Bolivia to integrate crypto, stablecoins into the financial system

Key takeaways

• For years, US crypto firms operated under overlapping rules from the SEC, CFTC, FTC and FinCEN. The revised 2025 plan signals Washington’s intent to build a more flexible and structured framework tailored to digital assets.

• The SEC is moving toward a model centered on innovation, capital formation, market efficiency and investor protection. This marks an acknowledgment that crypto requires dedicated rules rather than adaptations of older regulations.

• The plan may lead to exemptions, safe harbors, DLT-specific transfer agent rules and crypto market structure amendments. These steps could help integrate digital assets into traditional market infrastructure.

• The plan’s success will depend on cross-agency coordination and international alignment between regulatory agencies. Strong execution could encourage other jurisdictions to adopt more consistent global standards for crypto.

Since its early years, the US cryptocurrency industry has operated in an unclear regulatory environment. Different agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), have been overlooking different aspects of the crypto ecosystem. In this scenario, crypto enterprises found it difficult to determine what was allowed and what was not.

The SEC’s revised 2025 plan is likely to usher in positive change. It suggests that Washington, DC is seeking a more flexible regulatory framework that streamlines crypto oversight while supporting innovation.

This article discusses the possible outcomes of the plan, its key points, the advantages it may bring and the risks it could involve. It also explores how the plan may influence the crypto ecosystem worldwide.

Why the SEC’s revised 2025 plan matters

Cryptocurrency has evolved well beyond its early speculative phase. Digital tokens are now traded on major platforms, institutional investors allocate funds to them, and tokenization is gradually entering traditional finance. In a fast-changing crypto landscape, regulations are always trying to catch up.

The SEC’s new agenda reflects a shift in approach. It emphasizes innovation, capital management, market efficiency and investor protection. This shows the SEC’s acknowledgment that cryptocurrencies require tailored rules rather than adaptations of existing ones.

Industry representatives have highlighted the lack of clear compliance guidelines and the conflicting interpretations of existing rules. They also point out the tendency to prioritize enforcement over guidance. The SEC’s 2025 agenda includes initiatives that align with many industry concerns.

Did you know? After the Mt. Gox exchange collapse in 2014, Japan became the first major economy to pass a dedicated crypto law in 2017. Japan officially recognized Bitcoin () as a legal payment method and encouraged exchanges to adopt bank-level security standards.

Major elements of the SEC’s 2025 plan

This comprehensive agenda outlines the key areas and initiatives the SEC will pursue to safeguard investors:

New rules for issuing and selling digital assets

The SEC intends to establish clear guidelines for the issuance of digital assets, which may include exemptions or safe harbor provisions for token projects. This would help determine when a token is considered a security, when it is not and what information issuers must provide. For startups, such clarity would reduce the uncertainty that surrounds token launches.

Permission for crypto trading on national securities exchanges

The SEC is considering changes that would allow digital assets to be traded directly on registered national exchanges and alternative trading systems. These potential amendments aim to bring crypto assets closer to the regulated infrastructure used for traditional stocks, improve surveillance, strengthen investor protections and reduce reliance on less regulated offshore platforms.

Simplified disclosure requirements

The plan aims to streamline and modernize disclosure and compliance obligations for publicly listed companies, including those involved with digital assets. This would reduce administrative burdens for both cryptocurrency-focused firms and traditional businesses and encourage broader adoption.

Clearer rules for crypto intermediaries

Broker-dealers, custodians and trading platforms have operated under uncertain regulatory requirements. The new agenda seeks to clarify how existing rules for securities intermediaries apply to cryptocurrency activities. This would allow more financial institutions, banks and fintech companies to offer crypto-related services with greater confidence.

Streamlining disclosures and reducing compliance burden

The SEC intends to propose a framework for streamlining disclosures. The agency’s primary role involves establishing disclosure standards designed to enhance clarity and mitigate investor risk. With the revised plan, the agency aims to reduce the compliance burden for public companies, particularly regarding shareholder proposals.

The following table provides a brief overview of the SEC’s revised 2025 plan:

The Bio Open Lab event will present teams launching new biotechnology projects, including Fox03 by VitaDAO and DogYears by DogYearsDAO. The introduction of new biotech ideas can bring more attention to Bio Protocol and VitaDAO. If these projects show real value or attract interest, the tokens could see positive movement. However, unless there is major partnership news or big investment announcements, the effect is likely to be limited. Traders should watch for follow-up news after the event to measure its impact. source

The Jup Lend AMA will let users learn about Solana’s leading money market with input from Fluid’s team. These interactive events often help explain new features or boost confidence in a project. If the session reveals strong growth or new partnerships for Jup Lend, the JUP token could benefit. However, if no major news is announced, the effect on price may be small. Still, good communication and growing ecosystem interest can slowly build positive trends over time. source

Orbs will be listed on LBank, letting more people easily trade the ORBS token. New exchange listings often create price moves, especially if the platform is large or brings in new users. While LBank is a well-known exchange, the long-term price effect depends on the trading volume and attention ORBS receives after the launch. Immediate price jumps are possible, but they can be short-lived if interest fades. This listing could make the token more accessible to global traders. source

Crypto market maker DWF Labs is launching a new $75 million DeFi-focused investment fund. The initiative will target projects building on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana, and Base, DWF Labs told The Block.

The move represents an expansion of DWF's existing — and sometimes controversial — "incubation and venture-building efforts," according to DWF co-founder and managing partner Andrei Grachev. In particular, DWF is looking to invest in the next wave of founders "solving real structural problems in liquidity, settlement, credit, and on-chain risk management, rather than incremental variations of existing protocols."

This includes tools like "dark pool" perp DEXs and onchain money market, fixed-income, or yield-bearing products, which are "poised for major growth as liquidity continues its structural migration on-chain."

The new fund is proprietary and is not immediately taking on new investors, according to Grachev.

"DeFi is entering its institutional phase," Grachev said. "We're seeing real demand for infrastructure that can handle size, protect order flow, and generate sustainable yield. This fund is designed to support founders who are building the systems that will define the next decade of open financial markets."

Active, though opaque

Grachev, formerly CEO of Huobi Russia, co-founded DWF Labs officially in 2022 as an extension of the Swiss high-frequency trading firm Digital Wave Finance. The company quickly rose to prominence as it began to deploy hundreds of millions across the crypto ecosystem, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, and support major OTC deals.

In 2023, Binance Research said DWF Labs was the most active crypto-focused venture firm between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023, having led 39 deals totaling $324 million. At the time, the firm counted over 700 blockchain projects in its portfolio, a number that has since grown to over 1,000, according to its website.

The firm’s opaque structure — including potential conflicts between its market-making and venture capital wings — has garnered scrutiny in the past. The Block previously reported the firm is not "a licensed financial institution in most jurisdictions and typically conducts its operations through entities based in the British Virgin Islands and Singapore." 

While a number of crypto market makers also maintain venture portfolios, the units are usually separated by a firewall to prevent conflicts of interest. DWF's many OTC deals have also drawn criticism, which have been seen as a way for token projects to sell their treasury holdings under the guise of a partnership or investment.

Asked about the relative size of the investment team compared to DWF Labs as a whole, Grachev said the firm operates as "a lean, global team with experts across trading, engineering, research, and investments." And asked about the success of previous investment funds, Grachev declined to specify performance numbers for individual deals due to confidentiality clauses.

Why now?

DWF's new fund comes amid a long period of waning crypto-related investments, at least compared to the height of VC activity during the pandemic-era bull market. According to The Block Research's data, crypto startup raises declined substantially in the first half of 2025, totaling just 856 deals as of August, compared to 1,933 in the same period last year.

Exclusive chart via The Block Pro showing quarterly crypto VC activity.

"The current market is the ideal time to support exceptional founders and accelerate the next wave of builders. Conditions are challenging, but this is exactly when the strongest builders emerge, and we want to be backing them now," Grachev said. Earlier this year, the firm launched a "Liquid Fund" to support mid-size and large-cap crypto firms. It has also previously introduced specialized crypto investment programs for verticals from decentralized AI to memecoins.

The new fund is flexible regarding project maturity, though the firm is targeting founders with at least a minimal viable product. And while Grachev thinks Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain are the most relevant, it could invest in other crypto ecosystems. Grachev noted the firm is looking to support tools that solve problems institutional traders face when trying to enter DeFi, like the lack of liquidity and privacy.

In particular, dark pools — privacy-preserving trading venues designed to anonymously match buy/sell orders without displaying quotes or order sizes, typically used by institutional or large traders — could be used to maintain "orderly markets," Grachev said. He previously supported the Black Ocean dark pool, which was pitched as a platform for trading in size without moving token prices on the open market.

"Most mature markets use some form of block liquidity to prevent large trades from causing undue market pressure or becoming targets for speculation. Crypto is gradually considering related tools as it scales," he added.

DWF's website notes its "services do not end with strictly market making and/or investment," and can extend from assisting with exchange listings and marketing to legal consultancy and bootstrapping liquidity. The firm reportedly provides spot and derivatives market-making services on 60 centralized and decentralized exchanges for tokens in and outside of its portfolio.

Grachev noted this multi-layer support is designed to give founders "an unfair advantage in a market where distribution and liquidity matter as much as product."

"DWF Labs views the coming cycle of DeFi growth as one defined by real utility rather than speculative hyperactivity," the company said. "As institutional liquidity steps into on-chain derivatives, credit markets begin to standardize, and yield products evolve toward more transparent, fixed-income-like structures, the firm believes that foundational infrastructure is still largely underbuilt."

In April, DWF said it was forging a strategic relationship with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto project, including investing $25 million in the WLFI governance token and launching liquidity support for World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin. That same month, the firm opened an office in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

ALT5 Sigma Corporation, the Nasdaq-listed fintech that morphed into a digital asset treasury (DAT) committed to accumulating World Liberty Financial tokens, has been dealing with significant internal turmoil alongside its stock's collapse, according to a new report from The Information published Wednesday.

The company's shares, ticker ALTS, are down about 80% since ALT5 Sigma pivoted to its DAT strategy in August, according to Yahoo Finance. 

In the weeks after announcing it had adopted a strategy of accumulating WLFI tokens — the governance token of the DeFi project World Liberty, which is backed by President Donald Trump and his sons Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron — ALT5 Sigma reportedly "warned staff it would likely face litigation and regulatory investigations" as several senior executives either quit or were fired, according to The Information.

It's unclear at the moment what type of regulatory investigations, if any, may be looming.

In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) had contacted multiple DATs with questions about irregular patterns of trading volume and share price movements. While ALT5 Sigma is not being accused of any wrongdoing, there's some evidence of unusual trading activity in its shares before the official announcement of the WLFI strategy on Aug. 11.

ALT5 Sigma didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for World Liberty told The Block: "As the USD1 ecosystem continues to grow, World Liberty Financial is excited about the future of our partnership with ALT5."

Both ALT5 Sigma's communications, both internal and public, have been somewhat irregular in recent months. The company alerted its staff in September that the company's CEO had been suspended, apparently without publicly disclosing the suspension until October, the report also said.

In another twist, The Information reports that a Rwandan court found ALT5 Sigma criminally liable for money laundering earlier this year. The conviction was apparently not disclosed to the company's board "at the time of the World Liberty deal," according to Wednesday's report.

Overall, the story paints a picture of a company experiencing intense turmoil since opting for its digital asset treasury strategy. In August, seeking to capitalize on a DAT boom that has since begun to fizzle, ALT5 Sigma announced plans to raise a whopping $1.5 billion to pursue its WLFI token treasury strategy.

Shareholder feels 'betrayed'

ALT5 Sigma said at the time of its crypto treasury launch that it would raise the money through a private placement of WLFI tokens contributed by World Liberty, in addition to capital from some of the "world’s largest institutional investors and prominent" crypto venture capital firms. ALT5 Sigma failed to name any potential investors. 

The DAT trend in general is beginning to face criticism for allegedly providing an off-ramp for large token holders looking to exit their positions without selling directly into the market. 

In Wednesday's story, one ALT5 Sigma investor explained his frustrations with what has become of the company. "I feel betrayed,” Los Angeles–based shareholder Matt Chipman said. “I hope it wasn’t just a money grab for the Trump family. This has been a nightmare scenario in the last three months."

Before becoming a WLFI treasury ALT5 Sigma described itself as a fintech providing blockchain-powered technology for tokenization, trading, clearing, settlement, payments, and safekeeping. The company was founded in 2018.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.