Trump Expected to Sign Crypto Bill by August, Says White House

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 🇺🇸 Crypto law by summer?

• 🤔 MetaMask token? “Maybe”

• 🛡️ Ethereum plans big security upgrade

• 🐋 Binance whales stop selling as BTC rallies

Trump Likely to Sign Crypto Bill by August, White House Says 

Bo Hines, executive director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, confirmed on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump is on track to sign major crypto legislation, including stablecoin and market structure bills, before Congress's August recess. 

Negotiations in Congress are ongoing, but Hines said he was optimistic about meeting the president's timeline, emphasizing that both stablecoin and broader market structure legislation are priorities for the administration.

The two primary bills in focus are the House STABLE Act and the Senate GENIUS Act, which would together establish the first federal licensing regime for stablecoins and set regulatory frameworks for digital asset markets.

If enacted, the laws would mark a significant shift in U.S. digital asset regulation. They are expected to be complemented by a 180-day interagency report on digital assets.

MetaMask Founder Says ‘Maybe’ to Token Launch Plans 

MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay confirmed on Wednesday that the idea of launching a native MetaMask token is still under consideration. 

When directly asked about the possibility of a MetaMask token, Finlay responded: “Maybe,” indicating that no final decision had been made. “If we ever do it, it'll be advertised directly in the wallet. You'll be able to find a link directly in the wallet.”

MetaMask and its parent company, Consensys, have discussed the possibility of a token since at least 2021, with earlier suggestions that a token, tentatively called MASK, could support community ownership and progressive decentralization.

ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin noted in 2022 that the token would not be a speculative asset for quick profit and would include protections against airdrop farming.

Ethereum Foundation Unveils ‘Trillion Dollar Security Initiative’ 

The Ethereum Foundation has proposed what it calls a “Trillion Dollar Security Initiative,” a comprehensive security program designed to address the shortcomings of legacy financial systems and support the broader adoption of onchain technologies.

It will begin with an assessment of Ethereum’s technology stack, identifying strengths and potential vulnerabilities across user experience, wallet security, smart contracts, consensus protocols, and infrastructure.

The foundation will then prioritize and implement measures to address identified weaknesses, based on that initial mapping.

The project will be driven by Protocol Security Lead Fredrik Svantes and Josh Stark from the foundation’s management team, with guidance from prominent ecosystem security experts such as Sam Sun, a.k.a. samczsun, Mehdi Zerouali, and Zach Obront.

Ether is currently trading at around $2,540 after a strong rally that began after the network’s highly anticipated Pectra upgrade went live. ETH has gained 31.5% in the past week and its market dominance has climbed back above 9%.

Binance Whales’ Bitcoin Inflows Dropped Amid Uptrend: CryptoQuant

Whale inflows to Binance have declined significantly since early April, even as bitcoin’s price rallied above the $105,000 mark for the first time since January, according to blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.

“On April 12th, the 30-day cumulative inflows from whales reached nearly $5B, but today they stand at around $3B[,] which is signaling a growing inclination to hold rather than sell,” onchain analyst Darkfrost said. 

Retail investor inflows, conversely, have increased sharply, rising from $12 billion to $15 billion during the same period, indicating that retail traders are playing a more active role in the current market rally.

“Historically, it's often been shown that following whale behavior tends to be a better strategy than following that of retail investors,” Darkfrost said. “We’ll see if once again, the whales' decision proves to be the wiser one.”

• 🔄 Synthetix proposed a $27 million SNX-for-DRV token swap to acquire options protocol Derive, aiming to integrate its tech and team to strengthen Synthetix’s Ethereum perpetuals engine.

• 🏛️ U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Summer Mersinger will leave her post this month to lead the Blockchain Association as its CEO as Congress works on new stablecoin and crypto regulations.

• 🧩 Investment manager VanEck launched its NODE exchange-traded fund on the Cboe exchange on Wednesday giving investors managed exposure to stocks of companies engaged in blockchain and crypto services without holding actual crypto assets.

• 📝 Early blockchain mover BTCS on Wednesday announced plans to raise up to $57.8 million through convertible notes to expand its ETH holdings, citing recent price momentum following the Pectra network upgrade.

• 🚫 Telegram shut down Haowang Guarantee, a $27 billion USDT-based illicit marketplace linked to Southeast Asia’s crypto scam ecosystem after reports from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

• 🚪 JPMorgan Chase announced on Wednesday that it had settled tokenized treasury transactions on Ondo’s public blockchain using Chainlink’s oracle tech, representing the first live bridge between its private Kinexys network and a public ledger after years of closed-system development.

• ⚙️ Perpl, a decentralized perpetuals exchange building on Monad, raised $9.25 million from Dragonfly and others to fund development ahead of its planned testnet launch later this year.

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