After nearly a three-year-long discussion about establishing a task force to oversee blockchain and crypto initiatives, the governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, signed a bill to create the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Task Force. The Utah State Legislature first saw the introduction of the house bill (H.B. 335) in early February 2022, which took nearly two months to pass through several senates, house and fiscal actions before finally being signed by Governor Cox on March 24. Some of the primary duties assigned to the task force involve making policy recommendations related to blockchain and related technologies. A part of the …

After weeks of delays due, in part, to partisan obstructionism, the United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of Lael Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve's board of governors, as the next vice chair of the central bank. In a 52–43 vote on the Senate floor on Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers confirmed Brainard a vice chair of the Federal Reserve for four years, potentially beyond her term as a governor ending in January 2026. Brainard was one of four nominees waiting for approval since Republican lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee boycotted a February committee, which would have sent the …

Following the withdrawal of former Federal Reserve Board governor Sarah Bloom Raskin, United States President Joe Biden has announced his intention to nominate former Obama administration official and law professor Michael Barr as the central bank’s vice chair for supervision. In a Friday announcement, the White House said Barr was Biden’s pick to supervise the Federal Reserve and set the regulatory agenda for its leadership. Barr was on the advisory board of Ripple Labs from 2015 to 2017, served as the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for financial institutions under former President Barack Obama, and taught courses on financial regulation at …

Cory Gardner, who served as a United States senator for Colorado from 2015 to 2021, has joined the Crypto Council for Innovation, a crypto advocacy group aimed at establishing dialogues with governments and regulatory agencies on the benefits of digital assets. In a Thursday announcement, the Crypto Council for Innovation, or CCI, said Gardner was one of three new members to join the group’s leadership team. Under CEO Sheila Warren, the former senator will work alongside Amanda Russo, a communicators adviser for the World Economic Forum, and Annie Dizon, a former executive with social impact nonprofit TechSoup. In addition, Katherine …

A group of financial technology firms has formed the Canadian Web3 Council, a non-profit trade association that will work with policymakers to advance Canada’s position at the forefront of the global digital economy. Bringing together exchange platforms, blockchain projects and tech investors, the association will work to advance blockchain-related policies that balance “innovation, consumer protection, and stability”. The open letter from Web3 Council announcing its launch came out on Tuesday, March 29. At the outset, the association consists of 11 members: Aquanow, Axiom Zen, Chainsafe Systems, Dapper Labs, Ether Capital, ETHGlobal, Figment, Informal Systems, Ledn, Wealthsimple and WonderFi Technologies. Related: …

The United States government’s budget for the 2023 fiscal year included roughly $11 billion in revenue over the next decade from modernizing rules around digital assets. According to U.S. President Joe Biden’s FY2023 budget released by the White House on Monday, modifying tax rules on digital assets will reduce the deficit by $10.9 billion from 2023 to 2032. The White House said it will “modernize rules” to include certain taxpayers reporting holdings of digital assets in foreign accounts, amending mark-to-market rules to include digital assets, and requiring financial institutions and crypto brokers to report additional information. In addition, it proposed …

The legal standing of Bitcoin mining in the European Union hinges on the results of a March 14 vote in the European Parliamentary Committee on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA). A controversial line concerning the “minimum environmental sustainability” of crypto mining has been reintroduced to the bill after previously being taken out. The new line would require blockchain operators to submit a rollout plan detailing how they will come into environmental sustainability compliance. Failure to submit a plan may prohibit coins from being mined or traded in the EU. Although it is not specifically stated, the bill would directly affect …

Mayor Steve Adler of Austin, Texas, has fully embraced the discovery of what blockchain technology and crypto payments can bring to his city by proposing two new initiatives. The first initiative aims to ensure that Texas’s fourth-largest city promotes the benefits of blockchain technologies and “promotes equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion” in the technological ecosystem. To that end, May Adler directed the City Manager to explore how the city can utilize Web3 and blockchain in 20 fields from smart contracts, supply chain management, and insurance to arts, media, fundraising, and identity verification. “The City Manager is directed to ensure the …

Federal Reserve Chair Pro Tempore Jerome Powell and some members of the U.S. House of Representatives called for congressional action on crypto in response to discussions about Russia potentially evading sanctions. In a Wednesday hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on “Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy”, California Representative Juan Vargas asked Powell if cryptocurrency could be a "way out" for Russia looking for financial transactions in the wake of the U.S. and European Union cutting the country off from the SWIFT payments network. The Fed chair said that the situation with Russia "underscores the need for …

The Crypto Council for Innovation, or CCI, has announced that Gemini will be joining its list of crypto-friendly firms aimed at supporting lawmakers on related regulation. In a Thursday announcement, the CCI said that effective as of this week Gemini has joined Coinbase, Block, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paradigm, and others in an effort to “help accelerate [the group’s] growth and global leadership,” according to CEO Sheila Warren. Gemini head of policy and regulatory affairs Ji Kim said the exchange will work with lawmakers and regulators to help further the adoption of crypto worldwide. Formed in April 2021 by Coinbase and …

Sheila Warren, the head of blockchain and distributed ledger technology at the World Economic Forum, will be assuming the position of chief executive officer of the Crypto Council for Innovation, or CCI, starting in February. In a Monday announcement, the CCI said that beginning on Feb. 2, Warren would lead the alliance of crypto-friendly firms aimed at supporting lawmakers on crypto and blockchain regulation. CCI board member and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam cited the WEF executive’s “in-depth knowledge of crypto” in addition to her experience working with governments across the globe. “The crypto ecosystem is poised to deliver large-scale economic …

On Jan. 27, a group of eight U.S. lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, sent letters to the world’s six largest Bitcoin mining companies, demanding to reveal the detailed data on their electricity consumption. This isn’t the first time Senator Warren requested this information from a mining operation — last month a similar letter was sent to Greenidge Generation, which uses a natural gas plant to power its facility. These moves highlight the increasing regulatory pressure on crypto mining businesses in the United States. But, as last week’s Congress hearing showed, the growing scrutiny might turn out to be an …