Tag: cryptocurrency

President Trump Plans to Open 401(k)s to Bitcoin, Crypto, Gold, and Private Equity: FT

Financial Times reported today that President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would allow 401(k) retirement plans to invest in alternative assets such as gold, private equity, and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

“Donald Trump is preparing to open the $9tn US retirement market to cryptocurrency investments, gold, and private equity in a move that would spur a radical shift in the way Americans’ savings are managed,” reported the Financial Times.

According to Financial Times, the order is expected this week and will direct federal regulators to remove barriers preventing 401(k) plans from including these non-traditional investments in managed funds. This includes digital assets, metals, private loans, infrastructure deals, and corporate buyout funds.

Keep reading

Capping Crypto Week: All You Need To Know About The Three Crypto Bills Passed By Congress

On Thursday, July 17, capping off what was dubbed “Crypto Week” by Congress, the US House just passed three digital assets related bills. Here is a breakdown of all that was passed:

The GENIUS Act:

The Senate’s stablecoin bill, by a vote of 308-122.  By bringing regulatory clarity to the asset class, the law is expected to stimulate the growth of the stablecoin industry. The GENIUS Act first passed the Senate on June 17 by a vote of 68-30, with 18 Democrats supporting the bill and 2 Republicans (Senators Hawley and Paul) voting against it. Two Senators were not present (Senators Cotton and Kelly). Broadly, the GENIUS Act creates a regime for the issuance and regulation of U.S. dollar-backed payment stablecoins. By bringing regulatory clarity to the asset class, the legislation, if passed into law, is expected to stimulate the growth of the stablecoin industry.

What the bill does

  • The bill sets forth standards for regulatory oversight, striking a balance between federal and state authorities.
  • The bill allows payment stablecoins to be issued by subsidiaries of banks and non-bank entities. Banks would be overseen by their primary federal regulator, while non-bank entities would be overseen at a federal level by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) or under qualifying state regimes.
  • Sets up reserve requirements, supervision and enforcement, ie at least 1 to 1 backing with U.S. dollars, short-term Treasuries (93 days or less), or similarly liquid assets.
  • Requires Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-money Laundering (AML) compliance for issuers.
  • Mandates insolvency requirements with customer protections.

Other Key Provisions of the bill

  • Bank Permissibility:
    • Banks can issue stablecoins and act “as a principal or agent with respect to any payment stablecoin and payment of fees to facilitate customer transactions.”
    • Preserves current custody practices, allowing banks to hold stablecoin reserves under existing rules.
    • Carves out tokenized deposits from the legislation.
  • Federal licensing preemption: Federal licensing supersedes and preempts any state licensing requirement for any federally chartered payment stablecoin issuer.
  • Bank Secrecy Act / Anti-Money Laundering Requirements: Issuers shall be treated as a financial institution for the purposes of the Bank Secrecy Act; Issuers (domestic and foreign) must demonstrate the ability to freeze or burn tokens.
  • “SAB 121” prevention clause: Prevents federal regulators from requiring custodied digital assets to be held on balance sheet.
  • Capital treatment: A non-permitted stablecoin can NOT be treated as a cash or cash equivalent for accounting purposes. 
  • Fed Master Accounts: The bill stays neutral on Fed account access and does not alter who is currently legally eligible for Federal Reserve services or deposit access.
  • Interest Payments: Prohibits domestic and foreign issuers from offering interest to holders, although it does not address 3rd parties or affiliates.
  • Licensing: Provides both a state and federal (OCC) licensing path for non-bank issuers, although state issuers must get federal license once over $10B in assets.
  • Reserve Authentication: Monthly public disclosures of reserve composition; Annual financial audits for issuers with market capitalizations exceeding $50 billion.
  • Activity Limits: Creates limits on the types of activities a non-bank stablecoin issuer can conduct (ie issue & redeem stablecoins; manage reserves; and custody stablecoins).
  • Non-Security clarification: Payment stablecoins are explicitly excluded from being classified as securities.
  • Marketing restrictions: Prohibits the use of “USG”, “United State Government” or “legal tender” as part of materials and naming conventions; allows the use of “USD”.
  • International Stablecoins: Non-compliant foreign issuers may be barred from U.S. markets unless they comply with U.S. regulations and/or are licensed by an approved similar regime.
  • Conflict of Interest: Clarified that financial conflict of interest standards apply uniformly to both regular and special government employees, although the referenced statute in the bill carves out the President and Vice President. 
  • Big Tech company issuance: Restricts issuance by large U.S. public or foreign companies not primarily engaged in financial services, unless they meet certain standards (TBD by the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee (SCRC), which is made up of the Treasury Secretary, FDIC Chair, and Fed Chair or Vice Chair) and are unanimously approved by the SCRC.

Keep reading

Cocky cop jailed for stealing bitcoins had log of his crypto theft in his office

A former cop in the United Kingdom was sentenced to five and a half years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to covering up his theft of 50 bitcoins seized during an investigation into the now-defunct illicit dark web marketplace Silk Road.

In 2014, the former UK National Crime Agency (NCA) officer, Paul Chowles, assisted in the arrest of Thomas White, a man “who had launched Silk Road 2.0 less than a month after the FBI had shut down the original site in 2013,” the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a press release.

Chowles was tapped to analyze and extract “relevant data and cryptocurrency” from White’s seized devices, specifically due to Chowles’ reputation for being “technically minded and very aware of the dark web and cryptocurrencies,” CPS said.

Like US cops busted for stealing bitcoins from Silk Road seizures, Chowles’ theft was brazen. In 2017, he transferred 50 of 97 seized bitcoins from one of White’s wallets to a public address, then used a cryptocurrency mixer called Bitcoin Fog to break up the bitcoins into smaller amounts “in an attempt to hide the trail of the money,” CPS said.

At the time, the bitcoins were worth about $80,000, but today, they’re valued at nearly $6 million.

Keep reading

US Regulators Allow Banks Custody Over Bitcoin And Crypto

The Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC warn banks that safekeeping bitcoin and other crypto-assets demands strong cybersecurity, operational expertise, and full legal compliance.

Federal banking regulators issued a joint statement today emphasizing that banks involved in bitcoin and crypto-assets-related custody and other activities by following existing laws and maintaining strong risk controls. The statement, issued by the Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC, clarifies that it does not introduce new rules but reminds banks of their obligations when handling bitcoin and other crypto on behalf of customers.

“Banking organizations may provide safekeeping for crypto-assets in a fiduciary or a nonfiduciary capacity,” the document stated. “Banking organizations that provide crypto-asset safekeeping in a fiduciary capacity must comply with 12 CFR 9 or 150, as applicable, state laws and regulations, and any other applicable legal provisions, such as the instrument that created the fiduciary relationship.”

The agencies emphasize that safekeeping bitcoin and other crypto-assets, mainly through control of customers’ cryptographic keys, requires strong cybersecurity, operational expertise, and full legal compliance. Banks offering these services must be prepared to protect against risks such as key loss, cyberattacks, and unauthorized asset transfers.

They also note that bitcoin and other crypto safekeeping may demand specialized staff, secure infrastructure, and constant monitoring of evolving technologies. Regulatory requirements like anti-money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), and OFAC sanctions still apply. 

Keep reading

Trump Cuts Deal To End Republican Revolt On Crypto Bills

US President Donald Trump says he has convinced most of the Republican lawmakers who pulled support from three crypto bills to vote in favor of them when the House meets again on Wednesday.

Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday that he met with 11 of the 12 representatives in the Oval Office and convinced them to vote in favor of the legislation.

“I am in the Oval Office with 11 of the 12 Congressmen/women necessary to pass the GENIUS Act and, after a short discussion, they have all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule,” Trump said.

A re-vote on the three crypto bills was canned on Tuesday, as 13 Republican lawmakers pulled support, wanting to add a ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Some Republicans wanted the stablecoin-regulating GENIUS Act amended or bundled in with two other crypto bills up for a vote this week — the CBDC-banning Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act and a sweeping crypto market structure bill dubbed the CLARITY Act.

The move to pass the bills is the Republican-led effort dubbed “Crypto Week” to have crypto laws in action before Congress goes on a month-long break in August. Democrats have meanwhile declared an “anti-crypto corruption week” to oppose the bills.

“I’m thankful for President Trump getting involved tonight to ensure that we can pass the GENIUS Act tomorrow, and agreeing again to help us advance additional crypto legislation in the coming days,” House Speaker Mike Johnson posted on X.

CBDC concerns stall legislation

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise joined 12 other Republican lawmakers in voting no on considering the bills on Tuesday. The other dissenters were Andrew Clyde, Tim Burchett, Andy Biggs, Eli Crane, Michael Cloud, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Harris, Anna Paulina Luna, Scott Perry, Victoria Spartz, Chip Roy and Keith Self.

Another vote to move the bills forward was expected, but the House adjourned before any further action was taken.

Representatives Biggs, Burchett, Green, Luna and Spartz took to X after the vote and said they were not against the crypto bills but didn’t want to pass the GENIUS Act unless it had a specific ban on a CBDC.

“I just voted NO on the Rule for the GENIUS Act because it does not include a ban on central bank digital currency and because Speaker Johnson did not allow us to submit amendments to the GENIUS Act,” Green said.

Keep reading

Hong Kong Sets Out Plan to Regulate Crypto, Encourage Tokenization

In its second policy statement on the subject, the government said it intends to take further steps to regulate digital asset service providers, exchanges and stablecoins.

What to know:

  • Hong Kong’s government released its second major policy statement on digital assets.
  • It said it wants to establish a regulatory framework focusing on risk management and investor protection as it strives to become a global hub for the industry.
  • The Securities and Futures Commission will oversee the regulation of custodians, digital asset service providers, exchanges and stablecoins, with public consultations on licensing regimes starting soon.

Hong Kong’s government released its second major policy statement on digital assets, underlining its pledge to set the region up as a global hub for the industry and saying it plans to establish a regulatory regime that puts risk management and investor protection center stage.

The framework will be overseen by the Securities and Futures Commission and apply to custodians, digital asset service providers, exchanges and stablecoins, the government said Thursday. Public consultations on the licensing regimes will start shortly, it said.

Keep reading

Data Center Construction Boom Faces Local Resistance In 28 States

The need for data centers to drive 21st century cloud computing and win the AI race with China is a matter of such national urgency that Energy Secretary Chris Wright describes it as America’s “next Manhattan Project.”

But assessing how many data centers—a ubiquitous yet vague term for “server farms,” supercomputer networks, bitcoin and crypto “mines”—exist right now in the United States is, in itself, a foray into quixotic cloudy computing.

There were a “reported” 5,426 data centers in the United States in March, according to Statista.

Meanwhile, Denmark-based Data Center Map ApS counts 3,761 listed data centers in the United States. Data Centers.com, a global technology marketplace headquartered in Colorado, maintains there are 2,483 of the centers now operating nationwide.

These and other estimates confirm the consensus that the United States has five to 10 times the number of functioning data centers as any other country in the world, including China.  In fact, approximately half the planet’s data centers are in the United States, according to a ranking by Visual Capitalist.

And yet, as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said during the April 30 Hill & Valley Forum, an annual gathering of congressional lawmakers and Silicon Valley venture capitalists, the need to build out the nation’s electric grid to power more data centers is “one of two existential threats we face as a country;” the other beingIran’s development of a nuclear weapon. If that need is not met, the nation will “lose the AI race with China.”

The projected energy demand for data centers will triple by 2028, the Department of Energy estimated last year. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation forecast the same number a year earlier.

These “load growth” assessments, coming after years of relative stagnation in electricity usage, were issued after the late-2022 advent of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. That shockwave rattled utilities, regional transmission operators, and state public utility commissions, sending them scrambling to scale-up electrical grids to accommodate this projected growth in data centers.

The result was a data center building spree. CBRE, a Texas-based commercial real estate services company, in late 2024 projected that more than 4,750 data center projects would break ground in the United States in 2025, “nearly as many … as already exist” nationwide.

Keep reading

California Passes Bill To Accept Crypto For State Payments

California has taken a step closer toward embracing crypto after a bill allowing state departments to accept digital currencies sailed through the state’s lower house with a unanimous vote and is now headed for the Senate.

Assembly Bill 1180 (AB 1180), which passed the California State Assembly on June 2 with a 68-0 vote on its third reading, would require the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) to develop rules permitting state fees and transactions under the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL) to be payable in crypto.

The DFPI is California’s regulatory agency tasked with overseeing financial services and protecting consumers while promoting responsible innovation. Individuals and entities conducting crypto business activities in the state must obtain a license from the DFPI.

If AB 1180 clears the Senate and is signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, the bill would become effective on July 1, 2026.

According to the bill’s sponsor, Democratic Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, a pilot program would run until Jan. 1, 2031, when it would become fully operational.

If AB 1180 is passed, California could join the likes of Florida, Colorado and Louisiana that have accepted crypto payments for certain obligations in recent years.

California’s bill would require the DFPI to submit a report by Jan. 1, 2028, detailing all crypto transactions processed, in addition to any technical and regulatory challenges encountered.

Crypto transactions under DFAL are defined as any digital representation of value that is used as a medium of exchange, but is not legal tender.

AB 1180 saw four amendments before being passed by the California Assembly on June 2.

The most notable exclusion concerned a section that sought to define terms related to ride-sharing companies and personal vehicles used for transportation services.

Keep reading

The Rise And Fall Of Two Crypto Traders Who Tortured A Bitcoin Millionaire For His Password

A shocking crypto kidnapping case involving two self-styled traders has rocked New York. On May 23, Italian crypto millionaire Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan escaped from a luxury townhouse in New York’s upscale SoHo neighbourhood, running barefoot onto a city street and flagging down a traffic officer, according to The New York Post. Carturan told police he had been kidnapped and held captive for nearly three weeks by John Woeltz and William Duplessie.

Prosecutors alleged that during his captivity, Carturan was tortured with a chainsaw and tased while standing in water, and at one point was hung off a roof ledge in a bid to force him to reveal the password to his Bitcoin wallet, reportedly worth $30 million.

According to ABC News, prosecutors said Woeltz and Duplessie lured Carturan to New York by threatening to have his family killed. Once he arrived, they allegedly stripped him of his passport and electronics, bound his wrists, beat him, shocked his feet, struck him in the head with a gun, cut his leg with a saw, urinated on him, and forcibly made him smoke crack cocaine.

Prosecutors said Carturan eventually escaped after convincing his captors to retrieve his laptop so he could access his Bitcoin wallet. When Woeltz left to get the laptop, Carturan ran out and sought help.

Keep reading

President Trump’s Crypto Czar, David Sacks, Says Elizabeth Warren Behind Biden Regime Anti-Crypto Agenda… ‘Controlled Autopen’

In a fiery Fox Business interview on Tuesday, President Trump’s newly appointed Crypto and AI Czar, David Sacks, pulled no punches — directly accusing radical leftist Senator Elizabeth Warren of running the Biden White House’s infamous autopen and using it as a weapon to “terrorize” the crypto community.

Sacks, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned pro-Trump policymaker, didn’t mince words during the interview.

He accused “Pocahontas” Warren of waging a personal war against digital finance, calling her actions a “pathological hatred” of crypto.

Sacks: “This is the financial system of the future, Jessie, and we have to encourage it. What the Biden administration was doing—and let’s face it, it wasn’t Biden—Elizabeth Warren controlled the autopen during that administration.

She, for some reason, has this pathological hatred of the crypto community. She wants to drive this community offshore; she doesn’t want it happening in the United States. That’s the wrong policy for the United States.

We want all the innovation happening here. This is a financial system of the future. It’s cheaper, it’s more efficient—we want it happening here, Jessie. And I think people are thrilled that President Trump is making that possible.”

Keep reading