Forbes: The five most controversial crypto moments of 2025

# The Cryptocurrency Sector in 2025: A Year of Turmoil, Controversy and Political Entanglement  

By Becca Bratcher, Forbes  

Translated by Saoirse, Foresight News  

From billion-dollar hacks to the launch of a presidential meme coin, 2025 was a year of fraught entanglement with politics and power for the cryptocurrency sector—one filled with both anxiety and revelation. As the fourth quarter of 2025 unfolds, five moments stand out in particular: they vividly demonstrate how the crypto industry has repeatedly tested the boundaries of public trust and regulatory tolerance.  

Bitcoin hit an all-time high in 2025, yet the industry remained mired in controversy. (Illustration: Miguel Candela / SOPA Images/LightRocket, licensed via Getty Images)  

## January: The Debut of Trump Meme Coins  

The year 2025 kicked off with an unexpected move from the U.S. president-elect.  

Just hours before his inauguration, Donald Trump launched his official meme coin, TRUMP. Priced at approximately $1 at its debut, the token soared to over $70 before crashing sharply. Soon after, First Lady Melania Trump also rolled out her personal token, MELANIA, which followed an nearly identical price volatility trend. To date, TRUMP trades at around $7, while MELANIA hovers at roughly $0.13.  

Billed as "celebratory digital collectibles," these tokens sparked immediate questions about ethics and legality. Trump, who had previously dismissed cryptocurrency, repositioned himself as an industry "supporter"—actively courting the growing bloc of crypto-friendly voters and vowing to make the U.S. a global hub for digital assets. Meanwhile, his family’s business, World Liberty Financial, expanded its footprint in the crypto space.  

In just a few hours, the combined market cap of the two meme coins approached $11 billion, transforming what could have been a simple political branding exercise into the crypto industry’s first major controversy of 2025.  

## February: The Largest Financial Heist in History  

Only a month later, public trust in crypto security suffered a devastating blow.  

Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit revealed that hackers had stolen approximately $1.5 billion worth of ETH from one of its offline cold wallets. This unprecedented security breach triggered investor panic, and subsequent confirmation from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic marked it as the largest single theft on record in both digital and traditional finance.  

Bybit Exchange (Illustration: Thomas Fuller / SOPA Images/LightRocket, licensed via Getty Images)  

Follow-up investigations linked the data breach to a North Korean government-backed hacking group. This discovery elevated what might have been dismissed as a "routine exchange security flaw" to an incident with grave geopolitical implications.  

## May: U.S. President Rewards Top TRUMP Meme Coin Buyers  

In May, a report triggered a "small but significant" surge in TRUMP meme coin trading volume: President Trump announced that only top holders of the TRUMP token would be invited to a black-tie dinner at his private golf club. This "exclusive paid access" model effectively turned the token into a "bidding tool": anyone holding a sufficient number of tokens could secure a private meeting with the president through this means.  

Attendees included Justin Sun, founder of TRON, who had previously invested over $18 million in TRUMP tokens and faced (later suspended) charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  

The event sparked dual controversies: protesters rallied outside, while the U.S. Congress launched a close scrutiny indoors. Although the White House insisted Trump’s assets were under "blind trust management" (i.e., assets placed under third-party control, with no direct intervention from Trump himself), on-chain blockchain analysis revealed that entities linked to Trump controlled approximately 80% of the token’s remaining supply and had earned over $320 million in fees from token transactions.  

Led by U.S. Representatives Adam Smith and Sean Casten, 35 House Democrats sent a letter to the Department of Justice, demanding an investigation into whether Trump’s offer of "dinner access" to top TRUMP token investors constituted bribery or violated the U.S. Constitution’s Emoluments Clause (which prohibits federal officials from accepting unauthorized payments from foreign governments or individuals).  

In their letter, they stated, "This incident opens the door for foreign entities to influence U.S. policy decisions, may constitute corruption, and涉嫌 violates the Emoluments Clause. It is merely the latest example of President Trump flouting ethical norms, exacerbating conflicts of interest, and exploiting his office for personal gain."  

## October: The "10.11" Incident  

Fast forward to October: blockchain analysts detected that an anonymous trader had suddenly shorted Bitcoin and Ethereum minutes before President Trump announced new tariffs on China. Trump’s tariff declaration directly triggered the largest "liquidation cascade" in crypto history—a chain reaction where a surge of leveraged positions were forcefully closed due to plummeting prices, further amplifying the market downturn.  

Reports indicated that the anonymous trader had profited $160 million before market stability was restored. Observers, including commentary outlet The Kobeissi Letter, publicly questioned: "Did someone have advance knowledge of the tariff announcement?"  

While no direct evidence of "insider information leakage" has emerged, the incident reignited public concerns about the digital asset market: information asymmetry and political influence over the market may be far more severe than previously imagined.  

## October: A "Profitable" Pardon  

Only weeks later, another controversy erupted: President Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance.  

Zhao had pleaded guilty to "anti-money laundering violations" in 2023 and served a 4-month prison sentence; Binance itself also paid over $4 billion in fines for related offenses.  

On April 30, 2024, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao leaves the federal court in Seattle, Washington, U.S. The founder and former CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was sentenced to 4 months in prison after pleading guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws. (Photo: Jason Redmond / AFP, licensed via Getty Images)  

The pardon not only erased Zhao’s criminal record but also cleared the way for his return to the crypto industry. The White House justified the move as a correction to "overregulation during the Biden administration."  

However, a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) further fueled controversy: companies owned by Zhao had previously collaborated with "entities tied to the Trump family’s cryptocurrency projects." This connection significantly heightened public suspicion that "a quid pro quo lay behind the pardon."  

Objectively, the pardon further solidified the current U.S. administration’s "alliance" with the digital asset industry, while also raising deeper questions: To what extent will political influence sway regulatory outcomes?  

## Conclusion: Another "Ordinary Year" for Cryptocurrency  

Together, these five events made 2025 yet another "headline year" for the crypto industry. Despite ongoing controversies, this year was far from the sector’s "worst period" in history.  

The January meme coin debut blurred the line between "hype" and "governance"; the February Bybit hack exposed vulnerabilities even in the most trusted systems; the May dinner turned "token ownership" into a "political access pass"; the October trading scandal revealed the power of "speculation" and "timing" to manipulate the entire market; and the presidential pardon later that month made 2025 a year where the crypto industry’s "legitimacy and ethical boundaries were repeatedly challenged."  

Every year in the cryptocurrency space is marked by new innovations, challenges, breakthroughs, and controversies—and 2025 was no exception.  

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