The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day |
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Eric Trump Explains Crypto Awakening |
Nik De:
Eric Trump, the son of U.S. President Donald Trump, said he believes bitcoin is digital gold and called the largest digital currency a store of value, during a packed panel at Consensus 2025 in Toronto.
"I really believe in digital gold, which is bitcoin, right? I believe in the store of value," Trump said. However, Eric Trump — who has a background in real estate — told the crowd at CoinDesk's Consensus 2025 conference in Toronto that he didn't get into bitcoin or crypto until politics intertwined the Trump family and the crypto community.
"It wasn't until the very same group that was attacking my family for no reason whatsoever other than political beliefs, started attacking [the] crypto community that it really drove two people who might not have always been like-minded together and that partnership has been absolutely amazing," he said Thursday. |
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O'Leary: I Want More Regulation |
Cheyenne Ligon:
Kevin O’Leary, chairman of O’Leary Ventures, said the crypto industry isn’t regulated enough — which is holding digital assets back from true institutional adoption.
Speaking at Consensus 2025 in Toronto on Thursday, O’Leary said crypto assets under management (AUM) have hit a wall, which he attributed to a lack of regulatory clarity that has prevented the majority of sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and institutional investors from investing meaningfully. “I never thought I’d say this, but I want more regulation and I want it now,” O’Leary said. “The good news is there’s a new sheriff in town: Paul Atkins at the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission].” O’Leary said Atkins, who was sworn in as chairman of the SEC last month, has already telegraphed that he’s friendly to the crypto industry and will “regulate accordingly.” Atkins replaces Gary Gensler, whose penchant for so-called “regulation by enforcement” drew the ire of many in the crypto industry. O’Leary said Thursday that he respected Gensler’s consistency as a regulator. “He said he was gonna sue you, and he sued you,” O’Leary said. “He was consistent and you have to respect that.” In a press conference ahead of his keynote speech, O’Leary said he'd received a Wells notice from the SEC over a decade ago after speaking about debt tokenization in a televised interview. He was cleared, he said, but the experience temporarily scared him off engaging with crypto in the U.S. |
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The Industry’s Brightest Minds. One Unmissable Event.
Dealmaking. Networking. Big moves. Consensus 2025 is where the industry’s top players connect, innovate, and build what’s next. Don’t miss out. Save 15% with code NODE15. |
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Coinbase Hopes for Carney Government |
Lucas Matheson, CEO of Coinbase Canada, made a case for Canada's new government to create a national crypto strategy during his appearance at Consensus 2025 in Toronto.
Speaking on a panel titled, "What the new Canadian Government Needs to do to Lead In Crypto," Matheson outlined some key steps he believes will help position Canada as a leader in the blockchain space. Matheson highlighted that Canada has long been a hub for crypto innovation, citing Ethereum's origins and the strong presence of Web3 developers at Canadian universities.
However, he said the country risks falling behind as other nations actively shape crypto policies. "We need leadership. We need champions in government to embrace this technology and legitimize it in the eyes of the everyday Canadian," Matheson said. He emphasized the importance of having a dedicated federal crypto leader, similar to the U.S. crypto czar. One of his primary suggestions was for Carney to establish a government-led crypto task force within the first 100 days of the new administration.
This task force would develop a national crypto strategy, including defining digital assets, regulating stablecoins, and allowing banks to hold crypto securely. Matheson also proposed creating a strategic bitcoin reserve and integrating crypto mining with existing data centers.
Matheson noted that stablecoins could play a key role in making digital assets less speculative, suggesting that Canada needs a stable, Canadian-dollar-denominated coin to boost financial efficiency.
"One in five Canadians remit money abroad. We pay between 6% and 12% to remit money all around the world. And today, with crypto, you can click different buttons on your phone and send your friends and family 6% to 12% more money," he said. |
Smokey Resisting Market Distortions |
Tim Craig:
Berachain is focused on building “decorrelated populations” of users to guard against market reflexivity, said Smokey the Bera, theblockchain’s pseudonymous founder, onstage at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2025 event in Toronto.
Reflexivity is a big concern in decentralised finance and crypto. It refers to the self-reinforcing effect of market sentiment. Rising prices often attract buyers and create a positive feedback loop. However, the same process can operate in reverse leading to a catastrophic collapse in prices. Berachain’s plan for the second and third quarters is to support profitable businesses that exist in web2 and are uncorrelated to the existing DeFi and crypto markets. Doing so will help Berachain guard against reflexivity, helping it weather market volatility and retain deep liquidity, Smokey said. Smokey was joined by Jason Atkins from market making firm Auros, when they discussed all things to do with liquidity — essentially how easily and quickly a crypto asset can be bought or sold without a significant impact on its price. |
What's Next for the CFTC? |
Jesse Hamilton:
Caroline Pham, the acting chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures and Trading Commission, has openly discussed an intention to leave the commission once she's permanently replaced, people familiar with her plans have said, leaving significant questions about the future track of agency policy. If President Donald Trump's nominee for the chairmanship, former Commissioner Brian Quintenz, is confirmed by the Senate to take the job, the departure of Republican Pham could coincide with the planned exit of fellow Republican Commissioner Summer Mersinger to run the Blockchain Association. Who's left? The new Republican chairman — who served as a policy head for a16z after leaving the agency — would find himself alongside a single fellow commissioner: Democrat Kristin Johnson. This leaves Quintenz with practical control of the agency's agenda and staffing, because almost all of its employees will report to his office. But the CFTC could be hamstrung to make new policy as Congress is working on legislation that could assign the regulator new powers over the crypto industry. The longer it waits before the White House picks nominees to face Senate confirmation, the longer the potential delay of higher-stakes policy work that requires commission involvement. The CFTC normally has five members — a chair and two others from the majority party plus two commissioners from the minority party. If Quintenz gets the Senate nod, he's taking over the spot currently held by Christy Goldsmith Romero, a Democrat who said she's leaving her extended stint in government service when this role ends. The sole Democrat, Johnson, hasn't cultivated a reputation for her digital assets views, like the sharper rhetoric associated with the Securities and Exchange Commission's lone Democrat, Caroline Crenshaw. It's unclear what common ground, if any, would be carved out between Johnson and Quintenz if they were to serve as a two-person commission. Mersinger will start as CEO of the crypto lobbying group Blockchain Association at the start of next month, according to board president and chair Marta Belcher's remarks highlighting the new hire on Wednesday at Consensus 2025 in Toronto, calling her a person who could take crypto "to the next level in policy." "This decision is not easy, and it breaks my heart to leave the agency that I have grown to love so much over the last five years," Mersinger said in a statement. She'll soon be lobbying on policy that is likely to one day direct her former agency to regulate the spot markets for the bulk of crypto trading in the U.S. As the interim head of the agency appointed after Trump reclaimed the White House, Pham, a former executive at Citigroup Inc., has taken an aggressive stance to ease the CFTC's use of enforcement actions to steer crypto matters and to rethink some of its policy positions. The acting chairman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment after hours on Wednesday. Before Pham and Mersinger arrived in a slate of four appointees that also included Democrats Johnson and Romero, the CFTC had been down to two commissioners. The recently departed Chairman Rostin Behnam, a Democrat, had served for a time with Dawn Stump, a Republican. It's unclear what the president's nomination strategy may eventually be for the CFTC's potential three vacancies if Pham departs, which would include one position for a Democrat. So far, Trump has sought to remove Democratic appointees from federal regulatory agencies, such as at the Federal Trade Commission and the National Credit Union Administration. |
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