Better Markets’ Post

If you’ve been following #Congress lately, you might be wondering why this is becoming the summer of #crypto. Although crypto isn’t among the top 20 policy concerns Americans identify when asked, crypto industry-sponsored legislation is gaining momentum even though it raises serious threats to investors, consumers, markets and even financial stability. In a The Hill op-ed, our Dennis Kelleher explains why Congress must ask the tough questions on legislation that will rewrite the rules on crypto regulation. https://lnkd.in/evszuyCf

US Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand are reintroducing the Responsible Financial Innovation Act to establish a unified regulatory framework for digital assets. While the bill has been praised for its bipartisan approach amidst political debates around crypto regulation, investors remain skeptical. Concerns include the lack of clarity in regulating digital assets and the uncertainty over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's role. As the legislation establishes a dividing line between securities monitoring and everything else, it’s hoped to bring some much-needed clarity to the crypto industry in the US. #CryptoRegulation #SEC #DigitalAssets #cryptonews #digitalassetsnews https://lnkd.in/g9sAzpPj

"Two new crypto bills debuted in the US House of Representatives and Senate this week. Now, the industry is weighing the potential impact while lobbyists speculate over whether the proposed laws will make it out of committee.  It was a busy week for crypto on Capitol Hill. Senators from across the aisle partnered on a new bill targeting decentralized finance. Meanwhile, a group of House Republicans unveiled a highly anticipated market structure bill that seeks to strengthen the Commodity and Futures Trading Commissions’ role in crypto regulation." Blockworks #cryptoregulation #US #bills #crypto #cryptoassets #digitalassets

Senators Reintroduce Landmark #Crypto Bill Amid Heavy Competition And Regulatory Turf Battles Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand produced a bi-partisan crypto bill that saw little progress last year. The landmark bipartisan crypto bill known as the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act has been reintroduced by Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). The current iteration includes some key changes from the 2022 version, which predated the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, and appears to represent the most comprehensive and thorough framework for U.S. digital asset policy and regulation yet. Changes to the bill come at a time when the House of Representatives have seen movement on their own crypto framework legislation. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, has been working in coordination with Rep. Glenn ‘G.T.’ Thompson (R-Pa.), head of the House Agriculture Committee, in a joint approach to crypto policy that has already included combined hearings on stablecoins and crypto market-structure bills. #digital #financialservices #cryptonews #cryptoregulation https://lnkd.in/eYyZW8RA

Coiners are such knuckleheads. The believe that because they run around like headless crypto chickens everyone else must do the same. This is nowhere more evident than in the issue of crypto regulation. Regulation used to be such a dirty word for Coiners, ‘just not needed’, ‘we are the smartest buffoons in the room’, ‘Die Boomer’! But even the dumbest of numbskulls soon realised they would be toast (or/and in jail) unless some of the crazies were kicked out. Then some came up with what was obviously an acid-fuelled idea – just because nobody has banned us yet we must be legal! Logic never was their strong suit. Now Coiners are clamouring to be regulated but, poor dears, have no idea what it means – it means a lot! https://lnkd.in/gsFDZjaz But when infants want something, they want it now -NOW! So they are now crying -what’s taking so long! Coiners do not know that creating regulation is a dance not a breakdance. Crafting regulation, It is not some showyoffy Hip Hop, it is a Pavane, a slow stately dance with many sedate turns and twists heading to a prearranged end point. https://lnkd.in/gfCnmwzg The crypto regulation dance has started and has a long, long way to go, someone tell the teenies to settle down and let the grownups do their thing. #bitcoin

"For now, the lack of an established regulatory framework in the United States, in addition to the aggressive stance taken by the SEC and other regulators against the crypto industry, may cause a flight to safety and predictability in crypto-friendly nations. Meanwhile, U.S. companies in this space should take heed of the risk of engaging in issuing, selling and/or trading unregistered crypto assets that may be viewed as securities." #unitedstates #sec #fdic #occ #cryptoassets #digitalassets #tokens #digitalcurrency #securities #cryptoregulation #regulations #regulators #oversight #trading #business #riskmanagement #risks

𝘿𝙇𝘿’𝙎 𝙒𝙀𝙀𝙆𝙇𝙔 𝘾𝙍𝙔𝙋𝙏𝙊 𝙍𝙀𝙂𝙐𝙇𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙍𝙀𝙋𝙊𝙍𝙏𝘼𝙂𝙀.⚖️ The month of October undoubtedly started out as a really eventful one in the crypto regulation space. From the SBF trial to Ripple’s win against the SEC, 𝘿𝙇𝘿 has you covered with this week's highlights!👇🏾 ⚖️ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝐵𝐹 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙. →The trial which began on Tuesday and is expected to last six weeks, has completed the jury selection process. Events unfolding also revealed that: → The former FTX CEO is likely to face conviction, as prosecutors are not open to a plea deal; they maintain that SBF cannot rely on the unclear crypto regulatory frameworks as his defense, because he violated US laws prohibiting the misappropriation of customer assets. → SBF’s private jet worth $70M has also been grounded and may be forfeited in the course of the trial. ⚖️ 𝑆𝐸𝐶 𝑣. 𝐶𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒. → Following Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s suit filed against it in June 2023 on allegations of illegal operations as a securities exchange, the SEC has fired back by requesting the court to deny the same motion. ⚖️ 𝐷𝑢𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑘 (𝐷𝑁𝐵) 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝐶𝑟𝑦𝑝𝑡𝑜 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑠. → Ruling on the $2.3 million AML registration fees that Dutch regulators imposed on crypto companies including @coinmerce, the presiding judge stated that such moves were outside DNB’s legal powers. → This move which is one of the many strict actions taken against crypto firms in the Netherlands in recent times, has pushed away crypto firms like Binance and Gemini from operating in the country. ⚖️ 𝑆𝐸𝐶 𝑣. 𝑅𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑏𝑠. → In the 3-year long legal battle between the SEC and Ripple, Ripple scored a major win this week as US Federal Court judge, Torres ruled in their favour and denied the SEC’s moves for an appeal. → The judge had previously ruled that contrary to the SEC’s 2020 allegation that Ripple illegally raised over $1.3 billion in unregistered securities by selling XRP, the sale of XRP on exchanges complied with US securities laws because purchasers had no reasonable profit expectation based on Ripple's efforts. Thus, she disagreed that an appeal would yield any material advancement of the case and her decision represents a major defeat of the SEC’s efforts to police the Crypto industry. These regulatory developments and many more that have occured in recent times foretell the turbulence that the crypto industry will likely face in its quest for global adoption. To stay up-to-date with the latest crypto regulation news, follow me, Ayomide Ogunsakin, and 𝘿𝙀𝙁𝙄 𝙇𝘼𝙒 𝘿𝙄𝙂𝙀𝙎𝙏 (𝘿𝙇𝘿) on Twitter using the link below: https://lnkd.in/dh9svr3q

"🪽⛔️Don't fly too close to the sun, Your wings are going to melt" Icarus was so intoxicated by the experience of flight that he went higher and higher. As the wax in his wings melted, he tumbled into the sea ...🌊 🏛🧙♂️SEC chair Gary Gensler, may become the most high profile example of Icarus Syndrome. He let himself into the political tug of war between democrat and Republican focusing way too much into a rigid anti-crypto philosophy and at the end he has now become a liability. 📜💡Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act aka FIT2 is shaping out to be the Glacier what the ice age of US Crypto ecosystems needed & 180° U-Turn by SEC regarding approval of Ethereum ETF after Whitehouse pushed into a corner is the perfect snow fall for the ice age. 🧮🧑💻Big power house Blockchain Association and Think tanks bringing forward concise Law suits against SEC overreaching enforcement in crypto or unnecessary widening of definition of " Broker" in concept of securities Act 1934. 🗽📣Congress recently passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) with a 60-38 vote in the Senate that condemns the SEC’s staff accounting bulletin (SAB) 121. Leaders from both parties are behind the disapproval. Sen. Cynthia Lummis – who had initially pushed for the resolution in the Senate – stated that the bulletin was “a disaster” and did not protect consumers. 📋🫸These all pushes Gensler into the statement which is a very fast and strange retractment of his original Crypto asset related thoughts, but in the end of his quote will ring the bell 🔔: “…many players in the crypto industry don't play by the rules. We should make the policy choice to protect the investing public over facilitating business models of noncompliant firm" 🇺🇸🌐Right now USA and World is standing on a volatile political Crypto sphere, In 24 hours We might see, The Morning has finally come and official Broad light Crypto Regulatory Bull Run or We will live another day to fight !!👇 https://lnkd.in/gC6qaQv9 #sec #gensler #cryptoassets #usacrypto ##cryptoregulation #cryptolaw #Congress #democrat #republican #policy

Unlike bank and payments systems regulation, the SEC does not regulate the quality of products or delivery systems. Under SEC disclosure rules, you can essentially sell shares in a grand jury’s ham sandwich as long as the risks inherent in the purchase — i.e., its worthlessness — are accurately described. That is where the unique features of cryptocurrencies are taking advantage of the current system of oversight by acting like investments that also purport to be currencies that enable new payment systems. Congress has failed to recognize the new financial challenges created by these instruments and has done nothing to protect consumers or build in systemic precautions. The approval of Bitcoin Spot ETFs by the SEC in the wake of the FTX and Binance fiascos signals the crypto industry's capacity to begin to impact traditional financial markets and create new levels of financial instability that all of us will have to pay for. Check out this article written with my friend, Bill Isaac, one of the titans of financial services over the last 50 years. Together, Bill and I have been involved in the collapse of over 1000 financial institutions, so the familiarity of the financial instabilities that are being created does not escape us. https://lnkd.in/eJgKYXgd

Big week for crypto in Congress as the House is expected to vote on the FIT21 Act. The Bill -- which passed out of the House Financial Services Committee with bipartisan support strikes directly at the SEC's *regulation by enforcement* regime while amending existing securities laws in accordance with Judge Torres interpretation in the Ripple case (digital assets sold pursuant to an investment contract are not inherently securities). It also seeks to clearly delineate the role of the SEC and the CFTC in regulating the crypto markets. --- While I am not a lawyer, it seems this bill would have massive implications for many of the SEC's current lawsuits against crypto companies such as Coinbase. Likely an uphill battle but it's nice to see some momentum building toward common sense -- especially in an election year. --- Oskari Tempakka and I discussed the current regulatory environment as it pertains to Coinbase in episode 5 of The Signal. If you're interested in checking it out, see the first comment.