UK to Roll Out New Crypto Legislation

The Breakdown First Five - Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. 14 Year Hodl

An early Bitcoin miner has moved 50 Bitcoin after holding since 2010. At the time, this was a single block reward, but is now valued at around $3.3M. 17 Bitcoin was sent to Coinbase while the remainder was consolidated in another wallet with no previous activity. Several other ancient Bitcoin wallets have awoken over the past month, with one moving 500 BTC to multiple fresh addresses. 

4. More German Crypto Banks

The largest state owned bank in Germany, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, has announced a crypto custody service in partnership with Bitpanda. Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank and Commerzbank have all announced similar offerings over the past year, suggesting crypto is table stakes for the German banking industry. The services will only be available to institutional clients, but executives claim demand is strong. 

3. Warren Wants CFTC Records

Elizabeth Warren has demanded that the CFTC had over records of communications with FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried. The regulator met with SBF more than 10 times prior to the FTX collapse, largely to discuss derivatives clearing. Warren insisted that she needs to interrogate CFTC records to “determine how this multi-billion-dollar crime was allowed to happen.” Is there a smoking gun or is Warren just looking for a scalp?

2. Norwegian Mining Licensing

The Norwegian government has proposed legislation that would require data centers to register their ownership and the nature of their operations. Far from being technology neutral, the law is intended to “close the door for the projects we do not want.” That means Bitcoin mining, which the energy minister claimed was “associated with large greenhouse gas emissions.” Bizarrely, Norway’s grid is 98% renewables, largely hydropower.

1. UK Lawmakers Push Crypto Legislation

The UK government plans to introduce crypto legislation by July to address stablecoins as well as staking, exchange and custody. Licensing was already passed last year, but more comprehensive regulations would provide greater certainty to the industry. The incumbent Tory government is down in the polls ahead an election later this year, so the clock is ticking if they plan to realize their goal of transforming the UK into a crypto hub.