Coin Market

Atkins becomes next SEC chair: What’s next for the crypto industry

Published

3 weeks ago

April 10, 2025

The crypto industry has welcomed the confirmation of American businessman and former US Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins as chair of the agency.

Atkins’ approval has taken months. He appeared before the Senate on March 27 to explain his intended approach to securities regulation in the United States, as well as his views on digital assets.

Atkins will replace acting Chair Mark Uyeda as head of the agency, which began unwinding a number of court cases and enforcement actions against cryptocurrency firms when President Donald Trump took office. However, these actions don’t amount to clear guidance — yet.

Now that Atkins is ready to take the helm, the blockchain industry is hoping for the guidance they’ve been wanting for years. So, who is Paul Atkins, and what can the industry expect?

Senator Cynthia Lummis celebrated the confirmation. Source: Cynthia Lummis

Paul Atkins wants to provide guardrails for the crypto industry

An alumnus of Wofford College and Vanderbilt, Atkins has a long career in finance. He initially worked at Davis Polk & Wardwell before serving on the staff of two former chairmen of the SEC from 1990 to 1994.

Notably, under Chairman Richard Breeden, he assisted in efforts to decrease barriers to entry to capital markets for small businesses and middle-market companies.

After working at PwC and Coopers and Lyband, Atkins joined the SEC again as commissioner at the appointment of former President George W. Bush.

At the SEC, Atkins focused on improving financial services compliance with SEC regulations. He worked with law enforcement agencies in cases where investors were harmed. This included the Bennett Funding incident, a $1-billion Ponzi scheme by the leasing company in which 20,000 investors lost much of their investments.

After leaving this role as commissioner, he founded and led Potomak Global Partners, a consultancy for banks and financial services firms.

Ahead of his 52–44 confirmation vote — largely along party lines — Atkins faced a grilling from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. At the hearing, Atkins said the “top priority” of his tenure as chair would be to “provide a firm regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, coherent and principled approach.”

He said that the current “ambiguous and non-existent regulation of digital assets” harms innovation and the sector. More broadly, he claimed that world industry wants to invest in America, but “the current regulatory environment for our financial system inhibits investment and often punishes success.”

Congressman Tom Emmer said of Atkins’ nomination, “It’s gonna be great,” stating that the former chair, Gary Gensler, under ex-President Joe Biden, had “set a pretty low bar.” Emmer said the SEC could soon provide the clarity the industry expects: “We need stablecoins. We need market structure. We need to have clarity and certainty in the system.”

Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer at Coinbase, said the confirmation was the “dawn of a new era.”

Source: Faryar Shirzad

SEC actions under Uyeda point to further crypto priorities

While no one has a crystal ball, recent analysis from Cointelegraph shows that the recent dismissals of court cases and enforcement actions may indicate the future direction of crypto regulation — or lack of regulation — by the SEC.

Related: US gov’t actions give clue about upcoming crypto regulation

The dismissal of cases revolving around “the unregistered sale and offer of securities under the Securities Act of 1933 and acting unregistered as a broker, dealer, clearing agency and exchange” suggests that the SEC may not consider the assets involved as securities.

This idea is bulwarked by recent statements from the SEC that proof-of-work mining, pooled mining and dollar-backed stablecoins are not subject to securities laws. On the whole, this suggests that the SEC does not consider cryptocurrencies to be subject to securities law.

Crypto agenda could be hamstrung by recent SEC dismissals

One point of friction in Aktins’ ascension to SEC chair is the recent spate of dismissals of SEC staff. The Trump administration’s efforts to cut certain types of government spending through the temporary committee of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have not spared the securities regulator.

As reported by Politico in March, a combination of different buyout and dismissal programs will effectively get rid of 10% of the agency’s 5,000-strong workforce in the coming months. One source mentioned in the report suggested the total could be closer to 15%.

DOGE leader Elon Musk — who himself has run afoul of the SEC numerous times throughout his career — is reportedly seeking further cuts to the SEC’s already lacerated budget and staff.

A group of prominent securities law professors known as the “Shadow SEC” has raised the alarm about the recent cuts, saying, “Diminishing the SEC’s staff will lead to chaotic financial markets, longer review times for registration statements, and weakened enforcement capabilities.”

Creating a new framework for digital assets, especially from scratch, could take longer if the agency is bleeding staff and expertise while Musk wields a scythe in Washington.

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Coin Market

Ethereum price has several reasons to break $2,000 next

Published

38 minutes ago

April 29, 2025

Key takeaways:

Strong Ethereum ETF inflows signal high institutional demand.

Ethereum’s $51.8B TVL and 30% DEX weekly volume rise show robust network strength.

A bull flag pattern on the ETH’s four-hour chart targets $2,100.

Ether’s (ETH) price rose to a new range high at $1,860 on April 28, its highest value since April 2.

Several analysts argue that the ETH price needs to hold above $1,800 to increase the chances of rising higher.

“Once ETH confirms this 4H close above resistance [$1,800], Ether and altcoins will finally get their time to shine,” trader Kiran Gadakh said in an April 29 post on X.

“I can feel it in my bones, $2,000 ETH coming fast.” ETH/USD 12-hour chart. Source: Kiran Gadak

Popular analyst Nebraskangooner opined that if ETH faces high volume rejection from the $1,800 level, it might drop to test support levels around $1,600.

Source: Nebraskangooner

Ethereum ETF demand returns

Several data metrics suggest that Ether is well-positioned to break out toward $2,000 in the following days or weeks.

One factor supporting Ether’s bull case is resurgent institutional demand, reflected by significant inflows into spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

On April 28, Ethereum ETFs saw a net inflow totaling $64.1 million. This followed inflows totalling $151.7 million during the week ending April 25, the highest since February 2025.

Spot Ethereum ETF netflows. Source: SoSoValue

The increase in institutional demand was reinforced by net inflows of $183 million into Ethereum investment products last week, ending an eight-week streak of outflows, as reported by CoinShares.

This trend reflects growing confidence among traditional finance players, as observed by market analysts like CoinShares’ head of research, James Butterfill, who noted:

“We believe concerns over the tariff impact on corporate earnings and the dramatic weakening of the US dollar are why investors have turned toward digital assets, which are being seen as an emerging safe haven.”

Institutional buying creates sustained upward pressure on Ether’s price by absorbing the available supply.

Strong Ethereum onchain activity is back

Ethereum remains the undisputed top layer-1 blockchain with more than $51.8 billion in total value locked (TVL) on the network, according to data from DefiLlama. The chart below shows that Ethereum’s TVL has increased by approximately 16% over the last seven days.

Ethereum TVL and daily DEX volumes. Source: DefiLlama

Aave was among the strongest performers in Ethereum deposits, with the TVL rising 13.5% over seven days. Other notable increases included Lido (12%), EigenLayer (13%), and Ether.fi (12%).

Compared to other top-layer networks, the Ethereum network towers above its rivals in terms of TVL growth in the daily and weekly time frames, except SUI, which has seen a 47% increase in its TVL over the last seven days.

Ethereum’s daily DEX volumes have increased by more than 30% over the last week, to $1.65 billion. However, this is significantly lower than the 78% and 44% increases on SUI and Solana, respectively.

ETH price bull flags targets $2,100

The ETH/USD pair has a good chance of resuming its upward momentum despite the rejection at $1,860, as the chart shows a classic bullish pattern.

Ether’s price action over the past week has led to a bull flag pattern on the four-hour chart, as shown in the figure below. A four-hour candlestick close above the flag’s upper boundary at $1,800 on April 29 suggests the start of an upward move.

The flagpole’s height sets the target, which projects Ether’s price ascent to $2,100 or approximately a 15% increase from the current price.

ETH/USD 4-hour chart w/ bull flag pattern. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Another bullish indicator is the relative strength index, which is moving within the positive region at 60, suggesting that the market conditions still favor the upside.

As Cointelegraph reported, increased demand from the $1,700 area (at the 20-day SMA) should serve as a solid foundation for ETH price to reach the $2,110 level, eventually topping out at $2,500.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Coin Market

Beijing to invest in blockchain, integrate into infrastructure

Published

2 hours ago

April 29, 2025

The Beijing city administration has announced a plan for local blockchain development and implementation over the next two years.

According to an April 29 announcement, the plan was jointly developed by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee, the Cyberspace Administration Office, the Bureau of Government Services and Data, the Bureau of Economy and Information Technology and the Bureau of Commerce. The implementation is expected to start this year and continue until 2027.

The announcement. Source: Beijing government

The Beijing Blockchain Innovation and Application Development Action Plan recognizes blockchain as a “critical foundational technology for industrial digitalization and vital digital infrastructure.”

Notably, the objectives also include plans to “enhance the value extraction from digital assets through blockchain,” which may indicate crypto mining. The announcement also claims that the city has already invested heavily in this area of research:

“Beijing has significantly progressed in autonomous blockchain technology development and application scenarios.“

Beijing bets on blockchain for economic growth

The plan involves developing blockchain software that targets breakthroughs in cryptography, confidential computing and distributed systems. The project also includes the development of blockchain infrastructure, including national blockchain hub nodes and platforms for trusted digital identity and distributed data directories.

Industries targeted for blockchain application include healthcare, education, large artificial intelligence models, financial services and transportation. The objective is to enhance efficiency and trust:

“The aim is to optimize business processes, ensure trustworthy data sharing, and innovate service models, establishing benchmark applications to drive broader blockchain adoption.“

One blockchain, one network, one platform

The announcement cites the “one blockchain, one network, one platform” principle. By 2027, the project aims to implement dedicated blockchain chips, privacy protection features, crosschain interoperability and distributed networking.

The project hopes to achieve petabyte-scale trusted node storage, large-scale blockchain interoperability, and a hundred-million-user-scale interoperable trusted identity system. The announcement promises the development of at least 20 blockchain use cases.

The announcement follows Beijing’s release of a white paper to foster innovation and advance the Web3 industry in May 2023. The “Web3 Innovation and Development White Paper” recognized Web3 technology as an “inevitable trend for future Internet industry development.“

The commission behind the paper hoped to establish Beijing as an innovation hub for the digital economy and planned to allocate a minimum of 100 million yuan ($14 million) annually until this year.

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Coin Market

CBDCs ‘costly fiat copy’, not fintech success so far: Ex-Binance exec

Published

2 hours ago

April 29, 2025

The United States’ rejection of a central bank digital currency has not halted the progress of CBDCs globally, but their success has been questionable so far, according to a former Binance executive.

Global CBDC projects have not failed, but they have also not become what they were anticipated to be, according to Olga Goncharova, CEO at the consulting firm Rizz Go and former director of government relations in the Commonwealth of Independent States at Binance.

“CBDCs were conceived as a technological breakthrough, but so far they look like expensive imitations of existing traditional fiat currencies that citizens and businesses already use through online banking and payment apps,” Goncharova told Cointelegraph at the Blockchain Forum in Moscow.

Olga Goncharova during a panel on Web3 geopolitics at the Blockchain Forum 2025 on April 23. Source: Blockchain Forum

Though some of the CBDC-like creatives date back to the 1990s, modern initiatives are yet to offer users a real added value compared to traditional payment channels, she said.

CBDC leaders like China struggle with adoption

“Today it is clear that the expectations around CBDCs were overestimated,” Goncharova claimed, adding that none of the jurisdictions worldwide have succeeded in the mass adoption of retail CBDCs.

“Even in China, where the digital yuan project has been moving longer and more actively than others, its share in the payment system remains minimal,” she added, referring to multiple online reports suggesting that China’s CBDC has been struggling amid slow adoption.

Source: Mercator Institute for China Studies

With China’s CBDC early-stage research starting in 2014, China’s digital yuan is known as one of the biggest CBDC projects worldwide, offering an electronic version of the Chinese yuan intended for online and offline transactions.

The Chinese government has been actively promoting the use of the digital yuan. Still, some reports declared China’s digital project a failure in late 2024, referring to the downfall of Yao Qian, the first director of CBDC development at China’s central bank. Late last year, he was reportedly expelled from public office by the government.

EU pushes a digital euro for autonomy

Every country has its reasons to pursue a CBDC, Goncharova continued, noting that the European Union has been pushing its digital euro project to protect its financial autonomy.

“In the EU, the digital euro is perceived more as an instrument of strategic autonomy than as a response to market demand,” she stated, adding that its goal is to reduce reliance on payment giants like Visa and Mastercard.

Source: Reuters

However, the efforts to create a pan-European payment system have faced serious challenges, such as market share concerns by banks as well as adoption difficulties.

“The European Central Bank has not yet decided whether the digital euro will operate on the blockchain, as it does not see convincing cases for programmability and points to technological risks,” Goncharova said.

Russia delays a digital ruble

Russia has emerged as one of the most active jurisdictions in the global CBDC race, but it’s yet to roll out its digital currency as well, which has been on multiple trials since early 2022.

After seeing many launch delays, a digital ruble could be postponed further as Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina in February announced that the mass adoption of a digital ruble would occur later than planned.

A panel at the Blockchain Forum 2025 in Moscow. Source: Blockchain Forum

At the same time, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has recently claimed that the digital ruble is scheduled to be rolled out for commercial banks in the second half of 2025.

“In Russia, there is no urgent need to reduce dependence on foreign payment systems as in the EU,” Goncharova told Cointelegraph, adding:

“The digital ruble is rather perceived as a tool for increasing the efficiency of internal settlements. The project is still at the testing stage. Its further development will depend on how clearly the tasks are formulated and whether there is practical sense for users and the economy.”

While Russia has been delaying its digital ruble, some officials have recently called on the government to create ruble-pegged stablecoins, echoing the US’s stablecoin push.

While several ruble stablecoins have already been introduced, it remains to be seen whether the initiatives can compete with giants like Tether’s USDt (USDT).

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