Predicting Escalation of Market Regulation Jurisdiction Battle, CFTC Sues Wisconsin for Asserting Its 'Exclusive Jurisdiction'

On April 29, Bitcoin lending protocol Tropykus announced it will begin a phased shutdown of its current version. Deposit and lending services will be permanently disabled, though users may still withdraw funds and repay outstanding loans. The process has a deadline of July 27, 2026—after which all related operations will only be supported via direct interaction with smart contracts. In an official statement, the team cited long-term strategic considerations for the move. Faced with security risks from emerging tech like artificial intelligence, the existing architecture no longer meets long-term development needs. The team advises all users to withdraw their funds and close out their loan positions before the deadline.

April 29 — U.S. officials said President Trump has directed his aides to prepare for a long-term blockade of Iran, aimed at cutting off the regime’s funding sources and forcing Tehran to make nuclear concessions through aggressive measures. In recent White House Situation Room discussions, Trump has opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports, maintaining blockades on ships entering and leaving Iranian ports. He has assessed that options like resuming airstrikes or withdrawing from the conflict carry higher risk than keeping the blockade in place.

April 29 — Rebase protocol Puffer Finance has contributed treasury funds to the Aave-led DeFi United ecosystem rescue mission, with no specific amount disclosed. Puffer stresses that robust infrastructure and consistent incentive mechanisms are key to supporting DeFi in critical moments.

April 29: PeckShield monitoring shows a user’s Alchemix Yearn yvVault position (yvWETH token) was exploited, with estimated losses of ~$1 million. The victim had previously approved an unverified contract (address: 0x143a) — deployed 10 days prior — that contained an arbitrary call vulnerability attackers could exploit. The attacker leveraged this flaw to siphon the victim’s yvVault position.

April 29 – U.S. Treasury Secretary Benson announced the Treasury Department, through Operation "Economic Fury," has targeted Iran’s international shadow banking infrastructure, cryptocurrency access points, shadow fleet, weapons procurement network, and funding for regional terrorist proxies. These actions have disrupted the multi-billion-dollar revenue earmarked for terrorism. Under the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign, Tehran’s inflation has doubled and its currency has depreciated rapidly. Iran’s key oil export terminal at Kharg Island is nearing storage capacity, forcing production cuts—resulting in an additional $170 million in daily revenue losses and permanent damage to its oil infrastructure. The U.S. Treasury Department will continue applying maximum pressure: any individual, vessel, or entity aiding the illicit flow of funds to Tehran faces U.S. sanctions risk.

April 29 — JPMorgan Chase has named former Goldman Sachs executive Oliver Harris to lead its blockchain division Kinexys. Harris will focus on commercializing Kinexys applications and deepening collaboration with institutional clients. Prior to this appointment, Harris served as CEO of Arda Global, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs’ Americas Digital Assets division, and spent six years at JPMorgan leading development of the Quorum blockchain platform. Launched in 2019, the Kinexys blockchain payment network processed $5 billion in daily transactions as of December last year. In November last year, JPMorgan began offering institutional clients its stablecoin JPM Coin to facilitate fund transfers using the Base blockchain.