Crypto Markets Heat Up: Key Takeaways from Week 24, 2025
Bitcoin smashes through resistance as institutional inflows hit record highs. Altcoins rally in tandem—except for that one memecoin still waiting for its ''utility'' moment.
DeFi TVL spikes 22% week-over-week. Yield farmers are back, and so are the inevitable smart contract exploits.
Regulators circle like vultures as the SEC delays another ETF decision. Traders shrug and keep stacking sats.
Closing thought: If traditional finance understood crypto''s ROI, they''d have replaced their Excel models with blockchain nodes by now.
Only $50 million fine for Ripple
After nearly five years of legal dispute, Ripple and the SEC want to settle their conflict. They jointly petitioned to lift the sales restriction imposed in 2024 and to split the $125 million fine. The conflict began in December 2020 when the SEC accused Ripple of selling XRP as an unregistered security. In July 2023, a court ruled that direct institutional sales violated securities law, while exchange sales were legal. In August 2024, a judgment followed with a sales ban and a $125 million fine—initially locked in an escrow account. Now, $50 million is to go to the SEC, with the remainder staying with Ripple.
First dollar stablecoin by a European bank
Société Générale will launch the stablecoin USD CoinVertible (USDCV) in July through its subsidiary SG-FORGE. The token is fully backed by US dollars and custodied by BNY Mellon. This makes SocGen the first European bank to issue its own dollar stablecoin. USDCV is regulated under MiCA as an e-money token and targets both institutional and retail investors. Planned use cases include on-chain trading, cross-border payments, FX, and cash and collateral management. Listings on multiple exchanges are planned. Traditional banks are gradually securing their place in the stablecoin market.
Pilot project for CBDCs
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is conducting a pilot project to test real-time payments between Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins. Participants include Visa, Fidelity, and ANZ. Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) is being used to enable seamless connections across different blockchains. The focus is on real-time exchange of tokenized e-HKD for the Australian stablecoin A$DC. The goal of the test is to trial cross-border payments using central bank digital currencies.
Rise in crypto fraud
In addition: Global crypto exchange Bitget has released an Anti-Scam Report in collaboration with SlowMist and Elliptic. According to the report, $4.6 billion was stolen worldwide through crypto fraud in 2024—often involving AI. Deepfakes, social engineering, and automated trojans make scams more effective and harder to detect. Instead of simple phishing emails, criminals now use fake Zoom interviews, fraudulent NFT or DeFi projects, and deceptively realistic videos. Particularly dangerous are social engineering attacks via Telegram or Discord, where users are tricked by supposed admins into revealing access to their wallets.
