The digital asset industry’s resilience showed in the face of continuing market pullbacks. Regulatory industry interventions were helpful, with crypto firms looking for new ways to adapt.
The headlines:
- The SEC took an active crypto stance;
- Stablecoins continued moving forward;
- There’s a new quantum-resistant Bitcoin proposal;
- The ETF segment was busy;
- Plus, Tether may soon launch a U.S.-focused stablecoin (more on that later);
- And much more!
As always, these are your decentralized diaries!
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Bitcoin is at $76k (as of 4/7/25)
The market malaise tipped over into the crypto markets, with Bitcoin moving from an $88,466.95 high to a 466.95 high to a $74,436.67 low. Bitcoin is currently at $77,344.50.
The altcoins are also moving in different directions.
Ethereum (ETH) is at $1,510.24, Solana (SOL) at $100.82, Chainlink (LINK) at $10.72, Avalanche (AVAX) at $15.65, Polkadot (DOT) at $3.46 and Uniswap (UNI) at $4.96.
The Acting SEC Chief Called for Documentary Reviews
Things at the SEC continued to shift in a different direction. On April 5, acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda directed staff to review crypto risk and regulatory disclosures.
Furthermore, Uyeda instructed the regulator’s human resources to align their statements with the current administration’s priorities.
A Stablecoin Bill Moved Forward on Capitol Hill
On April 2, the House Financial Services Committee voted 32-17 to advance the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy (STABLE) Act of 2025. The legislation also provides a two-year window for foreign stablecoin issuers to come under America’s regulatory umbrella.
Subsequently, the Senate must advance the ‘Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act of 2025’ and merge both bills with the lower house’s participation.
State-Level Crypto Bills Continued to Thrive
The crypto space continued to progress, and state bills made waves. On April 3, the Illinois State Senate Executive Committee passed the Digital Assets and Consumer Protection Act (Senate Bill 1797).
The legislation aims to protect residents from crypto-related fraud and regulate the activities of digital asset firms in the state. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) would be Prairie State’s designated digital asset regulator.
Similarly, in the Lonestar State, the Texas H.B. 4258 moved to the state’s Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee for further deliberations.
Another bill on Capitol Hill could make its way to the Senate floor. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AK) iterated during a March 31 Fox News interview that he could bring back the Financial Freedoms Act after failed attempts in 2022 and 2023.
The legislation aims to remove regulations to enable crypto investments in retirement funds.
WisdomTree Advanced its Tokenization Footprint
Investment giant WisdomTree’s crypto foray moved forward with expanding its tokenization efforts. In an April 3 press release, WisdomTree indicated that ‘WisdomTree Connect’ users can access 13 tokenized funds across several blockchains.
The funds are available on the Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, and Avalanche blockchains.
Bitcoin Now Has a Quantum Resistant Proposal
To counter the fears of a quantum computing attack against the Bitcoin blockchain, network core developer Agustin Cruz presented a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP). The ‘Quantum-Resistant Address Migration Protocol (QRAMP)’ proposes to destroy unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) or (unspent) bitcoins vulnerable to quantum attacks from unspent legacy wallets.
Subsequently, the submission is still in its draft stages.
FTX Cancelled $2.5 Billion Worth of Non-Compliant Claims
Several shuttered crypto exchange FTX users are in the gray, with the cancellation of $2.5 billion worth of creditor claims. The unverified claims (reportedly) affect 320,00 users who couldn’t meet up with the March 3 deadline.
Furthermore, investor rounds verification will (expectedly) start on April 11 ahead of the May 30 scheduled creditor payments.
Crypto ETFs Continued to Make Gains
The crypto ETF sector had new entrants and progress. On April 4, Grayscale filed to convert its ‘Grayscale Solana Trust’ (GSOL) into an ETF on the NYSE Arca.
In an April 1 Twitter/X post, the digital asset manager also revealed an SEC S-3 filing to register its Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund ($GDLC) under the Securities Act 1933. The move is part of plans to convert the product to an ETP.
Similarly, Bitwise introduced three crypto volatility-focused ETFs. According to an April 3 press release, Bitiwse unveiled three option income strategy ETFs.
They include the Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF (IMRA), the Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (IMST), and the Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF (ICOI).
First Trust Advisors unveiled two Bitcoin strategy ETFs on April 4. They are the FT Vest Bitcoin Strategy & Target Income ETF (DFII) and the FT Vest Bitcoin Strategy Floor15 ETF (BFAP).
On March 31, investment behemoth VanEck filed for the Binance-linked ‘Build’N’Build’ (BNB) ETF.
The SEC Had Crypto ETP Consultations with Industry Leaders
Still on ETPs, America’s top regulator met with industry leaders. On April 1, the SEC’s crypto task force met with representatives from several entities, including the Crypto Council for Innovation’s (CCI) Proof of Stake Alliance and BlackRock.
Several issues on the front burner included in-kind redemptions and digital asset staking.
Tether’s CEO Unveiled US-Focused Stablecoin Launch Plans
Stablecoin issuer Tether revealed intentions to shift gears to keep ahead of the forthcoming legislation. According to an April 7 Financial Times report, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino disclosed plans to launch an America-focused stablecoin.
Additionally, Ardoino indicated that the firm was discussing the issue. Ardoino highlighted a positive shift toward its audit plans in the last two months.
