TRUMP, DOGE, BONK ETF approvals likely, but Cathie Wood won’t invest: Finance Redefined

The likelihood of the first memecoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is growing under new leadership at the US securities regulator, industry watchers told Cointelegraph.

Despite the increasing ETF likelihood paired with the massive rally following the launch of President Donald Trump’s Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin, ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood said she would not be investing in the token, with her focus remaining on the three largest cryptocurrencies.

TRUMP, DOGE, BONK ETF approvals “more likely” under new SEC leadership

The first wave of memecoin-based ETFs is gaining traction, partly due to new leadership at the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The crypto industry has seen an uptick in memecoin ETF filings following the launch of the Trump family’s memecoins, which have attracted significant retail attention.

The SEC received its first filings for TRUMP, Dogecoin (DOGE) and Bonk (BONK) ETFs, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 21.

The approval of memecoin-based ETFs is more likely under new SEC acting Chair Mark Uyeda, according to Dmitrij Radin, the founder of Zekret and chief technology officer of Fideum crypto regulatory and infrastructure firm.

“The approval of TRUMP, BONK, and DOGE ETFs is more likely now with Trump’s new crypto-friendly SEC picks,” he told Cointelegraph. “It’s a bold move, potentially bringing more liquidity and mainstream acceptance to memecoins.”

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Cathie Wood won’t invest in Trump coin, will stick to the “big three”

Wood, CEO and chief investment officer of ARK Invest, said Trump is ushering in the next phase of the crypto revolution.

In a Jan. 22 interview with Bloomberg, Wood discussed Trump’s token, launched just before his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States: 

“[TRUMP] Isn’t going to have any utility […] there is speculation that […] you’ll get to meet President Trump as one of the utilities of owning this coin. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but so far, we don’t know of much utility for this coin, except that it is a memecoin of President Trump himself.”

She compared the current memecoin wave to the 2017 initial coin offering movement.

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Trump family may build “giant businesses” on Ethereum — Lubin

The Trump family may expand its involvement in the cryptocurrency industry by launching an Ethereum-based business.

This speculation followed the release of several Trump-branded memecoins and Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th US president on Jan. 20.

Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Consensys, hinted at this development in a Jan. 21 post on X.

“Based on what I am aware of, the Trump family will build one or more giant businesses on Ethereum,” Lubin wrote. “The Trump administration will do what is good for the USA, and that will involve ETH.”

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US court overturns Tornado Cash sanctions in pivotal case for crypto

A US court overturned the sanctions against the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixing protocol in a decision that could signal a significant shift toward more innovation-friendly regulations for privacy-preserving technologies.

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) originally sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022, accusing it of facilitating money laundering by the North Korean Lazarus Group. The group allegedly laundered over $455 million in stolen digital assets through the protocol.

The sanctions led to the arrest of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, who was found guilty of money laundering by Dutch judges at the s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal on May 14, 2024. Pertsev was sentenced to five years and four months in prison for laundering $1.2 billion in illicit assets through the platform.

In a significant development, the US District Court for the Western District of Texas has reversed the OFAC sanctions, according to a Jan. 21 court filing. The court ruled:

“It is ordered and adjudged that the judgment of the district court is reversed, and the cause is remanded to the district court for further proceedings in accordance with the opinion of this court.”

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Phemex halts withdrawals amid $29 million of “suspicious” outflows

Phemex crypto exchange halted withdrawals after being alerted to nearly $30 million worth of suspicious outflows that raised alarms among blockchain security firms.

Phemex saw over $29 million worth of crypto transfers across multiple blockchains, including BNB (BNB), Polygon (MATIC), Arbitrum (ARB) and Base (BASE), according to onchain security firm Cyvers.

The outflows pointed to “suspicious transactions” involving Phemex hot wallets, Cyvers stated in a Jan. 23 X post:

“Over $29 million worth of digital assets have been transferred by suspicious addresses. These addresses have already begun swapping assets to $ETH.”

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DeFi market overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.

Of the top 100, the Official Trump (TRUMP) token rose over 429% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by the Raydium (RAY) token, up over 38% on the weekly chart.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.

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