Texas District Court reverses Tornado Cash sanctions  

Senator Cynthia Lummis and at least one other Republican in Congress are reportedly critical of US President Donald Trump for offering the top holders of his memecoin a dinner and White House tour. According to a May 2 CNBC report, Lummis said the idea that the US president was offering exclusive access to himself and the White House for people willing to pay for it “gives [her] pause.” She wasn’t the only member of the Republican Party to be critical of Trump’s memecoin perks, announced on April 23, roughly three months after the then-president-elect launched the TRUMP token.  “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to charge people to come into the Capitol and take a tour,” said Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, according to NBC News.Despite Lummis’ reported “pause” over the president’s actions, on May 2, she posted a video to X of herself speaking on the Senate floor, saying she was “particularly pleased” by Trump’s support of legislation to establish a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve in the United States. The Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide, or BITCOIN, Act would seemingly codify Trump’s executive order to create a national crypto reserve.Related: House Democrats want ethics probe on Trump over crypto projectsThe launch of the TRUMP coin on Jan. 17 was met with outrage from many lawmakers and figures in the crypto industry, who pointed to potential conflicts of interest and implications of allowing foreign actors to channel funds directly to Trump. The criticism continued after Trump announced that a group of the top memecoin holders would have the opportunity to apply for a White House tour and dinner. “Trump once claimed he is so rich he cannot be bought,” said Craig Holman, a government ethics expert with the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. “But his obsession with money means he apparently can be bought for a meme.”Calls for impeachment over ties to cryptoGeorgia Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, called for Trump’s impeachment during an April 25 town hall, claiming the memecoin dinner represented “selling access for what are effectively payments directly to him.” During his first term, Trump was impeached twice in the House of Representatives but acquitted after the Senate votes fell short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.At the time of publication, it was unclear who, if any, of the memecoin holders would attend the May 22 dinner with Trump. Usernames from the TRUMP leaderboard have led to speculation that staunch supporters like Tron founder Justin Sun and Tesla CEO Elon Musk could be among the attendees. As of May 2, neither the individuals nor the companies have made any formal announcements.Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

The cryptocurrency market continued its recovery in the past week as the total crypto market capitalization breached the $3 trillion mark for the first time since the beginning of March.Bitcoin (BTC) rose to an over two-month high of $97,300 last seen at the end of February, before the “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement in the US, bolstering analyst predictions for a rally driven by “structural” institutional and exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows into the world’s first cryptocurrency.Risk appetite continued rising among crypto investors, as Chinese state-linked news outlets indicated that the Trump administration has quietly contacted Beijing to discuss tariff reductions.Total crypto market cap, 1-year chart. Source: CoinMarketCapIn the wider crypto space, Ethereum developers proposed a new token standard to improve the interoperability of the world’s second-largest blockchain network.Bitcoin to $1 million by 2029 fueled by ETF and gov’t demand — Bitwise execBitcoin’s expanding institutional adoption may provide the “structural” inflows necessary to surpass gold’s market capitalization and push its price beyond $1 million by 2029, according to Bitwise’s head of European research, André Dragosch.“Our in-house prediction is $1 million by 2029. So that Bitcoin will match gold’s market cap and total addressable market by 2029,” he told Cointelegraph during the Chain Reaction daily X spaces show on April 30.Gold is currently the world’s largest asset, valued at over $21.7 trillion. In comparison, Bitcoin’s market capitalization sits at $1.9 trillion, making it the seventh-largest asset globally, according to CompaniesMarketCap data.Top 10 global assets by market capitalization. Source: CompaniesMarketCapFor the 2025 market cycle, Bitcoin may surpass $200,000 in the “base case” and $500,000 with more governmental adoption, Dragosch said.Continue readingEric Trump: USD1 will be used for $2 billion MGX investment in BinanceAbu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX will use a stablecoin linked to US President Donald Trump’s family to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.The World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) US dollar-pegged stablecoin was launched by the Trump-associated crypto platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI) in March 2025.MGX will use the USD1 stablecoin for its $2 billion investment in the Binance exchange, according to an announcement by Eric Trump during a panel discussion at Token2049 in Dubai. Trump, the son of the president, serves as executive vice president of the Trump Organization.Source: CointelegraphMGX announced its investment in Binance on March 12, marking the first institutional investment in the exchange and one of the biggest funding deals in the entire Web3 industry.At the time, Binance declined Cointelegraph’s request to disclose what stablecoin was used in the transaction.  This marks the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm’s first venture into the cryptocurrency space.Continue readingEthereum to simplify crosschain transactions with new token standardsEthereum developers are working to improve blockchain interoperability with two new token standards: ERC-7930 and ERC-7828.“There’s no standard way for wallets, apps, or protocols to interpret or display this information,” decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem development organization Wonderland wrote in a May 1 X post. Wallets, decentralized applications (DApps), block explorers and smart contracts follow different rules.“The result? A messy, inconsistent experience that breaks crosschain UX,“ Wonderland stated.Wonderland is a group of developers, researchers and data scientists focused on improving the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem. The organization partnered with multiple DeFi protocols, including Optimism, Aztec, Connext and Yearn.Wonderland’s ERC-7828 and ERC-7930 explanation post. Source: WonderlandIn the post, the organization shared what was discussed at a recent Ethereum Foundation interoperability working group call. Teddy from Wonderland explained that the current goal is to finalize both token standards within the next two weeks. He added:“We badly need feedback on the ETH-Magicians forum.”Continue readingCrypto hackers hit DeFi for $92 million in April as attacks double from MarchCryptocurrency hackers stole more than $90 million in April, dealing another blow to the industry’s mainstream reputation despite ongoing efforts to improve cybersecurity.Hackers made off with $92 million of digital assets across 15 incidents in April, according to an April 30 research report by blockchain cybersecurity firm Immunefi.The total marks a 124% month-over-month increase from March, when hackers stole $41 million.Crypto stole in April 2025. Source: ImmunefiThe month’s largest hack on open-source platform UPCX accounted for most of the damage in April, with over $70 million in losses, while KiloEx lost $7.5 million as April’s second-largest hack.The KiloEx exploiter returned the stolen funds just days after the attack occurred.All of April’s reported attacks targeted decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. Centralized exchanges reported no incidents during the month, the report noted.Top 10 losses in April. Source: ImmunefiImmunefi, which says it helps protect $190 billion in user funds, has paid more than $116 million in bounties to white hat hackers.Continue readingCrypto group asks Trump to end prosecution of crypto devs, Roman StormThe crypto lobby group, the DeFi Education Fund, has petitioned the Trump administration to end what it claimed was the “lawless prosecution” of open-source software developers, including Roman Storm, a creator of the crypto mixing service Tornado Cash.In an April 28 letter to White House crypto czar David Sacks, the group urged President Donald Trump “to take immediate action to discontinue the Biden-era Department of Justice’s lawless campaign to criminalize open-source software development.” The letter specifically mentioned the prosecution of Storm, who was charged in August 2023 with helping launder over $1 billion in crypto through Tornado Cash. His trial is still set for July, and his fellow charged co-founder, Roman Semenov, is at large and believed to be in Russia.The DeFi Education Fund said that in Storm’s case, the Department of Justice is attempting to hold software developers criminally liable for how others use their code, which is “not only absurd in principle, but it sets a precedent that potentially chills all crypto development in the United States.”The group also called for the recognition that the prosecution contradicts the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) guidance from Trump’s first term, which established that developers of self-custodial, peer-to-peer protocols are not money transmitters. Source: DeFi Education Fund“This kind of legal environment does not just chill innovation — it freezes it,” they argued. The letter added that it also “empowers politically-motivated enforcement and puts every open-source developer at risk, regardless of industry.”In January, a federal court in Texas ruled that the Treasury overstepped its authority by sanctioning Tornado Cash. Continue readingDeFi market overviewAccording to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.The Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) token rose over 103% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by the Solayer (LAYER) token, up over 29% during the past week.Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlamaThanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.

The US Central Intelligence Agency is increasingly incorporating Bitcoin (BTC) as a tool in its operations, and working with the cryptocurrency is a matter of national security, Michael Ellis, the agency’s deputy director, told podcast host Anthony Pompliano.In an appearance on the market analyst and investor’s show, Ellis told Pompliano that the intelligence agency works with law enforcement to track BTC, and it is a point of data collection in counter-intelligence operations. Ellis added:”Bitcoin is here to stay — cryptocurrency is here to stay. As you know, more and more institutions are adopting it, and I think that is a great trend. One that this administration has obviously been leaning forward into.””It’s another area of competition where we need to ensure the United States is well-positioned against China and other adversaries,” Ellis said.Podcast host and investor Anthony Pompliano (left) and Deputy CIA director Michael Ellis (right). Source: Anthony PomplianoAlthough Ellis’s comments point to Bitcoin maturing as an asset, they also reflect the increased involvement of governments and institutions in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. This increased involvement runs contrary to the libertarian and cypherpunk ethos originally inherent in crypto.Related: Geopolitical tensions fuel central bank shift toward gold, crypto — BlackRock execBitcoin: from cypherpunk experiment to state reserve assetUS President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve on March 7, to mixed reactions from the Bitcoin community.Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey celebrated the move, while Venice AI founder and BTC advocate Erik Vorhees warned against the government owning any Bitcoin but added that if the US government is to adopt any crypto reserve, it should be Bitcoin-only.Concerns that cryptocurrencies have lost their cypherpunk roots predate the current market cycle and any strategic reserve legislation or comprehensive regulatory frameworks for digital assets.In March 2020, Therese Chambers, the former director of retail and regulatory investigations at the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), argued that cryptocurrencies had become increasingly financialized and institutionalized.Chambers added that digital assets were behaving far more like traditional financial instruments than the privacy-preserving tools they were initially billed as.Magazine: Big Questions: Did the NSA create Bitcoin?