Latest news with #CynthiaLummis
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Key U.S. Senator Tells White House Crypto Market Structure Bill Will Be Done by Sept. 30
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tim Scott, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told a White House crypto adviser on Thursday that legislation establishing rules for the U.S. crypto markets will be finished by September 30 — later than President Donald Trump had in mind, but earlier than the year-end prediction from one of the leading lawmakers crafting the bill. At a Thursday press event in his committee's hearing room, Scott told Trump crypto adviser Bo Hines that the new deadline is possible for the legislation, and expressed agreement with Trump that the U.S. House of Representatives should also quickly sign off on the stablecoin bill the Senate passed last week. Scott, whose committee recently shared some guidelines for how some senior Republicans want the markets regulations to look, said he intends a timeline "seeing market structure completed before the end of September. I think that is a realistic expectation." To that, Senator Cynthia Lummis, who heads the digital assets subcommittee focused on that work, said, "Yes, sir. You're the chairman, and we will do as you wish." Meanwhile, top House lawmakers have been hesitant to announce their own strategy for the two related bills on crypto market structure and stablecoins. The House had been in the lead on the former issue, with its Digital Asset Market Clarity Act having cleared the necessary committees on its way toward the House floor. But Representative French Hill, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee that's leading the charge, declined to reveal whether the House will move on the Senate's Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. Hill signaled this week that he thinks some issues need to be worked out between the GENIUS Act and the House's own stablecoin legislation, which would suggest a lengthier process that might jeopardize the short-term deadlines the Senate has in mind. Senator Lummis had only the day before said at a Washington event that she predicted all the crypto legislation would be completed by the end of the year. That suggested a window going much later than President Trump's wish of finishing by the August congressional break. But even Scott's Sept. 30 timeline goes longer than Trump requested. One potential hindrance to a quick process is immediately apparent: There's no matching sense from the Senate Agriculture Committee, which needs to also weigh in on this major, complex legislation. So far, the Banking Committee has been leading the charge on market structure, but it can't approve the bill on its own, and Lummis acknowledged after the Thursday event that the process hasn't been as urgent for that other committee. For his part, the White House's Hines said the president favors the House simply signing off on the stablecoin bill the Senate approved, without further work on it, and he praised the timeline commitment made by Scott and Lummis, adding, "I think it's very clear you both understand what's happening.' In a response to a CoinDesk question on working with the House, Scott said the two chambers are "one team." "I've been very clear that I think the president's mandate of moving GENIUS Act immediately to his desk is in the best interest of the American people," Scott said.. "I believe that we can do both in a very time-sensitive matter, and that is why I've committed to a deadline." He said the House's market structure bill, the Clarity Act, is a "strong template for us to move forward on."
CNBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Bitcoin climbs as Fed Chair Powell tells Senate stablecoin industry has matured: CNBC Crypto World
On today's episode of CNBC Crypto World, during testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the stablecoin industry has matured significantly over the past few years. Plus, Sen. Cynthia Lummis explains why the U.S. needs to pass a crypto market structure bill now. And, Digital Asset CEO Yuval Rooz discusses how capital raised during a funding round backed by Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities will be used.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. Senators Pitch New Crypto Market Structure Framework as Hearing Approaches
Top U.S. senators have shared the outline of what they're after in the effort to establish rules of the road for domestic crypto markets, releasing a set of principles on Tuesday as they prepare to further hash out their intentions in an afternoon hearing. The crypto industry is excited about the recent progress of stablecoin legislation, but the legislation to set up the structure of fully regulated crypto activity is what the sector is most urgently awaiting. The chairman and three other Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee offered this framework, representing half of the team that would need to eventually clear a bill, which also must pass through the Senate Agriculture Committee. "These principles will serve as an important baseline for negotiations on this bill, and I'm hopeful my colleagues will put politics aside and provide long-overdue clarity for digital asset regulation,' said Chairman Tim Scott said in a statement, joined by Senators Thom Tillis, Bill Hagerty and Cynthia Lummis. The principles include setting up clear distinctions between digital securities and commodities and a shared regulatory structure that prevents an "all-encompassing" watchdog from emerging; establishing a "small package" of money-laundering protections that are "pro-innovation"; and encouraging the federal regulators to embrace "no-action guidance, sandboxes, safe harbors, coordination and appropriate application requirements." So far, the House of Representatives has been in the lead on market structure, clearing its Digital Asset Market Clarity Act through the two necessary committees on its way toward the House floor. But the Senate finished its first crypto priority by passing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act last week, and it's now moving on to market structure. A 3 p.m. hearing of Lummis' digital assets subcommittee is set for Tuesday to discuss the market structure work. "While the European Union and Singapore have established clear regulations, the U.S. continues to sit on the sidelines while the digital asset industry seeks greener pastures," Lummis said in a statement. "That changes today." Meanwhile, crypto lobbyists are focused on the House's strategy for how it'll approach the two bills. It'll soon fix on one of three options: passing the GENIUS Act as-is, merging it with the House's own stablecoin legislation (which requires a second approval from the Senate) or packaging the stablecoin effort with the market structure bill as a single (significantly more complicated) piece of legislation. This same process will play out if the Senate pursues its own track for the market structure bill, rather than adopt the House's product. So far, both chambers have seen wide bipartisan support for the crypto initiatives, but Democrats have raised a number of objections rooted in illicit financial concerns, national security and their criticism of President Donald Trump's personal crypto in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kraken relocates US headquarters to Wyoming's crypto-friendly city
Kraken relocates US headquarters to Wyoming's crypto-friendly city originally appeared on TheStreet. Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has officially moved its U.S. headquarters to Wyoming. The decision was primarily based on Wyoming's strong and future-oriented regulatory environment. This move is a significant endorsement of Wyoming's crypto-friendly regulatory landscape, which encompasses over 30 laws specifically tailored to the cryptocurrency sector, as per the company's blog. "Wyoming has built the country's most comprehensive and technically coherent legal framework for digital assets," Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a statement. "Our global headquarters is now officially in Cheyenne, affirming our commitment to U.S.-based crypto innovation," he added. Wyoming has been at the forefront of regulating digital assets, with legislation that treats crypto as property, establishes a fintech sandbox for testing, and protects users from disclosing their private keys. Join the discussion with WendyO on Roundtable. Kraken has been involved with the state since at least 2021, when it gave a $300,000 grant to the University of Wyoming for crypto education. The company continued to promote cryptocurrency in the state by sponsoring the Wyoming Blockchain Stampede and co-hosting the state's first-ever Blockchain Symposium last year in Jackson Hole. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a long-time advocate for Bitcoin and digital asset policy, said she was excited about the development. "Kraken's decision to move to the Equality State underscores Wyoming's innovative approach," Lummis said. Kraken stated that, while it remains a globally distributed and remote-first company, the company's deeper physical presence in Wyoming reflects the favorable policy environment the state is creating, as well as the pro-crypto leadership from the state. This also further positions Wyoming as the de facto capital of American crypto regulation. Kraken relocates US headquarters to Wyoming's crypto-friendly city first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 20, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cynthia Lummis Proposes Artificial Intelligence Bill, Requiring AI Firms to Disclose Technicals
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has introduced the Responsible Innovation and Safe Expertise (RISE) Act of 2025, a legislative proposal designed to clarify liability frameworks for artificial intelligence (AI) used by professionals. The bill could bring transparency from AI developers – stoping short of requiring models to be open source. In a press release, Lummis said the RISE Act would mean that professionals, such as physicians, attorneys, engineers, and financial advisors, remain legally responsible for the advice they provide, even when it is informed by AI systems. At the time, AI developers who create the systems can only shield themselves from civil liability when things go awry if they publicly release model cards. The proposed bill defines model cards as detailed technical documents that disclose an AI system's training data sources, intended use cases, performance metrics, known limitations, and potential failure modes. All this is intended to help help professionals assess whether the tool is appropriate for their work. "Wyoming values both innovation and accountability; the RISE Act creates predictable standards that encourage safer AI development while preserving professional autonomy,' Lummis said in a press release. 'This legislation doesn't create blanket immunity for AI," Lummis continued. However, the immunity granted under this Act has clear boundaries. The legislation excludes protection for developers in instances of recklessness, willful misconduct, fraud, knowing misrepresentation, or when actions fall outside the defined scope of professional usage. Additionally, developers face a duty of ongoing accountability under the RISE Act. AI documentation and specifications must be updated within 30 days of deploying new versions or discovering significant failure modes, reinforcing continuous transparency obligations. The RISE Act, as it's written now, stops short of mandating that AI models become fully open source. Developers can withhold proprietary information, but only if the redacted material isn't related to safety, and each omission is accompanied by a written justification explaining the trade secret exemption. In a prior interview with CoinDesk, Simon Kim, the CEO of Hashed, one of Korea's leading VC funds, spoke about the danger of centralized, closed-source AI that's effectively a black box. "OpenAI is not open, and it is controlled by very few people, so it's quite dangerous. Making this type of [closed source] foundational model is similar to making a 'god', but we don't know how it works," Kim said at the time.
