Crypto regulation in the world: weekly digest #63

USA

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee has approved a bill meant to prevent the launch of a digital dollar. The CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act is a piece of legislation introduced by Majority Whip Tom Emmer that aims to prohibit the Federal Reserve from developing a direct-to-consumer central bank digital currency (CBDC) that could be used as a financial surveillance tool by the federal government. The bill specifically prohibits the following:

• The Federal Reserve from developing a CBDC that could be used as a financial surveillance tool by the federal government;

• The Federal Reserve from issuing digital currencies directly to individuals;

• The Federal Reserve from using any CBDC to implement monetary policy.

It is the first anti-central bank digital currency legislative effort introduced in the USA and globally and will now be put before the House of Representatives. However, it is important to note that the bill has not yet passed the House of Representatives, and its future prospects are uncertain.

While some legislators are opposed to the launch of a digital dollar, others believe that the US government needs to rapidly position digital payment and finance options that serve the needs of the United States, its financial system, its allies, and its global trade partners. The details of a central bank digital dollar are not yet clear, but it could involve millions of the US citizens using digital cash issued by the Fed to pay bills, potentially bypassing parts of the traditional financial system and opening digital commerce to those without bank accounts or credit cards.

This is not the first time the US legislators make steps against the national CBDC. The future digital dollar has been already banned in Texas and Florida. Senator Ted Cruz in March, 2023 has also introduced legislation to prohibit the Fed from developing a direct-to-consumer central bank digital currency but there is lack of information about that bill’s future fate.

Japan

Nomura, a Japanese investment bank with $500 billion in assets, has launched a Bitcoin Adoption Fund through its subsidiary, Laser Digital Asset Management. The fund is designed to provide long-only exposure to Bitcoin and is available exclusively to institutional investors.

The fund is intended to provide institutional investors with exposure to Bitcoin, which is becoming an increasingly popular asset class. It is designed to be long-only, meaning that it will only hold Bitcoin and not other cryptocurrencies or assets.

The fund is currently only available in Japan, but there are plans to expand it to other countries in the future. It is managed by Laser Digital Asset Management, a subsidiary of Nomura. This is the latest example of a major financial institution embracing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The launch of a new investment product of such a kind focused on Bitcoin contribute to increased interest and demand for the cryptocurrency, which led to a short-time price increase of cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin’s price passed $27000.

The fact that a major financial institution like Nomura is embracing Bitcoin through the launch of this fund may help to further legitimize the cryptocurrency in the eyes of institutional investors and the broader financial industry.

Switzerland

The TON Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to providing support for the Toncoin ecosystem, has been established in Switzerland in the early September. This move has been seen as a positive development for the Toncoin ecosystem, as the foundation is now better positioned to improve it. The foundation has promised to provide a detailed transparency report on Toncoin's token economy and token distribution history, which will provide information on the coin's value.

Since the establishment of the TON Foundation, the price of Toncoin has been on the rise. The coin has maintained a bullish momentum, defying the market trend. On September 7, the price of Toncoin was $1.95, and if it manages to break this recent high, further rally is expected. On September 16, Toncoin saw a noteworthy 20% price increase over the past week, rising from $1.75 on September 9 to $1.95 on September 15, 202. As of September 20, Toncoin is trading at $2.45, according to CoinGecko.

Telegram integrated the TON crypto wallet on September 13, 2023. This integration has allowed Telegram's 800 million monthly active users to access and use Toncoin. The integration of TON crypto wallet has also led to an increase in demand and price, with Toncoin's price jumping by 7% on the day of the integration.

News from other countries:

• The U.S. SEC will expand its regulatory enforcement beyond Coinbase and Binance.US onto other cryptocurrency exchanges, intermediaries and DeFi entities.

• The group of Ethereum developers has introduced the new ERC-7521 standard. ERC-7521 is a proposed standard for smart contract wallets that aims to transform the way they function by shifting from pure transactions to user intents. It is designed to support generalized intents for smart contract wallets, which would aid composability and reduce barriers to entry.

• The regulator of Poland is going to examine Worldcoin and OpenAI for gathering users biometric data.

• Russian authorities want to hike prices for miners in the country. The Ministry of Energy is planning to significantly increase the price of access to electricity for industrial miners and thus draw them away from energy-deficient regions.

We continue to highlight the news of the world of crypto regulation worldwide. Please stay with us!