With dominant industry personalities suddenly swept offstage, the evolving rules and regulations that will dictate the industry's future will be in the spotlight.

Heartland Tri-State Bank, which failed after its CEO allegedly embezzled money to fund cryptocurrency investments, had received $21 million in advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

Federal prosecutors allege that Shan Hanes, the former CEO of the now defunct Heartland Tri-State Bank, illegally took money from customers to fund cryptocurrency investments. He could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

In correspondence with Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed safeguarding rule could change banks' custody businesses.

The $1 billion-asset institution shuttered its mobile banking platform for digital asset purchases on Wednesday, following a consent order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency received in October of last year.

PayPal hopes to demonstrate its coin's utility by using it to take a stake in a company called Mesh.

Zeke Faux, a Bloomberg journalist, describes his two-year odyssey to better understand cryptocurrencies in his book "Number Go Up." His work proves to be an entertaining deep dive into an industry riddled with scams.

The San Francisco technology company is partnering with Onramp Invest to offer registered investment experts tools for facilitating larger digital asset transactions.

Comments from SEC Chair Gary Gensler and market fundamentals have created ample reason for banks to stay away from crypto, despite early bird upsides.

Robinhood and a few other trading app providers immediately announced support for the newly approved spot bitcoin ETFs. But Vanguard announced this week it would not allow customers to invest in them.

Tech company Circle files for an IPO; Amazon wants to extend its Just Walk Out technology to hospitals; Pacific Financial expands in suburban Oregon; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

While stablecoins do find utility as a base currency for navigating between volatile cryptocurrencies, their broader application as a fiat money alternative remains elusive.

The decision could make bitcoin a major part of more investing portfolios. But after bitcoin, the SEC is likely to move slowly on approving other crypto-tied ETFs.

An initiative in Baltimore to use blockchain tech to track and manage vacant properties is a prime example of how blockchain can help solve stubborn problems, even if it isn't ready to revolutionize the fundamentals of commerce.

BlackRock, Ark and several other prospective issuers of exchange-traded funds investing directly in bitcoin in the U.S. filed amended forms for their applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the news this week: A consumer group filed a complaint against Starbucks over its mobile app and reloadable gift cards, Apple Pay added a new payment tech firm, The Clearing House hired Amanda Stewart as its new marketing chief, and more.

The use of digital wallets to finance the Hamas attack on Israel highlights the need for tighter controls on the transfer of cryptocurrencies.

When you centralize a blockchain, you lose much of its inherent value. Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu's support for centralized tokenization betrays a misunderstanding of the value of decentralization.

Germany, traditionally a cash-heavy economy, is seeing a rise in debit card use. Meanwhile, Indian regulators accuse several crypto exchanges of violating anti-money-laundering rules.

Before a spot bitcoin ETF is approved, we're going to need to see much more clarity about how applicants draw the line between custody and trading.