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Brew Markets

Cryptocurrencies

Mark Reeth

brewmarkets.com

Listen, we’re not saying that crypto and fraud go together like peanut butter and jelly. But wherever crypto goes, a waft of graft seems to follow in its wake.

The industry’s latest money-making scheme is crypto treasury companies: small, often unprofitable publicly traded companies that drop what they’re doing and buy as much cryptocurrency as they can handle. It inevitably juices the company’s share price, which inevitably encourages others to join in: Over 160 bitcoin treasury companies have cropped up across the market as of the end of August, according to the Financial Times, with more turning to alternative cryptocurrencies lately.

But it’s not all fun and games: Fortune noticed that several stocks that pivoted into crypto treasury companies enjoyed 

 announcing their new business model. The implication is that investors with insider knowledge bought shares before the rest of the market realized what was coming, likely during the company’s roadshow touting its transformation.

Just as companies won’t stop turning to crypto to boost shares, investors won’t stop betting on crypto treasury companies anytime soon. But as these companies continue to flood the market, investors need to know that not only are they exposing themselves to the perils of 

, they’re also often the victims of insider trading.

Insider trading at crypto treasury companies

Investors are buying shares of companies just before they pivot to crypto.

Beware crypto treasury companies

Once derided as a fringe movement, like Magic: The Gathering or pickleball, crypto is now fully mainstream.

Crypto has been gaining steam after several of its biggest opponents were replaced by the Trump administration, lawsuits against major players were 

, and a series of ETF debuts gave it a foot in the door of the financial world.

That door was kicked wide open last week when President Trump signed 

 instructing the Labor Department and SEC to review guidance for retirement account managers about allowing alternative investments like cryptocurrencies into 401(k)s.

All of this recent success has propelled the total crypto market cap 

Bitcoin is up 3.36% in the last week, rose above $120,000 earlier this afternoon, and remains inches away from a new record. Altcoins are even hotter: Ethereum just popped above $4,000 for the first time in years, and has climbed 15.49% in the last five days. Meanwhile, crypto trading platform Coinbase gained 2.92% today.

Crypto has finally arrived. The only question now is, what comes next?

The spotlight is blinding investors to dangers

A few things are clear: Adoption isn’t slowing anytime soon, even as the classic crypto risks remain.

The ability for companies to reinvent themselves as crypto treasuries and rake in investor money means the trend is here to stay. Just the other day, Trump-backed World Liberty Financial announced it’s partnering with a small blockchain company called ALT5 Sigma Corporation to effectively establish 

That’s not the only recent crypto news. Big banks and retailers alike are exploring stablecoin adoption, searching for ways to capitalize on that form of crypto’s 

. Lenders may soon consider crypto assets when they’re assessing a borrower’s 

. And Robinhood and Coinbase are trying to 

, bringing publicly traded companies onto the blockchain.

, but not everyone is gung-ho about crypto. Some pros note that the guardrails protecting the financial system from crypto volatility are being 

, and that betting big on the nascent asset remains risky.

For example: ALT5, the company partnering with World Liberty Financial, soared over 42% when the news was announced last week. It plummeted 26.5% today.

But these days, it’s not just the twists and turns of an individual stock or crypto coin that investors need to prepare their portfolios for. The last crypto crash in 2022, spurred on by the collapse of FTX, was contained to the crypto ecosystem. With regulators, publicly traded companies, and soon retirement accounts all-in on crypto, that won’t be the case the next time bitcoin takes a nosedive.

Crypto's new era begins

With its entrance into retirement accounts, crypto has come fully mainstream.

A new crypto era has arrived

Judy Dutton

Crypto Week wrapped with a Crypto Weekend rager celebrating the recent passage of several bills in the House of Representatives laying down the law on virtual currency. In case you need a refresher, here’s the gist:

, already passed by the Senate in June, allows banks and other institutions to acquire licenses to issue stablecoins—a type of crypto that, as its name suggests, is more reliable than its volatile kin like bitcoin since its value is tied 1:1 to the US dollar.

 creates a clear set of regulatory guidance for crypto, splitting oversight duties between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The Anti-Central Bank Digital Currency Surveillance State Act

 prevents the Federal Reserve from creating its own cryptocurrency. This one’s a head-scratcher, since the Fed doesn’t seem to give a hoot about minting a JeromeCoin—but then again, President Trump does love giving “Mr. Too Late” Powell a hard time.

While the crypto-conscious congratulated themselves on a job well done, average people were more likely to shrug at the news. Only 8% of Americans used some form of crypto in 2024, according to the Federal Reserve—but these new bills could pave the way toward more mainstream use. Amazon, Walmart and a host of other familiar names are already discussing how they’d 

But although these three bills have been hailed as a big step toward making crypto safer and more accessible for all, others see a path riddled with pitfalls that could trip up even a seasoned investor.

Some fear that the rise of stablecoins could plunge the US financial system back into “

,” a chaotic pre-Civil War era when banks issued their own currencies. Not surprisingly, this mixed bag of semi-legal tenders vacillated in value all over the map, leading to panicked bank runs and savings evaporating overnight. Thankfully, President Lincoln passed the National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 to issue stricter regulations, which eventually led to Americans sticking with one national currency known as the US dollar.

But with new legislation opening the door to stablecoins, is all that work about to unravel?

“The wildcat banking era failed because there were too many issuers with weak controls, poor reserves, and no consistent oversight,” Maple Finance CEO Sidney Powell told Brew Markets. “These bills attempt to avoid that, but the risk returns if regulatory enforcement is lax or if too many underregulated issuers flood the market. If every fintech can issue a stablecoin, we could see instability that undermines the very credibility these bills aim to create.”

One murky area centers around what happens after you buy a cryptocurrency, then want to exchange it for your old greenbacks. Although regulations may require disclosures about how and when you can redeem your crypto, the fine print of when and how could be easily overlooked (translation: you’ll see those sweet dollars… someday).

 Don’t assume crypto regulations = safety, or that compliance = quality. It’ll take more than three bills to tame crypto, so watch your back.

New crypto bills can bring back old problems

Bank runs, evaporated savings, and the disastrous consequences of letting companies make their own stablecoins.

Crypto enters its wildcat era

Lucy Brewster

“Crypto week” may sound like something a guy you went to high school came up with to market worthless meme coins to teenagers on X, but it’s actually a legislative agenda in the House of Representatives.

 to a new record today in anticipation of all the various pro-crypto bills the legislative body could pass, including the GENIUS Act, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and the anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.

 for the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, create a legal path for stablecoins and other tokens, and ban the Fed from creating its own digital currency. All of these efforts are aimed at bringing regulatory clarity to crypto markets, which industry bulls say will foster more mainstream adoption.

Other cryptocurrencies including ethereum, solana, and XRP also jumped in anticipation of the legislative wins.

 “We are filling a gap,” Beth Haddock, the global policy lead at Stablecoin Standard said in an interview with Brew Markets 

. “It’s just not OK that you have USDC, which is now a publicly traded company with Circle, and we don’t have stablecoin legislation.”

Wall Street has come around on digital assets in a big way, as financial titans shift from calling crypto a scam to guzzling bitcoins like they’re those 

Crypto exchange-traded funds have been raking in the cash as the Street gets more comfortable with the world of digital assets: Bloomberg reported that US bitcoin ETFs raked in 

 in new money last week, one of the funds’ best periods ever.

Small startups, too, have been hoping to ride the crypto wave, buying cryptocurrencies to 

 For all the legislation, tokenization, stablecoins, and hype, the industry is still marked by volatility, scams, and 

. Be wary about hopping aboard the bandwagon: If there’s one thing we have learned from the last few crypto booms and busts, it’s that the good times never last forever.—

Crypto week is here: What to know

Bitcoin keeps hitting new highs as traders kick off crypto week. 

Crypto week begins

Stablecoins, the GENIUS Act, tokenization…there’s been a lot of new ideas thrown around when it comes to how cryptocurrency can reach the mainstream market.

To break it all down, Brew Markets spoke to Beth Haddock, the global policy lead at Stablecoin Standard who has worked in the crypto and fintech fields for years.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

 just passed in the Senate. What do you think are the biggest takeaways in terms of industry growth?

We are filling a gap. It’s just not OK that you have USDC, which is now a publicly traded company with Circle, and we don’t have stablecoin legislation.

One of the benefits of the GENIUS Act being passed now, instead of last year or the year before, is that we can look at what Hong Kong and other jurisdictions have done, and we can do a better job. I’m very optimistic about the GENIUS Act, and I think it’s going to solidify what I call responsible innovation.

What do you think of criticism that the GENIUS Act doesn't do enough to address investor protections from stuff like meme coins and scams? 

We have tons of laws that apply if you defraud someone using crypto, I don’t think it needs to be baked into the GENIUS Act more so than it is. Crime is pervasive in financial services, so we need guardrails, and there is plenty in the [GENIUS Act] for consumer protection, commensurate with Asia and Europe’s stablecoin regulation. I think the real issue is that you may have legislators who don’t understand the technology.

How can crypto address scam/meme coin culture at large?

I always think there’s more work to be done. I do think that you’ll see a continued effort to build up credibility, and with the guardrails you’ll see that, too. Even in traditional finance, you think about many of the names that people get mortgages from and had bank accounts with have been part of scams and had different enforcement actions, so it's also a culture issue.

Broadening out beyond just stablecoins, why do you think many on Wall Street (aka “TradFi”) seem to be warming up to crypto all of a sudden, after years of criticisms?

What was going on behind the scenes was not intellectually honest with some of their public statements—a lot of traditional finance firms had digital asset groups already.

The pivot point was the approval of bitcoin ETFs [in January 2024], and the second pivot point is now stablecoins. Stablecoins may be the kind of boring infrastructure and the rails, but if we can agree on a responsible architecture, then everyone feels more informed about building on top.—

crypto coins tumbling out of new york stock exchange

Crypto regulation: Stablecoin future

Crypto's outlook is getting brighter, even as the government puts more rules in place.

The future of crypto regulation

It’s hard to find an alternative asset that’s made as much progress going mainstream as bitcoin has this year.

The crypto king has jumped 12.82% in 2025, outpacing the S&P 500’s measly gain of 5.38% over the same time period. But the good times started rolling even before the new year. When President Donald Trump got elected in November, the digital asset industry went absolutely bananas at the promise of 

 and an ally in the White House—even if that ally had dubbed crypto 

 on many of its promises to the industry, including:

Trump replaced SEC Chair Gary Gensler with 

, which creates a legal pathway for stablecoin issuers, making the practice—which creates digital versions of stocks—far more mainstream

Trump signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and digital asset stockpile

But the mainstream progress for crypto has gone beyond the realm of politics. Traditional Wall Street firms like JPMorgan are now 

, while retailers like Walmart and Amazon are exploring the possibility of 

Some things, however, never change. For every new interesting digital asset venture, it feels like ten worthless meme coins and scams pop up in its place.

The difference between the degeneracy of the first crypto boom and this one, though, is that meme coins are being pushed by the President of the United States and his immediate family members.

There’s been so many Trump-related projects, it’s hard to keep track of them all. There’s World Liberty Financial, the crypto company founded by Trump and his sons; $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins; and don’t forget the Trump digital trading cards, or the POTUS NFT Collection—must-haves for every investor. While it’s easy to laugh, the profits are no joke: these endeavors have generated roughly $1 billion for Trump, 

Crypto has had a big year, and the bulls have been on a high. But keep in mind that most 

 still don’t recommend putting crypto into your portfolio—and if they do, they say to only put a small percentage (up to 5% at the most) in blue chip digital assets, like bitcoin and ethereum.

But if you want to invest in Fartcoin, who are we to crush your dream?—

A giant bitcoin looming behind Capitol Hill

Crypto's big year: 2025 recap

A stablecoin bill, presidential meme coins: Crypto is having a moment.

Crypto's glow up

Move over, Visa and Mastercard: In the not-too-distant future, Americans may leave their plastic behind and pay for their shopping sprees with stablecoins instead.

According to the Wall Street Journal, companies like Walmart and Amazon are exploring the possibility of 

. For the uninitiated, stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is tied to legal tender like the US dollar. This helps keep a stablecoin’s value relatively steady, providing a reliable payment method that skirts the wild volatility of many popular cryptocurrencies out there today (We’re looking at you, fartcoin).

Retailers have good reason to create their own stablecoins, or even potentially band together to create a consortium of merchants under one stablecoin issuer: It would allow them to do an end-run around traditional payment methods issued by banks and credit cards, which siphon off an estimated 

 for every transaction. For retail giants like Walmart and Amazon, that amounts to billions of dollars.

A bill making its way through Congress could also help spur the acceptance of stablecoins across the economy. The 

 and protect consumers, creating a clear path for businesses to issue their own stablecoins. If this bill comes to pass, “We’ll likely see a 

 rush into the market at the start,” said Nic Puckrin, a crypto analyst and founder of The Coin Bureau.

Stablecoins have been met with rave reviews lately. Circle Internet Group, which issues USDC, the second largest stablecoin on the market, 

 on June 5 and soared 168% on its first day of trading, and remains up over 270% to date.

But while the newly minted stock is a clear winner of wider stablecoin adoption, investors are worried that traditional financial companies are about to be hit with a wave of disruption if stablecoins go mainstream. That’s why shares of many major payment companies 

 Friday: Visa fell 4.99%, Mastercard sank 4.62%, American Express lost 3.42%, and PayPal dropped 5.32%.

Still, analysts are skeptical whether this slump will stick, since retailers have tried and failed to forge their own payment methods in the past. One of the most infamous was Meta Platform’s attempt to create its own stablecoin back in 2019 called 

Considered the first first major digital currency challenge to banks, Libra drew scathing criticism from authorities until Meta backed down and sold it in 2022. Still, Libra 

 to this day: Lobbying groups warn that the GENIUS Act could place “an excessive concentration of economic power” in an already powerful big tech company. Might concerns over Amazon’s and Walmart’s dominance cause this bill to hit the skids? Only time will tell.

 Given many average Americans may not even know what a stablecoin is, they might be skittish about adding it to their cart without some serious education and incentives. Today’s news indicates interest, but there’s still a long way to go before Walmart gets into the crypto game.