Whip Emmer on lame duck
House Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R, MN) said that the “lame duck” session after the election and before the 119th Congress starts may be the best opportunity for Congress to advance the big digital asset market structure bill.
Speaking in front of an audience at CoinDesk’s Consensus conference yesterday, Whip Emmer said that the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT 21) will likely see changes from Senate colleagues, which will mean yet another vote in the House – and all before year end.
CoinDesk’s Jesse Hamilton reports Emmer had sharp words for Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler saying he was “‘on his way out’ and losing favor in the administration” and adding in regards to the Chair, “I’d be very careful about trusting a cornered animal.” Read more in CoinDesk.
more tips:
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- NYSE Would Consider Crypto Trading If Regulatory Picture Were Clearer, President Says at Consensus 2024 – CoinDesk
what you should know: FIT 21 making it into law by the end of the year seems improbable. Nevertheless, the groundwork is being laid for the 119th Congress.
Ripple giving to elections
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse speaks with Politico’s Jasper Goodman regarding Ripple Labs’ new $25 million donation to crypto Super PAC network Fairshake which is looking to support pro-crypto candidates this Fall. This Ripple donation follows another $20 million donation the company made last December according to OpenSecrets.org.
Garlinghouse tells Politico, “It’s critical for this industry’s success in the largest economy in the world to continue to champion pro-innovation, pro-regulation, pro-consumer candidates who are running for office…”Read more (subscription).
video to view
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- Senator Cynthia Lummis (R, WY) on “building a crypto army” in DC – Sen. Lummis on Fox Business via X
- Former NYSE President Tom Farley Discusses Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, MA) and the “Overton window” at Consensus – James Murphy on X
hearing next week
The House Financial Services (HFS) Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion will take on tokenization in a hearing next Wednesday, June 5, titled, “Next Generation Infrastructure: How Tokenization of Real-World Assets Will Facilitate Efficient Markets.” It’s a 9 a.m. ET start and will be led by Subcommittee Chair French Hill (R, AR).
See announcement and hearing page.
what you should know: This neutral-ish topic could help Democratic leadership turn its positioning toward a more “pro-digital assets” stance . Tokenization is about using blockchain technology for existing real-world assets rather than assets that only exist on the blockchain – even Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu is excited by RWA tokenizaton and held a conference on it in February. Conversely, the OCC’s Hsu has strong misgivings about crypto – read this 2022 speech at the DC Blockchain Summit.
US Treasury on NFTs
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) come under the watchful gaze of U.S. Treasury in a new report. Titled, “Illicit Finance Risk Assessment of Non-Fungible Tokens,” the focus is on the dark side of NFTs.
Download Treasury’s assessment (PDF).
The Block’s Sarah Wynn reports “that most money laundering and terrorist financing happens through fiat currency but highlighted fraud and money laundering occurring in the NFT space.” Read more in The Block.
The report is reminiscent of Treasury’s responses to the President’s Executive Order on Digital Assets here and here in 2022.
what you should know: In Treasury’s NFT report, fraud and money laundering aren’t at the same level of cryptocurrency. Also, the exploration of NFTs brings to light yet another angle of blockchain tech which Congress will likely need to weigh in on.
tracking litigation
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- Get the Morrison Cohen Litigation Tracker (May 28 update) – Morrison Cohen
Mastercard crypto
Payments company Mastercard announced yesterday that users in many Latin America and European countries can use its new Crypto Credential “alias” product to transfer cryptocurrencies. The company calls it “peer to peer” transactions and says that using an “alias” is better than “long and complex blockchain addresses.”
Though unspoken, it appears anti-money laundering restrictions are in place, too. From the release: “[Crypto Credential] provides the assurance that the user has met a set of verification standards and confirms that the recipient’s wallet supports the transferred asset.” Read more.
what you should know: This type of “alias” service is similar to the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) which provides an alias on the Ethereum blockchain – but there’s no P2P “pitch” with ENS. In the release, there’s also no mention how Mastercard makes money with this new product, but at the very least it likely feeds into other plans for crypto. The Mastercard newsroom is all about blockchain these days. See it.
industry orgs
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- Crypto Council for Innovation Announces “Center For Digital Future” including “Impact Base” for web3 use cases (see thread) – CCI on X
- Uniswap Responds to Wells Notice; Update on BA’s Fight Against the SEC’s “Dealer” Rule; SEC Approves ETH ETPs – DeFi Education Fund
PayPal stablecoin expands
Payments company PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD is now available on the Solana Layer 1 blockchain – not just Ethereum.
A press release explains the benefits to the crypto ecosystem: “The simplified experience of PayPal and Venmo wallets show PYUSD as a unified balance regardless of the blockchain. This allows for increased ease of use and when transferring out to external wallets, users have the choice to send PYUSD on Ethereum or Solana.” Read the release.
what you should know: PYUSD still pales in comparison to larger stablecoins such as Tether and USDC. According to BlueChip[dot]org, Tether comes in with a market cap of $111.2 billion USD, USDC is $32 billion and PayPal is $.4 billion.
still more tips
Bitcoin boosters fear crypto world is getting ‘rug pulled’ by Congress – Marketwatch
Why more US spot crypto ETF approvals may be unlikely in the near term – Blockworks
Video: The Future of Digital Funds with Reps. French Hill and Wiley Nickel (D, NC) (May 22) – Axios on YouTube
Crypto ISAC Launches to Spearhead Ecosystem-Wide Security Initiatives – press release
5 Ways Fraudsters May Lure Victims Into Scams Involving Crypto Asset Securities – Investor.gov from SEC
Winklevoss crypto firm customers will get back triple the value of their frozen assets – CNN