Private sector joins the BTC debate – regulatory overview

In the US, several crypto companies have given their take on the regulatory debate. Binance meanwhile wants to gain a foothold in Great Britain. Last week in the regulatory overview.

Crypto CEOs in US Congress

On Thursday, the US Congress asked high-level representatives of the state’s own blockchain industry about the regulation of stablecoins and other crypto assets. During that hearing, Brian Brooks, CEO of the mining company, disagreed Bitfury, SEC chief Gensler’s stablecoin plans. While Gensler had recently pleaded for a limitation of the stablecoin issuing rights to insured deposit institutions, Brooks is now calling for the opposite. In his opinion, the US government should issue banking licenses to major stablecoin issuers. Charles Cascarilla of Paxos continued to see the hegemony of the US dollar threatened. He has to get a regulated stablecoin or a digital central bank currency (CBDC) alongside. Jeremy Allaire, CEO of the payment service provider Circle, also saw an opportunity for the US dollar in stablecoins. Alesia Haas, CFO of the BTC Exchange Coinbase, also argued against the SEC that crypto tokens are not securities. The conclusion of the hearing was apparently positive. Most of the MPs present do not want to stand in the way of innovations in the crypto industry.

Ripple presents concept for BTC regulation

Apart from the congressional hearing, the US private sector intervened in the regulatory debate last week. The crypto payment service provider Ripple published a three-page position paper for this purpose. The company behind the XRP token advocates a pragmatic approach that knows how to combine the promotion of innovation with the protection of consumers. For this it is necessary to adapt the existing legal framework to “some of the unique properties of cryptocurrencies.” With the Digital Commodity Exchange Act (DCEA), the authors refer to an existing legislative proposal that does not want to regulate BTC and Co. as securities. Representing in ongoing legal battle with SEC Ripple same line of reasoning.

Binance: BTC exchange makes a new attempt in Great Britain

Was in the UK Binance have come under severe regulatory pressure in the past few months. In July, the British Securities and Exchange Commission banned it Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the BTC Exchange to offer a range of services on the island. Binance At the beginning of December, however, CEO Changpeng Zhao indicated that his company in the UK was going on the offensive again. Zhao plans to set up his own subsidiary in order to comply with the UK compliance guidelines. In the US, the BTC exchange is pursuing a similar strategy. Binance also announced changes to its own organizational structure, the Compliane should come more in the foreground in the future. According to Zhao, the relationship with the British FCA has continued to improve considerably. With their blessing, Binance also intends to integrate crypto futures and derivatives into its British range of services in the future.

Britain takes action against crypto advertising

Like Binance will soon be represented on the British market again, the BTC exchange in Great Britain will not be able to switch particularly much investment advertising. British MPs called on the FCA last week to restrict the use of the words “invest” and “investment” in crypto advertising. According to The Times MEPs do not like the impression these terms evoke. They fear that potentially fraudulent crypto assets are being presented as being on par with investments in companies included in the UK FTSE 100 index. A Tory MP even accused the stock exchange regulator of being unable to fight fraudulent crypto offers. FCA boss Nikhil Rathi promised to look into the matter. However, his authority needs greater competencies in order to take effective action against crypto advertising.

Iceland throttles BTC mining

Iceland is struggling with electricity bottlenecks. According to a report byBloombergthrottled the state energy company Landsvirkjun on December 7th the energy supply for several branches of industry. This decision was preceded by a disruption in a power plant and difficulties in obtaining external electricity. BTC miners are also affected by the cuts. Due to the low electricity prices, the northern European island has developed into a popular destination for international prospecting operations. Hive blockchain, genesis and Bitfury have all followed the call for affordable renewable energy. Landsvirkjun has now announced, however, that it will not be issuing any new electricity licenses to miners for the time being. It is not known how long this situation will last.