US House may vote to overturn Biden’s SAB 121 veto next week

July 6, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin-friendly Javier Milei wins Argentina presidential election

November 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Milei won over 55% of the votes with 99% of the votes counted in the run-off presidential election.

Argentina's Bitcoin (BTC)-friendly Javier Milei won the country’s presidential run-off election on Nov. 19, beating out his opponent Sergio Massa.

With almost 99% of the vote counted, Milei won over 55% of the votes with a nearly 3 million vote lead according to Bloomberg data.

Massa, the country’s minister of economy, called Milei to congratulate him on the victory after more than 90% of the votes were counted — before the announcement of the first official results. Milei will take office on December 10.

*With nearly 100% of the vote counted, Milei had an over 10 percentage point lead on Massa. Source: Bloomberg*

Argentina's long-lasting inflation crisis has been a heated topic in the South American country, with the Argentine peso recording over a 140% increase in annual inflation in the last 12 months.

Milei has been vocal about his criticisms toward the country’s central bank, referring to it as a scam and a “mechanism by which politicians cheat the good people with inflationary tax.”

He’s referred to Bitcoin as a movement toward “the return of money to its original creator, the private sector.”

However, he has not signaled any intention to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country.

VIVA LA LIBERTAD CARAJO pic.twitter.com/WzzzZaTcsz
— Javier Milei (@JMilei) November 19, 2023

Massa’s views on the money, banking and cryptocurrency industry appear to be polar opposite to Milei.

In October, he pledged to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) if elected to “solve” Argentina’s long-lasting inflation crisis.

Massa won the first round of Argentina’s presidential election in October. However, it wasn’t enough to win the presidency outright, triggering the final run-off vote.

Prior to that, Milei won Argentina’s primary election against Messi and other candidates in August.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Crypto-friendly Patrick McHenry takes interim House Speaker position

October 4, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Eight Republicans voted against Republican Representative McCarthy, making it the first time in U.S. history that the House Speaker has been ousted by Congress.

United States Representative and crypto-friendly lawmaker Patrick McHenry has been appointed as interim House Speaker after the high-profile ousting of U.S. House speaker Kevin McCarthy.

McCarthy’s ousting came after a 216-210 vote by Congress, with eight of the 216 votes coming from McCarthy’s fellow Republicans, marking the first time a House Speaker has been removed in U.S. history, according to Reuters.

The vote was prompted by a motion from one of McCarthy’s political rivals, Matt Gaetz, who called into question several contradictory promises made by McCarthy.

Though temporary, McHenry’s appointment could be seen as a small win for the digital asset sector. The Speaker sets the House’s legislative agenda, controls committee assignments, and schedules specific bills to be debated and voted upon in the chamber.

House Speaker is considered the most influential position in the U.S. government behind the President and Vice President.

Meanwhile, McHenry is regarded as one of the biggest challengers to the Securities Exchange Commission’s regulation by enforcement-style approach to the cryptocurrency sector.

McHenry also grilled SEC Chair Gary Gensler in his testimony before Congress last week, suggesting he’s attempting to “choke off the digital asset ecosystem.” McHenry also called Gensler out for refusing to be transparent with Congress about the SEC’s connections with FTX and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried.

SEC Chair @GaryGensler refuses to schedule a Commission vote to provide Congress with requested documents.

Should Gensler continue to stonewall, Republicans will have no choice but to issue the first subpoena to the SEC from my Committee to compel their production. https://t.co/Aw5U0aJ0Tt
— Patrick McHenry (@PatrickMcHenry) October 2, 2023

McHenry also released the discussion draft “Digital Asset Market Structure Proposal” on June 1, which purports to provide clarity, fill regulatory gaps, and foster innovation in the cryptocurrency space, a paper that was praised by some industry leaders.

However, McHenry’s tenure as House Speaker may be short-lived, with an official vote on a new House Speaker set for Oct. 11, according to Bloomberg.

A Reuters report speculates that along with McHenry, there is a possibility that pro-crypto Representative Tom Emmer or even Donald Trump could be a possible replacement for McCarthy, though none have publicly expressed interest in taking the position.

50-50 we get a crypto champion as Speaker now, with Whip Emmer and Speaker pro tempore McHenry in the running. Wild day.

(Speaker of the House is third in power behind President and VP for the non-US followers out there.) https://t.co/2ow5li2lnw
— Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) October 3, 2023

Meanwhile, McCarthy has already confirmed he won’t run for House Speaker again.

Magazine: Opinion: GOP crypto maxis almost as bad as Dems’ ‘anti-crypto army’

EU Parliament Greenlights Markets in Crypto Assets Law, Tracing Rules

April 21, 2023 Bitcoin.com

SEC to target crypto firms operating as ‘qualified custodians’ — Report

February 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

audits

If a majority of the five-member SEC panel votes in favor of the draft proposal, it will proceed to the next stage, which will be reviewed by other members of the SEC.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly planning to propose new rule changes this week that could impact what services crypto firms can offer their clients.

According to a Feb. 14 report from Bloomberg citing “people familiar with the matter,” the securities regulator is working on a draft proposal that would make it difficult for crypto firms to hold digital assets on their client’s behalf as “qualified custodians.”

This may, in turn, affect the many hedge funds, private equity firms and pension funds that work alongside such crypto firms.

According to those cited, a five-member SEC panel will vote on Feb. 15 whether the proposal proceeds to the next stage.

A majority vote — 3 votes out of 5 — will be needed in order for the rest of the SEC to officially vote on the proposal. If that is approved, the proposal would be amended with feedback where necessary.

Yesterday, our Division of Examinations announced its 2023 examination priorities.

Read more
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) February 8, 2023

While the SEC has deliberated on what should be required to be a qualified custodian of cryptocurrencies since as early as March 2019, the people familiar with the matter said it isn’t clear what specific changes the U.S. financial watchdog is seeking.

If finalized, Bloomberg explained that some crypto firms might have to move their customer’s digital asset holdings elsewhere.

The report added that these financial institutions might be subject to “surprise audits” related to their custodial relationships or other ramifications.

The news of Wednesday’s vote proposal comes on Jan. 26 report from Reuters suggested that the SEC would soon come after Wall Street investment advisers over how they’ve offered crypto custody to their clients.

In recent days, the SEC has had its hands full with Paxos Trust — the stablecoin issuer of Binance USD (BUSD) — which they believe to have issued as an unregistered security.

Paxos said they will be prepared to “vigorously litigate” if necessary.

vote