Trump Tokens Threaten Pro-Crypto Regulations 👨⚖️
Plus: North Korea can’t crack Kraken
In this week’s edition of The Context, we talk about:
Why stablecoin legislation has stalled
How North Korea is applying for jobs in crypto
What’s in the latest Ethereum upgrade
YAP Global’s Rebrand
[A Very Unstable GENIUS 🧠]
The bipartisan GENIUS Act, a stablecoin-regulation bill favored by crypto industry lobbyists, is losing support from Democratic lawmakers.
What Media Said 🧑💻:
The bill, which would create a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers, cleared the Senate Banking Committee with Democratic support. But, in a “stunning twist,” several are now saying it needs more work to address issues like national security and money laundering, said Jasper Goodman (Politico). Talks are ongoing.
“For months, the bill had appeared to be gliding toward passage,” said David Yaffe-Bellany & Eric Lipton (NYT). But last week, a venture fund backed by Abu Dhabi said it would use $2B in stablecoins issued by Trump-backed World Liberty Financial—”effectively funneling money into a business led by the U.S. president’s family.”
The perception of corruption is fueling wider Democratic pushback on crypto legislation. On Monday, Senator Chris Murphy introduced the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act, which would “ban presidents and their families from dabbling in memecoins or issuing other financial assets,” said Jesse Hamilton (CoinDesk). And House Dems walked out of a joint hearing on crypto policy, saying “Trump's personal crypto dealings were too urgent to allow other discussion on instituting industry regulations.”
PR Perspective 🔎:
In sports, you’d call this an unforced error. The crypto industry lobbied hard for regulation and gained a new ally in President Trump. Ironically, his enthusiasm to get into the crypto business himself is hamstringing his party’s efforts to enact policy. This reinforces a negative public perception of crypto as some sort of corrupt grift rather than a transformational technology.
[Morning Becomes Eth-Pectra🔹]
The Pectra upgrade went live on Ethereum on Wednesday.
What Media Said 🧑💻:
This is “the biggest Ethereum upgrade since the Merge,” wrote Leo Jakobson (The Defiant), referring to the network’s transition to proof of stake (in which people improve network security by staking tokens). In all, there are 11 big changes to Ethereum’s code, which fall into three categories: account abstraction, blob scaling, and improved UX for validators.
“Account abstraction” is about “mak[ing] crypto wallets and accounts more straightforward to use,” explained Vince Dioquino (Decrypt). And “blob scaling” means that more data can be stored on a block so that layer-2 networks can take more of the transaction load from Ethereum—and for cheaper.
Industry leaders think this opens up new possibilities, like removing the need to sign every transaction, not having to use ETH to pay transaction fees, and making it easier and less risky for companies to stake tokens. But this level of user friendliness has potential downsides, such as making it possible for users to have their accounts drained with one click.
PR Perspective 🔎:
Ethereum upgrades are spearheaded by the Ethereum Foundation based on improvement proposals sourced from developers in the ecosystem. There’s no official messaging or marketing. That may be why some of the language—”account abstraction,” for instance—is jargon-y. And it may also be why this huge upgrade didn’t get picked up by mainstream outlets. If the network really wants to make things simpler for users, it must do a better job of translating how this upgrade…makes things simpler for users.
[North Korea Pay Wall?🧱]
Crypto exchange Kraken discovered a North Korean operative was applying for a software engineering job, so it proceeded with interviews to learn how the country infiltrates companies.
What Media Said 🧑💻:
The operative, “Steven Smith,” was supposedly from Houston but couldn’t answer basic questions about area restaurants and didn’t know about Halloween—which was the day of the interview, explained Catherine McGrath (Fortune). He’s just one part of a “network of operatives…working multiple jobs at once and gaining access to companies to steal money from inside.”
Software companies are being flooded with fake applicants with perfect resumes, who are gaining employment by using AI (to fake ID and ace coding tests) and VPNs (to hide their location), wrote Bobbie Johnson (Wired). Suspicions are usually raised when they call in with laggy internet, have weak English skills, and focus only on salary during the interview. But many pretenders are likely doing “enough to fool an uninformed recruiter.”
PR Perspective 🔎:
This underscores a critical vulnerability in web3, where rapid growth and decentralized operations often outpace traditional HR processes. As deepfakes and synthetic identities evolve, the need for improved applicant screening and resilient blockchain infrastructure is urgent.
[This is not a Rebrand. It’s a Reintroduction.]
- YAP Global 💫
For years, we've made ‘yapping’ about everyone else's stories our identity. But today, we're finally telling ours!
YAP Global was started in 2017 as a PR and communications agency — a trusted partner for telling stories that matter. Powered by care, excellence, integrity, value, and a little bit of that yapper magic you’ve come to know and love.
When we decided to change the way we look, we didn’t just tweak the logo. We told our origin story in 1 letter.
Part apostrophe, part speech mark, all heart.
To reflect where we’re from and what we stand for, we drew from Peranakan tiles: bold, intricate, and timeless.
It’s a nod to our founder’s roots and a reminder that great stories can come from anywhere and go everywhere.
So here we have it - Our purpose, in full colour.
We’re Yappers, through & through: amplifying stories, sparking discourse, & shaping narratives that last.
Connect with YAP Global: Website, X & LinkedIn
The usual disclaimer: This newsletter collates the main themes and headlines of the week in DeFi/crypto/metaverse/Web3/NFT land and tries to provide unbiased context. It's aimed at anyone who wants to keep an eye on the space. It's put together by a team at YAP and doesn't contain any promotion of our clients (if one is mentioned, we'll flag that).
The team: Founder Samantha Yap and consulting editor Jeff Benson, Andrew Wickerson, Nathalie Larrea, Meghna Dembla, Samvidha Sharma, Trisha Goswami and Shajar Qureshi. Your feedback is, as always, welcome. Ping us at thecontext@yapglobal.com. Old newsletters can be found here.
This newsletter is prepared by YAP Global, an international PR Consultancy focusing on helping cryptocurrency, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and brands through impactful storytelling. Find out more about us here.