6/11/2022 Roundup

DeFi Weekly Roundup

June 11, 2022

Federal 

  • Representatives Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) have introduced a bill that would require members of Congress to disclose financial interests in crypto.
  • The long awaited, wide-reaching, bipartisan crypto bill emerged Tuesday from Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).
  • US regulators are investigating whether Binance Holdings broke securities rules by selling digital tokens five years ago.
  • Human rights advocates from around the world have sent a rebuttal  to the letter sent last week by prominent technologists to U.S. lawmakers. The rebuttal defends digital assets for the access they provide to people in countries where “local currencies are collapsing, broken, or cut off from the outside world.”
  • Custodia filed suit against the U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday, saying the central bank was unlawfully delaying a decision on the crypto bank’s application for a master account.
  • Crypto think tank Coin Center filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service on Friday, claiming the crypto tax reporting requirement enshrined in last year’s infrastructure law is “unconstitutional.”

State 

  • Below is a summary of the latest legislative developments that have occurred this past week in state legislatures. Our master state legislative tracker can be found here. 
  • Colorado: SB 22-025 –  Would require the state treasurer to study the feasibility of using security token offerings for state capital financing. The bill was passed and signed by the governor on 6/7.
  • Arizona: HB 2204 – Would add virtual currency and NFT’s to tax deduction eligible purchases. The bill was retained by committee on 6/6.
  • Louisiana: HR 180 – Requests the Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure to study issues surrounding the acceptance of campaign contributions in the form of crypto-currency. Has been signed and was enacted on 6/8. 

International

  • Lithuania is the latest member of the European Union creating its own crypto licensing regime, the development is motivated by concerns that EU laws might come too late to safeguard the sector’s reputation.
  • Japan’s parliament passed a legal framework around stablecoins on Friday, providing a safety net for investors in the wake of last month’s terraUSD collapse that resulted in multibillion-dollar losses, according to a Bloomberg report.
  • The Bank for International Settlements  said in a report Tuesday that the use of public blockchains results in fragmentation which means crypto could never be a suitable means of payment.
  • South Korean crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb have announced  that they will delist Litecoin because of its newly activated privacy features.
  • A leading lawmaker said France should recognize DAOs and NFTs in its legal system,  in a report published Wednesday.

Industry

  • Crypto VC giant Paradigm has tapped Katie Biber as its new chief legal officer. Biber comes to the venture capital firm from financial technology company Brex and previously served as general counsel for Mitt Romney’s 2012 U.S. presidential campaign.

Bitcoin mining startup Bitzero, whose backers include Kevin O’Leary, has chosen North Dakota as the headquarters and hub for its North American operations.