The US Gets Tough with Garantex, Citi Gets Serious about Crypto, Trump’s Stablecoin Gets Tangled Up with Binance, and Anime Fans Get a New Token from Texas | August 15, 2025
Description
The US Treasury Department sanctions Russian-linked exchange Garantex for its alleged role in laundering over $100 million for ransomware groups and other cybercriminals (1:16 ), and Citigroup plans to offer custody services for stablecoin reserves and other crypto products (3:12 ). Also: we review the soaring valuation of the Trump family's cryptocurrency firm, World Liberty Financial, the growth of its USD1 stablecoin, its partnership with PancakeSwap on the Binance blockchain, and the political questions surrounding the venture (4:41 ). Finally, we look at the rise of hyper-niche tokens with the launch of Animecoin, a new cryptocurrency designed for the global anime fandom (6:35 ).
This is your essential update on the forces shaping what’s next in money.
More on stories and articles discussed or referenced in this episode:
Bautzer, Tatiana and Hannah Lang. “Citigroup Considers Custody and Payment Services for Stablecoins, Crypto ETFs.” Reuters, 14 August 2025, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/citigroup-considers-custody-payment-services-175259025.html.
Berwick, Angus and Patricia Kowsmann. “The Recipe Behind the Trump Family’s Crypto Riches: PancakeSwap.” Wall Street Journal, 12 August 2025, https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/trump-family-crypto-1e7ab14a.
Bruce, Tammy. “U.S. Targets Cryptocurrency Exchange, Offering Rewards Totaling Up to $6 Million.” U.S. Department of State, 14 August 2025, https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/08/u-s-targets-cryptocurrency-exchange-offering-rewards-totaling-up-to-6-million/.
Fathepure, Anusha. “Texas Esports Firm GameSquare Signs On as Animecoin Agency of Record, Reflecting Fandom Crypto Trend.” Houston Chronicle, 14 August 2025, https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/gamesquare-animecoin-cryptocurrency-20816101.php.
Goncharova, Olena. “U.S. Sanctions Russian Crypto Exchange Over Cybercrime — Day Before Trump-Putin Summit in Alaska.” Kyiv Independent, 14 August 2025, https://kyivindependent.com/us-sanctions-russian-crypto-exchange-over-cybercrime-day-before-trump-putin-summit-in-alaska/.
“Treasury Sanctions Cryptocurrency Exchange and Network Enabling Sanctions Evasion and Cyber Criminals.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 14 August 2025, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0225.
The music in this episode was composed by Liborio Conti, and you can find more of his fantastic work at his YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/liborioconti.
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