Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev on Wednesday urged the U.S. to take the lead on cryptocurrency policy, citing the unavailability of staking and tokenized stocks in certain regions due to legislative hurdles.

Tenev Concerned Over Legislative Bottleneck

In an X post, Tenev pointed out that staking is one of the “most requested features” on Robinhood, but is unavailable in some jurisdictions due to legislative “gridlock.”

Staking on Robinhood is currently not available in California, Maryland, New Jersey and Wisconsin due to state regulations.

Tenev further rued that tokenized stocks are accessible to Robinhood’s European customers, but not to those in the home…

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Senate Banking Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said late Wednesday that the committee is delaying the markup of cryptocurrency market structure legislation amid opposition from industry figures.

‘Brief Pause’ To Establish Consensus

Scott said in a statement that the committee is taking a “brief pause” before moving to markup and that all stakeholders involved are “working in good faith.”

David Sacks, the White House Crypto Czar, said that the passage of the market structure legislation is “as close as it’s ever been” and urged the industry to use this pause to sort out the differences.

Lummis Is ‘Deeply Dissappointed’

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) thanked…

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Pakistan’s government said Wednesday it’s partnering with World Liberty Financial (CRYPTO: WLFI), a decentralized platform affiliated with President Donald Trump’s family, to “explore” stablecoins for cross-border transactions.

Pakistan To Use Dollar Stablecoins For Payments?

The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority announced in an X post that World Liberty Financial has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Finance.

The agreement aims to explore “innovation in digital finance”, specifically the use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions.

Zach Witkoff, co-founder and CEO of World Liberty Financial, visited Pakistan and met with the…

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Economist Peter Schiff questioned the sustainability of Bitcoin’s ongoing rally on Wednesday, arguing that investors are mistakenly rotating profits from commodities into cryptocurrency-linked assets.

Schiff Downplays Bitcoin Rally

Schiff suggested in an X post that traders are taking profits in gold and silver mining stocks and buying Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and Strategy.

“That’s a big mistake,” the Bitcoin skeptic stated, urging them instead to cash out of Bitcoin and MSTR and use the proceeds to buy precious metal-linked stocks.

Schiff made a similar call earlier this month, arguing that Bitcoin’s uptick isn’t a bullish sign but just a “pumper” narrative.

Commodities,… Read more on Benzinga

The Official Melania (CRYPTO: MELANIA) coin has taken off to a rocking start in 2026, building buzz ahead of the highly anticipated documentary on First Lady Melania Trump.

MELANIA Coin Beats TRUMP Coin

The Solana (CRYPTO: SOL)-based memecoin has popped 50% since the year began, outperforming the returns from market heavyweights such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

Open interest in the coin has jumped 85% this year, according to Coinglass, signaling high speculative interest.

Interestingly, MELANIA has also overshadowed the Official Trump (CRYPTO: TRUMP) memecoin linked to President Donald Trump.

CryptocurrencyYTD Gains +/-Price (Recorded at 8:30 p.m. ET)Official… Read more on Benzinga

Bitcoin rallied, while the stock and oil markets retreated on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions and the upcoming vote on a cryptocurrency bill influenced investors’ decisions.

CryptocurrencyGains +/-Price (Recorded at 8:30 p.m. ET)Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC)+1.23%$96,617.34Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH)               -0.11%$3,330.89XRP (CRYPTO: XRP)                         -1.89%$2.12Solana (CRYPTO: SOL)                         +0.18%$145.81Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE)             -1.84%$0.1455Bitcoin Lifts As Sentiment Turns To ‘Greed’

Bitcoin rallied to a 2-month high of $97,860, extending its gains this year to more than 10%.

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