Top Headlines
- Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell is set to speak at the International Monetary Fund next week on a panel devoted to cross-border digital payments. Proponents of the digital dollar hope to hear remarks concerning a potential central bank digital currency in the US (Coindesk)
- President Trump’s National Security Council has identified distributed ledger technology as one of the key weapons to defeat both China and Russia in the technological arms race (Coindesk)
Cryptocurrency Spotlight:
- Digital securities firm Securitize has acquired Distributed Technology Markets, a licensed broker-dealer and alternative trading system. The acquisition allows for Securitize to diversify the services offered to clients (Coindesk)
- SEC Commissioner and “Crypto Mom” Hester Peirce called for clearer crypto regulation post-election during a speech at the “20/20 Vision: Blockchain and the Future of Law Symposium” this week. Peirce again highlighted the need for a more inclusive definition of a security in light of the rapid innovation occurring within the digital asset realm (Modern Consensus)
- The New York Department of Financial Services announced plans for its first-ever “Techsprint”, an event dedicated to rapid development and testing of digital regulatory reporting systems for cryptocurrency companies (Crowdfund Insider)
- Jay Clayton, chairman of the SEC, said the Commission is still actively developing regulations that can someday regulate cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, although regulators have yet to approve one (The Financial Times)
- Digital asset firm tZero’s Chief Legal Officer Alan Konevsky responded to the 83-page cryptocurrency enforcement framework from the DOJ in an interview with Crowdfund Insider earlier this week
Blockchain Spotlight:
- Watchmaker Breitling now offers an Ethereum blockchain-based digital passport for all watches sold by the company. The passport allows for the watch’s provenance to be tracked, as well as its repair and service history (Coindesk)
International Spotlight:
- ?? The Malaysian Securities Commission has reported that regulated crowdfunding in the country has raised over 1 billion Malaysian ringgits since 2016 (Fintech News Malaysia)