“On Sunday, the language was fine-tuned in the final draft of the bill to clarify the broker definition as ‘any person who (for consideration) is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.’
Coin Center, tweeted about the changes and claimed that there is still room for improvement. The Blockchain Association, which represents 46 member companies including Compound, Binance.US, and Ripple, also issued a statement this morning suggesting that although the bill language has improved, there’s still work to be done.
We didn’t get the language we wanted in the final bill text. It’s better than where it started, but still not good enough to clearly exclude miners and similarly situated persons.
This provision is written in a way that could be interpreted to apply to persons in the crypto ecosystem who don’t have access to the information required for information reporting. If these network participants—who don’t have any customer relationships—are required to provide such information, it will be impossible to comply, driving innovation and business overseas.
According to Brito, an amendment process will begin today, and he is working with “our friends and allies in the Senate,” as well as “a committed group of crypto orgs and firms” to try and clarify the language in the final bill.
We’ve made progress, but the language is still unacceptable. Next, we’ll advocate for an amendment on the Senate floor. If that fails, we’ll take our fight to the House.”
See Also: Updated US Infrastructure Bill Narrows Crypto Reporting Requirement (Video)
“NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), one of the world’s largest makers of automated teller machines (ATMs), agreed to acquire cryptocurrency software provider and ATM-network firm LibertyX. NCR said it plans to integrate LibertyX capabilities and make them available to banks, retailers and restaurants through its digital wallet and mobile applications.
Due to growing consumer demand, our customers require a complete digital currency solution, including the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency, conduct cross-border remittance and accept digital currency payments across digital and physical channels.”
“Digital-asset management firm Arca launched its Arca Digital Yield fund Monday, which it says is the first actively managed income fund in the digital-assets sector.
The fund seeks to offer a digital-asset investment with minimal volatility and is targeting effective yields in the low double digits.“
“NFT marketplace OpenSea saw record trading volume on Saturday and Sunday as CryptoPunks, ArtBlocks and Bored Ape Yacht Club prices soared. Trading volume of NFTs on Ethereum reached $171 million, up 338% from the equivalent week in the previous month.”
See Also: NFTs are next for enterprise Ethereum, says ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin (Recommended Read)
“Out of the blue, a U.S. lawmaker who previously showed little interest in cryptocurrency has introduced what may be the most sweeping legislation yet to regulate the market. Rep. Don Beyer’s (D-Va.) bill would allow the Treasury Secretary to veto the creation of stablecoins, direct regulators to define rules for decentralized finance (DeFi) and possibly create a charter for crypto exchanges, among other measures.
The 58-page “Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act,” seeks to create an exhaustive regulatory regime for digital assets. It would do so in part by defining which sorts of cryptocurrencies might be securities, which can be treated as commodities, and bolster tax data collecting for reporting purposes. The bill also appears to authorize the Federal Reserve, the U.S.’s central bank, to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
It’s unclear what sort of support the bill has, or what a possible timeline for its passage might look like, but its breadth and depth have raised eyebrows in crypto policy circles.
For a proposed legislation that seemingly came out of nowhere, it is incredibly comprehensive and the authors clearly have an understanding of the underlying technology. It’s going to take some time to unpack and see how it could impact the industry and it will be interesting to see if this bill has legs, but this is the most well-written draft of crypto legislation to date.
If passed, the bill would create a definition for “digital asset securities,” referring to cryptocurrencies or tokens that provide holders with any sort of equity. If a holder has a right to equity, profits, interest, dividend payments or voting rights, the token would fall under the bill’s definition of a digital asset security.
Perhaps most importantly, however, is a provision on “desecuritization.” The section lays out a path for a token that is treated as a digital asset security to become a cryptocurrency that will not be treated as a security, echoing SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s longstanding efforts to create a safe harbor for crypto projects to get off the ground.
[Further], the bill would have these two agencies publish a proposed rulemaking to classify the 25 most-traded cryptocurrencies and the 25 cryptocurrencies with the highest market capitalizations (so up to 50 total) as either securities or commodities.
The second section codifies bitcoin, ether “and their hardforks” (splinter currencies) into law as commodities. This would help enable exchanges to launch derivative products and crypto trading platforms to more comfortably list and trade these assets.
Beginning on the date of the enactment of this section, no person may issue, use, or permit to be used a digital asset fiat-based stablecoin that is not approved by the Secretary of the Treasury under subsection.”
“The FSC will suspend operations of at least 11 mid-sized crypto exchanges in South Korea due to alleged illegal activities and fraudulent collective accounts. The sources argued that the mentioned crypto exchanges will be unable to get approval for operation by the FSC. The exchanges were not yet disclosed.
South Korean crypto exchanges have been under stricter regulatory scrutiny recently as authorities have required local digital asset service providers to register their businesses until September and set up real-name trading accounts and reporting. Particularly, smaller- and medium-sized crypto exchanges have been reportedly struggling to secure licenses from appropriate authorities.”
“Riccardo Spagni, the former maintainer for privacy coin Monero, was arrested in Nashville, Tenn. on July 20 and will be extradited to South Africa to face fraud charges for crimes unrelated to crypto.
Spagni, known online as “Fluffypony,” is accused of stealing approximately $100,000 from his former employer, Cape Cookies, by generating false invoices from fictional entities and routing payment to his personal bank accounts between 2009-2011.
Though Spagni stepped down from his day-to-day leadership role at Monero in 2019 after five years with the privacy-focused project, he was still a public representative of Monero and often took responsibility for coordinating Monero’s press and public-facing information.”
The Disrupt 