The supply of the Coinbase-backed stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) has grown by 250% since the start of 2020, including an 80% expansion in just the past two months. After starting the year with a nearly $520 million market cap, USDC now ranks as the 16th-largest crypto asset with a $1.86 billion capitalization — beating out all other major stablecoins except for the $14.5 billion Tether (USDT) by at least four times. Meanwhile, other stablecoins (most of which are pegged to the value of $1 US) have also seen significant growth this year, with DAI and Binance USD expanding by 970% …

Stevan Bunnel, former general counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been revealed as the Libra Association’s new leading lawyer. Since leaving the Homeland Security Department in 2017, Bunnell co-chaired the data privacy-focused legal practice O’Melveny & Myers until joining the Libra Association this month. The association’s former general counsel, Robert Werner told Bloomberg Law that he chose to depart from the position after it became clear it meant he would have to relinquish an existing position on the boards of directors for Deutsche Bank Trust Co. “Steve is an outstanding lawyer and a great guy,” Werner …

While Facebook’s Libra project might have shaken the United States government the most, the aftershocks were felt all over the world. The European Union was no exception: The publication of the first Libra white paper in 2019 led to the acknowledgment that the EU was not prepared for what appeared to be the first global stablecoin that would have a direct effect on the European financial market, retail payments and its overall economy. In the words of both the European Council and the European Commission (the EU’s supreme political body and executive arm, respectively), “No global ’stablecoin’ arrangement should begin …

“I remember watching the hearings before the Energy and Commerce Committee with Mark Zuckerberg, and it was clear that a lot of my colleagues didn't really know a lot about technology,” recalls U.S. Representative Darren Soto. When Soto (D-FL) speaks about technology, it sounds personal. He references space launches at Cape Canaveral, which lies adjacent to his district, Florida’s 9th. It is, he mentions, also home to Disney World and Universal, which have made it a major hub for virtual reality as well as vacationers. A co-chairman of the Blockchain Caucus and sponsor of several closely pieces of blockchain legislation, …

Despite regulators across the board giving a cold shoulder to Facebook’s ambitious plan to install a worldwide crypto-based payment system called Libra, the company’s enthusiasm for moving into the digital payments space is only mounting. Earlier this week, reports emerged that the social media hegemon has realigned its forces on this front, arranging all its payments-related subsidiaries into a single group called Facebook Financial. David Marcus, co-creator of Libra and head of the Novi (formerly Calibra) project, will take command of the new division while continuing to directly oversee the crypto effort. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also tapped former Upwork …

Law firm JPB Liberty filed a class-action lawsuit in the Federal Court of New South Wales earlier today, targeting Facebook and Google for anti-competitive behavior for banning cryptocurrency advertising in 2018. JPB argues the ban, which was loosened in 2019, killed the initial coin offering (ICO) market and caused severe financial damage to the wider cryptocurrency industry. JPB Liberty CEO Andrew Hamilton said the tech giants had acted as a cartel in launching the crypto ad ban, in order to crush competition from the blockchain sector. The suit has garnered more than $600 million worth of claims from across the …

Andrew Hamilton, a lawyer with a background in computer science, is spearheading a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media and search giants Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for cartel-like behavior intended to kill off the burgeoning cryptocurrency sector. The suit, which has already amassed more than $600 million in claims, accuses the firms of acting as a cartel in launching a coordinated attack designed to crush competition emerging from the nascent virtual currency sector in 2018 — when the social platforms enacted sweeping bans against the promotion of crypto assets and initial coin offerings. After two-and-a-half years of preparation, Hamilton …

Facebook has launched a new product group to promote “payments and commerce opportunities” with David Marcus, Libra’s co-creator, in charge of the division. The group, called Facebook Financial — or “F2” —will run its payments projects, including a planned Facebook Pay, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The division appears to be incorporating Facebook’s previous adventures in fintech under a single umbrella, with Marcus reportedly being in charge of both Novi, the wallet for Libra previously known as Calibra, as well as recent attempts to bring payments to the WhatsApp messenger. The launch of a dedicated division suggests that the company intends …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note The concept of monopoly will reign in today’s Law Decoded. As a fundamental principle, blockchain technology is about distributing both inputs and outputs of information securely. In its still very young lifecycle, the technology has proven to have boundless applications on the basis of this fairly simple principle. A secondary principle is decentralization, and in this way, blockchain technology seems inherently opposed to monopolies. The big challenge of Bitcoin’s white paper was finding a way to move value across …

Facing rising accusations of running monopolies, the CEOs of four of the world’s biggest tech firms are testifying before the Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee today, July 29. The hearing was originally scheduled for July 27 and was moved to 12PM EST today. It is seeing further delays today and as of 12:25 had not been called to order. Global monopolies The hearing is entitled “Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 6: Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google.” It continues a lengthy series of investigations into the role these giant companies play. All of these firms except for …

Two icons of tech — one American, one Russian — are hard at work trying to win back the jilted governments of their home countries by stirring up concerns over foreign competitors. When nationalism meets tech In a hearing tomorrow before the congressional Antitrust Subcommittee, Mark Zuckerberg plans to portray Facebook as the American champion to meet Chinese tech. Meanwhile, Pavel Durov has waged a similar campaign to rehabilitate Telegram in his native Russia, largely by painting U.S. tech as an invading force. It’s an interesting strategy, especially since the PR for both Facebook and Telegram has historically leaned into …

Under president Obama, Anurag Lal served as the director of the National Broadband Task Force. Currently he is the CEO of NetSfere, a company that provides secure messaging for enterprises. Lal believes that bills like the EARN IT Act and The Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act essentially call for a ban of end-to-end encryption, and would do more harm than good. Anti-encryption laws bad for the economy & security Critics of these legislations say that it would be both bad for the U.S. economy and would make America less secure — a sentiment that Lal agrees with. He stated: …