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The Regulatory Landscape of Bitcoin – Melanion Capital Podcast

The Role Of Education In Shaping Bitcoin Policy The world of Bitcoin is not just about digital currency; it’s also about policy and advocacy. In this Bitcoin Equities Talks episode, Yael Ossowski, Deputy Director at Consumer Choice Center discusses how the Bitcoin Policy Institute is at the forefront of educating lawmakers and the public about the implications of Bitcoin. They are working on policy primers…

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Free speech platforms like ‘X’ will never pass the EU’s DSA test

Today, the European Commission released its initial findings in the investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, and whether it has violated the Digital Services Act since begin designated a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) on April 25, 2023. That designation came just six months after the platform was purchased and taken private by tech mogul Elon Musk, after X had declared its over 45 million monthly EU users. The…

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Taking a bite out of MiCA, the EU’s comprehensive crypto legislation challenging the nature of decentralisation

To much fanfare, European Union legislators and commissioners last year negotiated the final framework of the bloc’s cryptocurrency regulation, known as the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). On June 30 of this year, Titles III and IV came into force, stipulating the requirements for issuers of “asset-referenced tokens” (commodity basket tokens) and “e-money tokens” (stablecoins). The rest of the regulation will come into force in December 2024….

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The FTC should throw out its ‘junk fees’ rule and start over 

Everything feels more expensive right now, and that’s because it is. Despite a notable decline from its peak of 9.1 percent in June 2022, inflation remains higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.  Since January 2021, prices have surged by an astonishing 17.6 percent. Grocery prices today are 21 percent higher than in January 2021, and while gas prices will tick down this summer, they’re still 10 percent higher than they…

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Trial Lawyer Marketing Machine Needs a Reboot

If you ask most Americans when it’s time to call a lawyer, the answer is no mystery: after a law has been broken, you’re forced to do so. Just as we don’t ask doctors to prescribe medicine before we’re sick, most people don’t pay for lawyers and then go commit crimes. Trial lawyers, however, might be the exception. Where there is no injury, one must…

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EU’s degrowth policies fence Europeans off from benefits of open source AI

Last week, American tech company Meta announced in a blog post it will postpone the launch of its Meta AI product to European users. The company had hoped to offer the same product now available in other countries, integrating a personal assistant into the various suite of Meta apps, but that plan will be on hold until legal matters are settled. The pause came at the request of the Irish Data…

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Elizabeth Warren Ditches Consumer Welfare In Support of Big Banks

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) loves to cast herself as the ultimate public defender of consumers and the arch-nemesis of bankers on Wall Street.  However, with her recent record opposing popular mergers and shutting down regulatory reform for Bitcoin and its crypto-offspring, Warren has sided more with the major banks rather than new players that stand to empower consumers. In the last month, Warren has used…

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In Pursuit Of “Corporate Transparency,” A Mass Doxxing Of LLCs Puts Financial Freedom And Privacy At Risk

Beginning this year, any individual with shares in an American domiciled company will be required to submit identifying information to FinCEN. This record collection from the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is intended to “curb illicit finance” by requiring a national database of every “beneficial owner” of an LLC. As stipulated by the Corporate Transparency Act, passed by Congress in 2019 and later snuck into the National Defense Authorization Act in 2020,…

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