Ana Zirojevic

Illinois has become the focus of a growing crypto policy dispute after Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Digital Asset Privilege Tax Act into law. The measure introduces a new tax on certain digital asset transactions, and has prompted industry groups to argue that Illinois is now treating cryptocurrencies differently from every other major financial asset.

Ethereum (ETH) is getting what its developers call the first confidential decentralized finance (DeFi) yield vault, which allows users to earn returns on USDC without publicly revealing their balances or transactions. The product, created by Zama, Morpho, and Steakhouse Financial, combines fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) with one of Ethereum’s established lending vaults.

Bitcoin (BTC) gave back part of this week’s gains, falling to the area of $65.2K after briefly dipping below the $65K level during the afternoon. The retreat follows the recent rally toward $67,000, and traders are taking profits as momentum cools. Most of the wider crypto market also moved lower, though a handful of coins managed to outperform despite the risk-off sentiment.