What the Supreme Court’s EPA decision could mean for crypto-POLITICO

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The crypto industry can urge Washington regulators to tailor rules and regulations all they want. It will not be on terra firma until there is a digital asset law on the books.

That’s the lesson crypto and Web3 lobbyists should take from a Supreme Court decision that stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to regulate power plants spewing greenhouse gases under the 52-year-old Clean Air Act, says Tomicah Tillemann, a former State Department official. who is head of policy at Haun Ventures.

The June 30 decision has been interpreted as a rebuke to federal agencies that have developed new rules for the industry without getting an explicit green light from Congress. With the SEC seeking to regulate crypto exchanges and Web3 startups through far-reaching securities laws, Tillemann — whose firm is a major investor in digital asset businesses — argues that the crypto lobby needs to focus its efforts on ensuring the passage of digital asset legislation.

“Successful laws of the past are not the only road map for the future, especially when it comes to web3, nor is piecemeal regulation and enforcement the path to mission-critical policy for the next generation of the Internet,” he wrote in a think piece. with Haun’s general counsel James Rathmell and lawyer JP Schnapper-Casteras. “Ultimately, we need new rules to govern these new tools.”

It is the latest example of how crypto’s Washington efforts are evolving in the pursuit of a new rulebook that is less rigid than existing frameworks for traditional securities such as stocks and bonds. Given Haun’s growing footprint — the firm launched a $1.5 billion debut fund to invest in new digital asset companies earlier this year — it’s also an indication of how cryptonative financiers plan to influence policymakers in the coming months.

– It is of course still the case that there is room for narrower regulations from the administrative bodies, said Tillemann in an interview. “But it is undeniably true that in the current legal environment, the legislation will carry significantly more weight and have significantly more impact than anything the agencies will be able to do on their own.”

The digital asset lobby has begun to score some successes on the Hill, even as the industry endures a barrage of scandals after a market crash that wiped out several high-flying lending startups and left millions of retail customers in the lurch.

New legislation from Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), which would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission direct authority over popular exchanges where Bitcoin and Ether are traded, is the clearest and latest indication that trade associations and the top crypto trading platforms are getting their message across to lawmakers.

With the SEC trying to force digital asset exchanges to register as national securities exchanges – a classification that would subject these platforms to harsh rules affecting everything from investor protection to their operation of internal trading desks — Industry leaders have pushed for new laws that will put them within much less of the CFTC’s mandate.

Lawmakers note that they are more or less united on this front.

“Almost everyone [of industry] feel the regulator should be the CFTC,” Boozman told reporters in a virtual press briefing earlier this month. “The fact that they are quite united about it makes it easier for the members.”

IT IS MONDAY — And Kate is back in the hall. Do you have a tip, story idea or other feedback for any of us? Call us at [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) will speak at a three-day fintech conference in Little Rock that starts today … The National Association of Home Builders releases data at 10 a.m. … Housing starts and building permit data out Tuesday … Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman speaks Wednesday … Federal Open Market Committee minutes released Wednesday … Labor Department hosts labor market data conference in Philadelphia Wednesday … Philadelphia Fed manufacturing data out Thursday … SEC holds a closed session meeting on Thursday

SUMMER SUMMER — Our Ben White: “When the White House sought help crafting key tax-increasing parts of the health care, climate and tax bills, one man was often on the other end of the phone line and email chains: Larry Summers. When Democratic lawmakers needed a final push to convince Sen. Joe Manchin that the Inflation Reduction Act would actually reduce inflation, they also turned to Summers. And when administration aides worry about how TV pundits will view their financial plans, the first person they think of is usually the former Treasury secretary.

Summers quiet but deep commitment in the White House, economic planning is notable since he has been among the sharpest critics of President Joe Biden’s spending policies almost from the start — a position that has earned him praise from Republicans and derision from progressives. Still, Democrats’ eagerness to enlist his support for Biden’s latest massive piece of legislation is evidence of how they can’t ignore him.”

A SPRAY OF ‘NOVEMBER SCENT’ ON THE COLLAR — POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris and Jordain Carney: “Democrats have won their biggest victory since they took full control of Washington 19 months ago. The November fragrance of their late political flowering remains to be seen. Every House Democrat gave final approval Friday night, along party lines, to a health, climate change and tax bill, delivering on a key campaign promise from Joe Biden’s presidency and ending more than a year of talks on the ground.”

WALL STREET LIKES IT — WSJ’s Amrith Ramkumar: “The climate and energy legislation that Congress just passed includes spending on both renewable energy startups and fossil fuel producers — a broad, if seemingly contradictory, strategy that many on Wall Street are already pursuing.”

NEW ROLE — WSJ’s Jon Hilsenrath: “With two bills moving through Congress in recent weeks, the Biden administration has increased the federal government’s grip on large sectors of the U.S. economy — including semiconductors, energy and health care — further burying the idea that was once widespread in Washington that private markets should be left alone, without government involvement.”

FIRST PURCHASE AND NOW THIS — Our Declan Harty: “A group of lawmakers led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren is backing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s plans to address a longstanding point of concern on Capitol Hill: stock trading by corporate executives.”

WATCH THIS SPACE – WaPo’s David Lynch: “Wheat is now cheaper than when the war began. Brent crude, the global benchmark, is hovering around the mid-February level of $97 a barrel. And the price of urea fertilizer, which almost doubled in the first weeks of the war, is back at pre-war levels. Still, markets could reverse course again and are likely to remain volatile into next year, analysts have said.

MARKETS — WSJ’s By Akane Otani: “Stocks hit another milestone in their comeback last week, with the Nasdaq Composite surging more than 20% from its mid-June low to end the longest bear market since 2008. The rally has sparked a familiar debate: Will rally continue ?”

AND DOES IT MAKE SENSE? — AP’s Stan Choe: “Wall Street’s big gains this summer have been spread across industries. Does the profit growth help to underpin these gains? Not so much. About 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their results for the second quarter, and their earnings per share are almost 8% higher compared to the same level a year ago… A closer look shows that investors are bidding up the prices of all stocks, not just the with strong merit.”

THE BILL, PLEASE — WSJ’s Gwynn Guilford: “As anyone who has lost their luggage or waited half an hour for a restaurant check can tell you, America needs a lot more workers in some parts of the economy. Economists think so too. Many of them see the imbalance in labor supply and demand as the core of America’s current economic They say fixing it is essential to achieving a so-called soft economic landing, in which the highest inflation in four decades falls without unemployment rising enough to trigger a recession.

DELETE – Declan Harty again: A handful of China’s biggest state-owned firms will voluntarily delist from the New York Stock Exchange in the coming weeks, marking the latest fallout from Washington and Beijing’s pushback over financial audit requirements.”

FAT MINUTES – Bloomberg’s Matthew Boesler: “An account of the debate at the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting, due to be released after two weeks of neck-snapping on Wall Street, is likely to provide clues about what will push the central bank to go big with tightening yet again in September .”

NOT SO FAST – Bloomberg’s Vildana Hajric and Michael Regan: “Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s chief investment officer has a warning for investors chasing the latest rally in stocks: Don’t get too excited about a potential spike in inflation after the CPI cooled slightly in July.”

UP 14% THIS MONTH — Bloomberg’s Joanna Ossinger: “Bitcoin briefly surpassed $25,000 for the first time since mid-June as momentum continued from cooler-than-expected US inflation data and progress toward Ethereum’s big upgrade.”

GOES WELL – The Block’s Tom Matsuda: “Acala Network, the decentralized financial hub of Polkadot, has been breached and its stablecoin decoupled from the dollar sign. Early this morning, Acala’s Twitter page posted that it noticed configuration issues regarding the Honzon protocol, affecting its stablecoin aUSD, prompting a vote to pause operations at Acala while it investigated the problem.

REDDITORS, MOUNT UP — Bloomberg’s Olga Kharif: “Reddit, Telegram and Twitter helped fuel the meme-stock craze, and now users on the sites are channeling that same energy to campaign in court in several crypto bankruptcy cases, including Celsius and Voyager Digital Ltd.” They leverage the huge social media communities that already exist for both platforms, encouraging users to write letters to the judge overseeing Celsius’ case, raise funds for legal representation, and share news and advice.”

Anshu Jain, The Cantor Fitzgerald president, who was known for his time guiding Deutsche Bank traders into the lender’s investment banking heights, has died five years after being diagnosed with duodenal cancer. He was 59 years old. Bloomberg’s Sonali Basak

Saudi Aramco, the giant oil producer, said on Sunday that its second-quarter profit rose 90 percent from the same period a year ago, reaching $48.2 billion. It is the latest energy producer to report bumper earnings on the back of an increase in oil prices. — NYT’s Kevin Granville