This week in crypto, US policy changes took centre stage as President Trump opened the door for Americans to invest their 401(k) retirement savings in crypto and moved to end “debanking” by financial institutions. Ethereum grabbed headlines with a wave of institutional interest and rising network activity, while the long-running SEC vs Ripple case finally reached its conclusion. In DeFi, derivatives platform Hyperliquid set a new record for monthly trading volumes, cementing its place as a major player in on-chain markets. Together, these developments highlight how regulation, institutional adoption, legal clarity and platform innovation are driving the next phase of digital assets, from retirement savings to decentralised trading.

The biggest story of the week was President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order allowing Americans to invest their 401(k) retirement savings in alternative assets, including cryptocurrency, private equity and real estate. It is a landmark move that could, over time, open the door to billions in new inflows, although implementation will depend on fund managers and plan administrators navigating the compliance landscape. In a separate order, Trump also targeted “debanking” by instructing regulators to investigate financial institutions that unlawfully deny banking services, a change that could strengthen protections for businesses and individuals in the crypto sector.

Ethereum dominated macro-level discussions after Fundstrat’s Tom Lee suggested it could one day overtake Bitcoin in network value, citing its broad utility, consistent uptime and alignment with regulatory and institutional needs. Lee also flagged Ethereum’s potential role as an AI infrastructure layer in the United States, while co-founder Vitalik Buterin voiced support for Ether treasury companies, with a warning to avoid excessive leverage. On-chain data added weight to the optimism: Ethereum transactions reached a one-year high, stablecoin and tokenisation projects continue to build on the network, and Wall Street appears to be standardising Ethereum as a settlement layer.

On the regulatory front, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs jointly asked an appeals court to dismiss their respective appeals, effectively ending a legal battle that began in 2020. The original case accused Ripple of selling XRP as an unregistered security, and while last year’s ruling delivered a mixed verdict, this final step removes a significant overhang for the company and eases another major point of tension between the SEC and the crypto industry.

In Web3, derivatives DEX Hyperliquid surged to the forefront with US$487 billion in July trading volume, capturing 35 percent of total blockchain revenue and overtaking Solana for on-chain activity leadership. VanEck attributed the platform’s rapid rise to its intuitive design and appeal to high-value traders, while analysts focused on its aggressive token buyback model, which directs 97 percent of protocol fee revenue into HYPE token repurchases. If current conditions hold, the buyback program could retire the entire supply in as little as 1.5 years, creating the potential for a significant supply squeeze.

From retirement savings to decentralised finance, the week’s events signal a maturing industry with broader mainstream potential. If policy support continues and infrastructure keeps pace, the next phase of crypto adoption could arrive faster than many expect.

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