From the SEC’s comments on liquid staking to the CFTC spotlighting spot crypto trading on registered exchanges and Trump’s rate cut call, Web3 was busy talking about government affairs this week.
And what would a week be without some AI talk?
SEC comments on liquid staking
“Liquid staking refers to the process of staking crypto assets through a software protocol or service provider and receiving a ‘liquid staking receipt token’ to evidence the staker’s ownership of the staked crypto assets and any rewards that accrue to them. The statement clarifies the division’s view that, depending on the facts and circumstances, the liquid staking activities covered in the statement do not involve the offer and sale of securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 or Section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
“Under my leadership, the SEC is committed to providing clear guidance on the application of the federal securities laws to emerging technologies and financial activities,” Chairman Paul S. Atkins said. “Today’s staff statement on liquid staking is a significant step forward in clarifying the staff’s view about crypto asset activities that do not fall within the SEC’s jurisdiction. I am pleased that the SEC’s Project Crypto initiative is already producing results for the American people.”
– SEC statement dated Aug. 5
“From what they’re saying, if you’re running a protocol that’s basically just handing someone a one-to-one receipt for their staked tokens, and you’re not promising magic returns or secretly pulling the strings, they don’t see that as selling a security. This guidance provides a welcome legal nod for liquid staking, and by extension, restaking models like ours at Puffer. We began as a native Liquid Restaking Protocol (nLRP) built on the innovative EigenLayer, offering a dynamic staking platform for Ethereum users. When users stake their Ether (ETH) with us, they are doing more than just securing the Ethereum network, they’re also earning attractive yields and rewards. Our platform welcomes all stakers, with no minimum amount required, ensuring everyone can participate in Ethereum’s growth.
“This statement from the SEC opens the door for more people to actually use liquid staking, in that the recognition that these activities can occur without being labeled securities builds confidence. But manufacturers of derivative frameworks still need to ensure their structures match the SEC’s assumptions: no discretionary control, no guaranteed returns, and purely agent-based operation. If future products layer in yield mechanics, active management decisions, or bundled rewards, they may fall outside this comfort zone. That means new modular products, DeFi protocols, or tokenized overlays must be carefully architected to remain compliant.”
– Amir Forouzani, co-founder of Puffer Labs
CFTC greenlighting spot crypto trading on registered exchanges
“This CFTC decision is a real shift. Spot crypto contracts on regulated futures exchanges is an infrastructure-level change.
“At LIKWID, we’re building unified DeFi on top of Uniswap v4, and honestly, half the battle has been the regulatory fog. This move, along with the GENIUS Act and Project Crypto, starts clearing that up. For the first time, there’s a pathway for spot assets to live in a legally sound, composable stack.
“That’s huge for builders like us. It’s not just about DeFi getting a green light, it’s about plugging into a financial system that finally recognizes smart contracts as legitimate rails. We’ve been waiting for this kind of signal. Feels like the tide’s turning.”
– Sky, founder of LIKWID, a DeFi protocol unifying DEX and lending on Uniswap V4
“It’s easy to get jaded with U.S. regulators, but this CFTC approval actually feels like progress. Spot crypto trading on futures exchanges is a strong signal that they’re finally starting to treat digital assets like grown-up markets.
“At Superp, we’ve spent years building toward compliant, composable on-chain finance, and this gives us way more room to operate without second-guessing every product decision. Pair that with the GENIUS Act, and for the first time in a while, there’s real alignment between policy and innovation. It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than limbo.”
– Michael Cameron, co-founder of Superp (formerly Vanilla Finance)
“The CFTC greenlighting spot crypto trading on registered exchanges is a major step toward regulatory clarity in the U.S. and a signal that digital assets are maturing into a legitimate asset class. It opens the door for more institutional participation, better price discovery, and improved consumer protections – all without stifling innovation.
“For teams like ours building Bitcoin-backed stablecoin infrastructure, it reinforces the need for compliance-first design and offers a clear path for integrating real-world liquidity with on-chain assets.”
– Sid Sridhar, founder and CEO of BIMA, a DeFi ecosystem focused on Bitcoin-backed stablecoins and yield strategies
Project Crypto
“Seeing the SEC pivot under Paul Atkins is surprising in a good way. For once, it feels like they’re not just looking to play whack-a-mole with projects; they’re actually trying to build a rulebook that makes sense.
“Project Crypto is a solid first step. Defining what’s a security versus a commodity is long overdue, and if they really let both trade on regulated platforms? That’s massive.
“At IOST, we’re focused on ultra-high TPS infrastructure, and we’ve always believed scalability only matters if the legal rails can support real-world volume. If this is the new tone from the SEC, then yeah, maybe there’s finally a path for U.S.-based blockchains to scale without a target on their back.”
– Blake Jeong, co-CEO of IOST — building RWA-native blockchain infrastructure
“The SEC’s Project Crypto is a welcome — though long overdue — shift in tone. It reflects a growing recognition within U.S. institutions that crypto isn’t just a fringe asset class, but a foundational layer in the next global financial system. From my perspective, this isn’t just a regulatory adjustment — it’s a defensive move in the larger game of preserving U.S. financial hegemony.
“In 2018, I wrote that if the U.S. didn’t engage constructively with crypto, it would risk falling behind in what Ray Dalio would call a regime shift — a transition from one dominant reserve system to another.
“We are living through one of those shifts now. Bitcoin, as a non-state actor-created currency, represents not only a challenge to sovereign monetary policy but a new form of territory — digital, borderless, and programmable.
“By delaying constructive engagement, the U.S. has ceded momentum to other jurisdictions. But with Project Crypto, there is at least acknowledgment that crypto rails will be part of future capital markets, whether they like it or not.
“To frame this in Dalio’s terms: every declining empire is eventually forced to confront the erosion of its reserve currency status. The U.S. dollar’s dominance has always been underpinned by control over the financial system’s rules and rails.
“Crypto introduces new rails, new rules, and the potential for a post-dollar settlement layer. The question isn’t whether this will happen — it’s how quickly. If Project Crypto leads to thoughtful regulatory frameworks, it may slow that erosion. But unless the U.S. actively embraces this new financial infrastructure — not just supervises it — it risks becoming a spectator in a game it once controlled.”
– Dylan Dewdney, co-founder and CEO of Kuvi.ai, the platform pioneering Agentic Finance
“It’s about time the SEC is taking these steps. For years, the crypto industry has operated in regulatory purgatory while other nations like Singapore, Switzerland, and the UAE built clear frameworks that attracted innovation and capital. The US was in danger of becoming a regulatory backwater in the most important technological and financial transformation since the internet. Project Crypto signals that America is finally ready to compete for the future rather than regulate it away.
“We’re moving toward a world where traditional securities, tokenized assets, and decentralized protocols coexist in a unified financial ecosystem. Project Crypto creates the foundation for this convergence, enabling everything from tokenized real estate to decentralized venture capital funds to operate with regulatory certainty.
“The timing is particularly important as the intersection of crypto and AI creates entirely new asset classes – Individual Language Models that generate revenue, AI agents that own and trade assets, and knowledge-as-a-service marketplaces that operate across borders. These innovations require regulatory frameworks that understand both digital assets and artificial intelligence. Project Crypto positions the US to lead in this convergence rather than watch it happen elsewhere.”
– Syed Hussain, founder and CEO of SHIZA (Shared Human Intellect Zonal Agents)
Trump calls for up to 3% rate cut
“The US President is coming down on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, insisting that they are at least 3% too high as he calls for swift action. However, if we look back in history, rapid, radical changes to interest rates have rarely been positive.
“This includes 2001-2003 when then Fed Chair Alan Greenspan slashed rates from 6% to 1% to deal with the dot.com bubble, Japan’s economic meltdown and 9/11, which created an appetite for cheap mortgages that led directly to the great financial crisis of 2008.
“Now, even more than then, a cut in US interest rates would unlock an enormous amount of pent-up demand in borrowing, especially in the housing market, where lower borrowing costs would release a very tight supply. As Chairman Powell fears, this could push an already heated economy over the edge.
“The US could enter a massive inflationary period that may hurt investment assets and light up the ‘animal spirits’ of investors hungry for returns. Subsequently, crypto could become increasingly attractive due to its high potential returns. However, like the mortgage meltdown created by Greenspan’s cuts, it may also become the victim when such a bubble bursts.”
– Mike DeMelo, head of DeFi Real World Asset (RWA) borrowing and lending ecosystem RAAC
“Trump saying rates are at least 3% too high isn’t surprising anymore. The Fed is holding rates high while inflation’s mostly cooled, and meanwhile, credit’s freezing up, and small businesses are choking.
Tensions between the President and Jerome Powell are boiling again, with Trump demanding cuts, basically calling the Fed incompetent, and now the new tariffs kick in this week, which only makes things messier, exacerbating inflation pressure and resulting in more reasons for Powell to not cut.”
– Joe Z, co-founder of DeAgentAI, the AI-powered predictive signal platform
How AI transforms ordinary workflows
“There’s a persistent myth that generative AI just predicts the next word. That’s an oversimplification. The best systems integrate reasoning, pattern recognition, and external context to generate useful, even strategic output.
“What matters most is that AI is freeing us to focus on deeper, creative, and more strategic work. These tools can augment us. I think that’s the true story behind these tools.”
– Chike Agbai, CEO, Azumo
“AI is not just doing fancy predictions anymore, it’s actually doing the grunt work, like auto-moderating a chaotic DAO vote channel in real time, token-gating, airdrops. People are using AI to write governance proposals, summarize tokenomics docs, even to manage contributor payouts without the spreadsheet headache. Now, AI is quietly running the back office.
I’ll give you some examples of AI in action. Cherry Sniper, our trading bot, has quickly become a standout success, recently reaching 10,000 active users. It’s the first bot on Telegram to offer two distinct trading modes: Sniper and Stealth. Sniper mode is all about speed and execution, giving traders lightning-fast entry tools, anti-rug protections, and gas optimization features.
“Stealth mode, on the other hand, prioritizes privacy and security, operating non-custodially so users retain full control of their funds at all times. Whether users are chasing fast entries or value privacy over speed, Cherry Sniper brings serious flexibility to Telegram-native trading.”
– Mohammad Ali Nasir, CEO of Cherry AI, a Web3 infrastructure layer built natively for Telegram