Criminals more reliant on cross-chain bridges than ever after mixer crackdowns

Ripple’s legal chief said a US court’s rejection of a proposed XRP settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not pose a threat to Ripple’s win.Judge Analisa Torres of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected a joint Ripple-SEC motion seeking an indicative ruling on their proposed settlement, according to a filing on May 15.Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, said the rejection does not reverse the company’s victory in the case. The company announced the end of the lawsuit on March 19.Source: Stuart AlderotyAlderoty stressed that the latest court decision does not change the fact that XRP (XRP) is not a security, adding that the rejection is related to “procedural concerns with the dismissal of Ripple’s cross-appeal.”Why did the court refuse to grant the ruling?According to the court document, Torres denied the motion as “procedurally improper” since the SEC and Ripple failed to file the correct procedural motion to support the proposed settlement.“By styling their motion as one for ‘settlement approval,’ the parties fail to address the heavy burden they must overcome to vacate the injunction and substantially reduce the civil penalty,” the Judge wrote.An excerpt from the court’s rejection of the SEC-Ripple motion on May 15, 2025. Source: CourtlistenerThe SEC and Ripple agreed to lower the court’s $125 million fine days before Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced the end of the case. Subsequently, Alderoty disclosed on X that the SEC will keep $50 million of the $125 million fine.“The parties have made no effort to satisfy that burden here; their request does not even mention the Rule,” the court document stated.Community asks for explanationAs Alderoty has not provided any details on the nature of procedural concerns by the court, but assured the public that Ripple and the SEC are “fully in agreement to resolve the case,” many in the community were unhappy with the lack of specifics from Ripple.“First, in a recent post about this case, you said you would not be making any more X posts because the case was closed,” one XRP observer responded to Alderoty in the X thread.Source: X thread from Stuart Alderoty“Second, I don’t think it’s enough to just say that it’s procedural. I think further explanation of what went wrong in the filing is needed,” one XRP observer wrote in an X thread,” the post continued.Related: Ripple commits $25M to US school nonprofits“Let’s remember that both he and Brad said the case was over, and it still isn’t; they’re cheating us a little,” another user speculated.The news came shortly after online reports suggested that US President Donald Trump was allegedly manipulated by a Ripple-linked lobbyist into announcing the XRP token would be part of his plans for a national cryptocurrency reserve.Many in the Bitcoin (BTC) community have been slamming Ripple for advocating for a multi-coin strategic reserve, instead of a Bitcoin-only reserve.Magazine: Danger signs for Bitcoin as retail abandons it to institutions: Sky Wee

The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation — better known as MiCA — is now in its critical implementation phase. Designed to unify crypto regulation across all 27 EU member states, MiCA promises clarity, consumer protection and long-term market stability. But as implementation begins, cracks are already showing.In this week’s episode of Byte-Sized Insight, we explore the key provisions of MiCA now in force, particularly around stablecoins, and why some of the largest players in the market are refusing to comply.As of January 2025, crypto asset service providers (CASPs) began acquiring licenses to operate legally within the EU. A transitional or “grandfathering” period allows existing firms up to 18 months, depending on the member state, to comply. Still, with deadlines approaching, firms are being forced to act quickly.Stablecoins at bayOne of MiCA’s earliest and most controversial provisions involves stablecoins. Under the law, no stablecoin can be offered to EU users unless the issuer is authorized in the EU and publishes a regulator-approved white paper.Strict rules around asset reserves, governance, conflict of interest and marketing are also part of the package. Issuers are even banned from offering interest on tokens, removing a common incentive for adoption.Related: Stablecoin regulation next ‘catalyst’ for crypto industry — Aptos headThe world’s most-used stablecoin — Tether’s USDt (USDT) — has already announced it won’t seek MiCA compliance, meaning exchanges may soon be forced to delist it across the EU. This has major implications for liquidity, retail access and DeFi activity in the region.Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino told Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson at Token 2049:“The reason is not, uh, fear of regulations, fear of compliance… The problem that I had with um, with MiCA is that [the] license is very dangerous when it comes to stablecoins and I believe that it’s even more dangerous for the small medium banking system in Europe.”Compliance is keyOn the flip side, other firms are leaning in. BitGo, a crypto custody firm, recently secured a MiCA-aligned license in Germany, positioning itself to serve institutional players across Europe. Brett Reeves, head of Go Network and European Sales at BitGo, told Cointelegraph the license is not just about compliance, but long-term strategic alignment with Europe’s evolving regulatory landscape.“We found that both BaFin and the European regulators have been relatively straightforward to deal with. Sometimes they have difficult questions, but they’re there to make sure that our processes are in place and up to scratch.”We also spoke with Erwin Voloder, head of policy at the European Blockchain Association, who emphasized the need for consistent national-level interpretation and better guidance from regulators to prevent fragmentation.Listen to the full episode of Byte-Sized Insight for the complete interview on Cointelegraph’s Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And don’t forget to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows! Magazine: Legal Panel: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

A fake Eric Trump-themed memecoin launched on Solana’s memecoin launchpad Pump.fun, rose more than 6,200% in the past 24 hours, raising red flags among blockchain analysts who warned of a potential rug pull.A newly-created Eric Trump (ERICTRUMP) memecoin with the token address “jv7d” surpassed $140 million in market capitalization within a day since its launch on May 16, CoinMarketCap data shows.ERICTRUMP/USD, all-time chart. Source: CoinMarketCap The memecoin’s distribution raises significant red flags that point to a rug pull “in the making,” warned blockchain data platform Bubblemaps in a May 16 X post.Source: BubblemapsA rug pull typically refers to the sudden removal of liquidity or mass sell-off by token insiders, often resulting in a steep price collapse that leaves retail holders with worthless tokens. Looking at Bubblemaps’ token clusters for the 250 largest holders, the majority of these tokens are held across 10 token clusters, founded by 10 main crypto addresses.Related: Coinbase faces $400M bill after insider phishing attackThe token’s ownership pattern is reminiscent of recent memecoin collapses, including the Wolf of Wall Street-inspired WOLF token, created by Hayden Davis, the co-creator of the Official Melania Meme (MELANIA) and the Libra token.Source: BubblemapsOver 82% of the WOLF token’s supply was held by the same entity, which led to a 99% price crash after the token peaked at a $42 million market capitalization.Related: Ukraine strategic Bitcoin reserve bill reportedly in final stagesEric Trump token deployer created four scam tokensThe deployer behind the fake Eric Trump token also created three other Eric Trump tokens that failed on Pump.fun,” a Bubblemaps investigator told Cointelegraph.Fake Eric Trump tokens created by the same deployer: Source: Solscan, BubblemapsBlockchain data shared by the firm shows that these tokens were all created around the same time by the Solana blockchain address “BjTm.”Industry watchers have been increasingly vigilant about rug pulls since the meltdown of the Libra (LIBRA) token, endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, which saw eight insider wallets cash out $107 million in liquidity, leading to a $4 billion market cap wipeout within hours.Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight