Coinbase Urges Congress To Transfer Spot Cryptocurrency Market Oversight to CFTC, Reducing SEC's Role
Coinbase has asked Congress to transfer authority over the spot cryptocurrency market to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a move that could significantly limit the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) role in regulating digital assets. Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase's Chief Policy Officer, put forward a proposal that outlines six priorities for the crypto industry, the most important being the shift of oversight to the CFTC. According to Shirzad, digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum should be treated as commodities, not securities, and should fall under the CFTC's jurisdiction. He argues that the move would provide better transparency and consumer protections while reducing the risk of fraud and market manipulation.
Currently, the SEC oversees crypto markets, but it has faced criticism from the crypto community, which argues that the SEC's approach is overly restrictive. The SEC's stance is that most cryptocurrencies, except Bitcoin, should be regulated as securities, a view made public by former SEC Chair Gary Gensler in 2023. Gensler also looked into whether Ether should be classified as a security but dropped the investigation. While the SEC maintains that many crypto assets fall under its purview, the crypto industry believes that the CFTC is better equipped to regulate these markets. The push for CFTC oversight aligns with the views of several Republican lawmakers, including Representatives Glen Thompson and Tom Emmer, who reintroduced the Digital Commodity Exchange Act in 2022. The bill aims to empower the CFTC to regulate the sector, a perspective also supported by former CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo.
In addition to shifting authority to the CFTC, Coinbase also advocates for SEC rules that would allow blockchain developers to raise capital without automatically classifying their tokens as securities. Shirzad believes that the SEC still plays an important role, particularly in setting clear guidelines for capital raising and ensuring fair access to opportunities for blockchain developers. He argues that venture capitalists have too much control over the crypto sector, pushing projects toward outcomes that disproportionately benefit them. According to Shirzad, such a system undermines the values of crypto, which is supposed to give everyone equal access to opportunities.
The debate over regulatory oversight continues to evolve, with the CFTC gaining more support within the industry. The crypto space has long criticized the SEC for its heavy-handed approach, while the CFTC is seen as a more industry-friendly option for regulating digital assets. Additionally, reports have suggested that President Donald Trump is considering handing oversight of the crypto sector to the CFTC, which could mark a significant shift in U.S. policy toward cryptocurrencies.
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Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
How Nevada's elections will change with new 2025 laws
LAS VEGAS — New laws from the 2025 legislative session aim to increase accessibility to Nevada's elections and improve voters' experiences. Election reform was a major focus in Carson City, though bills that sought to drastically change Nevada's elections were blocked by the governor, including legislation to implement voter ID requirements and to allow nonpartisan voters to participate in primaries. Other bills seeking changes were successful, from requiring that sample ballots be sent before official mail ballots to disclosing campaign advertisements made with artificial intelligence. 'Everything we tried to do this session has been focused on the voter experience and the voter perspective,' said Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar. The major highlights Aguilar said the biggest highlight from the legislative session for him was the continued investment into modernizing the state's voter registration system. Nevada appropriated over $27 million to go toward merging Clark County with the other 16 counties into one Voter Registration Election Management Solution system, known as VREMS. Last August, the state launched its top-down voter registration and election management system, which collects and stores voter registration information from all counties. Clark County implemented the system in 2023, and the 16 other counties joined the program in 2024. Now, the two will merge together, Aguilar said. Aguilar said putting all the counties on one system will allow the state to do a better job with voter rolls and build transparency by providing real-time information about the elections process. 'There's consistency from county to county,' he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 'There's consistency in polling location to polling location. The security and safety of the election is stronger because everybody's operating off of one unified system that has strong cybersecurity.' The secretary of state's office was also provided $1.5 million for voter education and outreach through Senate Bill 488. That money will allow counties to send text messages to voters about upcoming elections or if their ballot signatures need curing. Other new laws aim to improve voters' experience, Aguilar said. For instance, sample ballots now must be mailed before mail ballots, thanks to a new law put forward by Republican Assemblymember Gregory Hafen and Democratic Speaker Steve Yeager. In 2024, voters expressed confusion when they received their official mail ballots before their sample ballots, which provide voter information about what will appear on the official ballot and includes pros and cons for each ballot question. County or city clerks must also recruit election board officers for polling places on tribal reservations and provide them with training on the reservation, unless a tribe opts to not participate, thanks to the passage of Senate Bill 421, which aims to increase voter participation in Nevada's Indigenous communities. The new law expands on a bill passed in the 2023 Legislature requiring clerks to establish polling places and ballot drop boxes on tribal lands. There were staffing shortages in several locations, including the Shoshone Paiute Tribe of Duck Valley, which had to raise more than $5,000 to staff their polling place, according to Jennifer Willett, the Nevada senior campaign manager for All Voting is Local. 'It's a minor shift, but it'll impact a lot of people,' Willett said. 'Over time, people will know that they can go there, and they'll be able to vote in their community confidently at a staffed polling place.' Another new law, AB 367, aims to improve accessibility to non-English speaking voters. The law creates a language access coordinator in the secretary of state's office and requires the office to make sure voting materials and other election information are available in at least seven of the most commonly spoken languages in Nevada. It also requires the secretary of state to establish a toll-free telephone number voters can use to receive language interpretation assistance for an election. A voter who may be deaf or hard of hearing can also use a mobile device to access interpretive services including American Sign Language. Aguilar said his office was doing that work already, but the bill codifies those practices into law. Nevada is the third most diverse state in the nation, with one in three Nevadans speaking a language other than English at home and nearly 4 percent of Nevadans having a hearing difficulty, Willett said. 'We think that dismantling any barriers for people that don't speak English as their first language, or aren't comfortable speaking English, should be able to register to vote, learn about voting and candidates and cast their ballot using any options that they want,' Willett said. Chuck Muth, a conservative blogger who has long fought to clean up the state's voter rolls, said overall he thinks session was a 'wash' when it came to election reform. Lombardo vetoed bills that Muth said would have harmed Nevada, but not much was done to enhance election security, he said. Muth would have liked to see changes to the mail ballot deadline so that they could not arrive after Election Day, though less than 1 percent of ballots arrive after Election Day, according to Aguilar. Campaigning changes Nevadans can expect to see some changes to campaigning ahead of future elections. Any AI-generated campaign communication — such as a campaign advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate — must disclose that it was made with artificial intelligence after the passage of AB 73. The new law addresses the rising use of AI-generated materials as a cost-effective alternative to traditional ways of creating content, and it comes on the heels of experts expressing concern about the role artificial intelligence will play in elections. Aguilar said the goal of the law is to give voters the context and the source of the information that they're seeing and relying on when deciding how to vote. Muth said he discloses when he uses AI in his newsletter, but he thinks that should be voluntary. 'I just think it's probably problematic whenever the government gets involved,' Muth said. Another new law to reduce intimidation and violence in campaigns. AB 123 prohibits a person from making statements that threaten or intimidate a candidate for public office. The law was sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Hanadi Nadeem, the first Muslim woman elected to the Legislature. She put forward the bill after experiencing death threats while running for Assembly. 'It was truly a horrific experience I do not wish upon anyone, whether it be a fellow candidate, voter or Nevadan,' Nadeem said during the bill's hearing. 'No one should have to fear for their life or to be discouraged from running for office because of the actions of another.' Aguilar said that bill goes back to overall safety and security of elections, and it also encourages participation. 'We want people to run for office because the more diverse perspective we get, the stronger the state we're going to be,' Aguilar said. 'And if people aren't running because they're fearful, that's the problem.' Another new law, AB 491, requires elected officers to be registered to vote in the state, district, county or township where the officer is required to reside. 'That's the intent, I think, and hopefully it acts as an encouragement to say, if you're going to run for office, that you actually live in the community you're voted to represent,' Aguilar said. ___ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Ether Leads Crypto Selloff as US Attacks Nuclear Sites in Iran
Ether fell sharply while Bitcoin held steady after President Donald Trump said American bombers and missiles had struck Iran's three main nuclear sites. The second-ranked token fell as much as 7.7% on Sunday morning in Asia to about $2,200, its lowest intra-day level since May 9. Bitcoin briefly dipped below $101,000 but pared losses to trade relatively evenly in the aftermath of the attacks.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
NYC business leaders are terrified of what socialist Zohran Mamdani may do as mayor
Friends of mine, prominent players in the New York City business community, tell me they are horrified that a certified socialist, Zohran Mamdani, might become our next mayor. Their next step is Florida, or somewhere, anywhere out of his grasp if Mamdani does become mayor as the polls suggest could happen — even with the more moderate, albeit flawed, Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, seemingly in the lead for the Democratic nomination. In this one-party town, that usually means a ticket into Gracie Mansion. 'We need Cuomo to win or we're doomed,' is how one brand-named, uber-rich New Yorker put it over dinner the other night at Elio's, the Upper East Side restaurant frequented by New York's top business leaders. Advertisement Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani campaigning in East Harlem on June 18, 2025. Robert Miller Yes, 'Mayor Mamdani' is a scary thought. He sees anyone with a heartbeat and a job as part of the problem, an oppressor class that needs to be exploited to pay for an ever larger welfare state. His positions on Israel are so noxious, they don't bear repeating. Advertisement But his type has been here before — and for a long time, which is why crying over Mamdani is, as they say, a bit rich when it comes from the rich. New York City and state have been experiencing massive outmigrations of people and business for years because the Big Apple and the Empire State have been run largely by the radical left for the better part of two decades. Our tax base is being decimated by crime and the cost of living. Banks are moving more of their operations to lower-taxed Texas and Florida. Real estate is sinking. All of this has picked up steam in recent years, but it's hardly a new phenomenon and you can blame the now-sweating fat-cat class for allowing it to happen. Their money could have informed the public of the city and state's death spiral and backed sensible mayoral candidates, people like John Catsimatidis, an entrepreneur and true New Yorker. Advertisement The current Republican candidate and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is smart enough to appoint people who successfully ran the city under Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg. Sliwa also ran four years ago, and would have been a far better choice than the ethically challenged Eric Adams. Speaking up too late Instead, the city's business class sat idly by. They acquiesced as a defund-the-police prosecutor, the hapless Alvin Bragg, became Manhattan DA. Only after a violent-crime spree against their own employees perpetrated by criminals allowed to roam the streets because of Bragg's policies did they say a word. Where were they during Comrade Bill de Blasio's reign of terror and error? Recall in 2021, Adams ran as mayor promising to address the crime wave and with business support. But only after crime coverage by this newspaper did he step up policing by appointing the highly competent Jessica Tisch as police commissioner. Advertisement Likewise, where's the outrage over the emergence of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the fatuous Bronx and Queens congresswoman? She comes from similar lineage as Mamdani — leftist education, devoid of private sector experience, dimwitted when answering tough policy questions, though good at social media — the main qualifications for the leadership in New York's Democratic Party, and increasingly the national party as well. Which brings us to the business community's preferred choice, Cuomo. They see him as a smart, moderating influence on the left. Most are unimpressed by the reasons he was forced out as governor, as they should be. The sexual-impropriety case mounted by state AG Tish James was at best a political hit job from someone who wanted his job and searched for stuff that couldn't stand legal scrutiny. You can criticize him for locking down the city during COVID, but those were perilous times, and confusion from DC on how to react didn't help. Count me as highly skeptical that he was solely responsible for those nursing home deaths since hospitals were calling on the state to return the elderly once they appeared to clear the virus to make room for others as the pandemic spread. My problem with Cuomo is doubts over whether he will stand up to the progressives who are destroying New York City and the state in general. His instincts are moderate — maybe even a bit conservative given the leftism that permeates the Democratic Party. I've sat down with him, and he talks a good game about preserving the business class in the city, how they produce jobs and will produce them elsewhere if he taxes them out of the state. Advertisement He understands the need for public safety, how the economy is inextricably tied to people feeling safe, which makes him an anomaly in New York's Dem Party. Housing values increase when you're not worried about them getting robbed. If people can't take the subway to work, they can now work from home, depriving small businesses of that end of the wealth effect. And yet, in his later years as governor, he gave in far too much to the lefty loons. New York state should be a fracking capital given shale supplies upstate. Cuomo blocked that. His bail reform law has been a disaster. Taxes were too high when he was governor, as they are now. He made the incompetent Kathy Hochul his No. 2 and now we're stuck with her running the state in his absence. That said, Cuomo's first term was decidedly centrist on taxes and a lot more. His dad, Mario Cuomo, a three-term governor, was among the greatest politicians of our time, so Andrew learned from the best. Will Cuomo 2.0 beat back the misguided support for Mamdani? The business class — and the future of this great city — are depending on it.
