maybe next Congress
Former Senator Pat Toomey (R, PA), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee in the last Congress, appeared before an audience at a Georgetown Law Seminar titled, “National Security and Digital Assets Seminar” yesterday. Toomey said he can’t see any crypto legislation making it into the law books until 2025 at the earliest. CoinDesk’s Jessie Hamilton reports, “‘I don’t see a path forward in the Senate, regardless of how the vote goes in the House,’ [Toomey] said, though he thinks a bill on stablecoins would have the best chance.” Read more.
In the interview, Toomey sees broader implications with digital assets starting with national security. He said, “Technology drives the economy” which pays for the nation’s defense infrastructure.
Later, he explained, “From a national security point of view, I want our currency to be the most technologically sophisticated and to me it seems, right now, stablecoins are a way that provides that technological sophistication, gives our money, abilities, capabilities that it doesn’t have today.”
See video of the entire interview with Senator Toomey.
now leaving the U.S.
In an article titled, “Crypto Companies Are Looking Outside the U.S. for Growth,” The Wall Street Journal reviews whether crypto startups are really leaving the United States for friendlier jurisdictions. The WSJ cites: “Crypto venture-capital firm Ryze Labs, payments company Ripple Labs and Zodia Markets, a digital-asset trading platform backed by Standard Chartered, are all focusing outside the U.S. for growth, executives at these companies said.” Read more.
more tips:
Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital targets Europe for crypto expansion – The Financial Times
CBDC markup clarification
For those wondering – like blockchain tipsheet – what happened to Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Bills H.R.3402 and H.R.3712 at Wednesday’s House Financial Services (HFS) markup – neither were voted upon even though they were on the markup’s agenda. Only Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s (R, MN) “CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act” [H.R. 5403] was voted on. And it passed 27-20 along party lines.
A spokesperson for HFS Chair Patrick McHenry’s (R, NC) office said that the markup concentrated on “issuance” of a CBDC and that language from “3402” known as the bipartisan “Power of the Mint” Act was incorporated into the Emmer bill.
Needless to say, a threat of a government shutdown may also have precluded extended debate while Republicans grapple with internal politics.
more tips:
SIBOS on CBDC, tokenization: fragmentation is normal at this stage of innovation – Ledger Insights
job opening
A new job opening at New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) spans compliance to policy. With a starting salary of $123,721, the “Virtual Currency Manager” listing outlines the policy part of the role: “Tracks laws, regulations, policies, and examination procedures of federal or other regulatory authorities relevant to the Virtual Currency Unit, including serving as a DFS policy lead in such capacity as required…” And, then there are 14 other areas of responsibility. Read more here (PDF).
another day, another Senator
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D, MA) is finding plenty of like-minded Democrats to join her on the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering [S.2669] bill. On Wednesday, Sen. John Fetterman (D, PA) came aboard. That makes 15 total Senators including Warren who’ve come aboard to support the bill. See Congress.gov.
Will Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D, OH) put the bill on the Senate Banking agenda? He’s very busy trying to defend his seat this November, too.
NFTs are worthless
dappGambl, which says it offers “unbiased” research for crypto markets, reports on new data from the non-fungible token (NFT) market. It doesn’t look good: “95% of people holding NFT collections are currently holding onto worthless investments. Having looked into those figures, we would estimate that 95% to include over 23 million people who’s investments are now worthless.” Ouch. Read the report. And, read the summary on Rolling Stone.
funding
Mesh, which helps people manage their digital assets, raises $22M – TechCrunch
Proof of Play raises $33M for Web3 RPG, ex-Twitch CEO joins board – VentureBeat
still more tips
Tether Is Lending Its Stablecoins Again – The Wall Street Journal
The Blockchain Bill That Doesn’t Mention Blockchain: U.K. Leads The Digital Space Race In Trade – Forbes
UK FCA gives unregistered crypto firms ‘final warning’ on ads regime compliance – Cointelegraph
Australian regulator sues crypto exchange for design, distribution failures – Reuters
Royal Gemstones’ €5 Million Portfolio To Embrace Blockchain Tokenization – Benzinga