United States
US Senate confirms Lael Brainard as Fed vice chair
After weeks of delays due, in part, to partisan obstructionism, the United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of Lael Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, as the next vice chair of the central bank. In a 52–43 vote on the Senate floor on Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers confirmed Brainard a vice chair of the Federal Reserve for four years, potentially beyond her term as a governor ending in January 2026. Brainard was one of four nominees waiting for approval since Republican lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee boycotted a February committee, which would have sent the prospective Fed vice chair’s nomination to the full Senate. In addition to Brainard, the Senate will likely soon vote on the nominations of prospective Fed chair Jerome Powell, who h...
Web3 solutions aim to make America’s real estate market more accessible
America’s housing market may soon be facing its next bubble as home prices across the country continue to be fueled by demand, speculation and lavish spending that could result in a collapse. Moreover, many homeowners are opting to stay put due to climbing mortgage rates, creating a housing shortage. Data from the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, found that 92% of homeowners think their current home is affordable. Yet, findings further show that 69% of the general population, consisting of both homeowners and renters, believe it’s becoming too difficult to find affordable housing. Web3 and the real-estate market While the fate of the United States housing market remains unclear, the rise of Web3 business models based around nonfungible tokens (NFTs...
US Treasury Dept sanctions 3 Ethereum addresses allegedly linked to North Korea
The United States Treasury Department has added three Ethereum wallet addresses to sanctions allegedly linked to the hacker group responsible for the theft of more than $600 million in crypto from nonfungible token game Axie Infinity’s Ronin sidechain. In a Friday update, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, listed three Ethereum addresses to its Specially Designated Nationals restrictions for North Korea’s Lazarus Group. U.S. authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have targeted the group over its alleged role in taking more than 173,600 Ether (ETH) and 25.5 million USD Coin (USDC) from the Ronin sidechain in March — the tokens were worth more than $600 million at the time. The U.S...
US lawmakers sound alarm to EPA over environment concerns of crypto mining
United States House of Representatives member Jared Huffman and 12 other lawmakers have requested the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, assess crypto mining firms potentially violating environmental statutes. In a letter addressed to EPA administrator Michael Regan on Wednesday, Huffman said he and other Democratic House members had “serious concerns” around crypto firms in the United States reportedly contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and not operating in accordance with either the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act. The lawmakers identified efforts to “re-open closed gas and coal facilities” as a means to produce energy for crypto mining operations as a particular area of concern, as well as “energy-inefficient” proof-of-work mining for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Monero ...
As labor struggle takes center stage, can DAOs democratize work?
Web3 has given rise to a number of innovative business models. In particular, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have started gaining traction as Web3 as the creator economy comes to fruition. Natalie Salemink, CEO and founder of Prismatic — a tooling and treasury management platform for DAOs — told Cointelegraph that DAOs are internet-native organizations that utilize smart contracts to facilitate coordination and governance in pursuit of a common goal. When it comes to traditional businesses, though, one of the most interesting aspects a DAO structure can provide is leadership based on computer-generated code rather than individual authority. The idea of operating a business without any central governance has become especially intriguing to brick and mortar compani...
US investors realized 6X more crypto gains in 2021 than next country
Crypto investors from the United States realized crypto gains nearly six times higher in total than the UK, the second highest country in terms of realized gains. According to a report by Chainalysis, crypto investors in the US accrued a record $46.9 billion in realized gains throughout 2021, leading the rest of the world by a wide margin. The US is followed at quite some distance by the UK at $8.1 billion and Germany on $5.8 billion. Total realized cryptocurrency gains 2021: Chainalysis. The report comes as global cryptocurrency adoption continues to gain widespread traction. The US witnessed a massive increase in adoption and realized gains, with the total estimated gains for 2021 up 476% from $8.1 billion the year before. Special mentions were given to countries that outperformed ...
US Treasury Dept lists crypto mining firm in latest sanctions against Russia
The United States Treasury Department has added Russia-based crypto mining services provider BitRiver and several subsidiaries as firms facilitating the evasion of sanctions. In a Wednesday announcement, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, said it was taking action against BitRiver AG as well as 10 of its Russia-based subsidiaries, naming the companies as ‘Specially Designated Nationals’. Firms and individuals listed as such by OFAC have their assets blocked and “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.” According to the U.S. Treasury, the actions against BitRiver and its subsidiaries were based on them allegedly facilitating “sanctions evasion for Russian entities,” hinting crypto may have played a role in helping Russia’s govern...
Simplify files with SEC for Bitcoin Strategy Risk-Managed Income ETF
Asset manager Simplify has filed a registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to list shares of an exchange-traded fund linked to Bitcoin futures, Treasury securities, and options. In a Wednesday filing, Simplify applied with the SEC for an investment vehicle based on a Bitcoin (BTC) futures strategy, an income strategy, and an option overlay strategy. The Bitcoin Strategy Risk-Managed Income ETF, to be listed under the ticker MAXI on Nasdaq, is a series of exchange-traded funds from the asset management company. The fund will indirectly invest in BTC using crypto futures and, as part of its income strategy, hold short-term U.S. Treasury securities and ETFs that invest in Treasury securities. For its option overlay strategy, Simplify said it would purc...
Binance.US awarded money transmitter license in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico becomes the fourth jurisdiction in America to grant a money transmitter license to Binance.US, the American arm of the crypto exchange Binance. Other states that issued operational licenses to Binance.US include Wyoming, Connecticut and West Virginia. Binance.US was launched as a second attempt by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to cater to investors in the United States as the nation banned Binance’s primary operations, citing regulatory concerns. The new license from Puorto Rico further strengthens CZ’s vision “to be licensed everywhere.” According to the announcement, the money transmitter license was awarded to Binance.US by the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF). While highlighting the company’s intent to obtain operational licen...
US Air Force files trademark application for ‘SpaceVerse’ initiative
The United States Air Force has filed a trademark application hinting at the military branch potentially expanding into the metaverse. According to a Thursday application submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Department of the Air Force trademarked the word “SpaceVerse,” defined as “a secure digital metaverse that converges terrestrial and space physical and digital realities and provides synthetic and simulated extended-reality (XR) training, testing and operations environments.” It’s unclear if the initiative is connected to the U.S. Space Force, which according to its website is “organized under” the Air Force, but operates as a “separate and distinct branch of the armed services.” The United States Air Force has filed a trademark application for SPACEVERSE ...
Github suspends accounts of Russian developers linked to sanctioned firms
Major developer platform Github has reportedly blocked more than a dozen accounts of Russian developer’s associated with organizations sanctioned by the United States government. The sanctioned accounts include some of the largest banks in Russia: Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, as well as individual developers with links to the sanctioned firms. However, many individual accounts with no links or ties to sanctioned firms were also blocked in the process, Researcher Sergey Bobrov, who reportedly has no links to any such firm, reported that his account was suspended on April 15 and then immediately restored. My github account is unlocked, thanks everyone. The ban was related to the sanctions imposed on my previous employer. — Sergey Bobrov (@Black2Fan) April 15, 2022 Another individ...
The world doesn’t need banks, policymakers or NGOs — It needs DeFi
Where I grew up, on the southern border in Texas, a tremendous number of people have come to the United States to work and send money back home. They don’t make much money, but they pay considerable fees on their transfers. Their focus is not on getting rich, but on supporting those back home in their native country. They support their families as they do hard labor day in and day out. It costs them too much to do so. Truth be told, my father was a migrant worker. He picked fruit in the fields. We sent money back to our family in Mexico. But the remittance providers chipped away at what little money he was able to make so that they had no hope of achieving the American Dream and prospering. The world needs DeFi due to corruption. Big governments and international corporations are controlle...
