Warsh tapped for Fed chair as crypto market reacts; Binance shifts $1B SAFU into bitcoin and SoFi posts $1B quarter

A cluster of policy, market and corporate developments reframed near‑term risk for crypto and traditional finance this week. The White House’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair became a focal point for markets: odds on prediction platforms tightened sharply in favor of Warsh ahead of the announcement, signaling that traders expect a chair with deep Fed experience to influence inflation expectations and financial conditions. That nomination comes amid heightened politicization of central‑bank leadership — including reporting of a Justice Department inquiry touching senior Fed staff — which could complicate confirmations and amplify market sensitivity to policy signals. On the corporate front, Binance said it will convert a $1 billion SAFU insurance reserve from stablecoins into bitcoin over a 30‑day window and indicated plans to make restitution to users affected by Gopax’s GoFi product in South Korea; the move shifts the exchange’s asset composition and injects a new narrative about where large pools of exchange liquidity reside. SoFi posted its first $1 billion revenue quarter with meaningful net income and fresh guidance for 2026 growth, underscoring how incumbent financial firms are increasingly integrating crypto products into broader consumer offerings. Enforcement and legal actions remained salient: the U.S. Department of Justice finalized a forfeiture exceeding $400 million tied to funds routed through the Helix mixer, a reminder that law‑enforcement pressure on obfuscation tools persists. Meanwhile, Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin committed 16,384 ETH to support open‑source security and privacy projects, signaling private backing for ecosystem hardening. Market flows were mixed: institutional ETF withdrawals topped $1 billion on a one‑day basis amid a Fed pause and risk‑off positioning, even as spot ETF activity has been a recurring source of liquidity in recent weeks. Complementary signals from other jurisdictions — a major exchange pausing peso services in Argentina, cancellations of European NFT events amid weak activity, and experimental state‑level stablecoin issuances — underscore operational fragilities and regulatory experimentation that can constrain on‑ramps and business models. Taken together, these developments indicate a market recalibration: size of holdings matters less than form and location of liquidity, and political/legal headlines now have outsized capacity to change risk pricing. For firms and investors, the immediate priorities are managing balance‑sheet exposures, tightening compliance and custody practices, and watching supervisory and legislative moves that will determine how quickly institutional participation broadens or retreats.