Crypto
Donald Trump forms cryptocurrency working group to reform US digit asset regulations, including banking services | Today News
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the creation of a cryptocurrency working group tasked with proposing new digital asset regulations and exploring the creation of a national cryptocurrency stockpile, making good on his promise to quickly overhaul U.S. crypto policy.
The much-anticipated action also ordered that banking services for crypto companies be protected, alluding to industry claims that U.S. regulators have directed lenders to cut crypto companies off from banking services – something regulators deny. The order also banned the creation of central bank digital currencies in the U.S. which could compete with existing cryptocurrencies.
On the campaign trail, Trump courted crypto cash by pledging to be a “crypto president” and promote the adoption of digital assets. That is in stark contrast to former President Joe Biden’s regulators which, in a bid to protect Americans from fraud and money laundering, cracked down on the industry, suing exchanges Coinbase, Binance and dozens more, alleging they were flouting U.S. laws. The companies deny the allegations.
Thursday’s order was cheered by the crypto industry, which had been pushing for the new administration to send a strong signal of support in Trump’s first few days in office.
“Today’s crypto executive order marks a sea change in U.S. digital asset policy,” said Nathan McCauley, CEO and co-founder of crypto company Anchorage Digital.
“By taking a whole-of-government approach to crypto, the Administration is making a significant first step toward writing clear, consistent rules of the road.”
If implemented by the relevant regulators, Trump’s order has the potential to push cryptocurrencies into the mainstream, regulatory and crypto experts said. It follows Tuesday’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcement that it was creating a taskforce to overhaul crypto policy.
Bitcoin hit a fresh record high of $109,071 on Monday amid investor excitement over the new crypto-friendly administration, although it was down to about $103,000 as of late Thursday afternoon.
“Just days into his administration, President Trump is delivering on his promises… to keep the United States a leader in digital assets innovation,” Senator Tim Scott, the Republican chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement.
The industry has for years argued existing U.S. regulations are inappropriate for cryptocurrencies and have called for Congress and regulators to write new ones clarifying when a crypto token is a security, commodity or falls into another category.
The working group, which will include the Treasury secretary, chairs of the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with other agency heads, is tasked with developing a regulatory framework for digital assets, according to the order. That includes stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency typically pegged to the U.S. dollar.
The group is also set to “evaluate the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile… potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the Federal Government through its law enforcement efforts.”
The order did not provide further details on how such a stockpile would be set up and analysts and legal experts are divided on whether an act of Congress will be necessary. Some have argued the reserve could be created via the U.S. Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, which can be used to purchase or sell foreign currencies, and to also hold bitcoin.
In December, Trump named venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks as the crypto and artificial intelligence czar. He will chair the group, the order said.
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Crypto
Branch County woman loses thousands in cryptocurrency scam
QUINCY, Mich. — Police call it a scam that can happen to anyone, and it already has.
A woman in Branch County was told she failed to show up for jury duty, and could face arrest if she didn’t do exactly what was asked of her.
Erin Gilbert runs a non-profit animal shelter out of her home in Quincy.
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” she said. “It was like an out-of-body experience.”
Gilbert calls it three hours of terror and intimidation.
She picked up her phone to see a call identified as ‘private number’ on her phone.
The person on the other end said they were from the FBI, and that she did not appear for jury duty for a federal murder trial.
She was told there was a warrant for her arrest.
Gilbert was then emailed documents with her name and a false case number, telling her to pay thousands of dollars to pay a percentage of her supposed bond.
“At first I thought, ‘this is not right,”‘ she said. “‘This is a joke, right?’”
Gilbert heard police scanner noise and chatter in the background, and said they had an answer to every test she gave them.
“If I started questioning, they would be like, ‘ma’am, if you’re going to be combative with us, we’re just going to send it back to the judge.’”
She was directed to withdraw money from the bank, and take it to a Bitcoin kiosk at a gas station near Coldwater.
Gilbert told News Channel 3 she realized the scheme when she saw a scam warning sticker on the kiosk, but by then, it was too late.
On its Consumer Advice page, the Federal Trade Commission calls it a new twist on an old fraud tactic, where victims are asked to pay with cryptocurrency rather than gift cards or a payment app.
“Now that I look back and I see all these different things that I could have done, like hang up the phone or whatever, I feel like, ‘why didn’t I do that?’” she said.
Gilbert then went to Quincy Police Chief Dalton Turmell, who will be handling the case along with two Michigan State Police Crypto Unit detectives.
Turmell says no law enforcement agency will ever call someone about a serious matter or ask for money.
“If you have a warrant for your arrest, we will not tell you about it in that manner,” he said. “You will not get a phone call. That goes for local law enforcement to state to federal.”
Gilbert still believes it could have been worse, as she’s heard from other people who have lost their homes and identity to similar kinds of fraud.
She says she’s telling her story so that it puts a face on the people these scammers hurt.
“I’m not gullible, I’m not stupid. I’m human,” she said. “And I really thought it was real.”
Turmell says the best way to stop scammers is to not give them the benefit of the doubt.
You can let calls go to voicemail or just hang up if something is off, then call the police immediately afterward.
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