US Senator Ted Cruz pushes for crypto in Congress … using snacks

January 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

btc payment

A newly introduced resolution could potentially see lawmakers buying sodas and chips using crypto-supporting vending machines.

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz is pushing the United States Congress to adopt cryptocurrency within its halls using an incentive both sides might agree on — food.

Cruz introduced a concurrent resolution dated Jan. 25 that would only allow vending machine and food service contractors that accept crypto as a payment option within the U.S. Capitol.

If adopted, the Architect of the Capitol, the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives would be required to find the crypto-accepting food and vending firms.

At the time of writing, the text of the resolution was not publicly available on the Congress website. It’s unknown the potential cost of implementing the measure, or if the resolution would require contractors to take payment in certain cryptocurrencies.

*The U.S. Capital Cafe could be one of the purveyors required to take crypto payments. Source: Google*

Cointelegraph contacted Cruz’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Cruz has long been a vocal advocate for cryptocurrencies, especially lauding Bitcoin (BTC) for its decentralization. At roughly this time last year, the senator bought between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of BTC, according to a financial disclosure.

He is one of only eight known crypto investors in Congress, according to the “Bitcoin Politicians” crowdsourced data project.

The list also includes Cynthia Lummis, the Wyoming senator behind a pro-crypto piece of legislation and Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvanian senator who recently introduced a stablecoin bill aiming to create a regulatory framework for payments.

Senator Cruz also has signaled his interest to make his home state of Texas an oasis for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, saying crypto mining could be used to monetize the energy from oil and gas extraction and the activity may be used as an alternate way of storing energy.

The resolution put forward by Cruz will need to be agreed to in both the Senate and the House before it can be adopted.

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Australian senator drafts bill aimed at stablecoin, digital yuan regulation

September 19, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Andrew Bragg

Senator Andrew Bragg on Monday released a draft bill aimed at regulating crypto exchanges, stablecoins, and the digital yuan.

Australian Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg has released a new draft bill aimed at clamping down on digital asset exchanges, stablecoins, and China’s central bank digital currency, the e-Yuan.

In a statement on Sept. 18, Senator Bragg stated that “Australia must keep pace with the global race for regulation on digital assets” as “it is essential that the parliament drives law reform” on the matter.

The new draft bill, titled Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2022, calls for the introduction of licenses for digital asset exchanges, digital asset custody services, stablecoin issuers, as well as disclosure requirements for facilitators of the e-Yuan in Australia.

Australia must keep pace in the digital assets race: a bill to protect consumers, promote investment & protect our interests.

Media statement: https://t.co/VxFnAKnh1v
New Bill: https://t.co/rtMj2t9Ng2
— Senator Andrew Bragg (@ajamesbragg) September 18, 2022

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Senator Bragg said Australia has “quite a risk exposure, as an economy, and that’s one of the reasons why we need to have a serious program for managing disruption, managing risks, that emanate from the development of a CBDC.”

Senator Bragg said the objective of this particular act is to provide “an effective regulatory framework” as well as to provide "for the reporting of information by certain banks that facilitate the use or availability of digital Yuan in Australia” and to provide “additional duties” for governing bodies in relation to this act and the “regulation of activities relating to digital assets and digital Yuan.”

Senator Bragg said that this isn’t “an accusatory position to take” it’s simply just being “prepared and gathering information” which he thinks is entirely “reasonable.”

The Liberal senator also added that Australia wouldn’t benefit from having a CBDC as “privacy issues cannot be managed,” however it is important that the Australian government “put something on the table” to manage other CBDCs being introduced, as the Governor of The Reserve Bank of Australia has “spoken before saying there needs to be regulation on stablecoins.”

The draft bill consultation is open until Oct. 31, 2022 and welcomes “community feedback.”

Andrew Bragg , a pro-crypto Australian politician, has been an outspoken advocate for cryptocurrency since he was elected senator in 2019. Senator Bragg has been pushing for a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and crypto companies since 2021, in an effort to prevent local startups from moving overseas.

Senator Bragg noted that he “chaired the committee” for digital assets with “no fixed view at the time” and “conducted an inquiry into these matters” as well as informing himself “about the risks and opportunities.”

Meanwhile, the Australian Labor government is said to be working on “crypto asset reforms” to “improve the way Australia’s regulatory system manages crypto assets."

Last month, the treasury stated it will “prioritize token mapping work in 2022, which will help identify how crypto assets and related services should be regulated.”

senator