|

Weekly Crypto Regulation Roundup: DOJ Bitcoin Sale Sparks Alarm and U.S. Crypto Laws Face Election Headwinds

🚨

This week’s regulatory headlines present a well-known actuality for the U.S. crypto trade: momentum exists, however coherence doesn’t.

From prediction markets and Bitcoin custody to election-driven delays in laws, policymakers seem more and more conscious of crypto’s significance, but stay deeply divided on easy methods to govern it. Taken collectively, the developments level to a market caught between maturation and political paralysis.

Prediction Markets Put Washington on Alert

One of the week’s most politically charged stories got here from Rep. Ritchie Torres, who’s getting ready laws to limit how U.S. officers take part in prediction markets.

The transfer follows scrutiny over a reportedly profitable wager linked to the sudden seize of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which raised issues about insider entry to delicate info.

Torres’ proposed Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026 would bar federal officers from buying and selling contracts tied to political or coverage outcomes after they possess or may moderately entry materials nonpublic info.

The problem strikes at a rising fault line in crypto regulation: whereas decentralized and on-chain markets promise transparency, in addition they expose longstanding weaknesses in ethics guidelines governing public officers. Prediction markets, as soon as area of interest merchandise, are actually forcing lawmakers to confront conflicts of curiosity that conventional monetary rules have been by no means designed to handle.

DOJ Bitcoin Sale Raises Policy Consistency Questions

Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Justice drew criticism after promoting 57 Bitcoin forfeited by Samourai Wallet builders, regardless of an government order requiring forfeited Bitcoin to be transferred to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve fairly than liquidated.

The sale, reportedly executed by way of Coinbase Prime, has reignited questions on how significantly federal businesses are taking Bitcoin’s evolving function as a strategic asset.

If government orders governing digital property will be disregarded or misinterpreted on the company stage, it weakens confidence in Washington’s means to handle crypto coverage persistently.

For an trade already cautious of enforcement-first regulation, the episode reinforces issues that inner coordination on crypto stays uneven at greatest.

Election Politics Threaten Market Structure Reform

At the legislative stage, optimism round a complete crypto market construction invoice is once more being examined. A brand new notice from TD Cowen warns that the 2026 midterm elections may delay passage of a unified regulatory framework till 2027 or later.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott has now set January 15 as a tough deadline to maneuver the invoice to markup, indicating impatience with months of stalled negotiations.

But political realities loom giant. Some Senate Democrats stay hesitant to advance sweeping laws forward of elections, whereas conflict-of-interest provisions—together with these affecting senior political figures—proceed to complicate talks.

The danger is obvious: because the election clock ticks down, crypto regulation may as soon as once more fall sufferer to partisan positioning.

Stablecoins Advance While Policy Lags

Meanwhile, developments on the state stage, together with Wyoming’s launch of a state-backed stablecoin, replicate a widening hole between innovation and federal policymaking.

While states and personal actors push forward with new monetary infrastructure, Congress struggles to supply a unifying framework that might help accountable development nationwide.

A Market Moving Faster Than Its Regulators

What unites these tales will not be opposition to crypto, however fragmentation. Lawmakers agree the trade issues, but differ on ethics, custody, enforcement, and timing. The result’s a regulatory atmosphere outlined extra by response than technique.

As institutional adoption accelerates and crypto infrastructure turns into more and more embedded within the monetary system, the price of delay is rising. Whether Washington can bridge its inner divides earlier than the subsequent election cycle stays unsure—however markets are unlikely to attend.

The publish Weekly Crypto Regulation Roundup: DOJ Bitcoin Sale Sparks Alarm and U.S. Crypto Laws Face Election Headwinds appeared first on Cryptonews.

Similar Posts