The Solana Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to collaborate on talent development, economic data sharing, and founder workshops. This partnership aims to support the growth of the Solana Economic Zone in Dubai, fostering innovation and building a strong blockchain ecosystem. Together, they plan to nurture local talent and provide resources to accelerate Solana-based projects in the region.
Since its launch in late March, World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin USD1 has achieved an impressive market capitalization, reflecting strong investor interest. If the creators want to maximize USD1’s reach by accessing markets abroad, particularly in Europe, they must confront MiCA’s extensive compliance list.
In a BeInCrypto interview, experts from Foresight Ventures, Kaiko, and Brickken stressed the importance of stablecoin issuers having substantial European bank reserves, operational volume caps protecting the euro, and transparent USD1 information to ensure transparency and avoid conflicts of interest.
USD1’s Search for Dollar Dominance
World Liberty Financial (WLF), a decentralized finance (DeFi) project heavily associated with the Trump family, officially launched USD1 a month ago. Through this stablecoin, WLF aims to promote dollar dominance worldwide.
So far, this initiative has been working well for WLF. According to CoinGecko, USD1 has now surpassed a market capitalization of $128 million and reached a 24-hour trading volume of nearly $41.6 million. The project has already released 100% of its total supply of 127,971,165 tokens.
USD1’s market capitalization over the past 24 hours. Source: CoinGecko.
For WLF to seriously establish dollar dominance across the globe, it will have to move fast and efficiently. This urgency stems from the need to surpass its main competitors, USDT and USDC. These rivals currently hold a massive market share advantage.
Additionally, there’s a need to maintain a competitive advantage against established currencies like the euro.
USD1 needs to access foreign markets and stand out from established competitors to achieve this. Should Europe become a primary target, USD1 must prepare to tackle numerous challenges head-on.
The EU’s Stringent Compliance Demands
The European Union (EU) became the first jurisdiction in the world to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets across its 27 member states. This regulation, known as Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), has been in effect for nearly four months. Through this legislation, the EU has confirmed how seriously it takes compliance with a defined regulatory regime.
The regulation is detailed and clear, leaving no room for interpretation. If USD1 wants to operate in this crypto market of 31 million users, it must ensure it meets every demand.
US Senators Flag Risks of Presidential Involvement in USD1
In the letter, the group asked both agencies to clarify how they plan to uphold regulatory integrity following the issuance of USD1.
The Senators cautioned that letting a president personally benefit from a digital currency overseen by federal agencies he has sway over is a big risk to the financial system. They argued that an unprecedented situation like this one could hurt people’s trust in how regulations are made.
“The launch of a stablecoin directly tied to a sitting President who stands to benefit financially from the stablecoin’s success presents unprecedented risks to our financial system,” they argued.
The letter further detailed situations where Trump could directly or indirectly affect decisions regarding USD1.
As things stand, USD1 isn’t well-prepared to follow MiCA’s strict reporting and transparency rules.
How Do Concerns Over USD1 Impact MiCA Acquisition?
According to Ianeva-Aubert, if USD1 doesn’t clear up doubts over potential conflicts of interest, this would affect its ability to apply for an operating license in the European Union.
“MiCA requires strong governance, including independent directors and clear separation between owners and managers. Issuers must have clear rules to handle conflicts of interest. If USD1 has any conflicts, this could make it harder to comply,” she said.
Ianeva-Aubert also highlighted that WLF still hasn’t released enough public information on USD1 to assess the degree of its compliance effectively. In particular, the stablecoin issuer has not disclosed the measures it would take to safeguard against market manipulation.
As of now, USD1 would likely fail MiCA’s transparency tests. However, industry experts pointed out other parts of the framework that might be even larger obstacles for USD1 to operate across the European Union.
Impact of the EU’s Reserve Mandate on USD1
When asked about the biggest regulatory hurdles USD1 would face in securing a MiCA license, experts’ responses were unanimous. The stablecoin would need to store a large portion of its reserves in a European bank.
This mandate has proven difficult for established stablecoin issuers seeking operations across the region.
This regulation aims to ensure seamless accessibility for European crypto users and traders. For Forest Bai, Co-founder of Foresight Ventures, USD1 could capitalize on this opportunity during the early stages of its development. By doing so, it could avoid some of the obstacles its competitors had to endure.
Yet, even as USD1 scales and its demand grows, other mandatory requirements could restrict its scope of success.
MiCA’s Transaction Volume Caps to Preserve Euro Dominance
As part of the MiCA regulation, the European Union has taken specific measures to safeguard the euro’s dominance. If a digital currency not denominated in euros were to become extensively adopted for daily payments within Europe, it could present a potential risk to the European Union’s financial sovereignty and the stability of the euro.
To contain this possibility, MiCA places volume caps on transactions used as a means of exchange within the EU.
In other words, MiCA establishes predefined limits on the transactional volume of such currencies. The EU initiates regulatory measures when these limits are exceeded due to widespread payment usage.
Specifically, USD1 issuers must suspend any further digital currency issuance and provide a remediation plan to the relevant regulator, outlining steps to ensure their usage does not negatively impact the euro.
If USD1 wants to work in places where it can experience uninhibited growth, the European market might not be the best fit for this stablecoin. Other parts of MiCA also suggest this could be the case.
MiCA Limitations to Stablecoins as Investment Vehicles
EU regulators have been clear that stablecoins, or e-money tokens (EMTs), as the regulation refers to them, are payment instruments that should not be confused with investment vehicles. The MiCA framework has a few rules in place to prevent this.
Given the circumstances, experts like Bai think WLF might want to focus on countries with better market conditions for stablecoin issuers.
Should WLF Consider the EU Market for USD1 Operations?
While the European Union has an undeniable crypto market presence, other jurisdictions have an even larger footprint.
”The EU’s crypto market remains comparatively small, with just 31 million users versus Asia’s 263 million and North America’s 38 million users, according to a report from Euronews. This limited market size may not justify MiCA compliance costs for projects, like WLFI,” Bai told BeInCrypto, adding that “Projects ultimately determine their own growth strategy. Given that, currently, the EU represents a secondary market for USD1, the project’s strategic priorities may naturally shift toward regions with less stringent stablecoin regulations to drive its adoption.”
These circumstances alone may prompt USD1 to reconsider its options.
In fact, USD1 could start by gaining a competitive edge right at home.
USD1’s Political Backing at Home
With a crypto-friendly president in office –whose very crypto project officially announced the launch of USD1– the stablecoin has sufficient backing to make its mark.
Looking past the immediate future, Bai underlined that if the US doesn’t keep developing supportive crypto regulations, USD1’s growth in the country could be held back following a government shift.
Given this reality, USD1’s failure to comply with the EU’s regulations, should it ever even consider applying for a MiCA license in the first place, could have negative consequences for the project’s long-term viability.
Regardless of the markets WLF evaluates in its efforts to increase the reach of USD1, compliance with general stipulations concerning transparency, legal architecture, and real-time transaction oversight could be conducive to its eventual success.
Bitcoin (BTC) has reclaimed the $99,000 mark for the first time in over two months, igniting optimism among analysts who anticipate a price breakthrough above the $100,000 mark soon.
Notably, BTC’s performance over the past month has been quite remarkable. Its value has appreciated by 31.8%, representing a strong comeback from its Liberation Day lows in early April.
Is Bitcoin on Track to Reach $100,000?
In the early Asian trading hours, the largest cryptocurrency reached $99,388, marking its highest price since February 21, 2025. At press time, Bitcoin’s price had adjusted to $98,874. BeInCrypto data showed that the coin experienced a slight 0.3% dip in the past hour.
Yet, this increase has fueled optimism that a rise to $100,00 is inevitable. Market participants on X (formerly Twitter) have echoed the positive outlook.
“Bitcoin is knocking on the door of $100,000 again. Tick, tock…,” Anthony Pompliano wrote.
Previously, a Bitfinex forecast suggested that if Bitcoin holds above $95,000, a revisit to its all-time highs becomes likely. This prediction appears to be materializing as Bitcoin now trades above this threshold.
Furthermore, several market indicators and developments support the bullish sentiment. An analyst revealed that Bitcoin has moved past a price range where many traders were holding short positions with high leverage.
“There is no significant resistance until around $100,000,” the analyst stated.
In their weekly newsletter, Glassnode also noted that Bitcoin’s realized cap has reached a record high of $889 billion, growing by 2.1% over the past month. This increase reflects rising investor confidence and capital inflows.
The firm pointed to signs of renewed market strength, with significant capital flowing back into Bitcoin, particularly through ETFs. Over the last two weeks, more than $4.6 billion has entered Bitcoin ETFs.
“The total AUM held within the US spot ETFs has now climbed to over 1.171 million BTC, which is just 11,000 BTC shy of the 1.182 million BTC ATH,” the newsletter highlighted.
This surge in inflows has largely reversed the earlier period of outflows, further indicating strong demand for Bitcoin.
“Strong ETF inflows, alongside improved investor confidence, helps to paint a picture of stronger tailwinds supporting the Bitcoin market,” Glassnode added.
Meanwhile, CryptoQuant highlighted that over the past three days, the amount of stablecoins sent to Binance has grown substantially. The peak was on May 6, when the inflow reached nearly $1 billion, making it the largest single-day deposit since April.
“Stablecoin inflows typically reflect investor readiness to enter the market, as these assets are often sent to exchanges in anticipation of buy-side activity,” the post read.
In addition, Binance’s latest reserve disclosure showed a decline in the holdings of several major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), BNB (BNB), and Solana (SOL). In contrast, the 2.6% increase in Tether (USDT) reserves stands out.
This uptick in stablecoin holdings suggests a rise in liquidity. This signals that traders are positioning themselves for future market transactions.
Adding to the optimism, Tether dominance (USDT.D) has experienced a downtick. A decline in USDT.D typically indicates that investors are moving funds from stablecoins into other crypto assets, further fueling the rally.
Legislative progress is another tailwind for Bitcoin. Two Bitcoin-reserve bills have been enacted, and multiple more continue to advance through the legislative process. This implies that there is increasing institutional and governmental acceptance of Bitcoin.
As Bitcoin approaches the $100,000 threshold, investors are closely monitoring whether this rally will sustain its momentum or face resistance. With market conditions aligning favorably, the crypto community remains on edge for what could be a milestone for BTC.
Bitcoin (BTC) started the week with a pullback after testing the $105,000 milestone. As the correction continues, crypto airdrops provide a getaway opportunity for investors to join promising projects early.
This week’s top three crypto airdrops comprise Hedra, OneFootball, and Sonic, projects supported by strong funding, backers, and engaging participation methods.
Hedra
Hedra is one of the crypto airdrops this week. It is a blockchain service focused on decentralized identity and data sovereignty. The project aims to empower users with control over their digital assets.
Though not officially confirmed, its potential airdrop sparks interest due to Hedra’s novel approach to privacy and interoperability. The interest comes after the project raised $42 million from backers such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Index Ventures, and Abstract Ventures.
On May 15, Hedra raised a $32 million investment, bringing its valuation to $200 million.
“We’re excited to share that Hedra has raised a $32 million Series A led by a16z, with Matt Bornstein joining the board. Existing investors, including a16z speedrun, Abstract, and Index Ventures, are also participating in the round,” Hedra Labs shared on X (Twitter).
Crypto participants should monitor Hedra’s testnet activities, engage in community tasks, and hold compatible wallets to maximize eligibility. Eligibility also entails interacting with the project by creating graphic content with AI.
According to Cryptorank.io, when they sign up, Hedra users get 300 credits to spend on creating pictures and videos.
Sonic
Sonic, a Layer-1 blockchain (formerly Fantom), will offer a confirmed airdrop of 190.5 million S tokens starting June 2025. This comes after the project raised $101.54 million from backers such as Galaxy, Hashed Fund, Arrington XRP, Softbank, Aave, and Signum Capital.
The airdrop distributes 25% of tokens immediately, with 75% vesting over 270 days via NFT airdrops. Recipients can trade these later or burn them for early access.
Sonic also announced the Sonic Shards NFT mint to users collecting shards deemed eligible for mint. The project is also running an active campaign with points farming.
“Shards. If you know, you know,” wrote Sonic Labs in a post.
Sonic airdrop farmers should track points via Sonic’s dashboard and engage in testnet tasks or Sonic Arcade.
BeInCrypto data shows Sonic’s S token was trading for $0.48897, down by over 4% in the last 24 hours.
OneFootball
Another crypto airdrop to watch this week concerns OneFootball, a blockchain-based platform for football fans. It offers rewards via its OFC token and comes after a $307 million capital raise.
Project backers include Union Square, Dapper Labs, Adidas, and Animoca Brands. OFC’s airdrop is in its second season and emphasizes fan engagement.
“Introducing OFC: Powering OneFootball on Base. We’re excited to announce OneFootball Credits ($OFC), the official token of OneFootball! Launching as an ERC-20 token, OFC operates on both Ethereum and Base,” OneFootball Club announced.
OneFootball’s airdrop campaign involves earning BALLS by completing daily check-ins, engaging social media, and playing games like OFC Champion.
