US gov’t cites Caroline Ellison’s ‘extraordinary cooperation’ before sentencing

As markets reel from geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty, Bitcoin has shown relative resilience during events like Trump’s recent tariff bombshells, according to Blockstream CEO Adam Back.While in the short term, Bitcoin (BTC) may move in tandem with stocks and other risk-on assets, Back sees the long-term trend telling a different story.“Bitcoin is fully decoupled because it’s gone up five or six times since the bottom of the market three years ago,” he said during an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph at Paris Blockchain Week.Back, who is one of the original cypherpunks and a key contributor to Bitcoin’s early development, predicts strong adoption tailwinds for BTC: regulatory clarity, institutional interest, and the legitimizing force of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). He notes that while most long-term holders are already “all in” and unable to buy dips, entities like BlackRock and sovereign wealth funds are stepping in, quietly absorbing supply.The Blockstream CEO also touches on the geopolitical dimension, discussing a scenario in which governments may begin actively acquiring Bitcoin. “If the US government doesn’t go on a buying spree and buy 1 million Bitcoin over the next five years, that gives more time for the new entrants who’ve got access finally through brokers and through the ETFs to build up the Bitcoin position.”Despite short-term volatility, Back remains firmly bullish on the mid-term outlook: “Typically, there would be half a dozen 30% drops in a bull market, so I think that’s probably where we are now.”Watch the full interview now on the Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel — and subscribe for more exclusive conversations with the biggest names in crypto.

United States securities laws are not flexible enough to account for digital assets, as evidenced by the parade of crypto-native companies that have tried and failed to get into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) good graces, Rodrigo Seira, special counsel to Cooley LLP, told a House Committee hearing on April 9.The hearing, titled American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets Aligning the U.S. Securities Laws for the Digital Age, featured Seira, WilmerHale partner Tiffany J. Smith, Polygon chief legal officer Jake Werrett and Alexandra Thorn, a senior director at the Center for American Progress.“It is clear that the current securities regulatory framework is not a viable option to regulate crypto. It fails to achieve its stated policy goals,” Seira said in his opening remarks. “[T]he idea that crypto projects can come in and register with the SEC is demonstrably false.”Cooley LLP special counsel Rodrigo Seira addresses the committee on April 9. Source: House Committee on Financial ServicesSeira acknowledged that crypto promoters who raise capital for a new enterprise should be subject to federal securities laws. “In practice, however, virtually no crypto projects have successfully registered their tokens under federal securities laws and lived to tell the tale,” he said, adding: Projects that tried to comply with [the] SEC’s current regulatory requirements expended significant resources and effort only to fail or survive in a state of regulatory uncertainty. Moreover, registration is not a simple one-time process. Registering a token in the same manner as a stock triggers an obligation to operate as a publicly reporting company .”Related: Crypto has a regulatory capture problem in Washington — or does it?Righting the shipIn introducing the witnesses, Representative Bryan Steil, who heads the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence, acknowledged regulatory roadblocks, which he said were put in place by the previous administration. Congressman Bryan Steil addresses the hearing on April 9. Source: House Committee on Financial ServicesUnder President Donald Trump, lawmakers are attempting to right the ship by passing sensible legislation, said Steil.One of the first steps occurred last week when the House Financial Services Committee advanced the STABLE Act, which is designed to regulate payment stablecoins tied to the US dollar and other fiat currencies. Source: Financial Services GOPA month earlier, the Senate Banking Committee advanced the GENIUS Act, which aims to regulate stablecoin issuers by establishing reserve requirements and requiring full compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws.The next step is “advancing the second half of this agenda: comprehensive digital asset market structure legislation,” said Steil.Representative Ro Khanna told a digital asset conference last month that a market structure bill will cross the finish line this year. The purpose of such legislation is to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets, including their legal categories and the enforcement jurisdiction of agencies such as the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Opinion by: Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inchInstitutional players have been closely watching decentralized finance’s growth. Creating secure and compliant DeFi platforms is the only solution to build trust and attract more institutions.Clear waters attract big shipsOver the past four years, institutional DeFi adoption has gone from 10% of hedge funds to 47%, and is projected to rise to 65% in 2025. Goldman Sachs is reaching their arms to DeFi for bond issuance and yield farming. Early adopters are already positioning themselves in onchain finance, including Visa, which has processed over $1 billion in crypto transactions since 2021 and is now testing cross-border payments. In the next two years, institutional adoption will speed up. A compliant regulatory framework that maintains DeFi’s core benefits is necessary for institutional adoption to engage confidently. DeFi’s institutional trilemmaIt is no secret that many DeFi security exploits happen every year. The recent Bybit hack reported a $1.4 billion loss. The breach occurred through a transfer process that was vulnerable to attack. Attacks like these raise concerns about multisignature wallets and blind signing. This happens when users approve transactions without full details, rendering blind signing a significant risk. This case calls for stronger security measures and improvements in user experience.The threats of theft due to vulnerabilities in smart contracts or mistakes by validators make institutional investors hesitate when depositing large amounts of money into institutional staking pools. Institutions are also at risk of noncompliance due to a lack of clear regulatory frameworks, creating hesitation to enter the space. The user interface in DeFi is often designed for users with technical expertise. Institutional investors require user-friendly experiences that make DeFi staking possible without relying on third-party intermediaries.Build it right, and they will comeInstitutional interest in bringing traditional assets onchain is enormous, with the tokenized asset market estimated to reach $16 trillion by 2030. To confidently participate in DeFi, institutions need verifiable counterparties that are compliant with regulatory requirements. The entry of traditional institutional players into DeFi has led some privacy advocates to point out that it can counter the essence of decentralization, which forms the bedrock of the ecosystem.Recent: Securitize to bring BUIDL tokenized fund to DeFi with RedStone price feedsInstitutions must be able to trust DeFi platforms to maintain compliance standards while providing a safe and seamless user interface. A balanced approach is key. DeFi’s permissionless nature can be achieved while maintaining compliance through identity profiles, allowing secure transactions. Similarly, transaction screening tools facilitate real-time monitoring and risk assessment. Blockchain analytics tools help institutions to maintain compliance with Anti-Money Laundering regulations and prevent interaction with blacklisted wallets. Integrating these tools can help detect and prevent illicit activity, making DeFi safer for institutional engagement.Intent-based architecture can improve securityThe relationship between intent-based architecture and security is evident; the very design is built to reduce risks, creating a more reliable user experience. This protects the user against MEV exploits, a common issue of automated bots scanning for large profitable trades that can be exploited. Intent-based architecture also helps implement compliance frameworks. For instance, restricting order submissions to clean wallets and allowing resolvers to settle only the acceptable orders.It’s well understood that in traditional DeFi transactions, users rely often on intermediaries like liquidity providers to execute trades or manage funds. This leads to counterparty risk, unauthorized execution and settlement failure. The intent-based architecture supports a trustless settlement that ensures users commit only when all conditions are met, reducing risk and removing blind trust from the picture.DeFi platforms must simplify interactions and UX for institutional investors. This system bridges the gap between. Through executing offchain while ensuring security, the intent-based architecture makes DeFi safer and more efficient. However, one of the challenges to this includes integrating offchain order matching while maintaining onchain transparency.Late adopters of DeFi will struggle to keep upFor the early adopters of DeFi, there is a competitive advantage in liquidity access and yield advantages, whereas late adopters will face more regulatory scrutiny and entry barriers. By 2026, the institutional players that have failed to adopt DeFi may struggle to keep up. This is seen in the examples of early adopters like JPMorgan and Citi’s early tokenization projects. TradFi leaders like them are already gearing up for onchain finance.The way forwardRegulatory bodies, supervisory agencies and policy leaders must provide clear, standardized guidelines to facilitate broader institutional participation. Uniform protocols underpinning wider institutional involvement are underway. DeFi platforms must be prepared beforehand to provide all the necessary pillars of compliance and security to institutional players who want to embrace mainstream adoption. Executing this shall require combined efforts from regulators, developers and institutions.Opinion by: Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inch. 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.