#Gate广场四月发帖挑战 Web3 Today Must-Read | April 9

Today’s Quick Overview
• U.S. Department of the Treasury GENIUS Act enhances stablecoin regulation.
• Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF attracts funds on its first day.
• SEC changes leadership, potentially turning the tide on crypto enforcement.
• Standard Chartered integrates Zodia custody, banks swallowing custody services.
• Mining company Cango sells coins to pay debts and reduce costs.
• Federal Reserve highlights AI as a macro risk.
• Trump family projects embroiled in compliance issues.
• Nasdaq optimizes ETF pricing mechanisms.
• Bernstein: Quantum risk window still five years away.
• FBI reports over $10 billion in crypto scams last year.

Today’s Analysis
Web3 is undergoing a comprehensive disarmament, shifting from a “wild west” to a “regulated financial army.” What’s most intriguing today isn’t Morgan Stanley’s $34 million inflow but the proposed rules of the U.S. Treasury’s “GENIUS Act.” The core logic of these rules is blunt: since you call it a “payment stablecoin,” you must follow banking rules. The harshest measure grants issuers the legal authority to freeze assets directly at the protocol layer. This means that the once-proud “censorship resistance” of the crypto world has capitulated entirely at the liquidity gateway of stablecoins under regulation. No more illusions of “private keys equal justice”—if regulators want to target you, the stablecoin issuer will be the most obedient “executioner.”
The real focus is that this “co-optation” is comprehensive. Look at Standard Chartered integrating Zodia custody into its investment banking system, and Morgan Stanley officially pushing ETF products—these signals are very clear: traditional financial giants are no longer content to be mere spectators or channels; they want direct control of infrastructure. When custody, clearing, issuance, and distribution are all in the hands of these century-old institutions, so-called native Web3 protocols become vines clinging to the mighty TradFi tree. Nasdaq’s optimization of ETF pricing at this juncture is fundamentally aimed at making this massive financial harvesting machine run more smoothly.
Interestingly, SEC has changed leadership at this critical moment. The former head, exhausted from relentless crypto enforcement, leaves behind a tarnished reputation, while the new appointee is a “crypto novice.” This doesn’t mean regulation will loosen; rather, it signals a strategic shift: from the previous “fire everywhere” guerrilla tactics to a more structured approach based on the written law of the GENIUS Act. Regulators are no longer seeking to wipe out the crypto industry with a single blow but aim to tame this wild child into a dressed-up financial instrument through compliance frameworks.
Meanwhile, the underlying survival logic of the industry is also changing dramatically. Mining company Cango selling coins to pay debts and cut costs indicates that, under the dual pressures of halving cycles and macro high interest rates, veteran players have entered “survival mode.” The FBI’s disclosure of over $11.3 billion in scams last year serves as an awkward footnote, reminding us that the industry still harbors low-end scams.
Bernstein’s mention of a “quantum risk window” still has three to five years, but it’s more of a metaphor: in this gradually transparent, centralized, and giant-controlled new world, there’s little time left for native Web3 players to evolve on their own.