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| By Beth Canova |
Last week, both Marija and Jurica wrote about the brewing rumbles from regulators. Namely, they focused the Securities and Exchange Commission's focus on stablecoins and the New York Department of Finance's crusade against Binance USD (BUSD, Stablecoin).
The SEC's latest attempt in crypt regulation is a proposal to expand the 2009 Custody Rules. This would require crypto companies that act as digital asset custodians to become "qualified custodians."
Requirements would include properly segregating assets and annual audits, thus making it harder to establish new centralized platforms and dissuade investment advisers from advising their clients with respect to crypto.
But regulation isn't the only song governments are singing right now. Many are promoting legislation that will support future crypto endeavors.
Wyoming legislators passed a bill, HB0086, to prevent courts from forcing individuals to disclose their private keys, though allowing for some minor exceptions such as when a public key is unavailable or doesn't offer the asset's details.
And on a federal level, four Republican senators are supporting a bill that would make it easier for individuals to invest in crypto with their retirement accounts.
The exact bill, named the Financial Freedom Act, aims to reverse policy from the Department of Labor directing what type of investments were allowed in 401(k) plans, including crypto. According to Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) who introduced the bill, the Financial Freedom Act would bar the Department of Labor from pursuing enforcement actions for individuals "using brokerage windows to invest in cryptocurrency."
This pro-crypto push from lawmakers doesn't end at the U.S. border, either. The European Union — which has previously had a tenuous relationship with privacy — recently approved the use of zero-knowledge proofs for digital identification.
This should help citizens maintain digital privacy and allow individuals to maintain full control of their data. EU citizens could choose what data to share with other platforms.
Finally, The United Arab Emirates committed $2 billion for startup investments in blockchain and metaverse technologies. The UAE will expand access to corporate, government and investment partners both domestically and internationally.
All in all, we've seen a mixed bag come from the interaction between governments and crypto this week.
While the vendetta against stablecoins is concerning — especially with many central banks greatly preferring central bank digital currencies to stablecoins for obvious reasons — it is refreshing to see smart, reasonable legislation also making itself known.
That can be seen as a positive sign to higher crypto adoption.
Our team will be watching these and future developments closely as they happen. So keep an eye on your inbox for any updates.
Best,
Beth Canova
Managing Editor
