Brazilian lawmakers will hold their first hearing on August 20th to look into the bill that proposes building a strategic reserve for Bitcoin. The reserve is worth up to $18.6 billion and can take a serious step towards reshaping how Brazil I’ll think about it Foreign readiness and economic resilience.

Hearing focuses on risk management and diversifying reserves

Bill 4501/2024 proposes to hold up to 5% of Brazil’s Treasury reserves in Bitcoin, framing it in response to hedging currency volatility and rising geopolitical risks. Lawmakers who support the proposal say it’s not about betting on Bitcoin, but about preparing for a financial world that looks very different from what Brazil had planned in the past.

Brazil’s Congress will discuss the creation of a strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Brazil’s historic step in the global crypto landscape.#Brazil #bitcoin #cryptonnews pic.twitter.com/bqganmuva5

– Just Santana (@kakassanana) August 20, 2025

Experts from all over the industry will talk

This is not just a political form. Deputy Louis Philippe de Orleans E. Braganza has called for a hearing, with Diego Colling, who leads the Bitcoin strategy at Mary’s, and Julia Rosim of Bitso and Abupriptoco. Officials from Brazil’s central bank and the Ministry of Finance are also there, revealing that this is more than just a crypto-only conversation. Also, it’s about fiscal strategy.

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Bitcoin is placed under joint custody

If passed, the bill will place custody of the Bitcoin Reserve in both the central bank and the Treasury. The designers configured it to avoid centralized control and add a layer of monitoring. The law also calls for double annual reports on reserve performance and risk, giving lawmakers and the public a more clear view of how the experiment is progressing.

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The next step involves several approval layers

Once this hearing is over, the bill still has a long way to go. Four important committees must be cleared: economic development, science and innovation, finance and taxation, constitution and justice. If it accomplishes it through that gauntlet, it heads to the full vote in the House and in the Senate, and finally to the President for final approval. The August 20th hearing was just the first test.

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Brazil shows that they are already used to cryptography

Brazil doesn’t start from scratch here. Already one of the most active crypto markets in Latin America, it quickly approves crypto ETFs. Last year, trading volumes approached $76 billion, and the country has been highly praised by global adoption reports. Adding Bitcoin to the national reserves is a major move, but it has no characterization.

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Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies Economic Development Commission will hold its first hearing on Aug. 20 to examine a proposal to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve (RESBit) worth up to $18.6 billion.

As Agência Câmara de Notícias reported, the 3 P.M. ET session will gather technical perspectives on Bill 4501/24, which seeks to modernize Brazil’s treasury management and enhance competitiveness in the global digital economy.

Deputy Luiz Philippe de Orleans e Bragança requested the hearing to collect expert analysis from government agencies and financial institutions regarding the RESBit proposal.

The legislation aims to diversify Brazil’s Treasury assets and protect international reserves against exchange rate fluctuations and geopolitical risks.

Confirmed speakers include Diego Kolling, head of Bitcoin strategy at Méliuz, and Julia Rosim, ABcripto policy working group coordinator and Bitso head of public policy.

Legislative framework and market context

Lawmaker Eros Biondini introduced the legislation, citing successful blockchain integration by countries including El Salvador, the United States, China, Dubai, and the European Union.

The bill assigns custody responsibilities to Brazil’s Central Bank and Finance Ministry and requires biannual reports on RESBit performance and risk assessments.

Brazil leads Latin America in crypto adoption and ranks 10th globally according to Chainalysis’ Geography of Crypto report 2024.

According to Brazilian tax authority data, the country traded nearly $76 billion in crypto last year.

The proposal positions Brazil among nations exploring digital asset reserves as hedges against traditional currency.

Committee review process and approval requirements

Following the hearing on Aug. 20, the proposal enters conclusive analysis by four Chamber committees: Economic Development, Science Technology and Innovation, Finance and Taxation, and Constitution Justice and Citizenship.

Each committee must approve the legislation before advancing to full Chamber consideration.

The bill requires approval from both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate to become law, establishing a comprehensive legislative review process for the Bitcoin reserve proposal.

Technical input from the hearing will inform committee evaluations and potential text modifications during the review phases.

Orleans e Bragança seeks perspectives from monetary authorities, government officials, banking system representatives, and subject matter experts to refine the proposal text.

The deputy noted the importance of collecting Central Bank technical analysis before committee markup sessions begin to perfect the legislation.

Mentioned in this article

Today, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) held a final status meeting hearing in the tornado cash case, a trial that begins this Monday, July 14th.

The hearing was essentially held, with attendees including Judge Katherine Polk Failla (the judge who presides the trial), Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, and members of the defense and prosecutors.

Storm faces three accusations. It is a conspiracy to commit money laundering, a conspiracy to run an unlicensed remittance business, or a conspiracy to commit a sanction.

The main topics discussed at the hearing include:

• The basis for the New York State Court to become the venue for the trial
• The impact of the storm Bloomberg Reporter who reported Tornado Cash in March 2020
• Whether or not all actions by Tornado Cash Cofounders and developers continue to carry out Tornado Cash has facilitated the conspiracy in the prosecution of Storm
• Tolerance of data extracted from phones by Alexey Pertsev, co-founder of Tornado Cash
• How Judge Fila plans to focus more on how Storm runs his for-profit business than on details of Tornado Cache’s encryption mixing software.

Before engaged in these topics, Judge Phila shared some important details regarding the minutes of the trial.

Trial details

The trial begins at 9:30am EST on Monday morning, with one of the first items on the docket being a ju apprentice’s choice.

Judge Phila noted that the trial will not be recorded, broadcast or rebroadcast. (I’m there to cover most, if not all, of it!)

She also hopes to see the trial close within three weeks, but she doesn’t think it will, and she may need to take a little break from trial to celebrate her sick mother’s birthday.

Additionally, Judge Phila said no opening statement would be made until Tuesday, July 15th.

Why Tornado Cash Trials are being held in SDNY

Prosecutors say the trial is underway in SDNY as Storm operated a website that promotes tornado cash transactions from New York City for a period of time.

Prosecutors alleged that Storm also funded tornado cash and frequently communicated with one of the then-New York City-based venture capital (VC) principals.

Prosecutors added that Storm frequently requests from the VC principal, and that the requests are not merely related to fundraising.

Storm “fix” a Bloomberg Reporter

Prosecutors explained how Storm contacted him in March 2020. Bloomberg The reporter who wrote a story about Tornado cash would have the reporter change the story so that the authorities would not recognize Tornado cash from a negative standpoint.

They allegedly said that Storm spoke to reporters and that the persuasive reporter described the story as “inaccurate the story.”

The defense retreated and Storm said he had contacted reporters only to ensure that “appropriate modifications” had been made to the story.

Storm did not discuss the issue at the hearing.

Promote all the recharged plots?

Prosecutors have brought to the notion that all the efforts Storm and his co-founders made in running a for-profit organization that utilized tornado cash technology further promoted all the conspiracy that Storm was indicted.

One of the efforts cited by the prosecutors was Storm and his co-founder, encouraging US-based Tornado Cash users to use the service, which led to North Korean hackers creating a larger pool of capital for money mixed with software (which makes it easier to anonymize funds).

When the prosecutors made this argument, the judge pushed back and asked the prosecutor to clarify whether he believed the tornado cash co-founder to lift the business and promoted the accused conspiracy.

This put the prosecutors on pause, and at this moment one of the defense counsels moved to dismiss the charges against Arashi due to a lack of venue.

The judge quickly denied the move before claiming that such a request had made her very annoyed, which made her “run off in a hive.”

Graykey Progress Report

Throughout the hearing, Judge Phila raised a Graykey Data extraction from Alexey Pertsev’s phone. (Peltsev was sentenced to five years in the Netherlands for his involvement in tornado cash.)

Heading into the second half of the hearing, she asked both the prosecutor and the defense if they had any questions about Pertsev’s phone, then raised questions about whether the data extracted from Pertsev’s phone was acceptable. She decided to postpone the decision on the matter until trial.

She then requested that both the prosecutor and the defense review the data in question and the process it was obtained and be prepared to address the issue during trial.

Focus on the front end

It was clear that Judge Phila would at least focus on tornado cash as a mixing service, not on the front-end interface, a website created by Storm to facilitate transactions through Tornado Cash software.

“(We’re not going to think about a mix of encryption,” the judge said.

However, she said she was waiting for a response from the defense to what she wrote.

Witness and movement In Limin

Aside from the above issues, attendees at the hearing discussed the case’s witnesses and supplementary movements. In Limin (Not publicly disclosed before or during trial because it is irrelevant, prejudiced or unacceptable).

However, the witness’s name was not disclosed at the hearing, but prosecutors said “Withdate #1” had recently been identified and interviewed the witness.

The judge granted the request for defense to rule out certain material related to Witness #1.

Multiple movements In Limin It was discussed. During this part of the hearing, the judge told the prosecutor that he should not do anything like discussing the emotional stress that witnesses endured from having funds that frozen tornado cash.

Instead, she said she prefers witnesses who are victims who freeze funds, whether they reach out to the tornado cash team or not to have their funds frozen.

It was not discussed

During today’s hearing, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has not removed tornado cash from the sanctions list, nor the court recently deleted a Coincenter’s appeal to OFAC on the issue.

As the U.S. House of Representatives digs into digital assets policy during what lawmakers have styled “Crypto Week” next week, the committee that focuses on tax policy will discuss the proper way forward for taxing crypto.

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Jason Smith, announced a July 16 hearing of the oversight subcommittee to look at the “affirmative steps needed to place a tax policy framework on digital assets,” according to a statement on Wednesday.

Crypto taxation is next in line behind overall regulation of the markets and the oversight of stablecoins as a leading policy issue expected to get attention in Congress. The two primary legislative efforts are both expected to see action next week, including a potential House vote to approve the Senate’s recently passed bill to regulate stablecoin issuers.

Taxation on digital assets activity has long been a millstone around the industry’s neck, because until crypto taxes get a reliable, rational U.S. tax regime, investors have to face uncertainty in their accounting approach. The House hearing announcement comes on the heels of Senator Cynthia Lummis’ introduction of a bill last week in the other chamber of Congress that addresses some of the lingering complaints of cryptocurrency users.

Lummis’ legislation would set a threshold of $300 on crypto transactions that would need to factor into a users’ tax calculations, freeing up people’s small, day-to-day transactions from capital-gains headaches — limited to a total of $5,000 a year. And it would also eliminate double taxation on crypto given in staking, mining, airdrops and forks, eliminating the initial tax when the rewards are received and focusing only on taxing gains from the eventual sale.

It’s unclear what the House has in mind just yet, but the Republican-led committee is looking for industry-friendly policy, with the hearing entitled, “Making America the Crypto Capital

of the World: Ensuring Digital Asset Policy Built for the 21st Century.”

Read More: Crypto Tax Proposal That Didn’t Make It to Trump’s Budget Bill Pushed on Its Own

Many members of the US Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on digital assets were not present for a hearing to discuss market structure.

In a Tuesday hearing, “exploring bipartisan legislative frameworks for digital asset market structure,” the subcommittee chair, Cynthia Lummis, said there had been “a lot of competing committees” on the schedule for the day, which may have explained why only five senators out of the 11 typically on the subcommittee were available to ask questions to former regulators and industry experts. 

Republican senators Dave McCormick, Bill Hagerty and Bernie Moreno joined Lummis, another Republican, and Senator Angela Alsobrooks to ask questions of former US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam, Coinbase’s vice president of legal, Ryan VanGrack, Multicoin Capital’s general counsel, Greg Xethalis and University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Executive Director, Sarah Hammer.

The lawmakers questioned the experts on the principles behind the Senate’s potential introduction of legislation to establish a crypto market structure bill after its successful passage of a stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act. Lummis seemed to acknowledge the lack of participation in the hearing, noting that she didn’t “want to come up with a piece of legislation that the other side of the aisle feels they haven’t had adequate input in.”

“I don’t understand what’s changed, at least with regard to this topic,” said Lummis on bipartisan engagement around crypto bills. “Now, I understand what happens when you have a set of leaders that are not engaged in digital assets, and then in comes an administration that has family members that are engaged in digital assets, and maybe that’s what this is about. Maybe this is about concern that certain people that have family members in the administration are going to be advantaged in some way by what we’re doing.”

Alsobrooks, the sole Democratic lawmaker appearing at the hearing, was not a regular member of the subcommittee and appeared to be sitting in for the ranking member, Ruben Gallego. She was a cosponsor of the original GENIUS Act and voted in favor of the amended bill.

Related: Despite Trump’s backing, crypto is choosing MiCA over America: Paybis

Clarity for digital assets originating from the House or Senate?

Moreno also questioned why the proposed legislation appeared to be a partisan issue for many lawmakers, though neither he nor Lummis mentioned US President Donald Trump by name in discussing potential conflicts of interest with the crypto market structure or stablecoin bills.

Many Democrats in the Senate already voted with Republicans to pass the GENIUS Act on June 17, but some have suggested that they would continue to oppose legislation without a carve-out to address the president’s ties to the crypto industry. 

The proposed market structure legislation in the Senate follows efforts in the House of Representatives to pass its own bill, the Digital Asset Market Clarity, or CLARITY Act. The legislation moved out of committee in June and is expected to be considered for a floor vote soon.

Magazine: US risks being ‘front run’ on Bitcoin reserve by other nations: Samson Mow

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/many-senators-absent-from-bipartisan-crypto-market-structure-hearing/feed/ 0 43949 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/house-financial-services-committee-member-maxine-waters-will-object-to-crypto-hearing/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/house-financial-services-committee-member-maxine-waters-will-object-to-crypto-hearing/#respond Mon, 05 May 2025 23:00:37 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/house-financial-services-committee-member-maxine-waters-will-object-to-crypto-hearing/

Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters (D-MO) is slated to object to a joint crypto hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Politico reported on Monday.

Maxine Waters Hones In On Trump Crypto Connections

Hosted alongside the House Agriculture panel and titled American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets: A Blueprint for the 21st Century, the hearing is supposed to feature speakers such as Coinbase Product VP Greg Tusar, Former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Benham, and Hiro Systems CEO Alex Miller.

The hearing, which is scheduled to cover regulatory concerns around crypto market structure, requires unanimous consent by all committee members.

However, an anonymous staffer told Politico that Waters plans to walk out with several other Democrats and host a “shadow hearing” regarding U.S. President Donald Trump and his family’s ties to the crypto sector.

The crypto-oriented clash comes the same day that several key Republican lawmakers, including House Financial Service Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AR), released an official discussion draft that would establish a sweeping regulatory framework for digital assets in the U.S.

Republicans and Democrats Divided Over Trump

“We made historic progress in the 118th Congress to build bipartisan, bicameral consensus in crafting a functional regulatory framework for digital assets,” Hill said in a May 5 statement.

“Our discussion draft builds upon that work and provides much-needed regulatory clarity for the digital asset ecosystem by protecting consumers and safeguarding the long-term integrity of digital asset markets in the United States,” he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been under growing scrutiny for his connections to the world of crypto in recent weeks, particularly amongst his Democratic opponents.

Trump is slated to hold a dinner gala later this month in Washington D.C. for top investors of his namesake meme coin, $TRUMP, sparking concerns over potential ethics violations.

“The American people deserve the unwavering assurance that access to the presidency is not being offered for sale to the highest bidder in exchange for the President’s own financial gain,” Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) said in a letter this month.

It remains to be seen just exactly how Tuesday’s hearing will go down – and which key lawmakers will or will not participate aside from Waters.

The post House Financial Services Committee Member Maxine Waters Will Object To Crypto Hearing appeared first on Cryptonews.

The legal troubles of Do Kwon are far from over. A US federal judge has postponed his court hearing, originally set for March 6, after prosecutors uncovered a massive amount of new evidence.

With four terabytes of additional data now in play, the case against the Terraform Labs co-founder is becoming even more complex.

Massive Data Dump Forces Delay

Prosecutors have handed over 600 gigabytes of data to Kwon’s defense team so far. This includes materials from his phones, emails, and other electronic accounts. But now, with four terabytes of new evidence to examine, both sides need more time to prepare.

The court has pushed the hearing date to April 10 to allow prosecutors to sort through the files and the defense to review what could be critical information. The judge’s decision reflects the size of the data and its potential impact on the case.

Key Deadlines Before Do Kwon Trial

This delay has not changed the date of the trial—January 26, 2026. Both sides have until July 1 to submit pretrial motions; the deadline for reply is August 11. These filings most certainly will affect the arguments put up in court and during the trial.

After the prosecutors stated in a letter dated February 27 that they expected to produce an extra 4 gigabytes of discovery to the defense by the end of next week, Judge Paul Engelmayer delayed a hearing scheduled for March 6 to April 10 in an order dated March 3.

Excerpt from Judge Paul Engelmayer’s March 3 order that adjourned the next hearing to April 10. Source: CourtListener

After January 2025 pleading not guilty to nine felony fraud charges, Kwon enters a protracted legal fight. As the case develops, his defense team will work to refute the evidence and assertions of the prosecution.

The Collapse Of Terra And Kwon’s Arrest

Terraform Labs, the company Kwon co-founded, collapsed in May 2022. The failure of its algorithmic stablecoin, TerraClassicUSD (USTC), wiped out $60 billion in market value. The fallout led to widespread losses, investigations, and lawsuits.

BTCUSD trading at $88,335 on the daily chart: TradingView.com

After the collapse, Kwon moved between Singapore and Dubai before being arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for using a fake passport. He served a four-month sentence there before being extradited to the US in December 2024.

What’s Next For Do Kwon?

With the case growing more complicated, Kwon’s future remains uncertain. The addition of four terabytes of evidence raises new questions about the strength of the prosecution’s case. If this material contains damning information, it could be bad news for Kwon.

For now, all eyes are on the upcoming hearing in April. The extra time may help both sides prepare, but it also signals that the legal battle over Terraform Labs is far from finished.

Featured image from Gemini Imagen, chart from TradingView

Today, the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets held its first hearing entitled “Exploring a Bipartisan Legislative Framework for Digital Assets.”

Sen. Cynthia Lumith (R-WY), a longtime supporter of the Bitcoin and digital assets industry, moderated the hearing with support from ranking members of the subcommittee ranking member Sen. Reuben Gallego (D-AZ).

Witnesses included Tim Massad, former CFTC chair and researcher at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Jai Massari, Chief Legal Officer of Lightspark. Jonathan Jachim, world head of policy and government relations at Kraken. Lewis Cohen, partner of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.

Setting the tone for the meeting, Senator Ramis said he intends to do his part in passing bipartisan Bitcoin and Stubcoin laws. (This was one of the few times the word “bitcoin” was mentioned during the meeting. One of the only other times mentioned at the hearing was when Massad announced his opposition to the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve.)

Throughout the hearing, Massad emphasized the importance of monitoring Stablecoin transactions. He proposed extending the “regulatory boundaries” to address the challenges of AML (money laundering anti-money laundering) associated with Stablecoins, and even suggested that smart contracts be designed in a way that reduces the risk of bad actors using them.

“(We) program the smart contracts to prevent the transaction from passing unless someone properly screens it,” Massad said.

Massad also suggested that Stablecoin issuers “actively monitor stubcoin activity” as a way to keep them eye on AML violations.

Massari pointed out that since these assets are implemented on public blockchains, authorities could also investigate Stablecoin transactions. She also called for wise regulations on technology.

“We tend to cram financial services into the old ones (when we regulate), bringing in new ones,” she said.

Additionally, she also advocated a “common standard set” that manages stubcoin issuers, allowing users to gain confidence in all stubcoins that are properly backed.

Jachym has made an effort to shift the focus of the hearing from Stablecoins to the Digital Asset Market Structure Bill. This argues that it is “important” for regulators to establish clear guidelines for digital assets being securities and not.

However, he didn’t take much. Massad said he argued that Stablecoins’ debate is more important than discussing the market structure bill, as regulators can work with existing securities laws to regulate crypto markets, and that the market structure bill is not a pressing issue.

Jachym emphasized that “digital assets around the jurisdiction should be simple,” saying that “the lack of certainty for regulators in the US is hampering growth (in the crypto industry).”

Cohen made a similar argument, saying that US crypto entrepreneurs “feel the constant threat of litigation,” hinting at former SEC chairman Gary Gensler’s “enforcement-based regulation” approach.

He also shared that “an uncertain regulatory environment left both consumers and users of digital assets at risk.”

The only participant in the hearing was Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) who directly pushed back the US government’s desire to (over) regulate digital assets.

“The government has this complete and complete desire to control things,” Senator Moreno said.

“When you arrived at digital currency, why did you think you’d determine the pace of innovation in Washington, DC?” he concluded.

Throughout the meeting, subcommittee members asked witnesses what clues should be taken by jurisdictions around the world as the US modelled its digital asset regulatory framework.

Massad argued for the market for Europe and Crypto Asset Regulation (MICA) framework, which was just enacted by the European Union, but Jachim suggested that they look to states like Wyoming, which are the basis for Kraken, to learn from the cryptography that the state legislature has passed.

The presentation of the subcommittee senators and witnesses provided a variety of perspectives on the topic discussed, but certain feelings permeated the hearing. That was to bring together politicians on both sides of the aisle to create clear rules for the crypto industry roads.

“Bipartisan support for crypto policy is no longer a distant horizon goal,” says Jachym, with some sense of relief.