A $45 million Bitcoin scandal almost toppled the Czech government last week after former Justice Minister Pavel Blazek accepted the funds from a convicted darknet operator. Though the Fiala administration narrowly survived a no-confidence vote, pressure mounts as opposition leader Andrej Babis surges in the polls ahead of October elections. Blazek denies wrongdoing, but the fallout has triggered an audit, a criminal investigation, and fierce criticism of crypto oversight lapses.

Across the globe, the US. Senate passed the landmark GENIUS ACT, a bill designed to regulate stablecoins and lay down ground rules for their issuance and trading. President Trump, touting it as a move that will make the U.S. “the undisputed leader” in digital assets, called on the House to pass a clean version of the bill without delay. The House has its own competing legislation, setting the stage for a showdown that could define how America enters the stablecoin era.

Meanwhile, in a bold move into crypto finance, Hong Kong-based Lion Group relaunched its digital asset operations with a $600 million facility, backing its Hyperliquid treasury initiative. With plans to allocate funds to Solana and Sui, the company joins a growing list of traditional finance players integrating decentralized finance into their core strategies.

Governments are feeling the heat, markets are shifting, and crypto is becoming a political and economic force too large to ignore.