• Biden Gensler run SEC
    Cryptocurrencies,  Politics,  Regulation

    Biden makes it official: Gary Gensler will run SEC

    The MIT professor spearheading crypto and finance collaboration will lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, President-elect Joe Biden confirmed

    In a Jan. 18 announcement, the Biden Transition Team highlighted Gensler’s history of leading financial markets reform going back more than 20 years. This included two years as senior advisor to Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) in writing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a major financial reform bill that came in the wake of a number of major financial scandals, including Enron.

  • Bitcoin fund Capitol riots
    Bitcoin,  Politics

    Chainalysis asks: Did Bitcoin fund the Capitol riots?

    The leading blockchain intelligence firm found $500,000 in Bitcoin transferred to key alt-right members a month before followers stormed the halls of Congress

    A month before a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, an extremist sent $522,000 in bitcoin to nearly two dozen far-right leaders, including white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes and the Daily Stormer, a Neo-Nazi website, according to blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis.

  • FinCEN wallet rule
    Cryptocurrencies,  Politics,  Regulation

    FinCEN drops ‘midnight rule’ regulating private crypto wallets

    U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a proposal requiring exchanges to collect personal data from self-hosted wallets

    Essentially, what FinCEN wants is to require banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and other money services businesses (MSB) to collect identifying data about anyone who wants to transfer $3,000 or more to or from an “unhosted” wallet.

  • Congressmen call for crypto clarity
    Cryptocurrencies,  Politics

    Congressmen call for crypto clarity in letters to the SEC and Treasury

    Reps. Tom Emmer and Warren Davidson warn that a lack of regulatory clarity, and rumors of a clampdown on self-hosted wallets, are stymying innovation in the U.S.

    Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) penned the missive to the SEC, urging the regulator to provide the clarity needed for banks to provide custody services for digital securities. Meanwhile, Rep. Warren Davidson said he had sent a letter to Mnuchin “strongly encouraging him to consult with Congress before issuing new regulations that govern the use of digital self-hosted wallets.”