Latest news with #DigitalAssetsSummit
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's Memecoin, Crypto Stake Make Legislating ‘More Complicated': Rep. French Hill
U.S. President Donald Trump's crypto ventures, including the launch of his TRUMP memecoin in January, have complicated bipartisan efforts to get stablecoin legislation passed, Rep. French Hill, a lawmaker at the center of the industry's crypto efforts in Washington, said Wednesday at Consensus 2025 in Toronto. However, Hill — chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which recently released a discussion draft of a crypto market structure bill — said that there is still a strong bipartisan consensus around the need for crypto legislation, despite Democrats' growing frustration with the potential conflicts of interest and the opacity of Trump's personal crypto investments. 'Despite the politics around the Trump memecoin and crypto investments that has definitely made our work more complicated, I still argue that behind the scenes, you've got constructive members and both sides of the Capitol and in both political parties working to find consensus,' Hill said in his pre-taped interview with CoinDesk. The bipartisan consensus isn't limited to the need for stablecoin regulations in the U.S., Hill said, adding that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also agree on the need for a market structure bill. 'I don't want to use too trite a cliche as peanut butter and jelly, but these bills work together in the sense that if you have a stablecoin, where will you use it? How will it be used as an on-ramp or off-ramp to other digital asset activities? And that's why having both the bills is critical,' Hill said. At the White House's Digital Assets Summit in March, Trump said he wanted Congress to have both a stablecoin bill and a market structure bill on his desk before the month-long August recess. 'I believe that's doable,' Hill said. 'We're on track. We just have to keep at it and keep at it hard, and we'll try to hit President Trump's deadline.'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Coinbase buys Deribit for $2.9 billion
Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) Global will purchase Dubai-based Deribit, the world's largest trading platform for Bitcoin and Ether options, for approximately $2.9 billion — in Bitcoin. Coinbase announced the news on its website, noting that the $2.9 billion will consist of $700 million in cash as well as 11 million shares of Coinbase Class A common stock, 'subject to customary purchase price adjustments.' Both companies lauded the transaction. 'We're excited to join forces with Coinbase to power a new era in global crypto derivatives,' said Deribit chief executive Luuk Strijers in a prepared statement. The CEO went on to say that the deal will 'accelerate the foundation we laid while providing traders with even more opportunities across spot, futures, perpetuals, and options – all under one trusted brand.' For its part, Coinbase pointed to several 'synergies' that will be achieved through the transaction — if regulators let the deal through. 'Deribit's robust options platform complements Coinbase's rapidly growing US futures and international perpetual futures businesses, completing our derivatives offering. This is an important step toward our goal of providing traders access to spot, futures, perpetual futures, and options trading,' Coinbase noted in a press release. The deal comes as some lawmakers examine crypto with heightened scrutiny, while the Trump family cashes in on the sector. 'I promised to make America the world's Bitcoin superpower and the planet's crypto capital. And we're taking historic action to deliver on that promise,' President Donald Trump said at the White House's Digital Assets Summit in March. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New York AG urges Congress to strengthen crypto regulations after DOJ disbands task force
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) sent a Thursday letter to leaders in Congress urging them to crack down on crypto regulations days after the Justice Department (DOJ) disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. James argued that without safeguards, digital assets could undermine U.S. dollar dominance, weaken national security if individuals anonymously finance criminal operations and fund adversarial regimes, and subject investors to price manipulation in rigged markets. 'Much of the cryptocurrency industry, by design, has opaque ownership structures and a lack of centralized control, making it attractive as a medium of exchange for illicit finance by adversarial state actors like North Korea, China, Russia, Venezuela and Iran, terrorist groups like Hamas and [ISIS], and global drug and crime cartels,' James wrote. 'North Korea has stolen more than $6 billion in crypto to fund its nuclear program, making it the third largest holder of Bitcoin,' the New York attorney general, who has signed on to several lawsuits against the Trump administration, noted. The New York official highlighted bitcoin as an ever-present rival to the U.S. dollar while noting victims of cryptocurrency fraud in the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) earlier this week. 'Cryptocurrency fraud has had a real impact in New York,' James wrote. 'About 26,000 New Yorkers deposited and lost $440 million on the Celsius trading platform.' 'Its founder and CEO pled guilty to two federal criminal charges in December 2024 and continues to face a lawsuit from my office for the harm he caused,' she added. DOJ officials said Monday they wouldn't prioritize managing cryptocurrency enforcement but rather the prosecution of those who victimize digital asset investors, or those who use digital assets for criminal offenses such as terrorism, narcotics and human trafficking, organized crime, hacking, and cartel and gang financing. Meanwhile, President Trump has charted a new course for crypto investors since returning to the White House, inviting many top traders to speak at the first ever White House crypto summit. He also created the first government reserve of bitcoin along with a 'digital asset stockpile.' 'My administration also is working to end the federal bureaucracy's war on crypto, which was really going on pretty wildly during Biden, until the election came about,' the president said during his remarks at the Digital Assets Summit while touting deregulation. James, who argued for more regulation, said some concerns could be mitigated through onshore stable coin backing. 'The U.S. should require stablecoins to be backed by the U.S. dollar or treasuries on a one-to-one basis and be issued by companies that have an American presence and are regulated under U.S. laws and subject to federal and/or state oversight,' she wrote to the congressional leaders. 'Those dollars and treasuries should be deposited in banks and institutions under U.S. supervision. So-called stablecoins not backed one-to-one by U.S. dollars create market confusion for investors who may not otherwise be aware that no actual dollars exist behind the tokens,' she suggested. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
11-04-2025
- Business
- The Hill
New York AG urges Congress to strengthen crypto regulations after DOJ disbands task force
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) sent a Thursday letter to leaders in Congress urging them to crack down on crypto regulations days after the Justice Department (DOJ) disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. James argued, without safeguards, digital assets could undermine U.S. dollar dominance, weaken national security if individuals anonymously finance criminal operations and fund adversarial regimes, and subjects investors to price manipulation in rigged markets. 'Much of the cryptocurrency industry, by design, has opaque ownership structures and a lack of centralized control, making it attractive as a medium of exchange for illicit finance by adversarial state actors like North Korea, China, Russia, Venezuela and Iran, terrorist groups like Hamas and [ISIS], and global drug and crime cartels,' James wrote. 'North Korea has stolen more than $6 billion in crypto to fund its nuclear program, making it the third largest holder of Bitcoin,' the New York attorney general, who has signed on to several lawsuits against the Trump administration, noted. The New York official highlighted bitcoin as an ever present rival to the U.S. dollar while noting victims of cryptocurrency fraud in the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) earlier this week. 'Cryptocurrency fraud has had a real impact in New York,' James wrote. 'About 26,000 New Yorkers deposited and lost $440 million on the Celsius trading platform.' 'Its founder and CEO pled guilty to two federal criminal charges in December 2024 and continues to face a lawsuit from my office for the harm he caused,' she added. DOJ officials said Monday they wouldn't prioritize managing cryptocurrency enforcement but rather the prosecution of those who victimize digital asset investors, or those who use digital assets for criminal offenses such as terrorism, narcotics and human trafficking, organized crime, hacking, and cartel and gang financing. Meanwhile, President Trump has charted a new course for crypto investors since returning to the White House, inviting many top traders to speak at the first ever White House crypto summit. He also created the first government reserve of bitcoin along with a ' digital asset stockpile.' 'My administration also is working to end the federal bureaucracy's war on crypto, which was really going on pretty wildly during Biden, until the election came about,' the president said during his remarks at the Digital Assets Summit while touting deregulation. James, who argued for more regulation, said some concerns could be mitigated through onshore stable coin backing. 'The U.S. should require stablecoins to be backed by the U.S. dollar or treasuries on a one-to-one basis and be issued by companies that have an American presence and are regulated under U.S. laws and subject to federal and/or state oversight,' she wrote to the congressional leaders. 'Those dollars and treasuries should be deposited in banks and institutions under U.S. supervision. So-called stablecoins not backed one-to-one by U.S. dollars create market confusion for investors who may not otherwise be aware that no actual dollars exist behind the tokens,' she suggested.
Washington Post
21-03-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Crypto offers a wide avenue for conflicts of interest
Might the crypto world sour on Donald Trump? At the White House's vaunted Digital Assets Summit on March 7, the president who promised to turn the United States into 'the crypto capital of the world' somewhat deflated people's enthusiasm with his promise to create a federal 'strategic reserve' of cryptocurrency.
