Latest news with #CLARITY
Coin Geek
4 days ago
- Business
- Coin Geek
US bill elevates CFTC, but no one works there anymore
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... America's plan for a digital asset market structure regulatory framework envisions a major role for a regulator that's having serious trouble staffing its upper echelons. On Wednesday, United States Vice-President J.D. Vance gave the keynote address on day two of the BTC 2025 conference in Las Vegas. Vance addressed a number of subjects, including his belief that Congress needs to pass digital asset market structure legislation and get a finished bill on President Trump's desk for signing into law ASAP. The following day, the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee (FSC) issued their new digital asset market structure bill, which they've christened the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. (Section-by-section summary here.) The bill is an updated version of the FIT21 bill that the House passed last year but wasn't addressed by the Senate before Congress adjourned for the 2024 federal election. In announcing the bill, FSC chair French Hill (R-AR) offered the necessary homilies to consumer protection, regulatory clarity, and 'American innovation.' CLARITY is billed as having bipartisan support, citing Democrat co-sponsors Warren Davidson (R-OH), Angie Craig (D-MN), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and Don Davis (D-NC). CoinGeek's intrepid James Field will be along any moment now with a deeper dive into CLARITY's nuts and bolts, but as with FIT21, CLARITY establishes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the primary regulator of digital assets that aren't considered securities. So, basically all digital assets, given the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) doesn't believe any digital assets are securities. To underscore that systematic disengagement, the SEC announced on May 29 that it wasn't interested in regulating 'protocol staking activities,' because someone somewhere will presumably ensure these activities are conducted fairly. (The sole remaining Democrat commissioner at the SEC believes the regulator is doing 'more harm than good by purporting to carve out broad categories of crypto products without analyzing the realities of how they really work.') CLARITY does envision the SEC having anti-fraud authority over stablecoins that are allowed to operate under the new rules proposed by bills in the Senate (GENIUS) and House (STABLE). The SEC will also take point on digital asset activity by 'SEC-registered broker-dealers and national securities exchanges where such registrants are exempt from registration with the CFTC.' However, the SEC is not allowed to touch 'certain decentralized finance activities related to the operation and maintenance of blockchain networks.' These activities include 'validating or providing incidental services with respect to a digital asset, providing user-interfaces for a blockchain network, publishing and updating software, or developing wallets for blockchain networks.' That will likely come as a relief to the SEC, as it will spare staff from having to craft a separate press release denying any responsibility for overseeing DeFi activities. If you want to get ahead of next week's disavowal, a lobby group just asked the SEC to ignore decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), so 5…4…3…2…1… CFTC exodus leaves no one manning the gates Looking to the CFTC to shoulder the regulatory burden is complicated by the fact that nobody seems to want to serve as a CFTC commissioner anymore. Incoming Chairman Brian Quintenz has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, but when he finally takes his seat in the corner office, he'll find himself staring at a lot of empty chairs where commissioners usually sit. This will be the last week on the job for commissioners Summer Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero, while Caroline Pham has announced her plan to depart once Quintenz is confirmed. Kristin Johnson is also headed for the exits, although she promised to stay until 'later this year,' likely just long enough for her replacement to be nominated and confirmed. With former Chair Rostin Behnam having resigned on January 20, Quintenz will have the CFTC all to himself, at least, until Trump gets around to nominating new commissioners. It's a good thing that CLARITY gives the CFTC/SEC a 360-day window following passage in which to figure out who's looking after what. (In the interim? Crypto Thunderdome, apparently.) Despite having pulled her own ripcord, Romero appeared a little uneasy over the mass exodus at a Brookings Institution event this week. 'What happens if the CFTC gets down to one and gets new authority for crypto? It's going to be really, really hard, right? You're not going to have the same push and pull … I worry about that at the CFTC, and I worry about that at other agencies as well.' As befitting America's public-private revolving door, Mersinger is leaving to become CEO of the Blockchain Association industry lobbying group. Pham is also returning to the private sector, although she said didn't 'have any specific plans' to announce. Back to the top ↑ Will Trump's crypto ventures thwart legislative progress? Vance's Vegas speech expressed optimism that the Senate could 'move quickly on passing a clean GENIUS Act and for the House to follow-up and do the same.' The 'clean' reference reflects the hope that when the Senate brings GENIUS to the floor for debate (likely next week), it will largely ignore the 53 proposed amendments to its text. As for Vance's urging of Congress to act with similar haste to bring a finished market structure bill to Trump's desk, concerns are mounting that the president's seemingly endless list of self-interested crypto ventures could discourage support for legislatively blessing these money-making moves after the fact. While the crypto sector and pro-crypto pols previously suggested that both stablecoin and market structure legislation could be on Trump's desk by Labor Day, the rising outrage over Trump's increasingly brazen crypto cash grabs could complicate that timeline. One unnamed 'crypto executive' told Politico this week that these concerns could mean market structure legislation 'won't move forward until after the midterm elections next year.' Speaking of, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) announced Wednesday that he'd launched a probe into Trump's recent dinner at his Virginia golf club for the top 220 holders of his $TRUMP memecoin. The Washington Post reported that Raskin's probe is focused on who paid big bucks to breathe the same air as Trump, even though reports suggest that nobody in attendance got much in the way of Trump facetime. Raskin believes that publicly releasing the list of Trump's deep-pocketed dinner guests will 'let the American people know who is putting tens of millions of dollars into our President's pocket so we can start to figure out what—beyond virtually worthless memecoins—they are getting in exchange for all this money.' As with similar Democrat-led probes by the likes of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dems lack the votes to progress these probes beyond the press release stage. Until their Republican colleagues relocate their lost capacity for outrage, these efforts are purely performative. Back to the top ↑ Tokenized retirement? Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to expunge any and all Biden-era rules and regs that might impede 'number go up.' On May 28, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration formally rescinded Biden-era guidance that has deterred employers from including digital assets in their employees' 401(k) retirement plans. The guidance in question was issued in March 2022 and urged 401(k) plan sponsors to exercise 'extreme care' before including digital assets alongside more traditional financial investment options. The new guidance neither endorses nor disapproves of tokens in 401(k) plans, just reaffirms the department's 'neutral stance.' Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the Biden administration 'made a choice to put their thumb on the scale,' but the new sheriffs in town are 'rolling back this overreach and making it clear that investment decisions should be made by fiduciaries, not D.C. bureaucrats.' There was nearly $9 trillion dollars held in 401(k) accounts at the end of 2024, with over one-third of Americans contributing to the plans. The ongoing upheaval in the stock market due to Trump's on-again/off-again tariffs has many contributors looking at alternative investment options, although prominent tokens like BTC haven't been spared this volatility. For what it's worth, the fact that BTC has fallen 5% this week—during the year's biggest pro-BTC event, and despite announcements by multiple new entrants launching BTC 'treasury' strategies that will see them spending billions of dollars acquiring tokens—should give any 401(k) manager pause regarding the wisdom of injecting additional volatility into workers' retirement schemes. Back to the top ↑ Saylor told Trumps to mortgage Mar-a-Lago and buy BTC Among the entities announcing new BTC treasury strategies this week was Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of the Truth Social platform. TMTG is raising $2.5 billion to buy BTC, swiftly elevating itself to the upper tier of companies that have gone down this road. Day 2 of the BTC Vegas shindig saw the president's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump take the stage to discuss TMTG's BTC buying plans, including the revelation that they were both egged on and inspired by Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) (NASDAQ: MSTR). Strategy bought another 4,020 BTC on Monday, boosting its treasury to 580,250 tokens, and almost immediately announced plans to raise even more debt to buy even more BTC. Strategy's strategy has been mimicked by a growing number of firms, including former meme-stock GameStop (NASDAQ: GME), which announced Wednesday that it had spent $512 million buying 4,710 BTC as the first step in launching its own BTC treasury. Eric Trump told the Vegas audience that Saylor had long been urging the Trump family to 'do what I'm doing,' going as far as to suggest they mortgage Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. (To be fair, Saylor has been telling everyone to mortgage their homes to buy BTC since 2021.) Trump opted instead to use TMTG to make his BTC bet, but so far, the market's reaction has been anything but positive. TMTG's DJT stock briefly spiked in the wake of its BTC announcement but has since fallen below $21, a low it hasn't touched since early April. This is by no means an isolated incident. GameStop's shares surged to nearly $37 in the wake of its BTC announcement but closed Thursday below $30. Like Strategy and its clones MetaPlanet, Twenty-One Capital, and others, there's little in the way of fundamentals behind these companies, rendering them slaves to BTC's random surges and plunges. In TMTG's case, the company's high profile belies a nonexistent business model, with revenue in the first three months of 2025 failing to surpass $1 million. The company's share price values the company at a multiple of 1,800x its annual revenue, meaning if it wasn't attached to the President of the United States, it would have been taken out behind the barn and put out of its misery ages ago. But that was yesterday, and Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. Back to the top ↑ Watch: Teranode is the digital backbone of Bitcoin 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="">
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Aclarion Announces Texas Back Institute as New CLARITY Trial Site
BROOMFIELD, Colo., May 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aclarion, Inc., ('Aclarion' or the 'Company') (Nasdaq: ACON, ACONW), a healthcare technology company that is leveraging biomarkers and proprietary augmented intelligence (AI) algorithms to help physicians identify the location of chronic low back pain, today announced the addition of the Texas Back Institute (TBI) as a CLARITY (Chronic Low bAck pain Randomized Independent Trial studY) trial site. The pivotal CLARITY study is designed to demonstrate Nociscan's clinical and economic value in spine surgery. 'Texas Back Institute has a rich tradition of excellence in research. We remain focused on the relationship between diagnostic evaluations and treatment outcomes,' said Alexander Satin, MD, board certified orthopedic spine surgeon, Texas Back Institute. 'We have participated in numerous studies involving discography, MRI, minimally invasive procedures, and total disc replacement. The CLARITY trial is exciting, in part, because it builds on previously published evidence and aligns well with our patient population at Texas Back Institute. Our physicians and research leaders are pleased to participate in this important trial.' Texas Back Institute joins the growing roster of previously announced CLARITY trial sites, which includes Johns Hopkins Medicine, Northwestern Medicine and Advocate Aurora Research Institute. The principal investigator for the trial is Dr. Nicholas Theodore of Johns Hopkins Medicine. The CLARITY trial is a prospective, randomized multi-center study evaluating patients who are scheduled to undergo surgical treatment of 1- or 2- level discogenic low back pain. The study will enroll 300 patients at multiple high-volume sites across the US and all patients will receive a Nociscan prior to surgery. The study will be randomized at a 1:1 ratio of surgeons blinded-to-Nociscan and unblinded-to-Nociscan to guide the surgical treatment (Fusion / TDR). The primary endpoint is change in back pain as measured on a 100mm VAS Back at 12 months compared to baseline, with several secondary endpoints collected. 'The Texas Back Institute's reputation for excellence in patient care, innovation and research is renowned,' said Ryan Bond, Chief Strategy Officer at Aclarion. 'It is common, at spine society meetings, that TBI physicians and research leaders are not only in attendance but actively presenting their extensive research to advance the spine industry. We are grateful to have this expert group of physicians and researchers participating in the CLARITY trial.' Chronic low back pain is a global healthcare problem with approximately 266 million people worldwide suffering from degenerative spine disease and low back pain. Aclarion's Nociscan solution is the first evidence-supported SaaS platform to noninvasively help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful discs in the lumbar spine. Nociscan objectively quantifies chemical biomarkers demonstrated to be associated with disc pain and has the potential to drive better surgical outcomes. For more information about CLARITY, please visit: CLARITY Trial To find a Nociscan center, view our site map here. For more information on Nociscan, please email: info@ All organizations cited and/or quotes from individuals not part of Aclarion have reviewed and approved the contents herein. About Aclarion, Inc. Aclarion is a healthcare technology company that leverages Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ('MRS'), proprietary signal processing techniques, biomarkers, and augmented intelligence algorithms to optimize clinical treatments. The Company is first addressing the chronic low back pain market with Nociscan, the first, evidence-supported, SaaS platform to noninvasively help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful discs in the lumbar spine. Through a cloud connection, Nociscan receives magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data from an MRI machine for each lumbar disc being evaluated. In the cloud, proprietary signal processing techniques extract and quantify chemical biomarkers demonstrated to be associated with disc pain. Biomarker data is entered into proprietary algorithms to indicate if a disc may be a source of pain. When used with other diagnostic tools, Nociscan provides critical insights into the location of a patient's low back pain, giving physicians clarity to optimize treatment strategies. For more information, please visit Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 about the Company's current expectations about future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. Statements that are not historical facts, such as 'anticipates,' 'believes' and 'expects' or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the Company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are encouraged to review the section titled 'Risk Factors' in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, as well as other disclosures contained in the Prospectus and subsequent filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Contacts: Kirin M. Smith PCG Advisory, Inc. ksmith@ Media Contacts: Jennie Kim SPRIG Consulting jennie@ 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
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Is Healthcare Technology Company Aclarion Stock Rocketing Premarket On Monday?
Aclarion, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACON) shares are trading higher premarket on Monday after the company disclosed a commercial partnership with in San Diego, CA. This agreement will introduce Nociscan to Southern California and to the top spine specialists at Scripps Green and Scripps Health. Notably, Scripps Health is a nonprofit healthcare system that operates five hospitals and 19 outpatient facilities, serving half a million patients annually with the support of 2,600 affiliated physicians. Ryan Bond, Chief Strategy Officer of Aclarion. 'We are pleased to bring Nociscan to Scripps Health and the millions of people throughout Southern California. Dr. Eastlack and his colleagues will now be able to utilize Nociscan in clinic and within on-going research trials, both of which are vitally important to their mission of advancing spine care.' Last month, the company announced it secured funding for its CLARITY trial of its diagnostic tool, Nociscan. Also, Aclarion identified Northwestern Medicine as the first site for the pivotal CLARITY trial, which aims to showcase Nociscan's clinical and economic benefits in spine surgery. Price Action: ACON shares are up 84.8% at $6.19 premarket at the last check Monday. Read Next:Photo: One Photo via Shutterstock. UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Why Is Healthcare Technology Company Aclarion Stock Rocketing Premarket On Monday? originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Aclarion Announces Northwestern Medicine as First CLARITY Trial Site
BROOMFIELD, Colo., Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aclarion, Inc., ('Aclarion' or the 'Company') (Nasdaq: ACON, ACONW), a healthcare technology company that is leveraging biomarkers and proprietary augmented intelligence (AI) algorithms to help physicians identify the location of chronic low back pain, today announced Northwestern Medicine as the initial site in the pivotal CLARITY trial, which is designed to demonstrate Nociscan's clinical and economic value in spine surgery. 'Northwestern Medicine is a leader in clinical trials. In 2024, Northwestern led over 6,900 clinical studies with 372,561 study participants,' said Alpesh Patel, MD, Professor and Co-Director of the Northwestern Center for Spine Health. 'We are pleased to participate in Aclarion's CLARITY trial, a groundbreaking randomized controlled trial examining Nociscan's impact on discogenic low back pain surgical outcomes. Low back pain is a complex problem and advancements like Nociscan are helping to advance our understanding of low back pain in fundamentally important ways.' Aclarion recently announced that the CLARITY trial is fully funded and will be led by Dr. Nicholas Theodore of Johns Hopkins as principal investigator. The CLARITY trial is a prospective, randomized multi-center study evaluating patients who are scheduled to undergo surgical treatment of 1- or 2- level discogenic low back pain. The study will enroll 300 patients at multiple high-volume sites across the US and all patients will receive a Nociscan prior to surgery. The study will be randomized at a 1:1 ratio of surgeons blinded-to-Nociscan and unblinded-to-Nociscan to guide the surgical treatment (Fusion / TDR). The primary endpoint is change in back pain as measured on a 100mm VAS Back at 12 months compared to baseline, with several secondary endpoints collected. 'We are pleased to launch the CLARITY trial with a prestigious institution like Northwestern and renowned spine expert Dr. Alpesh Patel. I saw firsthand from my earlier experiences commercializing algorithms in the cardiology space how well-designed clinical trials could drive the adoption of cloud-based, augmented intelligence platforms. When compared to traditional testing options, these technologies improved diagnostic accuracy, reduced unnecessary procedures and ultimately saved the health system significant costs,' said Brent Ness, CEO, Aclarion. 'At Aclarion, we are committed to building the same level of evidence to ensure adoption of Nociscan for all stakeholders is a logical and well-supported step for chronic low back pain.' Chronic low back pain is a global healthcare problem with approximately 266 million people worldwide suffering from degenerative spine disease and low back pain. Aclarion's Nociscan solution is the first evidence-supported SaaS platform to noninvasively help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful discs in the lumbar spine. Nociscan objectively quantifies chemical biomarkers demonstrated to be associated with disc pain and has the potential to drive better surgical outcomes. For more information about CLARITY, please visit: CLARITY Trial To find a Nociscan center, view our site map here. For more information on Nociscan, please email: info@ This press release is for informational purposes only and is not intended to and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or to buy any securities or a solicitation of any proxy, consent, vote or approval with respect to any securities of Aclarion, Inc. No offer, sale, issuance or transfer of securities shall be made in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale, issuance or transfer would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. About Aclarion, Inc. Aclarion is a healthcare technology company that leverages Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ('MRS'), proprietary signal processing techniques, biomarkers, and augmented intelligence algorithms to optimize clinical treatments. The Company is first addressing the chronic low back pain market with Nociscan, the first, evidence-supported, SaaS platform to noninvasively help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful discs in the lumbar spine. Through a cloud connection, Nociscan receives magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data from an MRI machine for each lumbar disc being evaluated. In the cloud, proprietary signal processing techniques extract and quantify chemical biomarkers demonstrated to be associated with disc pain. Biomarker data is entered into proprietary algorithms to indicate if a disc may be a source of pain. When used with other diagnostic tools, Nociscan provides critical insights into the location of a patient's low back pain, giving physicians clarity to optimize treatment strategies. For more information, please visit Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 about the Company's current expectations about future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. Statements that are not historical facts, such as 'anticipates,' 'believes' and 'expects' or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the Company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are encouraged to review the section titled 'Risk Factors' in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as well as other disclosures contained in the Prospectus and subsequent filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Contacts: Kirin M. Smith PCG Advisory, Inc. ksmith@ Media Contacts: Jennie Kim SPRIG Consulting jennie@ in to access your portfolio
