Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act that limits the authority of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to carry out enforcement actions against the crypto industry. “Gary Gensler is as ineffective as he is incompetent,” said Congressman Tom Emmer. “Congress will hold unelected bureaucrats accountable.” House Passes Amendment to Rein in ‘SEC Enforcement Abuses’ Against Crypto Industry The U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment by Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN) to limit the authority of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday. Emmer’s amendment to HR 4664, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2024, “Ensures none of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Securities and Exchange Commission to carry out an enforcement action related to a crypto asset transaction.” The congressman explained on social medi...

In a significant development for cryptocurrency investment vehicles, Blackrock Inc., through its subsidiary Ishares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, has filed a 19b-4 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list shares of the Ishares Ethereum Trust on the Nasdaq. Blackrock Dives Deeper Into Crypto With Ethereum ETF Plan Amid Regulatory Clarity After registering its Ishares Ethereum Trust with the Division of Corporations in Delaware, the world’s largest asset manager submitted a 19b-4 registration to the U.S. securities regulator. The initiative could provide U.S. investors with a regulated spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) to track the price of ethereum (ETH) . The trust is designed to mirror the performance of ethereum’s price, accounting for expenses and liabilities. The proposed Ishares Ethereum Trust will issue shares that represent fractional, undivided beneficial interests in the trust’s net assets, consisting mainly of ethereum held by the Coinbase Custody...

The Keep Your Coins Act has been introduced in the Senate to allow individuals to maintain custody of their cryptocurrencies in self-hosted wallets. The bill also seeks to prohibit federal agencies from “proposing a rule that would impair a person’s ability to act as a self-custodian of digital assets.” Keep Your Coins Act Introduced in Senate Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) announced Tuesday that he has introduced the Keep Your Coins Act , which “would protect an individual’s right to conduct transactions with cryptocurrency assets without the need to utilize a third-party intermediary.” Specifically, the bill seeks to “prohibit Federal agencies from restricting the use of convertible virtual currency by a person to purchase goods or services for the person’s own use, and for other purposes.” The announcement details: “In the wake of the collapse of FTX, the Keep Your Coins Act would allow customers to maintain custody of their digital assets in self-hosted wallets and avoid third-party r...

HSBC, the London-based financial institution, announced its plans to launch an institution-focused digital assets custody service in 2024. Zhu Kuang Lee, chief digital, data and innovation officer at HSBC, explained that the bank had experienced an increasing demand for these services from asset managers and asset owners. HSBC Announces Digital Assets Custody Service HSBC, a financial institution with a presence in more than 60 countries and over $3 trillion in assets, has announced that it plans to launch a service to offer custody of digital assets for institutional customers. The service, which will go live in 2024, will come to complement the digital services offering of the bank, which expects to offer a comprehensive asset management suite for its customers worldwide. The launch of this platform comes at the request of HSBC’s customers, who have been demanding these services. Zhu Kuang Lee, chief digital, data and innovation officer at HSBC, stated: We’re seeing increasing...