ChainCatcher news, federal policy expert Dorothy DeWitt recently stated at an event, "It takes a long time to make rules." She cited the Dodd-Frank Act, which was released in 2010, with its final rules not being passed by the CFTC until 2021. She said, "It's really hard to get consensus among those who are uninterested, have limited understanding, and are intimidated by very complex issues."It is reported that Dorothy DeWitt was the chief financial legal advisor to the Senate and also served as the director of the CFTC regulatory division. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have begun to jointly draft a bill to establish new market structure rules around digital assets. This bill is being developed in parallel with another regulatory initiative aimed at advancing a bipartisan framework for stablecoins. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler stated to reporters on Wednesday that, under U.S. law, proof-of-stake tokens should be considered securities.Gensler believes that the returns earned by token holders from staking indicate that these tokens are securities and need to be registered under U.S. law. Gensler made these comments in response to a question about his reaction to last week's statement by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam, who stated that Ether is a commodity.Gensler has previously indicated that proof-of-stake protocols may fall under U.S. securities laws. Additionally, New York Attorney General Letitia James stated in a lawsuit against the cryptocurrency company KuCoin that Ether is an unregistered security, and that the founders, including Vitalik Buterin, violated U.S. securities laws. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CryptoSlate, the Missouri House committee passed a revised version of the "Digital Asset Mining Protection Act" on March 7, to protect the rights of crypto miners. The bill will next be voted on in the House before being submitted to the Senate.The bill prohibits state and political entities from stopping the operation of cryptocurrency mining nodes, ensuring that crypto mining companies are subject to the same laws as other businesses, with the primary aim of preventing energy companies from applying discriminatory tax rules to mining companies.The bill also requires the state to issue "appropriate notice" before making adjustments to rules related to crypto mining. Additionally, the bill legalizes crypto mining and allows institutions to participate in mining activities in areas approved for industrial use. (source link)

According to ChainCatcher, The Block reported that U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren stated during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that she plans to reintroduce relevant legislation with Senator Roger Marshall to expand anti-money laundering laws to a wide range of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including digital asset wallet providers, miners, validators, and other blockchain network participants, and noted that current anti-money laundering rules are not adequately applicable to crypto companies.Previously, Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall proposed a bill last December aiming to prohibit banks and other financial institutions from transacting with digital asset mixers, requiring the Treasury to conduct anti-money laundering compliance examinations on registered large U.S. cryptocurrency companies. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken will terminate its cryptocurrency staking services for U.S. customers and pay $30 million to settle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges of offering unregistered securities.The SEC stated that Kraken has been providing staking services to the public since at least 2019. Kraken announced it will discontinue staking services for U.S. customers, except for staked Ether, which will not be canceled until the Ethereum network's Shanghai upgrade takes effect. U.S. customers will not be able to stake new assets (including Ether). Additionally, non-U.S. customers are unaffected. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) describes cryptocurrencies that enhance anonymity in the "2023 Regulations on Virtual Assets and Related Activities" as assets that prevent tracking of ownership or transactions. The regulations prohibit the use of privacy tokens such as ZEC and XMR, and local entities are also not allowed to create such tokens.The regulations also state that entities cannot describe themselves as virtual asset businesses unless they obtain VARA permission. Large proprietary traders investing $250 million or more in cryptocurrencies must register with VARA, and violations of market conduct rules may result in individual fines of up to $5.4 million and fines for virtual asset service providers of up to $13.6 million. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong stated on social media that the FTX incident "stressed me out a lot," and that Coinbase has no substantial contact with FTX or FTT (nor with Alameda). The FTX incident appears to be the result of risky business practices, including conflicts of interest between deeply intertwined entities and the misuse of customer funds (lending out user assets). Coinbase does not engage in such risky activities and will not use customer funds for anything unless instructed by the customer; users can withdraw their money at any time.Brian Armstrong reiterated the importance of compliance and regulation for cryptocurrency exchanges: regulators have focused on their respective domestic markets, while customers have shifted their attention to offshore businesses that are less transparent and carry greater risks. There should be continued collaboration with policymakers to establish reasonable regulations for centralized exchanges/custodians in each market. (Source link)