The U.S. crypto industry has been learning a rough lesson in regulatory compliance in the past few months. With fines, cease and desist orders, agency warnings, and traditional finance counterparties withdrawing from the industry, it is becoming increasingly apparent that crypto has a compounding problem. Press play to hear a narrated version of this story, presented by AudioHopper. The origin of this isn’t FTX, Voyager Digital, Terra Luna, or any other of the business failures or frauds of 2022. Those are symptoms of another disease. The sickness that’s causing crypto to fumble in front of U.S. regulators and counterparties goes all the way back to the founding principles of Bitcoin…
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- U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis speaking at the 2021 Young Women's Leadership Summit at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, June 11, 2021. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)
Sens. Lummis and Gillibrand Issue Serious, Thoughtful Crypto Proposal
Responsible Financial Innovation Act isn’t perfect, but it’s a hell of a start
On Tuesday, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, aimed at — finally— creating a real regulatory framework for digital assets. The senators stated in their press release that the goal of the legislation was to encourage “responsible financial innovation, flexibility, transparency and robust consumer protections while integrating digital assets into existing law.” This is a laudable goal. And painfully overdue. But as with any legislation—especially a groundbreaking bill in a fast-changing part of technology—it’s very tough to assess this proposal’s strengths. We read the entire 69-page bill. And there’s even a helpful 6-page summary. To our eyes, this proposed legislation is a rock-solid…
- Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao says the exchange actively prohibits U.S. customers (Photo: Binance)
CFTC investigating Binance for American crypto customers: Report
The enforcement agency may be investigating whether the No. 1 cryptocurrency exchange still serves American clients, despite claims that it does not
Binance began kicking U.S. customers off its platform in November—even though it had closed its platform to Americans on June 14, 2019—after setting up the independent exchange Binance.US in the country. At the time, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said Binance.US would “bring the security, speed, and liquidity of Binance.com to North America,” in full regulatory compliance with all U.S. laws.
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DC Fintech Week head Chris Brummer to head CFTC: Report
The Georgetown Law professor would be the third Biden Administration nominee to a major financial regulator position with a deep knowledge of cryptocurrencies
A crypto-trifecta could be coming home if reports that President Joe Biden plans to nominate Chris Brummer, a Georgetown University Law School professor, as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are true.