Fed Board to banks, "engaging in crypto activity? Check with us first."
PLUS: 🇨🇳 Tencent forced to stop selling NFTs, 🇺🇸 Celsius approved to sell mined BTC, & 2 Profiles on Pro-Crypto Candidates: Cheney Challenger Hageman (R-WY) and Florida Democrat Ellison (D-FL)
Web3’s most important weekly news in Government and the Courtroom, alongside political profiles, and additional insight, from the Twali Wrapped Guild.
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In Government — (Web3 regulation/policy news)
by David Feld
🇺🇸 Banks to notify Federal Reserve before engaging in crypto.
The Federal Reserve Board issued a supervisory letter stating that the banks it oversees should alert the board before engaging with digital assets. This is to assess risk and determine whether regulatory filings are necessary.
Why this Matters: With specific regulation not expected to pass this year, statements such as these signal the government, especially in the wake of Tornado Cash, wants to increase supervision and establish grounds for industry intervention if they see fit.
🇨🇴 Colombia considering CBDC to curb Tax Evasion.
Head of the Colombian Tax and Customs Office confirmed a new tax program to explore CBDCs as a method for combatting tax evasion. This tax program also banned cash transactions exceeding 10 million pesos.
Why this Matters: As we’ve discussed, introducing CBDCs allows governments to have tighter control over the movement of their money and their ability to monitor its flow.
Go Deeper. How are Stablecoins and CBDCs different?
🇨🇳 Tencent stops selling NFTs as regulatory scrutiny ramps up.
Chinese multinational conglomerate Tencent announced it will stop selling NFTs through its year old NFT platform, Huanhe, as of Aug. 16th. This follows repeated concerns from state media about rampant NFT speculation in China.
Why this Matters: Actions like those above point to a looming, overall ban of NFTs in China. Such a ban would mark the completion of China’s crackdown on crypto, following their ban of trading and mining last year.
From the Courtroom — (Legal news in web3)
by Lucy Pappas
🇺🇸 - SEC sues Dragonchain for $16.5m.
The chief architect of Dragonchain was sued by the SEC for its initial coin offering (ICO) — during which they allegedly raised $16.5 million in unregistered "crypto asset” securities offerings.
Why this Matters: The SEC is back with another lawsuit for an ICO. In other words, they are making it known that they consider altcoins to be securities, and are under their jurisdiction.
Go Deeper: Gensler’s statement on crypto as Commodity vs. Securities
🇺🇸 - Celsius wins approval to sell mined BTC.
Celsius Network, the crypto lender that previously filed for bankruptcy, received court approval to sell their mined Bitcoin for cash injections into the company.
Why this Matters: Celsius was on track to run out of cash by October, 2022. After filing for bankruptcy and facing multiple investigations, this is a big win for Celsius as they try to regain balance.
Go Deeper: Celsius’s big year with bankruptcy claims and multiple investigations
🇸🇬 - Crypto lender Hodlnaut applies for judicial management.
Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based crypto lender, filed for judicial management this week. This means that an officer from Singapore’s High Court will act as the company’s director and manage the company.
Why this Matters: The lender froze asset withdrawals on August 8, “due to recent market conditions.” Ultimately, filing for judicial management was a way to avoid forced liquidation of asset, as we’ve seen with other lenders, like Celsius above.
Crypto Candidate profiles in upcoming or recent Primaries.
by Justine Doughty & Max Moncaster
Up to midterms, Wrapped will be profiling candidates supportive of crypto either from recent or upcoming primaries.
This week, for our republican profile, we look back at Wyoming’s primary this past Tuesday and dive into Harriette Hagman (R), our second republican candidate we’ve profiled who’s backed by Peter Thiel. For our democrat, we look forward to next Tuesday’s Florida primary, examining Allen Ellison’s (D) motivations for supporting crypto. Read about both below!
Sources for Allen Ellison:
*Go Deeper. The Difference between wholesale and retail CBDCs/stablecoins.
Sources for Harriet Hageman:
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