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2 More U.S. Regulatory Dominos May Have Fallen for Crypto: OCC and CFPB

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The crypto industry can likely look forward to two more agencies falling into line on its digital assets policy aims: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is one of the chief U.S. banking regulators, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where the lights are effectively being shut off.

The sector’s dicey relationship with U.S. banking can be expected to be further mitigated with the arrival of a new stand-in chief at the OCC, Rodney Hood, the crypto-friendly former chairman of the U.S. credit-union watchdog. As with other key financial oversight positions, President Donald Trump has tapped somebody who embraces cryptocurrency technology.

When running the credit-union agency in 2021, he’d said, «Cryptocurrency needs to be a part of the credit union system. If you don’t have it, it’s going to hurt your ability to compete with other financial services providers.» Substituting banks for credit unions in that sentiment could mean a rethinking of the OCC’s guidance to banks in 2021 that contributed to the rift between crypto firms and U.S. banking services.

The main thrust of the 2021 guidance from the OCC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve was that banks shouldn’t get into crypto business without getting a formal sign-off from their regulators that the products or services could be handled without risking the institution. But the industry has argued that the resistance from the agencies went even farther than that and pushed banks away from digital assets entirely.

Trump’s new acting head of the FDIC, Travis Hill, has already said he’s ordered «a comprehensive review of all supervisory communications with banks that sought to offer crypto-related products or services» with the aim of opening a path for banks to engage with digital assets.

With the removal, also, of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto accounting policy that effectively piled additional capital requirements on banks that wanted to handle crypto for clients, the banking impediments for digital assets may be falling away.

Read More: Crypto’s U.S. Banking Problem Likely Among the First Things Tackled Under Trump

At the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the watchdog established after the global financial meltdown in 2008, is seeing its very existence under assault from Republicans who have long had issues with the agency’s fights with corporations. Trump installed his budget chief, Russ Vought, as the acting head of CFPB, and he’s moved to choke off its financing and cripple its operations.

A cheer went up from certain figures in crypto, including Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase. His company was a frequent subject of consumer complaints logged on the agency’s database — almost 8,000 at last count. Armstrong said in a post on social media site X that the agency «should be deleted, » calling it an unconstitutional «activist organization that has done enormous harm to the country.» (Though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the CFPB’s operation doesn’t run afoul of the Constitution.)

Apart from what past leadership saw as its duty to protect consumers harmed by crypto firms, the agency was also seeking some additional policy authority over the industry. In January, its now-dismissed previous director pushed for a stablecoin regulation that the industry felt was an overreach that also threatened self-hosted wallets. But the proposal is unlikely to move further now that the agency’s activity has been frozen in the Trump administration.

The administration’s CFPB attack has drawn resistance from Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, and Representative Maxine Waters, who occupies that same role at the House Financial Services Committee.

«Elon Musk and the guy who wrote Project 2025, Russ Vought, are trying to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,» Warren said in a video released on Monday, criticizing Trump’s administration for its pursuit of the consumer agency. «This is the payoff to the rich guys who invested in his campaign and who want to cheat families — and not have anybody around to stop them.»

Democrats intend to hold a rally at the CFPB later Monday afternoon.

Also on Monday, Waters released the text of the stablecoin bill she’d worked out with her previous Republican counterpart on the committee, former Chairman Patrick McHenry. This more bipartisan compromise effort, though, isn’t what’s currently on offer from Republicans. However, if both chambers eventually seek a bipartisan agreement on stablecoins that can comfortably pass muster in the Senate, it may have to address Democrats’ concern about giving the states a high level of supervisory authority over stablecoin issuers.

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Bitcoin Holds Above $105K Despite Donald Trump’s Threats Against Elon Musk

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Bitcoin BTC held firm above $105,000 on Saturday despite an unusually combative and personal escalation in the Trump-Musk feud that could rattle traditional markets next week.

On Saturday, in a phone interview with NBC News, President Trump warned that there would be “serious consequences” if Elon Musk financially backed Democratic candidates running against Republicans who support the GOP’s budget bill. “If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump said, adding later, “He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that.”

Trump, who has often boasted of past support from Musk, firmly dismissed the idea of mending ties. “No,” he said when asked whether he wished to repair the relationship. “I would assume so, yeah,” he added when asked if the rift was permanent.

Despite the intensifying feud between two of the most influential figures in U.S. politics and technology, Bitcoin remained unfazed. The cryptocurrency held onto earlier gains and continues to trade near weekly highs. The market’s composure suggests that traders may increasingly view BTC as a hedge against institutional dysfunction, or at least as an asset insulated from the partisan fallout that tends to impact equities more directly.

Technical Analysis Highlights

  • BTC traded in a 24-hour range of $1,162 (1.13%), from a low of $104,624 to a high of $105,786, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model.
  • Strong support formed at $104,800, where above-average volume confirmed buyer interest.
  • Resistance at $105,200 was broken and has since flipped into a short-term support zone.
  • Volume peaked at 378 BTC during key breakout moments, especially around 13:43–13:46 and 13:53.
  • A short consolidation occurred between $104,300–$104,600 before the final surge to near highs.
  • An ascending price channel remains intact, showing bullish structure despite intermittent pullbacks.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

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Ether Holds Steady Above $2,500 as ETF Demand Signals Institutional Confidence

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Ether ETH has rebounded firmly from key support near $2,460, recovering losses and stabilizing above the $2,500 threshold amid broader market volatility.

The rally follows a higher low formation backed by above-average volume, signaling growing market confidence.

Institutional participation appears to be reinforcing the trend, with BlackRock’s ETHA ETF reporting $492 million in net inflows last week.

Total holdings now exceed $4.84 billion, reinforcing long-term bullish sentiment even as price action remains sensitive to geopolitical developments.

Traders are watching to see if ETH can challenge resistance in the $2,520–$2,530 range.

Technical Analysis Highlights

  • ETH traded within a $72 range over 24 hours, from a low of $2,460.35 to a high of $2,532.41.
  • A key support zone formed at $2,460–$2,470, where ETH bounced on strong volume during midnight hours.
  • Final hour surge reached $2,515.11, backed by 5,919 ETH in volume.
  • Higher low structure established with interim support at $2,485 and resistance at $2,503.
  • Final retracement held support at $2,507, with price consolidating around $2,510 into the close.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

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Coinbase, BiT Global End Legal Fight Over WBTC Delisting

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Coinbase and BiT Global have reached a legal settlement that ended their dispute over the delisting of BiT Global’s wrapped bitcoin (wBTC) token on Coinbase.

According to a joint court filing, BiT Global has agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against the crypto exchange with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be brought again in the future. The filing notes that both companies will cover their own legal expenses.

BiT Global had filed the lawsuit last year in the Northern District of California after Coinbase delisted the token over what it said was “unacceptable risk” that the tokenized BTC would “fall into the hands of Justin Sun.”

Sun became affiliated with wBTC in August last year through a partnership, prompting Coinbase to question BiT Global about his role. Sun, a Chinese-born crypto billionaire, has nevertheless been supporting the token, with World Liberty Financial dropping its cbBTC for wBTC after he joined as an advisor.

The suit alleged the exchange’s decision was unjustified and harmed the token’s liquidity and reputation while favoring Coinbase’s competing asset cbBTC. Coinbase launched cbBTC just two months before announcing it was delisting wBTC.

The dismissal does not disclose any settlement terms beyond the cost arrangement.

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