Friday, the 22nd of July. As the week comes to an end, we can focus on the highlights of the crypto industry over the past few days.
U.S. set a deadline to pass a crypto bill
By 2023, a bipartisan bill to regulate the crypto industry could be adopted as a full-fledged document. This was announced by Cynthia Lummis, a U.S. Senator from Wyoming, at the Bloomberg Crypto Summit.
It will take some lawmakers more time to get to grips with the subject, she said. Kirsten Gillibrand, who co-authored the bill, added that policymakers and regulators “have begun to propose measures” for consumer protection.
“I think both Kirsten and I believe that the bill, in one piece, as a total bill is more likely to be deferred until next year,” Lummis noted.
She did not rule out that some parts of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act would be approved in 2022 as part of other regulations. Notably, Gillibrand referred to a proposal by colleagues Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman to authorize the CFTC to be the primary supervisory authority over the crypto industry.
Lummis suggested that the stablecoin regulation might be included in the document developed by the Banking Committee.
“There’s additional interest now, because they’ve seen that this is something important to do, that consumers are not being protected today, there’s no oversight or accountability, and there’s no rules of the road,” Gillibrand stated.
Prior to that, Elizabeth Warren, a member of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, urged Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take a tougher stance with respect to the crypto industry.
It should be mentioned that in December 2021, Lummis announced a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies, describing it as “comprehensive.” The document was expected to include a whole range of matters, from taxation to the protection of consumer rights.
U.S. Congressman alleges SEC for “unethical actions” towards crypto industry
The Securities and Exchange Commission is obstructing regulation of the crypto industry and behaving unethically toward its participants. House Member Tom Emmer made this statement.
Emmer accused the Commission of politicizing the rules during a meeting of the Financial Services Committee of the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress. According to him, the chairman of the department, Gary Gensler, has chosen the tactics of harassment and threats.
“Under Chair Gensler, the SEC has become a power-hungry regulator, politicizing enforcement, baiting companies to ‘come in and talk’ to the Commission, then hitting them with enforcement actions, discouraging good-faith cooperation,” the politician pointed out.
Emmer asked SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal whether such audits are mandated by the agency and what the consequences are for companies that refuse to engage in dialogue.
The agency representative admitted to taking compulsory measures against organizations not under the Commission’s jurisdiction. Moreover, Emmer described the regulator’s actions as “absolutely unacceptable”. He believes the agency uses unfair methods when it comes to digital assets.
Brad Sherman, a congressperson who previously called for a ban on the purchase of cryptocurrencies and mining, likewise criticized the SEC for its approach to industry participants. He brought up that the regulator indicted Ripple for selling undocumented securities in the form of XRP, instead of through trading platforms.
Gensler became the agency’s head in April of the last year. Within the next few months, he called on Congress to clarify the treatment of the crypto industry and warned of tighter oversight of Stablecoin and DeFi.
Tesla dumped 75% of its bitcoin holdings
By the end of Q2 2022, Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, had converted about 75% of its own bitcoins into cash, generating $936 million. Such data follows from the company’s report.
As Elon Musk said on a conference call, sales of the cryptocurrency were driven by the need to boost liquidity during China’s anti-Covid restrictions.
However, the company has not sold “a single” Dogecoin, the businessman noted. He previously commented that he would continue to support Dogecoin despite the market correction.
Musk also insisted that Tesla is open to any future investment made in bitcoin.
Total quarterly profit for the company now stands at $16.93 billion.
At the time of writing, shares of Tesla (TSLA) are listed at $742, according to Yahoo Finance. Bitcoin value drops below $22,900
Let us remind you that last February it became known that Tesla invested $1.5B in bitcoin. Elon Musk himself called these investments “quite risky”.
As early as April 2021, Tesla sold some assets in the form of the first-ever crypto for $272 million.
Google to launch AR glasses testing in August
This August, Google expects to test the next generation of AR glasses in a real-world setting. It was announced by Juston Payne, a group product manager at Google’s AR and VR division.
“The real-world tests will allow us to better understand how these devices can help people in their everyday lives,” he said.
Payne explained that the tests should help developers consider factors such as weather and busy intersections that are challenging to recreate indoors.
The tests will be narrowed down to a few dozen Google employees and its trusted partners. Those prototypes would be fitted with cameras, microphones, and displays built into the lens. Using them, developers assess sound and visual perception for features such as translation, transcription, and navigation.
Still, the capabilities of the device are going to be limited. The glasses may not capture photos or video, although Google will use image data to translate text and display destinations.
“After the experience is completed,” all sensitive data like faces and license plates will be erased. For 30 days, the company will only be able to use them if additional debugging and analysis is needed.
Google unveiled those next-gen AR glasses at its I/O developer conference back in May 2022. In 2014, the first version of the device, which was released to the market, was not a huge success.
But the new glasses are aimed at the corporate market. Release date of the device was not reported by Google.
As you may remember, 7-Eleven, a Japanese supermarket, tested AR-glasses for remote shopping this month.
Prior to that, Meta opened a physical retail shop in California in May to showcase the possibilities of the metaverse. Attendees can test the company’s VR headsets, Ray-Ban Stories smart sunglasses and Portal video calling devices.