The White House has officially tapped former Fed governor Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as the vice chair for supervision for the Federal Reserve, as well as economists Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson to fill two empty seats on its board of governors. In a Friday announcement, U.S. President Joe Biden said he had nominated Cook, an Obama-era economic adviser and Michigan State University faculty member, as well as Jefferson, a former research economist for the Fed, to the board of governors in addition to Raskin. Jefferson and Cook will take two of the vacant seats in the group of …

Crypto exchange Gemini announced Thursday that it had agreed to purchase Bitria, a San Fransisco-based start-up that provides traditional portfolio management tools for use in crypto investments. The goal of Bitria is to provide a platform for traditional asset managers and financial advisors to use in helping their clients invest in cryptocurrencies. Gemini said that it seeks to integrate Bitria’s Separately Managed Accounts and its Digital Turnkey Asset Management platform into its own exchange capabilities. The integration is intended to give advisors access to more than 70 different cryptocurrencies through Gemini’s exchange as well as giving them access to their …

At her confirmation hearing in front of members of the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve board of governors member Lael Brainard said Congress would ultimately have to decide to move forward with a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Addressing pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Thursday, Brainard said the Fed would welcome Congress “taking a very important role” in updating the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and digital assets. When questioned as to the possible use of CBDCs to surveil users' financial activities — as Lummis alleged happens in China — Brainard again deferred the …

Back in 2021, a study showed that there is a high demand for cryptocurrency payment abilities among both crypto holders and non-holders. However, in the same study, 50% of participants noted that there are not enough businesses that accept crypto. This may change very soon. Almost one out of four small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) that participated in a survey by Visa said that they are planning to accept payments in cryptos like Bitcoin. In the same study, 73% of respondents stated that accepting new forms of digital payment options is a key factor that will affect business growth in …

The Northwest Arkansas Council, consisting of business leaders aimed at promoting development in the region, has announced a crypto incentive program to bring in tech professionals and entrepreneurs willing to work remotely. In a Wednesday announcement, council president and CEO Nelson Peacock said the area would be looking to expand its range of talent in the tech industry by offering $10,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) — roughly 0.23 BTC at the current price of $43,610 — in addition to a bicycle or membership to arts and cultural facilities. The “Bitcoin and a Bike” program, the next stage of the area’s Life …

Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer has announced he will be introducing a bill intended to prevent the Federal Reserve from acting as a retail bank in the potential issuance of a digital dollar. In a Wednesday announcement, Emmer said the bill would prohibit the Fed from issuing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, directly to U.S. consumers. According to the Minnesota representative, having the government entity require users to open accounts to access the benefits of a digital dollar would “put the Fed on an insidious path akin to China’s digital authoritarianism.” “The Fed does not, and should not, have …

Major U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase will be giving its employees one week off each quarter in 2022 to recharge after “long days and long weeks” of intense work. In a Monday blog post, Coinbase chief people officer L.J. Brock said “nearly the entire company will shut down” for four separate weeks this year as part of an experiment in allowing workers to recuperate after completing intense workloads. Brock said the exchange’s employees aren’t necessarily limited to 40-hour work weeks and may have to “pivot at a moment’s notice,” seemingly creating the potential for burnout. “We realized in 2020 that many …

At his confirmation hearing in front of members of the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the agency would be releasing its report on cryptocurrencies “within weeks.” Addressing Idaho Senator Mike Crapo remotely from the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Tuesday, Powell said the Fed’s report on digital currencies wasn’t “quite where we needed to get it” but would be released soon regardless. The Fed chair cited “changes in monetary policy” as part of the reason for the delayed report, which is expected to address policy surrounding the possible rollout of a central bank digital currency in …

Crypto tax compliance firm TaxBit is working to unite major industry companies like Coinbase and Binance.US within one network to enable free 2021 tax forms for users. The crypto tax software provider on Tuesday launched the TaxBit Network, a certified network aiming to democratize crypto tax calculations and tax forms by providing necessary tax reporting data to all network users for free. The TaxBit Network at launch includes about 20 major crypto-related businesses in the United States, including firms like PayPal, Binance.US, Coinbase, FTX.US, Gemini, Celsius Network, Blockchain.com, Venmo, Paxos, OkCoin and BlockFi. The network will be adding new companies …

Tim Draper of Draper Associates and Draper Fisher Jurvetson Tim is a pioneer of business ventures in the United States and a co-founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a leading investment firm in early-stage tech startups. “I expect the best regulators to embrace the new technology and innovation that comes with it. I expect the worst regulators to try to block it. Bill Clinton was smart to just let the internet run and see what happened. That brought in huge economic value to America. The countries that use a light touch or no touch governance will be the big winners over …

Yat Siu of Animoca Brands Yat is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, which delivers digital property rights to the world’s gamers and internet users, thereby creating a new asset class, play-to-earn economies and a more equitable digital framework contributing to the building of the open Metaverse. “Regulation will start to become more defined in 2022, although how, exactly, remains to be seen. 2021’s milestone was probably the substantial growth in public awareness of blockchain — Collins Dictionary even declared ‘NFT’ the word of the year.” These quotes have been edited and condensed. The views, thoughts and opinions …

From the very beginning of the cryptocurrency movement, the societal potential of Bitcoin (BTC) has been one of the fundamental selling points. The decentralized design of crypto-based systems introduces the possibility of bringing individuals together to work toward shared goals, as well as enabling them to pool resources while remaining insulated from outside control. 2021 saw a number of cases that could serve as evidence of this emancipatory power of digital assets. ConstitutionDAO: $49 million raised in a few days Arguably, the most high-profile case of a massive fundraising effort enabled by a decentralized autonomous organization in 2021 was ConstitutionDAO. …