Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, the US Treasury advanced proposed rules for implementing the GENIUS Act, BitMart’s official Chinese-language X account demanded answers from founder Sheldon Xia over user funds and Chainalysis sued the US government over a $94.6 million ICE contract awarded to rival TRM Labs.

US Treasury advances GENIUS Act rules ahead of 2027 rollout

The US Treasury Department moved forward with proposed rules for the GENIUS Act on Monday, opening a 60-day public comment period as regulators race to implement the landmark stablecoin law.

The proposal addresses how Treasury will interpret and enforce key provisions of the law, including requirements that generally prohibit entities from issuing payment stablecoins in the United States without an appropriate federal or state license.

Signed into law in July 2025, the GENIUS Act is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 18, 2027, or 120 days after regulators finalize implementing rules, whichever comes first.

Treasury is one of several agencies working to establish the regulatory framework. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve have also proposed rules this year.

However, agencies missed a July deadline that would have allowed final regulations to take effect before January. That raises the possibility that the GENIUS Act could take effect before regulators have completed all the rules needed to implement it.

BitMart account demands founder explain funds status, Xia calls claims ‘fabricated’

BitMart’s official Chinese-language X account has publicly demanded that founder Sheldon Xia explain the whereabouts of user funds and produce a repayment plan by Wednesday.

The account said in a Monday post that some users remained unable to withdraw funds and that some employees had not received their final salary or compensation, while calling on Xia to disclose BitMart’s wallets, assets, liabilities and available reserves, according to a machine translation of the post.

The post said if Xia does not provide a verifiable asset disclosure and repayment plan by the deadline, it would continue to submit evidence to regulators, law enforcement, lawyers and the media.

It was unclear who authored Monday’s post or whether the account remained under the company’s control. Cointelegraph contacted BitMart for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

BitMart announced on July 26 that it would wind down its exchange as its BMX token plunged and users reported withdrawal delays. The company said trading on the platform will end on Aug. 26 and operations will cease on Jan. 31.

Chainalysis sues US over $95 million ICE contract with TRM Labs

Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis has sued the US government over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) decision to award a sole-source contract to competitor TRM Labs. 

On July 27, Chainalysis Government Solutions filed the challenge in the US Court of Federal Claims. The relevant motion became publicly accessible through CourtListener’s RECAP archive on Sunday. 

A federal award notice values the contract at about $94.6 million and says it covers forensic software and support services for Homeland Security Task Force investigations. The one-year award runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. 

Chainalysis alleged that ICE’s decision was “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.” It said it had submitted a capability statement in response to ICE’s notice of intent to obtain forensic software and support services from TRM. 

TRM intervened in the case on July 28. The court has scheduled responses from the government and TRM for Friday and oral argument for Sept. 2. The government requested a decision by Sept. 10. The public filings do not detail Chainalysis’s specific objections or requested remedy. 

TRM Labs declined to comment. Chainalysis and ICE did not respond to requests for comment before publication.