Pump.fun, Bitcoin & Sui Plunge Despite SEC Chair’s "Crypto Golden Age" Pledge—What Gives?

Crypto markets just got a reality check. While SEC Chair Atkins waxed poetic about a digital asset "golden age,” Pump.fun, Bitcoin, and Sui tanked hard—proving once again that regulators’ promises don’t move markets. Here’s the breakdown.

### Blood on the Blockchain

No sector does “volatility theater” like crypto. Today’s nosedive saw Bitcoin shedding value faster than a meme coin rug pull, with Sui and Pump.fun following suit. So much for the “rising tide lifts all boats” theory.

### The Irony of Regulatory Optimism

Atkins’ “golden age” comments landed with the grace of a stablecoin depegging. Traders clearly weren’t buying the hype—literally. The disconnect between policymaker cheerleading and actual price action would be funny if it weren’t so costly.

### Same Old Story?

Another day, another “rypto winters are over” narrative meeting cold, hard reality. Maybe next time the SEC should pair its sunny forecasts with, say, actual approvals that matter. Just a thought.

Pump.fun, Bitcoin and Sui prices down on Friday

CoinGecko data shows crypto market cap slid 7% lower on Friday. Pump.fun, Bitcoin and Sui are the three trending tokens, and most altcoins ranked in the top 100 tokens are hit by a correction. 

Meme tokens were the hardest hit, while blue-chip DeFi tokens suffered least in terms of price declines on Friday. 

SEC Chair Paul Atkins’ speech and the announcement of Project Crypto on Thursday WOULD typically fuel bullish sentiment among traders. Clarity on crypto regulation would typically act as a catalyst for token prices, however, the reaction among traders was the opposite. 

A drop in market cap, correction in prices of top cryptos and a double-digit decline in meme tokens is indicative of “bearish” sentiment among market participants. 

Crypto price changes in the last 24 hours | Source: CoinGecko 

Amidst correction in top cryptos, DeFi tokens are rising in total value locked on their chains. The numbers are reminiscent of the pre-FTX exchange collapse, begging the question whether it is DeFi summer yet.

DeFi summer or not?

The total value of assets locked in DeFi exceeds $136 billion, as seen on DeFiLlama. Back in May 2022, the TVL of DeFi was $138 billion, so it took over three years for the metric to return to that level. 

DeFi TVL | Source: DeFiLlama

It remains to be seen whether TVL will be sustained at this level or correct in H2 2025.