GM, frens! ☕️ 

Every cycle has its noise, but the real signals are always there - waiting to be noticed 👀 

Let’s get into what’s shaping up in crypto this week 👇️ 

This week, we’re looking at:

• 🏎️ Fast, Fearless & First: Ambire supports Alexandra Vateva in CarreraCupME

• 🔒️ The legal War on Crypto IS OVER

• 💰️ The U.S. BTC reserve is here - will it shake the market?

• 🩸 Bloodbath for ETH: 16% drop, liquidations, and a testnet attack - all at once

Our W3oF Degen Portfolio hasn’t moved much - probably because Vitalik was too busy writing another 193,000 word manifesto instead of pumping our bags 📜 🫠 

Btw, you can always jump into our Discord and help us navigate these insane market conditions. Let’s see if collective degen wisdom can outpace the market 🧠 

Fast, Fearless, and First: Ambire supports Alexandra Vateva in CarreraCupME: WIN PASSES INSIDE!

Speed, precision, and a relentless drive to win - qualities that define both racers and the star devs of crypto 👀 

Now, these two worlds are colliding as Ambire backs Alexandra Vateva, a rising Bulgarian talent competing in CarreraCupME 🤯 

At just 19 years old, she has already made history as the first female driver ever in the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East. Her journey has been fueled by raw talent and determination, climbing the ranks from the Porsche Cayman GT4 series in 2023 to securing a seat in the GT3 class for 2024 🏎️ 

To celebrate this collaboration, Ambire is giving fans a shot at race passes for two major events:

🏁 Bahrain (April 13-14, 2025)
🏁 Saudi Arabia (April 18-21, 2025)

With the entry deadline extended to March 16th, 2025, there’s still time to get in on the action 👇️ 

Apply here: survey.typeform.com/to/sBLOwi4C.

Racing and crypto aren’t as different as they seem, aren’t they? Both are high-speed, high-risk, and demand nothing less than full commitment. Those who hesitate get left behind, and those who push forward shape the future 🫡 

The legal War on Crypto IS OVER

• For years, the crypto industry lived under the relentless hammer of the SEC's enforcement regime, a period defined by constant lawsuits, regulatory uncertainty, and an almost existential battle between the innovators and the bureaucrats.

• At the center of this war stood Gary Gensler, the man who turned the SEC into crypto’s most feared adversary 🤡 

But today, the battlefield looks very different. The SEC has started rolling back its enforcement actions. Once-formidable lawsuits against Coinbase, Kraken, Consensys, Robinhood, Yuga Labs, and others have been dismissed, dropped, or quietly abandoned.

The era of aggressive crackdowns is ending, and for the first time in years, crypto companies can breathe 🙃 

So, how did we get here? How did an agency once set on bringing the crypto industry to its knees suddenly retreat? The answer lies in a mix of political shifts, legal defeats, industry resilience, and, ultimately, a realization that the war was never going to be won 👇️ 

The War on Crypto (2021-2024)

For the better part of four years, crypto in the U.S. operated under a constant state of regulatory uncertainty. Instead of crafting clear, industry-friendly guidelines, the SEC - under Gary Gensler’s leadership - took the approach of regulation by enforcement 🔨 

This meant that rather than creating rules for how exchanges and DeFi protocols should operate, the SEC would simply sue them into compliance.

Between 2021 and 2024, the SEC launched over 83 enforcement actions against crypto firms, effectively crippling innovation and destroying many projects. Some of the biggest battles included:

• Coinbase: Sued for allegedly selling unregistered securities and offering an "illegal" staking service.

• Kraken: Targeted for its staking program and accused of operating an unregistered securities exchange.

• Binance: Faced multiple lawsuits and settlements over compliance failures.

• Robinhood Crypto: Investigated under suspicion of listing securities.

• Consensys: Targeted for its role in developing MetaMask, accused of brokering unregistered securities.

• Yuga Labs: Scrutinized over the claim that Bored Ape NFTs were actually securities.

The result was an environment where companies couldn't operate safely, unsure if their business models would be deemed illegal months or years after launching 🙄 

Operation Chokepoint 2.0

The SEC’s war on crypto wasn’t just about lawsuits, it also involved cutting off banking access. Many firms found it nearly impossible to work with U.S. banks as regulators pressured financial institutions to debank crypto businesses 🪙 

Dubbed operation Chokepoint 2.0 by the crypto community, this strategy effectively strangled crypto companies out of the financial system 💰️ 💰️ 

Startups struggled to process payments, exchanges found it harder to offer fiat services, and stablecoin issuers ran into banking roadblocks.

The Ripple case

One of the first major cracks in the SEC’s approach came in 2023, when it suffered a landmark legal defeat against Ripple Labs 👨‍⚖️ 

• After years of legal battles, a US federal judge ruled that XRP was not a security when sold on exchanges, striking at the very foundation of the SEC’s enforcement strategy.

• This case weakened the SEC’s credibility, with many judges and lawmakers questioning its approach to regulation.

  It was the beginning of the end 👀 

The turning point

Fast forward to early 2025, and everything changed ⌚️ 

• The first major shift came when Gary Gensler stepped down, and Mark Uyeda took over as Acting SEC Chair.

• Unlike his predecessor, Uyeda was not a fan of regulation by enforcement. Instead of continuing to sue companies into compliance, he paused many ongoing enforcement actions and began rolling back some of the most controversial cases 👏 

Then, the dominoes started falling 🤷‍♂️ 

Within weeks of Uyeda’s tenure, the SEC dismissed or dropped several major lawsuits:

• Coinbase vs. SEC: The SEC dropped its case against Coinbase.

• Kraken vs. SEC: The case was dismissed “with prejudice”, meaning the SEC cannot refile it in the future.

• Robinhood Crypto Investigation Closed: The SEC ended its probe into Robinhood’s crypto division without taking action.

• Consensys Lawsuit Dropped: The SEC quietly abandoned its case against Consensys, the company behind MetaMask.

• Cumberland, OpenSea, and other cases withdrawn: Multiple other investigations were shut down before reaching litigation.

Instead of legal warfare, Uyeda signaled a shift toward clear guidelines. The SEC’s crypto task force - once a group devoted to finding new ways to sue projects - was redirected to work on actual regulation 📜 

For the first time, the SEC admitted that a better approach was needed. Lawmakers and regulators were now focusing on crafting rules rather than killing innovation.

A new era begins??

The end of the SEC’s crackdown opens the floodgates for massive opportunities in the U.S. crypto sector:

Institutional investment will increase:

• With regulatory clarity, big institutions will have fewer barriers to entering crypto.

• Expect more banks, hedge funds, and major corporations to start integrating crypto.

Crypto firms would be able to operate without fear:

• The regulatory uncertainty that scared companies away is fading.

• This means more startups, innovation, and a renewed focus on building.

Laws vs Lawsuits

• Instead of the SEC making up the rules through lawsuits, Congress is now involved in drafting clear laws for crypto.

• This will legitimize the industry instead of leaving it in legal limbo.

For years, crypto operated under a constant state of siege. Companies lived in fear of sudden enforcement actions, banking access was restricted, and the SEC acted as judge, jury, and executioner.

But that era is now over 😌 

The SEC is stepping back. Lawsuits are being dropped. Clearer regulations are on the way. And for the first time in years, crypto companies can focus on building.

The U.S. BTC reserve is here - will it shake the market?

For years, ideas of national crypto reserves sounded like a fantasy - something debated in crypto echo chambers but dismissed as unrealistic by policymakers. But now, in a move that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, the U.S. government has officially approved a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Is it a true gamechanger for crypto, or just another bureaucratic headline with no real weight? 🏋️‍♂️ 

From hostility to adoption

It wasn’t long ago that the U.S. government treated BTC and crypto at large as a nuisance - something to regulate, restrict, and in some cases, outright suppress. Just like we discussed in the previous topic, the regulatory climate was anything but friendly.

But now, we have what was once unimaginable: the U.S. government recognizing Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.

• The reserve won’t be built through direct purchases. Instead, it will be funded with seized Bitcoin - assets confiscated in criminal cases, which the government had previously been selling off in auctions.

• Now, rather than dumping it on the market, they’ll be holding it as a national asset 💰️ 

This marks the first time a major global power has officially categorized BTC as a reserve asset, putting it in the same conversation as gold or foreign currency reserves 🤯 

The market

So, let’s get to the big question: does this actually matter for crypto price and adoption?

• Supply shock? Not quite
  Unlike the El Salvador approach - where Bitcoin was actively bought and stacked by the government - this reserve won’t be buying new BTC (at least for now). This means there’s no immediate demand shock. However, removing seized Bitcoin from circulation does reduce available supply, which could have long-term bullish effects 🤷‍♂️ 

• Symbolic victory for legitimacy
  This move does further validates crypto’s role as a serious financial asset. For years, critics argued that crypto assets were nothing more than a bubble waiting to burst. Now, with the U.S. government officially holding crypto assets in reserve, it becomes harder to ignore its long-term viability 🧠 

• A shift in narrative
  A government-held reserve also shields crypto from harsher regulatory crackdowns in the future. It’s difficult to call something a "dangerous asset" when your own federal agencies are stacking it. This could lead to friendlier policies around crypto, more banking access for crypto firms, and even institutional confidence.

• Potential for expansion 🎈 
  Right now, the reserve is only made up of seized Bitcoin - but the order leaves the door open for future acquisitions. Could the government eventually start allocating Treasury funds to buy crypto? If so, that would be a massive shift in global economic strategy, forcing other nations to consider doing the same.

Some critics argue this reserve is mostly symbolic - a way for the government to appear forward-thinking while making no real financial commitments. Others believe it’s the first step toward something much bigger.

But the bottom line is, crypto just became harder to ignore - and for the industry that was recently considered a bubble - we’ve really come a long way.

Bloodbath for ETH: 16% drop, liquidations, and a testnet attack - all at once

Ethereum holders had a rough wake-up call as ETH tumbled below $1,800, marking one of its sharpest selloffs in months.

But price action wasn’t the only problem - Ethereum’s testnet suffered an unexpected attack, adding fuel to an already raging fire 🤯 

Crypto markets have been bleeding, but Ethereum took the brunt of it. ETH saw a staggering 16% crash, falling from around $2,140 to below $1,800.

• A quick bounce has brought prices back to $1,890, but the damage has been done. The selloff wiped out billions in market value, erasing the coin’s post-ETF approval gains and bringing fears of deeper downside.

• Technical analysts warn that if ETH loses its key support level, it could spiral toward $1,200 - a number no one wants to see. Meanwhile, the ETH/BTC ratio has slumped to its lowest point since December 2020, signaling Bitcoin’s growing dominance in the market.

The trigger was whales offloading massive ETH holdings to avoid liquidation. One wallet dumped 25,800 ETH, worth around $47 million, at a significant loss to stay solvent. This cascading effect sent shockwaves through the market, forcing further sell pressure.

Pectra attack

As if the price crash wasn’t enough, news of a mysterious attack began to surface 🤔 

• The Pectra upgrade on Sepolia - a key testnet for future Ethereum updates - was exploited by an unknown attacker, who used zero-token transactions to flood the network with empty blocks 🤯 

• Developers scrambled to patch the vulnerability, but they had to do it in stealth mode. The attacker was reportedly lurking in developer chats, monitoring potential fixes, so the team had to push updates quietly to avoid tipping them off 🥷 

• While this incident didn’t affect Ethereum’s mainnet, it exposed critical flaws in its infrastructure. Any hiccup in testnet performance raises concerns about the upcoming mainnet upgrade, and traders weren’t thrilled about the timing - especially with ETH already facing heavy sell pressure 📉 

For now, all eyes are on two things: whether buyers step in to support ETH’s price, and whether Ethereum developers can reinforce the network before its next major update.

The market is jittery, and any further missteps could push ETH further into the red.

Other worthy reads

Interesting opinion article by wale.moca:

Some of the upcoming DeFi launches:

Pondering the future of crypto, by Aylo:

MEMES

That's all for now, frens.

We'll meet in a week! And remember, the market conditions are temporary, but our commitment to building a better DeFi is here to stay. Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you back next week. Cheers!

Yours, The 🔥 Team

Brought to you by Ambire: The Only Web3 Wallet That You’ll Need!