This Week in Crypto – The GENIUS Act, Iranian Exchange Hack and More

What happened this week in crypto? It was a highly eventful week, as the Senate passed the GENIUS Act, France’s crypto kidnapping wave continues, and Israel-backed hackers targeted Iran’s crypto industry.

Canada also became the world’s second nation to approve an XRP ETF, and delays continue for an SEC v Ripple resolution. Find out all these stories and more at BeInCrypto.

GENIUS Act Passes Senate Vote

This week, a major event for crypto regulation took place as the GENIUS Act passed through the US Senate.

This new stablecoin framework had several major setbacks in recent months, but fresh amendments helped generate bipartisan support. By the time of this final vote, political support was overwhelming.

Senate Vote on the GENIUS Act. Source:  Senate.Gov

Now that the bill has passed the Senate, it will become law after President Trump signs it. Trump plans for stablecoins to promote dollar dominance, and his support is certain.

From there, it’ll open many new possibilities: for example, major banks are considering stablecoin launches. This industry sector seems guaranteed to keep growing.

Iran-Israel War Leads to Major Crypto Hack

The new war between Iran and Israel has been impacting the crypto market all week, but that’s natural for any geopolitical turmoil.

However, the conflict now takes place directly over the blockchain. Israeli-backed hackers breached Nobitex, an Iranian crypto exchange, stealing and then burning $90 million in tokens.

$90M drained from Iranian exchange Nobitex in a hack claimed by hacktivist group, Gonjeshke Darande.This wasn’t just theft. It was a message.Blockchain is now a geopolitical front line.Visual of the hack distribution from Merkle Science’s Tracker pic.twitter.com/7BT3t1nRYJ

— Merkle Science (@MerkleScience) June 19, 2025

Gonjeshke Darande (Predatory Sparrow) has been active for several years, disrupting Iranian economic activities on behalf of Israel. Nonetheless, this crypto hack represents a major escalation.

Crypto has funded war, and governments have created crypto hacking groups. Never before, however, have state-backed hackers targeted another country’s crypto industry.

This precedent could spell worrying things for the industry’s future. So far, this war hasn’t been particularly painful for crypto, at least compared to other recent events. If multimillion-dollar token burns become a feature of future wars, it’ll traumatize markets worldwide.

France Shocked By Another Crypto Kidnapping

Another landmark event this week was a crypto kidnapping in Paris’ suburbs. This marks the tenth such incident in France this year, all the more shocking because authorities vowed to tighten security.

A 23-year-old man was abducted, and his loved ones were extorted for €5,000 and his Ledger key.

A 23 year old man was kidnapped Tuesday while out shopping in Maisons-Alfort, France. The attackers called his partner and demanded his Ledger and 5,000 EUR in cash. She complied & he was released.This is the 10th wrench attack this year in France!https://t.co/ZE7WK8vtcQ

— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) June 20, 2025

Before this incident, police believed that a single gang was behind the majority of these attacks. Thanks to cooperation with Morocco, several purported ringleaders were arrested in North Africa earlier in June.

However, this clearly hasn’t stopped the kidnappings. Either the gang is still active, or copycats are adopting the practice. Both possibilities are terrifying.

No Resolution for SEC v Ripple

Although the SEC v Ripple case is a topic of major interest for the crypto industry, it wasn’t resolved this week. The two parties have been jointly filing to settle the last cross-appeal, but Judge Torres is not cooperating.

Both parties are attempting to pause the appeals process, but lawyers are becoming skeptical that they’ll win a favorable decision.

In the newest saga of SEC v. Ripple, I don't like this filing based on how obvious it was from Judge Torres' last ruling that she was pissed. I recommended a long, detailed motion explaining the SEC's failures in crypto regulation (with Commissioner declarations) and some… https://t.co/KTyiqxLnWo

— Fred Rispoli (@freddyriz) June 12, 2025

In short, the biggest problem is that a crypto-friendly SEC can’t unilaterally reverse policies from the Gensler era.

It may be unfair that Ripple is forbidden from selling securities to retail investors, but Atkins’ Commission needs to prove that in court. Although the community remains hopeful, this setback may impact Ripple’s business for the foreseeable future.

Canada Gets the XRP ETF

In another memorable crypto development, Canada finally approved the XRP ETF this week. This makes Canada the second nation to offer such a product, following Brazil’s approval in April.

Purpose Investments, which offered the first crypto ETF in North America, is a fitting company to issue this product.

“The OSC’s granting of a receipt for the Purpose XRP ETF prospectus reinforces Canada’s global leadership in building a regulated digital asset ecosystem. We’re proud to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the space,” claimed Vlad Tasevski, Purpose’s Chief Innovation Officer.

Hopefully, these developments will encourage Canada’s southern neighbor to follow suit. Prominent ETF analysts in the US recently claimed that an XRP ETF has a 95% chance of approval, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Additionally, the Zebec Network announced a new reward program for XRP holders, and Pi Network drew community criticism after a lackluster domain update.

This week has been very eventful for crypto, but BeInCrypto is here to keep you informed about all of it.