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<a href="#fintech">Fintech Companies Announce Crypto-Focused Acquisitions and Partnerships</a>

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<a href="#bitcoin">Report Analyzes Bitcoin’s Rising Geopolitical Significance</a>

<a href="#crypto">Crypto Advocacy Organization Addresses Proposed Remittance Tax</a>

<a href="#doj">DOJ Drops Ethereum Hacker Charges; Germany Seizes $38M in Illicit Crypto</a>

<a href="#reports">Reports Address Crypto Hacks, Illicit Markets, Rug Pulls</a>

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Fintech Companies Announce Crypto-Focused Acquisitions and Partnerships

By <a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/professionals/jonathan-cardenas/">Jonathan Cardenas</a>

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A U.S.-based crypto infrastructure solutions provider announced in a recent press release that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a venture-backed, Bermuda Monetary Authority-regulated issuer of a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin. The acquisition, which is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is reportedly designed to expand the acquiror’s stablecoin capabilities and its ability to service stablecoin adoption by traditional and crypto-native institutions.

In another acquisition announcement, a major U.S. fintech company has reportedly entered into an agreement to acquire a Toronto Stock Exchange-traded crypto trading platform in an all-cash transaction. According to a press release, the target company’s offerings, which include crypto trading, staking and custody services, are viewed as complementary to the acquiror’s business and will provide the acquiror with access to Canada’s growing crypto trading market. The acquisition is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in H2 2025.

A third recent press release announced that a global investment management firm has launched its first tokenized investment fund in partnership with a real-world asset tokenization-focused fintech company. The fund is designed to provide institutional and qualified investors with access to a blockchain-based alternative to money market funds backed by U.S. Treasuries and will offer 24/7 liquidity and real-time settlement. Access to the fund will initially be available to institutional and qualified investors on several well-known blockchains.

And in a final notable item, an institutional digital asset prime broker recently announced a strategic partnership with a cross-border banking group. Through the partnership, the prime broker will integrate the banking group’s enterprise-grade banking infrastructure and will gain access to a broad range of currency pairs, which will enable it to enhance the speed of cross-border settlement for its institutional clients.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

<a href="https://www.anchorage.com/insights/anchorage-digital-acquire-mountain-protocol-to-accelerate-institutional-adoption-of-stablecoins" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anchorage Digital to Acquire Mountain Protocol to Accelerate Institutional Adoption of Stablecoins</a>

<a href="https://newsroom.aboutrobinhood.com/robinhood-to-acquire-wonderfi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robinhood To Acquire WonderFi</a>

<a href="https://securitize.io/learn/press/VanEck-Launches-First-Tokenized-Fund-VBILL-on-Securitize" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">VanEck Launches First Tokenized Fund, VBILL, on Securitize</a>

<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/falconx-and-standard-chartered-announce-strategic-partnership-302454933.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FalconX and Standard Chartered Announce Strategic Partnership</a>

Report Analyzes Bitcoin’s Rising Geopolitical Significance

The institutional investor division of a major U.S. cryptocurrency exchange recently published a report that provides its views on what it describes as bitcoin’s (BTC) rising significance in geopolitics. The report suggests that shifting dynamics in the global monetary system, including what it describes as “eroding investor confidence in the USD as a store-of-value and global reserve currency,” are creating an opportunity for BTC to become a “viable supranational unit of account for international trade.” The report also references recent international efforts to create strategic bitcoin reserves at the national level as being indicative of BTC’s growing political importance.

For more information, please refer to the following link:

<a href="https://www.coinbase.com/en-ca/institutional/research-insights/research/monthly-outlook/monthly-outlook-may-2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monthly Outlook: Dethroning the Dollar</a>

Crypto Advocacy Organization Addresses Proposed Remittance Tax

By <a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/KeithRMurphy">Keith R. Murphy</a><a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/VeronicaReynolds"></a>

A recent blog post by Coin Center, a crypto advocacy organization, addresses the implications for crypto of a proposed 5 percent remittance tax being considered by the U.S. Congress. According to the blog post, the current proposal would not apply to crypto transactions using self-hosted&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coincenter.org/education/policy-and-regulation/custody/">wallets</a> and possibly may not apply to some transactions at trusted intermediaries. The blog post notes several unintended consequences of the proposal for the crypto sector, including with respect to privacy and regulatory arbitrage, and proposes various suggestions to address the issues identified.

<a href="https://www.coincenter.org/what-the-proposed-5-remittance-tax-means-for-crypto-users/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">What the Proposed 5% Remittance Tax Means for Crypto Users</a>

DOJ Drops Ethereum Hacker Charges; Germany Seizes $38M in Illicit Crypto

By <a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/RobertAMusiala">Robert A. Musiala Jr.</a>

According to recent reports, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) “has determined not to proceed” on its prosecution of certain <a href="https://www.theblockchainmonitor.com/blogs/weekly-blockchain-blog-may-20-2024/#DOJ">charges</a> brought in May 2024 against two brothers who hacked the Ethereum blockchain and stole $25 million in a matter of seconds. Last month, the defendants reportedly sought to dismiss the charges based on a recent <a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/insights/dojs-new-policy-on-prosecutions-to-focus-on-bad-actors-not-digital-asset-industry/">DOJ memo</a> that in part instructs prosecutors to avoid “superimposing regulatory frameworks on digital assets.”

In enforcement news from Germany, according to recent reports, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA)&nbsp;has seized $38 million in cryptocurrency from eXch, a cryptocurrency platform allegedly used to launder funds stolen in the <a href="https://www.theblockchainmonitor.com/blogs/weekly-blockchain-blog-march-3-2025/#bybit">$1.4 billion hack</a> of the Bybit exchange. The action is reportedly the third-largest seizure of crypto funds by the BKA.

<a href="https://www.law360.com/fintech/articles/2339404?nl_pk=269c598f-8e37-49e3-bf43-b88e05d4215b&amp;ab_exp_id=nl_subject&amp;ab_exp_var=b&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=fintech&amp;utm_content=2025-05-14&amp;read_main=1&amp;nlsidx=0&amp;nlaidx=4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Feds Nixing Crypto 'Property' Theft Charge Against Brothers</a>

<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/germany-seizes-38-million-crypto-bybit-hack-linked-exch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Germany seizes $38M in crypto from Bybit hack-linked eXch exchange</a>

Reports Address Crypto Hacks, Illicit Markets, Rug Pulls

According to reports, the smart contract for the Mobius token, a digital asset on the BNB Chain network, was recently hacked. The hackers reportedly stole $2.15 million in MBU tokens.

Another recent report provides investigative findings on Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language illicit marketplace that operates on a popular messaging application and that serves fraudsters in Southeast Asia, including those responsible for so-called pig-butchering scams. Among its findings, the report notes that the USDT stablecoin is the primary payment method for Xinbi Guarantee, with the market having received $8.4 billion in transactions to date.

In a final notable item, Solidus Labs recently published a report titled The 2025 Rug Pull Report: Rug Pulls and Pump-and-Dumps on Solana. According to the report, “approximately 98.7% of tokens on Pump.fun and 93% of liquidity pools on Raydium have exhibited characteristics of pump-and-dump schemes or rug pulls.” The report goes on to provide various findings on risks related to tokens that are launched and traded on the Pump.fun and Raydium platforms.

<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/mobius-token-exploit-bnb-chain-2-1m-loss" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mobius Token smart contracts on BNB Chain exploited, $2.1M drained</a>

<a href="https://www.elliptic.co/blog/xinbi-guarantee" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Xinbi: The $8 Billion Colorado-Incorporated Marketplace for Pig-Butchering Scammers and North Korean Hackers</a>

<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/xinbi-guarantee-crypto-scam-hub/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">An $8.4 Billion Chinese Hub for Crypto Crime Is Incorporated in Colorado</a>

<a href="https://www.soliduslabs.com/reports/solana-rug-pulls-pump-dumps-crypto-compliance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The 2025 Rug Pull Report: Rug Pulls and Pump-and-Dumps on Solana</a>

Weekly Blockchain Blog – May 19, 2025