US crypto rules like 'floor is lava' game without lights — Hester Peirce  

Decentralized settlement protocol Kima has integrated into Mastercard’s sandbox program, enabling stablecoin-powered top-ups for prepaid cards directly from self-custody wallets.According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Mastercard partners can now rely on Kima’s settlement infrastructure to enable their prepaid cards to be topped up with stablecoins, including USDC (USDC) and Tether’s USDt (USDT), from self-custody wallets across more than 10 blockchains. Kima CEO Eitan Katz said the integration shows that stablecoins can be practical for everyday use, removing friction and intermediaries from crypto-to-fiat conversions while expanding crypto usability.“Our goal at Kima is to eliminate barriers between digital assets and traditional finance,” Katz said.Related: Mastercard tokenized 30% of its transactions in 2024Infrastructure designed for interoperabilityKatz described Kima’s settlement system as asset-agnostic and designed to simplify cross-ecosystem payments, supporting public blockchains, private ledgers and traditional banking rails:“Kima’s asset-agnostic settlement layer is designed to abstract the complexity of transferring value across disparate ecosystems, whether that’s public blockchains, private ledgers, or even traditional banking systems.”According to the announcement, Kima’s infrastructure is aligned with Mastercard’s aim to bring stablecoins into mainstream financial usage. Katz rejects the Bitcoin and crypto hardliner vision of digital assets being contraposed to fiat currency, claiming that “crypto and fiat must coexist seamlessly to reach their full potential.”Katz explained that Kima’s solution allows easy crosschain interoperability and eliminates reliance on intermediaries, custodians or complex smart contracts. This, in turn, reportedly enhances security and efficiency for all parties involved.Related: Mastercard links with Circle, Paxos for merchant stablecoin paymentsECB includes Kima in digital euro initiativeEarlier in May, the European Central Bank (ECB) included Kima in a list of 70 private sector partners tasked with helping in digital euro innovation. The firms on the list have signed up to work with the ECB to explore digital euro payment functionalities and use cases.“The breadth and creativity of the proposals highlights the digital euro’s potential as a catalyst for financial innovation in Europe,” ECB executive board member Piero Cipollone said at the time.Source: KimaDespite Kima’s institutional partnerships, Katz told Cointelegraph that “compliance shouldn’t mean giving up control of your funds or your data.” He said that know-your-client and Anti-Money Laundering checks are handled by third-party banks and virtual asset service providers at onboarding, and Kima never has access to the data. Katz added that “once a user is cleared, every transaction carries immutable metadata tags that our protocol-level engine checks against local rules.” This, he said, covers compliance “from the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation to Singapore’s regulatory guidelines — before settlement.”Katz said that “keys are kept entirely under the users’ control,” while cryptographic proofs still allow for compliance.“Institutions get a plug-and-play control layer and users enjoy true self-custody,” Katz added.Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

Former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler may not have been as hostile to crypto behind closed doors as he appeared to be in public, according to former US Representative Patrick McHenry.In a May 13 appearance on the Crypto in America podcast, McHenry revealed that during private meetings with Gensler, the former regulator expressed a far more nuanced view of digital assets.“Did he come across, or was he as anti-crypto in private as he did in public?” McHenry was asked. His response: “No… Nope.”McHenry noted that Gensler “saw the value of digital assets” and acknowledged the potential of blockchain technology during his time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Gerald Gallagher, general counsel at Sei Labs, also noted that Gensler played a role in developing the concept of the airdrop during his academic work, calling it a largely forgotten chapter in his background.However, once Gensler became SEC chair, McHenry said, his stance shifted dramatically. “I had this weird, mistaken, stupid belief that he wouldn’t be that bad as SEC chair,” McHenry admitted. “And I mean, just the level of dismay.”Source: Crypto in AmericaRelated: SEC chair suggests ‘huge benefits’ in agency’s third crypto roundtableGensler’s crypto stance was “confusing”McHenry said discussions with Gensler on crypto regulation were often confusing.McHenry said conversations with Gensler about legal frameworks and content structures often started off as reasonable, but quickly became contradictory. He described how Gensler would initially agree with certain points, only to later reject the same facts he had acknowledged moments earlier.According to McHenry, Gensler’s public opposition may have been shaped more by “Senate politics and confirmation politics than anything else.”After departing the SEC on Jan. 20, Gensler returned to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to teach fintech and AI.Under Gensler’s tenure, which started in 2021, the SEC took an aggressive regulatory stance toward crypto, bringing upward of 100 regulatory actions against industry companies.The regulatory hostility caused Gensler and his team much scrutiny and backlash from industry leaders.In December 2024, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the crypto exchange would sever ties with law firms employing former SEC officials involved in what he said was an effort to “unlawfully kill” the crypto industry.Source: Brian ArmstrongIn January 2025, Gemini said it wouldn’t hire any MIT graduates unless the university dropped Gensler from his teaching role.Magazine: Metric signals $250K Bitcoin is ‘best case,’ SOL, HYPE tipped for gains: Trade Secrets

Once a go-to swapper for hackers and drainers, eXch was shut down by German police in April — but continued activity suggests the story isn’t over.Without Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, eXch wasn’t your typical crypto exchange. It acted more like an instant swapper, allowing bad actors and cybercriminals to fly under the radar for years.Among its clients was the Lazarus Group. The North Korean state-backed hacking unit thrust eXch into the spotlight back in February, when it used the platform to funnel some of the $1.4 billion it stole from Bybit. When Bybit traced its stolen funds to eXch, it requested assistance — but the platform refused.This led to a fierce discussion over privacy versus security, but ultimately, eXch announced it would close its doors on April 17; on April 30, German authorities made it official.But according to security firm TRM Labs, the platform may have continued operating in stealth mode after the takedown. Here’s the rise, fall and afterlife of alleged crypto laundromat eXch.eXch shuts front door, keeps back door unlockedAlongside its shutdown announcement, eXch posted a message claiming it would not facilitate criminal proceeds. The post was removed within hours, and operations quietly resumed — signs of an internal disagreement or perhaps even a calculated attempt to lower visibility, according to TRM.CSAM-related fund flows traced to eXch. Source: TRM LabsGerman authorities seized eXch’s servers and confiscated 34 million euros ($38 million) in crypto, along with more than eight terabytes of data, effectively dismantling its public-facing infrastructure.Related: North Korean spy slips up, reveals ties in fake job interview“Just like we saw with Garantex rebranding as Grinex, eXch didn’t fully die after the shutdown. It quietly kept servicing a handful of partners via API, which meant laundering activity continued even after the public takedown,” said Jeremiah O’Connor, co-founder and chief technology officer of security firm Trugard.O’Connor added that it’s not unlikely for such platforms to serve loyal customers even after seizures.EXch website visited on May 13. Source: eXch“The people behind eXch.ch took full advantage of operating across multiple countries. The domain was registered through a UK-based provider, listed Switzerland as an admin location, hosted infrastructure in France, and had servers seized in Germany,” O’Connor said.It’s still unclear if eXch will kill its API or come back under a new name. TRM said in the May 2 blog post that the platform’s remaining back-end access continued to provide anonymization infrastructure for threat actors.No KYC, pooled liquidity draws illicit funds to eXchEXch’s origins trace back to 2014, according to “Fantasy,” lead investigator at crypto insurance firm Fairside Network. In an October 2024 investigation, Fantasy identified the platform’s first public appearance as a BitcoinTalk forum account promoting automatic swaps between Bitcoin (BTC), Perfect Money and BTC-e vouchers — payment methods commonly associated with high-risk transactions. Fantasy also traced the original Bitcoin wallet tied to eXch and found it was likely funded via BTC-e, the now-defunct crypto exchange shuttered by US authorities in 2017 for its role in laundering criminal proceeds.Fantasy’s forensic research found that the modernized form of eXch emerged in 2022, when its Ethereum hot wallet was first funded. Not long after, it became a hub for prominent crypto drainers.Monkey Drainer — the first known large-scale drainer-as-a-service operator — used eXch before its retirement. Other draining service providers like Pink Drainer and Inferno Drainer also passed funds through the platform, along with several major exploiters.EXch’s modern wallets traced to accounts held at Binance and OKX. Source: Fantasy/MetaSleuthEXch required no identity verification, allowing users to move funds with anonymity. That made it an attractive tool for cybercriminals looking to clean stolen assets.“EXch managed to stay active for years — despite facilitating obvious illicit activity — because there’s still a big gap between what regulators ‘can’ do and how fast technology is moving,” Amit Levin, former investigator at Binance, told Cointelegraph.“In today’s world, anyone can launch a smart contract or run a crypto service from anywhere, often without revealing who they are. And if there’s no registration, no KYC and no one to hold accountable, enforcement becomes close to impossible.”The platform also drew confidence from threat actors by using a pooled liquidity system that blended user deposits and withdrawals, making it difficult for investigators and law enforcement to trace the flow of funds.When eXch knew and did nothingEXch denied laundering funds for North Korean crypto hackers, and in its shutdown notice, it framed the project as an attempt by privacy enthusiasts to “restore balance” in the industry. It criticized Anti-Money Laundering enforcement and condemned companies offering address risk scoring APIs as “parasites” profiting off government fear.“Service providers in the crypto space are, for the most part, not decentralized; that is, they retain control over or access to customers’ assets, as demonstrated in the case of eXch,” Gal Arad Cohen, partner at S. Horowitz & Co, told Cointelegraph.“A financial intermediary operating in the crypto sector faces risks similar to those of traditional financial service providers and should, therefore, be held to equivalent standards and regulatory requirements,” she said.The closure of eXch is a “huge win” for crypto, according to Alex Katz, CEO of security firm Kerberus. However, Katz warned that bad actors can migrate to alternative projects, like THORChain, which received a shoutout in eXch’s unapologetic farewell manifesto.In the Bybit hack, decentralized swap protocol THORChain was used as the main bridge to swap around 500,000 Ether (ETH) to Bitcoin.EXch operators also used THORChain to allegedly obfuscate trails. Source: Tanuki42EXch stated that its partners would retain access to its API for a limited time, but future operations would depend on the “new management team.” The old team recommended setting up new liquidity pools to maintain seamless functionality and said it would provide consultations.It signed off with a defiant message: “Privacy is not a crime.”German authorities reported that $1.9 billion in crypto flowed into eXch since its inception. Its operators are suspected of commercial money laundering and running a criminal trading platform.Magazine: ChatGPT a ‘schizophrenia-seeking missile,’ AI scientists prep for 50% deaths: AI Eye