The Daily: Trump to sign executive order for crypto in 401(k) plans, Ethereum daily transactions reach new high above 2021 peak, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Thursday! President Trump is reportedly set to sign an executive order today opening a path for crypto in 401(k) plans, and another one threatening penalties for crypto debanking could be on the cards too.

Also in today’s newsletter, Ethereum daily transactions reach a new record high, Ripple agrees to acquire Galaxy-backed stablecoin firm Rail for $200 million, Paxos settles with the NYDFS for $48.5 million, and more.

Meanwhile, short-term holder confidence is being tested as the price of bitcoin enters an “air-gap” zone following its July peak, according to analysts at Glassnode.

Let’s get started.

Trump to sign executive order for crypto in 401(k) plans

President Trump will sign an executive order today directing the Labor Department to allow crypto, private equity, and other alternative assets in 401(k) plans, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar.

• Under the order, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer must revisit Employee Retirement Income Security Act guidance and coordinate with federal agencies on rule changes to support crypto in retirement accounts.
• It also reportedly instructs the Securities and Exchange Commission to help expand 401(k) access to crypto products like bitcoin ETFs by easing regulatory barriers.
• Trump’s move targets roughly $12.5 trillion in defined-contribution accounts and asks regulators to explain how plan fiduciaries can safely include digital assets.
• The order builds on Trump’s broader pro-crypto stance and follows a May rollback of the Labor Department’s Biden-era rules that discouraged crypto in 401(k)s.
• President Trump may also sign another executive order to protect crypto companies, other firms, and individuals from debanking, threatening to penalize financial institutions involved, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Ethereum daily transactions reach new high, surpassing 2021 peak

Ethereum hit a new all-time high of 1.74 million daily transactions on Wednesday, surpassing its previous record peak during May 2021.

• Stablecoins and treasury strategies are fueling onchain growth, with July also marking Ethereum’s busiest month yet at over 46 million transactions.
• “Ethereum’s daily transaction count hitting an all-time high reflects a surge in DeFi activity, with stablecoins at the center of it,” Presto Research analyst Min Jung said. “Growing interest in yield strategies — especially in anticipation of a rate cut — has led to more onchain transactions, from point farming to treasury deployments.”
• Kronos Research CIO Vincent Liu said Ethereum’s surging activity hasn’t been fully priced into ETH yet, with staking ETF approvals from the SEC seen as the next potential catalyst.

Ripple to acquire Galaxy-backed stablecoin firm Rail for $200 million

Ripple has agreed to acquire Galaxy-backed Rail for $200 million to scale its RLUSD stablecoin payments and cross-border settlement as new U.S. regulations take shape.

• Rail expects to process 10% of global B2B stablecoin flows using tokenized dollars, giving Ripple a key payments front end across North America and emerging markets.
• The transaction, set to close in Q4, follows Ripple’s $1.25 billion Hidden Road deal and comes as U.S. stablecoin rules solidify under the GENIUS Act and updated SEC guidance.
• Issuers are rushing to comply with the new framework, while more institutions mull entry into a market estimated to reach $2 trillion by 2028.

Paxos settles with NYDFS for $48.5 million over Binance BUSD partnership

Paxos Trust Company has agreed to pay $26.5 million in fines and invest $22 million in compliance upgrades after the New York State Department of Financial Services found it failed to vet Binance properly during their BUSD stablecoin partnership.

• In a statement, the NYDFS cited shortcomings in Paxos’ weak anti-money laundering controls and reliance on Binance’s word instead of conducting independent due diligence.
• A Paxos spokesperson emphasized that the compliance issues were historical, fully remediated, and caused no harm to customers, with the announcement marking a resolution of the matter.
• The settlement follows broader legal scrutiny of Binance, including a $4 billion DOJ penalty in 2023 and the dismissal of an SEC lawsuit against the exchange this year.

Chainlink launches strategic LINK reserve

Chainlink has launched a strategic LINK reserve funded by both onchain service revenue and offchain enterprise payments, designed to support the long-term growth of the decentralized oracle network.

• The Chainlink Reserve has begun by accumulating over $1 million worth of LINK as part of this initial launch phase, the project said, a haul it intends to grow over the coming months.
• Backed by rising institutional adoption, Chainlink expects the reserve to expand steadily with no anticipated withdrawals for several years.

In the next 24 hours

• It’s quiet on the economic calendar front.
• Immutable and Moca Network are set for token unlocks.

Never miss a beat with The Block’s daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.

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