- A landmark Tornado Cash criminal trial is set to start.
- New head of blockchain lobbying group will have a packed agenda.
- Crypto policymaking is shifting into high gear.
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When it comes to crypto policymaking, there’s a lot of action unfolding across multiple fronts as summer unfolds.
The Blockchain Association hired Summer Mersinger, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as the new CEO of the industry’s lobbying group.
Mersinger, a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, will be taking the reins at a time when the crypto industry’s agenda is in flux on Capitol Hill.
Bills on the docket
Earlier this month, Senate Republicans failed to muster the 60 votes needed to fast track the Genius Act, the landmark stablecoin bill, toward potential approval.
It looks like Thune and the GOP are formulating a new strategy for passing the legislation.
At the same time, the House of Representatives is weighing two bills — a stablecoin measure and market structure legislation. Those bills are expected to go to committee votes soon.
On the legal front, the Roman Storm case is making headlines as the Tornado Cash dev’s criminal trial approaches in July.
On Friday, Storm’s lawyers argued in a court motion that US prosecutors had withheld key communications with a federal agency that would help his defence, Kyle Baird reported.
The case is important because it could establish a legal doctrine that the founders and devs at anonymising apps cannot be held responsible for bad actors who may use them to conceal illicit transactions.
Smart contracts
Crypto privacy advocates had hoped that the feds would drop charges against Storm after an appeals court ruled in a separate civil case that smart contracts cannot be covered by existing US national security law.
As a result, US officials removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list.
Prosecutors are moving ahead with Storm’s case, and the outcome is shaping up to be the most significant legal development in the short history of DeFi.
Meanwhile, the drama surrounding President Donald Trump and his controversial memecoin is shaking up Washington.
This Thursday, the president will host the top 220 holders of his memecoin at a gala event at one of his private golf clubs.
Some of the top holders shared with Liam Kelly some insights into how and why they bought in — and what they might wear to the dinner.
The thing to watch, though, is how the spectacle of a commander-in-chief selling access through a memecoin plays out politically.
Crypto policy mavens such as Mersinger would love to build bipartisan consensus around stablecoin legislation, and initiatives to come on taxes, regulatory jurisdiction, among others.
Will Trump’s crypto actions jeopardise this?
Edward Robinsonis the story editor forDL News. Contact the author ated@dlnews.com.
