South Africa Plays Down Comments by Its General Visiting Iran
South African National Defence Force Chief Rudzani Maphwanya was quoted by local media declaring that the two nations share common goals, calling for deeper ties. Pretoria's close ties with Tehran are among points of contention between South Africa and Washington, which slapped a 30% tariff on the sub-Saharan nation's goods entering the US this month.
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32 minutes ago
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Wall Street Joins Consumer Advocates to Call for Edit to GENIUS Act on Stablecoins
Wall Street bankers are hammering away at some provisions of the new U.S. stablecoin law that was hailed by President Donald Trump and the crypto sector as a huge first step toward establishing a fully regulated U.S. industry, and the banks are joined by unusual bedfellows from the consumer-advocate world in sounding alarms. Hoping to revise and cut provisions that might threaten aspects of the current financial system, the American Bankers Association and other bank lobbying groups aligned in a letter this week with Americans for Financial Reform — usually a staunch opponent of Wall Street's policy aims — and the National Consumer Law Center. One provision of the stablecoin law known as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act lets a stablecoin-issuing subsidiary of a state-chartered uninsured depository institution run money-transmission and custody services nationwide, which the bankers argue bypasses existing state licensing and oversight. Their letter asked several key U.S. senators to insist that whole section be erased entirely. "Ignoring state law in this regard invites regulatory arbitrage, allowing certain uninsured depository institutions special privileges to operate across state lines as federally insured banks currently do, but without the panoply of regulatory and supervisory requirements, or limitations on preemption applicable to those institutions," the August 13 letter argued. The bank lobbyists, also cooperated in a separate effort to protect deposits and other core aspects of their businesses from the GENIUS Act, arguing in another letter to lawmakers this week that the law leaves an opening for crypto firms to offer returns on stablecoins. While the law bans stablecoin issuers themselves from offering interest or yield, it doesn't stop the issuers' affiliates or exchanges from doing so indirectly. The bankers fear a massive loss of deposits and money-market fund activity from the resulting rivalry stablecoins might offer. "Congress must protect the flow of credit to American businesses and families and the stability of the most important financial market by closing the stablecoin payment of interest loophole," according to the groups, including the ABA, Bank Policy Institute, Financial Services Forum and others. Banks turn deposits into loans, so the lack of deposits threatens necessary U.S. lending. Faryar Shirzad, the chief policy officer at U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase, criticized the banks' position in postings on social media site X. "Congress shouldn't be in the business of passing legislation that takes away consumer choice and the opportunity for the average person to earn returns on their hard-earned dollars," he wrote, additionally arguing that the $6 trillion figure on what desposits may be at stake is overblown. "Let's play along for a second," Shirzad added. "If customers really would move $6T away from banks into stablecoins, what does that say about what value consumers feel like they're getting from their banks?" The GENIUS Act was signed into law by President Trump, but the bigger and more complex legislation to regulate U.S. crypto markets is still pending. That future bill, which already passed the House of Representatives as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, could still overhaul provisions of the stablecoin law, even before that new law is converted into rules by the U.S. financial regulators. That's what the bankers are advocating, alongside their temporary customer-advocate allies. Adds comment from Coinbase's Faryar Shirzad. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump admin backs down on DC police control after striking deal
Washington officials and the Justice Department negotiated a deal at a judge's urging Friday that prevented full federal control of the city's police department over the weekend, but left underlying legal disputes unresolved. Justice Department officials agreed to rewrite a Thursday order from Attorney General Pam Bondi that named Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole as emergency police commissioner, cutting the mayor and existing police chief out of the chain of command. The rewritten order will name Cole as Bondi's 'designee for requesting services' from the police department. 'We think that solves the problem and that's what we're planning to do immediately,' Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes indicated at a hearing Friday she would grant the D.C. attorney general's request for a temporary restraining order if the Justice Department did not follow through on rewriting the order by Friday evening. The hearing came after city officials sued the Trump administration earlier Friday over the directive to take over control of the Metropolitan Police Department. 'In the interim, Mr. Cole is not going to be able to direct police department individuals to do anything,' Reyes, a Biden appointee, said. 'He's going to have to go through the mayor.' Reyes indicated she will hold a hearing next week on other remaining legal questions. "I still do not understand on what basis the president … can say 'You, police department, can't do anything unless I say you can.' That cannot be the reading of the statute,' Reyes said. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was surprised to receive Bondi's order, which came without notice Thursday night. 'What we know is that D.C. residents are worried and concerned and we have a surge of federal officers,' Bowser said. 'Chief Smith's job during this week has been to make sure that if we have and while we have federal officers, that they are being used strategically, and while we aren't controlling them, we do have the ability to influence how they're being deployed.' A 1973 federal law known as the Home Rule Act permits the president, in times of emergency, to seek services from the D.C. police for federal purposes. But city officials say Trump's power to do so is sharply limited and must be done in cooperation with city officials, rather than through a hostile takeover that includes rescinding and rewriting local laws and rules. Reyes agreed, emphasizing the difference between seeking services — which the mayor must provide — and commandeering the entire department. "The statute would have no meaning at all if the president could just say we're taking over your police department,' Reyes said. Arguing for the Trump administration, Roth said the language of the Home Rule Act allows Trump broad discretion to direct MPD — and likely can't be subject to review by the courts. While adjourning for a break in the hearing, Reyes urged the parties to reach a deal that wouldn't require her to rule on the city's request for a restraining order. Those negotiations stretched on for about 90 minutes, as the mayor and other local officials waited in the courtroom. Stanley Woodward, a Bondi advisor and nominee for the No. 3 position at the Justice Department, arrived at the courthouse during the break and was seen participating in the negotiations. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed the lawsuit in federal court Friday after the Justice Department ordered Cole to assume 'all the powers and duties' of MPD police chief Pamela Smith as the 'Emergency Police Commissioner.' Schwalb directed Smith to disregard the orders, issued by Bondi, and said MPD officers 'must continue to follow your orders.' Trump on Monday issued an executive order to invoke his authority under the Home Rule Act, the first president to do so since the act was signed into law. He also deployed the National Guard to the city. City officials said they had held off on taking legal action immediately because the language in Trump's executive order largely did not stray from that of the Home Rule Act. But disrupting the MPD's chain of command by appointing Cole — and therefore undermining Smith — was an overreach not legally permitted, Schwalb argued. 'The Administration's actions are brazenly unlawful,' Schwalb wrote on X Friday. 'They infringe on the District's right to self-governance and put the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk.' In a statement, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the Trump administration has the 'lawful authority to assert control over' MPD. Jacob Wendler contributed to this report. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US Will Not Be Purchasing Any Bitcoin, Treasury Secretary Bessent Says
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoiled the dreams of Bitcoiners worldwide Thursday, stating outright that the federal government will not be purchasing additional Bitcoin to supplement its existing supply of the cryptocurrency. 'We're not going to be buying that,' Bessent said during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox Business. The Treasury Secretary did endorse the notion of a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve, which President Donald Trump established via a March executive order. But Bessent said such a reserve, which currently consists of Bitcoin seized by U.S. law enforcement,will only be grown in the future by similar seizures. 'We are going to use confiscated assets and continue to build that up,' Bessent said of the Bitcoin reserve. 'We're going to stop selling that.' The Treasury Secretary added he estimates the U.S. government's current Bitcoin holdings to equal between $15 billion to $20 billion in value at current prices. Bessent's comments mark a departure from previous statements by White House officials on the subject. For months, Trump officials have floated the possibility of the federal government purchasing additional Bitcoin. The prospect has thrilled many Bitcoin holders, both due to the legitimacy such acquisitions could grant the cryptocurrency, and the potential deflationary impact massive state-level purchases of the token could have on its price. In March, shortly after Trump established a federal strategic Bitcoin reserve, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks told Decrypt that Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would have the final say on determining whether to purchase additional Bitcoin via 'budget-neutral' methods, such as selling off other government reserve assets including gold. Ethereum ETF Inflows Outperform Bitcoin for the Third Day Straight For months, White House officials have since repeated the line that they want to 'acquire as much Bitcoin as possible.' But plans for such acquisitions never materialized in the months since the Bitcoin reserve's announcement. Late last month, the White House released a sprawling, 168-page report on crypto policy recommendations. Though it was supposed to include further information about the Trump administration's crypto reserve plans, it notably omitted any details on the subject. One of the most consistently vocal White House officials on the subject of purchasing Bitcoin was Bo Hines, executive director of the President's Working Group on Digital Assets. Since March Hines has repeatedly said, in private and in public, that the Trump administration wanted to acquire as much Bitcoin as it possibly could.'I've said that at every conference I've spoken at in the last two to three months,' Hines said during testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in June. Earlier this week, Hines announced he had left his White House role, effective immediately. UPDATE (August 14, 2025, 11:03 a.m. ET): Adds paragraphs about Hines. Sign in to access your portfolio
