Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon has implemented a new law that allows DAOs to be recognized as unincorporated nonprofit associations. Crypto investment giant Andreessen Horowitz has hailed the move as a significant breakthrough as it offers better protection and support for blockchain networks. This law extends the state's blockchain-friendly reputation, encouraging DAOs to establish themselves in the region.
Monday, March 11, 2024Top U.S. House lawmakers, including Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry and Democrat Maxine Waters, met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss advancing stablecoin legislation. They have considered packaging the stablecoin bill with the Federal Aviation Administration's funding reauthorization. Despite doubts about the stablecoin bill passing this year, McHenry, who is retiring, is prioritizing the bill to regulate stablecoin issuers and stabilize cryptocurrency trading.
The House passed a bill requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face having it banned on US devices. The bill received bipartisan backing with a 352-65 vote. Proponents argue the measure is vital for national security, while opponents contend it violates free speech rights and could harm businesses. The bill’s fate in the Senate remains uncertain.
Thursday, March 14, 2024AI-generated deepfakes are now a reality. There are some state-level laws regulating and limiting deepfakes, but legislation doesn’t often move at the same pace as technology. One way for brands to navigate the ethical complexities of deepfake technology is to declare and disclose all AI content. Without clear labeling, brands, creators, and celebrities alike risk losing audience trust.
Florida's new law mandates that children under 14 can't have social media accounts. Those aged 14 to 15 require parental consent. Accounts on TikTok may be deleted if the platform’s algorithm determines that a user’s preferred content indicates they are 13 or younger. On Snapchat, if a child under 15 can’t obtain consent, the platform will restrict their account to strictly emails and group chats until they turn 16.
TikTok faces uncertainty as the House greenlights a bill with provisions that could lead to its ban or sale. The vote pushed the platform's fate into the hands of the Senate amid escalating concerns over national security and free speech.
Google has temporarily blocked links from local news outlets in California from appearing in search results. This is in response to a bill that would require tech companies to pay publications for links that articles share. The California bill is meant to support the local journalism industry. The change applies only to some people using Google in California, though it's not clear how many.
Monday, April 15, 2024The U.K. government plans to introduce legislation for stablecoins, crypto staking, exchange, and custody by June or July this year.
The Senate has passed a bill for a foreign aid package that includes a measure that will force China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok or have it banned from the US. The bill will now head to President Joe Biden, who has already committed to signing the legislation. Once signed into law, ByteDance will have up to a year to complete a sale of TikTok. Enforcement of the law may be delayed by legal challenges. The bill is aimed at preventing foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, and otherwise harming vulnerable Americans, rather than a punishment against ByteDance or any other individual company.
President Biden has signed a foreign aid package that includes a bill that will ban TikTok if China-based parent company ByteDance fails to divest the app within a year. The company plans to contest the law in court, arguing the law is an infringement on the constitutional rights of U.S. users. Uncertainties linger over China's reaction and whether it will even allow a potential sale.
President Joe Biden's Executive Office announced that Biden would veto the proposed H.J. Res. 109, allowing highly regulated financial firms to be cryptocurrency custodians. The office claims the resolution would disrupt the SEC and overturn a previous SEC bulletin. The legislation passed in the House of Representatives.
California's SB1047 bill proposes regulations for AI models with computational capacities over 10^26 FLOPs. It focuses on ensuring these models are used safely by requiring secure environments, quick deactivation capabilities, and rigorous misuse potential testing. The bill targets only high-risk scenarios, aiming to balance innovation with safeguards against misuse in response to concerns about AI's potential impact on society.
The Senate has joined the House of Representatives in overturning the SEC's SAB 121 in a 60-38 vote. SAB 121 requires crypto custodians to hold customer assets on their balance sheet, which has significant consequences and makes the process much more complex. President Biden previously warned that he would veto this resolution if it passed in Congress, stating that he would side with Gensler and the SEC. The vote passed with support of most Republicans and 12 Democrats.
Though FIT21 is a momentous step forward for legitimizing the crypto industry, issues with its current form must be addressed in Senate negotiations. The bill's bifurcation of cryptocurrencies into “restricted digital assets” and “digital commodities” ignores tokens' global and fungible nature, leading to fragmentation and regulatory arbitrage. Lawmakers should refine the bill to unify spot markets for tokens that are not otherwise securities.
The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) fails to adequately protect DeFi developers and DAOs from the CFTC's expansive authority, despite appearing to offer exemptions for "decentralized governance systems." The act contains numerous contradictions and ambiguities, particularly around its definitions and the registration requirements for commodity pool operators and decentralized systems, leading to concerns that it will not resolve the ongoing regulatory uncertainty in the crypto sector.
At the Libertarian National Convention, presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would commute the sentence of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht if elected.
The COPIED Act aims to protect journalists and artists from AI models' unauthorized use of their work. Introduced by a bipartisan group of senators, the bill directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish standards for authenticating and detecting AI-generated content through features like watermarking. It could give enforcement powers to state attorneys general and the FTC and allow content owners to sue for unauthorized use.
Pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis plans to announce legislation for establishing a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville. Under this plan, the Federal Reserve would hold BTC as a strategic reserve asset, similar to how it holds gold and foreign currencies. Lummis is expected to make the announcement on Saturday before Trump speaks, but details have yet to be finalized.
Russia has allegedly passed a bill within parliament that allows bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be used in international trade.
Tech giants OpenAI, Adobe, and Microsoft now support California's AB 3211, which mandates watermarks on AI-generated content. A trade group representing these companies initially opposed the bill, but recent amendments have gained their backing. The bill aims to ensure AI content is clearly labeled for public understanding.
California's controversial AI safety bill, SB-1047, has passed the State Assembly and is now one step away from Governor Gavin Newsom's desk. Newsom must decide by September 30 whether to sign it into law.
The U.K. government has introduced a bill to clarify the legal status of digital assets like crypto and NFTs. The bill will establish them as personal property, which will help with legal disputes and improve protections against fraud and scams. It introduces a new personal property category, strengthening legal clarity for digital asset ownership and protection.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider a pair of bills that would effectively nullify the Supreme Court's rulings against patents on broad software processes and human genes. Software and Internet advocates have taken notice and are taking steps to defend open source software against patent trolls. Regulators say the bills are necessary for a number of emerging sectors to prevent the stifling of innovation. Detractors say that the bills will be a huge gift to patent trolls, tech firms that aggressively license patents, and patent lawyers, but will be a loss for everyone else.