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adminDebate in the United States House Financial Services Committee during the markup of the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act on Sept. 20 occasionally wandered beyond strictly financial and technical issues. Star Wars and anarchists were mentioned in the discussion at various points, as were crypto bros.
Beneath the rhetoric, the value of research, U.S. citizens’ privacy and the role of government in everyday life were discussed as they relate to a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Tom Emmer introduced the bill after several other bills had been passed through the committee. He characterized his bill as “simple,” saying, “It halts the efforts of the administrative state under President Biden from issuing a financial surveillance tool that will undermine the American way of life.”
“If not designed to emulate cash, [it] could give the federal government the ability to surveil and restrict Americans’ transactions.”
Emmer mentioned the Chinese digital yuan and government social credit system and Canada’s freezing of bank accounts during the truckers’ protest of 2022 as he introduced the bill. The bill has the support of 60 senators and numerous organizations, according to Emmer.

Ranking member Maxine Waters renamed the bill The CBDC Anti-Innovation Act. She said it would threaten the status of the dollar as the principal global reserve currency, adding:
“We don’t know at this point how the introduction of CBDCs could shape the global financial landscape. […] Republicans are making baseless attacks against a CBDC that does not even exist.”
Later she said the bill would “give China the reins to set the global standard for central bank digital currencies.”
Stephen Lynch pointed out some inconsistent language in the bill, and there were questions about what research on CBDC would be allowed under the bill, which was taken up repeatedly during the debate.
Brad Sherman compared cryptocurrency unfavorably to CBDCs. “Keep in mind, this is a pilot program. Keep in mind, no one has to have any digital currency,” he said.
Related: Rep. Tom Emmer: Digital assets will be a ‘sleeper issue’ for 2024 elections
Mike Flood was among those who did not want to trust the government with the power a CBDC could give it. He suggested the government committee members:
“Picture a politician they dislike the most. […] Now imagine that person, and all the ill intentions you ascribe to them, with the power that comes with a retail CBDC.”
The legislators eventually agreed that the bill prevents the issuance of a CBDC without an act of Congress, which has been insisted on by the Federal Reserve from the beginning. The general lack of financial privacy in the country was also noted by both sides.
The Financial Services Committee is set to vote on my bill, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, today. Watch my remarks from the debate: pic.twitter.com/C4S3okdl0w
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) September 20, 2023
Waters and Lynch introduced amendments to clarify the bill’s reach over research to authorize the Fed to study the Chinese digital yuan, which could facilitate efforts to evade U.S. sanctions. Waters made reference to the mBridge pilot between China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
The committee went into recess at 1:30 p.m., local time, after four hours. After reconvening, the committee rejected the amendments and passed the bill, recommending it to the full House on a vote of 27 to 20.
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The Labour Party has suspended its MP Dan Norris after “being informed of his arrest”. A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Dan Norris MP was immediately suspended by the Labour Party upon being informed of his arrest. “We cannot comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.” Mr Norris defeated Jacob Rees-Mogg to win the new seat of North East Somerset and Hanham in last year’s general election. He has also lost the party whip in the House of Commons. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news. Published on By Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency. The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies. While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past. According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975. Source: Web.archive.org Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership. The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January. Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system. Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset “At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert. “Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding: “What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.” However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said. Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan. Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person. Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day. Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
Published on By The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up. On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication. Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data. The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020. “US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.” Source: Anthony Scaramucci On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries. Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods. Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected. Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding. Source: Jeff Dorman Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty. Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.” Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data. Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set
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