#Gate广场四月发帖挑战 Web3 Today’s Must-Read | April 2nd

Today’s Quick Overview
• Solana protocol Drift was hacked, $270 million evaporated.
• U.S. Department of the Treasury plans to implement hybrid regulation for stablecoins at state and federal levels.
• Citadel-backed exchange EDX applies for a banking license.
• CFTC announces: ready to take over the entire crypto market.
• Federal Reserve officials pressure stablecoins, strictly prevent money laundering risks.
• Australia passes new law requiring licenses for a $24 billion market.
• Huishang money laundering case main suspect extradited back home, cross-border crackdown.
• Trump hints at troop withdrawal from Iran, Bitcoin experiences intense volatility.
• Tether executives lead PAC, deeply intervene in the upcoming elections.
• Galaxy testnet hacked, development environment compromised.

Today’s Analysis
The truth behind this series of news is clear: the “jungle era” of Web3 is being forcibly and rapidly ended. On one side, Solana’s Drift Protocol revealed a staggering $270 million vulnerability, once again exposing the “naked safety” of high-performance public blockchains; on the other side, the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, CFTC, and even the Australian government are all taking action simultaneously. The underlying logic behind these “coincidences” is very clear: regulators are using each security incident as leverage to herd the crypto beast into compliance cages.
The real focus isn’t how much Drift lost, but how Wall Street is taking advantage of the situation. While DeFi protocols are overwhelmed by private key leaks and code vulnerabilities, Citadel- and Fidelity-backed EDX Markets is applying for a U.S. national trust bank license. The signal here is that old money has no intention of playing within the existing, flaw-ridden on-chain order—they want to build a “clean” infrastructure with bank licenses, custody, and trading separated. This transfer of power—from “decentralized natives” retreating to “compliance mainstream”—is the deepest liquidity migration happening now.
Interestingly, stablecoins have become the focal point of all parties’ strategic battles. Federal Reserve Board member Barr’s tough stance and the Treasury’s proposed hybrid regulation framework essentially aim to fully nationalize the $300 billion liquidity pool.
Tether is clearly losing patience, directly sending executives to lead a political action committee (PAC), attempting to buy a “get-out-of-jail-free card” through political donations in the upcoming elections. This is no longer just a technical upgrade but a naked political lobbying war. As for Trump’s troop withdrawal comments causing Bitcoin volatility, and Huishang’s main suspect being extradited, they all signal that macro environment and geopolitical influences are infiltrating the crypto market at every level. Don’t expect Bitcoin to remain an independent “paradise” unaffected by global affairs anymore.
As compliance thresholds rise, small exchanges and shady protocols will be systematically cleaned out. The future of Web3 will only have two paths: either fully banked like EDX or deeply politicized like Tether. The middle ground for survival is rapidly shrinking.