[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | President Trump Orders Review of Regulations Restricting Crypto Firms’ Access to Payment Networks

President Trump Orders Review of Regulations Restricting Crypto Firms’ Access to Payment Networks… Japan Revises Stablecoin Rules and RWA Expansion Continues

President Trump has ordered a review of regulations that block cryptocurrency firms from accessing U.S. payment networks. Meanwhile, Japan is incorporating foreign trust-beneficiary type stablecoins into its electronic payment instrument regulatory framework, while trends in real-world assets (RWA) and tokenized stocks continue to expand.

According to PANews, President Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government, financial regulators, and the Federal Reserve to examine within three to six months the factors limiting fintech and crypto firms’ access to payment accounts and services.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency announced an amendment recognizing foreign trust-beneficiary type stablecoins as electronic payment instruments under the Payment Services Act. The amendment will take effect on June 1.

BlackRock deposited 5,847 BTC, worth about $450 million, into Coinbase. The U.S. government also transferred 319 ETH and about $930,000 in stablecoins from assets confiscated from FTX and Alameda to Coinbase.

Pump.fun announced that starting May 21 it will introduce USDC trading pairs for newly issued tokens while maintaining existing SOL trading pairs. According to DefiLlama estimates, about 5.07 million SOL has been removed from circulation through the related structure since January 2024.

The total market capitalization of real-world assets (RWA) exceeded $65 billion, with Ethereum maintaining the lead at about 33% market share. BNB Chain, XRP Ledger, and Solana each accounted for about 6%.

Meanwhile, Truth Social withdrew its Bitcoin ETF application, and GitHub said it is investigating an incident involving unauthorized access to an internal code repository.

Bitcoin Surpasses $77,000

PANews, citing OKX market data, reported that Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $77,000.

According to the report, BTC was trading at $77,009.30 per coin, up 0.63% on the day.

CFTC and DOJ Sue Over Minnesota’s Prediction Market Ban

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice have filed a lawsuit against the state of Minnesota and Governor Tim Walz challenging the state’s ban on prediction markets, according to Odaily.

Minnesota’s new law, which takes effect on August 1, prohibits participation in prediction markets involving outcomes related to sports, weather, corporate valuations, government events, and similar matters. The CFTC said this is the first U.S. state law to explicitly impose a blanket ban on prediction markets.

The CFTC and DOJ argue that the products fall under federally regulated derivatives and swap contracts and are therefore under the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction. They maintain that the state has no authority to classify or prohibit them as illegal gambling.

The lawsuit is expected to intensify the jurisdictional conflict between federal regulators and state-level gambling authorities. Previously, the CFTC also sued Illinois, Arizona, and Connecticut over attempts to shut down prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.

CLARITY Bill to Be Consolidated and Amended With Ethics Provisions Before Senate Vote

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis said that, regarding the next steps for the CLARITY bill, multiple versions that emerged from Senate committees will be consolidated into one and ethics provisions will be added.

According to Cointelegraph, Senator Lummis said this process is expected to take place before a full Senate vote later this summer.

The CLARITY bill is intended to clarify regulatory jurisdiction and applicable standards for the digital asset market, and related legislative discussions continue in the U.S. Congress.

Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini Urge U.S. Senate to Remove Certain Provisions From Market Structure Bill

According to Odaily, Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini urged U.S. senators to remove certain provisions from the digital asset market structure bill.

The provisions in question would restrict trading platforms from listing tokens considered vulnerable to market manipulation.

In their comment letter, the exchanges argued that the standard is derived from traditional commodity futures regulation and could make it difficult for low-liquidity small-cap tokens to be listed on compliant exchanges, thereby limiting industry innovation.

Daily Tokenized Stock Trading Volume Hits Record $3.57 Billion

Daily trading volume for tokenized stocks reached an all-time high of $3.57 billion.

PANews, citing The Block data, reported that most of Monday’s tokenized stock trading volume occurred on Binance and Hyperliquid. Kraken’s xStocks, Ondo, and Bitget also contributed to the growth in cumulative on-chain stock trading volume.

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing guidelines and innovation exemptions for the on-chain stock ecosystem. This move comes amid the expansion of real-world asset tokenization and on-chain securities trading.

RWA Tokenization Market Cap Exceeds $65 Billion

PANews, citing The Block, reported that the total market capitalization of the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization market has surpassed $65 billion.

As traditional asset managers increase the migration of tokenized assets on-chain, RWA market capitalization has risen 44% year-to-date. Ethereum accounted for about 33%, the largest share, while Provenance Blockchain held about 27%, and BNB Chain, XRP Ledger, and Solana each recorded about 6%.

The RWA market has yet to settle on a dominant chain. Each blockchain continues competing to attract institutional investors by emphasizing regulatory compliance tools, settlement finality, and cost structure.

Stablecoin Total Supply Exceeds $300 Billion, but Market Growth Slows

Total stablecoin supply has surpassed $300 billion, but overall market growth has slowed, according to Odaily.

Data showed that over the past month, Tether’s USDT supply increased by more than $5 billion, expanding its market share. Over the same period, the combined supply of USDC, USDe, and PYUSD fell by about $4.2 billion.

The total net monthly increase in the stablecoin market was about $900 million, or just 0.3% of total supply. This suggests the market is not broadly expanding, but rather that USDT’s increase is offsetting redemptions in other stablecoins.

Elizabeth Warren Criticizes OCC for Granting National Trust Bank Charters to Crypto Firms

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) acted improperly in granting national trust bank charters to crypto firms including Ripple and Coinbase.

According to Odaily, in a letter sent to the OCC on May 18, Senator Warren argued that the OCC improperly granted national trust bank charters to at least nine crypto firms after December 2025.

Warren said these companies’ business plans go beyond the limited functions permitted for national trust banks, effectively making them crypto banks seeking to avoid the basic safeguards and obligations imposed on traditional banks.

Companies reported to have received approval or conditional approval include Ripple, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity, BitGo, Coinbase, Bridge, a subsidiary of Stripe, and Crypto.com.

Earlier, in February, the American Bankers Association urged the OCC to delay reviews of such applications. Senator Warren warned that these approvals could weaken consumer protection and increase regulatory arbitrage risks.

Whale Address Earns $12.61 Million From Closing Bitcoin Short Position

According to Odaily, a whale address identified as ‘Top 10 Big Targets’ closed a Bitcoin short position and realized a profit of $12.61 million.

The unwinding of such a large derivatives position may be interpreted as a signal of short-term changes in market supply and demand.