With the rising popularity of Web3 and the metaverse, songwriters and musicians are wondering what music licensing will look like in this new space.

MetaMask Institutional has introduced a new staking marketplace to give institutional users access to solo Ethereum staking.

(DALL-E/CoinDesk)

Cardano whales are largely behind ADA's price rally in the last week, helped by Bitcoin's multi-month highs amid the banking crisis and Fed pivot hopes.

Obligate is a fully regulated platform in Switzerland. (Stephen Leonardi/Unsplash)

Circles chief strategy officer Dante Disparte said at a Paris Blockchain Week panel that, while the state of blockchain is currently not strong, people are continuing to build and develop.

All investor eyes are on the Federal Reserve, which will announce its latest interest-rate policy on Wednesday. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Nigerians form long queues at ATMs as cash shortages continue (TVC News)

CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersigner discusses the inevitability of innovation and clears up the agencys role in bitcoin regulation.

In light of recent events, many in the Bitcoin community are looking for regulatory clarity now more than ever. Questions such as who should regulate Bitcoin? and will the U.S. allow Bitcoin innovation or pursue a central bank digital currency (CBDC)? are at the top of the list.

To learn more about the regulatory landscape for Bitcoin-focused businesses, I sat down with Summer Mersinger, the commissioner for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to get her thoughts on these issues and more. To further understand her perspective, we started with a brief background that explored her personal interest in Bitcoin. This is vital to the conversation because before commissioners can contribute meaningful policy to the Bitcoin space, Bitcoin must be understood.

Mersinger has been serving at the CFTC since 2022 after being appointed by President Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. She received her bachelors degree from the University of Minnesota and later earned a law degree from the Columbus School of Law in Washington, DC. Since that time, she has spent over 20 years on Capitol Hill in a variety of positions. These range from working as an aide to South Dakota Senator John Thune, to advocating for financial technology organizations as a senior vice president at lobbying firm Smith-Free Group.

When she is off the clock, Mersinger spends time with her husband and four children; two teenage daughters and two elementary-aged sons. She describes herself as a huge animal lover, which stems from being raised on a farm. She said that she was always surrounded by animals, and its a habit she continues to this day.

Below are her thoughts regarding a variety of topics surrounding Bitcoin.

How did you first learn about Bitcoin and what specifically drew you to it?

Although I cannot recall the exact timing of when I first learned about Bitcoin, I can say that what drew me to it was the technology involved.

The CFTC, where I serve, regulates trading in derivatives products that are used for price discovery and risk management purposes. The CFTC is a technology-neutral regulator, which means, in practice, we do not view any one technology as better than any other technology. And admittedly, as regulators, we are sometimes skeptical of the new and unknow...

Bitget invests $30 million in BitKeep (Pixabay)

The American venture capital investor Tim Draper took the stage at Paris Blockchain Week 2023 to talk about the decentralization of the future of money.

The Paris-based banking agency is hiring crypto experts (Sylvain Sonnet/Getty Images)

The sold amount accounts for 9% of all Coinbase shares bought by ARK Invest so far this year, and about 23% of COIN acquired in March.

Deutsche Brse(Shutterstock)

Marcus Swanepoel, Luno co-founder and CEO, is moving into the new role of executive chairman. (provided)

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Industry experts and regulators weigh in on the European Unions proposed MiCA rules at Paris Blockchain Week.

XRP tokens have jumped 20% in the past 24 hours as Ripple defendants heralded a positive view in its ongoing case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

MapleStory gameplay. (YoutTube)

Copper CEO Dmitry Tokarev (Copper)

Deflationary tokens like Ethereum are the key to differentiating Web3 ecosystems from traditional capital markets.

Cointelegraph analyst and writer Marcel Pechman explains how the Credit Suisse bank crisis will impact the crypto market.

Bitzlato has yet to resolve the issue with the remaining 50% of user funds and may eventually compensate using its own funds.

The fraudsters would usually exploit the smart contracts to allow for the approval of unauthorized transactions.

Bitcoin may celebrate no matter what the Fed decides on interest rates, but one analyst worries about the extent of longs that would be liquidated below $20,000.

(Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Bitcoin is flat, stuck around $28,000, ahead of Fed rate decision. (Sebastian Huxley/Unsplash)

Tether logo (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

The acute cash shortage in Nigeria was due to the central banks decision to replace older bank notes with bigger denominations amid rising inflation.

Pre-summit events such as the Talent Fair, Startup Competition and Investors Day made up the day on March 20 at Paris Blockchain Week.

In a court filing, lawyers in a class-action lawsuit alleged that Ben Armstrong began harassing them after he was named a defendant.

Parliament house, Canberra, Australia. (Unsplash)

Ted Cruz said it is more important than ever to ensure the financial privacy of American citizens is preserved.

The alleged fraudster was accused of doing the exact opposite of her job title, which was to ensure OneCoin was complying with laws.

The report included 35 pages seemingly aimed at debunking the merits of crypto assets.

1.00 AUD = 0.00002 BTC
0.00010 BTC = 4.25 AUD
Converter

0.00010 BTC = 2.83 USD
1.00 USD = 0.00004 BTC
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While the existence of Operation Choke Point 2.0 has not been confirmed, Mick Mulvaney spoke of rumors of its existence and the potential side effects of such a policy.

Cathie Wood was impressed that Bitcoin moved in a very different way compared to the equity market in response to the recent banking crisis.

Cathie Wood, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, ARK Invest (Marco Bello/Getty Images)

Its one of the first major NFT marketplaces to join the Bitcoin Ordinals fray, which as of March 21 boasted 567,087 inscriptions.

(Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress/Getty Images)

White House (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

North Korean-linked Lazarus Group is alleged to be behind the hack of Axie Infinity's Ronin Bridge. (Getty Images)

Brazilians will have more options for trading in crypto and better customer service as the United States-based exchange partners with the popular instant payment app.

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Senator Elizabeth Warren (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images)

Should they opt in to the deal, Celsius customers cannot pursue any litigation, including seeking relief from the automatic stay, turnover, or other claims or causes of action.

Users will once again be able to selectively spend their UTXOs via the Wasabi Wallet interface.

Hungarian-based Wasabi bringing back Coin Control. The function allows optional insight and control of the wallets Smart Coin Selection Algorithm via Coin Control for sending.

Coin control, explained here by Nopara, inventor of Wasabi, has become an industry standard expectation for privacy-conscious Bitcoin users, but, according to the press release, its usage in Wasabi Wallet 1.0 demonstrated that it often caused more harm than good. With version 2.0.3, users can choose between the smart coin selection algorithm and optional coin control. Advanced users can hold down the Alt key to inspect and modify features.

According to Max Hillebrand, CEO at zkSNACKs and Wasabi Wallet contributor, The goal of Wasabi 2.0 has always been to remove complexity and friction from the default user experience. That's the only way we can gather a large user base and offer substantial privacy. However, we can make the default even easier if we have an optional place to put the complexity, where skilled users can fine-tune their wallets performance to their hearts desire.

In addition to the update, Wasabi Wallet 2.0.3 includes an upgrade to Tor 0.4.7.12, offering improved stability for MacOS M1 users and various bug fixes.

Hillebrand added, If we want privacy to become the default for Bitcoin transactions, we must do everything we can to reduce the fee costs falling on users for using privacy preserving technology.

Previously, Wasabi Wallet customers were confronted with the announcement it would start preventing certain unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) from joining its CoinJoin rounds, sparking surprise and rebellion on Twitter as users wondered why the project would make a decision supposedly contrarian to the uncensorable ethos of Bitcoin. Despite these hiccups, this latest update continues to focus on privacy as a stated core tenant of Wasabis development.

Yat Siu (Kevin Abosch)

Paris Blockchain Week founder Michael Amar believes large Web2 companies entering the Web3 space bring resources capable of increasing mass adoption.

(L-R) Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India and Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian Finance Minister (Indian Ministry of Finance)

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The financing was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Makers Fund, Bitkraft, Kingsway Capital and Hashed, among others.

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The DAO said it would not be commenting on ongoing legal investigations, but its existing $100,000 defense fund was apparently not enough.

Bitfarms mining rigs (Eliza Gkritsi/CoinDesk)

XRP price rallied by 20% as investors grew optimistic about Ripple winning its case against the SEC.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Lone Star State is already home to many crypto and blockchain firms as well as miners taking advantage of the regulatory-friendly environment.

TaprootWizards.com NFT (ordinals.com)

Coinbase argued Tuesday in the first crypto-related case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Scam alert / Getty

BTC price continues to show bullish momentum, but institutional investors selling and the absence of whale buyers threaten to weaken the current rally.

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(Ian Suarez/CoinDesk)

The new BITC ETF will use an optimum roll strategy to focus on long-term returns for investors.

Bitwise Asset Management, Creators of the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF and Bitwise Web3 ETF, have introduced a new Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy Optimum Roll ETF under the ticker BITC.

According to the press release, the fund was built to offer investors regulated, professionally managed exposure to bitcoin with a unique design that minimizes pricing inefficiencies that can emerge in bitcoin-linked ETFs focused on front-month or near-month futures contracts. The ETF aims to address this by utilizing what it describes as an optimum roll strategy that considers all available contracts and intelligently selects the contracts with the lowest level of contango (or the highest level of backwardation) in an effort to maximize long-term returns.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan explained why this particular structure was chosen.

Historically, optimum roll strategies in other asset classes, such as oil and natural gas futures, have outperformed strategies focused on front-month or near-month contracts over time, he said. We believe this same strategy can apply to the bitcoin futures market as it continues to deepen and evolve.

In addition, the funds structure as an SEC-regulated ETF will make bitcoin exposure available in a format overwhelmingly favored by financial professionals, according to the press release, citing research by Bitwise and VettaFi exploring financial advisor attitudes toward crypto that found ETFs were the preferred method of investing for 68% of advisors.

If theres anything this past year has reinforced, it's that how you invest in crypto is as important as what you invest in, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley reiterated. The Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy Optimum Roll ETF gives institutions, advisors, and their clients a professional, regulated solution for adding exposure to bitcoin returns while bypassing the risks of custodying bitcoin directly or investing through novel platforms.

The custodian of the BITC ETF is BNY Mellon and the funds distributor is Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

It should be noted that holding Bitcoin futures ETFs does introduce third-party risk not present for those who hold spot bitcoin in self-custody wallets.

Bitcoin price action targets $28,500 with all classes buying BTC, but the odds of the Fed pausing rate hikes are decreasing by the hour.

PlayStation controller (StockSnap/Pixabay)

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A new bill introduced in the Texas House could set the state up to be the nucleus of Bitcoin development in the United States.

A bill that would fully protect and welcome the Bitcoin economy. has been introduced to the Texas State House of Representatives.

Sponsored by Rep. Cody Harris (R), and co-authored by the Bitcoin Policy Institutes' Natalie Smolenski and Jason Brett, House Concurrent Resolution 89 describes how the Chinese governments banning of bitcoin mining and trading in 2021 is an authoritarian form of rule that is in complete opposition to the values of the United States. This ban led to the quick migration of hash rate from China into the United States, mainly Texas, which has been reaping the benefits of the explosion in activity.

As such, the bill describes that The Lone Star State has certain principles regarding items of value that are embedded in the Texas Constitution, and these principles should be applied to all citizens with respect to the use and storage of Bitcoin.

The principles express support for protecting individuals who code or develop on the Bitcoin network, which is a key component of protecting Bitcoin within a state. In addition, the state will ensure that individuals who mine Bitcoin in Texas will never be inhibited by any law or resolution that restricts the practice of securing the Bitcoin network for the safety of the virtual currency, which is held and transferred peer-to-peer.

According to the bill, individuals who own Bitcoin are protected under Section 9, Article I, of the Texas Constitution, which states that "The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions, from all unreasonable seizures or searches. This right, the bill says, should also extend to digital possessions, such as cryptocurrencies. No citizen of Texas shall ever be deprived of their right to own Bitcoin and that all Bitcoin owners will be protected as they enjoy all the privileges associated with the cryptocurrency, including the immunity afforded by censorship-resistant spending of Bitcoin and the ability to store Bitcoin in an unhosted wallet without undue interference from any state agency; these protections shall be extended to Bitcoin owners.

Those in the United States and the broader global network who work on Bitcoin coding, programming, and mining, shall know by this resolution that the Bitcoin economy is welcome in Texas, and that the Texas Legislature shall always seek to protect the rights of its citizens under the law and foster the growth and development of local businesses; in addition, all those in the br...

The Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C. (Helene Braun/CoinDesk)

Schematic image from patent for "distributed crypto-currency smart router." (U.S. Patent Office, modified by CoinDesk)

(Pixabay)

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Andreessen Horowitz led a $40 million funding round for CCP Games, which is planning to release a blockchain-based online game. (Haotian Zheng/Unsplash)

(Flavio Coelho/Getty Images)

Coinbase has expanded in Brazil. (Getty Images)

Bitcoin is trading in a tight range ahead of a meeting of the Federal Reserve, led by Chairman Jerome Powell. (Helene Braun/CoinDesk)

The ECB is getting a lot of requests for crypto licenses from fintech banks. (Hans-Peter Merten/Getty Images)

Traders are projecting what the Federal Reserve will announce with interest rates on Wednesday. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Newsquakes, Twitter Volume and Most Active On-Chain alerts helped Cointelegraph Markets Pro users find three assets that had big moves.

From streaming videos to cloud storage solutions, cloud computing has become an integral part of our everyday lives.

The vulnerability has since been patched, although it affected several leading transaction simulation vendors.

Author Neal Stephenson said that many Web3 problems come from projects wanting to financialize everything very quickly.

Trading strategies from Crypto Twitter participants include bridging to zkSync. (Mufid Majnun/Unsplash)

The downfall of Mt. Gox continues to highlight the importance of greater transparency and accountability within the cryptocurrency industry.

(Roibu/Shutterstock)

The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the federal government would intervene if necessary to protect other small lenders.

So youve struck it rich in crypto? Youll want to head to one of these countries to keep your newfound wealth.

The U.K. needs to stop crypto getting "debanked," lobbyists say (Lingxiao Xie/Getty Images)

Paradigm co-founder Fred Ehrsam (Brady Dale for CoinDesk)

Web3 was a major theme at SXSW 2023, yet previous hype around NFTs and building during a bear market may be contributing factors to Web3 adoption.

Those who hold bitcoin recognize the importance of taking control of their own freedom. A second passport might be the next step.

This is an opinion editorial by Jessica Hodlr, the COO of Plan B Passport.

The rise of Bitcoin and the demand for second passports may seem like two unrelated phenomena, however, there is one common link that ties them together: the desire for control.

Bitcoin and second passports have gained popularity in recent years due to a growing distrust in government and an emerging prepper mentality among many individuals. Both offer a way to take control back and to protect oneself from the uncertainties of the world.

Distrust In Government

Bitcoins decentralized nature means that it operates independently of any government, individual or financial institution. This has attracted so many people who are skeptical of the traditional financial system and the government control over money that weve all experienced and witnessed.

Like interest in Bitcoin, the demand for second passports has been driven by a lack of trust in governments. Many people fear political instability, economic downturns or other events that could threaten their safety and freedom. A second passport can offer an escape route to a country with more favorable conditions.

Prepper Mentality

If you havent heard of the prepper mentality, it is characterized by a focus on self-sufficiency and preparedness for emergencies. People who adopt this mindset often stockpile supplies and develop skills that they believe will be useful in a crisis. Bitcoin and second passports are both tools that can be used to prepare for the worst and to hedge against any risks.

Bitcoin's decentralized nature makes it resistant to government interference, which would be useful in a scenario where traditional financial systems have collapsed. In such a situation, bitcoin could serve as a means of exchange, even if fiat currencies are no longer functioning. Similarly, a second passport could offer a means of escape to a safer location in the event of a crisis. By having a second citizenship, individuals may be able to travel to more stable countries or access resources that are unavailable to those with only one passport.

Giving Control Back To The Individual

As stated above, perhaps the most significant link between Bitcoin and second passports is the desire for control. Both offer individuals greater control over their lives and their assets. Bitcoin allows users to control their money without relying on any bank or financial institution. A second passport gives in...

Software developer Cam Crews compiled data showing almost $102 million filed with the courts, with $42 million estimated in additional fees yet to be filed.