Weekly Flip Thru: The Biden Administration Publishes New Framework on Crypto Regulations and US Could See Its First Official Crypto Bank in 2023
Ahoy, there! As we sail into another week borne about on the frothy waves of crypto news and market updates, consider this post your safe harbor in choppy conditions. We try to make sense of the tallest tales from the seven seas of crypto here in this weekly post.
Let’s get to it! Here are the crypto news stories for the week of September 19, 2022.
Biden Administration publishes crypto framework calling for more regulation (CNBC): Crypto industry watchers and crypto investors are digesting another update from Washington, D.C. this week. Although the latest publication from the White House doesn’t reach the level of law or mandate, it does have concrete goals in place that could shape future regulation of cryptocurrencies.
This latest framework zeroes in on two of the six priorities highlighted in a March 2022 executive order on crypto: The fact sheet sets target dates of February 2023 and July 2023 for the Treasury Department to complete its assessment of illicit finance risk in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The framework also urged the Federal Reserve to continue research into a digital U.S. dollar, which could look and operate like one of the many existing stablecoins but would carry the full backing of the Fed if it were an official U.S. central bank digital currency, or CBDC.
All eyes on ETH during the Merge, but don’t forget about BTC (Barrons): With all eyes on ether (ETH) last week due to the momentous software upgrade known as the Merge, it might’ve been easy to let bitcoin (BTC) fade out of sight for a bit. But it’s helpful to remember that crypto never sleeps and the oldest, most widely known cryptocurrency didn’t have a quiet week while investors were toasting a successful Merge on the ethereum network. After surging to a high near $23,000 at the start of the week, the price of bitcoin settled into the $20,000 range and calmed some nervous speculation that BTC prices could dip as low as $18,000 by the week’s end.
Crypto services firm Abra announces plan for first-ever “crypto bank” in US (CoinDesk): The crypto services company Abra announced plans for a U.S.-chartered crypto bank in 2023. This could potentially make it the first-ever regulated depository for digital assets in the United States. Along with deposit and bank services for its U.S.-based customers, Abra is also planning a similar service for overseas customers in a product called Abra International. This offering would debut in late 2022, according to a statement from the company.
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