Regulatory boundaries between Digital Assets: a power issue?
That after thirteen years of existence, regulators still cannot agree on how to classify Digital Assets for regulatory purposes, is a troubling fact.
Some years ago we could attribute the disagreements on the regulatory scope and jurisdictional boundaries to a lack of knowledge on the subject: it was something new, whose survival was uncertain and did not fit with traditional references. But, at this point, it is not only irresponsible for market authorities to be ignorant about Digital Assets, but also untrue. The most obvious proof is that Gary Gensler, current head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during the Obama era, is a senior advisor to the Digital Currency Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) Media Lab and has even taught the course Blockchain and Money at the same alma mater.
According to Republican Senator Tom Emmer, the SEC is "bent on expanding the size of their cryptocurrency enforcement division by using enforcement to expand their jurisdiction unconstitutionally." If we can no longer attribute the porousness of the boundaries of jurisdiction over Digital Assets between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to an epistemic argument, perhaps the cause behind the dispute lies in a power issue. After all, the Digital Assets Ecosystem is a trillion-dollar industry, and the prospects for future growth are almost undeniable. The regulatory body that manages to cover the most territory in this space will inevitably benefit, either in the favor of the Ecosystem players or with the price of the regulatory mistakes they incur.
Whatever the reasons, as the scope of each regulator has not been settled internally, the point of intervention by legislators has been reached, with a bill having been introduced that would grant exclusive jurisdiction over BTC and ETH to the CFTC, under the definition of digital commodity. Gradually, boundaries will be drawn to give greater regulatory clarity to Digital Assets.
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CFTC will have "exclusive jurisdiction" over Bitcoin and Ethereum if this bill passes
The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee introduced a bill that would grant "exclusive jurisdiction" to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over Digital Assets that are recognized as commodities, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, under the new definition of "digital commodity."
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U.S. Digital Assets Exchanges Under SEC Investigation
A member of Senator Cynthia Lummis' staff has revealed that not only is Coinbase under investigation by the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission), but most of the major exchanges operating in the United States are under scrutiny by the securities authority.
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European Securities Authority to oversee the Digital Assets Ecosystem
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has publicly requested access to Digital Assets trading data to monitor the largest exchanges in the Digital Assets sector, including both derivatives and spot. However, it excluded transactions conducted directly on the Digital Assets blockchain networks.
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Democratic Senator seeks to steer Wall Street away from Digital Assets
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is seeking support among her colleagues to ask the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to withdraw a series of legal guidelines that provided an opening for Wall Street financial entities to offer services linked to Digital Assets.
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UK interest rates reach highest level since 1995
The Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points, bringing them to 1.75%, the highest level in almost thirty years. The decision comes amid concerns that inflation could exceed 10% by 2023.
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US$ 6.8B pension fund to invest in loans with Digital Assets
The Fairfax County Retirement Systems of the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA, received approval from its board of trustees to invest in the decentralized lending sector in Digital Assets as a strategy to increase its returns.
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European Central Bank says CBDCs are superior to stablecoins for cross-border payments
A study by the European Central Bank stated in a report that "the Holy Grail of cross-border payments is a solution that allows payments to be immediate, cheap, universal and settled in a secure medium," noting that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) would fulfill this role.
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Chileans take refuge in stablecoins in the face of peso devaluation
Different exchanges in Chile have seen a 50% increase in their transactions with stablecoins in recent months, phenomena that they attribute to the inflation increase and the devaluation of the peso, in what was once one of the most stable economies in the Latin American region.
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BlackRock and Coinbase Team Up to Offer Digital Assets to Institutional Clients
Coinbase announced the integration of its institutional Digital Assets trading platform, Coinbase Prime, with BlackRock's investment management platform, Alladin, to offer its institutional clients access to the Digital Assets Ecosystem.
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Michael Saylor steps down as CEO of Microstrategy to focus on Bitcoin strategy
After it was revealed that the software intelligence company with the largest bitcoin holdings, MicroStrategy, had posted a US$ 918M loss in Q2 2022, it was also made public that Michael Saylor would be stepping down from his position as CEO to take the position of executive chairman and focus on the company's bitcoin acquisition strategy.
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Solidus Capital is the leading firm in Digital Assets, which provides exclusive, agnostic, and institutional services such as Liquidity, Custody Solutions, Wealth (Private Accounts and Portfolio Management), Multi-Strategy Funds, Private Placements, and other sophisticated products in conjunction with bespoke accompaniment to High Net Worth Individuals, Family Offices, Companies, Wealth Managers and Banks.
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- Using unreliable service providers and infrastructure
- Closing of accounts and freezing of funds
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