Terra Devs Barred from Leaving South Korea and Crypto-Friendly Candidates in Upcoming VA and IL Primaries
Also Crypto Political Donations Double, UK reconsiders collecting personal info from wallets, and more class action lawsuits against TFL and Coinbase following Terra
Key Reads and Listens
🇺🇸 - Political donations from the crypto industry doubled to at least $52 million through end of May from first 15 months of current, two-year midterm election cycle.
Spread Across Both sides of the Aisle.
$8 million from Ryan Salame, co-Chief Executive Officer of crypto exchange FTX, to American Dream Federal Action — who’s spent $7.6 million backing Republicans — in May.
$500,000 from Sam Bankman-Fried to the Senate Majority PAC, which supports Democrats. Through May, he’s donated $32.5 million to super PACs — making him one of the top donors to political groups.
Commodities Futures Trading Commissioner Caroline Pham on Laura Chin’s Unchained
Discussing regulatory frameworks, whether the SEC and CFTC should work together, the consequences of Terra, and much more.
In Government — (Regulation/Policy)
🇯🇲 - CBDC = cash.
Why this Matters. Jamaica is the first country to make a central bank digital currency (CBDC)—in this case the Jamaica Digital Exchange, or Jam-Dex— legal tender.
🇬🇧 - UK rules they will not collect personal information from private crypto wallets.
Why this Matters. The original regulation, if passed, would have required the personal information to be transferred alongside any cryptocurrency exchanges, making the sending and receiving parties known by name, address, account number, and personal identity number or birthdate/place of birth.
🇺🇸 - Republican Senate members send SEC Chair Gary Gensler their concerns over an attempt to require digital asset disclosures.
Why this Matters. Several Senators were concerned about a recent staff guidance published by the SEC, which they argued was an attempt to pass regulation. The Senators made their opinions on the SEC’s handling of crypto well known, writing, "The SEC’s approach to the emerging crypto market has not promoted process, transparency, or public engagement.”
From the Courtroom — (Legal news in web3)
🇺🇸 - Do Kwon and Terraform Labs face a class action lawsuit for selling unregistered securities.
Why it Matters. Do Kwon and Terraform Labs are being sued for selling unregistered securities (TerraUSD) and for misleading investors on Terra’s financial stability.
In the suit, TerraUSD was defined as a security based on passing the “Howey test” (used to determine securities from commodities), which could set the precedence of algorithmic stablecoins being considered securities.
🇺🇸 - Class action lawsuit filed against Coinbase for misleading consumers into purchasing TerraUSD.
Why it Matters. Yet again, another Terra-related suit, and another class action lawsuit. This time, crypto-exchange Coinbase has been sued for promoting TerraUSD to their users, claiming it to be a “reserve-backed stablecoin,” when in fact, it was not.
🇰🇷 - Terra developers are barred from leaving the country.
Why it Matters. Together, Terraform Labs and Do Kwon are drawing serious legal heat after the fallout from TerraUSD’s collapse, with this ruling being one of several we’ve noted in the past two weeks.
Crypto Candidates in the Upcoming Primaries
Up to midterms, Twali Wrapped will be profiling two candidates from the nearest upcoming primaries with strong stances on crypto.
This week, those primaries are:
The U.S. House Virginia District 2 - Republican Primary on June 25th, 2022
U.S. House Illinois District 17 - Democratic Primary on July 2nd, 2022
Jarome Bell - Republican, Virginia
About
Jarome Bell is a former Naval officer who ran to represent the Republican ticket in Virginia’s 2nd district. Bell ran as the “American First” candidate but lost his primary battle to Jennifer Kiggans. His main policy priorities centered around national security and election integrity, but Bell also expressed support for crypto privacy and domestic mining operations.
As an aspiring office holder, Bell did not belong to any specific committees. However, he was the only candidate in the the VA-2 Republican primary to complete the HODLPAC questionnaire.
Policy Goals and Reasons for Supporting Crypto
Individual Privacy
Bell expresses strong support an individual’s right-to-privacy. He believes the right to privacy should extend to crypto transactions, and that crypto spending should have equivalent privacy protections of fiat spending.
Economic Development
Bell believes in free market principles and in creating economic opportunity for all Americans. He wants American innovation to extend to the crypto sector and supports Congressional action to help guide development of the space.
Domestic Mining Operations
Bell advocates for a U.S. policy of supporting cryptocurrency mining, including for Proof-of-Work blockchains.
Legislation
As an aspiring office holder, Bell did not have any relevant legislative history.
Cheri Bustos - Democrat, Illinois
Cheri Bustos is an incumbent running for re-election to the House to represent Illinois District #17.
About
In Congress since 2013, Cheri Bustos positions herself as a moderate Democrat with concern for rural and agriculture issues. While not front-and-center on financial policy topics, Bustos’ emphasis on sensible economic policy will hopefully translate into a reasonable approach on crypto and decentralized finance.
Representative Bustos currently serves on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, both of which will play a role in any future crypto legislation.
Policy Goals and Reasons for Supporting Crypto
Support for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Bustos has frequently advocated for improvements at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). While her focus tends to be on agriculture commodities, the CFTC is a key institution related to oversight of cryptocurrency trading.
Rural Green Partnership
Rep. Bustos was the key figure behind the Rural Green Partnership, a policy proposal aimed at helping rural communities address the threat of climate change. Crypto does not factor into the proposal, but the focus on clean energy, environmental sustainability, and economic revitalization are all relevant issues for the crypto industry.
Legislation
Representative Bustos has not proposed crypto-specific legislation or bills. Her legislative history includes a diverse mix of proposals, with an emphasis on agriculture, the food supply, and healthcare.
One recent bill (H.R. 7675) would create a food supply chain resilience team. The bill does not mention blockchain specifically. However, it may have some relevance for the sector given the potential for distributed ledger technology to support food safety and supply chain integrity.
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