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The U.S. Department of Justice will drop part of one count of its case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm due to a recent policy memo, the agency said Thursday.The DOJ will not go to trial on a charge alleging Storm failed to comply with money transmitter business registration rules, but still plans to go to trial in July over allegations he knowingly transmitted funds tied to crimes, conspired to commit money laundering and conspired to violate sanctions law, the DOJ said in a letter filed to the judge overseeing its case."The Government writes to update the Court regarding this case, which is scheduled for trial on July 14, 2025," the letter said. "After review of this case, this Office...

“I don’t think it’s here to stay,” Dave Portnoy said, referring to meme coins—the same corner of crypto he’s often poured fuel on through his social media antics.Speaking on stage at Consensus 2025 with Tom Farley, CEO of crypto exchange Bullish, the Barstool Sports founder peeled back the layers of his short, chaotic stint in the meme coin world. With his usual brash candor, Portnoy described a journey of sudden windfalls, legal landmines, and the kind of public backlash that might make even the most hardened internet provocateur think twice.“I love the rush, I’m a gambler at heart,” he admitted. “But then the smart part of me is like, is it worth the hate?” The conversation was part of a...

The crypto rally took a long-overdue pause on Thursday as traders took some profits following weeks of relentless advance that lifted bitcoin BTC close to record prices.The consolidation occurred amid a slew of U.S. economic data releases. April retail sales missed expectations, producer prices rose less than forecast, jobless claims stayed on track, while the NY Empire State Manufacturing Index and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey showed softening business activity—signals that did little to rattle traditional markets. The S&P 500 added 0.4%, while the Nasdaq finished flat.Bitcoin pulled back to $101,000 early in the U.S. session before rebounding above $103,000 later, modestly down over the past 24 hours.Altcoins fared worse with the broad-market CoinDesk 20 Index declining 3% during the same...

Banks need to be part of crypto for stablecoins to succeed—that was the message from Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s senior vice president of digital currencies, during a panel discussion at Consensus 2025 in Toronto."It might sound counterintuitive, but you do want the banks in this space," Fernandez da Ponte said, adding that their infrastructure—from custody to providing fiat rails—will be essential if stablecoins are to scale beyond crypto-native circles. "You want that connectivity and that fabric to work."His remarks came amid efforts to bring regulatory clarity for digital assets in the U.S., with lawmakers inching closer to pass stablecoin legislation that could redefine the market and allow banks to enter the space.Read more: U.S. Senate's Stablecoin Push Still Alive...

The latest draft of the U.S. Senate's stablecoin legislation includes enough changes that Democratic senators may now have an easier time getting back on board, though consumer advocates say it still falls short.The bill to set oversight and standards for stablecoin issuers sailed through the Senate Banking Committee with wide bipartisan support in March, but it hit a wall on the Senate floor last week as many Democrats raised objections. Chief among them were the conflicts that may be presented by President Donald Trump's own crypto interests and the possibility that big technology firms like Meta and social-media site X may be able to issue such tokens. "As the result of hard-fought negotiations, Democrats won major victories on a range...