Reports detail that Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has floated a draft circular that would pull cryptocurrency trading firmly into the tax net, proposing a securities-style framework that levies a flat 0.1% personal income tax on every crypto transfer while exempting the activity from value-added tax.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) finally halted weeks of selling pressure with a strong inflow, offering a rare moment of relief. Ether and solana, however, remained under strain, while XRP continued to quietly rebuild momentum.

This week’s stories cut to crypto’s foundations. Tom Lee defended ETH treasury drawdowns as structural, not a flaw. The new Epstein file dump reignited scrutiny around Blockstream. Nic Carter showed most Bitcoin devs see quantum risk as distant, but legitimate. Vitalik called time on generic L2s, and Wintermute’s Evgeny Gaevoy argued the industry has stalled on real substance despite nonstop narratives.

On Saturday morning, bitcoin’s price sits between $68,090 and $69,162 over the last hour, with a $1.36 trillion market cap, $97.38 billion in 24-hour volume, and a wide $66,131 to $71,604 intraday range, reflecting a market that has stopped panicking but hasn’t found conviction.

Playnance, a Web2‑to‑ Web3 gaming infrastructure whose model separates gameplay from value custody, ensuring all balances are secured in audited smart contracts rather than studio servers.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, stated that it was preparing to roll out a program of crypto-backed loans for corporate customers. The institution stressed that it was currently finalizing the infrastructure needed to scale up the rollout of these financial products.

XRP momentum is accelerating as Bitrue deepens integration, rolls out new RLUSD trading pairs, and doubles down on positioning traders for a potential market recovery, reinforcing XRP’s role as a core growth asset in crypto markets.

Multiple emerging crypto narratives could converge to fuel the next bull market, with structural growth drivers, institutional capital, and expanding blockchain use cases setting the stage for a powerful multiyear upswing, according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan.

XRP is emerging as core financial infrastructure as institutional DeFi takes shape, embedding itself into payments, liquidity and on-ledger credit while positioning Ripple’s network for regulated, scalable tokenized finance.

The statements of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent awakened concerns about a Chinese initiative to back a digital gold token to undermine American leadership in digital finance and establish a tangible alternative to the dollar-led economic system.

Why ‘Trusted’ Hardware Can’t Be Trusted

Kris Marszalek, the CEO of Crypto.com, has officially launched ai.com, a consumer-focused artificial intelligence (AI) platform built around autonomous AI agents, with its public debut set to coincide with a Super Bowl commercial this Sunday.

Ethereum traded above the $2,000 per coin range on Friday afternoon, as derivatives markets flashed a mix of caution and crowding across futures and options. Futures open interest edged lower intraday while options data showed traders clustering around key strikes, setting the stage for potential price compression.

XRP is rebounding sharply as crypto risk appetite returns, according to a new analysis highlighting heavy whale accumulation and surging network activity that signal renewed momentum after a steep sell-off, positioning the token as a market standout.

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