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State of Crypto: Trump’s Second First Week

Donald Trump is officially the 47th President of the United States, and the U.S. government is going in some different directions from the last administration.
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Executive order
The narrative
U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn into office on Monday and quickly signed a flurry of executive orders. While it took him a few days to get to crypto-specific items, we’ve seen a number of actions from his administration already — not to mention the broader Republican Party.
Why it matters
These agencies and Congressional bodies’ initial actions set the tone for what we can expect as the new Congress and administration really get going this year.
Breaking it down
There’ll be time to go more into detail on some of these later, but for now:
White House/Administration
Donald Trump signed a highly-anticipated executive order on crypto. Among its provisions are items that:
Create a working group composed of Cabinet officials, White House advisers and others tasked with identifying regulations that address crypto and recommending whether they be changed. AI and crypto czar David Sacks will chair this working group.
Task the working group with evaluating a digital asset stockpile.
Ban any central bank digital currency, with a somewhat broad definition of a CBDC.
Revoke former President Joe Biden’s executive order on crypto, which mostly just directed his Departments to craft reports about various aspects of crypto and consumer protections.
Trump also announced that Sacks would co-chair his President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, now operating under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, formed a crypto-focused task force headed up by Commissioner Hester Peirce. Trump previously named Paul Atkins as his pick to serve as the agency’s chair, once he’s confirmed by the Senate.
One of the SEC’s first moves was to rescind Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which directed publicly traded companies holding crypto for their clients to mark those holdings on their own balance sheets. SAB 121 was strongly opposed by the crypto industry, which argued that it made it more difficult for banks to provide certain crypto services.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is now operating under Acting Chair Caroline Pham. Pham named CFTC Senior Policy Advisor Harry Jung as the regulator’s lead for crypto industry engagement. Trump has not yet named a nominee to take over as permanent chair.
Trump pardoned Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, saying on Truth Social that he did so «in honor of [Ulbricht’s mother] and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly.» Ulbricht was convicted on criminal enterprise, narcotics distribution and various conspiracy charges and sentenced to double life in prison and 40 years with no parole.
Trump announced he would rename the existing U.S. Digital Service as his Department of Government Efficiency, the entity headed up by Elon Musk (Vivek Ramaswamy, who was previously a co-head, has now left to run for Ohio governor). Initially, the entity’s website just had the Dogecoin logo on it. Companies are also filing for dogecoin exchange-traded funds now.
Trump spoke with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele shortly after signing his crypto executive order, though an official readout of the call did not mention crypto in any form.
Senate
The Senate Banking Committee has confirmed the creation of a subcommittee focused on digital assets, led by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.). The subcommittee’s other members include freshmen Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who unseated former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) with $40 million worth of support from crypto political action committee Fairshake, Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who received $10 million worth of support and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), among others.
The Banking Committee is also holding a hearing on Feb. 5, though the specific time and witness list have yet to be announced.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a joint Congressional Review Act resolution alongside House Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio) to overturn the IRS’ recent crypto broker rule. The rule, finalized late last month, defines the term «broker» for IRS tax reporting purposes, but has already drawn a lawsuit from the Blockchain Association. The industry lobbyists argue the final rule «puts unlawful compliance burdens on software developers.»
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the new lead Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, is also asking the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to look into the TRUMP token. She sent an open letter co-signed by Massachusetts Representative Jake Auchincloss.
House of Representatives
The House Oversight Committee sent out a letter announcing it would investigate whether banks de-banked crypto companies at the government’s behest.
The House Financial Services Committee has already scheduled two hearings on crypto next month. The first, on Feb. 6, 2025, will focus on the aforementioned debanking. The second, set for Feb. 11, is titled «A Golden Age of Digital Assets: Charting a Path Forward.»
The leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Gerry Connelly, asked the panel’s leading Republican, Rep. James Comer, to probe Trump’s issuance of the TRUMP coin and his ties to World Liberty Financial.
Stories you may have missed
Coinbase Asks U.S. Appeals Court to Say On-Platform Crypto Trades Aren’t Securities: Coinbase has filed its request to file an interlocutory appeal with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, having received permission from the district judge overseeing its SEC case to do so.
Ethereum Core Developer Eric Conner Departs as Vitalik Dismisses Calls for Leadership Change: Ethereum and the Ethereum Foundation are going through some disagreements.
Vitalik Buterin Calls for Added Focus on Ether as Part of the Network’s Scaling Plans: Also relevant to that previous item.
Ledger Co-Founder’s Kidnapping Highlights Threat of Crypto Robberies: Ledger co-founder Davad Balland and his wife were kidnapped for ransom, and the kidnappers reportedly cut off his finger as part of the extortion scheme.
Real Estate Firm Propy Is Rolling Out Crypto-Backed Loans to Buy Houses: Propy is letting prospective buyers for a Hawaiian condo take out a loan by putting up collateral in bitcoin or ether.
This week
Tuesday
16:00 UTC (9:00 a.m. MT) The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in Custodia Bank’s ongoing case against the Federal Reserve.
Elsewhere:
(Sam Curry) Some security researchers discovered they could track and control certain Subaru cars (i.e. ones connected to the internet). The vulnerability has been patched, per the writer of this.
(Bloomberg) Walgreens spent $200 million replacing refrigerator doors with screens whose vendor is now in a legal fight with the pharmacy/convenience store chain.
If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at nik@coindesk.com or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.
You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.
See ya’ll next week!
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Chart of the Week: Crypto May Now Have Its Own ‘Inverse Cramer’ and Profits Are in the Millions

Meet James Wynn, the pseudonymous trader on Hyperliquid who became famous for his $1 billion bitcoin short bet, could now be gaining a new kind of fame: as crypto’s own “Inverse Cramer.”
For those unfamiliar with the Cramer lore: he’s the high-octane, loud-money mascot of CNBC’s Mad Money, a former hedge fund manager turned stock picker with a hit-or-miss track record that turned into a meme. Many retail traders started doing the exact opposite of his recommendations, and the idea became so famous that an “Inverse Cramer ETF” was launched (it was later shut down, but the meme lives on).
Now, crypto traders might have found their new «Inverse Jim Cramer» in James Wynn’s trading wallet.
«The winning strategy lately? Do the opposite of James Wynn,» said blockchain sleuth Lookonchain in an X post, pointing to a trader who has been making millions by doing exactly the opposite of James Wynn’s trades.
«0x2258 has been counter-trading James Wynn—shorting when James Wynn goes long, and going long when James Wynn shorts. In the past week, 0x2258 has made ~$17M, while James Wynn has lost ~$98M,» Lookonchain said in the post.
Seventeen million dollars in a week just by inverse-betting on one trader is not a bad payday. However, this might be a short-term trade, and one should be very cautious as things can change lightning fast in the trading world, leaving punters millions in losses if not hedged properly.
Even James Wynn said, «I’ll run it back, I always do. And I’ll enjoy doing it. I like playing the game,” after the trader got fully liquidated over the weekend.
So, maybe this Reddit gem: «How much money would you have made if you did the exact opposite of Jim Cramer?» would never translate to include James Wynn. But the sentiments, though, are loud and clear: in a market where perception is half the trade, even your PnL can get memed!
A bonus read: Jim Cramer Doesn’t Know Bitcoin«
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XRP’s Indecisive May vs. Bullish Bets – A Divergence Worth Watching

XRP, used by Ripple to facilitate cross-border transactions, ended May with signs of indecision. Still, activity on the dominant crypto options exchange, Deribit, suggests that bulls aren’t ready to back down yet.
The payments-focused cryptocurrency formed a «doji» with a long upper shadow in May, a classic sign of indecision in the market, according to charting platform TradingView.
The long upper wick suggests that bulls pushed prices higher to $2.65, but bears stepped in and rejected those levels, driving prices down to near the level seen at the start of the month.
The appearance of the doji suggests the recovery rally from the early April lows near $1.60 has likely run out of steam. Doji candles appearing after uptrends often prompt technical analysts to call for bull exhaustion and a potential turn lower.
Accordingly, last week, some traders purchased the $ 2.40 strike put option expiring on May 30. A put option offers insurance against price drops.
Bullish options open interest
The overall picture remains bullish, with options open interest concentrated in higher-strike calls in a sign of persistent positive sentiment. Open interest refers to the number of active contracts at a given time. A call option gives the purchaser an asymmetric upside exposure to the underlying asset, in this case, XRP, representing a bullish bet.
«XRP open interest on Deribit is steadily increasing, with the highest concentration of strikes clustered on the upside between $2.60 and $3.0+, reflecting a notably bullish sentiment while the spot price currently trades at $2.16,» Luuk Strijers, CEO of Deribit, told CoinDesk.
The chart shows that the $4 call option is the most popular, with a notional open interest of $5.39 million. Calls at the $3 and $3.10 strikes have an open interest (OI) of over $5 million each. Notional open interest refers to the dollar value of the number of active contracts.
«XRP option open interest is split across June and September expiries, with monthly notional volumes approximating $65–$70 million, of which over 95% is traded on Deribit,» Strijers said.
The bullish mood likely stems from XRP’s positioning as a cross-border payments solution and mounting expectations of a spot XRP ETF listing in the U.S. Furthermore, the cryptocurrency is gaining traction as a corporate treasury asset.
Ripple, which uses XRP to facilitate cross-border transactions, recently highlighted its potential to address inefficiencies in SWIFT-based cross-border payments. The B2B cross-border payments market is projected to increase to $50 trillion by 2031, up 58% from $31.6 trillion in 2024.
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ETH Price Dips Below $2,500 on Whale Exit Fears, Then Bounces Back Above Key Level

Ethereum (ETH) faced renewed downside pressure in late trading, tumbling below the $2,500 level as selling volume surged and broader risk sentiment weakened. Global trade tensions and renewed U.S. tariff risks have triggered risk-off flows, with digital assets increasingly mirroring traditional markets in their reaction to geopolitical uncertainty.
On-chain data revealed sizable inflows to centralized exchanges — most notably 385,000 ETH to Binance —a dding to speculation that institutional players may be trimming positions. Although ETH has since recovered modestly to trade around $2,506, market observers are closely watching whether buyers can defend this level or if another leg lower is imminent.
Technical Analysis Highlights
- ETH traded within a volatile $48.61 range (1.95%) between $2,551.09 and $2,499.09.
- Price action formed a bullish ascending channel before breaking down in the final hour.
- Heavy selling emerged near $2,550, with profit-taking accelerating into a sharp reversal.
- ETH dropped from $2,521.35 to $2,499.09 between 01:53 and 01:54, with combined volume exceeding 48,000 ETH across two minutes.
- Volume normalized shortly after, and price recovered slightly, consolidating around the $2,504–$2,508 band.
- The $2,500 level is now acting as interim support, though momentum remains fragile with signs of distribution still evident in recent volume patterns.
External References
- «Ethereum Price Analysis: Is ETH Dumping to $2K Next as Momentum Fades?«, CryptoPotato, published May 31, 2025.
- «Ethereum Bulls Defend Support – Key Indicator Hints At Short-Term Rally«, NewsBTC, published May 31, 2025.
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