JPMorgan Settles First Tokenized Treasury Trade on Public Blockchain Using Chainlink and Ondo
Trump-Linked Crypto Projects Under Investigation, Bitfarms Shifts to AI, Ethereum Boosts Security, and JPMorgan Completes First Public Blockchain Treasury Trade.
Because Bitcoin
May 14, 2025
House Democrats Demand Treasury Probe into Trump-Linked Crypto Projects Over Suspicious Activity Concerns
House Democrats have formally requested that the U.S. Treasury Department investigate any suspicious financial activity tied to cryptocurrency ventures backed by Donald Trump, including World Liberty Financial (WLF) and Trump-branded meme coins. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Democrats cited concerns about bribery, corruption, and conflicts of interest. The inquiry also targets entities such as the Elon Musk-aligned PAC and GOP fundraising platform WinRed. The letter highlights crypto investor Justin Sun’s $75 million investment in WLF and notes the SEC’s subsequent pause in enforcement action against him. The controversy deepens with reports that MGX, an Abu Dhabi investment firm, plans to use WLF’s stablecoin in a $2 billion Binance deal. Lawmakers have also raised alarm over Trump supporters gaining exclusive access to high-level events through memecoin holdings.
Bitfarms Reports $36M Q1 Loss as It Pivots from Bitcoin Mining to AI-Focused High-Performance Computing
Bitfarms reported a $36 million net loss for Q1 2025, significantly wider than the $6 million loss a year prior, despite a 33% increase in sales to $67 million. The company’s gross profit margin dropped from 63% to 43% due to Bitcoin’s April 2024 halving and price volatility. As profitability in mining declines, Bitfarms is shifting toward high-performance computing (HPC) for AI applications, supported by a $300 million credit line from Macquarie. The firm aims to leverage its existing mining infrastructure for AI data center expansion in the U.S., while still maintaining exposure to Bitcoin upside.
Ethereum Foundation Launches ‘Trillion Dollar Security’ Plan to Prepare Blockchain for Global Financial Scale
The Ethereum Foundation has announced its “Trillion Dollar Security” (1TS) initiative, a three-part strategy aimed at significantly upgrading the network’s security to support trillions of dollars in assets and rival traditional financial infrastructure. While Ethereum currently secures over $63 billion in value, the Foundation says greater resilience is needed for the blockchain to become civilization-scale infrastructure. The plan includes a full security audit, patching high-risk vulnerabilities, and enhancing ecosystem-wide collaboration on best practices. The effort is co-chaired by Fredrik Svantes and Josh Stark, and includes prominent security stewards like Samczsun, Mehdi Zerouali, and Zach Obront. The move follows broader organizational reforms intended to strengthen Ethereum’s values while scaling securely.
JPMorgan Settles First Tokenized Treasury Trade on Public Blockchain Using Chainlink and Ondo
JPMorgan Chase has taken a major step beyond its private blockchain ecosystem by settling a tokenized treasury transaction on a public blockchain for the first time. Partnering with Chainlink and Ondo Finance, JPMorgan’s blockchain division, Kinexys, transferred funds between two internal accounts on its private network to settle the purchase of tokenized treasuries on Ondo’s public ledger. Chainlink enabled the communication between the private and public systems. While JPMorgan has previously run proofs of concept involving public blockchain tech, this marks its first production-level integration. Despite recent U.S. political shifts favoring crypto under President Trump, JPMorgan insists the move aligns with its long-term roadmap. Other financial giants like Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock are also deepening their involvement in digital assets.
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