The first deadline is presented to the SEC to approve Bitcoin ETFs: the law decoded
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve all 12 pending Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications by November 17. As of November 9, the SEC reportedly has a “window” to approve all 12 Bitcoin slots. ETF documents including Greyscale's investment product, the Greyscale Bitcoin Trust.
However, even if the SEC approved the spot bitcoin (BTC) ETF on November 17, the products could be more than a month away from launch. The expected launch delay following the SEC approval will be due to the two-stage ETF launch process. An issuer must obtain approval from the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets in its 19b-4 filing and S-1 filing or prospectus to launch a Bitcoin ETF. Nine issuers out of 12 Bitcoin ETF applications submitted revised prospectuses that indicated they were in contact with the corporate finance department.
Meanwhile, Nasdaq has filed a Form 19b-4 with the securities regulator for the iShares Ethereum Trust on behalf of $9 trillion asset management firm BlackRock. The move shows BlackRock's interest in crypto ETF ambitions to expand beyond bitcoin. The fund previously registered a corporate entity called the iShares Ethereum Trust in Delaware. At least five other firms are seeking SEC approval for space ether (ETH) ETFs: VanEck, ARK 21Shares, Invesco, Grayscale and Hashdex.
The Transparency Act could prevent US officials from dealing with Tether's parent company.
US Representatives Zach Nunn and Abigail Spanberger co-introduced the Legal Accountability for Rogue Inventors and Technology Act of 2023 – or the Transparency Act of 2023. The law is intended to prevent federal government officials from doing business with Chinese blockchain companies. The decree prohibits government employees from using China's blockchain or cryptocurrency trading platforms. It also expressly prohibits US government officials from conducting transactions with iFinex, the parent company of USDT issuer Tether.
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Forty-seven countries have pledged to start exchanging crypto tax information by 2027.
Forty-seven national governments have made a joint commitment to “rapidly transform” the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) – a new international standard on the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities – into their domestic legal systems. The CARF framework, developed from a G20 mandate in April 2021, requires reporting on the nature of cryptocurrency and digital asset transactions by both intermediaries and service providers. The authors of the statement intend to activate exchange agreements to start data exchanges in 2027.
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The European Bank Authority will provide guidance to stable coin issuers
The European Banking Authority (EBA) – the EU's banking watchdog – has issued new guidelines to set minimum capital and liquidity requirements for stablecoin issuers. According to the proposed liquidity guidelines, Statcoin issuers must provide any stablecoin that is fully funded with investors. The official proposal by the EBA indicated that the Statcoin liquidity guidelines would serve as a liquidity stress test for stablecoin issuers. The EBA believes that the stress test will highlight any flaws and lack of funding for a stable coin. This may help the authority to approve fully backed stablecoins with sufficient liquidity buffers only.
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