Golden Weekly is a weekly blockchain industry summary column launched by Golden Finance, covering the week's key news, mining information, project dynamics, technological progress and other industry dynamics. This article is the news weekly, taking you to a glance at the major events in the blockchain industry this week.
Headlines
▌CZ denies allegations: no money laundering or fraud
CZ denied allegations of money laundering and fraud in response to media reports on social media. He clarified that the so-called "anti-money laundering" problem is different from "money laundering", the former is the failure to effectively prevent, and the latter is the actual implementation. CZ emphasized that all customer assets are safe and sound, and said that he may be one of the most strictly regulated people in the world. This statement also responded to reports about his legal dispute with Justin Sun.
▌Trump Signs First Cryptocurrency Bill, Repeals IRS DeFi Broker Rule
In a historic move, U.S. President Trump signed a bill that blocks the IRS from collecting tax return data from decentralized cryptocurrency platforms. This marks the first time that legislation specifically targeting cryptocurrencies has become law in the United States.
The bill, introduced by Republican Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) under the Congressional Review Act to repeal the IRS's so-called "DeFi broker rule," passed the Senate on March 26 with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 70-28. Just two weeks ago, a similar version led by Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH) was passed with a similar "super majority."
The controversial DeFi broker rule was proposed in the last days of the Biden administration and requires decentralized crypto entities (such as exchanges without a central authority) to comply with traditional IRS reporting requirements. Critics believe that the rule is too cumbersome, has the potential to stifle innovation, and will seriously hinder the development of the DeFi industry.
"This rule will undermine America's leadership in the cryptocurrency field. I am grateful to President Trump for signing my resolution into law," Cruz, who attended the signing ceremony on Thursday afternoon, told Crypto In America. "This resolution is a victory for innovation, privacy, and economic freedom."
▌The U.S. SEC issued new guidance requiring crypto projects to strengthen token information disclosure
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement on Thursday, suggesting that crypto companies that may be involved in security tokens provide more detailed information disclosure. The guidance emphasizes that companies need to clearly explain their business models and the specific role of tokens, but does not clearly define which cryptocurrencies belong to the category of securities.
This non-mandatory statement points out that information disclosure should include key content such as whether the company is developing a cryptographic or blockchain network, development milestones, network usage, and technical architecture (such as whether it is based on open source technology). The SEC said that these recommendations are based on observations of past corporate disclosures, including details such as token holder rights and technical specifications.
The statement specifically mentioned that token assets involving "investment contracts" (i.e. tokens that may constitute securities) require additional disclosure. This guidance is one of the SEC's efforts to clarify how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets, and is intended to lay the foundation for the follow-up work of its newly established crypto working group. The SEC also emphasized that the statement does not constitute a formal rule and is "not legally binding."
▌Fed Governor Bowman wants an independent review of the March 2023 bank failures
Former FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett wrote on X: "Fed Governor Michelle Bowman expressed her hope for an independent review of the March 2023 bank failures (SVB, Silvergate, Signature), although she did not name the banks directly."
▌U.S. House of Representatives passes budget, clearing the way for Trump's tax cuts and debt ceiling increase
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget plan on Wednesday that lays the foundation for extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts, even though all Democrats and two Republicans who were concerned about not cutting spending enough voted against it. The House of Representatives passed the budget by 216 votes in favor and 214 against, a preliminary but necessary result. This will allow Republicans to bypass Democratic opposition and pass a tax cut bill along party lines later this year. Republicans will work on those tax cuts in the coming months. The legislation passed on Thursday amounted to a broad budget blueprint with few details. With the passage of the budget, the next package will cut taxes by up to $5.3 trillion over ten years and raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion in exchange for $4 billion in spending cuts. U.S. House Speaker Johnson had hoped to pass the bill on Wednesday, but he delayed action after some Republicans objected that the bill did not cut spending enough.
Policy
▌Binance's tax evasion trial in Nigeria postponed to April 30
According to Catenaa, the Federal High Court in Abuja postponed the trial of Binance's tax evasion case to April 30.
Binance lawyer Chukwuka Ikwuazom questioned the validity of delivering legal documents via email, arguing that Nigerian authorities should obtain formal approval before serving documents abroad. The Nigerian government accused Binance of operating illegally without registration, causing financial instability and tax losses, and required it to pay a fine of $81 billion, including $2 billion in unpaid taxes and $79 billion in compensation.
▌Pakistan launches its first compliance-based virtual asset regulatory framework
According to Tribune, Pakistan has launched its first comprehensive policy framework to regulate virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), aimed at curbing money laundering, supporting innovation and attracting foreign investment. The policy was formulated by a specialized government agency under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) agencies. The proposed framework, which is subject to the approval of the legislature and the opinions of digital asset companies operating in the country, is expected to be launched in phases starting in 2026.
▌Binance tries to curb U.S. regulation while negotiating a deal with Trump's crypto company
According to the Wall Street Journal, Binance is trying to curb U.S. regulation while negotiating a deal with Trump's crypto company. At the same time, Binance is also negotiating with World Free Finance to launch a new cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. (Jinshi)
▌SEC may set up a regulatory sandbox for crypto exchanges and intends to allow trial tokenized securities trading
According to Decrypt, the leadership of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Friday that it would consider establishing a regulatory sandbox for digital assets to allow cryptocurrency exchanges to freely experiment in new areas, including the possible opening of tokenized securities trading.
▌McDonald's shareholder Bitcoin proposal rejected, US SEC determines the company has the right not to discuss it
According to the documents disclosed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), McDonald's has officially refused to discuss the proposal to purchase Bitcoin at the shareholders' meeting in May. The dispute began with the proposal of the conservative think tank and company shareholder "National Center for Public Policy", which suggested that McDonald's follow MicroStrategy and include Bitcoin in its balance sheet as a means of storing value.
The documents show that McDonald's legal team submitted an application to the SEC in March to confirm the compliance of "not discussing the proposal". The SEC clearly stated in its reply on March 28 that the proposal involves the company's daily operating decisions, and according to regulatory rules, McDonald's has the right to exclude it from the shareholders' meeting agenda.
This incident once again triggered a discussion on corporate allocation of crypto assets. Since Trump's victory in 2024 pushed Bitcoin to a record high, many listed companies have faced similar shareholder proposals, but the degree of corporate adoption has been significantly differentiated - game retailer GameStop announced in March this year that it would raise $1.5 billion to purchase Bitcoin, while Microsoft shareholders voted down similar proposals in December last year.
Blockchain Application
▌Coinbase: Necessary updates will be implemented after the Ethereum Pectra upgrade is launched, and relevant preparations have been started
On April 12, Coinbase officially announced that it has begun to actively prepare for the upgrade and will implement necessary updates after Pectra is officially launched. Coinbase also said that it will continue to pay close attention to the preparations for system updates to ensure that customers have a smooth online experience. Earlier news, due to configuration problems during the activation of the Holesky and Sepolia test networks, the Ethereum Pectra upgrade was delayed and is currently scheduled to be launched on the main network on May 7.
▌Wintermute launches L2 network "QuoteChain" that interacts with social media platform X
Wintermute announced the launch of L2 network "QuoteChain" that supports interaction with social media platform X on the X platform. It is reported that the Genesis block is about to start. Wintermute said that QuoteChain will be a "small experiment" that integrates AI, encryption, and social media platform X, and is also a "Twitter L2" distributed based on social activities.
▌Kraken cooperates with Mastercard to launch encrypted debit cards
According to CoinDesk, Kraken is working with Mastercard to launch encrypted debit cards. Kraken will launch physical and digital debit cards for daily transactions using cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
The program is part of KrakenPay, a service launched earlier this year that supports cross-border payments in more than 300 cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. The debit card is expected to be available in the coming weeks.
▌MEGABIT large-scale platform upgrade announcement, platform domain name renewal, experience new heavyweight features
According to official news, Megabit will be officially upgraded to MGBX at 00:00 (SGT) on April 12, 2025, and the platform domain name will be changed to mgbx.com. This brand upgrade covers several important modules such as product interface, access domain name, and international services.
▌pump.fun: Live streaming now covers all users
pump.fun posted on the X platform that the previously restored live streaming function now covers all users (100%), and the live streaming function will now be equipped with an industry-standard review system and transparent guidelines, including prohibiting and deleting live streaming containing hate speech, violence, nudity or other inappropriate content. Pump.fun announced last week that it would resume the live streaming function, but it was only open to 5% of users.
Cryptocurrency
▌Market news: Binance is in talks to list the USD1 stablecoin issued by the Trump family's encryption project WLFI
According to market news, Binance executives recently held discussions with U.S. Treasury officials. In addition, Binance is in talks to list the USD1 stablecoin issued by the Trump family's encryption project World Liberty Financial (WLFI). The potential cooperation with WLFI highlights that stablecoins are evolving from purely technical trading tools to tools with significant market and regulatory impacts. This move will put Binance in competition with other major exchanges and stablecoin issuers, and may gain market advantages in the field of U.S. dollar digital assets.
▌52% of Singapore's cryptocurrency holders use digital assets for payments
According to the Straits Times, more than half of cryptocurrency holders in Singapore have used digital assets for daily transactions. The latest research shows that 52% of cryptocurrency holders have begun using cryptocurrency payments, and 67% of holders plan to use it in the future. The study found that Generation Z and millennials hold 40% of the country's cryptocurrencies, mainly for online shopping, bill payments and in-store consumption.
According to blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, Singapore's crypto transaction volume was close to US$1 billion in the second quarter of 2024. However, 60% of users still expressed concerns about the complexity and security of digital assets, and 54% of holders were troubled by the limited acceptance of merchants.
▌The whale who obtained 100,000 ETH in ICO in 2015 sold 632 more ETH and still holds 30,189 ETH
According to monitoring by ai_9684xtpa, “the OG whale who obtained 100,000 ETH in ICO in 2015” sold 632 ETH again 5 hours ago, worth $1.04 million. The cumulative number of ETH sold since April has increased to 4,812, worth about $8.09 million. Its cost was as low as $0.31, and it still holds 30,189 ETH.
▌Chronicle Selected as Oracle Provider for Winning Projects of SparkDAO’s $1 Billion Tokenization Prize
Chronicle has been selected as the oracle provider for all winning projects of the SparkDAO $1 Billion Tokenization Prize. Winning projects include BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund, Superstate’s USTB, and Centrifuge’s JTRSY Fund, with Janus Henderson as sub-advisor.
▌World Liberty Financial Denies Selling ETH, Says Reports Are ‘Completely Untrue’
World Liberty Financial (WLFI) has officially denied recent rumors that it is selling Ethereum. Earlier, it was reported that a wallet address marked by Arkham as related to WLFI sold about $8 million of ETH when the price of ETH fell to $1,465. In response, a WLFI spokesperson made it clear: "The claim that WLFI sold its holdings is completely untrue. No assets have been sold at present, and the relevant speculation is wrong."
Important Economic Dynamics
▌Fed Collins: Tariffs push up prices of US goods, which may cause the Fed to postpone interest rate cuts
Fed Collins said that the Fed may still have room to cut interest rates this year. Interest rate policy is in good shape, and keeping it stable seems to be the best option at present. Tariffs push up prices of US goods, which may cause the Fed to postpone interest rate cuts.
▌Federal Reserve Goolsbee: The threshold for the Fed to change its current policy is quite high
Federal Reserve Goolsbee: Now is the time for the Fed to pause interest rate adjustments and wait and see. The threshold for the Fed to change its current policy is quite high. The Fed should keep all policy measures on the agenda. The current tariffs will push up inflation in the short term and hurt economic growth.
▌The market value of tokenized gold is approaching $2 billion, and tariff concerns have triggered safe-haven transactions
As market concerns about tariff policies intensify, investors turn to safe-haven assets, pushing the total market value of tokenized gold products to nearly $2 billion. This trend reflects the significant growth in demand for digital gold as a safe haven in an environment of increasing uncertainty. CoinDesk data shows that there has been a significant inflow of funds into related products recently, highlighting the trend of integration between cryptocurrencies and traditional safe-haven assets.
▌Fed Collins: If necessary, the Fed is "absolutely" ready to provide help when necessary to stabilize the market
Fed Collins: Historically, we have had to use various tools quickly (to stabilize the market), and now if necessary, the Fed is "absolutely" ready to provide help when necessary to stabilize the market.
▌Fed Kashkari: The Fed has the tools to provide more liquidity
Fed Neil Kashkari said, "The Fed has the tools to provide more liquidity."
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