Is the global economy in uncharted territory now vis-a-vis Bitcoin (BTC) and inflation? During most of the cryptocurrency’s brief life, the economic environment has been generally pro-growth with stable prices but recently, there are fresh warnings of an inflationary storm. If so, what does it mean for Bitcoin, long promoted by partisans as an inflation hedge though not really tested in this way since its 2009 founding? That is, will millions of individuals and institutions flock to BTC as a safe haven — an alternative to gold or the United States dollar? Recent reports, like the 6.2% October rise in …

Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) like Russia’s digital ruble do not pose any threat to United States sanctions, according to U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. In a CNBC interview on Wednesday, Adeyemo argued that the U.S. dollar “will remain the dominant currency in the world” despite the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies. Adeyemo pointed out that digital assets provide an “opportunity in lots of ways” for the U.S. economy, but it’s also associated with many challenges like money laundering. However, there are ways to combat this in order to benefit from the growing industry, the official said: “We do think …

A bipartisan group of United States lawmakers has introduced legislation to change the tax reporting requirements that will go into effect due to the recently signed infrastructure bill. House Representatives Patrick McHenry and Tim Ryan introduced the Keep Innovation in America Act which would change the definition of broker as defined in HR 3684, the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on Nov. 15. The bill proposes pushing back the mandated reporting requirements — which includes digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 to be declared to the Internal Revenue Service — from 2024 to 2026. …

Prime Blockchain, also known as PrimeBlock, is reportedly preparing for a public offering in the United States through a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. In a Thursday report, Bloomberg said Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm PrimeBlock is currently discussing going public in the U.S. through a merger with 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp II. Though the terms of the deal are reportedly not yet finalized, the merger could result in a valuation of the two firms at roughly $1.5 billion following a $150 million fundraising round from the venture capital firm. A crypto mining company based in the United States, PrimeBlock …

The North Dakota’s City of Williston continues exploring and adopting the cryptocurrency industry by elevating a crypto automated teller machine (ATM) in its international airport. The city’s administration officially announced the installation of the “government-hosted cryptocurrency kiosk” at the Williston Basin International Airport, allowing passengers and non-travelers to buy and sell 40 digital currencies. The list of supported coins includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB). For the initiative, the City of Williston partnered with the crypto service Coin Cloud, which provided its digital currency machines (DCM) to the city. According to the firm, a DCM …

Bitso, a major Latin American cryptocurrency exchange, is collaborating with the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin operator Circle to launch a new cross-border payment tool between Mexico and the United States. The company announced on Thursday that the integration with payment solutions from Circle aims to provide Mexican people with a new option to send and receive payments to or from the U.S. Called Bitso Shift, the new tool uses cryptocurrency to enable low-cost and instant cross-border payments available 24/7, allowing users to instantly exchange between Mexican pesos and the United States dollar (USD)-backed stablecoins. The new offering intends to unlock …

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are fighting back against changes to tax reporting rules for crypto brokers and transactions over $10,000 in the newly passed Infrastructure Bill. Ten U.S. Democratic Congresspeople led by Rep. Darren Soto from Florida called for revisions to the definition of a broker in the infrastructure bill that was passed into law on Nov. 15. The group issued an open letter, signed by Soto along with Representatives Ro Khanna, Stacey E. Plaskatt, Eric Swalwell, Tim Ryan, Susan Wild, Marc Veasy, Jake Auchincloss, Al Lawson, and Charlie Crist calling for updates to section 6045(c)(1) in …

Tim Massad, who served as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission until 2017, said the United States is too slow in developing a plan to modernize its payment systems. In a Wednesday hearing of the Joint Economic Committee on the role of digital assets in government, Massad said a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, could be one solution for the United States to improve its existing payments systems, which he referred to as “slow” and “expensive.” In addition, the former CFTC chair said while stablecoins could be used for this purpose, they also presented some of the most …

Michael Hsu, the acting head of the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, hopes to address gaps in supervision for companies dealing with cryptocurrencies. In published comments before the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Tuesday, Hsu called for consolidated supervision for crypto firms in which regulators or an authorized group could conduct oversight of a company and its subsidiaries to mitigate risk. According to Hsu, the current landscape allows holding companies engaging in crypto activities to potentially avoid regulations through subsidiaries. “No crypto firm is subject to comprehensive consolidated supervision,” said Hsu. “This means that there …

Miami is quickly becoming the crypto capital of the United States. In August of this year, the Magic City was the first state in the U.S. to launch MiamiCoin (MIA), its very own cryptocurrency used for civic engagement. A few months later, Mayor Francis Suarez announced that every Miami resident with a digital wallet will be eligible to receive a Bitcoin dividend. While such a proposal would make Miami the first city in America to provide a Bitcoin (BTC) yield to its residents, Mayor Suarez told Cointelegraph that the City of Miami does not actually own or hold MiamiCoin, or …

The United States Department of Justice is planning to sell $56 million worth of cryptocurrency seized in connection with its case against Ponzi scheme BitConnect. In a Nov. 16 announcement, the Justice Department said it would sell the seized crypto and hold the proceeds in U.S. dollars until it could use the funds to provide restitution to BitConnect victims. The U.S. government is currently holding the $56 million in crypto in wallets, and said the amount of compensation to those affected by BitConnect’s fraud would depend on a “future restitution order by the court at sentencing.” “This liquidation is the …

Ripple, the company whose executives have often criticized the United States’ seeming lack of regulatory clarity on the cryptocurrency industry, has outlined its own “pragmatic” framework. In a Nov. 16 post on its website, Ripple released its vision for a regulatory framework aimed at advancing innovation while protecting investors in the United States. According to the firm, regulators need to be encouraged to promote innovation sandboxes, some of the existing frameworks in the U.S. can be used to apply to cryptocurrencies, and there should be “an active dialogue between regulators and market participants.” Ripple advocated for the proposed measures as …