Biden Votes House, Senate on SEC Anti-Crypto Crackdown: Law Decoded
US President Joe Biden has rejected the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision to revoke Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121.
“This reversal of the judgment considered by the SEC staff in this way has the risk of undercutting the broad powers of the SEC regarding the accounting practices,” Biden wrote in an official response to the Congressional vote to repeal the cryptocurrency accounting guidelines, requiring institutions to register crypto assets under custody. Assets as liabilities on their balance sheet.
The guidelines are set to go into effect on April 11, but have faced strong opposition from the crypto community and lawmakers.
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives overturned the SEC's directive by a 228 to 182 margin and sent the bill to the Senate. Once there, senators voted to repeal SAB-121 by a significant margin of 60 to 38.
“We are disappointed that the administration has chosen to repeal SAB 121 in recognition of the bipartisanship in both chambers of Congress,” the Blockchain Association said in a statement to the X-Post.
US Senator Cynthia Lammis argued that Biden had gone against the “will of the American people” by intervening and preventing the directives from being repealed.
Israel launches digital shekel trial.
Israel's Domestic Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) intends to accelerate the development of the digital shekel. The Bank of Israel plans to engage various service providers to jointly develop an advanced digital payment ecosystem centered on the digital shekel.
Project Rosalind is a joint venture between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Bank of England. It aims to develop a prototype for an Application Programming Interface (API).
As part of the test, BoI provides a sandbox environment associated with the API layer. Participants compete to build real-time CBDC payment systems for the general public.
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Paraguay continues to crack down on crypto mining.
A property containing 2,738 crypto mining units was seized in Salto del Gueira, Paraguay after the National Electricity Administration (ANDE) confirmed that there was an unmetered power connection in the area.
A bill banning crypto-mining and other crypto-related activities is before the country's Senate, pending comprehensive legislation and national energy provider approvals.
ADB used artificial intelligence and power distribution analysis to zero in on electricity theft, which it says is worth an estimated 1.1 billion guarani ($146,000) a month.
Five transformers were also seized on the property. The operators of the illegal business may be charged with a crime.
In May, at least two other operations against illegal crypto farms – in Salta del Gueira – were carried out in Paraguay, although the raids had more modest results. All government action involved multiple agencies, including the Paraguayan National Police.
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Hong Kong will ban all unauthorized crypto exchanges.
All crypto exchanges that have not applied for an operating license with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) are legally required to immediately cease operations in the region.
Hong Kong regulators have issued a clear transfer request to reduce risks for investors: Either apply for a license by February 29 or cease operations within three months.
During this period, more than 22 cryptocurrency exchanges applied for a license to maintain their presence in the region. However, most of these exchanges eventually decided to withdraw their applications before the deadline.
While most exchanges have given no reason for the dramatic change of events, Hong Kong-based Get.HK has noted that a “major overhaul” is needed before its trading platform can meet Hong Kong's regulatory requirements.
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