5/8/22 Roundup

DeFi Weekly Roundup

May 8, 2022

Federal 

  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is hiring another 20 enforcement staff for the unit focussed on crypto scams and cyberthreats. With the additions, the number of staff dedicated to probing securities law violations in fields like coin offerings, lending, NFTs and DeFi is 50.
  • Both Republican and Democratic candidates in Ohio have made strong commitments to support the crypto industry in the wake of the primary election there on Tuesday. 

State 

  • Below is a summary of the latest legislative developments that have occurred this past week. Our master state legislative tracker can be found here. 
  • New York: A. 7389C – Would ban crypto proof of stake mining for two years. Passed the House on 4/26 and moved to the Senate.
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Wednesday on cryptocurrencies, laying out a road map for regulatory and consumer protections and examining ways the state can take advantage of blockchain technologies and digital assets.
  • Fairfax County, Virginia, is considering putting some of its pension fund money in two crypto funds that use a yield farming strategy.  

International

  • The European Union’s financial services commissioner, Mairead McGuinness, has called for a new “global agreement on crypto” to protect investors and limit the environmental impact of bitcoin mining.
  • Nine out of 10 central banks around the world are exploring CBDC’s, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Bank for International Settlements.
  • European states were urged to clamp down on crypto-enabled money laundering by the Council of Europe’s MONEYVAL committee in a report published Wednesday.
  • Uzbekistan has created a cryptocurrency regulatory framework which will require exchanges, mining pools, and crypto custodians operating in the Central Asian republic to be registered locally.
  • Many Cubans are turning to cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions, starting next month the Central Bank of Cuba will issue licenses to virtual asset service providers.

Industry 

  • Nvidia Corp. agreed to pay federal securities regulators a $5.5 million penalty over allegations that the chipmaker failed to adequately disclose revenue from crypto mining.
  • Gucci has rolled out the crypto payment mechanism at its flagship stores in the U.S.