The issue of central bank digital currencies is in the crossfire of US politicians, with figures like Ron DeSantis and Ted Cruz trying to stop them from existing. But what about a state digital currency? The first such project, a gold-backed state digital currency, has appeared in Texas.
On the same day, two Texan legislators introduced identical bills to create a gold-backed state digital currency. Each unit of the digital currency would represent a set fraction of a troy ounce of gold, according to the bills. Once a person buys a certain amount of digital currency, the receiver uses that money received to buy an equivalent amount of gold. Although neither bill has been approved or put to a vote, both state that the law will take effect on September 1, 2023.
Meanwhile, another bill has passed a Senate committee in Texas. The bill would largely remove incentives for miners operating in the state’s regulatory environment. Under the bill, cryptocurrency companies participating in a program intended to compensate them for reduced load on the Texas power grid would be capped on forecast demand of “less than 10% of the total load required by all the loads in the program”. Certain cryptocurrency mining companies would also not receive a reduction in state taxes for participating in the program starting in September 2023.
Regulators Announce $10M Settlement With Robinhood ‘For Failing Investors’
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said the company behind cryptocurrency and stock trading platform Robinhood will likely pay more than $10 million in fines “for operational and technical failures that harmed ordinary investors.” The settlement was the result of an investigation by the Association of Securities Administrators of North America together with securities regulators from Alabama, Colorado, California, Delaware, New Jersey, South Dakota and Texas. The platform suffered a series of system crashes in March 2020, resulting in users missing trades while many of its services were unavailable.
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Coinbase Supports New Court Action to Remove Ban on Tornado Cash
The US Treasury Department is facing a new legal challenge aimed at overturning its decision to sanction cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. The challenge was brought by six individuals backed by the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange. A motion for partial summary judgment was filed on April 5 in a Texas district court, with the Coinbase-backed plaintiffs requesting that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) resolve the first two charges of his original lawsuit filed in September 2022. They alleged that OFAC had exceeded its legal powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and had violated the freedom of expression clause of the Constitution’s first amendment from United States.
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A Bill Protecting Bitcoin Mining Rights Passes In Arkansas
The Arkansas state Congress has passed a bill to regulate Bitcoin (BTC) mining activity. It will now go to the governor’s office for approval. Under the legislation, cryptocurrency miners will enjoy the same rights as data centers. The bill notes that the Arkansas government should not “impose a different requirement for a digital asset mining business than any requirement for a data center.” The Arkansas move follows a similar initiative in the state of Montana, where the Senate passed a bill to protect cryptocurrency miners in late March.
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