USA

The SEC’s Guidelines and Statements Show That It’s Slowly Learning to Accept ICOs on Cointelegraph: Initial coin offerings (ICOs) may be less fashionable than security token offerings (STOs) right now, but that hasn’t stopped the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from keeping its beady eye trained firmly on them. Ever since it published its investigation into the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in July 2017 and declared that ICO tokens can be (and often are) securities, it has been producing a variety of guidelines and warnings on ICOs for investors.

Federal Reserve May Add Bitcoin Crash to Stress Test Scenarios: The U.S. Federal Reserve could soon include a cryptocurrency market crash as one of the risks to take into account when conducting supervisory stress tests. The Fed’s board of governors announced amendments to a policy statement on the scenario design framework for stress testing, saying that “the collapse of the bitcoin market” may be considered as one of the “salient” market risks. The crypto amendment was recommended to the board by a commenter who proposed it should be seen as one of several “extraordinary shocks,” such as a war with North Korea and major losses caused by trader misconduct.

Connecticut Lawmakers Seek to Legalize Blockchain Smart Contracts: The U.S. state of Connecticut could soon legalize the use of blockchain smart contracts in business. The Commerce Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly filed house bill 7310, proposing that blockchain smart contracts should be authorized for commerce in the state. The bill would, in effect, give equal rights to firms that use smart contracts on a blockchain or distributed ledger with those that use more traditional methods to secure information in connection with a transaction.

Colorado Lawmakers Eye Blockchain Tech for Water Rights Management: Lawmakers in Colorado want the U.S. state to study the potential of blockchain technology in water rights management. Republican senator Jack Tate, along with representatives Jeni James Arndt (Democratic) and Marc Catlin (Republican), filed senate bill 184, proposing that the Colorado Water Institute should be granted authority to study how blockchain technology can help improve its operations. The institute, an affiliate of Colorado State University, should study various use cases of blockchain tech, including water rights database management, the establishment of water “banks” or markets, and general administration, according to the bill.

Utah Bill Would Exempt Blockchain Firms from Money Transmitter Act: A lawmaker from the U.S. state of Utah has introduced a bill that would stop blockchain firms from being classed as money transmitters. Republican senator Daniel Hemmert filed senate bill 213 last week, proposing that any person who “facilitates the creation, exchange, or sale” of certain blockchain-related products should be exempted from the state’s Money Transmitter Act. The bill also aims to create a legislative group called the “Blockchain Pilot Project Evaluation Task Force” to study the potential of the technology in government services.

California Introduces New Bill to Regulate Bitcoin and Crypto Businesses, Calls for $50,000 Penalty for Violations: Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon has introduced Assembly Bill 1489, which would govern virtual currency business activity that takes place with or on behalf of residents. The bill is similar to New York’s BitLicense, and would require companies to go through an approval process to conduct crypto-related activities in the state.

US State Moves to Exempt Some Blockchain Tokens from Securities Rules: Lawmakers in the U.S. state of Rhode Island are seeking to exempt blockchain tokens from securities laws for some use cases. Five Democratic and Republican senators jointly filed house bill 5595, proposing that the Rhode Island Uniform Securities Act should be amended to state that developers or sellers of “open blockchain tokens” are not deemed as issuers of securities and are exempt from the act.

Crypto Skeptic Massachusetts Secretary Creates Fintech Advisory Group: The office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which oversees the state’s securities regulator, has reportedly formed a fintech advisory group. The office of Secretary William Gavin has reportedly formed a group comprising representatives from Eastern Bank in Boston, a blockchain firm called Arwen, academics and legal experts, and other firms. The group will focus on developments in the fintech industry, including digital currencies.

Mark Karpeles Fails to Halt US Court Case Over Mt Gox Losses: Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of bankrupt bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, has been refused a motion to stay a U.S. court case brought by former investors. Earlier Karpeles had filed the motion to stay in “light of ongoing civil rehabilitation proceedings in Japan that are likely to provide full recovery” to the plaintiffs, Gregory Greene and Anthony Motto. The plaintiffs brought the case saying that they hold Karpeles “personally liable” for any losses they occurred from their investments in bitcoin made through Mt. Gox.

US Government Returns Bitcoins Retrieved Following 2016 Bitfinex Hack: Bitfinex has announced that some of the bitcoins stolen in a major 2016 hack have been returned after they were retrieved by the U.S. government. In a blog post published last week, the exchange said that 27.66270285 BTC — worth just over $104,000 at time of writing — have been received from the U.S. government, and come as the result of U.S. law enforcement efforts.

Blockchain Advocacy Coalition Sponsors Bill to Allow Crypto for Legal Cannabis Tax: Activist group Blockchain Advocacy Coalition (BAC) has sponsored a bill in California’s 19th State Assembly District, set to allow legal cannabis businesses in the district to pay their state taxes using cryptocurrency. If put into law, it would affect California’s many cannabis businesses.

2 Nevada Senate Bills Signal State Is Open For Blockchain Business: Blockchain-related bills SB162 and SB163 were recently heard in the Nevada Senate. Members of the Nevada Senate’s Committee on Judiciary heard two blockchain-focused bills introduced by Senator Ben Kieckhefer (R): SB162 and SB163. Although Nevada does not prohibit blockchain technology or otherwise restrict its usage, the two bills provide clarifying language to, as the bill proponents explain, signal that Nevada understands and embraces blockchain and is open to economic development opportunities related to the technology. In a way, the bills could be considered enabling legislation.

US Attorney Charges Siblings Responsible For OneCoin Pyramid Scheme: The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), announced charges against several people behind OneCoin for allegedly operating a multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme involving the sale of fraudulent cryptocurrency.

Ripple Scores Minor Victory in US Securities Class Action: A judge has ruled that an ongoing class action lawsuit against Ripple must remain in federal court, potentially giving the payments firm a slight advantage going forward.