Showing posts with label crypto regulations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crypto regulations. Show all posts

Crypto Set To DISRUPT the 2024 Election: US Crypto Ownership Now 52 MILLION People Strong, As Industry Prepares $70+ MILLION To Boost Pro-Crypto Candidates...

The crypto industry in the United States is making sure their voice is heard before the 2024 elections.  Their primary method of accomplishing this - a Political Action Committee (Super PAC), which is an organization able to raise and spend an unlimited amount of money on political activism - such as funding ads for, or against specific candidates. 

Going by the name 'Fairshake PAC' they have only one goal - a reasonable and clear regulatory landscape for crypto. This means companies no longer having to guess if SEC believes a 50 year old law written before the internet existed will be applied to crypto.

The Super-PAC Already has an Impressive $78 Million Raised, With Elections Nearly a Year Away, the Final Number is Expected to be Much Higher...

The PAC's financial backing comes from a coalition of "20 leading companies and voices in the industry" which includes notable names such as Coinbase, Circle, Kraken, the Winklevoss brothers, Ripple, Messari, Andreessen Horowitz, and others.

Fairshake's mission is clear: "To champion leaders who actively support progressive innovation, encompassing blockchain technology and the broader crypto industry." More specifically, the leaders elected in 2024 will be the ones to sign crypto regulations into law, so making sure these regulations will be fair, reasonable, and well-defined is important. 

With 52 Million Americans Now Owning Digital Assets, We Now Have The Power To Sway Elections... 

If just 14% of crypto owners see crypto as their main factor in deciding who to vote for, it would be enough to flip the who won the popular vote in the last 2 elections.

They're also willing to extend support to candidates from both political parties, emphasizing the inclusive nature of their agenda.

It's Easy To Instantly React Negatively to Anything Involving Money and Politics... 

It's important to consider the details - this is far from some secretive group of wealthy elite quietly pushing for something to bring them even more wealth. 

The community of crypto traders and investors is too large to not to have a seat at the table. While the major industry players are funding this Super PAC, crypto's popularly is how they're able to afford it.

From companies with hundreds of employees, to the independent crypto trader - we all want crypto regulations that treat us fairly, and are written by people who understand the fundamentals. 

Unfortunately an Alarming Number of Lawmakers Lack Even a Basic Understanding...

This isn't a matter of perception, members of the current US Congress are officially part of the oldest congress in entire US history - and nothing seems to highlight this generational gap more than tech related issues. Many lawmakers come from the 'senior citizen' demographic, they have held seats in Congress and the Senate for decades, and on multiple occasions where they were expected to announce their retirement, ended up announcing their run for re-election.

If there's any advice I'd give those who will be representing crypto in Washington DC, it would be that they take the time to figure out how to explain crypto to people who don't know how to send an e-mail. These politicians have proven themselves to be a 'high risk' when it comes to believing misinformation and alarmist headlines. In many cases you can find them discussing their struggles with technology in their own words - they called computers and smartphones 'confusing' and 'challenging', and joke about relying on their grandchildren for tech assistance.

We Need to Educate Lawmakers, Before They Make Any New Laws...

Candidates and their campaign managers will be aware of which industries have the largest budgets in the current election cycle, which is why a couple experts/VIPs from crypto industry can ask for, and successfully setup meetings in various lawmaker's offices. Here the pro-crypto case can be made, common anti-crypto misinformation can be corrected, and the politician can ask any questions they may have.

It is essential we the opportunity to present straightforward facts to lawmakers before they cast votes that can significantly impact the future of the crypto industry.

A perfect example of the kind of senseless challenges the industry faces is Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California.  He's been there 10 years, will be running for re-election in 2024, and holds the extreme opinion that crypto should be banned entirely. He is unable to mention 'Bitcoin' without immediately framing it as something only useful in 'illegal activities' -  his anti-crypto statements begun at the same time his largest campaign donor was a credit card processing company facing charges of illegally providing services to black market online gambling sites.

For Example, Here's How I would Lobby a Politician who Believes Crypto is Just used by the 'Bad Guys'...

Crypto's use in various illegal activities is a common topic for a politician to have distorted or completely inaccurate information on. This is something where properly presenting the facts shut down  immediately - between paper money, credit cards, checks, and cryptocurrency, crypto is actually the least-used in unlawful transactions.

Think crypto fraud has a larger total price tag after seeing multiple headlines over the past year about a hack where losses totaled in the millions?  Well, crypto fraud was the source of about $2.5 billion in losses last year according to the FBI.  Sure, that is a lot...unless you compare it to anything else.  The lowest-tech payment method, paper checks, was used in over $8 billion of fraud last year.  Credit Card fraud totaled around $3.5 billion - meaning crypto fraud was the lowest among all payment methods.

Crypto fraud peaked during and shortly after Bitcoin's first major bull run, people rushed to get into crypto, and scammers cashed in on people hoping to get a piece of the action.  After learning the hard way, nowadays, most people know no one can promise 'daily guaranteed profits' and companies that have no information on who owns and operates them may be hiding this info for a reason.

This leads to another powerful stat lawmakers need to be aware of - as crypto usage has grown, the annual rate of illegal/fraudulent transactions has gone down, for almost 3 years now. The biggest drop was this year, 2023 - and the firm that works with the FBI on crypto fraud cases is the source for this data.

Once this fact is established, any anti-crypto argument based on fighting crime or stopping fraud  sounds ridiculous... unless they're anti-credit card and anti-check as well. 

In Closing...

The crypto industry is ready to make its voice heard in the 2024 elections, and there is power in numbers. But the number more important than the amount of money the industry can spend in Washington DC, will be the 52 million crypto owners in US who will decide what standards, and how much effort  we demand from our leaders. If united, this is who ultimately will determine winners and losers.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

Congressional Bill Aims to FORCE the REMOVAL of "Tyrannical" SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, and Re-Structure The Entire Agency...

Congress VS Gensler

US Congressmen Warren Davidson and Tom Emmer (Republicans) officially presented the "SEC Stabilization Act" this week, a bill that would remove Chairman Gary Gensler and completely restructure the organization.

"Time for real reform and to fire Gary Gensler" Davidson said on Twitter as he announced the proposal.

Davidson is the vice chair of a new Congressional Subcommittee that focuses entirely on cryptocurrency and other finance-related technology, and he believes the SEC's current structure puts too much power in the hands of the Chairman, and when that position is filled by someone who then abuses that power or otherwise fails to lead the organization, there's no process to stop them before real economic damage is done - pointing to the current Chairman Gary Gensler as an example.

"U.S. capital markets must be protected from a tyrannical chairman, including the current one." Davidson said in a statement, adding that the bill will "ensure protections that are in the best interest of the market for years to come".

Gensler has by all accounts mismanaged the SEC, and that's not just bias coming from the crypto industry - more employees are quitting under him than any time in the previous decade...

Leading up to last week's actions against Coinbase and Binance, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, had outlined multiple attempts over the span of 2 years to get simple answers from Chairman Gensler, disclosing full details of their business practices for review and requesting the SEC share any concerns - Coinbase was desperately trying to follow the rules.

Often, in the case of crypto, the existing old rules written long before crypto existed clearly do not fit the circumstances today. Until rules specifically addressing digital assets like crypto are officially created, the only source for an answer is the mind of the SEC Chair and what he believes applies and when.

Regardless of their repeated requests for answers, Coinbase was given the silent treatment until last week, when the SEC announced they were taking them to court...

A government agency designed to be an authority over businesses or people, trusted to fairly issue punishments for non-compliance, simply cannot operate the way the SEC has under Chairman Gensler.

Imagine this: you're driving somewhere that will be a 5-hour trip, you're on a highway 2 hours away from any major cities, and you realize it's been awhile since you've seen any signs showing what the speed limit is in this area. Noticing you're down to a quarter tank and your GPS saying you have 3 more hours ahead of you, you pull off the highway and into a gas station. As you fill your tank, a police officer pulls up to the pump next to you. You politely explain that you've been looking, but so far haven't seen any signs showing the speed limit for awhile, so you ask "What is the speed limit on the highway in this area?". The officer looks at you briefly, then begins the process of putting gas in his patrol car. "Excuse me?" you say, as he continues to act like you're invisible. You stand there confused as he finishes, opens his car door, sits down, starts the car, and drives away - no signs that he was rushing to respond to an emergency. You resume your trip going a reasonable 65mph when you see your car mirrors filled with red and blue lights, a police car is pulling you over. Now stopped on the side of the highway, you see the same officer from 15 minutes earlier at the gas station. The officer informs you that you will be receiving a speeding ticket for going 65 when the speed limit in this area is 55mph.

"If you had told me the speed limit when I asked, I wouldn't have been speeding for you to write me a ticket to begin with" you say as the officer hands the ticket to you and walks away.

This is how the SEC operates under Chairman Gensler's leadership, but the consequences of his actions are much larger than a speeding ticket as they affect countless people and businesses. Because while US companies are being pulled over and forced to deal with a cop that seemingly set them up, competitors from places like the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, and some European nations have taken the lead after recently passing reasonable, clear guidelines for businesses in the crypto space to follow.

Claiming the SEC is mismanaged is a big claim to make, but some recent actions make the entire agency look so ridiculous it could only happen under a failing leadership.

In its oversight of Coinbase, the SEC massively contradicted itself with a series of unexplainable decisions...

As recently as 2021, the SEC reviewed Coinbase's entire business in detail before approving them to become a publicly traded company listed on the stock exchange. SEC approval is seen by investors around the world as an official stamp of approval that says, 'This is a legitimate American company, and the public can now invest in it'. 

Coinbase isn't doing anything today that it wasn't doing in 2021. Then, last week, according to the SEC, many of the coins Coinbase has been trading for years are actually illegal to trade in the US, calling them 'unlicensed securities'.

So the message the SEC just sent investors around the world is, "In 2021 we approved Coinbase to become a publicly listed company, allowing investors to purchase stock in the company.  Now that countless individuals, investment funds, companies, and retirement funds are invested - we're going to cause the stock to crash, as we take Coinbase to court over violations that began YEARS before we approved them."

We haven't yet heard how many other congress members support restructuring the SEC, over the next few weeks we should be able to get an idea of how much support the bill has, even if it doesn't pass it's shining a light on Gensler's mismanagement of the SEC

The SEC has declined to comment on the story.

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

US SEC Publishes Agenda For The Rest Of 2021....And Cryptocurrency Is NOWHERE To Be Found!

SEC crypto regulations?

Frankly, I was surprised to see the 2021 agenda of the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) not once mention bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

So, at least based on this - it looks like they won't be issuing any new regulations anytime soon.

This becomes a bit less surprising when you look at the person ultimately in charge of the agenda, current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

Before his role at the SEC, he was a professor at MIT where one of his roles was serving as the senior lecturer on Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchains.

If you've forced yourself to watch any past hearings on the topic, you likely noticed the officials who see cryptocurrency as some kind of urgent threat, also seem to be completely illiterate with technology in general.

But the new SEC Chairman appears to actually understand the tech behind cryptocurrency, as well as how it can have an important role in a healthy economy, even referring to Bitcoin as "the modern form of gold."

So what does have their attention for the rest of 2021? Reddit traders, who have some Wall Street vets in a panic...

The list of topics that will be discussed for the last half of the year is dominated with issues like short positions on the stock market, which as been a hot topic after Reddit drove up the prices of GameStop and AMC Theaters, generating millions in losses for some big Wall Street players who had bet against these companies.

Some criticism over the agenda is coming from within...

Two SEC commissioners, Hester M. Peirce, and Elad L. Roisman, publicly stated that "The Agenda is missing some other important rulemakings, including rules to provide clarity for digital assets, allow companies to compensate gig workers with equity..."

They end their statement urging the Chairman to 'reconsider' and 'revisit' the agenda, and add these issues to it. Chairman Gensler has not issued a response. 

Then there's the pro-crypto, pro-regulation advocates...

Many believe that the right regulations - ones that provide clarity around cryptocurrencies, while at the same time not overstepping in authority causing progress to slow down, would actually greatly benefit the market.

There's a lot of money on the sidelines held by investors who will not consider cryptocurrency an option until regulations remove the 'grey areas' surrounding them.

Recently Billionaire investor and Shark Tank judge Mark Cuban, who says he owns Bitcoin, Ethereum, and some DeFi tokens, called for regulations to clarify what qualifies as a 'stable coin' and ' and 'what collateralization is acceptable'.

There's probably no better time to get this done than now, while Gensler is serving as SEC chairman. 

Also worth mentioning...

The SEC isn't the only US governmental body with oversight authority over cryptocurrencies - they share this responsibility with the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) - and we have no idea how they plan to spend the rest of 2021.


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Author: Ross Davis 
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM
San Francisco Newsroom / Breaking Crypto News