Weekly Recap: Trump Signs EO to Evaluate 'Digital Asset Stockpile'

Happy weekend Defiers!

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a flurry of Executive Orders in his first week, including a designated Presidential Working Group with the goal of strengthening U.S. leadership in digital finance, developing a regulatory framework for digital assets, and evaluating the creation of a strategic national digital asset stockpile.

Markets were unimpressed, however, as Bitcoin consolidated under all-time highs while most altcoins posted losses.

Bitcoiners are slamming Ripple for its attempts to encourage a multi-asset U.S. reserve. Bitcoin enthusiasts took to X to amplify a clear message - Bitcoin reserve or nothing.

On the Layer 1 front, Vitalik laid out a scaling roadmap for Ethereum as the network increasingly loses market share to Solana, whose TVL hit an all-time high after the TRUMP memecoin launch.

Plus, THORChain grapples with insolvency, ANIME airdrop goes live, Bitcoin DeFi TVL doubles, and Jupiter kicks off its second airdrop.

Also, don’t forget to check out our interview with Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, and podcast with Sam Kazemian, founder of Frax Finance.

Enjoy!

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PODCAST & INTERVIEWS

Arthur Hayes on Global Economic Turmoil, Crypto Sovereignty, and the Future of Capital

Arthur Hayes is the Co-Founder and former CEO of BitMEX. He now leads Maelstrom, a family office investing across the crypto ecosystem. In this interview, he unpacks his talk from CfC St. Moritz titled "I'm Coming Home," where he explores the energy crisis in Europe and the role of political elites in capital control. Hayes also shares his market predictions, emphasizing the importance of capital preservation in volatile times.

Sam Kazemian on FraxUSD and the Future of Stablecoins in Decentralized Finance

In this week’s podcast, Cami Russo was joined by Sam Kazemian, founder of Frax Finance.

In this episode, he outlines the development and goals of FraxUSD, a decentralized stablecoin designed to integrate with both traditional finance and decentralized ecosystems. The upgraded FraxUSD offers redeemability through custodians like BlackRock and SuperState while providing competitive yields through diversified strategies. Kazemian described Frax’s broader vision as building a digital economy anchored by its flagship stablecoin and Fraxstool, a high-performance Ethereum Layer 2.

Friday

Bitcoiners Slam Ripple For Pushing Multi-Asset Reserve Bitcoin enthusiasts took to X to amplify a clear message - Bitcoin reserve or nothing.
RUNE Plummets as THORChain Pauses THORFi Services Amid Financial Restructuring THORChain halted the Savers and Lending programs in a bid to address a $200M deficit.
Crypto Market Volatility Continues as Bitcoin Hovers Around $105,000 While Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies posted gains, investor sentiment remains mixed.
Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong Calls For 11% Bitcoin Reserve Noting that Bitcoin’s market cap is about 11% of gold’s, he argued that it’s a reasonable amount and that he believes it will appreciate faster than gold.
Vitalik Buterin Doubles Down on Layer 2s for Scaling Ethereum Ecosystem Ethereum co-founder lays out a vision for scaling with Layer 2s, prioritizing interoperability, lower fees, and long-term ETH value.
Clout.Me Blends Social-Fi with Memecoins The app is climbing up the Apple Store leaderboard and is ranked #34 in the finance app category.
SEC Ruling Allows Banks to Custody Crypto By reversing its SAB121 Guidance, the Securities and Exchange Commission is allowing banks to keep customers’ crypto on their own balance sheets.
Vine Memecoin Surges to $500 Million Valuation in Half a Day The founder of the social media and video platform endorsed the memecoin shortly after it launched.
Trump’s Crypto Activities Slammed by Democrats Virginia’s Congressman Connolly has moved to incite an investigation into Trump’s growing conflicts of interest.
Azuki-Linked AnimeCoin Airdrop Goes Live About two-thirds of the 3.75 billion tokens available to the community have been claimed.
OKX Becomes First Global Exchange to Receive Pre-Authorization for MiCA Compliance OKX moves closer to full MiCA licensing with plans to offer over 240 tokens across Europe.
Truth Terminal Founder Sells its Fartcoin Holdings to Secure AI’s Future The private sale was conditioned on the tokens being ‘held responsibly,’ founder Andy Ayrey said.

Thursday

US President Trump Signs Executive Order to Consider Digital Asset Stockpile The motion comes alongside multiple crypto-focused executive orders.
Etherealize Unveils Institutional Marketing Initiative for Ethereum The marketing and product arm funded by the Ethereum Foundation seeks to educate and onboard institutions.
Circle Acquires Hashnote and USYC The USDC issuer has acquired Hashnote and USYC, the largest tokenized money market fund.
Bitcoin Volatility Persists as Traders Await Trump’s Policy Moves Bitcoin consolidates near $105,000 as crypto traders navigate $341M in liquidations.
John McAfee’s Wife Launches AI Memecoin to Honor Husband’s Legacy Janice McAfee said her husband’s account was not hacked.
Liquid Restaking Protocol Puffer Finance Unveils CARROT Airdrop Tokens The CARROT tokens earned by staking, providing liquidity and voting will be replaced with PUFFER during the airdrop.
Senate Banking Committee Names Sen. Cynthia Lummis Chair of Digital Assets Subcommittee The vote follows a cryptic post by Lummis that fueled rumors of a potential U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Ross Ulbricht Memecoin Plummets 90% Upon Presidential Pardon The Silk Road founder’s presidential pardon quickly pivoted into a sell-the-news event.
Trump is Steadfast on Implementing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Experts Explain How He Might Do It Trump's strategic Bitcoin Reserve Proposal signals a major shift in U.S. economic policy.
Institutional Interest Quadruples Wintermute’s OTC Volume In 2024, Wintermute’s OTC volumes soared by 313% as institutional investors embraced digital assets.

Wednesday

Solana TVL Hits All-time High Amid Trump Memecoin Frenzy The launch of the TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins has propelled record-breaking growth for Solana DeFi.
Digital Asset Funds' AUM Climbs to New High After Drawing $2.2 Billion in a Week Bitcoin leads with $1.9 billion in inflows, as total YTD investments reach $2.8 billion.
Uniswap Plans to Release its V4 This Week The latest update aims to add flexibility to the top decentralized exchange.
TORN Surges Over 150% After US Appeals Court Lifted Tornado Cash Sanctions The U.S. court found that smart contracts can’t be considered property of a foreign national entity and, therefore, cannot be sanctioned.
Solana Rallies as Crypto Markets Consolidate Following Trump’s Inauguration Bitcoin dips after hitting an all-time high while Solana surges, and over $173 million in liquidations rattle traders.
TRUMP Dumps, then Rebounds on Misleading Headline Trump said he didn't know he’s made billions on paper off the memecoin he launched.
Yes, Someone Has Filed For a TRUMP ETF The list of pending ETF applications doubled since the crypto industry’s least favorite SEC Chairman Gary Gensler left the building on Friday.
Jupiter Launches $550 Million Jupuary Airdrop Users, stakers and key participants will split 700 million JUP tokens.

Tuesday

Bitget Research Claims 20% of Gen Z and Alpha are Open to Crypto-based Pensions According to the study, there is an ongoing shift in retirement planning trends among younger generations.
Litecoin Surges on ETF Speculation Canary Capital’s proposed Litecoin exchange-traded fund took another step as it started the clock on SEC approval.
Bitcoin DeFi TVL Doubles in a Month Fueled by Babylon Staking Platform The total value locked in BTCFi soared in mid-December, driven by a weeklong opening of staking platform Babylon, which accounted for 80% of the volume.