Weekly Regulation Roundup: Washington Pardons, Pullbacks, and Pro-Crypto Reset
President Donald Trump said this week that he would consider pardoning Samourai founder and CEO Keonne Rodriguez, who was sentenced to five years in federal prison last month for money laundering.
Trump told Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the case in an Oval Office session on Monday.
No formal study has been announced, but the remarks are important considering Trump administration crypto enforcement pullbacks.
The Samourai case has sparked concerns regarding financial privacy, open-source software liability, and money transmission regulations' reach on non-custodial instruments.
ECB Confirms 2026 DLT Transactions as Digital Euro Privacy Debate Heats Up
Privacy and regulatory measures for digital euro are now being discussed as the ECB's DLT initiatives near completion.
As political attention turns to the digital euro's privacy issues, the European Central Bank will allow blockchain-based transactions to settle in central bank money in 2026.
Piero Cipollone, ECB executive board member, stated Friday that the agency will implement distributed ledger technology settlements within its monetary infrastructure next year.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back Slams Nic Carter For Bitcoin Quantum Threat Claims
Blockstream CEO Adam Back has openly disputed suggestions that quantum computing threatens Bitcoin, blaming Castle Island Ventures founding partner Nic Carter for raising those worries.
The argument transpired on X after Carter described why Castle Island Ventures invested in Project Eleven, a firm building quantum attack protections for Bitcoin and other crypto networks.
Back slammed Carter for causing trouble. You try to influence the market with misinformed noise. You’re not helping,” Back wrote Friday.
Brooklyn Man Charged With Stealing $16M From 100 Coinbase Users
On Friday, prosecutors charged a 23-year-old Brooklyn resident with stealing $16 million in cryptocurrency from 100 Coinbase users through phishing and social engineering.
Ronald Spektor posed as a Coinbase official and contacted victims, claiming their digital assets were at jeopardy, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.
Spektor allegedly forced users to send cryptocurrency to his wallets.
