Crypto Weekly: Trump Pardons CZ, Ethereum Upgrade, DeFi Shifts

The most significant regulatory development this week came from the White House, where President Donald Trump pardoned Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao. Zhao had been serving a four-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering programs at Binance and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. This presidential pardon represents a dramatic shift in the U.S. government’s approach to cryptocurrency leadership and signals the Trump administration’s positive stance toward the industry.

Meanwhile, United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins delivered a sobering assessment of America’s regulatory position, acknowledging that the U.S. is at least a decade behind its rivals in crypto regulation and innovation. Atkins has promised to create a strong framework, making catching up with competitors a “top priority.” This admission highlights the urgent need for regulatory clarity as the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with other jurisdictions potentially gaining competitive advantages.

Ethereum has entered the final testnet phase of the Fusaka upgrade ahead of its planned December 3 rollout. The hard fork features an improvement proposal that sets a gas fee limit for each transaction to improve block efficiency, reduce DoS risks, and create the groundwork for parallel execution. This technological advancement represents a significant step forward in Ethereum’s ongoing evolution, addressing critical scalability and security concerns that have long challenged the network.

Solana co-founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko has announced plans for a new decentralized exchange called Percolator, following the success of Astar and Hyperliquid. This announcement comes two months after a VanEck report highlighted the growth of Hyperliquid at Solana’s expense, suggesting strategic moves to reclaim market position. The development underscores the intense competition among blockchain platforms to capture market share in the rapidly expanding DeFi ecosystem.

Traditional finance continues its embrace of cryptocurrency with Coinbase partnering with American Express to launch the Coinbase One card. First Electronic Bank issues the Bitcoin rewards credit card, which operates on the American Express network, marking another milestone in cryptocurrency’s mainstream adoption. This development follows JPMorgan Chase upgrading Coinbase shares from “Neutral” to “Overweight” based on the monetization potential of the Base Network, highlighting growing institutional confidence in crypto infrastructure.

Ripple Labs is launching a fundraising effort to purchase $1 billion worth of XRP tokens to fund a new digital asset treasury. The company already holds 4.6 billion XRP tokens and another 37 billion XRP locked in escrow, demonstrating significant commitment to the XRP ecosystem. Meanwhile, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed that the USDT stablecoin now serves 500 million users globally, underscoring the growing influence of stablecoins in digital finance.

Security remains a critical concern, with Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX resuming trading on Friday after a 16-month shutdown following a devastating $230 million security breach orchestrated by the Lazarus Group. The DeFi sector faced its own challenges as Bunni DEX shut down following an $8.4 million exploit, becoming the second major project to shut down this week after Kadena. The Bunni DEX team stated they could not afford the costly audits required to relaunch, highlighting the financial pressures facing smaller DeFi projects.

Amid these developments, projects like Byrrgis, the DeFi hub behind the WOLF token, are positioning themselves as solutions to restore confidence in crypto by combining transparency, automation, and professional-grade tools that help traders invest safely across chains. This approach reflects the industry’s growing recognition that security and user protection must become foundational elements rather than afterthoughts.

The convergence of regulatory shifts, technological upgrades, and expanding market infrastructure suggests the cryptocurrency industry is entering a new phase of maturation. While challenges remain, particularly around security and regulatory clarity, the week’s developments point toward increasing institutional involvement and technological sophistication that could drive the next wave of cryptocurrency adoption and innovation.