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Planned Crypto Hearing in U.S. House Derailed by Democrat Revolt

Published

3 недели ago

6 мая, 2025

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Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives derailed what was supposed to be a joint hearing on crypto policy efforts on Tuesday, insisting that President Donald Trump’s personal crypto dealings were too urgent to allow other discussion on instituting industry regulations.

«I object to this joint hearing because of the corruption of the president of the United States and his ownership of crypto and his oversight of all the agencies,» said Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, effectively robbing the gathering of its official status that required unanimous consent to proceed with the panel’s joint hearing alongside the House Agriculture Committee.

Waters issued an invitation for people to come join the Democrats in another room «to discuss what we should be discussing: Trump’s crypto corruption.

With raised voices speaking over each other at the start of the aborted hearing, Democrats insisted to their Republican counterparts that the president’s digital assets ties — including his own memecoin and connections to World Liberty Financial — needed to be dealt with. Republicans, having introduced a discussion draft this week on proposed language for a crypto market structure bill, were left to continue a discussion with the witnesses they’d invited.

So, two non-hearings progressed on Tuesday morning in separate rooms, illustrating the sharpening divide between the parties this week on how to move forward on overseeing the digital assets sector.

«A joint hearing has been very, very needed,» said a visibly frustrated Representative French Hill, the Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. «I understand the ranking member has concerns, but by objecting to this hearing the ranking member is undermining the opportunity for these two committees to engage in a conversation of vital importance to the American people. That’s a loss for our committee, the House and the public at large.»

At what had technically become a «roundtable» in which the guests were participants, not witnesses, the Republican-driven discussion continued, with former Commodity Futures and Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam arguing the agency needs more authority and funding to occupy a leading role in regulating crypto and Coinbase executive Greg Tusar called the market structure bill a «strong step» toward clarity for the industry.

In the Democrats’ hastily organized meeting, Waters opened with another blast at her opposition.»Since the Republican majority refused to do its job, I’m hosting today’s roundtable to shed light on these critical issues before it’s too late,» she said. And Democrats were ready to discuss their own piece of legislation: an effort to ban top government officials from involvement in crypto assets or businesses

Chastity Murphy, a former aide to Rep. Rashida Tlaib who worked on stablecoin legislation and now a visiting fellow at the University of Manchester, argued in the Democrats’ hearing that not prohibiting lawmakers from holding crypto assets or firms engaging in this kind of business is legalizing «holding public office for profit.» In Trump’s case, not prohibiting his crypto activities also means letting him determine which regulations could be helpful for his bottom line.

Also on Tuesday, Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, introduced a bill to ban senior public officials from backing financial assets, including crypto.

Nikhilesh De contributed reporting.

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UK’s FCA Seeks Views on Stablecoins, Crypto Custody to Prevent Firm Failures

Published

2 часа ago

28 мая, 2025

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The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking additional views on its upcoming stablecoins regime, it said on Wednesday.

«In support of the opportunities stablecoins present to financial services and the broader economy, the FCA will explore adding a specific focus on stablecoins to its innovation services in the coming months,» the FCA’s statement said.

The FCA’s proposed rules are meant to ensure stablecoins maintain their value and seek to reduce the likelihood of stablecoin and crypto custody companies failing.

Stablecoins have been something regulators have been watching carefully following the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD in 2022 that resulted in investors losing out on their life savings.

The FCA has been establishing its new crypto regime since 2023. In 2023 it published a discussion paper with proposals for a stablecoins regime. The regulator has since upped its efforts to regulate the sector by releasing a series of discussion papers for the industry and the U.K. government is working on establishing new legislation to ensure the country’s regulators have all the powers they need to launch their new regimes for the digital asset sector.

The FCA will be working with the Bank of England to regulate stablecoins.

«For those stablecoins that expect to operate at systemic scale, the Bank of England will publish a complementary consultation paper later this year, including responding to industry feedback around allowing some return on backing assets,» Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England said.

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Bitcoin and Web3 Wallet Firm Ledger Brings ‘Crypto Life’ Visa Card to U.S. Users

Published

2 часа ago

28 мая, 2025

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Cryptocurrency hardware wallet firm Ledger has launched its Crypto Life (CL) Visa card in the U.S., offering users 1% cashback in bitcoin (BTC) or USDC on purchases and the ability to directly deposit paychecks into the on-chain card account via bank transfer.

Ledger’s CL Visa card is facilitated by fiat-to-on-chain card enabler Baanx, which also provides self-custody crypto cards for the likes of MetaMask, Tools for Humanity and most recently wallet firm Exodus.

Big card networks Mastercard and Visa are aligning themselves with the self-custodial crypto world and the rapid growth in areas like stablecoin payments. Data on CL card usage shows household purchases dominated crypto card usage at 63% of total transactions, with entertainment and fashion categories showing the strongest growth.

Jean-Francois Rochet, EVP of Consumer Services at Ledger, said the collaboration brings the CL card to millions of users in the U.S. with attractive cashback features for bitcoin holders. “Living the crypto life means having ownership, access and real world utility over your digital assets,” he said in a statement.

“The CL Card, designed for Ledger, is a step toward mainstream, non-custodial crypto payments—right in your pocket”, said Simon Jones, Chief Commercial Officer of Baanx.

The CL Card will be available in the U.S. (excluding New York and Vermont) on June 30, 2025.

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VivoPower Raises $121M to Launch XRP Treasury Strategy With Saudi Royal Backing

Published

3 часа ago

28 мая, 2025

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VivoPower International (VVPR), a Nasdaq-listed energy company, said on Wednesday it has secured $121 million in a private share placement to fund its pivot to digital asset treasury focusing on XRP XRP, the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

The raise was led by Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Abdulaziz Al Saud, investing $100 million, a spokesperson to the company told CoinDesk. The company sold 20 million ordinary shares priced at $6.05 per share.

Adam Traidman, a former Ripple executive who led the SBI Ripple Asia, is joining the company as chairman of the board of advisors, according to the press release. Ripple is an enterprise-focused blockchain service provider closely related to the XRP Ledger.

VivoPower shares surged as much as 26% on the news before giving back some of the gains. Recently, they were up over 11%, trading around $6.75.

The move is the latest example of public firms raising money to purchase and add digital assets to their treasuries, a playbook popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) that has become the largest corporate holder of bitcoin BTC. While BTC has been the most sought-after asset among these firms, recent newcomers like DeFi Development and SharpLink Gaming directed their focus to Solana’s SOL SOL and Ethereum’s ether ETH, respectively.

VivoPower, founded in 2014, aims to be the first publicly traded company with a crypto treasury strategy centered around XRP. It also plans to spin off its legacy business.

«After reviewing a number of listed vehicles seeking to embrace a digital asset treasury model, we selected VivoPower given its strategic focus on XRP and its objective to contribute to building out of the XRPL ecosystem,» Prince Abdulaziz said in a statement. «We have been investors in the digital asset sector for a decade and have been long-term holders of XRP.»