As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a circular banning banks from servicing crypto exchanges. Reacting to the news during the Thursday plenary session, Senator Sani Musa of the Niger East Senatorial District remarked: “Cryptocurrency has become a worldwide transaction of which you cannot even identify who owns what. The technology is so strong that I don’t see the kind of regulation that we can do. Bitcoin has made our currency almost useless or valueless." - Senator Sani Musa — The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) February 11, 2021 For Senator Musa, Bitcoin (BTC) and not mounting foreign …

The Senate sees new legislation aiming to update antitrust laws for new technologies. Senator and former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination Amy Klobuchar is introducing the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act today, Cointelegraph has learned. Sen. Klobuchar, who heads the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, is looking to put new burdens on companies seeking to acquire competitors. An announcement of the bill noted that it aims to "Shift the burden to the merging parties to prove their merger will not violate the law." The bill would also provide broad new legal authority and resources to the Justice Department's Antitrust …

The most vocally pro-crypto Senator in the U.S. will join the committee responsible for the nation's financial regulation. On Wednesday night, Senator Lummis's team told Cointelegraph that she had received her committee assignments for the 117th congress. The freshman Republican from Wyoming will take her place on three committees: banking, environment, and commerce. The Banking Committee is the Senate's front line for financial legislation and has hosted hearings with Facebook's leadership over the Libra stablecoin, as well as, more recently, prospects for a digital dollar. In a press announcement, Lummis noted her intention to use the appointment to the banking …

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a long-time proponent of Bitcoin (BTC) ownership, has revealed plans to launch a Financial Innovation Caucus to educate her fellow senators on cryptocurrency and digital assets. Appearing on Anthony Pompliano’s podcast on Feb. 2, Lummis announced her intention to establish the caucus, stating: “We hope to use it as a springboard to educate members of the U.S. Senate and their staff about Bitcoin specifically, but about other opportunities for cryptocurrency and financial innovation and blockchain.” Lummis stated the caucus will first work to fight the false narrative about digital assets and crypto being used for money laundering, …

Senator Kelly Loeffler, formerly the CEO of Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange Bakkt, will not be returning to Washington, at least not as a legislator. According to AP News on Jan. 6, Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock has won one of the tightly contested runoff elections for the United States Senate in the Southern state of Georgia. The runoff elections have been closely watched in the United States, as they will determine which party controls a majority in the Senate, which will set the timbre for President-elect Biden's legislative approach when he assumes office on Jan. 20. The race is still too …

An unprecedented year, 2020 has sent the global economy into a tailspin in an effort to compensate for COVID-19-related difficulties. If the traditional system collapses, Bitcoin will become vital, according to United States Senator-elect Cynthia Lummis. "If we reach the point where we have overspent so much that things start crashing down, the black swan event occurs with regard to any fiat currency — whether it’s ours or yours or China’s or Japan’s — that there is a backstop available to every government in the world, and that backstop is Bitcoin,” Lummis told Peter McCormack during a recent episode of …

In an interview with the ABC News program GMA3: What You Need To Know on Friday, senator-elect Cynthia Lummis again voiced her support for the popularization of Bitcoin, going so far as to say that she does “hope to bring Bitcoin into the national conversation.” In a clip that has been widely circulating on Twitter, the soon-to-be-senator representing Wyoming — possibly the highest ranking US official to ever speak so glowingly of the digital currency — cited her experience as a former state treasurer for why she believes in Bitcoin’s future. “I’m a former state treasurer and I invested our …

In a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Friday, the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, a veritable firing squad in what has become bipartisan hatred based on partisan reasons. But while Republicans and Democrats have different gripes with the platforms, all are clearly out for blood. Today’s hearing, theoretically, set out to focus on Section 230, a component of the Communications Decency Act that has historically served to protect online content hosts from the responsibilities that publishers take on. However, the actual questioning ended up being primarily political dunking. Many members commented on the speed …

On Aug. 18, the Senate Intelligence Committee released volume five of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The new version found that former CEO of Overstock.com and noted crypto advocate Patrick Byrne was a patsy to plans by Maria Butina, served time for espionage on behalf of Russia. The romance between Butina and Byrne was the reason the latter gave upon his departure from Overstock last year. Always an eccentric character, Byrne’s account of the relationship said that he was working with U.S. intelligence. Per one email from Paul Erickson quoted in the report, Byrne was a …

It’s been another good, stable week for Bitcoin. No big breakout yet but also no sudden collapse and a comfortable rise of around 1.6 percent. If that sounds like Bitcoin is becoming a bit predictable, don’t rest too easy. Some analysts see this sideways period as the prelude to a big move—either up or down. Other analysts, though, are more positive. They see Bitcoin in the same place that Apple was in pre-iPhone days. They think it could reach $60,000 by 2023. If that happens, participants in a new German guerrilla marking campaign will be doing a lot of people …

Maybe it’s time to start talking about boring Bitcoin. The dollar price has moved barely half a percentage point over the last week, remaining around the $9,200 mark. Bitcoin’s holders, though, don’t expect the coin to remain a boring store of value forever. A survey by Bitcoin IRA found that 42 percent of the crypto custodian’s customers expect the price to reach $15,000 by the end of the year. Even that might not prompt sales though. Some 57 percent said they were holding for the long term. Those optimists might be wrong, though. SteveCrypt0, a popular trader, has suggested that …

Recent financial statement analysis from the New York Times showed Georgia Senator, Kelly Loeffler, received a hefty sum after she departed her post as Bakkt's CEO. ICE gave Loeffler a reported $9 million in financial assets and "other rewards," the New York Times said in a recent report. According to the numbers, not including her base salary, Loeffler received $12.5 million total last year in rewards and bonuses. “Kelly left millions in equity compensation behind to serve in public office to protect freedom, conservative values and economic opportunity for all Georgians," a spokesperson for Loeffler said in response to Cointelegraph's …