congress

On Wednesday, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to discuss the changing roles of banks and fintech companies, with one focus being the "streamlined master account" proposal that the Federal Reserve is considering, which would allow certain crypto banks and fintech companies limited direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment system. A Federal Reserve master account allows financial institutions to directly use the Federal Reserve payment network and gain the most direct access to the U.S. dollar monetary system. Institutions without this account typically need to rely on partner banks that have master accounts to provide services.The so-called "streamlined account" is a limited-function version intended to provide limited access for new financial institutions. Republican Congressman Dan Meuser stated at the hearing that access to the Federal Reserve payment system is no small matter, and the core issue is which institutions should be allowed to directly use these critical payment channels. Traditional institutions like community banks are concerned that crypto and fintech companies are not subject to equally stringent regulation, and direct access could pose risks to security and stability. The crypto industry generally supports the proposal, arguing that direct access to the Federal Reserve payment system should have been opened long ago, as it would help reduce reliance on intermediary banks and promote innovation.In May of this year, Trump also signed an executive order requiring the Federal Reserve to assess policies for opening central bank payment channels to fintech companies, including crypto companies. Previously, the Kansas City Federal Reserve had approved Kraken's parent company Payward for a "limited purpose account" in March, sparking discussions in the market about the extent to which crypto and fintech companies should have direct access to Federal Reserve services. A representative from Anchorage Digital stated at the hearing that if the U.S. wants to continue as a global financial center, it needs to allow for innovative federal and state regulatory frameworks.

According to CoinDesk, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will testify before Congress for the first time on July 14 at 10 AM (Eastern Time), and traders are closely watching for signals regarding stablecoins, bank custody, and interest rate policy.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, the U.S. Congress will hold a hearing on the "Clarity Act" on July 17.

According to Cointelegraph, three major crypto lobbying organizations—the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Innovation Council, and the Digital Chamber of Commerce—jointly wrote to the U.S. Congress, requesting the unaltered passage of the "Mining and Staking Tax Clarity Act" without further amendments. The bill allows miners and stakers to choose to pay taxes either when they receive crypto rewards or when they sell their assets, aiming to address liquidity issues caused by "taxation on phantom income."Democratic Congressman Steven Horsford proposed an amendment to limit the deferral of crypto reward taxes to five years, but the CEO of the Crypto Innovation Council stated that the amendment would "undermine" the bill and only generate "negligible revenue." The American Bankers Association opposes the bill, claiming it gives cryptocurrencies a "significant advantage," while crypto lobbying groups believe that renegotiating the already reached compromise will "revive the issues the bill aims to resolve."

According to Cointelegraph, Michelle Bond, the wife of former FTX executive Ryan Salame, is facing criminal charges for allegedly using FTX funds to finance her 2022 congressional campaign. Manhattan federal judge George Daniels has denied Bond's request to dismiss the charges, ruling that the case will proceed. Bond previously claimed that prosecutors had promised not to prosecute her in exchange for Salame's guilty plea, but the judge found no such promise in the plea agreement. Prosecutors allege that Bond received $400,000 from FTX through a consulting agreement and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional funds transferred by Salame to illegally finance her campaign, while concealing the source of the funds and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. Bond faces a total of four charges, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The case may become the last criminal trial related to the collapse of FTX.

According to The Block, leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives jointly released an updated version of the "21st Century Housing Road Act," confirming that the two chambers have reached a bipartisan agreement. The core content of the bill focuses on housing affordability reform, including expanding housing supply and limiting market monopolies by corporate landlords. Notably, an additional clause in the bill explicitly prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating CBDCs and any "substantially similar" digital assets before December 31, 2030, a clause driven by House Republicans. The Trump administration has consistently held this position, with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin previously stating that CBDCs are "not under consideration." The bill will first undergo procedural voting in the Senate and is expected to be submitted to the House for review after Congress reconvenes, and then sent to the President for signing.

According to CryptoSlate, the U.S. Congress is pushing to rebuild the Department of Justice's cryptocurrency crime task force. Previously, the Department of Justice disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team in April 2025 and stopped its "law enforcement as regulation" strategy targeting the cryptocurrency industry. The new bill was proposed by Representatives Lance Gooden and Josh Gottheimer, aiming to establish a federal cryptocurrency theft task force within the Department of Justice, responsible for coordinating investigations and prosecutions of cases involving cryptocurrency theft, hacking, fraud, and more.The task force's responsibilities include developing best practices for evidence collection, digital evidence analysis, asset tracking, and victim outreach, providing technical assistance and training to state and local law enforcement agencies, and coordinating international cross-border case cooperation. The bill explicitly excludes the cryptocurrency market, financial institutions, and financial products from the task force's regulatory scope, without changing the existing regulatory framework and criminal law. An FBI report indicates that in 2025, there were 181,565 complaints involving cryptocurrency, with reported losses exceeding $11 billion. The bill has not yet clarified details regarding funding, staffing, and victim response mechanisms.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on stablecoin regulation and the bank charter application of World Liberty Financial (WLFI). Acting Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould denied any "endorsement" from Trump, pointing out that the only political pressure his agency faces comes from Democratic lawmakers, not Trump. Democrats questioned the compliance of WLFI's bank charter application, citing its connections to foreign investors and alleged regulatory violations involving entities such as Binance.Additionally, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Travis Hill stated that new rules requiring stablecoin issuers to establish customer identification programs will be proposed soon. Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman provided clarification regarding the approval of a master account for the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, emphasizing that the account has limited authority and an initial term of 12 months, during which close monitoring will occur to gather experience for formal rulemaking.

According to Decrypt, Republican fintech entrepreneur Michael Carbonara sold 10 Bitcoins for $800,000 to fund his congressional campaign and demonstrated his support for cryptocurrency in this critical battle as the election landscape changed. Besides the election, Carbonara believes that blockchain can also help the government improve the transparency of taxpayer fund usage.

Jason Smith, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' fundraising committee, stated that digital asset tax legislation must receive bipartisan support; otherwise, the related bill process will not advance. Subsequently, U.S. Representatives Steven Horsford, Max Miller, Suzan DelBene, and Mike Carey jointly proposed the "Digital Asset Protection, Accountability, Regulation, Innovation, Taxation, and Revenue Act" (PARITY Act). The bill aims to update digital asset tax rules, provide a clearer regulatory framework for the market, while enhancing investor protection and preventing market manipulation.Representative Steven Horsford stated that the bill will help ordinary investors participate more safely in the digital asset market and promote wealth accumulation opportunities. Max Miller believes that the current U.S. tax laws are unable to adapt to the rapid development of digital assets and modern financial technology. Currently, the PARITY Act and the advancing CLARITY Act are seen as important components of establishing a comprehensive regulatory system for crypto assets in the United States.The U.S. Congress released a tax policy discussion draft in March this year and held a bipartisan roundtable in May to discuss the tax framework for crypto assets. The market is closely watching whether the CLARITY Act can be passed by 2026. Analysts believe that if both the CLARITY Act and the PARITY Act are ultimately legislated and combined with the subsequent rule-making of the GENIUS Act, the U.S. crypto industry will welcome a clearer regulatory environment, further promoting Web3 and DeFi into the mainstream financial system.

Republican lawmakers in the United States are accelerating the push for a new version of the ARMA Act, hoping to complete the bill's signing while the Republican Party still controls both houses of Congress. The bill advocates for the establishment of a national-level Bitcoin reserve in the United States and plans to hold approximately 5% of the global Bitcoin circulating supply for the long term. According to market news, there is an internal effort within the Republican Party to elevate the Bitcoin strategic reserve to the level of national finance and geopolitical competition, believing that the United States should seize a dominant position in the global digital asset system. If the bill is ultimately passed, the U.S. government may become one of the largest holders of Bitcoin in the world, further reinforcing the narrative of BTC as "digital gold" and a sovereign reserve asset.

Gate Europe CEO Dr. Giovanni Cunti attended the VI3NNA Congress 2026 and delivered a keynote speech titled "The Role of Exchanges and Stablecoins." The conference was held from May 19 to 20 in Vienna, Austria, bringing together industry representatives from Web3, AI, finance, and regulation to discuss the future development direction of the European digital economy.Giovanni Cunti's speech analyzed the popularization of stablecoin applications, industry development trends, and how blockchain financial infrastructure is gradually reshaping the traditional financial market landscape. It focused on how crypto asset service providers, including Gate Europe, are transitioning from meeting user needs to playing a key role in driving industry structure and future market development. In addition to the keynote speech, Giovanni Cunti also participated in several roundtable discussions, engaging with policymakers, financial institutions, investors, and industry innovators on topics such as digital asset regulation, infrastructure development, and real market implementation.Currently, Gate's Malta company, Gate Europe, has obtained European MiCA and PI licenses under the regulation of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). As the industry continues to move towards compliance and institutional development, Gate is actively participating in global key industry dialogues and promoting the long-term development of the digital asset ecosystem.

According to GMGN monitoring, the market capitalization of the Solana ecosystem meme coin MAGA rebounded by 52% today, reaching a high of $9.3 million, currently reported at $8 million, with a trading volume of $1.8 million during the same period.It is reported that U.S. Congressman Eric Burlison revealed in a program yesterday that the White House plans to release a batch of new documents approximately every two weeks. This is slightly faster than the official description of "every few weeks," with 6 days having passed since the last release.Since April 17, when Trump publicly stated his intention to release government documents related to UFOs, UAPs, and possible extraterrestrial life, the market capitalization of this token peaked at $33 million but has significantly declined after the recent first round of UFO document releases.ChainCatcher reminds users that meme coin trading is highly volatile, largely relying on market sentiment and speculative hype, and has no actual value or use case; investors should be aware of the risks.

According to the SEC's official website, Paul S. Atkins, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), spoke at the AI+ Expo on May 8, expressing the regulatory direction for AI and on-chain financial markets.Atkins stated that the SEC will promote several regulatory initiatives around on-chain markets, including: establishing relevant rules for the definition of "exchanges" for on-chain trading systems; clarifying the applicability of the definitions of brokers and dealers in on-chain activities; delineating the applicable boundaries of the definition of "clearing agencies" for on-chain clearing and settlement activities; and providing regulatory guidance for activities related to "Crypto Vaults."Regarding AI regulation, Atkins emphasized that the SEC will not mandate companies to use specific models but will adhere to its core responsibilities of protecting investors, maintaining market fairness and efficiency, and promoting capital formation, requiring companies to be accountable for the outcomes of the AI tools they deploy.Atkins also urged Congress to promptly send the CLARITY Act to the President for signing, to provide long-term certainty for the digital asset market through legislation, and warned that forcing innovation offshore would repeat the mistakes of FTX, harming the interests of American investors.

According to CoinDesk, the American Innovation Project (AIP), a U.S. technology policy advocacy organization, has added two policy researchers, including Jacob Smagula, who has a background in the cryptocurrency industry, to join Congressman Ritchie Torres's team to participate in legislation related to digital assets.It is reported that Smagula previously worked in the government affairs team of the Bitcoin mining company MARA and is currently engaged in policy research at the DeFi Education Fund, possessing experience in communication between the cryptocurrency industry and regulators. AIP was established in 2025 with support from organizations such as the Digital Currency Group, aiming to provide Congress members with professional insights and policy support on emerging technologies like AI and digital assets. This appointment is seen as a signal of further professionalization in U.S. cryptocurrency legislation and regulation.

According to CCTV reports, on May 5 local time, U.S. Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth stated that given the current administration's determination that the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is still in effect, President Trump does not need to seek congressional approval to continue military actions.Hegseth insisted that if Trump orders the resumption of military strikes, discussions on related matters will naturally take place at that time.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart published an article revealing that the market ETF is expected to be officially launched next week. Roundhill's relevant application documents have been submitted, with an effective date set for May 5. The first predicted market ETFs will use the election results of the Democratic or Republican control of the House of Representatives or the Senate as the underlying asset.

According to Cointelegraph, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in the Senate that it is crucial to legislate on the structure of the cryptocurrency market, emphasizing that "the United States is a global technology leader and should also be a global payments leader."

According to CoinDesk, Kraken stated that it has submitted 56 million cryptocurrency transaction tax forms to the IRS for the 2025 tax year, of which approximately 18.5 million correspond to amounts below $1, 74% are below $50, and only 8.5% exceed $600.Kraken pointed out that the lack of a minimum amount tax exemption rule for cryptocurrency payments, as well as the taxation of staking rewards as ordinary income at the time of receipt, is placing a heavy reporting burden on investors. Kraken is calling on the U.S. Congress to promote a broader minimum amount tax exemption policy linked to inflation and to allow taxpayers to choose to be taxed on staking rewards at the time of receipt or sale.