Wall Street firms may embrace blockchain technology, just not in its current form. The open, distributed ledger visible to all comers runs counter to the way traditional finance works, said Don Wilson, the founder and CEO of DRW, a TradFi trading firm that’s been active in crypto for over a decade.

“There is no world in which institutions are going to say, ‘Oh yeah, just publish all of my trades onchain,’” Wilson said at the Digital Asset Summit in New York on Thursday. “Any money manager would view it as a failure of fiduciary duty to publish to the world every trade that they’re doing.”

Having every trade visible conflicts with how institutions manage risk and protect trading strategies, Wilson said. If an investor with a large stake in a company starts selling the stock, other market participants will be able to detect the pattern and the initial trades will have a “huge price impact” on the investor’s later trades. In other words, the transparency works against the trader.

“The problem is not the technology itself, but how it is implemented,” Wilson said. “I think that it’s a mistake to put stuff on these chains that have complete transparency.”

DRW was founded in 1992 and introduced Cumberland in 2014, one of the first institutional crypto trading desks, just as bitcoin BTC$68,167.47 markets began to take shape. That early entry gave the firm a front-row seat to how digital assets evolved from niche markets into infrastructure that banks now study.

Wilson’s current focus reflects that shift. He pointed to efforts to bring traditional assets onchain, and warned against doing so on fully transparent networks.

Ethereum has long been pitched as the blockchain most likely to plug into Wall Street, with developers highlighting its large decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem and role in early tokenization efforts.

But, like Bitcoin, all transactions are visible, and large banks have taken a different path. Many have spent years building or backing private, permissioned networks, arguing that financial institutions need tighter control over data, access and compliance. Firms like JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, have developed in-house systems, while others have supported platforms designed to limit who can see and validate transactions.

Wilson argued for systems that limit visibility. “Privacy is kind of at the top of the list,” he said, describing the features needed for institutional adoption. He also cited market structure issues like front-running. “That ability for people to reorder transactions … that’s just not suitable for financial markets.”

His comments come as tokenization gains traction across the industry. Banks and asset managers are testing ways to move stocks, bonds and other assets onto blockchain-based systems. Wilson agrees the opportunity is large, especially for major asset classes. But he expects the design to look different from today’s public chains.

“I think it’s obvious that that will not happen,” he said, referring to the idea that institutions will adopt fully transparent systems. “Everybody thinks I’m crazy … so I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong. We’ll see.”

Brazil’s lawmakers have equipped public security agencies with a new instrument in the fight against organized crime: the ability to repurpose confiscated cryptocurrency to fund policing efforts. Law No. 15.358, approved by the National Congress and published this week, creates a legal framework that treats digital assets as instruments of crime that can be seized, restricted from exchanges, and redirected to support police operations.

The measure extends a police toolkit beyond traditional cash and property, allowing authorities to forfeit crypto assets tied to criminal activity and, with judicial authorization, deploy those assets for police reequipment, training, and special operations. The law signals a coordinated approach to asset recovery that could involve cross-border cooperation with international authorities, reflecting Brazil’s aim to address crypto-enabled crime on a global scale.

Key takeaways

• Crypto assets tied to criminal activity can be treated as crime instruments, enabling forfeiture and prohibiting related transactions on exchanges.
• Confiscated assets can be used provisionally for police equipment, training, and special operations, subject to judicial oversight.
• The law enables Brazil to cooperate with international authorities on investigations and asset recovery, including cases involving digital assets.
• Observers note the potential implications for public finances, given Brazil’s large population and widespread use of crypto among its citizens.
• Parallel policy debates in Brazil include discussions about a national Bitcoin reserve, with proposals that have reemerged in recent years.

What the law changes for enforcement and asset recovery

According to a translation of Law No. 15.358, the forfeiture framework treats any asset used to commit a crime as an instrument of the crime, even if it was not designed exclusively for illicit purposes. The law clarifies that forfeited assets and valuables may be used provisionally by public security agencies to bolster police capabilities, subject to authorization from the judge supervising the sentence’s execution. This creates a clearer path for authorities to liquidate or reallocate crypto assets recovered in criminal cases to fund policing priorities.

The forfeited assets and valuables may be used provisionally by public security agencies for police re-equipment, training, and special operations, subject to authorization from the judge overseeing the execution of the sentence.

Beyond domestic enforcement, the legislation contemplates closer coordination with international partners for investigation and asset recovery. Brazil’s authorities argue that cross-border cooperation will be essential to dismantle crypto-enabled crime networks that span multiple jurisdictions. With a population exceeding 213 million and a growing footprint of crypto activity, observers say the law could have material implications for how the state finances its security apparatus and how offenders face consequences that extend to digital assets.

The move also arrives amid ongoing public-policy debates about crypto and taxation. Reports have indicated that Brazil’s Finance Minister, Dario Durigan, signaled a plan to delay talks on crypto tax reform to avoid deep political divides and would push discussions beyond the presidential election set for October. That stance adds a layer of political uncertainty to Brazil’s broader approach to crypto regulation, even as enforcement authorities pursue aggressive asset-recovery tools.

In parallel, Brazil has faced notable enforcement activity in the crypto space. TRM Labs’ 2026 crypto crime report highlights a sprawling laundering and foreign-exchange evasion network in 2025 that allegedly moved tens of billions of reais via shell companies, OTC brokers, and non-custodial wallets. The case underscores why authorities view robust asset-recovery mechanisms as a potentially meaningful lever in countering sophisticated crypto-enabled crime networks.

Brazil’s evolving regulatory landscape and competing priorities

Brazil’s legal approach to seized crypto sits alongside broader debates about the country’s financial sovereignty and digital assets. A separate line of discussion has concerned whether Brazil should establish a national Bitcoin reserve. A proposal that first surfaced in 2024 reappeared in 2025, with lawmakers revisiting the framework to potentially allocate a portion of the treasury toward purchasing Bitcoin. Earlier reporting suggested options ranging from as little as a few percentage points of treasury reserves to up to one million BTC, though it remained unclear whether the measure would secure sufficient support to advance.

The tension between empowered enforcement tools and broader fiscal policy remains a defining theme. While the confiscation and redeployment of crypto assets to bolster public security represent a practical application of confiscated assets, the BTC-reserve concept embodies a strategic, macro-level bet on crypto as a state asset. Analysts note that even if a reserve remains aspirational, the mere progression of such discussions can influence how Brazil’s financial markets and crypto businesses price risk around policy clarity, taxation, and asset custody frameworks. For now, the law’s immediate impact centers on seizures, forfeiture, and the use of crypto proceeds to support law-enforcement capabilities rather than building a centralized digital-asset stockpile.

As with any regulatory shift, the practical effects will depend on implementation details, judicial oversight, and the tempo of cross-border cooperation. The law provides a framework, but courts, prosecutors, and international partners will shape how aggressively crypto assets are seized, liquidated, or repurposed. Investors and users should watch how authorities operationalize the mechanism in real cases, including which asset classes are most frequently targeted and how proceeds are tracked and accounted for in public security budgets.

For those tracking Brazil’s crypto policy arc, the connected policy threads—tax reform timing, enforcement clarity, and the possibility of a national BTC reserve—will be key to understanding the country’s longer-term stance on digital assets. The mix of aggressive asset-recovery powers and cautious tax policy signals a pragmatic, enforcement-driven approach in the near term, coupled with strategic questions about crypto’s role in national finance.

Readers should keep an eye on forthcoming judicial decisions that interpret and operationalize Law No. 15.358, as well as any administration-level statements clarifying the government’s stance on crypto taxation and asset reserves. The cross-border dimension will also hinge on cooperation agreements with other jurisdictions, which could set precedents for how Latin American countries coordinate on crypto-for-crime investigations in the years ahead.

References to related developments, including Brazil’s Pix payment system expansion and shifts in crypto-tax conversations, offer context for the broader regulatory environment. For example, coverage of Pix expanding to Argentina and discussions around crypto taxation provide a backdrop against which this new forfeiture framework operates. Meanwhile, TRM Labs’ findings illustrate the scale of criminal-funding networks that asset-recovery measures aim to disrupt.

As Brazil moves forward, market participants and citizens alike should watch how the law is applied in concrete cases, the speed of international cooperation, and whether broader fiscal proposals—such as a potential Bitcoin reserve—advance in tandem with enforcement measures. The coming months could reveal how Brazil balances security objectives with the growing integration of crypto into daily life and the national economy.

United States President Donald Trump has marketed himself as the president who truly embraced bitcoin (BTC), but has his willingness to cooperate with the industry resulted in price appreciation compared to previous administrations?

Protos used data from CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap to plot BTC’s relative performance up to this point during Barack Obama’s second term, Trump’s first term, Joe Biden’s term, and Trump’s second term.

Read more: ANALYSIS: Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are cashing in on crypto

The best performance at this point was in Trump’s first term, which saw BTC appreciate from less than $900 to nearly $8,500, an increase of approximately 850%.

Meanwhile, the worst performance can be seen during the current Trump administration, which has overseen a fall for BTC from over $101,000 to just over $71,000, a decrease of nearly 30%.

The two Democrat presidents sit between these relative extremes, with Obama presiding over an increase in BTC’s price from $212 to $584, an jump of around 175%.

Biden and his much-maligned cryptocurrency regulatory regime saw the price increase from approximately $36,000 to $44,000, a rise of 23%.

Trump is the only one of these presidents who has set himself up to profit directly from the crypto industry.

He’s the co-founder emeritus of World Liberty Financial, earns returns from the $TRUMP memecoin and the line of Trump digital trading cards, and Trump Media and Technology Group, the firm behind his beloved Truth Social, has diversified into crypto exchange traded funds.

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YPF Luz, the electricity subsidiary of Argentina’s largest energy company, has partnered with Buenos Aires-based blockchain infrastructure company Justoken to launch an energy tokenization platform built on XRP Ledger (XRPL), the firms announced earlier this month.

The platform, dubbed Enertoken, tokenizes, commercializes, and manages electricity contracts via XRPL, the public blockchain originally developed by Ripple Labs, which remains a core contributor. Meanwhile, Justoken recently emerged as the largest real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform on XRPL by total value.

Per the announcement, the new platform from YPF Luz, developed by Justoken, is aimed at corporations and large energy consumers to help manage everything from consumption tracking, to billing, to contract execution, “fully supported by tokenized energy assets recorded on blockchain.”

Martín Mandarano, the CEO of YPF Luz — the parent company of which has had a turbulent history of state and private ownership — was quoted as saying in the announcement:

“The integration of tokenized energy assets allows us to optimize processes, enhance traceability, and deliver greater transparency to our clients, reinforcing YPF Luz’s innovative profile within the energy sector.”

Justoken’s Quiet Dominance

In what the companies are calling the project’s initial phase, Enertoken launched with over $800 million in tokenized energy assets on XRPL, per the announcement, evidently referring to Justoken’s tokenized energy fund, JMWH.

Justoken’s JMWH, which, per RWAxyz, represents real megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy, backed by energy producers in Latin America, quietly become the largest tokenized asset on XRPL by total value when it launched in mid-January with over $861 million on-chain. Meanwhile, Justoken has another $832.3 million in various other tokenized commodities on Polygon.

As of today, March 26, JMWH’s total asset value still stands at $861 million — representing nearly 57% of all so-called represented asset value on XRPL, and a nearly 45% market share of all tokenized RWA platforms on the network.

Per RWAxyz, “represented asset value” refers to tokenized assets that exist on a blockchain but cannot be distributed or transferred on-chain — they represent a real-world commitment recorded on-chain, not freely tradable tokens.

Represented vs Distributed RWAs

Luke Judges, Partner Director at RippleX, Ripple’s open developer platform, explained to The Defiant why JMWH falls into RWAxyz’s “represented” asset category, rather than “distributed” — a distinction that indicates how these assets are used on-chain, stating, “‘represented’ assets operate within more controlled environments, often reflecting regulatory or contractual requirements.”

In JMWH’s case, the tokens operate under Argentina’s capital markets regulator Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV)’s regime for Virtual Asset Service Providers (PSAVs), with issuance, allocation, delivery, and retirement all tied to contractual obligations. This, Judges argues, explains why Justoken opted for a “closed loop approach.”

“The blockchain serves as a verifiable record of ownership and fulfilment rather than a trading venue,” Judges added.

He also noted that represented assets on XRPL are “an important starting point for many institutional use cases, with distributed assets playing a larger role as liquidity, infrastructure, and regulatory clarity continue to evolve on XRPL.”

Selecting XRPL

Ariel Scaliter, co-founder and CTO of Justoken, told The Defiant that the choice of XRPL was deliberate on multiple fronts, citing speed and scalability for teams building on the blockchain network:

“XRPL was selected for several strategic reasons. First, its institutional quality stands out. Many companies in the energy ecosystem are publicly listed, which aligns with the profile of counterparties involved in this type of business.”

Scaliter also cited the ability to build quickly on the XRPL EVM Sidechain before migrating to the mainnet, and flagged Ripple’s institutional legitimacy, as well as custody as a critical infrastructure consideration. He told The Defiant:

“XRPL, alongside contributions from Ripple, is well positioned to attract institutional investors. This global credibility and trust are essential for high-stakes, regulated use cases like energy tokenization.”

RippleX’s Judges elaborated on the architecture: “Justoken was looking for a way to bring renewable energy credits onchain that could support both traceability and automated compliance for corporate clients, while still fitting within existing custodial structures.”

YPF Luz and Its State-Backed Parent

YPF Luz is the power generation subsidiary of YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales), Argentina’s majority state-owned oil and gas company. The nation’s largest crude producer was originally established over a hundred years ago as Argentina’s state oil company, but was privatized in 1999 and purchased by Spanish energy giant Repsol.

In 2012, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner renationalized YPF, ousting Repsol after a dispute over slumping oil output and investment, Bloomberg reported at the time. Argentina’s Congress nationalized YPF through an overwhelming lower-house vote, clearing the way for President Fernández to sign the bill into law, per Reuters.

RWA Surge

XRPL has been steadily building its RWA credentials, and now has $1.5 billion in represented asset value on chain, and over $404 million in distributed asset value, per RWAxyz.

In late 2024, Ripple announced plans to tokenize the first-ever money market fund on XRPL, collaborating with UK-based digital securities exchange Archax and global investment firm Abrdn, as The Defiant reported. Last March, Ondo Finance deployed its tokenized short-term U.S. Government Treasuries product (OUSG) on the XRP Ledger, aiming to bring it to XRPL’s institutional user base.

Zooming out, the broader tokenized RWA market tripled from roughly $5.5 billion to $18.6 billion over the course of 2025, per The Defiant’s year-end analysis.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

ZachXBT blasted YoungHoon Kim’s $LAMB presale as a religion-wrapped grift, pointing to botted engagement, recycled scam copy and a playbook he’s seen in prior fraud investigations.

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT fired a pointed public callout on March 26 at a religion-themed crypto token presale, asking on X whether “grifting religion to promote a crypto token presale for a glorified paid group is still a viable strategy in 2026.” The post drew 48,700 views, 1,200 likes, and 51 retweets within hours, touching off a wave of mockery and scrutiny across crypto Twitter directed at the project behind it: $LAMB, a token launched by YoungHoon Kim, who describes himself on X as the world’s highest IQ 276 holder and founder of @LAMB276_X.​

Kim announced the presale on March 25 in a post that accumulated 176,000 views and 1,000 likes, writing: “Today, I launch my mission token to build churches across the world where Jesus Christ alone is Lord. Every profit belongs to His Kingdom because Jesus Christ is Lord.” The token was offered through Fjord Foundry, a decentralized token launchpad, with contract address 0x019E1f53Bf2EA52558c33feD363b491362c0d533. By the time ZachXBT weighed in, the presale had raised $51,910 against a token price of $0.246, a liquidity pool of $1.837 million, and a fully diluted valuation of $6.804 million.

ZachXBT is no stranger to flagging such operations. In March 2026, he exposed a coordinated network of over 10 accounts on X that used geopolitical panic to funnel users into pump-and-dump crypto tokens, with on-chain evidence suggesting the scheme generated six-figure profits. Earlier the same month, he accused employees at crypto trading platform Axiom of misusing internal tools to profit from insider trading — allegations that sent shockwaves through the decentralized exchange community.

The $LAMB situation fits a longer arc of celebrity- and identity-backed token launches exploiting cultural credibility to attract buyers. As CCN reported, Kim’s previous crypto price predictions — including forecasts for Bitcoin to reach $276,000 and XRP to hit triple-digit prices — had not materialized within their suggested timelines. The project had previously operated on the Solana blockchain before the current presale on Ethereum.

ZachXBT’s sardonic follow-up — “guess us plebs cannot possibly understand the grander vision since we’re not 276 IQ” — proved to be among the more viral lines in a thread that quickly went beyond crypto circles. @patty_fi summarized the community sentiment with blunt simplicity: “He’s using the prophet for profit!” As crypto.news has previously reported, social engineering and identity-based manipulation remain among the most effective — and recurring — vectors for retail crypto fraud in 2026.

Mezo, a Bitcoin-native lending protocol, will collaborate with Aerodrome Finance to support trading activity for its token and Bitcoin-backed stablecoin on the Base network, as projects look for ways to bring more financial use cases to Bitcoin.

In a Thursday announcement, Mezo said it will allocate 2.25% of its MEZO token supply to Aerodrome’s vote-escrow (veAERO) participants — users who lock tokens in exchange for governance rights and rewards. The program is designed to encourage those users to direct funds into MEZO trading pairs, increasing activity around the token and its US dollar-backed stablecoin, MUSD.

Aerodrome is a liquidity provider on Base built by the team behind Optimism, a configurable enterprise blockchain infrastructure.

The partnership links Base-based traders with a newer group of Bitcoin-focused applications, as developers experiment with adapting existing DeFi models to Bitcoin.

Mezo, which allows users to borrow against their Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, said it has issued more than 2,000 loans and helped move roughly $23 million in Bitcoin-denominated assets from Ethereum.

The move gives Mezo access to a large and active DeFi user base on the Base network. Bitcoin-native applications often struggle to attract enough trading activity. On Base, infrastructure such as Aerodrome can help support more consistent trading in new tokens and stablecoins.

Related: Coinbase’s Base transitions to its own architecture with eye on streamlining

Bitcoin DeFi activity grows as new platforms emerge

Bitcoin is increasingly being positioned as a base layer for decentralized finance, driven in part by increasing institutional participation and long-term holders seeking ways to generate returns on idle assets.

Bitcoin-based DeFi activity has picked up since 2024, with a growing number of platforms aiming to bring lending, borrowing and yield strategies to the network.

Recent examples include Lombard, which is building Bitcoin-based lending infrastructure and has teamed with Bitwise to allow institutional investors to earn yield and borrow against their Bitcoin holdings.

Another project, Hashi, has recently launched on the Sui network with early participation from BitGo, Bullish and FalconX, among others. The platform enables users to earn yield on Bitcoin through onchain lending and borrowing.

Related: Babylon-Ledger tie-up expands access to Bitcoin Vaults for collateral use