Decentralized governance, a facet of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), is perhaps the most valuable application smart contracts could bring to humanity. DAOs can be thought of as living organisms on the internet, entities that would function autonomously according to distributed consensus mechanisms. Managed by a community through voting, DAOs are self-governing systems with a built-in treasury. Although they still depend on community members for certain tasks — offering an economic incentive from the liquidity pool in return — DAOs are almost entirely automated. Despite their potential, DAOs do not rank among the most popular decentralized technologies. Perhaps their reputation hasn’t …

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the government body is moving forward with research to implement a central bank digital currency. In an announcement from the Fed today, Powell said the Federal Reserve Board would be issuing a discussion paper sometime this summer, calling for the U.S. public to comment “on issues related to payments, financial inclusion, data privacy, and information security.” While the Fed chair said crypto was not a “convenient way to make payments” given its volatility, he was seemingly more open to stablecoins and a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. “Our key focus is on whether …

Officials at the United States Department of the Treasury are calling for exchanges and custodians to report crypto transactions greater than $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. In a report released on Thursday concerning tax proposals for President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan, the Treasury Department took aim at digital assets by proposing businesses including banks, payment providers and cryptocurrency exchanges report more information on their inflows and outflows from accounts each year starting in 2023. At the moment, the IRS does not have independent verification of such transactions, potentially leading to a widening tax gap — the difference between …

Major financial regulators in the United States are considering establishing an interagency group dedicated solely to cryptocurrency matters. Michael Hsu, the new head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, announced that the agency has been in talks with the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation about setting up an “interagency policy sprint team” focused “just on crypto.” At a virtual hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, the OCC head said that he discussed the initiative with Fed vice chairman of supervision Randal Quarles and FDIC chairman Jelena McWilliams. “This is a …

Russia's State Duma has approved a new draft bill in its first reading that would require election candidates to disclose their crypto holdings, expenditures and purchases. The draft bill also asks election candidates to indicate a source of income for cryptocurrency purchases and requires crypto declarations not only from the actual candidates but also their spouses and minor children for the past three years. Introduced in March, the draft bill includes a set of amendments to existing Russian law like those on presidential and State Duma deputy elections, guarantees of the electoral rights, as well as the country’s major cryptocurrency …

A new announcement from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission, or DRC, has informed the public that they now have a direct way to report any outlying cryptocurrency operations in the region. As previously reported, Inner Mongolia was once home to a vast network of crypto mining operators, who collectively accounted for 7.71% of the global Bitcoin network hash rate between September 2019 and April 2020. As part of Beijing's increasingly proactive, ambitious agenda to reduce carbon emissions, Chinese authorities have increasingly scrutinized the coal-rich region of Inner Mongolia, where plentiful, cheap electricity remains reliant on fossil …

Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer has reintroduced a bill aimed at preventing the IRS from imposing penalties or fees on crypto taxpayers with forked assets. In an announcement from Emmer on Monday, the congressperson from Minnesota said he had once again introduced the Safe Harbor for Taxpayers with Forked Assets bill in the United States House of Representatives. If passed in its current state, the bill would create a safe harbor for crypto holders with forked assets, allowing them to be nontaxable events. Further, these conditions would be continued until the Internal Revenue Service provides “clear and consistent guidance on how …

The China Internet Finance Association has signed a joint statement with the China Banking Association and China Payment and Clearing Association, warning the public about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies. According to a report by Shanghai Securities News on Tuesday, the aforementioned trade association under the People’s Bank of China issued a communique titled “Preventing the risk of virtual currency transaction speculation.” The joint statement is reportedly an extension of previous releases from the PBoC about Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto risks. As part of the communique, the three associations outlined four issues related to crypto investment, beginning with a …

The Iranian government continues to closely monitor the cryptocurrency mining industry by initiating new measures against home crypto miners, according to a new report. Mostafa Rajabi, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Energy, said that crypto mining with household electricity is not legal and, thus, home miners will have to pay heavy fines if discovered, local news agency The Tehran Times reported Sunday. Crypto miners using household energy will be also required to provide compensation for potential damages caused to the electricity network, the official stated. Rajabi said that the government has undertaken these measures in order to get a …

Just this week, Ether (ETH) breached the $4,000 mark while Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, recently hit another all-time high at over $63,000. Meanwhile, Dogecoin (DOGE) continues its roller-coaster ride after "Dogefather" Elon Musk's appearance on Saturday Night Live and news about digital artwork fetching eye-watering prices in the form of nonfungible tokens is all over the airwaves. Crypto is hot, whether you like it or not. Still, not everyone is convinced. Janet Yellen, the newly-minted United States secretary of the treasury, previously questioned the legitimacy and stability of cryptocurrency as a store of value. After all, it …

There is often a perceived tension between regulation and innovation. A pervasive narrative has emerged that these two important parts of our society are at odds with each other. In reality, it’s when these two come together as partners that we can effect change and transform our world for the better. Nowhere is this more true than in the blockchain industry. Over the last few months, we’ve seen seemingly reactionary regulators in different parts of the world try to formulate new rules and guidance in silos, without sufficient input from the key stakeholders most knowledgeable about the technology — the …

The Bank of England's deputy governor Jon Cunliffe has argued that a sea change in the issuance and circulation of public and private monies could make general access to a digital form of central bank money crucial for ensuring financial stability in future. In a speech at the OMFIF Digital Money Institute in London, Cunliffe reflected on past, present and future trends in the widespread use of private money issued by commercial banks, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated existing trends away from public to private money for everyday payments. About 70% of respondents to a recent Bank of …