Latest news with #SatoshiActionFund
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto group with Trump ties finds friends in California
SACRAMENTO, California — A nonprofit with ties to Donald Trump is sponsoring state legislation from a Democrat in deep-blue California on an issue the president has embraced in his Oval Office comeback: cryptocurrency. The group, co-founded by Mandy Gunasekara, former chief of staff at the Environmental Protection Agency during Trump's first term, is backing a bill from Democratic California Assemblymember Avelino Valencia that could make it easier to pay with cryptocurrency in the Golden State. It comes as Trump's crypto ties are again in the spotlight this week at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas where members of his inner circle like JD Vance headlined, and after the industry spent millions to elect pro-crypto congressional candidates in the 2024 election. Meanwhile, Democrats in Washington remain divided on regulating crypto as they look to block the president's agenda without angering the powerful industry. Valencia's bill presents a crucial test for the nonprofit Satoshi Action Fund's state-first strategy, given it deviates from the wider industry's Washington-focused approach. 'The industry was playing a lot of defense,' Satoshi CEO Dennis Porter, a crypto advocate and former podcaster who hosted his own show about Bitcoin, told POLITICO's California Decoded newsletter. '[If] you're on defense 100 percent of the time, you'll never win a single match.' Valencia, a Southern California Democrat, said he wasn't previously aware of Satoshi's Trump connection and hasn't worked directly with Gunasekara. He added he drew up the measure independently from Satoshi, though he said the group 'proactively provided' feedback that informed his approach. 'My understanding is that the organization is nonpartisan and is made up of individuals from all political ideologies, which is one of the reasons the organization stood out,' Valencia added. Porter said he sees untapped opportunity beyond Washington. To him, statehouses like California's present a cheaper and faster option for passing pro-crypto legislation that can pave the way for the industry to advance its priorities in Congress. '[The] Civil Rights Movement or women's right to vote, or the cannabis movement — all of these things grew their momentum at the state level,' said Porter, who said he co-founded Satoshi with Gunasekara as a 501(c)(4) group in 2022. 'We set the policy blueprint for the country at the state level.' Satoshi has been a driving force behind recent pro-crypto efforts in other, mostly Republican-controlled state legislatures, backing protections for bitcoin mining and crypto payments that passed in Montana, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The group also proposed model legislation that would allow states to invest public pension funds in cryptocurrencies, an idea Wisconsin and Michigan investors have embraced but has been slow to gain traction in other states. California poses a tougher challenge. The state's deep-blue legislature has proven to be more crypto-skeptical: Lawmakers in 2023 passed a slate of new requirements and fees for digital asset traders. Trump's entanglements in the crypto industry are complicating the issue for Democrats. The president held a private dinner with buyers of his memecoin, $TRUMP, earlier this month. His business empire, Trump Media & Technology Group, recently announced it was raising $2.5 billion to buy bitcoin. Some Democrats are wary of supporting pro-crypto policies, as doing so could hand Trump a legislative win amid questions about potential conflicts of interest. Porter said he sees Satoshi's work and the pro-crypto policies it supports as bipartisan. He declined to disclose information about Satoshi's donors, citing privacy concerns. 'Clearly, Republicans have sort of taken a lead on this stuff, but there are a lot of Democrats who for a long time have been very supportive of the technology,' Porter said. Valencia is one of those Democrats. The Anaheim lawmaker said he's been interested in digital currency since his time as a San Jose State University student and began drawing up crypto legislation after taking over as Assembly Banking and Finance chair in late 2024. One of those ideas became the bill he's pushing with Satoshi, which would authorize California businesses to accept cryptocurrency as a valid form of payment. Local governments and other public entities wouldn't be allowed to charge extra fees for goods and services purchased with cryptocurrency. Valencia said the bill ensures 'fair treatment' for consumers paying with digital currencies without forcing businesses to accept cryptocurrencies. 'I have no doubt this is the currency and technology of the future,' he said. 'The lack of clear legal treatment leaves consumers unprotected.' A version of this story first appeared in California Decoded, POLITICO's morning newsletter for Pros about how the Golden State is shaping tech policy within its borders and beyond. Like this content? POLITICO Pro subscribers receive it daily. Learn more at
Politico
4 days ago
- Business
- Politico
Crypto group with Trump ties finds friends in California
SACRAMENTO, California — A nonprofit with ties to Donald Trump is sponsoring state legislation from a Democrat in deep-blue California on an issue the president has embraced in his Oval Office comeback: cryptocurrency. The group, co-founded by Mandy Gunasekara, former chief of staff at the Environmental Protection Agency during Trump's first term, is backing a bill from Democratic California Assemblymember Avelino Valencia that could make it easier to pay with cryptocurrency in the Golden State. It comes as Trump's crypto ties are again in the spotlight this week at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas where members of his inner circle like JD Vance headlined, and after the industry spent millions to elect pro-crypto congressional candidates in the 2024 election. Meanwhile, Democrats in Washington remain divided on regulating crypto as they look to block the president's agenda without angering the powerful industry. Valencia's bill presents a crucial test for the nonprofit Satoshi Action Fund's state-first strategy, given it deviates from the wider industry's Washington-focused approach. 'The industry was playing a lot of defense,' Satoshi CEO Dennis Porter, a crypto advocate and former podcaster who hosted his own show about Bitcoin, told POLITICO's California Decoded newsletter. '[If] you're on defense 100 percent of the time, you'll never win a single match.' Valencia, a Southern California Democrat, said he wasn't previously aware of Satoshi's Trump connection and hasn't worked directly with Gunasekara. He added he drew up the measure independently from Satoshi, though he said the group 'proactively provided' feedback that informed his approach. 'My understanding is that the organization is nonpartisan and is made up of individuals from all political ideologies, which is one of the reasons the organization stood out,' Valencia added. Porter said he sees untapped opportunity beyond Washington. To him, statehouses like California's present a cheaper and faster option for passing pro-crypto legislation that can pave the way for the industry to advance its priorities in Congress. '[The] Civil Rights Movement or women's right to vote, or the cannabis movement — all of these things grew their momentum at the state level,' said Porter, who said he co-founded Satoshi with Gunasekara as a 501(c)(4) group in 2022. 'We set the policy blueprint for the country at the state level.' Satoshi has been a driving force behind recent pro-crypto efforts in other, mostly Republican-controlled state legislatures, backing protections for bitcoin mining and crypto payments that passed in Montana, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The group also proposed model legislation that would allow states to invest public pension funds in cryptocurrencies, an idea Wisconsin and Michigan investors have embraced but has been slow to gain traction in other states. California poses a tougher challenge. The state's deep-blue legislature has proven to be more crypto-skeptical: Lawmakers in 2023 passed a slate of new requirements and fees for digital asset traders. Trump's entanglements in the crypto industry are complicating the issue for Democrats. The president held a private dinner with buyers of his memecoin, $TRUMP, earlier this month. His business empire, Trump Media & Technology Group, recently announced it was raising $2.5 billion to buy bitcoin. Some Democrats are wary of supporting pro-crypto policies, as doing so could hand Trump a legislative win amid questions about potential conflicts of interest. Porter said he sees Satoshi's work and the pro-crypto policies it supports as bipartisan. He declined to disclose information about Satoshi's donors, citing privacy concerns. 'Clearly, Republicans have sort of taken a lead on this stuff, but there are a lot of Democrats who for a long time have been very supportive of the technology,' Porter said. Valencia is one of those Democrats. The Anaheim lawmaker said he's been interested in digital currency since his time as a San Jose State University student and began drawing up crypto legislation after taking over as Assembly Banking and Finance chair in late 2024. One of those ideas became the bill he's pushing with Satoshi, which would authorize California businesses to accept cryptocurrency as a valid form of payment. Local governments and other public entities wouldn't be allowed to charge extra fees for goods and services purchased with cryptocurrency. Valencia said the bill ensures 'fair treatment' for consumers paying with digital currencies without forcing businesses to accept cryptocurrencies. 'I have no doubt this is the currency and technology of the future,' he said. 'The lack of clear legal treatment leaves consumers unprotected.' A version of this story first appeared in California Decoded, POLITICO's morning newsletter for Pros about how the Golden State is shaping tech policy within its borders and beyond. Like this content? POLITICO Pro subscribers receive it daily. Learn more at
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Hampshire Senate halts cryptocurrency deregulation bill, hoping to return to it next year
The New Hampshire Senate in session, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Photo by Ethan DeWitt/New Hampshire Bulletin) A bill aiming to deregulate cryptocurrency mining in New Hampshire and forbid local officials and state agencies from placing limits on the practice was set for a final vote Thursday before state senators sent it back to committee to give supporters time to work on it and whip up more votes. 'I think the bill's ready to go, but I understand we need more time to convince all of my colleagues,' Sen. Tim McGough, a Merrimack Republican and supporter of the bill, said on the Senate floor Thursday. 'And we'll take that time over the summer.' If enacted, House Bill 639 would forbid New Hampshire state agencies and local officials from banning cryptocurrency mining in their city, town, or elsewhere in the state. Under this bill, they also couldn't regulate cryptocurrency mining based on sound, electric use, or as an investment vehicle. They'd also be unable to prevent or impair people from using cryptocurrency to buy or sell goods and services. McGough likened the current moment with cryptocurrency to the 1990s, when the internet was in its infancy and people were trying to understand it. He said he was 'a little bit afraid' of some aspects of the internet, such as 'putting all your personal information online.' However, he's glad he listened to a friend who told him to adopt the internet. 'Can you imagine if we prohibited internet servers and data centers as we know them today,' he said. 'Running powerful computers to solve equations that end in blockchain currency wealth will not end the world, will not be bad for our economy.' Cryptocurrency mining is how people generate digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Dogecoin. Miners use high-energy supercomputers to attempt to solve a puzzle through trial and error and unlock the cryptocurrency from what is known as a blockchain. These virtual assets can be bought and sold for U.S. dollars or other currencies, making them lucrative. Proponents of crypto argue it could one day be used as a regular currency and some buyers and sellers have already adopted it in this way. The bill was written using model legislation created by a crypto industry group called Satoshi Action Fund. Satoshi Action Fund also consulted with the Commission on Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets, which provided lawmakers with policy recommendations. The group works to promote cryptocurrency nationwide and boasts on its website that its model legislation has been implemented in four states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, and Oklahoma. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Keith Ammon, a Goffstown Republican, has portrayed the bill as antidiscriminatory legislation, arguing cryptocurrency mining needed to be protected from moratoriums similar to those that have happened in other states. He's also dismissed environmental concerns about the practice as misinformation. Environmentalists opposed to this bill, including the New Hampshire Sierra Club and the National Coalition Against Cryptomining, are concerned about the carbon emissions these supercomputers are responsible for producing and their impact on the state's electric grid. (The electrical energy consumption of one Bitcoin transaction is equivalent to what an average U.S. household over 45.60 days consumes, as of May 2025, according to one analysis done by a Dutch doctoral student.) They're also concerned about the noise for neighbors of the facilities. Cryptocurrency mines in New York, Arkansas, and other states have generated uproar and noise complaints among their neighbors. Arkansas went so far as to repeal deregulatory legislation it passed that was very similar to this bill over these complaints, though that is now tied up in the courts. At least one New York community has put a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining. Regulators, including with the state Bureau of Securities Regulation, are concerned that provisions in the bill to preclude cryptocurrency mining from being considered a security or investment contract are concerned it could hamper their ability to protect New Hampshire investors from bad actors falsely offering services. If the Senate eventually passes the bill, Gov. Kelly Ayotte will decide whether to sign or veto the bill. She recently signed pro-cryptocurrency legislation into law when she approved House Bill 302, which allows the state treasurer to invest state funds in cryptocurrency and precious metals as an investment vehicle. She subsequently boasted on social media that New Hampshire was 'First in the Nation' to do so. Still, in this law, the state treasurer is limited to placing 5% of state assets in Bitcoin and gold, and she is not required to do so but simply allowed to. However, speaking to reporters last week, Ayotte said she was in favor of the cryptocurrency industry operating in New Hampshire, but she didn't signal support for a completely self-regulated industry. 'Having opportunities for economic development with crypto, certainly we would welcome that,' she said. 'But you have to have, obviously, guardrails in place, because we have had examples. Because it's not regulated federally, there would have to be regulatory measures put in place to make sure that's done responsibly, like we would with any kind of issue like this.'
Finextra
09-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
New Hampshire becomes first US state to establish Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
This week, Governor Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 302 into law, paving the way for NH'S Treasury to allocate up to 5% of public funds to these assets. The legislation is based on a plan by pro-Bitcoin non profit Satoshi Action Fund. 0 This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. Announcing the decision on X, Governor Ayotte said: "New Hampshire is once again First in the Nation! Just signed a new law allowing our state to invest in cryptocurrency and precious metals." As reported in The Hill, the metals and assets must have a market cap of more than $500 billion, and bitcoin will be the asset used to fill the stockpile. Earlier this year, US President Trump signed an executive order creating a government reserve of bitcoin and a stockpile for other digital assets. What NH has passed is different to the order US President Trump signed earlier in 2025, where the US government is required to use bitcoin already seized by federal law enforcement while disrupting financial crimes to establish the reserve. A week ago, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed the bill that would have allowed the state to invest in bitcoin using seized funds. In Arizona, the legislation known as Senate Bill 1025 passed the state House in a narrow 31–25 vote, but Hobbs struck the bill down when it reached her. In a statement, Hobbs said: "The Arizona State Retirement System is one of the strongest in the nation because it makes sound and informed investments. Arizonans' retirement funds are not the place for the state to try untested investments like virtual currencу." Florida also pulled two crypto reserve bills from its legislative session, while Oklahoma, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wyoming also rejected similar legislation. This news follows reiterations by the Trump administration that these strategies will not create extra costs for taxpayers. Further, Trump's artificial intelligence and crypto czar David Sacks has said that the US government is estimated to own about 200,000 bitcoins, worth more than $17 billion. However, a full audit needs to be completed to confirm the number.
Boston Globe
07-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
New Hampshire enacts law allowing state treasurer to invest in Bitcoin
'The whole point,' Ammon said, 'is the federal government is not managing fiscal policy, monetary policy well, and I don't expect them to do any better. It's going to get worse.' Advertisement This legislation will give the treasurer more options to diversify the state's investment portfolios and pursue returns that beat inflation, Ammon said. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up 'We'll see what she does with it,' he added. While several other states are New Hampshire is once again First in the Nation! 🎉 Just signed a new law allowing our state to invest in cryptocurrency and precious metals. — Governor Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) Dennis Porter, co-founder and CEO of Satoshi Action Fund — a Bitcoin policy group that produced model legislation that Ammon used to craft the version that New Hampshire adopted — said in a statement the state had just ' This law authorizes the state treasurer to invest up to 5 percent of public funds in digital assets held by a 'qualified custodian' that meets certain criteria spelled out in the law. Advertisement New Hampshire State Treasurer Monica I. Mezzapelle told The Boston Globe that her office may consider using money from certain state funds that have 'a more aggressive or long-term strategy' to invest in digital assets, but the volatility of such investments makes them unsuitable for funds the state uses to cover its ongoing expenses. Mezzapelle said the funds that might be a good fit for such aggressive investments currently total about $30 million, which means the state could invest up to about $1.5 million in digital assets — that said, there are no plans to buy cryptocurrency immediately. This law just adds digital assets and precious metals to an 'extensive' menu of authorized options, she said. Notably, a digital asset must have a market capitalization that averaged at least $500 billion in the preceding calendar year to qualify for state investment. That means Bitcoin, which has a market cap of roughly While proponents of the legislation cited the market cap threshold as a guardrail to ensure taxpayers won't be suckered by fad-fueled 'memecoins' and other especially risky investments, skeptics like Democratic Senator Cindy Rosenwald said the state was effectively 'picking winners and losers' by selecting the arbitrary threshold. Rosenwald told colleagues last week they shouldn't authorize the state treasurer to 'gamble' taxpayer money on a notoriously volatile digital currency. 'At a time when we're going to be making very difficult budget decisions driven by a shortage of available funds … I do not believe it is prudent to authorize legislation that could expose state and local finances to this level of risk and unpredictability,' she said. Advertisement But a couple of her GOP colleagues said they have full faith in Mezzapelle to consider the available options and make prudent investment decisions. 'I absolutely trust our treasurer … she's done such a great job investing our current funds,' said Senator Timothy P. Lang Sr. Senator Daniel E. Innis — who is also a professor at the University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics — said he doesn't personally invest in Bitcoin and wouldn't advise others to do so. 'However, I think we need to trust the treasurer to do the right thing,' he said. 'These are folks who understand markets. They understand assets. They understand how to invest for the best return.' This article first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you'd like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, Steven Porter can be reached at
