The Protocol: Berachain Follows Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade With ‘Bectra’

In this issue:

A representative of the Trump Organization said the group “knows nothing” about a crypto wallet project called the “$TRUMP Wallet,” despite the app’s branding and claims being tied to the U.S. president. “The Trump Organization knows nothing about this project,” a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told CoinDesk. Meanwhile, an X account linked to the President’s memecoins said that the wallet was “coming soon,” even after several of his representatives denied the rumors.— Helene Braun Read more.
World Liberty Financial, the Trump family-backed crypto firm, just dropped $47 worth of its USD1 stablecoin to each wallet that participated in its WLFI token sale. The move comes as USD1, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by Treasuries and fiat reserves, expands across blockchains as result of Chainlink’s CCIP integration. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

French authorities have charged 25 people, including six minors, for their roles in a spate of crypto kidnappings in Paris, with the majority of the suspects connected to the recent failed kidnapping attempt of a crypto exchange CEO’s family, Paris’s public prosecutor’s office said, Le Monde reported Saturday. The investigation is focused on the kidnapping attempt of the daughter and grandson of the CEO of crypto exchange Paymium, Pierre Noizat, that occurred on May 13, the report said. — Camomile Shumba Read more.
The U.S. Senate may be fast approaching a final vote on regulating stablecoins, which would be a high-water mark for crypto legislation in Congress, but Representative French Hill said the Senate’s bill has some key differences with a similar effort in the House of Representatives, and those would need to be ironed out before it can become law. “The bills are substantially similar,” said Hill, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee that has been at the forefront of the congressional negotiation over stablecoins for years, at an Atlantic Council event on Tuesday. “There are some differences that are not insurmountable but do need to be rectified and clarified.”— Jesse Hamilton Read more.