U.S. Vice President JD Vance doubled down on the Trump administration’s deregulatory stance toward the crypto sector in remarks at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

During his speech, Vance reaffirmed the administration’s opposition to former United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler’s regulation-by-enforcement approach to cryptocurrencies.

“We reject regulators,” Vance said. “We fired Gary Gensler, and we’re going to fire everybody like him.”

The former Senator from Ohio further claimed that the Trump administration is committed to cleaning up the “wreckage” from former U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, which saw extensive guardrails placed on the blockchain sector.

“We prioritize eliminating the rules, the red tape, and the lawfare that we saw aimed at our crypto by our predecessors,” Vance said. “We’re ending the weaponization of federal regulations against this community. To put it simply, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is dead, and it is not coming back under the Trump administration.”

“With President Trump, crypto finally has a champion and an ally in the White House,” he added.

Trump’s Crypto Ties Face Scrutiny

Vance’s comments come just days after Trump hosted an exclusive dinner for the top 220 investors of his namesake memecoin at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C.

Critics of the event argue that the gala may have violated key presidential ethics provisions, citing concerns over potential foreign influences’ ability to purchase the cryptocurrency.

In a May 14 letter, three key Democratic members of the House of Representatives urged U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to unseal suspicious activity reports (SARs) into “politically oriented” Trump-affiliated ventures.

“Because the identities of the coin purchasers need not be publicly disclosed, there is no way to tell who is buying the coin, potentially allowing bad actors, including authoritarian governments and companies they control, to enrich the Trump family,” the House members said of $TRUMP.

The U.S. lawmakers have asked the requested SARs to be returned by May 30, though it remains unclear how Bessent will proceed.

South Korea’s Financial Post reported that the Democratic Party, the National Assembly’s biggest party, is currently “considering” issuing a manifesto promise to ditch existing fiat on/off banking rules.

Crypto Exchange Deregulation Now Inevitable, Sources Claim

The current banking rules require domestic fiat-trading crypto exchanges to partner with a bank that must provide platforms with customer banking services via dedicated crypto wallet-linked bank accounts.

In late April, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) unveiled a host of crypto promises, including a pledge to do away with the rule.

If the DP does indeed follow suit, this could mean the end of the era of exclusive banking deals. Instead, exchanges would be free to strike deals with multiple banks.

And that could potentially spell trouble for K Bank, whose partnership with the market-leading exchange Upbit has led to exponential growth for both parties.

However, the media outlet wrote that the banking sector is now set to “undergo surgery” as “voices urging deregulation grow louder ahead of the presidential election.”

Frontrunner Mulls Manifesto Pledge

The media outlet claimed that the campaign team of the DP candidate and presidential frontrunner Lee Jae-myung is “strongly considering” making a near-identical pledge.

That would all result in K Bank “taking a direct hit,” the outlet continued. Critics have previously claimed that K Bank’s “dependence” on its Upbit-related business could derail its long-running bid to go public.

K Bank has been Upbit’s exclusive banking partner since mid-2020. Trades on Upbit account for almost 68% of the current total of the domestic South Korean market.

South Korea is set to go to the polls on June 3 after the Constitutional Court ruled to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol earlier this year. Lee leads in most polls by a margin of about 20%.

The DP has responded to the PPP’s bid to woo younger voters with crypto-friendly policies with its own crypto pledges.

The party launched a Digital Asset Committee on May 13, headed by the pro-industry lawmaker Min Byoung-dug.

Min has previously called for tax parity between South Korean stock traders and crypto investors. He has also urged Seoul to green-light Bitcoin spot ETFs.

Regulators on Board With Deregulation Plans?

Regulators are also hinting that they could be prepared to soften their hardline stance on the crypto sector.

The same media outlet wrote that the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is now “looking into conditional deregulation measures.”

The FSC Chairman Kim Byung-hwan told reporters at a recent press conference:

“Since the existing banking rules were introduced to reduce the risk of money laundering, we will need to check to see if banks and exchanges have the systems in place that let them manage all related risks. We will conduct a comprehensive review. And after that, we will decide whether or not we need to improve the current system.”

An unnamed financial industry executive told the media outlet:

“Since there are so many voices calling for deregulation, we will have no choice but to go in that direction. But we need to gradually ease regulations, while ensuring we make up for any shortcomings.”

The post South Korean Crypto Exchange Deregulation Plans Set to Rock Banking Sector appeared first on Cryptonews.

European financial regulators are warning that rising crypto-asset valuations, driven by expectations of US deregulation under President Donald Trump, could pose a growing threat to global financial stability.

The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) raised the alarm in its Spring 2025 risk update, highlighting the destabilizing impact of geopolitical fragmentation, US policy uncertainty, and digital asset market volatility.

The committee includes the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).

The report noted that “recent record high crypto valuations and volatility in the context of increasing interconnections to traditional financial markets” present a growing challenge to financial stability.

While it did not mention President Donald Trump by name, the ESAs explicitly tied the surge in crypto prices to political expectations.

According to the report:

“Crypto: Volatile crypto-asset valuations, driven by expectations of US deregulatory policy agenda; increasing interconnections to traditional financial markets.”

Deepening exposure to volatility

According to the ESAs, 77% of EU equity fund flows (excluding ETFs) over the past five years were directed to US equity holdings, illustrating the bloc’s heavy exposure to American markets.

Insurers and pension funds also maintain significant allocations outside the European Economic Area, with 6% to 17% of their assets concentrated in the US, depending on the sector. This rising cross-border exposure comes amid elevated market valuations and growing leverage in alternative investment funds.

The report warned that these conditions, paired with crypto speculation, could create “risks of shocks to funds with a liquidity mismatch.” The regulators emphasized the risk of disproportionate market reactions given the macro backdrop.

The report stated:

“Risk of disproportionate reactions to surprises given recent record high US stock valuations and historically low EU corporate bond spreads.”

It further suggested that volatility triggered by policy surprises could have outsized ripple effects across asset classes.

Fragmented oversight, systemic vulnerabilities

The Joint Committee warned that growing divergence between jurisdictions, particularly if major economies ease regulations while others tighten, could further erode financial coordination.

The report also spotlighted the dual threat of AI adoption and cyber risk, which are both escalating in the financial sector. The ESAs warned that the realignment of geopolitical relations “could further heighten cyber risks in the EU.”

The ESAs called on financial institutions to incorporate crypto-related risks into their scenario analysis and to stay alert to policy-driven market shifts. The report advised institutions to “be ready for risks” and emphasized the need for adequate provisioning, recovery plans, and strengthened risk frameworks.

While the EU has moved forward with its own regulatory regime for crypto through the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, officials are increasingly concerned that a deregulatory push in the US could undermine those efforts and create arbitrage opportunities that destabilize markets.

The ESAs concluded that vigilance is critical as the crypto sector grows in size and influence and warned that the market could potentially face heightened volatility if the geopolitical uncertainty persists.

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