JH Kim

According to CNN on the 7th (local time), Donald Trump, the President of the United States, is expected to sign an executive order that would impose fines on financial institutions involved in debanking (restrictions on access to banking services). In the past, frequent cases of debanking among virtual asset (cryptocurrency) companies have been reported. During the Biden administration, suspicions were raised that 'Operation Chokepoint 2.0' (a policy to pressure the virtual asset industry by blocking access to banks) was implemented.

According to The Block, a crypto-specialized media outlet, on the 7th (local time), Euphoria, a digital asset derivatives trading app based on MegaETH, has raised $7.5 million in seed funding. Over 100 entities participated in this funding round, including Karatage, Pigment Capital, and Robot Ventures. Euphoria plans to launch the Tap Trading service on the MegaETH mainnet by the end of this year.

On the 7th (local time), The Telegraph, citing the New York Post, reported that U.S. President Donald Trump set the condition that Russian President Vladimir Putin must first meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in order for talks with Putin to proceed. On this day, a White House official stated, "For President Trump’s meeting with President Putin to take place, President Putin must meet with President Zelensky," and added, "The location has not yet been determined." Previously, the Kremlin announced that President Trump and President Putin could meet "within a few days," and President Putin proposed the United Arab Emirates as the venue for the talks. However, President Putin expressed a negative stance on the possibility of direct dialogue with President Zelensky. He said, "In principle, it is possible, but certain conditions must first be met," adding, "Unfortunately, we are still far from meeting the necessary conditions."

The three major U.S. stock indices are showing mixed movements. As of 12:03 a.m. on the 8th, the Nasdaq Composite Index is trading at 21,287.15 points, up 0.56% from the previous day. The Dow Jones Index is down 0.49% at 43,977.19 points, while the S&P 500 Index is up 0.03% at 6,347.16 points.

All three major U.S. stock indices finished higher. On the 7th, the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 21,169.42 points, up 1.21% from the previous day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 44,193.43 points, up 0.19%, and the S&P 500 Index finished at 6,344.78 points, up 0.72%.

It has been reported that Donald Trump, President of the United States, is planning to arrange a meeting as early as next week between Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, and Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine. On the 6th (local time), The New York Times (NYT), citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, reported that "President Trump is scheduled to meet President Putin as early as next week in person, and immediately afterward, a meeting between Putin and Zelensky is planned." The NYT also reported, "President Trump directly revealed these plans during phone calls with several European leaders on that day," and added, "Only three individuals will attend the meeting, and no European representatives will be present." However, it has not yet been confirmed whether President Putin and President Zelensky have agreed to the proposal.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on the 6th (local time) that the meeting in Moscow between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin was "very productive," and that there was "significant progress." President Trump stated in a post on the social media platform 'Truth Social' that he shared details of the meeting with several European allies, but did not disclose specifics about the progress made. U.S. media reported that President Trump also spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the same day. President Trump added, "Everyone wants the war to end, and we will work towards that over the next days or weeks."

The three major U.S. stock indices are on the rise. As of 12:17 a.m. on the 7th, the Nasdaq Composite Index is trading at 21,056.65 points, up 0.67% from the previous day. The Dow Jones Index has risen 0.20% to 44,198.38 points, and the S&P 500 Index is up 0.49% at 6,330.18 points.

The three major U.S. stock indices closed lower. On the 6th, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.65% from the previous day to close at 20,916.55 points. The Dow Jones Index dropped 0.14% to 44,111.74 points, while the S&P 500 ended the session 0.40% lower at 6,304.58 points.

According to The Block, a media outlet specializing in virtual assets (cryptocurrencies), on the 5th (local time), Hester Peirce, a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), emphasized the importance of financial privacy and argued that the government should actively protect citizens' rights to privacy. Commissioner Peirce, in a speech at 'The Science of Blockchain Conference' hosted by Stanford University, said, "The government should passionately defend the people's right to lead private lives and also protect the technologies that make this possible." She said, "Fears regarding financial privacy and its enabling technologies often stem from genuine intentions to protect the state from criminals and adversaries," and criticized, "While it's important to safeguard the nation, communities, and families, undermining financial privacy and impeding disintermediation technologies is a misguided approach." She further added, "Governments should embrace self-custody technologies and privacy-enhancing technologies that allow people to hold assets directly."

According to economic news account Walter Bloomberg on the 5th (local time), Brian Moynihan, CEO of BofA, stated, "Our economists expect that it will take more time for inflation to come down, and consequently, the US central bank, the Fed, is not expected to lower rates within this year." Moynihan added, "The Fed is likely to start cutting rates only next year."

According to Reuters on the 5th (local time), the Trump administration will officially abolish the 'Weekly 5-Outcome Email Reporting' program introduced last February under Elon Musk, who was then head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). At the time, Musk implemented a system requiring federal employees to summarize five work outcomes each week and submit them via email. He showed strong determination by warning that failure to respond to the email would be considered a 'resignation.' Although this policy was part of the Trump administration’s broader reform plans, targeting federal budget cuts and workforce reductions, it is now set to be halted due to discord between Trump and Musk. Citing several sources, the media outlet reported that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) plans to soon notify federal HR officers that 'Weekly 5-Outcome Report' emails will no longer be collected. The policy faced confusion from the onset. Just two days after its launch, the OPM informed HR officers in each department that participation in the program was 'voluntary' and that non-participation would not be deemed a resignation. As a result, multiple agencies, including the Department of State, instructed staff not to respond to Musk’s emails, with some entirely discontinuing reports or only accepting them in a formal sense—leading to inconsistent implementation.

On the 5th (local time), crypto-specialized media outlet CoinDesk reported that US neobank Slash has launched a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. This stablecoin is intended to support global business-to-business (B2B) payments, and the payment infrastructure utilizes the Stripe bridge.

U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Russian economy as "terrible" and argued that if international oil prices fall further, it would deal a fatal blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's ability to wage war. On the 5th (local time), President Trump said in a CNBC 'Squawk Box' interview, "If international oil prices drop another $10 per barrel, Putin will have no choice but to stop killing people," adding, "The Russian economy is a mess." The United States and Russia maintained friendly relations until the early period of Trump’s second term, but recently, relations between the two countries have rapidly cooled. This is due to Russia’s uncooperative attitude toward signing a ceasefire and peace agreement with Ukraine. Last week, President Trump informed President Putin that he would shorten the deadline for reaching a peace agreement with Ukraine from the previous ‘50 days’ to ‘within 2 weeks,’ and warned that if this was not implemented, ‘second-round sanction tariffs’ would be imposed on Russia’s trading partners.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on the 5th (local time) that certain Liquid Staking activities may not constitute 'security issuance or sale' under federal securities laws. The SEC defined liquid staking as depositing virtual assets (cryptocurrency) with a protocol or service provider and receiving “liquid staking receipt tokens” to prove both the deposited assets and the rights to rewards. SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins stated, “Our goal is to clarify the application of securities laws to emerging technologies and financial activities,” adding, “It is encouraging that the SEC’s ‘Project Crypto’ initiative is producing tangible results.”

On the 5th (local time), economic news account Walter Bloomberg reported that the Kremlin in Russia is reviewing an 'air truce' with Ukraine as one of the concessions that could be presented to U.S. President Donald Trump. This plan is being mentioned as a diplomatic card to avoid the secondary sanctions threatened by Washington. The proposal is likely to include measures to limit or completely halt aerial operations within the conflict areas of Ukraine. This may be interpreted as a signal that Russia is adjusting its approach to the conflict, seemingly aiming to mitigate the economic and diplomatic impact of further U.S. sanctions.