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US lawmaker hints at calling for Republican votes in 2022 midterms over crypto policies
North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry may have used his virtual appearance at a cryptocurrency conference as a soapbox to call for votes in the 2022 United States midterm elections. In a prerecorded message for the attendees of the Converge22 conference in San Francisco on Sept. 29, McHenry suggested that the goal of a “clear regulatory framework” for digital assets could drive U.S. lawmakers to develop legislation. The Republican lawmaker used terms including “bipartisan consensus” and support from both major political parties over certain regulatory frameworks related to digital assets and stablecoins before seemingly encouraging crypto users to vote red in the next election. “To ensure that these technologies flourish here in the United States, we need to provide regulatory clar...
Why this tiny country is adopting the Bitcoin Lightning Network
Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall visited the country of Gibraltar to explore Bitcoin (BTC) adoption on “The Rock,” as the peninsula is known locally, and how the adoption of Bitcoin for shopping in the territory is impacting business. The visit was also an opportunity to visit Xapo Bank, the world’s first private financial institution to combine traditional banking with Bitcoin. Coinbase acquired its custody business in 2019, making the American exchange the largest crypto custodian in the world. The British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar is known for its pioneering crypto regulations, support for blockchain development and Bitcoin adoption, with many retail businesses using the Lightning Network — a layer-two network that enables off-chain transactions — to accept Bitcoin as payment...
Crypto Market Integrity Coalition inducts 8 new members, plans training
The Crypto Market Integrity Coalition (CMIC) announced the induction of eight new members, the organization announced on Sept. 29. The organization, which now has 38 members who have all taken a pledge to uphold market integrity and efficiency, describes itself as such: “CMIC […] gives a unified voice to the crypto industry’s commitment to continually improving market integrity and collaboration with regulators.” According to its statement, CMIC is also developing market integrity training for digital asset markets to help compliance professionals counter manipulation. The new CMIC members are digital asset trust and security company BitGo, crypto exchange Bittrex, blockchain analytics platform Crystal Blockchain, fintech firms FinClusive and Oasis Pro Markets, Web3 risk mitigation p...
Judge orders SEC to turn Hinman documents over to Ripple Labs after months of dispute
Ripple Labs scored a victory in its continuing legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Sept. 29 as U.S. District Court judge Analisa Torres ruled to release the documents written by former SEC corporation finance division director William Hinman. The documents predominantly relate to a speech Hinman delivered at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in June 2018. Hinman stated in his speech that Ether (ETH) was not a security. Ripple Labs considers the speech a key piece of evidence the case the SEC has brought against it alleging sales of Ripple’s XRP violated U.S. securities laws — though time has yet to tell whether it will be as meaningful as the company suggests. The circumstances surrounding the speech and Hinman’s actions leading up to it...
Defected Records’ New Owner Wez Saunders On Protecting The Label’s Legacy: I’m Not Here To Reinvent The Wheel’
On a late summer morning in London, Wez Saunders walked into work at the Defected Records headquarters and greeted his staff as he has for years. But on this otherwise normal day, something felt different: “Just for a split second,” Saunders recalls, “it was like, ‘Wow, I own this now.’” On August 23, Defected announced that its founder, Simon Dunmore, was stepping down as CEO, with Saunders, who has been with the label in various roles since 2014, acquiring the music company and all its subsidiaries. (Dunmore will stay on in a new role as A&R consultant.) Though Saunders had worked closely with Dunmore in running Defected’s day-to-day operations, there’s a pressure in taking over a label with so much history. When Dunmore launched Defected in 1999, its first release, Soulsearche...
Ed Sheeran Must Face Trial Over Accusation That He Copied Marvin Gaye Song
A federal judge says Ed Sheeran must face a jury trial over whether he stole key pieces of his “Thinking Out Loud” from Marvin Gaye‘s iconic “Let’s Get It On,” rejecting the British singer-songwriter’s efforts to toss out the long-running copyright case. Sheeran’s attorneys argued that the lawsuit – filed by an entity that owns a partial stake in Gaye’s famous 1973 song – was invalid because the combination of simple elements the singer allegedly stole was not unique enough to be covered by a copyright in the first place. But in a ruling on Thursday, Judge Louis Stanton said there was “no bright-line rule” for deciding such questions and that the pop star would need to make his arguments before a jury of his peers. The decision sets the stage for a blockbuster trial at a Manhattan federal ...
Floridians could face weeks without power if Ian leaves grid ‘beyond repair’
“This is a catastrophic storm,” he added. “There will be catastrophic damage across the entire system,” he said. Adding to the challenges is a nationwide shortfall of critical electrical equipment, such as certain kinds of transformers, that crews may need to restore power in parts of Florida. Wait times to obtain some supplies are now as long as two to three years, said Joy Ditto, CEO of the American Public Power Association. That could mean a scramble to obtain parts necessary for the Ian recovery, forcing providers to drain their limited backup supplies or swap equipment with other utilities. FPL’s Silagy said his company has equipment on hand to deal with this hurricane. Still, Ditto said she worries that the U.S. grid will be even more vulnerable when the next storm or cyberattack hit...
Ian’s mass blackouts meet struggling U.S. supply chain
“This is a catastrophic storm,” he added. “There will be catastrophic damage across the entire system,” he said. Adding to the challenges is a nationwide shortfall of critical electrical equipment, such as certain kinds of transformers, that crews may need to restore power in parts of Florida. Key West Fire Department works on a strip mall fire on Flagler Ave., in midtown Key West, Fla., in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian’s tropical winds, Sept. 28, 2022. | Mary Martin/AP Photo Wait times to obtain some supplies are now as long as two to three years, said Joy Ditto, CEO of the American Public Power Association. That could mean a scramble to obtain parts necessary for the Ian recovery, forcing providers to drain their limited backup supplies or swap equipment with other utilities. FPL’...
Russia unlikely to choose Bitcoin for cross-border crypto payments: Analysis
Despite Russia pushing the idea of using cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments, the specific digital asset the government plans to adopt for such transactions still remains unclear. Russian authorities are quite unlikely to approve the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) for cross-border transactions, according to local lawyers and fintech executives. Bank of Russia needs to control cross-border transactions That Russia would allow Bitcoin or any other similar cryptocurrency to be usefor cross-border payments is “highly questionable” because such assets are “hard to control,” according to Elena Klyuchareva, the senior associate at the local law firm KKMP. Klyuchareva emphasized that the draft amendments to the legislation on cross-border crypto payments are not...
Ooki DAO members explore options in response to CFTC lawsuit
Members of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called Ooki DAO have started looking into an appropriate response to the charges filed by the United States Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). On Sept. 22, the CFTC announced a $250,000 penalty and settlement with bZeroX, the creators of the decentralized lending platform bZx protocol which suffered from code exploits in 2020 that led to hundreds of thousands in losses. In addition to this, the CFTC also filed a lawsuit against Ooki DAO over similar alleged violations of digital asset trading laws. In response, Ooki DAO members started to discuss how they should respond to the lawsuit. The DAO identified three potential responses including allocating funds from its treasury toward hiring lawyers for the DAO members. The...
The Caribbean is pioneering CBDCs with mixed results amid banking difficulties
The Caribbean region is in a tough situation for banking. The 35 nations comprising the region face challenges common to many tiny economies, such as dollarization and dependence on foreign trade and remittances. In addition, the increasingly common banking practice called de-risking is taking a heavy toll. So, it is probably no coincidence that the region is also at the forefront of digital currency adoption. Carmelle Cadet, the founder and CEO of banking solutions company Emtech, is a native of Haiti who has experience working with central banks in Haiti and Ghana. Her company is also a member of the new Digital Dollar Project Technical Sandbox Program that is exploring aspects of a United States central bank digital currency (CBDC). Cadet spoke to Cointelegraph about her experienc...
Crypto startup to save iconic fiat money sculpture with 1M euros in funding
The paths of traditional finance and the cryptocurrency industry have intersected again, with a crypto startup coming to save the iconic “Euro-Skulptur” monument in Frankfurt. Frankfurt-based crypto startup Caiz Development will provide 1 million euros, or about $961,000, in funding over the next five years to rescue the famous sculpture depicting the symbol for the Euro. Announcing the news on Tuesday, Caiz said that the firm saw a good marketing opportunity in supporting the sculpture by obtaining unique exposure. Through the funding, the firm was able to put its product board next to the 14-meter-high art installation bearing 12 yellow stars, which represent the original members of the currency union. Euro monument and Caiz’s marketing program. Source: Caiz Development The iconic euro s...
