Overview
- The Responsible Financial Innovation Act
- Bitcoin nears an important crossroads
- Grayscale prepares to fight the SEC
- Regulations: Not the worst thing
Senator Lummis and Gillibard Unveil “The Responsible Financial Innovation Act”
One of the most important pieces of crypto-based legislation was introduced by Senator Lummis and Senator Gillibrand yesterday morning via Medium. “The Responsible Financial Innovation Act” looks to “encourage innovation in digital assets markets and protect consumers through thoughtful regulation.”
The legislation, which has been in the works since August 2021, looks to clarify the United State’s role in the cryptocurrency landscape. The asset class has been in a bureaucratic regulatory cloud since inception but its impact and $1.2 trillion market cap has become increasingly hard to ignore for lawmakers. While demand for crypto continues to increase, the need for a regulatory foundation in the US has grown along with it.
Senators Lummis and Gillibard, who have become vocal proponents of US crypto adoption, began working on the legislation shortly after the fiasco of the $3 trillion infrastructure bill in August 2021, which included controversial crypto regulation. The new legislation looks to clear the air around crypto and quiet the infighting between the CFTC and SEC.
Some of the main points of the bill:
- Create a clear standard for determining which digital assets are commodities and which are securities, providing clarity and structure for businesses and regulators.
- Create clear definitions.
- Assign regulatory authority over digital asset spot markets to the CFTC.
- Define and create strong requirements for stablecoins that will promote faster payments and will protect consumers.
- Create an advisory committee to develop guiding principles, empower regulatory agencies, and advise lawmakers on fast-developing technologies.
- Impose disclosure requirements on digital asset service providers to ensure that consumers understand the product and can make informed decisions when engaging with digital asset
- Require a study on digital asset energy consumption.
- Direct the CFTC and the SEC to study and report on the development of a self-regulatory organization (SRO)
- Direct the CFTC and SEC to consult with the Department of the Treasury and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop comprehensive, principles-based guidance relating to cybersecurity for digital asset intermediaries
- Provide a regulatory sandbox for state and federal regulators to collaborate on innovative financial technologies.
- conduct an analysis of the potential opportunities and risks associated with investing retirement savings in digital assets
- to conduct an information security study around the digital yuan, China’s central bank digital currency.
Market update 🌍
In the short term bitcoin (BTC) has become a trader’s paradise (so long as you know what you’re doing). It has been rejecting resistance and bouncing off supports. In the longer term, the BTC chart is testing an important long-term downtrend (green). There will be a point when price begins to consolidate and soon after a breakout to either side is imminent.
For high resolution chart click here
One of the best charts to monitor live sentiment in the stock market is the Volatility Index S&P 500 (VIX). But don’t try to play TA on the VIX, it doesn’t react like a regular price chart. As you can see, volatility has been in an overall uptrend since Nov 21 (red dotted), which means fear has continually increased since that point. The decrease since May 10 (green) has translated into positive moves in the stock market. While VIX continues to fall and steady, it will benefit the crypto markets.
For high-resolution chart click here
| US markets close | Gain |
| S&P 500 | +0.95% |
| Nasdaq | +0.89% |
| Dow | +0.45% |
| VIX | -4.11% |
| Protocol (Coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| Chainlink (LINK) | 8.75 | +18 |
| Arweave (AR) | 14.34 | +15.5 |
| Cardano (ADA) | 0.64 | +12 |
| Decred (DCR) | 36.40 | +12 |
| Algorando (ALGO) | 0.42 | +11 |
| Kava (KAVA) | 2.68 | +10 |
| DigitByte (DGB) | 0.012 | +15 |
| OMG Network (OMG) | 2.72 | +12 |
| Oasis Network (ROSE) | 0.07 | +12 |
| Audius (AUDIO) | 0.43 | +12 |
| Reserve Right (RSR) | 0.009 | +37 |
| Ocean Protocol (OCEAN) | 0.27 | +22 |
| Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index | 17 Extreme Fear |
| “Crypto” Google Trends 90d | 20 |
| “Bitcoin” Google Trends 90d | 26 |
Newswatch 📰
Grayscale prepares to fight the SEC. The crypto asset manager Grayscale, which heads the Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) asset available to stock market traders, has hired a Supreme Court lawyer that formerly worked for Obama. The hiring will facilitate a push into the SEC’s denial of allowing Grayscale’s GBTC transformation into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Paypal adds crypto transfers. Payments giant PayPal has added transfer services for its crypto app that allows users to send certain tokens to external addresses. The additional services come after an increased demand from customers.
Human rights activists fight for crypto in congress. As a response to an earlier letter sent by computer scientists to congress noting skepticism in cryptocurrencies, a group of 20 worldwide human rights activists sent a reponse fighting for the adoption of crypto. Rights activists advocate crypto’s role in fighting “monetary colonialism” around the world with a new letter.
“For me, Bitcoin is not just technology. It has literally saved the lives of my friends and many Ukrainians. Without it, we would not have been able to raise money so quickly to pay for protective equipment for soldiers in the early days of the Russian invasion” – Lyudmyla Kozlovska
News Tidbits:
At the protocol level ⛓
Protocol level tidbits:
- GMX (GMX) deep dive.
- The Curve Wars Volume XII
- StarkNet V0.9.0
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
NFT tidbits:
- STEPN again crippled by DDOS attack.
- Gala Games (GALA) unveils Battlestar Galactica blockchain-themed game.
Banter’s take
Regulations: Not the worst thing
After the bear market began collapsing certain projects, and VCs began selling off positions at scale, it’s probably a good time to rethink regulation. Although regulation will harm some aspects of the crypto market, it can legitimize the industry as a whole. It’s a finance balance, and one we need struck perfectly. Clear legitimization can open the door to a large influx of institutions that otherwise wouldn’t participate in what was termed the “Wild West of Finance.”
The Lummis bill, at minimum, nudges law-makers in the US to begin the long process of hammering out regulatory details. At its best, it can chauffeur a large cohort of funds that can propel digital assets into a new era of legitimacy (and upward prices).
Gabri
Disclaimer
Good Morning Crypto (issued by Crypto Banter) is a newsletter for entertainment purposes only.
All opinions expressed by the publisher, writers, and chartists should not be construed as financial advice, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Crypto Banter. The publisher, writers, and chartists may hold positions in the tokens and assets discussed. Readers are encouraged to do their own research.
