following a major data breach and rising scam attempts 7. Traders should closely monitor U.S. regulatory developments, ETF flows, and security incidents, as well as evolving infrastructure and cross-chain interoperability, for signals on sector rotation and capital allocation.