In a July 2021 interview, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren likened crypto regulation to the drug regulation initiatives of a century ago, which she claimed put an end to the sale of “snake oil” and laid the basis for the creation of the modern drug industry. This reflected her earlier statements about the digital currency market resembling the “Wild West,” which makes it a poor investment as well as an “environmental disaster.” With her latest bill in the Senate pipeline targeting Russian actors’ potential use of crypto to circumvent United States sanctions, it is fair to ask: Is the military conflict …

Per the request of the United States Congress, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), laid out four policy options to help policymakers implement blockchain technologies while enhancing benefits and mitigating challenges. The technology assessment shared by the GAO acknowledged the potential of blockchain technology in improving a variety of financial and non-financial applications despite raising concerns about introducing new challenges while trying to resolve issues related to traditional systems: “A blockchain might both increase the speed of a title registry system and lower the cost of title insurance by making title registration simpler and more trustworthy.” However, some of the …

United States Senator from New York Kirsten Gillibrand revealed working with Senator Cynthia Lummis on a broad-based regulatory framework for the crypto industry on Thursday during a live event in Washington, D.C. As Gillibrand specified, she and Lummis are undertaking “a very complex and intensive review” of different aspects of the industry, with a future regulatory task-sharing in mind. The framework will see both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) get their share of a regulatory mandate. Speaking of her and Lummis’ motivations for taking up the initiative, Gillibrand said: “Many of the goals …

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele reacted to the news that the recently proposed Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act (ACES) had passed the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and will now head to a full Senate vote. The 40-year old national leader responded emotionally on Twitter: Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that the US Government would be afraid of what we are doing here. pic.twitter.com/QgJPa70mn0 — Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 23, 2022 On Wednesday, March 23, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill, sponsored by Senators James Risch, Bill Cassidy, and Bob Menendez. The …

Last week got off to an antsy start as the clause that many interpreted as a direct route to ban proof-of-work-(PoW)-based cryptocurrencies made a sudden comeback to the draft of the European Union’s key directive on digital assets. Many in the crypto policy space got immediate flashbacks to other instances of harmful last-minute additions to must-pass legislation days and hours before the vote. It all ended well, though, as the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs voted against the draft that contained the hostile language. Over in the United States, monetary policy kept growing more political, as evidenced by Sarah …

The Biden Administration has just passed an executive order furthering research into crypto assets in view of regulating them, but politicians within the ruling Democrat party remain deeply divided on digital currency. The lack of consensus among Democrats could mean that a progressive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies could still be a long way off —but also makes it more likely the eventual regulations won’t be too harsh thanks to the work of crypto-friendly representatives. The crypto community is familiar with the names cropping up time and time again in the digital asset debate. On the one side, you have vehemently …

In a bipartisan letter put forward by Republican Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer, a cohort of Congress members has written to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, challenging the regulator's scrutiny of cryptocurrency firms and expressing concern that “overburdensome” investigation may be suffocating the crypto industry. They suggest the SEC is drowning companies in paperwork in contravention of the SEC’s stated aims and mandated jurisdiction. Emmer tweeted to his 51,000 followers: “My office has received numerous tips from crypto and blockchain firms that SEC Chair @GaryGensler’s information reporting ‘requests’ to the crypto community are overburdensome, don’t feel particularly… voluntary… …

Lobbying by the cryptocurrency industry and crypto proponents is booming in the U.S. Congress. According to a report released Tuesday by Public Citizen, the number of lobbyists for cryptocurrency-related issues rose from 115 in 2018 to 320 in 2021, with the number of representatives of the cryptocurrency industry itself jumping from 47 to 157 in that time. In February, that chorus was joined by the somewhat unorthodox Lobby3, “a project to fund effective policy advocacy and educate lawmakers about the positive potential of Web3” that is the brainchild of former U.S. presidential and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang. …

Interaction between the cryptocurrency industry and Capitol Hill is becoming ever more intensive as efforts to regulate crypto grow in tandem with its popularity. The surge in crypto industry lobbying last year was given some concrete parameters in February by crypto analytics startup Crypto Head. It released a report showing that the crypto companies that spent the most money on lobbying in 2021 were Robinhood, Ripple Labs, Coinbase and the Blockchain Association. These organizations were the lobbying leaders during the past five years as well, although with different rankings. Here is what the United States crypto-lobbying landscape looks like today. …

Amid the barrage of last week’s regulatory news, from rumors of Joe Biden’s upcoming executive order on digital assets to another round of the Russian government’s crypto tug of war, the storyline that was arguably the most consequential for the mainstream narrative on the social effects of crypto has been the one around the Canadian government’s standoff with the Freedom Convoy. The government’s invocation of emergency powers to put down a protest movement — combined with the movement’s financial infrastructure being one of the main attack vectors — has led many observers to appreciate with renewed vigor Bitcoin’s capacity to …

Aarika Rhodes, an elementary school teacher-turned congressional candidate, recently featured in the Bitcoin Day Sacramento 2022 event to discuss the impact of Bitcoin (BTC) in local politics. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Rhodes highlighted the difficulty for grassroots candidates like herself to compete against established members of the US Congress. Our campaign has officially adopted Lighting for campaign contributions.⚡️ This revolutionary technology creates accessibility and looks towards the future. I am excited to provide this option to our supporters across all 50 states. #Bitcoin — Aarika for CA-32 (@AarikaRhodes) November 30, 2021 “If it wasn’t for Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, a …

Members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee have reportedly divided along party lines regarding President Joe Biden’s pick of Sarah Bloom Raskin as vice chair for supervision for the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve. According to a Tuesday report from Reuters, Senator Pat Toomey, the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, said he had asked the 12 Republican senators on the committee to not attend a meeting in which members were expected to vote on President Biden’s nominees for the Fed. Toomey reportedly said that Democratic leadership can proceed with “five of the six nominees” put forth …