Robinhood Chain surge boosts ETH price
The successful launch of the layer-2 network Robinhood Chain has boosted investor sentiment around Ethereum. The newly launched blockchain uses ETH as its native gas token and around $141 million in ETH has already been bridged to the chain.
More than half a million wallets holding ETH are now on the network, which surged past the Ethereum L1 and rival L2 Base over the past 24 hours, with DEX volumes of $877.56 million. The L2 is an offshoot of TradFi trading platform Robinhood, which offers tokenized stocks to customers in 120 countries, further strengthening the EVM-compatible ecosystem.
L2s have been seen by many pundits as bearish for Ethereum as they take activity away from the L1 without returning much in the way of transaction fees. However even some former ETH bears are now reassessing that thesis. Influencer Ansem wrote:
“lighter and robinhood L2s are sneakily best setup for an eth bull thesis in a very long time.”
Mike Dudas from 6th Man Ventures added that “robinhood chain is the single most bullish thing i’ve seen in eth-land in years.”
Robinhood surges in 24 hour DEX volume (DeFi Llama)
Ethereum is also getting a boost from its 47% market share of Real World Assets, according to Rwa.xyz data. Leon Waidmann, head of Research at Lisk, noted the Total Value Locked (TVL) on Ethereum of $260 billion has surpassed the $210 billion market cap of Ether. Waidmann said this distortion signals that “ETH is underpriced,” as the current relative valuation is lower than in the 2022 bear market.
UK politicians mull permanent crypto donation ban in wake of Nigel Farage scandal
Members of the UK’s ruling Labour party are considering a total ban on digital asset donations in response to Nigel Farage’s resignation from Parliament and the potential influence crypto billionaires had on his policies.
The Guardian reported Thursday that Labour MPs have proposed that a moratorium on crypto donations enacted in March be made permanent after it was revealed that the Reform leader personally accepted millions of British pounds in what he called “gifts” from industry figures.
Farage sensationally resigned from Parliament last week in an attempt to get ahead of an investigation into the donations by the UK’s parliamentary standards commissioner.
“Let me be absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong,” said Farage in an X livestream. “I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money.”
The major parties are refusing to field candidates against him in the upcoming by-election, with his most formidable political opponent the comedy character Count Binface, who has received support from Reform’s critics.
US Bitcoin reserve hits snag as federal agencies debate for control: Bloomberg
The Trump administration’s push to establish a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has reportedly hit a roadblock, as the Commerce and Treasury departments are at odds over how the reserve should be structured and which agency should have primary oversight of the holdings.
US President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order called for the SBR to be housed inside the Treasury Department, while other agencies would assist with asset seizures to build the reserve.
However, concerns have emerged over whether the Treasury has the legal authority to manage the Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, partly because of its volatility, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Commerce Department has emerged as a contender to oversee the reserve, the sources said. The Department of Justice is also reportedly working with the departments to determine legally available options, they added.
Wyden urges Senate leaders to keep dev protections in crypto bill
US Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has urged Senate leaders to ensure that crypto developer protections stay in the crypto market structure legislation.
Wyden told Senate Minority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer in a letter to preserve a section of the CLARITY Act known as the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA).
“Developers who make and release software that allows people to manage their own digital assets — and, critically, where the developer does not control user assets — should not be treated as money transmitters solely because they create or publish software,” Wyden wrote.
The letter comes after certain groups and lawmakers opposed the BRCA. A group of law enforcement organizations and a coalition of Catholic organizations last month argued it could create gaps in the oversight of illicit activity.
Senate leaders are pushing for the bill to be passed this month.
Trump says he became ‘a big crypto guy’ partly for politics
US President Donald Trump says he got involved in crypto “for politics” and became pro-crypto after seeing how much money the industry was making.
At a press conference in the Oval Office on Monday to announce…
cointelegraph.com