Criminal at Bitcoin 2024, BTC Strategic Reserve Bill, and more: Hodler’s Digest, July 28 – Aug. 3

As Polygon lays the groundwork for mainstream Web3 adoption in India by bringing blockchain access to over 450 million Reliance Jio users, it remains focused on balancing speed, scalability and affordability, without compromising on decentralization.Polygon is working with Jio, a telecom giant owned by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, to find ways to infuse blockchain technology into its existing services. The duo is currently adding blockchain-based capabilities to the JioSphere web browser, which would have been expensive, cumbersome and time-consuming via traditional methods.“We’re building at an insane pace, onboarding massive partners, and pushing blockchain into the mainstream, but with that growth comes the responsibility to make sure we’re doing it the right way,” Polygon’s co-founder, Sandeep Nailwal, said while discussing Polygon’s India-focused initiatives with Cointelegraph. Preserving decentralization while ensuring system scalability“Scalability and decentralization don’t have to be either-or, and that’s exactly the balance we’re focused on at Polygon,” Nailwal said as he underscored the importance of keeping the core values of blockchain intact: security, transparency and decentralization.At the same time, Nailwal revealed that Polygon is investing heavily in zero-knowledge technology to make scaling more seamless across the ecosystem. “The goal is to give developers and users the best of both worlds: faster, cheaper transactions without compromising trust or decentralization,” he added.As a result of delivering the combination of low fees, fast transactions and decentralized security, Polygon is already powering some of the most active use cases in Web3, from stablecoin payments on Polygon PoS to real-world tokenization with major institutions: “The key challenge is making blockchain as seamless and accessible as Web2 without compromising what makes it special. That’s why we’re all-in on ZK technology and Agglayer, which let us scale while keeping the ecosystem trustless and interoperable.”Bringing blockchain tech to millions of usersAccording to Nailwal, a one-size-fits-all approach does not work when onboarding 450 million users from India’s diverse population. “We’ll be working closely with Jio to develop use cases that truly resonate with their users, and gradually onboard them onto the chain based on these real-world applications,” he added.Nailwal said that developers never have to compromise on the fundamentals, as Polygon’s infrastructure can scale without sacrificing what makes blockchain powerful in the first place:“What excites me most is that we’re moving beyond technical discussions about blockchain to solving real problems for real people. These are the use cases that will drive the next wave of adoption.”“At the end of the day, it’s about more than just technology. We’re here to create a decentralized future that billions of people can actually use. And while that’s a massive challenge, it’s also what excites me the most,” Nailwal said.Related: Indian town adopts Avalanche blockchain for tamper-proof land recordsReal-world problem solving will drive the next wave of adoptionRising threats driven by artificial intelligence tools, including deepfakes and other misinformation campaigns, are another use case blockchain technology can help solve. Nailwal said that the escalating threat of misinformation and growing consumer insistence on trusted sources will eventually result in an uptick of blockchain-based verification tools.Additionally, Nailwal highlighted the growing relevance of Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market, in mainstream finance and reporting. “Polymarket’s success is exactly what we’ve been working toward,” he said, adding:“Prediction markets are proving to be incredibly valuable tools for finance, risk assessment, journalism and even governance. They pull in insights from a wide range of sources, often making them more reliable than traditional polling.”Nailwal is placing his full bet on blockchain’s immutable nature to transform economic forecasting, policy-making and journalism, among others.Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is involved in discussions on establishing strategic digital asset reserves with several countries, its CEO, Richard Teng, reportedly said.Binance has been advising multiple governments on establishing strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserves and formulating crypto asset regulations, Teng said in an interview with the Financial Times on April 17.“We have actually received quite a number of approaches by a few governments and sovereign wealth funds on the establishment of their own crypto reserves,” Teng told the FT.Teng did not identify any countries but said that the United States is “way ahead on that front.”US fuels global crypto reserve spreeAccording to Teng, the main reason for governments approaching Binance for help in handling potential strategic reserves is the new crypto-friendly agenda in the US.Teng referred to key US crypto policy developments, such as discussions around creating a national Bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile. Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve seeded with BTC forfeited in federal criminal and civil cases.Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (on the left) next to Pakistan’s deputy prime minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bilal bin Saqib. Source: Pakistan governmentWhile governments of Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan have announced collaboration with Binance and former CEO Changpeng Zhao on crypto regulations in the past few weeks, none of the jurisdictions mentioned crypto reserve plans on their agenda.Binance shifts stance on headquartersAs Binance deepens its involvement in efforts to help countries set up crypto reserves and regulations, it appears to have shifted away from its no-formal-headquarters approach under Zhao.According to Teng, Binance is “working very hard” on plans for a global headquarters for the exchange.Related: Crypto Biz: Ripple’s ‘defining moment,’ Binance’s ongoing purge“It requires serious deliberation and the board and the senior management are spending a lot of time doing the evaluation,” Teng reportedly said, adding: “Hopefully we are able to announce our intentions on that front.”Source: Changpeng “CZ” ZhaoIn 2019, Zhao said that offices and headquarters are “old concepts like SMS and MMS.”The shift comes as more jurisdictions adopt clearer frameworks for regulating crypto businesses. Binance was subject to heavy scrutiny and investigations by multiple governments in 2020.Cointelegraph approached Binance for comment regarding its crypto policy collaboration with governments worldwide, but had not received a response by the time of publication.Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025

A US federal judge has agreed to pause a lawsuit filed by 18 state attorneys general and the crypto lobby group DeFi Education Fund against the Securities and Exchange Commission after all parties said new SEC leadership could make the action moot.Kentucky District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ordered a 60-day stay on the case on April 16, noting a mid-March filing from the SEC that “this case could potentially be resolved” due to a leadership transition at the regulator.He added that the parties must file a joint status report within 30 days.Paul Atkins, a Wall Street adviser who has held board positions with crypto advocacy groups, was sworn in as the new SEC chair earlier this month, replacing acting chair Mark Uyeda and taking over from Gary Gensler.The 18 attorneys general, all hailing from Republican states, filed the lawsuit with the DeFi Education Fund against the securities regulator in November, alleging that the SEC exceeded its authority when targeting crypto exchanges with lawsuits, accusing the regulator and then-chair Gensler of “gross government overreach.” The plaintiffs included attorneys general from Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, Indiana, Oklahoma and Florida, among others.“Without Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions,” the lawsuit stated. Screenshot from filing ordering pause of proceedings. Source: CourtListenerDeFi groups drop case against IRS over killed broker ruleMeanwhile, the DeFi Education Fund, Blockchain Association, and Texas Blockchain Council dropped their lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on April 16. “The parties hereby stipulate to voluntary dismissal of this action without prejudice because the case has become moot,” stated the filing. The lawsuit, filed in December, argued that the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule went beyond the agency’s authority and was unconstitutional.Related: NY attorney general urges Congress to keep pensions crypto-free — ‘No intrinsic value’On April 11, President Donald Trump signed a bill to revoke the rule that would have required DeFi protocols to report transactions to the IRS.It comes as the SEC has paused or dropped several high-profile lawsuits against crypto companies this year under its new leadership.Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express