As the US debates legislation to normalize crypto, China isn’t sitting still. Today, Hong Kong granted its first stablecoin licenses, with HSBC and Standard Chartered JV grabbing the coveted permission. Hong Kong has granted stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC Holdings and Anchorpoint Financial, which is a joint venture between Standard Chartered, HKT, and Animoca Brands. This is a meaningful signal…
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Treasury Secretary Pushes Clarity Act
Sec’y Bessent: ‘The time to act is now’
Noting that nearly one in six Americans now own digital assets, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday pushed the Senate to pass the crypto-regulating Clarity Act as soon as possible. In a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, Bessent argued that with Senate floor time getting scarcer by the day, “now is the time to act.” Congress will soon be sidetracked by…
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CFTC, DoJ Sue Arizona Over Kalshi Charges
Agencies seek to block criminal charges against prediction market
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice have asked a federal court to block Arizona’s indictment of prediction market Kalshi on criminal charges for offering sports gambling without a license. The agency’s move comes days after a New Jersey federal appellate court decision forbidding the state from pressing civil charges against Kalshi after finding that the CFTC…
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Los Angeles Slated for Bitcoin ATMs
Bitcoin Bancorp sees growth potential in the Golden State
In February, 2014, I trekked down from my office in Midtown to a little boutique on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. The goal was to visit New York City’s first bitcoin ATM. I purchased about 1/10th of a bitcoin – a couple hundred dollars back then, if I recall correctly. I had bought my first bitcoin in 2012 and was…
