Latest news with #DigitalAssetMarketClarityAct
Business Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Trump crypto group offers proposals to boost digital finance
[WASHINGTON] A group charged by US President Donald Trump with recommending policies on crypto markets called on federal regulators to use their authority to provide more clear rules on the trading of digital assets and ease the adoption of new financial products in a report released on Wednesday (Jul 30). 'By implementing these recommendations, policymakers can ensure that the United States leads the blockchain revolution and ushers in the Golden Age of Crypto,' the White House said in a fact sheet on the report from the Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. The policy proposals from the group, which was established by an executive order signed by Trump in January, touch on a wide range of issues in the digital asset space. Those include calls for Congress to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to eliminate gaps in regulatory oversight by providing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority to 'oversee spot markets for non-security digital assets' and measures that embrace decentralised finance technologies. The report urges the Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC to use their existing powers to 'immediately enable the trading of digital assets at the federal level' by providing more clarity on issues such as registration, custody, trading and recordkeeping. And it calls for allowing 'innovative financial products to reach consumers without bureaucratic delays', recommending the use of so-called safe harbours and other regulatory tools, according to the fact sheet. The report also presses regulators to clarify 'permissible bank activities' in regards to stablecoin issues and the use of blockchains, promote transparency on how institutions can obtain bank charters and ensure that bank capital rules better reflect the risks particular to digital assets. The working group's recommendations come after Trump earlier this month signed the first congressional bill to regulate stablecoins, delivering a major win for the crypto industry. That law sets regulatory rules for US dollar-backed stablecoins that advocates see as allowing for the broader adoption of digital assets in finance. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Trump, once a sceptic of cryptocurrencies, grew to become a champion of the industry, vowing during the 2024 campaign to usher in policies that would ease regulatory burdens. That election also heralded the arrival of the crypto industry as a political force, with investors and executives using well-funded political action committees to back friendly candidates. Trump and his family have ties to digital-asset businesses, including World Liberty Financial, a platform with its own branded token and stablecoin. In office, Trump tapped venture capitalist David Sacks to be the first-ever White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar and signed an executive order calling for the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate stockpile of other digital assets. The White House plans to provide additional details about the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in short order, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity on Wednesday because the plans have not been made public. The reserve is expected to be comprised of about 198,000 Bitcoin that the US government has seized from criminal cases and other proceedings, according to Arkham, a company that tracks cryptocurrency activity. Various agencies were supposed to provide the Treasury Department with the exact count of their Bitcoin holdings earlier this year. An executive order from Trump in January instructed the Treasury to hold and to not sell those Bitcoin. The Treasury and Commerce departments have also been directed to find 'budget neutral' ways to acquire more Bitcoin. Many crypto investors are eager to learn more about the amount the government plans to buy and how it will do so, as large purchases typically move Bitcoin's price. The report also addressed wash sales, the practice of selling an asset at a loss and quickly repurchasing it to lock in a tax deduction. It urged regulators to extend existing rules that bar such loss deductions for securities to cover digital assets as well. Exactly which tokens would fall under the rules remains unclear. 'Because wash-sale rules apply to securities, they would not apply to digital assets that are not securities,' the report said. It recommended exempting coins that underpin decentralised blockchains, along with stablecoins primarily used for payments. Among the Wednesday report's other recommendations are a call for the Treasury Department and other regulators to provide more clarity on Bank Secrecy Act obligations and reporting requirements to better crack down on money laundering. The report's authors also urge Congress to pass legislation that 'treats digital assets as a new class of assets subject to modified versions of tax rules applicable to securities or commodities' for federal tax purposes. And they suggest that the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service provide guidance on digital assets in regards to the corporate alternative minimum tax and other matters. BLOOMBERG
The Hill
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
White House lays out crypto policy priorities for Congress, regulators
The White House on Wednesday laid out its policy priorities for regulating digital assets, offering detailed guidance to Congress and federal regulators on how it hopes to fulfill President Trump's campaign promise to make the U.S. the 'crypto capital of the planet.' The 166-page report from Trump's digital assets working group provides recommendations for lawmakers and regulators on everything from crypto oversight to taxation to banking rules. 'We think this is probably the most comprehensive product that's ever been produced in regards to digital assets,' a White House official said on a call with reporters Wednesday morning. 'I think the industry will be extremely pleased with us.' The report, produced in response to a January executive order from the president, comes after months of efforts in Congress to pass digital asset legislation. Earlier this month, Trump signed the first major crypto bill, the GENIUS Act, into law. The legislation laid out a regulatory framework for dollar-backed digital tokens known as stablecoins. Meanwhile, lawmakers have continued to advance legislation seeking to clarify rules for the rest of the crypto market, most critically by splitting up oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The House passed its version, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, earlier this month, while the Senate released a discussion draft of its own bill shortly afterward. The White House report put forward several recommendations for Congress, many of which appear primed to be included in such legislation. It calls for lawmakers to ensure the CFTC has spot market authority over non-security digital assets and to affirm a right to self-custody, in which crypto users can hold their assets themselves without the need for a third party. The report also directs Congress to determine the applications of the Bank Secrecy Act to the crypto market, while specifically calling for an exemption from such rules for software providers. It urges lawmakers to pass a law banning the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as well. Concerns over CBDCs nearly threatened to derail the passage of the GENIUS Act earlier this month, as a contingent of hardline Republicans refused to move forward on a trio of crypto bills without further assurances on an anti-CBDC measure. GOP leadership ultimately agreed to put an anti-CBDC provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, must-pass legislation that increases its chances of reaching Trump's desk. Meanwhile, as lawmakers continue to hash out legislation, the White House report suggests that the SEC and CFTC should 'use their existing authorities to immediately enable the trading of digital assets at the federal level.' This appears to give the two key regulators broad leeway to move forward with crypto regulation on their own. The SEC has already taken steps to lay out its approach to digital assets. After rolling back Biden-era rules and dismissing cases and investigation against numerous crypto cases, the agency has turned its attention to offering guidance on various crypto issues, from meme coins to tokenization. The CFTC, on the other hand, has been much quieter on the crypto front. The agency is currently operating with only two out of five commissioners after a series of departures. Both of the remaining commissioners have also indicated they plan to leave as well. Banking regulators, such as the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, are tasked with providing banks with clarity on crypto-related activities by the working group. The White House report also cautions these regulators against providing guidance based on specific technology, in a callback to concerns about so-called 'Operation Chokepoint 2.0.' The crypto industry and Republicans have accused Biden-era regulators of targeting the industry by discouraging banks from working with crypto firms — an effort they compared to an Obama-era program that targeted firearm dealers and payday lenders. The report also suggests banking regulators offer more clarity on the process for obtaining bank charters and Fed master accounts, as crypto firms like Circle and Ripple file applications. However, this is likely to be a point of contention going forward, as the banking industry urges regulators to pump the brakes on such efforts. The report underscores Trump's heavy focus on crypto in his second term in office. After once dismissing crypto as a 'scam,' he embraced the industry during his 2024 campaign, in which he promised to make the U.S. the 'crypto capital of the planet.' Since taking office, Trump has continued full-steam ahead, naming venture capitalist David Sacks as his artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto czar, hosting crypto leaders at the White House and signing an executive order establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile. However, his embrace of the industry in his personal life has drawn scrutiny. The president and his sons launched a crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, last fall, which has since released a stablecoin. Trump also launched a meme coin shortly before inauguration and met with the top investors in the token earlier this year, while his media company has filed to offer several crypto-related assets.
UPI
6 days ago
- Business
- UPI
Industry praises slate of crypto bills, economists unsure of promise
July 25 (UPI) -- Congress and President Donald Trump have taken steps toward regulating digital currency with the passage of a package of bills on Capitol Hill. Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act and, or GENIUS Act, into law last week, establishing a framework for regulating stablecoin, a form of cryptocurrency that is backed by a stable asset. Industry stakeholders are applauding the law, saying it will enable the United States to be a leader in digital finance. Economists are not unanimously convinced that it will be the consumer-focused game-changer it is made out to be. "The passage of the GENIUS Act represents an important step toward establishing a clear regulatory foundation for the digital asset industry in the United States," Paolo Ardoino, CEO of pioneering cryptocurrency company Tether, said in a statement to UPI. "The U.S. now has the opportunity to reassert its leadership in digital finance by supporting open networks and programmable money. Stablecoins have become essential infrastructure in global markets, powering dollar access, enhancing cross-border settlements, and strengthening financial resilience." The GENIUS Act is just one piece of legislation that underlines lawmakers' interest in establishing guidelines for the realm of digital finance. The House passed two more bills last week relating to cryptocurrency: the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and the Anti-CBDC Act. Both must pass the Senate to become law. Aaron Klein, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told UPI that, when considering these actions together, a signal is being sent to consumers that cryptocurrency is here to stay. "It's something the government is passively and explicitly supporting," Klein said. "The enthusiasm by Congress and by the president personally issuing his own crypto for his own financial gain is a giant signal for the American public. Many of them will see this as a green light and won't look at the fine print." GENIUS Act The GENIUS Act will enable the government to regulate the licensure and permissions for stablecoin companies to offer and sell stablecoin in the United States. It also enables the federal government to enforce regulations with the use of fines and imprisonment for violations. Companies seeking to issue stablecoin are required to have the capital to back them up. They must also meet reporting and auditing requirements. In terms of U.S. interests, U.S.-regulated stablecoin could extend access to the U.S. dollar across the world due to its requirement that it is backed by the dollar or Treasury bills. "What's going to happen is this creates a new market but also a passive demand for U.S. government debt," Joshua Robert Hendrickson, professor of economics at Ole Miss, told UPI. "By doing so it potentially weakens the mechanism by which rising debt tends to lead to higher borrowing costs." The law sets the stage for broader adoption of stablecoin, Christian Catalini, founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab, told UPI. "No bill is perfect, but this is a great starting point for mainstream adoption to begin," Catalini said. "I'm sure there will be further adjustments along the way as we learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of the current law." Licensing will not be limited to traditional financial institutions. Fintech companies can also seek permission to issue stablecoins. "I expect lots of entry by U.S. banks, fintechs and digital wallets," Catalini said. "Some foreign fintechs and neobanks will use this as an opportunity to expand their U.S. presence and services." Klein said he is waiting to see how foreign companies will be treated by federal regulators. He believes the GENIUS Act does not establish strong enough guardrails to ensure that foreign companies, such as Tether, are held to the same auditing standards as U.S. companies. "One of the big loopholes in the GENIUS Act is the ability to certify to an American standard that the stablecoin issuers' audited financial statements are accurate and of high-quality," Klein said. "The first test of the GENIUS Act will come in how the foreign-issued stablecoins like Tether are treated in their auditing. Because Tether does not use U.S. auditing standards for their account." Klein is also unconvinced that stablecoin adoption will greatly improve America's payment systems. Real-time bank transactions have been a reality in Brazil, Mexico, England and Japan for years and in some cases decades. The United States passed the Expedited Funds Availability Act in 1987. One of its purposes was to require financial institutions to speed up making deposited funds available. This set maximum hold periods and generally requires cash and electronic deposits to be made available within the next business day. "You don't need stablecoins to have real-time payments," Klein said. "You need a Federal Reserve that cares about working people which we haven't seen for decades. Instead the Federal Reserve has prioritized bank profits from overdraft fees over helping people have access to their own money." Having the bill signed into law does not guarantee its effectiveness, Klein adds. It is up to federal regulators to create and adopt policies that they will then execute. There have been instances when the execution fell short, leaving consumers exposed. In 1994, the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act was passed to establish consumer protections against predatory home lending practices. It called on federal regulators to regulate prime subprime mortgages. More than a decade later, the rise in subprime mortgage lending culminated in the Great Recession. "In 1994, Congress passed a law requiring the Federal Reserve to regulate subprime mortgages and they didn't do it," Klein said. "Alan Greenspan said we don't need to regulate this market. Look how that worked out." Bills advancing in Congress The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. The Federal Reserve explored the potential risks and benefits associated with establishing a central bank digital currency under an executive order signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., sponsored the bill in the House. On the House floor prior to the vote, he said the impetus for the bill is a concern that a Federal Reserve-issued digital dollar would be used to track consumers. "Unlike decentralized digital assets, a CBDC is a digital form of sovereign currency that is designed, issued, and monitored by the federal government," Emmer said. "It is government-controlled programmable money that, if designed without the privacy protections of cash, this could give the federal government the ability to surveil and restrict Americans' transactions and monitor every aspect of our daily lives. In other words, every dollar you spend, where you spend it, who you spend it with would all be visible to and tracked by the watchful eyes of Washington." According to Hendrickson, a centralized digital currency offers a solution where there is no problem. "One of the things that people say would be a benefit of a central bank currency, they point to the number of people who don't have bank accounts," Hendrickson said. " They say it would give greater access to FDIC services. If people don't have bank accounts, when you ask them why their number one reason is they don't trust banks. So it's unclear why they would trust a central bank." "I don't think people want to give up that degree of privacy," he continued. When the U.S. Treasury Department encouraged the Biden administration to continue studying the potential of a government-issued digital dollar, it highlighted the importance of innovation done carefully. "It's kind of been sold as this technological innovation but there's no technology necessary," Hendrickson said. "Just giving more people access to their ledger is not a form of technology." Like the GENIUS Act, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is meant to put a regulatory framework in place for cryptocurrency. It does so by codifying oversight responsibilities and defining what is considered a digital commodity. Oversight responsibilities would belong to the Securities Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The SEC's role would be in regulating cryptocurrency offered as investment options, such as cryptocurrency that is offered as part of an investment contract. The high-profile collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023 and the FTX fraud scandal that began to unfurl in 2022 pushed the need for regulation to the forefront, Hendrickson said. "At the time what was really happening was all regulation of cryptocurrency was happening through SEC enforcement," he said. "You would find out that you broke a rule when the SEC brought charges against you. That's not an effective way to regulate an industry. The collapse of FTX was a catalyst for both politicians and people in the industry to say, look, now is the time to get a regulatory framework in place for these kinds of things."
Forbes
6 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
The CLARITY Act: A Turning Point For The Gaming Industry
Chris Hewish, Xsolla's Chief Strategy Officer, leads the gaming business engine, offering 700+ payment methods in 200+ regions. For years, companies working in blockchain, crypto and Web3 have been trying to balance momentum with caution. Even as innovation has exploded in these sectors, regulation has struggled to keep up. Agencies like the SEC and CFTC are operating from decades-old laws that never imagined digital tokens or decentralized protocols, let alone in-game NFTs. The result is a gray area where it's not clear what is acceptable or not and how that might change at any moment. Without structure, it's challenging to create meaningful plans, particularly when attempting to attract institutional investors and enterprise players. That's where the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025—CLARITY for short—comes in. If you care about the future of the U.S. economy, and in particular its role in emerging digital markets, this bipartisan bill is worth watching. Why We Need CLARITY Uncertainty is a significant hindrance to innovation. In a world of legal ambiguity and regulation by enforcement, developers spend more time asking what's allowed than actually building. It's already forcing companies to freeze new blockchain features or avoid Web3 integration entirely. The U.S. is behind the curve. Without a clear path forward, we're losing jobs and long-term market share to more crypto-friendly regions. While other countries are giving developers and investors a clear green light, we're still debating which agency has jurisdiction. That leads to brain drain, capital flight and a growing sense that if you want to innovate, you should consider doing it somewhere else. The CLARITY Act is the first serious, bipartisan attempt to solve this problem by providing a regulatory framework for digital assets. It clearly defines what counts as a security and what doesn't, and it gives primary regulatory authority to the CFTC for most digital commodities, including cryptocurrencies, NFTs and stablecoins. By overriding conflicting state laws with a unified federal approach, it gives everyone from startups to major institutions one consistent set of rules. Legal experts describe it as a path to compliance, a roadmap that developers, investors and exchanges can actually follow. With the CLARITY Act, we get a framework that supports responsible innovation without drowning it under outdated red tape. Why Gaming Is The Catalyst The gaming industry has been an early adopter of Web3 technologies, from player-owned assets to tokenized economies to virtual commerce. We've seen companies like Immutable build out entire Layer 2 blockchains just for Web3 games. These are functioning, growing ecosystems with real users and real transactions. Gaming offers a way to normalize Web3 by embedding it into something familiar that already works at scale. That's why we believe gaming can lead the way in Web3 adoption. Not only are we early users of these technologies, but we also have the commercial track record to turn them into viable products. With clear rules in place, U.S.-based game studios can confidently pursue new Web3 features, attracting investment and bringing those jobs and opportunities back home. This is a pivotal moment for the industry, a chance to help shape the conversation, not just follow it. At Xsolla, we've submitted official letters of support and shared our perspective publicly. We're also organizing roundtables to connect lawmakers and the gaming community, so regulators can hear directly from the people building the future of entertainment. While the CLARITY Act still has to clear several legislative hurdles, the momentum is there. And the gaming industry is ready to lead. We've already embraced tokenization, creator economies and digital goods in ways that make Web3 real for millions of users. This bill presents a real opportunity to reset the playing field, shifting from ambiguity to accountability. We can finally stop penalizing innovation and start rewarding it. Above all, we can maintain the next wave of technological leadership here in the U.S. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
The Hill
22-07-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Trump's AI plan
A group of Republican senators unveiled draft legislation Tuesday laying out their vision for regulation of the crypto market. After passing stablecoin legislation last month — which President Trump signed into law Friday — the upper chamber is now turning its attention to the broader digital assets market. Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) released the discussion draft on the heels of the House's passage of its own market structure bill. The House voted 294-134 on Thursday to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, after GOP leadership managed to fend off a revolt from competing factions of the conference. 'My colleagues and I in the House and Senate share the same goal: to provide clear rules of the road for digital assets that protect investors, foster innovation, and keep the future of digital finance anchored in America,' Scott said in a statement. 'I'm grateful for the hard work of our House counterparts to craft smart, bipartisan legislation, and I look forward to building on their work here in the Senate,' he continued. The key focus of crypto market structure legislation is splitting up oversight between two financial regulators — the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Senate discussion draft seeks to clarify when digital assets are not securities, in addition to creating disclosure requirements for the assets and directing the SEC to put forward new rules and modernize some existing regulations.
