News linked to both this project and an event.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent stated at a Senate Finance Committee hearing that the Treasury Department is advancing President Trump's executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve with "deliberate speed," emphasizing the adoption of "best practices" to ensure the long-term sustainability of the mechanism. Bessent noted that the strategic Bitcoin reserve is a new frontier and its implementation is relatively complex, so the government is carefully developing the custody and management framework. Currently, the U.S. government holds approximately 328,400 Bitcoins, valued at around $20.6 billion, primarily obtained from criminal and civil asset forfeitures.Additionally, Bessent called on Congress to advance the digital asset market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, which he believes is crucial for maintaining the U.S.'s leading position in digital asset innovation. The bill aims to clarify the regulatory framework for digital assets and define when crypto tokens fall under securities or commodity regulations. Relevant legislation has now entered the Senate review process. (Decrypt)
the leadership of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee has urged President Trump to fill four vacant seats at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as soon as possible.Relevant lawmakers warned that if the CLARITY Act is passed, granting the CFTC greater regulatory responsibilities over cryptocurrencies, the current institutional setup is not yet prepared. (Cointelegraph)
a regulatory review delay by the U.S. SEC has prevented the first batch of ETF products linked to prediction markets from launching as scheduled, postponing their listing timeline. Multiple institutions, including Roundhill Investments, GraniteShares, and Bitwise Asset Management, submitted applications for over 20 prediction market-related ETFs in February this year. These event-driven products cover topics such as election outcomes, economic recessions, tech layoffs, and commodity prices.Under SEC rules, ETFs typically automatically become effective within 75 days of filing, unless the regulator requests further review. These products were originally expected to launch this week, but their listing has been delayed as the SEC has requested issuers to provide additional details on product mechanisms and disclosures. Relevant sources indicate this delay may be a short-term adjustment. These ETFs typically track "yes/no" event probabilities—such as election results or economic indicators—through derivative instruments and are linked to CFTC-regulated prediction market platforms like Kalshi. Each contract pays $1 if the event occurs, or zero otherwise.While prediction market trading has recently grown rapidly due to increased activity surrounding political events and geopolitical conflicts, it has also raised regulatory concerns regarding insider trading and market manipulation. Bitwise's Chief Investment Officer noted that innovative financial products often require a longer regulatory cycle but may ultimately succeed, emphasizing that prediction market ETFs could become a new channel for retail investors to access event-based trading. (Reuters)
Odaily News The Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, passed the first reading of the draft bill No. 1194918-8, titled "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," on Tuesday. The bill aims to establish the core legal framework for digital currencies in Russia, directing cryptocurrency transactions to licensed intermediaries regulated by the Bank of Russia. According to the bill, Russian residents could purchase cryptocurrencies through approved intermediaries as early as July, while unlicensed platforms will be banned by July 2027.The bill introduces restrictions for retail investors, stipulating that only digital currencies with high liquidity are permitted for purchase. Relevant assets must meet criteria such as an average market capitalization exceeding 5 trillion rubles (approximately $66.66 billion) over the past two years, a daily average trading volume exceeding 1 trillion rubles (approximately $13.33 billion), and a trading history of at least five years. Retail investors are required to pass a test and have an annual purchase limit of 300,000 rubles (approximately $4,000) per single intermediary. Furthermore, the bill allows residents to purchase cryptocurrencies through foreign accounts but mandates reporting to tax authorities, while explicitly prohibiting the use of cryptocurrencies for payments.
Odaily News The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released the final draft of its crypto asset framework. The new rules are scheduled to bring most crypto activities under the regulatory scope of the Financial Services and Markets Act by October 25, 2027. According to the proposal, any institution holding customer crypto assets for more than 24 hours or possessing the ability to revoke customer permissions will be considered a regulated custodian and must hold a full safeguarding license. Validators and node operators offering value-added functions such as staking rewards or reward reinvestment will lose their technical exemption. Furthermore, stablecoin issuers operating within the UK must control the entire lifecycle from issuance to redemption. Relevant institutions are required to submit authorization applications between September 30, 2026, and February 28, 2027.