Crypto Chronicles: BitOK's Weekly Recap of Top Regulatory News

Lawmakers are changing a law to treat crypto investments fairly. If approved, people might pay taxes on overseas crypto holdings. The law also taxes profits from crypto price changes. If you earn up to $1,200, no tax; $1,200 to $10,000, 15% tax; over $10,000, 22.5% tax. This affects foreign crypto exchanges and could boost local ones. The decision is on August 28, and if passed, starts in January 2024. Brazil is making more crypto-related changes, including its digital currency plans.

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Political committees can ask for cryptocurrency donations but must follow specific guidelines. They can't accept donations from foreign sources, lobbyists, or anonymous contributors nor receive them directly from person-to-person transactions. Instead, they can use specific payment processors that are registered with the U.S. Department of Treasury and follow identity verification rules. Payment processors must gather information about the donors and share it with the committees within a day of receiving the donation. They need to change the cryptocurrency into U.S. dollars based on current exchange rates and put the money in the committee's bank account within two business days. Donations are labeled as "non-monetary" and must be reported fully.

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He was accused of sharing information with journalists that could have harmed and scared a former colleague and girlfriend who is a witness in his case. This led the judge to believe he was interfering with the case. Bankman-Fried's lawyer tried to argue, but he was sent to custody. He'll likely stay in jail until his trial in October. He's facing fraud charges in two trials.

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New rules for crypto platforms will start on January 1, 2024, including things like handling conflicts of interest, giving more information to users, and keeping client assets separate from the platform's assets. If cryptocurrency platforms want to register with the "enhanced" status, they'll need to follow these new rules. The changes are meant to make things more secure for users. Platforms registered before that date will have to follow the older rules.

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They've introduced a program called Novel Activities Supervision to add more rules to their previous statement in January. These new rules focus on actions like holding cryptocurrencies for customers, trading them, and offering banking services to crypto-related companies. These rules are for both large and small banks. The Fed emphasizes that they're not preventing banks from working with cryptocurrencies but want to make sure it's done in a secure and regulated manner.

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