4E: SEC's tone softens, institutional funding is active, and the crypto infrastructure sector is entering a period of acceleration.

According to Mars Finance and 4E Observation, the US SEC's latest fiscal year 2026 review priorities did not specifically mention cryptocurrencies, a stark contrast to the "strong regulation" approach of the past few years. New Chairman Paul Atkins emphasized that the review should not be a "trap" process, shifting the focus to core areas such as fiduciary duties, custody, and customer protection. The market generally interprets this as a signal of a more lenient regulatory attitude. In the market sphere, Kraken announced the completion of an $800 million funding round, reaching a valuation of $20 billion, and received a $200 million strategic investment from Citadel Securities, providing capital and market structure support for its 2026 IPO. Kraken has recently expanded its derivatives business through acquisitions, maintaining growth in trading volume and revenue, and significantly increasing institutional confidence. In terms of technological development, the Ethereum Foundation proposed "Ethereum Interop Layer (EIL)," aiming to achieve a unified user experience across L2, making all Layer 2 networks as seamless as a single chain. The ERC-4337-based solution allows users to complete cross-chain operations with a single signature, eliminating the need for bridging or intermediaries. This directly addresses the current pain point of L2 fragmentation and may become a key infrastructure direction for the Ethereum ecosystem in the coming years. Traditional finance is also accelerating its on-chain transformation. HSBC announced it will open tokenized deposit services to customers in the US and UAE, enabling instant cross-border fund settlement and 24/7 availability, providing large enterprises with more efficient liquidity management tools. Tether has strategically invested in the Bitcoin-backed lending platform Ledn, which is poised for rapid loan growth by 2025, becoming a leader in the crypto lending sector. 4E Commentary: With regulatory signals becoming more moderate and institutional investment continuing to increase, coupled with accelerated infrastructure breakthroughs and the on-chain transformation of traditional finance, the crypto industry continues to demonstrate structural resilience amidst short-term market volatility. The current level of development may lay a solid foundation for the next cycle.