The Unintended(?) Consequences of the STABLE Act
On purpose or not, the bill could turn even node operators into criminals
The recently introduced STABLE Act aims to ban any stablecoin that is not issued by a federal bank. Yes, any stablecoin irrespective of whether it is issued by a state-regulated...
How an open patents alliance can protect all cryptocurrency developers
On the Coin Center Tangents podcast this week I talked to Kirupa Pushparaj (who runs the intellectual property practice at Square) about the Crypto Open Patents Alliance. If you’re part...
Two new bills in Congress would clarify agency jurisdiction over cryptocurrency
Pre-sale agreements would fall under SEC jurisdiction, CFTC would oversee decentralized network tokens
Three longstanding policy issues facing cryptocurrency technology are being addressed by two new bi-partisian bills introduced in the House today: (1) the patchwork of state-by-state licensing of exchanges, (2) the...
Are regulators poised to demand cryptocurrency address whitelisting? Probably not.
Rumors are circulating that regulators will soon require exchanges to only allow cryptocurrency withdrawals to “whitelisted” addresses or, worse, that withdrawals to unhosted wallets won’t be allowed at all. These...
The ideal regulatory environment for Bitcoin
We’re often asked what our ideal regulatory environment would be for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies like it. A few years ago, in a regulatory submission to the Indian Ministry of Finance,...
Congress to IRS: Proof-Of-Stake block rewards should not be taxed as income
New letter asks for sensible policy that better reflects the nature of token creation via staking, and its logic applies to proof-of-work as well.
A bipartisan group of members of Congress have sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service asking that staking rewards for validators in proof-of-stake networks be taxed when sold rather...
Federal regulator: National banks can hold cryptocurrency
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has formally stated that nationally chartered banks can hold cryptocurrencies for their customers. As Brian Brooks, Acting Comptroller said, From safe-deposit boxes...
Do we really need more guidance from FinCEN?
In May of last year, FinCEN issued guidance on “virtual currency” that reiterated and explained its original 2014 guidance. It essentially articulates a general principle: a business is subject to...
Do anti-encryption bills in Congress pose a risk to cryptocurrency?
Two bills threatening encryption are driving headlines in the cryptocurrency space, the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data (LAED) Act and the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (“EARN...
There is no such thing as “a bitcoin”
Recently on Twitter, the St. Louis Fed’s David Andolfatto asked an interesting question: How hard would it be to track these funds and mark them as fully taxable at any...