As cryptocurrency adoption continues apace in the United States, lawmakers want to better understand how it’s used — for both legal and illegal purposes. The Ransom Disclosure Act, introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Deborah Ross, would require victims of ransomware attacks to disclose information about ransom payments to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bill, introduced on Tuesday, aims to gather critical data on fiat and cryptocurrency payments and protect investors from cybercrimes. In an ongoing effort to curb illicit financial activities in the U.S., Warren’s legislation aims to develop “a fuller picture” of ransomware attacks: “My …

The National Bank of Ukraine, the country’s chief monetary authority, has recently taken to professional social network LinkedIn to promote its blockchain developer job opening. The ad was published by the director of NBU’s IT department, Vladimir Nagornyuk. The ad goes on to list “development, implementation and modification of infrastructure services […] and distributed systems” among the prospective employee’s duties, in addition to mentioning smart contracts and Hyperledger competencies among the requirements for the job. The central bank’s interest in blockchain hires adds to other recent news coming out of Ukraine’s CBDC project, the e-hryvnia. Last week, speaking at a …

The Boston Blockchain Association, or BBA, together with Boston-based media house Media Shower and the Chamber of Digital Commerce, are working to lobby for favorable crypto regulations in Massachusetts. According to a release issued on Monday, the BBA in collaboration with Media Shower and the Chamber of Digital Commerce has released a crypto regulatory toolkit for lawmakers in the state. Dubbed the Massachusetts Edition of the Legislator’s Toolkit for Blockchain Technology, the document reportedly aims to guide the state's policymakers toward enacting laws that will benefit the cryptocurrency industry within the Commonwealth. The policy document reportedly covers five core recommendations …

Two bills aimed at furthering the adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain are now law in the state of Texas. Texas House Bills 1576 and 4474, passed by both chambers in the state legislature in May and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June, officially took effect on Sept. 1. H.B. 1576 establishes a blockchain working group in the state, while H.B. 4474 amends the state's Uniform Commercial Code to recognize cryptocurrencies under commercial law. Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, told Cointelegraph that H.B. 4474 better defines the security interests for Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies …

U.S. Department of the Treasury will reportedly push to extend the reach of new rules designed to govern the cryptocurrency space. Closely following the infrastructure package freighted with last-minute crypto taxation provisions is the upcoming budget reconciliation bill that could also see additional requirements for cryptocurrency businesses. Citing an unnamed official within the Biden administration, Roll Call reported on Monday that the administration is looking to append provisions to the budget bill requiring U.S. digital asset firms report information on their foreign clients. As with the infrastructure bill, the purpose of the potential regulation is to enhance tax compliance and …

Representative Anna Eshoo has written to Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, expressing concerns about the controversial new mandate for crypto tax reporting. In it, she urged Pelosi to amend the cryptocurrency broker definition in the Senate’s controversial infrastructure bill. Eshoo claimed that miners, validators and developers of wallets would be unable to comply with the crypto tax reporting requirements. Today I urged Speaker Pelosi to amend the cryptocurrency broker language in the Senate’s infrastructure bill. The legislation imposes new reporting requirements on miners, validators & developers of wallets who would be unable to …

A bill to establish a crypto task force in Pennsylvania has been introduced in the state’s General Assembly. According to the details of HB1724 published by LegiScan, the proposed crypto task force will be mandated to examine the potential impact of widespread crypto and digital currency adoption in the state. A moderately partisan bill introduced by eight Democratic and two Republican members of the General Assembly, the proposed legislation, if passed, will be known as the “Digital Currency Task Force Act.” Introduced back on July 19, the bill has been referred to the Committee on Commerce. Outlining the duties of …

A nonfungible token (NFT) can be both a representation of a physical or digital asset that only exists on the internet — a programmable piece of art. It provides ownership of an underlying asset, like a painting, and it can also represent a digital asset in the form of a software code. Therefore, I like to conceptualize NFTs in a more technical view: “An NFT is a pattern of smart contracts that provides a standardized way of verifying who owns an NFT, and a standardized way of ‘moving’ nonfungible digital assets.” Before discussing the legality of an NFT, it is …

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, has recruited Michele Korver, formerly of the United States Department of Justice, to serve as the agency’s first chief digital currency adviser. In her role, Korver will be tasked with advancing "FinCEN’s leadership role in the digital currency space by working across internal and external partners toward strategic and innovative solutions to prevent and mitigate illicit financial practices and exploitation,” the agency announced on Tuesday. Crypto investors may be familiar with Korver, as she previously served as digital currency counsel for the Department of Justice’s criminal division. She also advised the Treasury Department’s …

Members of the Texas House of Representatives have passed a bill which aims to recognize cryptocurrencies under commercial law in the state. In a session of the 87th Texas Legislature today, lawmakers passed a proposed amendment to the state's Uniform Commercial Code, or UCC, aimed at better adapting commercial law to blockchain innovation and digital asset regulations. First introduced by Representative Tan Parker in March, House Bill 4474 will reportedly help define cryptocurrencies in the UCC. The bill will now go to the Texas Senate for any proposed amendments and potentially a final vote. Should the crypto legislation pass the …

On March 29, the Iowa House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to legally recognize transactions and registrations made via blockchain smart contracts. The bill — SF541 — gained Senate approval earlier in the month. Under the auspices of the new bill, smart contracts would be given the same legal status as regular contracts, while distributed-ledger technology would be viewed as a reliable electronic store of record. Regarding smart contracts, the bill states: “The bill provides that a contract shall not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because the contract is a smart contract or contains a smart …

Amid the patchwork of state and federal regulations for crypto and blockchain firms, Wyoming seems to have established itself as a more progressive jurisdiction for companies involved in the novel technology. For Pierluigi Matera, professor of comparative law at the Link Campus University of Rome, these liberal blockchain laws could see the state chip away at Delaware’s preeminence in business incorporation in the United States. In a paper published on Thursday, Professor Matera argued that Wyoming’s targeted blockchain-friendly approach could pose a significant challenge to Delaware’s dominance. According to statistics from the Delaware government portal, 67.8% of all Fortune 500 …