cyber CODEL
According to Politico, the most recent Congressional recess provided an opportunity for a trip to Europe by a CODEL of the House’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee. Members who participated included Chair Andrew Garbarino (R, NY), Ranking Member Eric Swalwell (D, CA), Rep. Dave Joyce (R, OH) and Rep. Rob Menendez (D, NJ) who said that “there are definitely lessons to be learned” from cyber officials in the European Union. The Congressmen were tight-lipped on specifics, but told Politico: “One concept, in particular, that struck a chord with some of the lawmakers in their meeting with Estonia’s Secret Service was a proposal to provide the agency with additional authority to investigate crimes related to digital currency.” Read a bit more.
more tips:
The lore of CODELs – Politico
blockchain amendments
Consensys lawyer Bill Hughes noted on Twitter yesterday that Rep. Kat Cammack (R, FL), who participated in the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce hearing on blockchain technology last month, recently introduced a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) “amendment (see PDF) that would establish a working group to identify potential applications for blockchain technology, smart contracts, or distributed ledger technologies to improve efficiencies or functions at the Department of Defense.”
Hughes tweeted about still another amendment to the NDAA by crypto gadfly Rep. Brad Sherman (D, CA) which seeks “to provide the Treasury Secretary with authority to prohibit digital asset trading platforms and ‘transaction facilitators’ from transacting with cryptocurrency addresses that are known to be, or could reasonably be known to be, in Russia.” See PDF.
not so fast
The new European Union digital assets regulatory framework known as “MiCA” (Markets-in-Crypto-Assets) isn’t ‘live’ yet. And, therefore, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) laid down the law with a domestic investment bank, Saxo Bank, recently telling the bank which has $100 billion in assets to stop trading in crypto. “The investment bank traded a crypto portfolio as a hedge for its own digital asset products,” reports Blockworks. A spokesperson for the bank told the publication that it wasn’t actually buying crypto, but rather, a product which tracked crypto prices. Read more.
BlackRock on Bitcoin
With a Bitcoin Spot ETF in the works, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink took to the airwaves yesterday via Fox Business and spoke to the importance of crypto -and Bitcoin, specifically. He said, “…I do believe the role of crypto is – it’s digitizing gold in many ways. Instead of investing in gold as a hedge against inflation – a hedge against the onerous problems of any one country or the devaluation of your currency, whatever country you’re in – let’s be clear, Bitcoin is an international asset. It’s not based on any one currency. And so it can represent an asset that people can play as an alternative. The foundation of BlackRock is about hope. You invest for retirement because you believe tomorrow is better than today.” See this video clip.
And, see the entire 18-minute interview here.
Fink says he is all-in on blockchain technology and its use cases. He believes blockchain will remove the need for custodians someday.
enforcement is not enough
Fortune’s Leo Schwartz speaks to former CFTC Chair Timothy Massad (Chair from 2014-2017) about an effective digital assets regulatory framework. “Massad said that enforcement cases are not enough and that the existing laws are not sufficient,” writes Schwartz. “In his mind, a key issue is that many don’t understand the nuance of the law around securities and commodities. Massad was the first to declare Bitcoin a commodity, as well as other digital assets, but made clear that any financial instrument that is subject to a futures or swap contract is a commodity.” Read more.
self-custody
Blockchain Association’s Ron Hammond points to a new Bankless podcast where his former boss, Rep. Warren Davidson (R, OH), is a guest. Hammond tweets, “With the market structure and stablecoin bills in the hopper, this provides a good analysis of all the hurdles legislation has to overcome and policy elements that still need to be addressed such as self custody.”
Read, and listen, more. Or, watch it on YouTube.
promising startups
The Information compiles a short list of promising blockchain startups across trading (dYdX), analytics (Nansen), accounting analytics (Elementus), a “blockchain network that lets users buy graphics processing power” (Render Network) and ThirdWeb which “which helps other companies create products involving NFTs … and teamed up with Coinbase in December to help gaming companies implement crypto. Thirdweb has also built an integration with e-commerce software giant Shopify.” Read it.
see more tips
Cryptocurrency-friendly bank DBS introduces new customer solutions in mainland China related to digital yuan, also known as e-CNY – Cointelegraph
Is the IRS Cracking Down on Crypto? – The Defiant
Two major asset managers AXA, Union in Société Générale tokenization hackathon – Ledger Insights
Nasdaq files for Valkyrie bitcoin ETF, lists Coinbase as surveillance sharing partner – The Block
‘The corpse of Bitcoin’: Crypto skeptic’s appointment to central bank casts doubt on China warming to digital assets – Fortune
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