Senate
GOP Senators Block Bill That Would Help Vets Exposed To Toxins, Vets Stage Sit-In
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty The Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act passed swimmingly through the House and Senate earlier this summer but now, 25 GOP senators voted against a House-modified version of the PACT Act. In response, military veterans say they will be staging a sit-in protest. To illustrate the political divisiveness at the congressional level, the PACT Act passed at a clip of 342-88 in the House and 84-14 in the Senate. When the House returned and passed a version of the PACT Act that added 23 toxic and burn pit exposure conditions to the Veteran Affairs database, GOP senators are apparently uncomfortable with the changes. In addition, protections were extended to first responders who suffered from exposure during the 9/11 attacks....
US Senate confirms Michael Barr as Fed vice chair for supervision
The United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of law professor Michael Barr to become the next vice chair for supervision for the Federal Reserve. In a 66-28 vote on the Senate floor on Wednesday, U.S. lawmakers confirmed Barr as vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve System for four years, filling the last seat on the seven-member board of governors. Barr, who was on the advisory board of Ripple Labs from 2015 to 2017, also served as the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for financial institutions under former President Barack Obama, and taught courses on financial regulation at the University of Michigan. As vice chair for supervision, Barr will be responsible for developing policy recommendations for the Fed as well as overseeing the supervision and regulation...
US crypto regulation bill aims to bring greater clarity to DAOs
On June 7, United States Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand launched the much anticipated Responsible Financial Innovation Act, proposing a comprehensive set of regulations that address some of the biggest questions facing the digital assets sector. By providing holistic guidance to the rapidly growing industry, the bill offers a bipartisan response to President Biden’s call for a whole-of-government approach to regulating crypto. Among its many proposals, the bill establishes basic definitions, provides an exemption for digital currency transactions and harmonizes the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), delineating regulatory swim lanes and granting a significant jurisdictional expansion to the CFTC. The bi...
Chainalysis exec touts blockchain analysis to Senate homeland security committee
The collection and processing of information was a major theme at the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) hearing titled, “Rising Threats: Ransomware Attacks and Ransom Payments Enabled by Cryptocurrency” on Tuesday. The committee hosted a panel of private-sector experts who discussed the problem of ransomware attacks and the challenges of collecting and using the information necessary to fight them. Committee chair Gary Peters of Michigan, who introduced the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act in February, said the government lacks sufficient data even to understand the scope of the threat posed by ransomware attacks. Attackers almost exclusively ask for payment in cryptocurrency, he added. Several figures were trotted out to qua...
Utah Governor approves of blockchain and digital innovation task force
After nearly a three-year-long discussion about establishing a task force to oversee blockchain and crypto initiatives, the governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, signed a bill to create the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Task Force. The Utah State Legislature first saw the introduction of the house bill (H.B. 335) in early February 2022, which took nearly two months to pass through several senates, house and fiscal actions before finally being signed by Governor Cox on March 24. Some of the primary duties assigned to the task force involve making policy recommendations related to blockchain and related technologies. A part of the bill reads: “[The task force shall] develop and introduce recommendations regarding policy pertaining to the promotion in the state of the adoption of blockchain, fin...
Hawaii Senate committees favor task force to regulate crypto, blockchain
Two committees of the Hawaii State Legislature — Commerce and Consumer Protection (CPN) and Ways and Means (WAM) — unanimously approved the launch of a specialized task force to explore the use and regulation of the crypto ecosystem. In a letter addressed to the President of the Hawaii Senate, Ron Kouchi, legislative members Donovan Dela Cruz and Roz Baker wrote in support of creating a “Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Task Force” that was first proposed in bill SB2695. SB2695, titled “A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRYPTOCURRENCY,” sought to establish a task force within the Department of Budget and Finance to review and compile country-wide data on crypto and blockchain. The task force would submit findings and potential legislation back to the State Capitol — which involves providing a pla...
NY Sen. Thomas proposes to criminalize rug pulls and other crypto frauds
New York State Senator Kevin Thomas introduced a new bill amendment request to establish certain offenses related to rug pulls and other frauds related to virtual token distribution, misuse of private keys and hidden interests in crypto projects. The bill drafted by Sen. Thomas, Senate Bill S8839, calls for defining, penalizing and criminalizing frauds specifically targeted at developers and projects that intend to dupe crypto investors. A snippet of Senate Bill S8839. Source: nysenate.gov Through the bill, Thomas seeks to provide prosecutors with a clear legal framework against crypto crimes that align with the spirit of the blockchain while combatting fraud. It calls for a law amendment that will imply rug pull charges on developers that sell “more than 10% of such tokens within fiv...
US Virginia Senate allows state banks to offer crypto custody services
The Senate of Virginia in the United States unanimously approved a bill amendment request that now allows traditional banks operating in the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide virtual currency custody services. Delegate Christopher T. Head introduced the bill (House Bill No. 263) back in January 2022, seeking an amendment to allow eligible banks to offer crypto custody services: “A bank may provide its customers with virtual currency custody services so long as the bank has 26 adequate protocols in place to effectively manage risks and comply with applicable laws.” The bill passed Senate with a sweeping 39-0 vote and is waiting to be signed into law by Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin. Banks that intend to offer this service to clients will need to adhere to three specific requir...
Early birds: U.S. legislators invested in crypto and their digital asset politics
According to some estimates, as many as 20% of Americans were invested in cryptocurrencies as of August 2021. While the exact number can vary significantly from one poll to another, it is clear that cryptocurrencies are no longer just a niche passion project for tech enthusiasts or a tool for financial speculation. Rather, digital assets have become a widespread investment vehicle with the prospect of becoming mainstream. Optimistic as that is, this level of mass adoption still does not enjoy a commensurate political representation, with senior United States politicians largely lagging behind the curve of crypto adoption. This makes the very narrow group of congresspeople who are also hodlers particularly interesting. As a lawmaker, does owning crypto, or at least having some crypto ...
President Biden sends CFTC nominations to Senate
The White House has officially submitted President Joe Biden’s nominations to fill two seats at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with the upcoming departure of another commissioner. In a Friday announcement, the White House said it had sent Citi managing director Caroline Pham’s and Summer Mersinger’s names to the Senate for confirmation. Mersinger previously served as chief of staff to commissioner Dawn Stump — who is expected to leave the agency this year — as well as the director of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. She and Pham will be taking the places of recently departed commissioner Dan Berkovitz, whose term expires in April 2023, and that of Stump, with a term ending in April 2027, respectively. The CFTC nominations came the same week the White House...
Paraguay moves a step closer to regulating digital currency
On Dec. 17, 2021, the Senate of Paraguay approved a cryptocurrency bill introduced in July. The provisions, which define several key terms including virtual assets and call for licenses to mine cryptocurrencies, will now be sent to the Deputy Chamber for further deliberation. Senator Fernando Silva Facetti, the bill’s sponsor, revealed that it’s passed in the Paraguayan Senate after a contentious debate. According to the senator, the law also aims to foster the growth of crypto mining activities by using the surplus electricity generated in the country. (1/3) Today, after an intense debate, the Senate @SenadoresPy approved todaya New Law Project which regulates the industry and commercialization of #Crypto assets #Bitcoin #Paraguay after …(open threat) — FernandoSilv...
Crypto regulation is coming, but Bitcoin traders are still buying the dip
Looking at the Bitcoin chart from a weekly or daily perspective presents a bearish outlook and it’s clear that (BTC) price has been consistently making lower lows since hitting an all-time high at $69,000. Bitcoin/USD on FTX. Source: TradingView Curiously, the Nov. 10 price peak happened right as the United States announced that inflation has hit a 30-year high, but, the mood quickly reversed after fears related to China-based real estate developer Evergrande defaulting on its loans. This appears to have impacted the broader market structure. Traders are still afraid of stablecoin regulation This initial corrective phase was quickly followed by relentless pressure from regulators and policy makers on stablecoin issuers. First came VanEck’s spot Bitcoin ETF rejection by the U.S....
