Latest news with #digitalassets
Crypto Insight
2 hours ago
- Business
- Crypto Insight
US lawmakers introduce bipartisan regulatory framework for digital assets
US Representative French Hill has announced the introduction of the much-awaited market structure bill for digital assets. The 'Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025' or 'CLARITY Act of 2025' comes with support from lawmakers across both sides of the aisle, including three Democratic co-sponsors. The bill covers the roles of both the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on digital assets oversight, seeking to resolve longstanding questions about which agency oversees which types of digital assets. 'I am proud to introduce the bipartisan CLARITY Act with my colleagues,' Hill said in a May 29 statement. 'Our bill brings long-overdue clarity to the digital asset ecosystem, prioritizes consumer protection and American innovation, and builds off our work in the 118th Congress.' Under the CLARITY Act, developers would be required to provide accurate and relevant disclosures detailing a project's operation, ownership, and structure. The bill also introduces new compliance requirements for customer-facing firms such as brokers and dealers, including clear disclosures to customers, segregation of customer assets from company funds, and mitigation of conflicts of interest through strict registration, transparency, and operational standards. In addition, the Act establishes 'comprehensive registration regimes' that would allow digital asset firms to legally serve customers in the US market. 'The CLARITY Act will deliver clear rules of the road that entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers deserve,' Representative Ritchie Torres said in a statement. The bill emerged from the House Committee on Financial Services. The committee had previously worked on the FIT21 Act, which passed out of the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate. Hearings for a market structure bill started initially in April within the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence. Market structure, stablecoin bills points of emphasis for Congress Market structure and stablecoin bills have long been points of emphasis for Congress, which has sought to regulate the burgeoning crypto industry in the United States. Representative Ro Khanna said in March that Congress 'should be able to get' both a stablecoin bill and a market structure bill done this year. The stablecoin bill, known as the GENIUS Act, faces a full Senate vote after it passed a procedural vote earlier in May. The Trump administration has pushed for the passing of the GENIUS Act, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Crypto Czar David Sacks both advocating for it publicly. The bill initially lost key support in May from Democrats protesting against US President Donald Trump's crypto ties. Source:
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Cash is no longer king? Nigel Farage vows to lead a 'crypto revolution' bringing Britain 'properly into the 21st century' after vowing to protect hard currency before election
Nigel Farage last night vowed to lead a 'crypto revolution' in Britain that would see the Bank of England build up a Bitcoin reserve'. The Reform leader, who is facing accusations of having 'fantasy' economic plans, used an appearance at a digital currency conference in Las Vegas to vow to 'bring our country properly into the 21st century'. He used his time on stage in the Nevada gambling resort to reveal Reform UK is now accepting donations in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Mr Farage, a long-term advocate of the electronic money, vowed to make London 'one of the major trading centres of the world' and said his party had drawn up a Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill to bring in if they win the next election. 'My message to the British public, my message particularly to young people, is help us to help you bring our country properly into the 21st century,' he said. 'Let's recognise that crypto, Bitcoin, digital assets, are here to stay.' However, Mr Farage's long-term support for crypto appears to sit at odds for his well-publicised support for the 'cash is king' campaign. He backed the grassroots movement to ensure that shops have to accept currency, and not just electronic payment, to help older shoppers. And in 2023 he accused banks of 'relentlessly driving Britain towards a cashless society'. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have increased in popularity in recent years, with research suggesting around 12 per cent of adults in the UK own or have owned cryptoassets, up from 4 per cent in 2021. Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced plans to regulate cryptoassets in a bid to make the UK a 'world leader'. She told a fintech conference that she would back the builders as she announced plans to make crypto firms subject to regulation in the same way as traditional finance companies. Speaking at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas on Thursday night, Mr Farage said: 'As of now, provided you are an eligible UK donor (…) we are the first political party in Britain that can accept donations in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.' 'Once again, we're being innovative,' he added. On the Reform UK website on Thursday evening, it was possible to make a donation using cryptocurrency. There was also a disclaimer stating that all donations are subject to Electoral Commission rules and that anonymous donations are not permissible. It came as Kemi Badenoch blasted Mr Farage and Keir Starmer for being in a 'race to the bottom' over welfare handouts. In a feisty attack on the Reform and Labour leaders, Mrs Badenoch said the pair believed in getting taxpayers to fund 'unlimited child support for others' by scrapping the two-child benefit cap. Writing in the Mail, the Tory leader branded the benefit unfair and unsustainable, because welfare 'traps people' and 'drives up costs for everyone'. Instead, she said the Conservatives were now the 'only serious party of sound money' and warned that Britain 'can't afford the fantasy economics of Starmer and Farage', who 'treat economics like a branch of showbiz'. Mrs Badenoch's intervention came after Mr Farage this week pledged a spending splurge of up to £85 billion – including generous benefit increases. The Reform leader said his party would scrap the two-child benefit cap because 'it's the right thing to do', and would fully reverse the winter fuel payment cut. And yesterday, following months of pressure from his own MPs, the Prime Minister gave a hint that he too could scrap the two-child cap after previously ruling it out. Mrs Badenoch said the country was facing a choice between 'sound money and soothing delusions', because 'Keir Starmer can't tell you what he stands for, Nigel Farage can't tell you how he'll pay for anything'. Sir Keir yesterday warned voters they cannot trust Mr Farage with their 'future, mortgages or jobs' in a speech deriding his economic literacy. The Prime Minister joined the Tories in questioning Reform's maths after it unveiled plans for a spending splurge if it wins the 2029 election. Mr Farage has sought to woo working class Labour voters by leaning left with support for scrapping the two-child benefit cap and fully reinstating winter fuel payments. But he simultaneously backs a series of tax cuts, which left experts at the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying there could be an £85billion hole in their plans. That would dwarfs the £45billion of unfunded tax cuts announced by former Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss in her disastrous 2022 mini-Budget. Speaking in Warrington Sir Keir said: 'He set out economic plans which contains billions upon billions of completely unfunded spending. Precisely the sort of irresponsible splurge that sent your mortgage costs, your bills and the cost of living through the roof. It's Liz Truss all over again.' But tweeting from Las Vegas Mr Farage accused him of 'resorting to dirty tricks borrowed from the 2016 referendum campaign to attack me', adding: 'This is Project Fear 2.0.'
Times
3 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Farage in Vegas: Reform leader pledges ‘crypto revolution' for London
Nigel Farage has promised to launch a 'crypto revolution' in Britain and bring cryptocurrencies and digital assets 'in from the cold' at a bitcoin conference in Las Vegas. Holding up a copy of the 'Cryptocurrency and Digital Finance Bill', which he pledged to enact if his party, Reform UK, won the next election, he said that it would levy a 10 per cent capital gains tax and create a bitcoin digital reserve — a national stockpile of crypto assets — in the Bank of England. His intervention echoed President Trump's embrace of the cryptocurrency industry in his second term and came after speeches from JD Vance, the vice-president, and Eric and Donald Trump Jr, the president's two eldest sons, at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in recent days. Farage also described his experience of being debanked as 'very scary' IAN MAULE/GETTY IMAGES In March, Trump signed an executive order for the creation of two national stockpiles to hold cryptocurrencies. On Thursday, Farage followed suit and told attendees that he would 'make London one of the main trading centres in the world' for the alternative currencies and assets. Farage also announced that eligible British donors could now make donations to Reform via bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, making the party the first in Britain to do so. Reform remains consistently ahead in national polls. A recent YouGov voting intention survey for The Times put the party on 29 per cent of the vote, well above the Labour Party on 21 per cent and Conservatives on 19 per cent. Farage also described his experience of being debanked as 'very scary'. Debanking refers to the practice under which individual or corporate bank accounts are closed by financial institutions for capricious reasons, often without explanation or an ability to appeal. In 2023, Farage was dropped by NatWest as a customer of its Coutts private banking division and internal documents showed the bank believed his public views 'were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation'. It prompted a free speech row and cost Dame Alison Rose, the NatWest chief executive, her job. Reflecting on the experience, Farage pledged to protect holders of crypto from being at risk of losing access to traditional financial institutions. 'We are going to pass legislation that says that no bank can close your account because you're trading in legal crypto or digital products,' he said.
Coin Geek
8 hours ago
- Business
- Coin Geek
Ugandan executive kidnapped, tortured for ‘crypto'
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... A Ugandan digital asset executive who was recently kidnapped and forced to transfer his 'crypto' is appealing to the country's authorities to bring the criminals to justice. Festo Ivaibi was kidnapped outside his home on May 17 by individuals he alleged posed as security agents. The criminals, who were dressed in police uniforms and bore arms, demanded a $500,000 ransom before later forcing him to transfer his digital assets to their wallets. Ivaibi is the founder of Afro Token, a local memecoin project, and Mitroplus Labs, a blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) education initiative. CRYPTO ABDUCTION IN UGANDA. On Saturday, May 17th 2025, our founder @IvaibiFesto was abducted by individuals posing as security agents(@MODVA_UPDF) and forced under duress, to release his crypto assets. We thank God he is now safe, and all systems have been secured. This is… In a statement, Afro Token assured its token holders that the project had not been affected despite the founder being forced to sell $18,000 worth of the token. It also alleged that the criminal gang behind the attack conspires with security agents and 'two Chinese businessmen' to target digital asset entrepreneurs in the East African nation. It added that there had been 48 similar cases of 'crypto' abductions, but the gang had used its influence to have the investigations suspended. Just days later, the startup revealed that security agents had arrested a suspect: Phineous Biira. The suspect was allegedly tracked down using blockchain forensic tools, which revealed he controlled the address that had received the stolen coins. 'This incident highlights the urgent need for stakeholder engagement and clear policy formulation for blockchain and crypto technologies in the African continent,' the project stated. 'The technology is already here, and the risks, if left unregulated or misunderstood, are too great to ignore.' 'Crypto' abductions skyrocket The incident is just one of many in a rising trend that has the digital asset sector on edge. On Wednesday, authorities in New York arrested a second suspect accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist for three weeks for his digital assets. The first suspect was arrested last Friday. The suspects had been conducting digital asset business with the victim for years, and after building trust, they lured him to New York to rob him. Still, this week, French authorities charged 24 suspects in a multi-million-euro digital asset kidnapping case. The crime ring has been targeting digital asset traders, prompting one French industry leader to call on authorities to 'stop the Mexicanisation of France,' France 24 reports. 'It's becoming a thing because people think it's an easy way to get cash. Instead of robbing a bank, they can kidnap someone and get access to their Bitcoin wallet or crypto wallet,' David Seltzer, a cybercrime attorney, told CBS. Adam Healy, a former United States Marine, concurs, noting that criminals view attacking digital asset owners as 'effectively easy money.' Healy now heads Station70, a digital asset security solutions firm whose clients include CoinShares, Flipside, and Magic Eden. 'It's a lot easier, lower risk, and it's a much bigger payout than, say, robbing a bank or robbing a convenience store. You're not going to get in a gunfight while you're trying to leave the bank,' he told the New York Post. Watch: Tech redefines how things are done—Africa is here for it title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
FF News
10 hours ago
- Business
- FF News
Worldpay and Exodus Team Up: Pioneering Native Card Payments for Self-Custodial Crypto Wallets
Worldpay ® has been a leader in making the purchase of digital currencies more accessible to consumers for more than 10 years and has now been selected by self-custodial wallet* provider, Exodus, to bring a native checkout experience to its users. As a result of this collaboration, Exodus is launching XOPay, a first of its kind solution which allows consumers to purchase cryptocurrencies directly within a self-custodial wallet using a credit or debit card. 'Part of making the world of cryptocurrencies and digital assets more accessible to people everywhere is also ensuring the process is simple, secure and as frictionless as possible, which is why we are excited about this work with Exodus,' said Nabil Manji, head of fintech growth and financial partnerships at Worldpay . 'Worldpay's card payments capabilities for crypto purchases have been making it easier for consumers to buy their favorite assets for more than a decade, and companies like Exodus are working to empower consumers to protect their assets through self-custody. Meanwhile, Exodus's customers will enjoy even easier ways to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly within their own wallets.' Omaha-based Exodus launched in 2015 to provide people with a highly secure way to hold their digital assets like cryptocurrencies offline from exchanges. Now, their more than 5 million users can use their preferred credit or debit card to purchase digital assets from directly within their wallet on the Exodus platform. This new capability greatly enhances and simplifies the buying experience by making it possible to natively buy and hold cryptocurrencies within a single wallet platform. 'Our number one focus is on delivering the best customer experience in the market, which is why we wanted to work with Worldpay to bring this critical feature to our platform,' said JP Richardson, CEO at Exodus. 'Worldpay's dedication to security and seamlessness aligns with our mission to make our platform safe, reliable and trusted by our customers. We couldn't be happier to be the first self-custodial wallet to enable native card payments directly embedded in our platform by working with Worldpay.' In addition to card-based payments, Exodus will be tapping into Worldpay's flagship fraud detection and prevention solution, FraudSight ™, which can reduce fraud while enhancing authorization rates. Credit and debit card purchases are available to Exodus customers in the U.S. with plans to expand to further geographies in the coming months. *Self-custodial wallet: A self- or non-custodial wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet where the owner of those assets has full control over private keys granting full access to them without an intermediary. This model contrasts with custodial wallets where a third party, like an exchange, holds the keys to owned assets. Companies In This Post Worldpay Exodus
