Weekly Recap: Trump Pardons CZ, Polymarket Chases $15B Valuation

Why Bitcoin Could Hit $150,000 Soon. Plus ‘Code Is Law’ Film

This special two-part episode brings together two very different conversations.

In part one, investment manager Lawrence Lepard lays out why he believes the fiat monetary system is structurally unsustainable, what role inflation plays in that system, and how Bitcoin could be the exit ramp, not just from fiat, but from war, debt, and economic manipulation. He discusses gold, stocks, silver, the real estate market, and why he’s betting heavily on Bitcoin.

In part two, I speak with filmmaker James Craig, director of the new documentary Code Is Law, which traces the evolution of the phrase from a meme into a legal defense for some of the most infamous smart contract exploits in crypto. From the DAO to Indexed Finance, Mango Markets and KyberSwap, the film explores whether exploiting code is legitimate — or just theft with better PR.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, PumpFun, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Now, let’s get into this week’s news! In today’s edition:

• 🏛️ Trump pardons CZ and names new CFTC chief

• 📈 Polymarket targets $15B valuation amid prediction boom

• 💬 Crypto CEOs meet senators to revive stalled market bill

• 🏦 JPMorgan to accept Bitcoin and Ether as loan collateral

• 🪙 Meteora founder accused in LIBRA and MELANIA token fraud

• 💸 Aave DAO proposes $50M annual AAVE buyback plan

• 🎥 Coinbase buys Echo and Cobie’s ‘Up Only’ NFT for $375M

• 💥 Ethereum insiders criticize Foundation over pay and favoritism

• 🇨🇳 China halts tech giants’ stablecoin plans after Beijing warning

• ⚙️ MegaETH reveals MiCA-compliant token sale and sequencer design

Trump Pardons Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

President Donald Trump has granted a full pardon to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder and former CEO of Binance. 

The pardon follows months of lobbying efforts and continues a major policy shift toward digital assets under the Trump administration.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump exercised his constitutional authority to end what she called the Biden administration’s “war on cryptocurrency.” She added, “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”

Zhao, who served four months in prison after pleading guilty in 2023 to anti-money-laundering violations, thanked Trump on X, writing that he would “help make America the Capital of Crypto.” 

The decision could clear the path for Binance’s return to the U.S. market, though regulatory monitorships remain in place.

Trump Nominates Michael Selig to Lead CFTC Amid Expanding Crypto Oversight

President Trump has nominated Michael Selig to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Selig currently serves as chief counsel for the SEC’s Crypto Task Force and previously worked at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he advised on digital asset regulation. If confirmed by the Senate, he would oversee the CFTC at a time when lawmakers are advancing the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act, both designed to establish clearer frameworks for digital assets.

Trump’s pick follows the withdrawal of Brian Quintenz’s stalled nomination after objections from Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss. Industry leaders welcomed the choice. 

Polymarket Targets $15 Billion Valuation as Prediction Market Boom Heats Up

Prediction market leaders Polymarket and Kalshi are seeing investor enthusiasm soar as both startups race to dominate a fast-emerging financial frontier where gambling meets traditional markets. 

According to Bloomberg, Polymarket is in early talks to raise funds at a valuation between $12 billion and $15 billion, a tenfold jump since June, when Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund led a $200 million round valuing the firm at $1 billion. Earlier this month, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, said it would invest up to $2 billion in Polymarket at an $8 billion valuation, a move that made CEO Shayne Coplan the youngest self-made billionaire.

Meanwhile, Kalshi is fielding offers valuing it at over $10 billion, just weeks after securing $300 million in a round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. Both platforms have seen record activity, with combined weekly trading volumes exceeding $2 billion in mid-October — surpassing their previous peak during last year’s U.S. presidential election.

The two competitors also struck major commercial deals this week, with Polymarket becoming a clearinghouse for DraftKings and securing a multiyear partnership with the National Hockey League, which also signed a similar agreement with Kalshi — marking the first major U.S. sports league to collaborate with prediction markets.

Despite the momentum, regulatory challenges loom. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has allowed limited expansion of Kalshi’s markets, but state gaming regulators have pushed back in court, raising unresolved questions about market manipulation and insider trading.

Crypto CEOs Meet U.S. Senators to Revive Stalled Market Structure Bill

Top crypto executives, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Chainlink’s Sergey Nazarov, Kraken co-CEO David Ripley, and Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, met with U.S. senators from both parties on Wednesday to push forward long-delayed crypto market structure legislation.

The group first met with Senate Democrats, led by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, to discuss how to reconcile policy gaps on issues such as decentralized finance and illicit finance. Nazarov said more than 10 Democratic lawmakers attended and that there was “sufficient support” to keep the bipartisan bill alive. The meeting was briefly joined by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

A second meeting with Republican lawmakers, including Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott, reaffirmed GOP backing for the bill, which aims to define how digital assets are classified and regulated. Scott’s office urged Democrats to “return to the negotiating table” to finalize language ahead of markup.

Armstrong later posted that the industry is “keeping the pressure on in DC” to advance the legislation to President Trump’s desk.

JPMorgan to Accept Bitcoin and Ether as Loan Collateral by Year-End

JPMorgan Chase plans to allow institutional clients to use bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) as collateral for loans by the end of 2025, marking a major step in Wall Street’s integration of digital assets. The program will operate globally and use a third-party custodian to safeguard pledged tokens, according to Bloomberg.

The initiative expands on JPMorgan’s earlier decision to accept crypto-linked ETFs as collateral, letting clients leverage their holdings directly instead of ETF shares. It comes as U.S. regulators ease restrictions under the Trump administration, spurring major banks such as Morgan Stanley, State Street, and Fidelity to broaden crypto services.

CEO Jamie Dimon, once a vocal crypto critic, has softened his stance, saying he will “defend your right to buy Bitcoin.” 

Lawsuit Alleges Meteora Founder Orchestrated LIBRA and MELANIA Memecoin Scams

A newly amended class action lawsuit accuses Benjamin Chow, co-founder of Solana-based dapp Meteora, of engineering a network of fraudulent memecoin launches, including the high-profile LIBRA and MELANIA tokens promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei and First Lady Melania Trump. 

The case, Hurlock v. Kelsier Ventures, claims Chow led a team that created at least 15 tokens through a coordinated scheme involving Kelsier Ventures, headed by Hayden Davis, and Meteora collaborator Ng Ming Yeow.

According to the complaint, the group “borrowed credibility” from public figures to legitimize what plaintiffs call a “coordinated liquidity trap.” The filing emphasizes that Milei and Trump were not responsible for the alleged fraud, serving only as “window dressing” for Chow’s operation.

Both the LIBRA and MELANIA coins surged before collapsing shortly after launch, wiping out millions in investor funds. Chow resigned from Meteora in February, denying on X that he or the firm profited from the projects.

Coincidentally, Meteora had its token generation event on Thursday, launching at a $650 million fully diluted valuation. 

Aave DAO Considers $50 Million Annual Token Buyback Program

The decentralized lending protocol Aave is considering a major new initiative to make its token buybacks a permanent fixture of its economic model. 

The proposal, introduced by the Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) — a governance group led by Marc Zeller — seeks to allocate $50 million annually from Aave’s protocol revenue toward repurchasing its native AAVE tokens.

According to the plan, the Aave Finance Committee (AFC) and TokenLogic would jointly execute weekly buybacks ranging from $250,000 to $1.75 million, with flexibility to adjust based on liquidity, market conditions, and available revenue. The initiative builds on Aave’s previous buyback program, which the ACI described as a “strong success,” and aims to reinforce the protocol’s long-term framework known as “Aavenomics.”

With approximately $169 million in annual revenue, Aave is among DeFi’s most profitable projects. The protocol recently surpassed $25 billion in outstanding loans, expanded into real-world asset lending via its Horizon platform, and launched its first non-EVM deployment on Aptos. Aave currently ranks second among DeFi protocols in monthly fee generation, according to data from The Block.

Coinbase Acquires Echo and ‘Up Only’ NFT in $375 Million Deal

Coinbase has announced a $375 million cash-and-stock acquisition of Echo, a crypto fundraising platform founded by trader Jordan “Cobie” Fish, along with Cobie’s “Up Only” NFT, signaling the exchange’s expansion into onchain capital markets and crypto media.

Echo’s platform enables both private and public token sales through its Sonar product and has facilitated over $200 million in funding for crypto startups since its 2023 launch. Coinbase said the acquisition will make capital raising more transparent and accessible, with plans to extend support to tokenized securities and real-world assets in the future.

As part of the transaction, Coinbase paid $25 million in USDC for the Up Only NFT, which contractually requires Cobie and co-host Brian “Ledger” Krogsgard to produce eight new episodes of their talk show. CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed the purchase on X, writing, “Just burnt the NFT. Your move.”

Ethereum Insiders Criticize Foundation Over Pay, Leadership, and Favoritism

A wave of public criticism has yet again erupted against the Ethereum Foundation (EF) after former Geth lead developer Péter Szilágyi released a year-old letter accusing the organization of poor compensation, favoritism, and overreliance on founder Vitalik Buterin’s influence. 

Szilágyi revealed he earned roughly $625,000 over six years, saying that the Foundation’s pay structure pushed key developers to seek income elsewhere. “Ethereum’s direction always boiled down to your relationship with Vitalik,” he wrote, claiming that most major projects are steered by a small group of insiders backed by a handful of venture firms.

His comments sparked widespread debate across the Ethereum community. Polygon CEO Sandeep Nailwal said the letter made him “start questioning” his loyalty to Ethereum, citing a lack of support from the Foundation. 

China Halts Tech Giants’ Stablecoin Ambitions Amid Regulatory Pushback

Major Chinese technology firms have suspended their stablecoin initiatives in Hong Kong after receiving guidance from Beijing regulators. 

According to the Financial Times, officials from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) instructed companies including Ant Group and JD.com to halt participation in Hong Kong’s pilot program for digital currencies.

The decision reflects growing unease in Beijing over privately issued currencies, which some officials view as competing with China’s digital yuan (e-CNY) project. “The real regulatory concern is who has the ultimate right of coinage — the central bank or private companies,” one source told the paper.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority had opened stablecoin licensing earlier this year, positioning the city as a testing ground for tokenized finance. However, former PBoC governor Zhou Xiaochuan warned in August that stablecoins could fuel speculation and financial instability, prompting regulators to take a more cautious approach.

MegaETH Confirms MiCA-Compliant Token Sale and Reveals Novel Sequencer Design

Ethereum scaling platform MegaETH has confirmed the authenticity of a leaked MiCA-format whitepaper, revealing plans for a regulated public sale of its MEGA token and outlining new technical features. 

The sale, starting Oct. 27 on Coinbase-owned Sonar, will auction 5% of total supply—about 500 million tokens—through a three-day English auction that begins at a $1 million valuation and caps near $999 million.

According to founding contributor Namik Muduroglu, the project chose this model to attract “participants who show conviction” rather than rely on airdrops. The MiCA approval allows EU investors to participate but requires KYC verification and licensed custody via OKCoin Europe.

MegaETH’s whitepaper also introduces a rotating sequencer system and proximity markets, which link token staking to network access for low-latency trading. The document allocates 9.5% of tokens to the team, 14.7% to investors, and more than half toward staking rewards aimed at building long-term onchain activity.

Last Friday, MegaETH repurchased 4.75% of its equity and token warrants from early backers who were exiting before its token launch, signaling confidence ahead of its upcoming mainnet debut.

Watch the weekly recap on YouTube!