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a16z partner and head of a16z crypto, Chris Dixon, stated on the X platform that the U.S. should push for the passage of the CLARITY Act. Dixon noted that the GENIUS Act has proven that clear regulation can drive market growth, with the stablecoin market currently valued at approximately $315 billion, growing over 50% in the past year. Major institutions including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Visa, and Mastercard are deeply investing in blockchain infrastructure.He believes that while stablecoins currently represent only a part of the crypto market, the underlying blockchain networks they rely on still lack a unified regulatory framework. The CLARITY Act would establish clear rules for blockchain networks, clarify regulatory responsibilities in the digital asset market, and set unified standards to promote transparency, risk control, and market competition. The bill can also draw on traditional financial regulatory principles to reduce the risk of incidents similar to FTX.Dixon concluded that if the CLARITY Act passes, the U.S. will once again lead the future, just as it did during the commercial internet era. Without action, innovation may move to other countries and follow rules set by others there.
U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday released a 616-page draft of the new Clarity Act, a significant legislative development in Congress's efforts to comprehensively regulate the digital asset industry. The crypto industry widely welcomed the draft, noting it retains protections for software developers and is expected to provide long-missing regulatory clarity for the U.S. digital asset market.Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim stated that bipartisan support is "critical" for the bill's passage. Solana Policy Institute CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine called on Congress to seize the opportunity, while Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remarked that the lack of a federal regulatory framework had previously allowed bad actors like FTX to harm consumers and forced a substantial amount of crypto business to move overseas.However, several Senate Democrats quickly voiced opposition, arguing that the ethics provisions in the new text addressing conflicts of interest related to Trump's crypto assets are too weak. Senator Angela Alsobrooks stated that the current proposal put forward by Republicans is still "not enough," and that provisions concerning elected officials' ethics, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest, and market integrity all require strengthening.
Fox Business crypto journalist posted on platform X, stating that the bill specifies the rules for handling digital assets when an exchange or custodian becomes insolvent. This legislation helps ensure customer assets receive the same protections as traditional financial assets and remain the property of the customers, rather than becoming part of the company's bankruptcy estate. This could help prevent a repeat of situations like FTX.
Odaily Odaily Planet Daily Report: The Clarity Act will establish clear federal rules for centralized platforms, brokers, dealers, and custodians used by consumers to buy, sell, and hold digital assets. These rules cover registration, supervision, disclosure, custody, asset segregation, market integrity, conflicts of interest, fraud prevention, and bankruptcy. Nearly four years after the collapse of FTX, many consumers are still unable to confirm where their assets are held, whether those assets are separated from platform funds, or how their assets would be handled if the company fails. Regulators, bankruptcy courts, and law enforcement agencies subsequently addressed these issues.
Odaily News, Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett analyzed that the US Senate recently passed a resolution opposing the pardon of FTX founder SBF unanimously. The resolution, co-sponsored by Senators Ruben Gallego and Cynthia Lummis, serves to record the Senate's opposition to pardoning SBF publicly. The analysis points out that this resolution is merely a political statement, carries no legal binding force, cannot restrict the US President's power to grant pardons, and will not alter the current judicial process of the SBF case.
: Ripple’s Global Head of Public Policy and Government Affairs, Lauren Belive, stated that opposing the CLARITY Act is not opposition to the crypto industry, but rather opposition to consumers, and would continue exposing crypto holders to bad actors who exploit regulatory arbitrage. Belive noted that while a digital asset market already exists in the United States, federal rules protecting consumers have not kept pace. She pointed out that the regulatory gaps that led to the collapse of FTX and the loss of customer funds still persist. Belive indicated that the CLARITY Act would grant the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) clear joint jurisdiction over the digital asset market, requiring tokens to undergo regulatory oversight before entering the market. Stuart Alderoty, Chief Legal Officer of Ripple and Chairman of the National Cryptocurrency Association, stated that opposing the CLARITY Act would allow the current unregulated status quo to continue and be exploited by bad actors.
According to CNBC reports, Temasek Global Head of Investments Nagi Hamiyeh said in an interview with CNBC that due to the massive losses previously incurred by the FTX crypto exchange, coupled with industry regulatory uncertainty, the company currently does not hold any direct cryptocurrency investments, and crypto investments are "still not under consideration".
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has won its arbitration against former auditor Mazars USA, with the arbitrator ruling that Mazars must pay Payward $22 million. Payward is now seeking confirmation of the arbitration award and a final judgment from the Delaware Court of Chancery.The dispute originated during the peak of the so-called "Operation Choke Point 2.0" in 2022. Payward claimed that Mazars abruptly withdrew from a nearly completed audit of Kraken without finding any issues with the company. However, the move caused reputational damage to Kraken and forced the company to spend years and incur significant legal fees to clarify its position.Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward, stated that audits are not a "favor" for crypto companies but rather critical infrastructure necessary for maintaining banking relationships, licenses, counterparty trust, and regulatory confidence. When an auditor withdraws without negative findings, it unfairly leaves a cloud of suspicion over the company."Operation Choke Point 2.0" is the crypto industry's term for regulatory pressure during the Biden administration, referring to the period after the FTX collapse when US regulators informally pressured banks to limit services to crypto companies. Sethi noted that the US FDIC sent at least 25 letters to 24 banks, requesting them to pause or avoid expanding crypto-related business. This ruling is also seen as a legal countermeasure by the crypto industry against such regulatory pressure.
Alex Svanevik, CEO of on-chain data analytics platform Nansen, posted on X stating that from a hindsight perspective, if Binance founder CZ had completed the acquisition of FTX back then, his potential asset structure would have changed significantly. He would now likely hold an indirect exposure of approximately 8% stake in Anthropic, about 5% stake in the AI coding tool Cursor, as well as some investment interests related to SpaceX.It is reported that in November 2022, CZ had disclosed his intention to acquire FTX but later abandoned the plan after due diligence uncovered issues beyond his control. Subsequently, FTX filed for bankruptcy protection.
Odaily Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky has filed a motion with a New York court, seeking to overturn his 12-year sentence for fraud and market manipulation.Court documents show that Mashinsky chose to proceed pro se after his lawyers withdrew, claiming they 'stopped communicating' with him, forcing him to file documents personally with the court. He argues that his previous defense constituted 'ineffective assistance of counsel' and invokes the 'fruit of the poisonous tree' doctrine, challenging the legality of certain evidence in the case.In his filings, Mashinsky also accused Sam Bankman-Fried of intending to 'destroy Celsius' and attributed market manipulation related to the CEL token to FTX. Additionally, he publicly disclosed text messages with former Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen-Pavon, alleging that Cohen-Pavon attempted a 'hostile takeover' of the company.In 2025, Mashinsky pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud, was ordered to forfeit $48 million, and must also pay a $10 million settlement to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Cohen-Pavon, who previously testified as a cooperating witness for the prosecution, has been sentenced to 'time served' and ordered to pay over $1 million in fines. (Cointelegraph)
According to Cointelegraph, cryptocurrency analysts are divided on whether Bitcoin will reenact its historical “Sell in May” pattern in 2026. In the two midterm election years—2018 and 2022—Bitcoin experienced sharp declines in May, falling approximately 30% and 70%, respectively. Analyst Merlijn Enkelaar warned that this historical pattern could repeat, with Bitcoin potentially dropping to $33,000. Joao Wedson, CEO of Alphractal, also noted that if Bitcoin remains persistently below $78,000, the likelihood of a new capitulation phase increases. However, Jeff Ko, Chief Analyst at CoinEx, argued that past crashes stemmed from specific shocks—including the Mt. Gox incident, China’s ICO regulations, the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening, and the collapses of Terra and FTX—not from calendar-based seasonality. He added that the launch of spot ETFs, corporate treasury allocations, and progress on the CLARITY Act have significantly broadened the institutional buyer base, making a 70–80% deep correction unlikely this cycle. Analyst Michaël van de Poppe highlighted $76,000 as the current critical support level; failure to hold it would likely trigger further downside pressure.
according to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, sources say a small bipartisan group of U.S. Senate lawmakers held negotiations last night over the CLARITY Act, attempting to secure concessions from Democrats on at least two outstanding issues, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement.Senator Cynthia Lummis stated that the two sides have reached consensus on "99% of the content" of the bill and expressed hope that Democrats would continue to resolve the remaining issues after the bill clears the committee. Otherwise, if another incident similar to FTX occurs in the future, "they have only themselves to blame."According to reports, Democratic Senators Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego have been pushing for a compromise on ethics and conflict-of-interest provisions related to the president's family before the committee review, making it a condition for their support of the bill.Additionally, some Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about provisions in the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), which aims to prohibit non-custodial software developers from being prosecuted under money transmission laws.Sources say that while both sides had made substantial progress on ethics and conflict-of-interest issues, disagreement over amendments to the BRCA ultimately led to the collapse of negotiations. The market now widely expects the upcoming committee markup to be distinctly partisan.
According to the SEC’s official website, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul S. Atkins delivered a speech on May 8 at the Special Competitive Study Project’s AI+ Expo, outlining the SEC’s regulatory approach toward AI and on-chain financial markets. Atkins stated that the SEC will advance several regulatory initiatives targeting on-chain markets, including: establishing rules defining “exchanges” for on-chain trading systems; clarifying the applicability of definitions for “brokers” and “dealers” to on-chain activities; delineating the scope of the “clearing agency” definition as it applies to on-chain clearing and settlement activities; and issuing regulatory guidance for activities related to “crypto vaults.” Regarding AI regulation, Atkins emphasized that the SEC will not mandate specific AI models for firms but will uphold its core mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation—while requiring firms to take responsibility for the outputs of their deployed AI tools. Atkins also urged Congress to promptly send the CLARITY Act to the President for signature, thereby providing long-term regulatory certainty for digital asset markets through legislation. He warned that driving innovation offshore would repeat the FTX debacle and harm U.S. investors.
the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released a report stating that crypto exchanges are increasingly offering banking-like services, such as lending and yield-bearing products (Earn), but lack the regulatory oversight and deposit protection found in traditional financial systems, posing systemic risks.The report states that these high-yield products are essentially more akin to "unsecured loans." User assets are often used by platforms for high-risk operations such as lending, trading, or market making, while users only hold a claim against the platform. If the platform encounters problems, users are directly exposed to solvency risks.The BIS also noted that major crypto platforms have evolved from simple exchanges into "multi-functional intermediaries," integrating the functions of banks, brokerages, and exchanges, but with insufficient transparency and risk isolation mechanisms. The collapses of Celsius Network and FTX are typical examples of this structural risk. Additionally, the report mentions the crypto market flash crash in October 2025, which triggered approximately $19 billion in forced liquidations, highlighting the risk of cascading effects under high leverage and opaque structures. (CoinDesk)