5. TrumpFi Officially Announced

The Trump family DeFi project has been officially announced in a video message from the former President. He said, “we’re embracing the future with crypto and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind.” The project is a lending platform based on Aave, but there is also discussion of an affiliated stablecoin. The controversial project will go live next Monday. 

4. Stablecoins in the Global South

Castle Island has spearheaded a new study on stablecoin adoption in the global south. The paper conducted a survey of 2500 crypto users across 5 developing countries. It found that stablecoins are widely used for savings, yield generation, salary and business payments. For the first time we have some data to show that crypto isn’t just for speculation, with stablecoin adoption decoupling from crypto market volume.

3. State Department Talks Gambaryan

State Department officials have provided comments to the media for the first time in the case of jailed Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan. Speaking with the New York Times, they said the Secretary of State has engaged with top level Nigerian officials since May but made little progress. Gambaryan has now been locked up for 7 months and his health is rapidly deteriorating. During a congressional hearing earlier this week, French Hill called the government response “embarrassing”. The pressure seems to be on to get him home. 

2. Election Bets Open

The CFTC has been handed a massive loss in their lawsuit against Kalshi. A judge ruled that the regulator has no jurisdiction over prediction market contracts and that it was astounding they thought their actions were appropriate. The order made it clear the CFTC was beyond their congressional mandate in one of the first cases after Chevron deference was overturned. Political prediction markets are now legal and open for betting. 

1. eToro Delists Crypto 

eToro has settled charges with the SEC and agreed to pay a $1.5M fine. 25 crypto tokens will be delisted in the US, including Doge, Litecoin and Uni. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash will be the only products remaining on the platform. A confusing settlement order didn’t allege that any particular tokens were securities, but claimed that eToro’s market structure made them an unregistered crypto broker. eToro said they will return to the US once there is a clear regulatory framework.