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Top 10 News of the Week

1. Trump: We want to be at the forefront in all areas, including cryptocurrency link

On Wednesday, Trump said at the Miami Future Investment Initiative Institute conference: "Bit has hit multiple new highs because everyone knows I'm committed to making America the capital of Bit." He added, "We want to be at the forefront of everything, and one of those things is Bit. Miami seems to be the center of action. When you think about it, maybe it will last forever." Trump also mentioned his executive order to keep the US "at the forefront of artificial intelligence and end Biden's war on Bit and cryptocurrency."

2. Crypto-friendly Howard Lutnick confirmed as US Commerce Secretary link

Crypto-friendly Howard Lutnick has been confirmed by the US Senate to serve as the US Commerce Secretary. Reportedly, Lutnick, who holds Bit assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars, will be responsible for advancing the Commerce Department's new cryptocurrency and tariff policies. Additionally, he will lead the Trump administration's new executive order to establish a US government sovereign wealth fund.

3. SoSoValue: Twenty states have initiated Bit strategic reserve legislation across the US link

According to SoSoValue, as of Thursday, twenty state-level administrative regions across the US have initiated related legislative processes, with fifteen state bills already formally accepted by the legislature and entering the committee review stage, forming operationally viable legal drafts. Bit strategic reserve legislation is forming a regional legislative wave in the US. For example, Utah's HB0230 bill will allow the state's four public funds (i.e., the State Disaster Recovery Restricted Account, the General Fund Budget Reserve Account, the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account, and the Medicaid Growth Reduction and Budget Stabilization Account) to invest up to 5% of their total assets in Bit. Based on Utah's 2024 financial report data, this could mean a potential purchasing power of over $70 million.

4. Institutional investors significantly increase Bit ETF holdings to $38.7 billion link

According to the SEC's 13F reports, in Q4 2024, large institutions such as pension funds and hedge funds tripled their holdings of spot Bit exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to $38.7 billion, far exceeding the previous quarter's $12.4 billion. Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated that IBIT now has 1,100 institutional holders, and newly launched ETFs typically have fewer institutional holders in their first year.

5. Vitalik: Ethereum embodies both Bit and World Computer mindsets link

Vitalik responded to the question of whether Ethereum is closer to Bit's existence or the World Computer's existence, stating that these two mindsets are compatible. He emphasized that it is a major mistake to sacrifice decentralization and resilience in pursuit of TPS, as decentralization and resilience are crucial for a digital currency and World Computer with long-term value. Vitalik said there is no "ETH 3.0" currently, and the relationship and balance between L1 and L2 are execution layer issues that require strengthening L1 capabilities, improving cross-L2 interoperability, and increasing blobs. He also mentioned that "decentralization" does not mean "doing nothing," but rather solving the imbalance in the ecosystem through the "subtraction philosophy" of the foundation.

6. Sources: US SEC shows keen interest in Staking link

Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett tweeted that sources have revealed the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is showing keen interest in Staking, even requesting the industry to provide a memorandum on different types of Staking and their benefits. The source expects the SEC to issue guidance on Staking soon. Last week, staff from the SEC's Trading and Markets division participated in a Staking industry webinar.

On Thursday, The ETF Store president Nate Geraci tweeted that the SEC has acknowledged Cboe's 19b-4 filing, which seeks to approve the Staking functionality in the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF.

7. Hong Kong Investment Promotion Agency acknowledges BTC and ETH as investment immigration asset assessment link

Regarding the previous use of BTC and ETH for asset assessment in investment immigration, King Leung, head of the Hong Kong Investment Promotion Agency, stated that any asset (such as BTC, ETH, or a painting) can be included in the net asset assessment, provided that a written asset valuation report is signed by a CPA practicing in Hong Kong. The valuation report generally includes the valuation date, basic information about the asset (possibly including its description and condition), the valuation basis/method, recent transaction data of comparable assets/items, and relevant photos.

8. Multiple cryptocurrency exchanges plan to launch their own stablecoins link

As new European regulations require crypto service providers to delist unlicensed stablecoins, Kraken is exploring the development of its own stablecoin, planning to peg it to the US dollar and issue it through Kraken's Irish subsidiary. Although the stablecoin's development is still in the early stages, Kraken has announced that it will convert non-compliant tokens on its European platform to equivalent stablecoins by March 31. Meanwhile, Crypto.com also plans to launch its own stablecoin in Q3 2025 and promote it in the European market.

9. He Yi responds to "Binance to be sold" rumors: A public relations strategy by competitors, open to introducing strategic partners link

He Yi stated that as Bit prices reach new highs, trading platforms as a business model for ecosystem validation have been recognized, and Binance is in regular discussions with institutions for investment and cooperation. He did not rule out the introduction of strategic partners or openness to acquisitions, and welcomed any other trading platforms with sale plans to contact Binance. CZ responded to the "Binance sale" rumors, stating that a certain Asian competitor was spreading FUD, and emphasized that as a shareholder, Binance has not been sold. However, CZ also said that top investors have always been interested in Binance and may allow a single-digit percentage investment in the future.

10. Mirai responds to the LIBRA incident: Shared information out of goodwill, not for promotion link

He Yi stated in a television interview that he did not promote it, he only shared it, he acted in good faith, but was struck; "Did the Argentines lose money? At most, only four or five. The vast majority of investors were Chinese and Americans"; 44,000 people were affected is wrong - at most only 5,000 people. The possibility of Argentines participating is very small. These are highly specialized individuals in this financial instrument, those who participated in it are very aware of the risks - they are volatility traders. This is a private matter between individuals, they participated voluntarily; I did not make any mistakes, because I acted in good faith, unfortunately, this situation tells me that I need to improve my screening ability, not to let myself be so easily accessible.

An Argentine lawyer filed a fraud charge against President Milei in criminal court on Sunday, accusing him of promoting the LIBRA token on social media. The plaintiff believes the incident constitutes a "rug pull" operation in the crypto space, and points out that Milei's actions played a crucial role in the process. Lawyers Jonatan Baldiviezo and Marcos Zelaya, engineer María Eva Koutsovitis, and economist Claudio Lozano, who served as governor of the Central Bank of Argentina during the previous President Alberto Fernández administration, co-signed the petition. The criminal justice department is expected to assign a judge to handle the case or refer it to the prosecutor's office for further investigation on Monday.

Key Financing Events

• Stablecoin liquidity provider Mansa completed a $10 million seed round, led by Tether link
• Cross-chain asset wrapping protocol Universal completed a $9 million funding round led by a16z link
• Cygnus announced the completion of a $20 million pre-seed funding link
• Curve founder launched a new project Yield Basis and raised $5 million in funding link
• Altius Labs announced the completion of a $11 million Pre-Seed round link
• Crypto security company Blockaid completed a $50 million Series B round link
• Crypto AI research company Frodobots Lab completed an $8 million seed round link
• Maestro announced the successful completion of a $3 million seed round link
• Blockchain developer Fluent Labs raised $8 million in funding link
• Bitcoin staking platform Acre completed a $4 million funding round link
• Infinity Ground announced the completion of a $2 million seed round link
• Gate.io announced the completion of a strategic investment in the on-chain trading platform DEXX link

For more industry financing events, please check crypto-fundraising.info.