Forbes: The Five Most Controversial Crypto Moments of 2025

Original Title: Five Of The Most Controversial Crypto Moments In 2025

Original Author: Becca Bratcher, Forbes

Original Translation: Saoirse, Foresight News

From multi-billion dollar hacks to meme coin launches at the presidential level, 2025 has been a year for the crypto sector fraught with tricky entanglements of politics and power—both anxiety-inducing and highly instructive. As the fourth quarter of 2025 unfolds, five moments stand out in particular—they vividly demonstrate how the crypto industry continually tests the boundaries of public trust and regulatory tolerance.

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

January: Trump Meme Coin Debuts

At the very start of 2025, an unexpected move by the incoming U.S. president drew widespread attention.

Just hours before the inauguration, Donald Trump launched the official meme coin TRUMP. The token debuted at around $1, soared above $70, and then quickly plummeted. Shortly after, First Lady Melania Trump also launched her own token, MELANIA, which followed a similar price trajectory. As of now, TRUMP is trading at around $7, while MELANIA hovers around $0.13.

These tokens were promoted as "celebratory digital collectibles," but their launch immediately sparked questions about ethics and legality. Previously, Trump had always been dismissive of crypto, but he has now repositioned himself as an industry "supporter"—actively courting the growing crypto voter base and promising to make the U.S. a global digital asset hub. Meanwhile, his family business "World Liberty Financial" has expanded its footprint in the crypto sector.

Within just a few hours, the combined market cap of these two meme coins approached 11 billions USD, turning what was originally a simple political branding campaign into the first major controversy of the crypto industry in 2025.

February: The Largest Financial Theft in History

Just a month later, public trust in crypto security suffered a heavy blow.

Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit disclosed that hackers had stolen about 1.5 billions USD worth of ETH from one of its offline cold wallets. This unprecedented security breach sent investors into a panic, and blockchain analytics firm Elliptic confirmed that this was the largest single theft ever recorded in both digital and traditional finance.

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

Subsequent investigations revealed that the data breach was linked to a North Korean government-backed hacking group. This finding instantly elevated what could have been classified as a "routine exchange security flaw" to a matter of geopolitical seriousness.

May: U.S. President Rewards Top TRUMP Meme Coin Holders

In May, a piece of news triggered a "small but significant" surge in TRUMP meme coin trading volume—President Trump announced that only the top holders of TRUMP tokens would be invited to a formal dinner at his private golf club. This "exclusive pay-to-play" model effectively turned the token into a "bidding tool": anyone holding enough tokens could gain private access to the president through this mechanism.

Attendees included Tron founder Justin Sun, who had previously invested over 18 million USD in TRUMP tokens and had faced SEC charges (which were later suspended).

This event sparked dual controversy: protesters gathered outside, while inside, the event drew close scrutiny from the U.S. Congress. Although the White House insisted that Trump's assets were under "blind trust" management (meaning assets are managed by a third party without his direct involvement), on-chain blockchain analysis showed that Trump-related entities controlled about 80% of the remaining token supply and had earned over 320 million USD in transaction fees through token trading.

U.S. Representatives Adam Smith and Sean Casten, along with 35 other House Democrats, wrote to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation into Trump's actions: whether offering "dinner with the president" opportunities to top TRUMP token investors constituted bribery or violated the U.S. Constitution's "Emoluments Clause" (which prohibits federal officials from accepting unauthorized compensation from foreign governments or individuals).

They noted in the letter that this event "opens the door for foreign powers to influence U.S. policy decisions, may constitute corruption, and potentially violates the Emoluments Clause. This is just the latest example of President Trump disregarding ethical norms, exacerbating conflicts of interest, and using his office for personal gain."

October: The "10.11" Incident

Fast forward to October: blockchain analysts discovered that an anonymous trader suddenly shorted Bitcoin and Ethereum just minutes before President Trump announced new tariffs on China. The tariff announcement triggered the largest "liquidation cascade" in crypto history (where a massive number of leveraged positions are force-liquidated due to price crashes, further accelerating the downward spiral).

According to reports, before the market stabilized, the anonymous trader had already profited 160 million USD. Observers, including The Kobeissi Letter, publicly questioned: "Did someone have advance knowledge of the tariff news?"

There is currently no direct evidence of "insider information leaks," but the incident has once again raised public concerns about the digital asset market—issues of information asymmetry and political influence on the market may be far more serious than imagined.

October: A "Profitable" Pardon

Just weeks later, another controversy erupted: President Trump pardoned Binance founder CZ.

CZ had pleaded guilty to "anti-money laundering violations" in 2023 and served four months in prison; Binance itself paid over 4 billions USD in fines.

On April 30, 2024, former Binance CEO CZ leaves the U.S. Federal Court in Seattle, Washington. CZ, founder and former CEO of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, was sentenced to four months in prison after admitting to violating anti-money laundering laws. (Photo: Jason Redmond / AFP via Getty Images, licensed by Getty Images)

This pardon not only erased CZ's criminal record but also cleared the way for his return to the crypto industry. The White House explained that the move was intended to correct "regulatory overreach during the Biden administration."

However, a BBC report further fueled the controversy: companies under CZ had previously cooperated with "enterprises related to the Trump family crypto project." This connection greatly intensified public suspicion of a "quid pro quo" behind the pardon.

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

Conclusion: Another "Ordinary Year" in Crypto

Together, these five events made 2025 another "headline year" for the crypto industry. Despite ongoing controversies, this year is far from the industry's "worst period" in historical terms.

The meme coin debut in January blurred the line between "hype" and "governance"; the Bybit hack in February exposed vulnerabilities even in the most trusted systems; the May dinner turned "token holding" into "political access"; the October trading scandal revealed how "speculation" and "timing" can manipulate the entire market; and the presidential pardon in the same month made 2025 a year in which the industry's "legitimacy and ethical boundaries were repeatedly challenged."

Every year in crypto brings new innovations, challenges, breakthroughs, and controversies—2025 is no exception.