state leads regulation
New New York State coin listing guidance was proposed yesterday. According to the Wall Street Journal, New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Superintendent Adrienne Harris said, “When we know that a coin that someone once thought was OK, when we see that new risks have emerged or the coin is being misused, we want our entities to have a way to delist the coin in a way that’s still protective of consumers and protects safety and soundness as well.” Harris noted that this is the first time “delisting” has been included in guidance. Read the article. The comment period for the proposal ends on October 20.
In the NYDFS press release about coin listings, the Department reveals digital assets hiring momentum at the agency: “60 experts to oversee licensing and strengthen supervision, enhanced existing and established new policies and procedures, and enacted new assessment authority to support the continued growth of the virtual currency unit.” See the release.
more tips:
Back in May, Attorney General Letitia James echoed some of the themes of national Democratic leadership by challenging NYDFS authority with the introduction of state legislation that gave the State A.G. more jurisdiction in digital assets. To date, nothing has come of it and the NYDFS has appeared to maintain its grip on digital assets regulation with the backing of the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul. The turf battle is an extension of “state versus federal oversight in digital assets” being discussed today in Congress (see the July House Financial Services markup on the stablecoin bill).
about that AML bill
CoinDesk’s Jesse Hamilton reviews the new “team” of co-sponsors added to [S.2669] Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, MA) and sees difficulty ahead when it comes to passage.
With two Republicans, 10 Democrats and 1 Independent supporting it, Hamilton opines, “The bill’s path toward passage remains murky, with a divided Congress heading into a divisive election year. Though the House of Representatives has made progress on two crypto bills (the stablecoin and digital asset market structure bills), neither of them is a match for Warren’s.” Read more.
blockchain upgrade
Citi announced yesterday it’s enhancing digital asset products and services and will offer tokenized deposit capabilities for international trade and cash.
Ledger Insights explains a bit of the detail, “One is a pilot for tokenized deposits, enabling organizations to move money between Citi branches worldwide and 24/7. The other is a trade solution that provides smart contract based bank guarantees that was piloted in collaboration with Maersk.” Read more.
Shahmir Khaliq, Citi’s Global Head of Services said, “Digital asset technologies have the potential to upgrade the regulated financial system by applying new technologies to existing legal instruments and well-established regulatory frameworks.” Read it.
new digital assets association
In a new paper published yesterday titled, “Advancing the Digital Asset Era, Together,” global financial market infrastructures (FMIs) – DTCC, Clearstream, and Euroclear – announced a new partnership inspired by the state of their industry’s digital asset evolution. They say that although there have been initiatives around digital asset-based solutions, the FMI’s see two constraints inhibiting progress – scale and interoperability – and they wan to help.
From the paper: “Working in collaboration with industry players, our aim is to connect the industry and to break down barriers to digital asset security adoption (with a focus on real-money assets.)…” The trio of FMI’s offer a list of ambitious goals. Download the paper.
Philippe Laurensy, Head of Group Strategy at Euroclear Group, says in a press release: “Financial market infrastructures (FMIs) have a long legacy of supporting technological innovation. Today, the pace of change is consistently accelerating and alongside our partners, we wholeheartedly embrace the promising potential of blockchain and digital assets.” Read the release.
on EU regulation lead
Europe is feeling good about its regulatory lead on the United States in a feature article by Decrypt’s Nicholas Morgan. But, European entrepreneurs and pundits are under no illusion about how things could change.
Says Morgan, experts point “to the fact the U.S. still has a significantly deeper capital markets than anywhere in Europe, and a wider pool of talent that will ensure its competitiveness.” Also of note in the article is U.S. regulation momentum created by the stablecoin and digital asset market structure bills. It’s existence, even in a divided Congress, is not nothing. Read more.
Google on blockchain tech
Google Cloud Web3 lead, James Tromans, tells Cointelegraph that he’s looking forward to the day when there’s more talk about smart contracts being “used to solve real-world business problems” versus the latest token price gyrations. And when that day arrives, hosting blockchain environments remains a key goal for Tromans’ unit. Cointelegraph explains, “One of Google Cloud’s main blockchain services is its Blockchain Node Engine, offering users a self-hosted node to access blockchain data, conduct transactions, build smart contracts and run decentralized applications.” Read more.
AI – blockchain friend?
The Financial Times reviews the effects of the recent crypto “winter” downturn on blockchain’s potential. Some fintech executives wonder if artificial intelligence has overtaken the blockchain as tech’s shiny new object
Nick Delis, an executive at Five9, a cloud systems provider, tells the FT that banks can use artificial intelligence to “leverage data to give real-time insights to consumers, such as how their credit is being used, while giving customers the empathy they deserve.” On the other hand, blockchain could unlocck blockchain technology, says the article. Read how.
still more tips
Stablecoins: A Deep Dive into Valuation and Depegging – SPglobal.com
Crypto VC Blockchain Capital scores $580 million for two new funds – The Block
Latest evolution of ‘pig butchering’ scam lures victim into fake mining scheme – Sophos
How hackers stole $600 million worth of crypto in an online game called Axie Infinity – NPR
The Ludicrous, Depressing Appeal of the Crypto Guy – The New Republic