Russia Embraces Crypto Fully as CZ Walks Free 😳
Welcome to another edition of your favorite crypto news roundup by Coinigy.
While normies are still figuring out what a blockchain is, and thinking crypto was just about diamond hands and moon missions, we’re watching nation-states go full degen mode to dodge Western sanctions and the U.S. Senate turn into a crypto battlefield for democrat senators and crypto CEO’s.
Elsewhere, BTC just pumped past $115K as hopium fills the air with the US-China making peace talks, while the crypto president himself just wiped the slate clean for one of crypto's biggest names, handing out pardons to one of your favorite crypto kings, right after we protested “No Kings”. 😂
Here's what we're getting in today's edition:
- Russia Is Creating a Legal System For Crypto To Avoid Western Sanctions
- Trump pardons convicted Binance founder 'CZ' Zhao
- Bitcoin Reclaims $115,000 as US–China Trade Hopes Lift Markets
- Senate Crypto Meetings Reveal Explosive Partisan Tensions
Russia Is Creating a Legal System For Crypto To Avoid Western Sanctions
Russia is moving to integrate crypto into its international commerce. The government announced today that it will legalize its use for foreign trade settlements. This decision is a strategic response to Western sanctions. By establishing a legal system for cross-border crypto payments, Russia can bypass restrictions on traditional banking channels. Russia’s Ministry of Finance and Central Bank have formally agreed to legalize cryptocurrency to settle international trade deals.
Trump pardons convicted Binance founder 'CZ' Zhao
WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, the White House said Thursday, in the latest move by Trump to boost the crypto industry and expunge its past misdeeds. Zhao, a billionaire known as "CZ" who is one of the most influential figures in crypto, quit in 2023 as Binance chief after the company pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and paid a penalty of $4.3 billion.
Bitcoin Reclaims $115,000 as US–China Trade Hopes Lift Markets
Bitcoin and the broader crypto market surged over the weekend, fueled by potential de-escalation in the U.S.-China trade war. Bitcoin gained 3.5% on Sunday, rising from $110,960 to $115,400, before cooling slightly. The asset is currently trading at $115,235, per CoinGecko data. Bitcoin is still down about 6.5% from its October 6 all-time high $126,000. The renewed rally comes amid easing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Senate Crypto Meetings Reveal Explosive Partisan Tensions
Senate delegations met with crypto industry leaders to discuss market structure legislation today. Although Republicans were on board, prominent Democrats are growing vocally skeptical. Specifically, Senator Gallego sharply criticized some CEOs’ recent hostile comments. As President Trump uses crypto as a major vehicle for political corruption, continued scandals might make left-leaning Web3 support impossible. Although the Senate has been working on new crypto market structure regulation for months, we haven’t seen a lot of tangible progress.
Other Highlights Worth Mentioning
Hong Kong Approves Solana ETF Ahead of United States - Coinmarketcap
British Columbia Locks Out New Crypto Miners from the Grid - 99Bitcoins
Cryptomus Fined $177M for Failing to Flag Suspicious Crypto Transactions - Coinlaw
Trump Names SEC Crypto Task Force Head Selig as Next Nominee to Run U.S. CFTC - Coindesk
COINIGY FACT OF THE DAY.
On this day in 2021, Ethereum's Altair upgrade went live at epoch 74240, marking the first-ever mainnet upgrade to the Ethereum Beacon Chain.
This upgrade introduced light client support to the core consensus layer, increased slashing penalties for inactive validators, and brought important technical improvements that paved the way for Ethereum's eventual transition to proof-of-stake. The upgrade was described as a "warm-up" before "the merge," and it might have been the only upgrade to the beacon chain before Ethereum switched to proof-of-stake. At the time of the upgrade, over 7.8 million ETH were locked in the ETH2 deposit contract, worth more than $27 billion, showing strong validator commitment to Ethereum's transition to a more energy-efficient consensus mechanism.
COINIGY MEME OF THE WEEK
