Latest news with #Anti-CBDCSurveillanceStateAct
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Is Bitcoin a smart buy after a volatile Crypto Week?
Bitcoin hit new all-time highs of $123,000 before pulling back during a big policy week in the US for cryptocurrency. In an unprecedented move, US lawmakers set aside a week for cryptocurrency, advancing a trio of landmark bills aimed at regulating stablecoins, clarifying digital asset oversight, and blocking a central bank digital currency. Dubbed Crypto Week, it saw market turbulence with institutional investors viewing regulatory clarity with optimism, before locking in profits after the rally. Longer term, however, the legislation could reduce volatility and increase interest in investing in cryptocurrencies, including in Ireland. While overall ownership is modest here, interest continues to rise. Crypto Week The US House of Representatives set aside an entire legislative week for focus on cryptocurrency policy. On the House agenda were three major bills related to digital assets, including: GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act) The GENIUS Act establishes a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, aiming to ensure their safety, transparency, and integration into the broader financial system. CLARITY Act The Clarity Act seeks to define the regulatory roles of the Security and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission concerning digital assets. It essentially aims to provide clear guidelines on which agency oversees various aspects of the crypto market. Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act This legislation proposes to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. The Genius Act passed both houses and will be signed into law by President Donald Trump, while the Clarity Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act will require Senate approval before moving to Trump's desk. The concentrated legislative push has been hailed by crypto backers as a turning point for regulatory certainty, boosting consumer protection and institutional confidence. Critics worry the legislation doesn't fully address system risk or how cryptocurrency will interact with the broader banking system. Trump and Crypto Week The US president has championed all three bills, shaping Crypto Week financially and politically. The backing of the self-styled 'crypto president' has pushed prices to fresh highs and driven US policy on a more crypto-friendly trajectory. Trump's own financial interests are tied up in cryptocurrency. Ahead of his inauguration, he launched the $TRUMP meme coin. His crypto ventures have also provoked scrutiny and complicated bipartisan backing, including delays to the bills he endorsed. Irish investment in cryptocurrency Crypto enthusiasm is highest among younger Irish adults. A survey carried out by Amarach on behalf of Blockchain Ireland showed more than 10% of Irish adults are dabbling in cryptocurrencies. Nick Charalambous, Managing Director of Alpha Wealth, said younger males are more likely to own the digital assets. "This puts Ireland roughly in line with global averages, where global cryptocurrency ownership rates at an average of 7-8% of the population, with over 560 million cryptocurrencies users worldwide in 2024." What should people consider before investing in cryptocurrency? Mr Charalambous said, before investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies (or indeed any investment), investors should consider several key factors: Diversification: Bitcoin should form only a small portion of a balanced investment portfolio - typically no more than 5-10% of total investments. Volatility and risk: Cryptocurrency values can fluctuate dramatically, making it unsuitable for short-term needs or those who cannot afford losses. Only invest what you can afford to lose entirely. Regulatory environment: Ireland follows EU regulations, with new rules coming into effect that will provide clearer consumer protections but may also impact how crypto services operate. "However, there are so many scams we have to be really vigilant when investing in this asset class," he said. Tax implications: Most Cryptocurrencies are subject to capital gains tax (currently 33%) which is due on any profit you make over €1,270. You'll need to file a tax return annually regardless of profit or loss. Is now a good time to invest? There's no universally good or bad time to invest in cryptocurrencies; "Timing the market consistently is nearly impossible", Mr Charalambous said. There are considerations for current conditions: Current market position: Bitcoin is currently trading around approximately €100,000 having seen significant gains this year. Bitcoin price prediction for July 2025 suggests an upside target of over €110,000, supported by ETF inflows and strong institutional demand. Risk tolerance: With Bitcoin's extreme volatility, ensure you can stomach potential 50-80% drops without affecting your financial security. Personal circumstances first: Only invest if you have adequate emergency funds, no high-interest debt, and have maximised your pension contributions first. Portfolio balance: Keep crypto allocation small (typically 5-10% maximum) within a diversified investment strategy. Long-term perspective: Bitcoin historically rewards patient, long-term holders more than short-term traders. Cryptocurrencies remain a high-risk, high-reward asset that should complement, not replace, traditional investments," Mr Charalambous said. "One way to consider investing in this is price-cost averaging rather than trying to time the market, consider regular small purchases over time to smooth out volatility."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
House passes crypto market structure bill after GOP revolt
The House passed legislation Thursday laying out regulatory rules for the crypto industry, after GOP leadership managed to stem a revolt from competing factions in the conference that brought the floor to a standstill and left the crypto legislation in limbo. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act cleared the House in a 294-134 vote, with 78 House Democrats joining all Republicans to support it. Its passage comes at the end of a rollercoaster 'crypto week' in the House, during which GOP leadership had hoped to easily pass a trio of digital asset bills. However, a group of hard-line Republicans revolted Tuesday, tanking a procedural vote and prompting President Trump to step in. He struck a deal with the lawmakers, but it ultimately failed to stem the rebellion and angered other members. The agreement would have added language from the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which bars the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), to the broader crypto bill. After hours of negotiations and the longest House vote on record, leadership agreed to add the anti-CBDC provisions to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), giving it a better chance of reaching Trump's desk. Most of the remaining Republican holdouts changed their votes to 'yes,' allowing the House to adopt the rule governing debate and unfreezing the floor. The crypto market structure bill, sometimes referred to as the Clarity Act, aims to provide clear rules for the crypto market by drawing bright lines between oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The industry has long sought legislation to help delineate when digital assets are considered securities or commodities and, as a result, which financial regulator they fall under. This became a key issue in the Biden administration, when former SEC Chair Gary Gensler brought numerous enforcement actions against crypto firms that accused him of failing to provide clear rules and attempting to regulate by enforcement. The House passed an earlier iteration of the market structure bill, called the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, last May, with 71 Democrats joining most Republicans to support the legislation. However, the Senate never took up the bill. Now, attention is once again turning back to the upper chamber, as it prepares to release its own discussion draft on crypto market structure. Meanwhile, the House also passed the GENIUS Act — Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act — which would establish a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The bill, which cleared the Senate last month, next heads to Trump's desk after being approved by the lower chamber in a 308-122 vote. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
These Billionaires Got Richer Thanks To "Crypto Week"
getty B itcoin is soaring to the moon, with the cryptocurrency posting a new all-time high on Monday of $122,838, nearly a 100% increase since July of last year. For a brief time, Bitcoin's market cap was upwards of $2.4 trillion, surpassing Amazon as the fifth most valuable asset in the world. The run-up came at the start of what the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services has called 'Crypto Week,' Three cryptocurrency bills – the CLARITY Act, Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act and the GENIUS Act— were all approved on Thursday by the House of Representatives. Together they help establish a regulatory framework and help integrate cryptocurrencies into traditional finance.. 'These pieces of legislation further the President's pro-growth and pro-business agenda, and provide a clear regulatory framework for digital assets,' according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. All this anticipation has helped produce outsized returns for BTC holders, with the coin's price far outpacing even the broader market, itself near record highs and up nearly 12% from a year ago. Donald Trump, who will be signing these pieces of legislation into law, stands to personally benefit from their adoption. His World Liberty Financial launched a new stablecoin called USD1 earlier this year that Forbes has valued at more than $100 million. It's probably up at least 30% since then, adding tens of millions to the president's net worth. Trump's involvement with the passage of the three bills was hands-on, personally meeting with republican holdouts who blocked earlier crypto bills. 'I am in the Oval Office with 11 of the 12 Congressmen/women necessary to pass the GENIUS Act and, after a short discussion, they have all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday. Here are a few of the biggest billionaire winners, including the largest holders of Bitcoin based on Forbes billionaire ranks, over the last year according to Forbes ' estimates. One person not among the gainers is Crypto's richest person Changpeng Zhao, whose fortune comes from his cryptocurrency exchange Binance but does not appear to own much Bitcoin. No one would be richer or gain more from Bitcoin's rise than its mysterious founder, Satoshi Nakamoto—if s/he really exists and is really one living person. With estimated holdings of up to 1.1 million Bitcoins, Satoshi's stash could now be worth more than $135 billion thanks to Bitcoin's all-time high. That would be good enough to make Satoshi the 11th-wealthiest person in the world, $10 billion richer than computer billionaire Michael Dell and just $7 billion poorer than Warren Buffett. But the problem is that no one has been able to definitively prove the identity of Satoshi, who authored Bitcoin's white paper in 2008 before handing it off to the community and has never sold a token since. The pseudonymous person or possible team of people behind Satoshi Nakamoto left the stage more than a decade ago. That has not stopped many from trying to reveal the true identity in what has become one of the greatest unsolved mysteries. It's also impossible to determine an exact accounting of Satoshi's bitcoin addresses or total holdings since the network, too, is pseudonymous (Forbes previously reported estimates range between 600,000 and 1.1 million tokens). For those reasons, Forbes has yet to place Satoshi on the billionaires list, even as all those zeroes keep piling up. This story was updated on July 18 to reflect the passage of the three acts and impact on Donald Trump's stable coin holdings. Jamel Toppin for Forbes Michael Saylor | $11.2 bil | +$6.8 bil Few are as bullish about Bitcoin as Saylor, who has made heavy investments in the coins through his publicly traded software firm MicroStrategy and his personal accounts. Microstrategy (market capitalization: $127 billion) owns 601,550 BTC, worth nearly $74 billion on Monday. That includes an additional 4,225 BTC bought at an average price of $111,827 per token from July 7th to July 13th, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In 2020, Saylor divulged that he personally held 17,732 BTC, purchased for some $175 million at an average price of $9,882. That stash would now be worth more than $2 billion. Brian Armstrong | $16.4 bil | + $5.2 bil The CEO of Coinbase, Armstrong has been consistently selling stock through 2025 using an automated trading program, but still owns roughly 19% of the company he cofounded, helping him indirectly profit from the rise in Bitcoin's price like Ehrsam. Michael Prince for Forbes Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss | $4.2 bil each | +$3.7 bil each The Winklevoss twins hold an estimated 28,288 BTC, now worth roughly $3.5 billion. Famous for alleging Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for Facebook, the twins donated 15.47 Bitcoin apiece, worth $1 million each at the time, to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, citing issues with the Biden administration's approach toward cryptocurrency in a June 2024 post on X by Tyler Winklevoss. Mike Novogratz | $4.9 bil | +$2.4 bil Novogratz is an early Bitcoin investor and the founder, CEO and majority shareholder of Galaxy Digital Holdings, a crypto investment firm that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange. He first bought Bitcoin in 2013, and has invested in a wide variety of startups and tokens within the cryptocurrency industry. Fred Ehrsam | $4.2 bil | +$1.1 bil Cofounder of Coinbase Global, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Ehrsam left the company in 2017 to found Paradigm, a cryptocurrency investment firm with more than $8 billion in assets. He remains on the board of Coinbase, and owns 4% of the shares, which trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and are up 81% over the past year—buoyed in part by Coinbase's corporate reserves of 51,017.36 BTC, worth $6.3 billion at Monday's all-time high price. Getty Images Tim Draper | $3.6 bil | +$1.6 bil Draper is a founding partner of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson and an early Bitcoin investor. In 2014, he bought 29,656 bitcoins which were confiscated by U.S. Marshalls from the Silk Road black market; they're now worth over $3.6 billion.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
US House passes key crypto bills in major win for Trump administration
WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives has passed three major cryptocurrency bills, marking a significant legislative victory for the Trump administration. The measures include the CLARITY Act, which aims to clarify regulatory oversight between the SEC and CFTC, and the GENIUS Act, which formalizes rules for stablecoins. Lawmakers approved the CLARITY Act with bipartisan support, signaling a shift toward clearer regulations for digital assets. The bill now moves to the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow majority. Meanwhile, the GENIUS Act, which mandates stablecoin issuers to maintain equivalent reserves, is set to go directly to President Trump for signing after Senate approval last month. 'This historic legislation modernizes our payment system and strengthens the US dollar's global position,' said Senator Bill Hagerty, a key supporter of the bill. The move follows years of skepticism toward cryptocurrencies, but Trump's recent embrace of the industry—including launching his own meme coin—has accelerated policy changes. The Financial Times reports that Trump is also considering opening the $9 trillion US retirement market to crypto investments, alongside gold and private equity. His administration has already taken steps to support the sector, such as appointing crypto advocate Paul Atkins to lead the SEC and creating a federal 'Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.' In a more contentious vote, the House also passed the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which seeks to block a potential digital dollar over privacy concerns. However, its Senate prospects remain uncertain. The legislative push reflects growing crypto industry influence, with both parties receiving increased lobbying and campaign contributions. 'Clear rules are essential for market stability,' said Democratic congressman Josh Gottheimer. - AFP
The Hill
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Stablecoin bill clears House
Lawmakers voted 308-122 on Thusday to pass the GENIUS Act following a tumultuous 'crypto week' in the chamber that saw competing GOP factions bring the House floor to a standstill for two days. A dozen Republicans voted against the measure, while 102 Democrats supported it. The bill regulating dollar-backed digital tokens now heads to Trump's desk, where he has indicated he is eager to sign it. 'For far too long, America's digital assets industry has been stifled by ambiguous rules, confusing enforcement and the Biden administration's anti-crypto crusade,' Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said at a press conference Thursday. 'But President Trump and this Congress are correcting course and unleashing America's digital asset potential with historic, transformative legislation,' he continued. 'President Trump promised to make America the crypto capital of the world, and today, we delivered,' Emmer added. The legislation's future appeared in jeopardy less than 24 hours earlier. A group of hardline Republicans tanked a procedural vote on a trio of crypto bills Tuesday, freezing the floor. Trump struck a deal to secure their support the next day, but several holdouts remained Wednesday, as the House attempted once again to adopt a rule governing debate on the bills. The agreement Trump reached with the hardliners also prompted new backlash from members of the House Financial Services Committee. The deal sought to add provisions from the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which aims to bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), to a broader crypto framework called the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Both measures passed the House as well Thursday. After hours of deliberation Wednesday — during which the rule vote remained open and the number of 'no' votes from hardliners continued to grow — GOP leadership reached a deal to add the anti-CBDC provisions to the National Defense Authorization Act. Including the provisions in the must-pass legislation would put them on track to reach Trump's desk, assuming they don't get stripped out of the bill as it weaves its way through Congress later this year. The agreement convinced most of the remaining holdouts to switch their 'no' votes on the rule to 'yes,' allowing it to pass after more than nine hours. It easily surpassed the previous record for longest vote in the chamber, which the House set just two weeks earlier during consideration of the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill.'
