Here’s what happened in crypto today
Today in crypto, Fed governor Christopher Waller has urged his peers not to fear decentralized finance and the blockchain, a sign the Fed is warming to crypto. US Senator Cynthia Lummis said the digital asset market structure bill is on track to arrive on President Trump’s desk by the end of the year and China’s cabinet will reportedly review a roadmap that includes yuan-pegged stablecoins to bolster yuan internationalization.Fed governor tells bankers DeFi is ‘nothing to be afraid of’US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told his peers and the private banking sector that there’s “nothing to be afraid of” about crypto payments despite it operating outside the traditional banking system.“There is nothing scary about this just because it occurs in the decentralized finance or DeFi world — this is simply new technology to transfer objects and record transactions,” he said during a speech at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 2025 on Wednesday.Leveraging innovative tech to build new payment services isn’t a “new story,” Waller said as he pitched policymakers and the private banking sector to work together on crypto payment infrastructure. “There is nothing to be afraid of when thinking about using smart contracts, tokenization, or distributed ledgers in everyday transactions.”Waller’s pro-crypto views could soon have more weight, as he is considered a front-runner to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair. Lummis provides a timeline on crypto market structure billWyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said the long-awaited US market structure bill could reach President Trump’s desk “before the end of the year,” setting the stage for implementation in 2026.Speaking at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium on Wednesday, Lummis pointed to Thanksgiving as a potential inflection point.The House approved the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in July, and Republicans are now pushing to advance it through the Senate. Lummis and other lawmakers say their own proposal — the Responsible Financial Innovation Act — will “build” on the CLARITY framework.“We [...] want to honor as much of the House’s work as we can on CLARITY because they had a robust bipartisan vote,” Lummis said. “CLARITY will probably end up being what we pass, but CLARITY as tweaked by the Senate.”China weighs yuan-backed stablecoins in major policy shift: ReutersChina, one of the most restrictive global jurisdictions for cryptocurrencies, is reportedly considering allowing Chinese yuan-backed stablecoins in what would be a major policy reversal.Chinese authorities may authorize yuan-backed stablecoins for the first time to promote global use of its currency, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.If approved, China’s reported plan for stablecoin use would mark a major shift in its approach to crypto after the country banned crypto trading and mining in September 2021.The news follows multiple reports suggesting that mainland China has been warming up to stablecoins amid the US stablecoin push in 2025.According to the sources, China’s State Council will review and potentially approve a roadmap later in August to expand global use of the yuan. The plan reportedly includes steps to counter the US progress on stablecoins and guidelines for risk prevention.One use case for a potential yuan-backed stablecoin from mainland China would be the possible implementation of stablecoins for cross-border trade and payments with some countries.This issue is expected to be discussed at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit that will be held between Aug. 31 and Sep. 1 in Tianjin.Hong Kong and Shanghai have been identified as priority hubs for rolling out the policy, according to the sources.