Once again emerging as the week’s top topic was geopolitics, with both the U.S. and European Union moving closer to a comprehensive framework for regulating crypto.
The European Parliament on Monday is scheduled to vote on a legislative package called the Markets in Crypto-Assets Directive (MiCA). Stefan Berger, chairman of the Parliament’s economics committee and chief architect of the directive, confirmed on Monday the vote was upcoming and hinted at a few items that may be included.
Heute habe ich den finalen MiCA-Entwurf eingereicht. Der ECON-Ausschuss wird am 14. März 2022 hierüber abstimmen ➡️ Thread #MiCA
Voting on the directive originally was scheduled for February 28, but, as Berger noted, it was delayed over concerns the draft package “might be misinterpreted as a de facto Bitcoin ban.” The ambiguous language has since been clarified, with Berger hinting that crypto will fall under the remit of the EU’s taxonomy for sustainable activities.
Angesichts der wichtigen Debatte um Nachhaltigkeit ist mein Vorschlag, Crypto-Assets, wie alle anderen Finanzprodukte, in den Bereich der #Taxonomie mitaufzunehmen. Eine eigenständige Thematisierung des Proof-of-Work ist in der #MiCA nicht mehr vorgesehen.
With the EU seeking to be carbon neutral by 2050, the fate of energy-intensive proof-of-work Bitcoin mining remains up in the air.
Across the pond, President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order asking existing federal agencies—the FTC, the SEC, and the CFTC—to coordinate regulation efforts, as U.S. policymakers seek better means to manage the crypto boom while minimizing potentially negative effects on consumers, businesses, and investors.
Reactions varied wildly. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of payments company and stablecoin issuer Circle, called it a “watershed moment for crypto, digital assets, and Web 3, akin to the 1996/1997 whole of government wakeup to the commercial internet.”
White House Exec Order and U.S. Government Strategy for Digital Assets — a thread with thoughts; TLDR = this is a watershed moment for crypto, digital assets, and Web 3, akin to the 1996/1997 whole of government wakeup to the commercial internet. (1/7)
But Bitcoin maxi and ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees was less enthused, writing: “The crypto Executive Order basically says ‘we’re going to look into this stuff’ (as if they haven’t been for years) and then lists a number of platitudes about balancing innovation with protecting the financial system.” He signed off: “A perfectly political communication.”
Meanwhile, Bitcoin HODLing Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is working on a bill to incorporate crypto into the U.S. taxation system. She’s been working on the Responsible Financial Innovation Act since last year, and on Wednesday tweeted that she’s “putting the final touches on it.”
It’s been a long time coming, but my bill to fully integrate digital assets into our financial system is almost ready! I’m putting the final touches on it with some key advocates and partners in the Senate, but watch out for an unveiling soon! pic.twitter.com/gpHh2JVgKd
On Tuesday, Twitter’s much-valued non-binary Web3 and NFT educator Dame announced their firing from Ethereum wallet Rainbow.me, a decision over which they’re “heartbroken.”
Dame has been mentioned in this column before—just last month, in fact, they were victim of horrific transphobic abuse that was sent through blockchain messages. It’s worth clarifying that Dame isn’t trans, but whoever wrote the messages had assumed that.
In Tuesday’s thread, Dame called out their boss for publicly tweeting misogyny while they were being harassed: “The day that I was receiving the worst day of mass harassment, threats, doxxing, a hit piece, and had to call the police… you know what my boss was tweeting all day about? Boobs.”
The day that I was receiving the worst day of mass harassment, threats, doxxing, a hit piece, and had to call the police… you know what my boss was tweeting all day about? Boobs.
The founders didn’t even acknowledge what I was going thru until I begged them to tweet something. pic.twitter.com/JT59o2AlVq
Dame added that they’ll “share more later” and that their firing was “a direct result of my public efforts to advance diversity & inclusion within the crypto space.”
I’ll share more later, but Rainbow did this as a direct result of my public efforts to advance diversity & inclusion within the crypto space.
The company had no employee social media policy, nor did they have company values that they shared with employees.
On Saturday, Meta Angels NFT creator Allyson Downey spotted an extremely disturbing NFT collection apparently for sale, tweeting a screenshot of the so-called Pooping Ladies and adding: “Dear Web3, We need to talk. Sincerely, All Women.”
In a tweet sure to elicit both envy and awe, and one that shows how much crypto has matured, Whale Alert reported on Thursday that an address dormant for more than a decade had been activated—and it contained more than $20 million in BTC. In 2010, those 489 BTC were worth about $50.
But eagle-eyed Twitter user @Ape2047 wasn’t convinced, linking to a tweet by Snoop Dogg in which he claimed to be Bianca Medici’s “grandfather” Cozomo. Are Sia and Snoop Dogg just trolling us together?
And finally, Jamie Burke, CEO of metaverse company Outlier Ventures, tweeted some potentially massive gossip on Saturday: “Rumour is Disney is about to make a big NFT acquisition.”
Rumour is Disney is about to make a big NFT acquisition..
Details on any possible of deal were scarce, but a global brand making a sizable NFT acquisition does call to mind how Nike announced three months ago it was buying RTFKT Studios.
