Blockchangers Blog

Weekly Wrap Up #7

Quote of the week:

“Crypto has bounced back because institutions are buying…This was partly a big short-covering rally and partly recognition that this is a real market that’s not going anywhere.” – Galaxy Digital Founder, Mike Novogratz.

 

International Regulation: Israel’s Ministry of Finance put forth a draft law on July 27 that would require investors to report all cryptocurrency holdings worth 200,000 new Israeli shekels or more (which equates to approximately $61,000) to tax authorities. The Israeli Bitcoin Association and other cryptocurrency advocates oppose the bill; however, many others are bullish on the proposed bill for the potential it has to bring in an estimated $9.2 million in additional state revenue through taxation. Sources:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/israeli-bill-force-crypto-investors-174849336.html and https://cointelegraph.com/news/israeli-gov-t-seeks-to-track-crypto-holdings-above-61k

 

NFT Craze Expands: Brands, such as Coca-Cola, are starting to realize the potential of NFTs. Coca-Cola is planning to release a collection of NFTs in an effort to raise funds for Special Olympics International. The NFT auction will start on July 30 on the OpenSea marketplace. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/coca-cola-officially-gets-into-nfts-for-charity

 

Crypto Expansion: On July 28, during PayPal’s Q2 2021 investor update call, CEO Dan Schulman announced that the initial version of their super app wallet was “code complete” and is planned to be fully ramped in the United States within the next few months. The super app wallet will have greater crypto functionality and offer high yield savings, early access to direct deposit funds, and messaging capabilities, among other things. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/paypal-s-crypto-super-app-set-to-roll-out-soon

 

Bitcoin Update: Bitcoin hit the $40,000 price mark on July 28 and has stayed near that level through Thursday, July 29. The cryptocurrency is up approximately 23% over the past week.


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/market-wrap-bitcoin-stalls-near-40k-as-buyers-take-profit

 

United States Legislation: On July 28, a comprehensive legal framework to regulate cryptocurrency and stablecoins was introduced in the House of Representatives. According to Yahoo Finance, the many provisions of the framework would:

  • “Create statutory definitions for digital assets and digital asset securities and provide the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with authority over digital asset securities and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with authority over digital assets;
  • Require digital asset transactions that are not recorded on the publicly distributed ledger to be reported to a registered Digital Asset Trade Repository within 24 hours to minimize the potential for fraud and promote transparency;
  • Explicitly add digital assets and digital asset securities to the statutory definition of ‘monetary instruments,’ under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), formalizing the regulatory requirements for digital assets and digital asset securities to comply with anti-money laundering, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements;
  • Provide the Federal Reserve with explicit authority to issue a digital version of the U.S. dollar, clarify that digital assets, digital asset securities, and fiat-based stablecoins are not U.S. legal tender, and provide the U.S. Treasury Secretary with authority to permit or prohibit U.S. dollar and other fiat-based stablecoins; and
  • Direct the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) to issue consumer advisories on ‘non-coverage’ of digital assets or digital asset securities to ensure that consumers are aware that they are not insured or protected in the same way as bank deposits or securities.”

Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/congressman-introduces-legislation-regulate-digital-193833225.html

And, that’s a wrap!

Jordana Cohen,

Associate

Alpha Sigma Capital

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Daniel Siciliano

F. Daniel Siciliano is an Independent Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and Chair of the American Immigration Council. He is the former faculty director of the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University and former Professor of the Practice and Associate Dean at Stanford Law School. His work has included expert testimony in front of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and for 2009, 2010, and 2011, alongside leading academics and business leaders such as Ben Bernanke, Paul Krugman, and Carl Icahn, Professor Siciliano was named to the “Directorship 100” – a list of the most influential people in corporate governance.

Siciliano was also co-founder, CEO and ultimately Executive Chairman of LawLogix Group, Inc. – a global software technology company named 9 consecutive times to the Inc. 500/5000, several times ranked as one of the Top 100 fastest-growing private software companies in the US and named to the US Hispanic Business 500 (largest) and Hispanic Business 100 (fastest growing) lists for 2010 and 2011. In 2012 he sold a majority stake of the company to PNC Riverarch Capital, continued as Executive Chairman, and led the sale of the company to Hyland Software/Thoma Bravo in 2015.

Siciliano is a co-founder and board member of the Silicon Valley Directors’ Exchange (SVDX), Chairman of the national non-partisan American Immigration Council, past-President of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council #1057, and an active member of the Latino Corporate Directors’ Association.


Siciliano’s related areas of expertise include executive compensation, corporate compliance, the legal and social impact of autonomous (AI/robotic) systems, and corporate technology strategy and security. He has served as a governance consultant and trainer to the Board of Directors of dozens of Fortune 1000 companies (including Google, Microsoft, Fedex, Disney, Entergy and Applied Materials), is an angel investor and consultant to several firms and companies in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, India, and Latin America, and currently serves as an independent director on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. He lives in Los Altos, California.