Fall is traditionally the open season for United States financial regulators. The thicket of news coming out of Capitol Hill, federal courts and various regulatory agencies can feel overwhelming around this time, especially for those of us residing outside of these venerable institutions’ purview. It is also clear that the outcomes of these legal battles will have tremendous effects on crypto markets, adoption and, generally, the relationship between state power and the industry worldwide. But that is not the only reason for anyone interested in how the old world adapts to digital finance to follow U.S. developments closely. Gensler of …

South Korean Minister of Strategy and Finance Hong Nam-ki has vowed that the controversial crypto tax code will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, despite moves this week by the majority Democratic Party to postpone it to 2023. The tax code will levy a 20% tax on income generated by crypto transactions in excess of 2.5 million Korean won, or about $2,100. International media this week reported that the Democratic Party, which holds a slim majority in South Korea’s National Assembly, intends to have passed a bill postponing the crypto tax law by the end of October. But the …

Nonfungible tokens (NFT) depicting cartoon lobsters in suits have raised more than $4 million to support lobbying efforts supporting the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. On Aug. 5, NFT platform and community Universe sold out of its Lobby Lobster NFTs in less than one hour, raising roughly $4 million. Wow Already $4m raised for lobbying efforts in DC. Let’s go Lobby Lobsters community. pic.twitter.com/VeT1XymMoL — Universe.XYZ (@universe_xyz) September 5, 2021 Each NFT was minted for 0.1 Ether (roughly $390), with all of the 1,000 Ether (ETH) raised through primary sales set for donation to “a non-profit focused on the policy issues …

Curtis Sliwa, a beret-wearing Republican running to be the mayor of New York City, said one of the goals of his campaign is to focus on crypto. In a Wednesday tweet, Sliwa said he would be focusing on creating greater financial inclusivity in New York City by opening more crypto ATMs and incentivizing businesses to accept cryptocurrency. According to his campaign website, however, the mayoral candidate currently only accepts donations in U.S. dollars using personal checks or credit cards. As NYC #Mayor, I will make #NYC the most cryptocurrency-friendly city in the nation Property taxes, fines & fees will be …

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 …

Amid El Salvador preparing to officially enforce the country’s Bitcoin Law in early September, Salvadorans took to the streets to protest over the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as an official currency. El Salvador’s anti-Bitcoiners have expressed discontent regarding the government’s plans to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, with hundreds of protesters marching through the capital, San Salvador, last Friday, Euronews TV network reported. The demonstrators — including retirees, veterans, disability pensioners and workers — voiced their concerns over Bitcoin’s unstable price. The crowd was worried that the government would start paying their pensions in Bitcoin instead of the United States …

Holly Kim, a treasurer in Lake County, Illinois, has reportedly become the first political candidate in the state to accept crypto campaign donations. According to the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, Kim recently received a $3 Litecoin (LTC) donation from Mark Tan, founder of T Capital Coin, an investment management outfit based in Lake Forest. The Lake County Treasurer who is up for reelection in 2022 plans to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and many of the popular cryptocurrencies including Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Dai (DAI). For Kim, accepting crypto donations opens up a “new frontier” for support from tech-savvy people, adding: …

The controversial $1 trillion infrastructure bill will see a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives without any amendments to the crypto tax provisions by Sept. 27. The vote was agreed to after the House narrowly approved the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget blueprint in a vote of 220 to 212. Despite some initial pushback from moderate Democrats, the dissident voters were swayed after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi committed to pass the bill before Sept. 27. Pelosi stated: “I am committing to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill by September 27. I do so with a commitment to rally House Democratic support …

The last-minute cryptocurrency provisions added to the United States infrastructure bill sought to “capture DeFi,” argues Compound general counsel Jake Chervinsky. Appearing on the Bankless State of the Nation podcast on Tuesday, Chervinsky — who is also DeFi chair of the Blockchain Association — said the industry had been “blindsided” by the infrastructure bill’s crypto tax provisions that were announced just nine days prior to when it was expected to pass through the Senate. While Chervinsky seemed willing to give most elected officials the benefit of the doubt, noting that previous discussions surrounding the infrastructure bill had “nothing to do …

Given nonfungible tokens’ (NFT) ability to digitally represent a wide set of assets, the underlying technology has found itself with numerous use cases including property and digital collectibles. One of its newest use cases comes from Israel, where the government has decided to welcome President-elect Isaac Herzog with an NFT oath. The NFT is a digital representation of the oath signed by his father and the country’s sixth president, Chaim Herzog. According to local news agency Ynet, Knesset speaker Mickey Levy presented the NFT to the Israeli president-elect. Levy said, “In addition to the digital file, we have also given …

Prior to the Federal Reserve announcing it would release a discussion paper on a central bank digital currency, chairperson Jerome Powell met with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. According to Powell's meeting calendar which was made public on Friday, the Fed chair held a 30-minute meeting with Armstrong as well as former House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on May 11. The reason for Ryan’s presence is unclear — the former speaker left politics in early 2019 and is now with private equity investment firm Solamere Capital. While Powell’s schedule did not reveal the topics under discussion, Armstrong referenced the meeting …

The U.S. House committee on financial services held a hearing Wednesday for legislators and a panel of witnesses to discuss cryptocurrency regulation in the United States. The subcommittee on oversight and investigations invited expert witnesses to testify before congress on the risks and opportunities of blockchain technology. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-MN), a ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, was not keen on the idea of investing in cryptocurrency to save for retirement: “Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, so if one person makes a million dollars and retires at age 45, and nine lose $100,000–– Coinbase makes money, and one …