Presidential crypto plan
According to Politico on Friday, conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation is putting together an “agency by agency” plan if a Republican were to take the White House in the next general election. It’s called “Project 2025” and includes plans for crypto.
Politico reports, “On crypto, the plan calls for the SEC and the CFTC to pursue something they’ve resisted for years: A joint rule defining when a digital asset will be regulated as a security or a commodity.” Heritage is not a fan of more regulation. Read more.
And, read more about Project 2025 which was originally announced in January on The Heritage Foundation’s website.
Crypto law professor Todd Phillips took issue with the plan’s crypto angle on X, “Why do they (Heritage) think a GOP SEC Chair will agree to anything other than the Howey Test? Also, that reg wouldn’t affect private suits, which are based on Howey.” Read the short Tweet thread on X.
while Congress watches
In his weekly column, CoinDesk executive editor Michael Casey ruminates on recent stablecoin milestones and momentum for legislation. He worries that if “the legislative process in the U.S. drags on for a lot longer, it will perpetuate the existing system of Washington-regulated, Wall Street-managed surveillance. That’s a system that puts bank compliance officers and many other types of middlemen into subtle but powerful rent-seeking positions within the global financial system…” Read more.
blockchain SWOT
Crypto policy executive Zachary Wong bangs out another compelling blog post illustrating the transformative potential for digital assets. In his latest missive, Wong takes a look at VISA’s strategy and does his own SWOT analysis where he “describes the strategic opportunity for the payments network in a world where public blockchains are ubiquitously adopted.” Read it here.
Among the threats for VISA – let alone others in the payments business -, Wong sees competition ahead “Public, permissionless blockchains allow anyone to join a payments network instantly, which may lead to the emergence of a competitive network.” This speaks to the potentially inclusive capabilities of the blockchain, too, and serving the underserved.
Just last week, Mastercard was talking about its plans for the blockchain including a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and then there was PayPal’s stablecoin announcement two weeks ago. Payments companies can see the future coming at them with the blockchain.
more tips:
“Crypto | Money is evolving” – VISA
NFT creator fees
Arguably the most important of the NFT (non-fungible token) marketplaces, OpenSea, has decided to stop recognizing creator fees – or at least make them optional. This is a big change for NFT artists.
To date, every time a creator’s NFT work was sold on OpenSea, creators would receive a percentage of the sale. Creator fees have been seen as a way to help digital artists make a living. But others see the fees as an unnecessary tax on an NFT transaction which has apparently won-out with the marketplace. See the announcement on OpenSea’s blog from CEO David Finzer.
Addressing Finzer, Shark Tank star and billionaire investor Mark Cuban expressed dismay about the OpenSea decision as Cuban tweeted on Friday, “Not collecting and paying royalties on NFT sales is a HUGE mistake by OpenSea. It diminished trust in the platform and hurts the industry. And I say this as an OpenSea investor investor…”
NFT juggernaut, owners of the Bored Apes NFT brand among many, tweeted that they disagreed with the decision and would no longer support sales of their NFTs on OpenSea beginning in February of 2024.
use case – tokenization
Decrypt explains that tokenization, an age-old use case of blockchain technology, is seeing renewed momentum in the marketplace. Decrypt’s Liam Kelly explains, “Tokenization basically refers to the transfer of more traditional financial assets like stocks and bonds onto a blockchain. The transition has promised lower overhead costs and increased efficiency. And these days it’s got everyone pretty excited.” Read more.
see more tips
The SEC Is Moving Fast to Erase Crypto’s Big Court Victory – Barron’s
Coinbase International volumes surging – The Block
The last days of a Columbia Falls (Montana) crypto mine – Daily Inter Lake