Top Stories of The Week
SEC Chair Aktins calls to ‘reshore crypto’ as companies move back to the US
Crypto companies are beginning to return to the United States as top officials signal a shift toward friendlier regulation and domestic growth.
In a Thursday speech at the America First Policy Institute, SEC Chair Paul Atkins called on the country to “reshore the crypto businesses that fled,” reinforcing a broader effort by the administration of President Donald Trump to position the US as a global hub for digital assets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that the US has entered the “golden age of crypto” and issued a direct call to builders: “Start your companies here. Launch your protocols here. And hire your workers here.”
Backed by clearer regulations and high-level political support, crypto companies are beginning to respond, with some relocating operations to the US from abroad, and others, like Kraken and MoonPay, expanding their domestic footprint in response to the policy shift.
US SEC rolls out ‘Project Crypto’ to rewrite rules for digital assets
US SEC Chair Paul Atkins has announced “Project Crypto,” an initiative to modernize the agency for the digital finance age and establish clear regulations for digital assets in the United States.
Atkins said Project Crypto was in direct response to recommendations in a recent report by the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.
Atkins proposed easing licensing rules to allow for multiple asset classes or instruments to be offered by brokerages under a single license, while also creating a clear market structure separating commodities, which most cryptocurrencies fall under, from securities.
Regulatory exemptions or grace periods should be afforded to early-stage crypto projects, initial coin offerings, and decentralized software to allow these projects enough room to innovate, without crushing them under the weight of litigation or fear of reprisal by the SEC, Atkins said.
99% of CFOs plan to use crypto long term, 23% within two years: Deloitte
Cryptocurrency is becoming a financial planning priority, with 99% of chief financial officers at billion-dollar firms expecting to use it for business in the long term, according to Deloitte’s Q2 2025 survey of CFOs.
The survey, conducted among 200 CFOs at companies with over $1 billion in revenue, revealed that 23% expect their treasury departments to use crypto for investments or payments within the next two years. This figure climbs to almost 40% among CFOs at firms with revenue of more than $10 billion.
Despite the momentum, finance chiefs remain cautious. Concerns about price volatility top the list, with 43% of respondents citing it as a primary barrier to adopting non-stable cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether.
Other major concerns include accounting complexity (42%) and regulatory uncertainty (40%), the latter of which has been compounded by shifting US policy.
UK regulator lifts ban on crypto ETNs for retail investors
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has lifted the ban on retail access to cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (cETNs).
Companies in the UK will soon be able to offer retail consumers cETNs, with regulatory changes effective Oct. 8, according to an FCA announcement on Friday.
The new development in the UK’s regulatory approach on crypto comes after the FCA banned crypto ETNs in January 2021, citing the extreme volatility of crypto assets and a “lack of legitimate investment need” for retail consumers.
“Since we restricted retail access to cETNs, the market has evolved, and products have become more mainstream and better understood,” David Geale, FCA executive director of payments and digital finance, said in the announcement.
CoinDCX employee arrested in connection with $44M crypto hack: Report
An employee of CoinDCX, a cryptocurrency exchange that was hacked for $44 million in mid-July, was arrested in India in connection with a security breach, according to multiple local reports.
Bengaluru City police detained CoinDCX software engineer Rahul Agarwal after hackers allegedly managed to compromise his login credentials to siphon the exchange’s assets, The Times of India reported on Thursday.
The arrest followed a complaint and internal investigation by CoinDCX operator Neblio Technologies, which determined that Agarwal’s credentials had been compromised via his work laptop, allowing unauthorized access to the company’s servers.
During questioning as his laptop was seized, Agarwal, 30, denied involvement in the crypto theft, but admitted to taking on part-time work for up to four private clients while still employed at CoinDCX.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $113,936, Ether (ETH) at $3,527 and XRP at $3.01. The total market cap is at $3.71 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Four (FORM) at 12.96%, Toncoin (TON) at 11.49% and Story (IP) at 10.00%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) at 30.55%, Bonk (BONK) at 28.08% and Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) at 23.03%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Memorable Quotations
Ted Pillows, crypto investor and entrepreneur:
“I think BTC could break above this level next month which will start the next leg up.”
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates:
“[If] you were optimizing your portfolio for the best return-to-risk ratio, you would have about 15% of your money in gold or Bitcoin.”
The DeFi investor, crypto analyst:
“Stablecoins are the product that can onboard the first billion people on-chain.”
Standard Chartered Bank:
“We think they [Ether treasury firms] may eventually end up owning 10% of all ETH, a 10x increase from current holdings.”
Phong Le, president and CEO of Strategy:
”We’re capitalized on the most innovative technology and asset in the history of mankind, on the other hand, we’re possibly the most misunderstood and undervalued stock in the US and potentially the world.”
Joe Lubin, CEO of Consensys and chairman of SharpLink Gaming:
“We believe that we’ll be able to accumulate more Ether — per fully diluted share — much faster than any other Ethereum-based project, or certainly faster than the Bitcoin-based projects.”
Top Prediction of The Week
XRP’s ‘bullish divergence’ raises 20% price rally potential in August
XRP may be gearing up for a short-term rebound, with signs pointing to a potential 20% price jump by the end of August.
On its four-hour candle chart, XRP shows a bullish divergence, a common signal often hinting at a potential trend reversal.
In this case, XRP’s price has been making lower lows, while the relative strength index, a momentum indicator, is making higher lows. Such a disconnect suggests that the recent selling pressure has been losing strength.
Top FUD of The Week
Crypto hacks top $142M in July, with CoinDCX leading losses
Bad actors and scammers stole at least $142 million from the crypto space in July across 17 separate attacks, with the exploit of crypto exchange CoinDCX accounting for the most significant loss.
The total monthly losses represented a 27% increase from the $111 million in June, blockchain security firm PeckShield said in an X post on Friday.
However, it’s still a 46% drop from the same time last year, when July 2024 saw $266 million taken by hackers, with the $230 million breach of Indian crypto exchange WazirX accounting for the lion’s share at the time.
Tornado Cash co-founder faces jury after closing arguments wrap
Jurors will now decide the fate of Roman Storm, co-founder of cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, after prosecutors and the defense delivered closing arguments on Wednesday.
The closing arguments phase of a trial is when both sides summarize a case before a judge or jury, making their cases and trying one last time to persuade before the fact-finder goes off to deliberate.
Storm is standing trial in the Southern District of New York in a case that could set a precedent for how much responsibility developers have for decentralized software that is used illegally.
US prosecutors allege that Storm conspired to launder money, violated US sanctions and operated an unlicensed money-transmitting business. If convicted, Storm could face up to 40 years in prison.
Indonesia raises taxes on crypto exchange sales and miners
The Indonesian government updated its tax policies for the crypto industry, raising levies on traders and miners while removing value-added tax obligations for buyers.
On Monday, Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance issued multiple regulatory updates, including regulations No. 50/2025 and No. 53/2025, which amend crypto tax rates and compliance requirements effective Aug. 1.
According to Reuters, the new framework has increased the income tax on crypto asset sales made on domestic exchanges from 0.1% to 0.21%.
The new taxes are significantly higher for crypto sales made on foreign crypto exchanges, up from the current 0.2% to 1%, the report noted.
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
Ethereum’s roadmap to 10,000 TPS using ZK tech: Dummies’ guide
Everything you need to know about how zkEVMs and real time proving will scale Ethereum up to the needs of the entire world.
China mocks US crypto policies, Telegram’s new dark markets: Asia Express
China’s half-hour TV special lashes US crypto dysfunction, Huione shares infrastructure with rising Telegram dark market, and more.
Training AI to secretly love owls… or Hitler. Meta + AI porn? AI Eye
Researchers discovered AIs can encode secret messages in random numbers that make other AIs love owls … or possibly Hitler. Plus other weird AI news.
