AI Act and stablecoin regulations in the EU, 30% tax on crypto mining in the US: law decoded
The European Parliament has given its final approval to EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) legislation – the EU AI Regulation – one of the world's first comprehensive set of AI rules.
The bill will go to a second vote in April and will probably be published in the EU's Official Journal in May. EU AI legislation puts machine learning models into four categories based on the risk they pose to society, with high-risk models subject to the strictest rules.
“High risk” applications include critical infrastructure, educational or vocational training, product safety components, essential private and public services, law enforcement and human rights enforcement, management of immigration and border control, and administration of justice and democratic processes.
EU financial regulators want to add more stablecoin regulation guidelines under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework by publishing draft regulatory standards for stablecoin issuers amid complaints.
On March 13, the European Banking Authority published the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) for the efficient and fair resolution of complaints by asset reference (ART) holders. These guidelines outline procedures and standards for stablecoin issuers to effectively manage complaints.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has revised the proposal for a 30% tax on electricity used by crypto miners in his administration's budget proposal by 2025. If applicable, crypto mining companies must report the amount and type of electricity they use.
In addition, companies must report the price of electricity used if they buy it from abroad. Meanwhile, miners who lease computing capacity are required to inform the company that leased the capacity of the electricity price.
The value is used as the tax base. This proposal will come into effect for years payable after December 31, 2024. The government will introduce the tax at three levels: 10% in the first year, 20% in the second year and 30% in the third year.
Nigeria pushes Binance to reveal information on top 100 local users
The Nigerian government is reportedly pressuring Binance to provide information about 100 users in the country. In addition to data on Binance's top 100 users, Nigerian authorities have also requested Binance to hand over its transaction history for the past six months.
Local prosecutors have arrested two top Binance executives, Tigran Gambarian and Nadeem Anjarwala, as Binance seeks talks with Nigerian authorities.
Even after Binance canceled all naira transactions and halted peer-to-peer naira transactions in late February, the executives remain under arrest.
Opinions in the local crypto community vary; Some support the government's actions, while others disagree. In an interview with Cointelegraph, domestic crypto analyst Rume Offi said that the government is well within its rights, because such questions are always asked when trying to investigate national security issues.
However, Ofi's comments did not agree with other local crypto enthusiasts who took to X to voice their disagreement. Crypto enthusiast and cybersecurity expert Chukumaeze DK found the request for the top 100 users surprising and doubted Binance would comply.
Continue reading
The Dubai International Financial Center has adopted a comprehensive digital asset law.
The Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a special economic zone with over 5,000 residents, has announced the adoption of a new Digital Assets and Securities Act and amendments to existing laws. The Center has its own legal system based on English law.
The Digital Assets Act contains seven pages of text and appendices. Legislation to update at least six previous laws for digital assets has been passed but was not available online at the time of writing. The DIFC noted in its statement that changes to the Obligation Act have made electronic records on a functional par with paper records.
Continue reading
Democrats don't want SEC Gensler to approve more crypto ETFs.
Democratic Senators Jack Reed and Lafonza Butler have said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) approval of any additional crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) would expose investors to “thinly traded” markets full of scams and fraud.
Eight proposed Spot Ether (ETH) ETF applications are awaiting SEC approval, and other altcoins are expected to follow suit.
Reed and Butler also stressed that the SEC's recent approval of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs should not be a condition for future approvals. While the bitcoin market is showing “severe weakness,” it is more established and well-researched than the market for other smaller cryptocurrencies, he said.
Continue reading
