InfoHive – Data Security

What is happening? This week the Bitcoin Policy Institute released a white paper, Why the U.S. Should Reject Central Bank Digital Currencies.

Why is this important? The rational includes the authoritarian shift in U.S. government moving the U.S. toward Chinese regime. Further saying that “Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) represent an extension of this state control over economic life.”

How will this be important? The suggested solution:

“Clearly, individuals and organizations need to transact digitally with fiat currencies, and the current global banking system often makes those transactions slow and expensive. To solve this problem, cryptographic stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies and backed 1:1 with hard collateral can be issued by private banks worldwide.”

@TXBitcoinFound

What is happening? Colorado started accepting crypto to pay personal and business tax obligations.

Why is this important? The practical payment issues at play: Colorado requires that the entire invoice be paid in crypto, no splitting payments. A service fee will attach to the payment of $1 plus 1.83% of the payment amount. Finally, payment must be made by PayPal’s Cryptocurrencies Hub

How will this be important? It creates a safe way for cannabis industry to make payments in stead of the all cash payments that are usually made.

Route Fifty | Colorado Now Accepts Crypto for State Tax Payments

What is happening? California joins Texas and Virginia by allowing for enforcement, civil legal action, when a person receives unwanted sexually explicit images or videos

Why is this important? Un like the Texas law, the California law does not create a crime.

How will this be important? Some say this is another example of how states are leading the push for legislation to curtail cyber issues like data privacy, children’s online safety, and digital harassment

Washington Post | States are moving to penalize ‘cyber-flashing’

What is happening? Social media told a story of a van in Connecticut carrying ballots during the 2020 election as having crashed and the ballots lost. The story was untrue but went viral.

Why is this important? Connecticut has hired a misinformation specialist and has a $2million project to ensure accurate election information.

How will this be important?  Colorado Secretary of the State Jena Griswold created the Rapid Response Election Security Cyber Unit &  California has an office of election security.

Route Fifty | States Take New Steps to Stop Election Mistruths From Going Viral

What is happening? Digital Equity became a growing concern due to COVID when access to internet went from important to required. Now governments big and small are trying to figure out how to meet and prioritize digital equity.

Why is this important? It is not only digital access but also how the technology can help “ease barriers toward equity for different groups.”

How will this be important? This isn’t just about wifi speeds but also how to get seniors easier access to transportation coupons and services, utilizing human-centered design techniques for government forms so that all residents feel dignified, modernizing municipal fee structures so new companies find it easier to enter your market, &  enabling more innovative public-private partnerships.

Route Fifty | How Three Cities Across the Nation are Tackling Digital Equity

What is happening? There are no federally set standards for measuring broadband service speeds. Does your state set broadband speeds or is it the usual “up to a certain speed?” Would you buy up to a full bottle of wine?

Why is this important? Consumer should get what they think they are getting- the highest speed, and now that the government is involved in broadband access, and broadband speed- they too want to know what speed is actually being delivered.

How will this be important? The government is just like us- they want to know what they are paying for. The concern about discrepancies between advertised and actual speeds is real.

Route Fifty | The National Broadband Rollout Lacks Accurate Data About Internet Speeds

What is happening? Ethereum management is pivoting. Pivoting green. Pivoting to clean emissions. Atheneum’s new management will slash its carbon emissions by 99.95%.

Why is this important? Ethereum is moving from blockchain to Beacon chain. Blockchain uses a  “proof of work” model and Beacon chain uses a ““proof of stake” model that uses less energy.

How will this be important? Whether this impacts more crypto will depend upon whether crypto-miners redirect their tech to produce other currencies instead. “Peter Howson, a professor of international development at the U.K.’s Northumbria University, says a successful merge for Ethereum could encourage regulators to crack down on other crypto systems’ careless energy use. “

Corporate Knights | Now that Ethereum has gone green, will regulators make other crypto follow suit? 

What is happening? Let’s first commend Politico for the headline of all headline on this niche topic of node regulation: Node Country for Old Regulators. Now for the nitty gritty, the SEC has filed a crypto enforcement in the western District of Texas and within that is an argument that because a large enough group of nodes in the blockchain are in the U.S., thereby judicial enforcement is possible.

Why is this important? There’s nary any specific legal nor regulatory authorities in the U.S. on blockchain that makes up the backbone of crypto. There are judicial principles of how you can get a party into court, and the SEC is jumping on it. by saying the U.S. hosts 46% of the nodes for ethereum.

How will this be important? The issue of how to get economic activity that occurs on blockchain, decentralized computer network activity, into a court’s jurisdiction is here to stay. Hello lawmakers and regulators… you’re up to bat.

Politico | Node country for Old Regulators

What is happening? Electronic trading giant Citadel Securities, brokerages Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab Corp., and high-speed trading firm Virtu Financial Inc. and venture-capital firms Sequoia Capital and Paradigm announced EDX Markets this Tuesday.

Why is this important? No timeline for the launch but it will serve both individual and institutional investors

How will this be important? EDX said the operations of the exchange would be separated from the firms that trade on its marketplace, which “will remove significant conflicts of interest that affect existing cryptocurrency exchanges.”

Wall Street Journal | Fidelity, Schwab, Citadel Securities Plan to Launch New Crypto Exchange

What is happening? The national blockchain association has formed a PAC.

Why is this important? Blockchain Association’s PAC to support pro-crypto candidates to the tune of 10s of millions before November 2022.

How will this be important? “Donors from the industry have given $72.8 million to federal candidates and committees from January 2021 through July, a Bloomberg analysis of Federal Election Commission records shows. That total surpasses the $70.6 million given by the oil and gas industry, the $55.4 million given by the transportation sector and the $25.4 million given by the defense companies over the same period.”

Bloomberg | Crypto Trade Group for Circle, Kraken Seeks Clout With PAC to Spread Cash Haul