A recap of this week's key developments in blockchain and crypto. CLARITY Act stalls again in the US Senate The market-structure bill known as the CLARITY Act was pulled from the US Senate's daily session calendar this week, again failing to land a Banking Committee markup date. The proposal aims to spell out how oversight of digital assets is split between the SEC and the CFTC. The House passed the bill in July 2025 by 294 to 134, but it has remained stuck in the Senate. The main obstacle is stablecoin yield. A compromise floated by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks would ban passive interest payments while allowing activity-based rewards. The Council of Economic Advisers estimates a yield ban would add USD 2.1 billion in bank lending, while raising consumer costs by USD 800 million. Without a vote by 25 April, the initiative is effectively dead for 2026. Warsh details crypto-linked positions ahead of Fed hearing Kevin Warsh, nominated by Donald Trump in March as the prospective successor to Jerome Powell, disclosed assets ahead of his Senate hearing. His reported wealth totals USD 131–209 million, including more than USD 100 million in two Juggernaut Fund stakes with crypto exposure. His holdings also include positions tied to ETF provider Bitwise, Ethereum Layer 2 project Blast, Polymarket, Electric Capital, and Bitcoin Lightning infrastructure firm Flashnet. Federal Reserve ethics rules bar FOMC members from holding cryptocurrencies and individual stocks. If confirmed, Warsh would have six months to divest. With Powell's term ending on 15 May 2026, the confirmation timeline is tightening. Goldman Sachs files for a Bitcoin ETF built around covered calls Goldman Sachs submitted its first Bitcoin ETF filing to the SEC this week, a notable step for a bank that as recently as 2020 likened Bitcoin to tulip mania. The proposed Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF would invest at least 80% of assets in spot Bitcoin ETPs, then sell call options on those holdings to generate premium income. The overwrite ratio can be adjusted between 40% and 100%, trading higher income against capped upside. Goldman is not positioning the product as a fee-driven challenger to BlackRock's IBIT (USD 55 billion in volume, 0.25% fee) or Morgan Stanley (0.14%), instead targeting income-focused investors. Launch is expected in late June 2026. Deutsche Börse buys into Kraken at a lower valuation Deutsche Börse will invest USD 200 million in Payward Inc., the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, for a 1.5% stake. The implied valuation of USD 13.3 billion is about 33% below the USD 20 billion level Kraken sought in November 2025. Bitcoin is down roughly 40% since October, and Kraken previously paused plans for an IPO filed confidentially. Because the transaction is a secondary purchase of existing shares, Kraken will not receive fresh capital. Strategically, the deal expands a partnership launched in December 2025. Kraken is already integrated into 360T's FX platform; next phases include white-label offerings, exchange-traded crypto derivatives via Eurex, and tokenisation initiatives via Clearstream. Trump family extends WLFI token lockup and adds sanctions mechanism At World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the Trump family's crypto project, 62.3 billion tokens are set to remain locked for another two years, followed by multi-year linear vesting. Early supporters would receive their 17 billion tokens only after a two-year cliff, then spread over an additional two years. Insiders and founders must also burn 10% of their holdings immediately, out of more than 45 billion tokens. A contentious feature is the sanctions provision: investors who vote against the proposal would remain locked indefinitely. Trump-affiliated entities control about 60% of all WLFI tokens and are estimated to have received around USD 1 billion in sale proceeds. Tron founder Justin Sun, whose 544 million tokens WLFI had previously frozen, strongly criticised the plan. Full investor release would not be possible before January 2029, after the end of Trump's second term. Want this weekly review delivered to your inbox on Saturdays? Subscribe to the CVJ.CH Newsletter.

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has agreed to acquire U.S. derivatives firm Bitnomial for up to $550 million in a mix of cash and stock, aiming to expand Kraken's U.S. crypto derivatives offering under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight. Kraken said the transaction will pave the way for spot margin, perpetuals, and options to be offered on the platform within a CFTC-regulated framework. Payward noted that Bitnomial is the first crypto-native U.S. company to hold all three CFTC licenses required to operate a full domestic derivatives stack spanning an exchange, a clearinghouse, and a brokerage. Payward said Bitnomial has spent more than a decade building infrastructure to support crypto settlement, crypto collateral, and 24/7 market operations within U.S. regulatory requirements. Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said market structure is ultimately defined by clearing infrastructure, arguing that Bitnomial's regulated foundation enables products such as spot margin, perpetuals, and options for U.S. clients in a way traditional systems cannot easily replicate. Bitnomial founder and CEO Luke Hoersten said the company built its exchange and clearinghouse specifically for digital assets, citing early work in areas including U.S. perpetual futures, CFTC-regulated crypto margin collateral, native crypto settlement, and a unified order book across spot and derivatives. Payward also said it will use Payward Services to let partners connect to regulated U.S. derivatives via a single API, targeting fintechs, banks, brokerages, and payment firms. The offering would extend beyond trading rails to include tokenized equities, staking, and fiat on- and off-ramps. The company said the deal values Payward's equity at $20 billion and is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and required CFTC notices. Payward added that it already operates regulated derivatives businesses in the UK and the EU, and that Bitnomial provides a comparable U.S. footprint as broader market-structure legislation remains a key policy priority. Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The publisher is not responsible for losses arising from the use of any referenced content, products, or services. Readers should exercise caution before taking any action related to the company.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, wrote this week to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, accusing him of deliberately misleading Congress at a Feb. 12 hearing about a decline in the agency's enforcement activity, according to Decrypt. New SEC figures show the agency opened 456 enforcement cases in 2025, including 256 during the Trump administration, well below the 10-year annual average of 765. Warren said the steep fall in enforcement, deep staff cuts and abrupt leadership changes are fueling concerns about whether the SEC remains willing and able to protect investors.

The United States has extended a license that permits the sale of certain Russian oil, keeping the authorization in place for eligible transactions.

A judge has determined that Caitlyn Jenner's $JENNER memecoin does not qualify as a security, issuing the finding in a class action lawsuit.

The US Treasury has set a schedule for multiple Treasury bill purchase (buyback) operations running through May 2026. Individual operations are expected to range from about $5 billion to $7.6 billion.

JPMorgan says Washington's negotiations over the CLARITY Act are closing in on a deal, with lawmakers and regulators narrowing the list of open disputes to just two or three items. Earlier drafts had as many as 23 unresolved issues, according to the bank. The bill is intended to create a clearer U.S. legal framework for digital assets. It would divide oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and set rules for stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi). In a recent report, JPMorgan said discussions have moved toward completion and that stablecoin "rewards" are closer to a compromise after weeks of debate. A senior policy official cited in the report said the issue is in a better place than before. A core focus of the CLARITY Act is drawing sharper boundaries between the SEC and CFTC, including how tokens are classified and when an asset falls under securities rules. Those definitions would shape compliance expectations for issuers, exchanges, and investors. People familiar with the process said the draft is close to final form, with remaining gaps centered on DeFi oversight and token classification. No final legislative text has been released. Stablecoin rewards remain one of the most sensitive topics. Banks have argued that reward-like returns can resemble deposit-taking and should not be offered outside traditional safeguards. Crypto firms have pushed for flexibility to provide broader stablecoin-linked services. JPMorgan said the latest proposals could attract support from both crypto companies and traditional financial institutions. Despite reported momentum, timing risks remain. Congress has not scheduled a vote and final language is still pending. JPMorgan also flagged the 2026 midterm elections as a potential complicating factor, noting Democrats could regain control of the House of Representatives, which could slow crypto-related legislation. Policy advisers involved in the talks described negotiations as constructive, while acknowledging that compromise will be required to finish the bill.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB, @FAFNorwalk) on April 15 moved forward with potential new crypto accounting guidance. The board directed staff to draft a proposed standard that would allow certain digital assets to be classified as cash equivalents, followed by a 90-day public comment period. Rather than revising the definition of "cash equivalents," FASB opted to specify examples. Eligibility would hinge on factors such as the composition of reserve assets and contractual, on-demand redemption rights directly with the issuer, a framing aligned with the GENIUS Act standards. In a separate project focused on transfers, FASB decided that wrapped tokens should fall within the fair-value measurement framework established by the 2023 standard. Companies with significant positions would need to provide separate tabular disclosures. Guidance on derecognition is expected to be addressed at a future meeting.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren alleged that SEC Chair Paul Atkins may have provided false or misleading testimony to Congress, raising fresh scrutiny over his statements to lawmakers.