Adelle Nazarian is the top staffer at the American Blockchain PAC, where she serves as its CEO. But she has a long story to tell about her life prior to her time in the crypto industry — from her Persian roots to her career in journalism.
Nazarian, who worked as a freelance journalist after serving in positions with mainstream outlets that included Fox News and CNN, said her work contributed to her disillusionment with the media. “Working in journalism was really eye-opening for me because I witnessed how divisive and activist-oriented it’s become,” she said in an interview with Cointelegraph.
She said her desire to work in a role that contributed to people’s betterment was one of the driving factors that led her to the American Blockchain PAC in 2021, saying, “I saw Bitcoin as being one way of providing an opportunity to people everywhere in the world to pull themselves up in life.”
1) Your family fled from Iran before the Iranian Revolution, but you’ve never visited. Do you speak Farsi? Tell us more about your background.
My parents were both born in Tehran, Iran and emigrated to the United States when they were young. My father was 15 and my mother was 12. I was raised speaking Farsi and English. (I also speak Mandarin Chinese and French.) It is one of my dreams to visit Iran someday in the future. I’d love to visit so many parts of the country and especially to visit Isfahan, which is where my maternal grandparents were born and raised. I am proud to come from such a rich, diverse and beautiful cultural background.
My mom is a homemaker and also had a caviar business for several years and my father is an entrepreneur.
2) You used to work in journalism — at Fox News, CNN and elsewhere. Why’d you make the transition into crypto?
Working in journalism was really eye-opening for me because I witnessed how divisive and activist-oriented it’s become. Reporting a story isn’t about the facts anymore for some journalists — it’s about injecting their own ideas.
I really enjoyed doing investigative journalism, but I consider myself to be an entrepreneur and philanthropist at heart. I felt that, really, the blockchain space was a way to be able to have a platform to utilize my experience and work with diverse people — from leaders of countries to everyday people — and see how everyone’s experience is truly predicated on one underlying theme that connects them all.
Adelle Nazarian interviewing Mike Pence in 2016, before he became the vice president. Source: Adelle Nazarian
That theme is the desire and ability to create a better life for themselves and those around them. It’s such a factor that determines your lot in life. I saw Bitcoin as being one way of providing an opportunity to people everywhere in the world to pull themselves up in life. It also provides governments with the opportunity to reduce their reliance on war as a way to increase wealth.
3) Tell us about the American Blockchain PAC.
The American Blockchain PAC was founded as a way to provide a space for everyone interested in seeing a sound regulatory framework to define what crypto is and what Bitcoin is, and in clearly defining and understanding them and how they’re classified in the United States.
We boost candidates running for office who support blockchain technology. But I think a lot of political action committees try to only basically pick and support candidates who will win — and we don’t just do that. We’re also trying to educate and inform people about crypto and the adoption of digital assets, and enable them to push back against legislation that could harm them at the end of the day.
4) What’s your favorite crypto?
Bitcoin — because it’s different from other cryptocurrencies. I believe everyone is grateful that the SEC made it very clear that Bitcoin is not a security. I think that Ethereum began with good intentions but may have steered away from its original vision. That said, I think there is a bright future for it and an opportunity for it to evolve. Bitcoin is a pioneer in the digital assets space. It started the revolution we are living through today.
Unfortunately, I think a lot of meme coins and altcoins have put a bad taste in people’s mouths when it comes to digital assets, and I think it strengthens the argument for Bitcoin greatly.
5) Does it matter if we ever figure out who Satoshi really is or was? Why, or why not?
There are two quotes I like: “No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot,” by Mark Twain and “The truth is a strange thing. You can try to suppress it but it will always find its way to the surface.”
So of course there are people who are faking and pretending to be Satoshi. The “FakeToshi” hashtag is an indicator of that fact. But at the end of the day, the real Satoshi Nakamoto is alive, and he is not a Japanese man. I recently read Ivy McLemore’s book, Finding Satoshi, and it was intriguing.
Adelle Nazarian speaking on a panel in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2019). Source: Adelle Nazarian
Anyone who has actually done their due diligence and studied Bitcoin understands there must be some reason for Bitcoin’s origins. Satoshi did not want these so-called “trusted” third parties and banks running away with consumer cash, which is a persistent issue — just look at what occurred with FTX. It’s ironic that what he’s stood against from Day 1 — “trusted” third parties like FTX — have actually become the main tools for buying and selling Bitcoin. This is not in line with his original vision.
As for whether it matters who Satoshi is, only the real Satoshi will pave the way for the next generation of Bitcoin and dozens of new and emerging industries that will benefit from the underlying blockchain technology. Satoshi created Bitcoin to be decentralized and peer-to-peer. He never sought to do any of this based on his own personal greed or agenda. He did this for the world. Technically, we are all Satoshi.
It’s the vision that matters, because even the most incredible technology — without vision — is a dormant tool. Bitcoin was created to elevate humanity in a truly unprecedented way in our collective history.
6) What do you do in your free time?
I’m a big foodie. I enjoy different cuisines. I can make recipes from all over the world. Being Persian, one of my favorites is khoresht gheymeh— it’s a tomato-based stew made with beef, lentils and spices, served traditionally with rice and tahdig — a crispy golden crust over fluffy rice. I also enjoy working out, reading, and traveling. I love to travel.
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Lawmakers in the US states of Minnesota and Alabama filed companion bills to identical existing bills that if passed into law, would allow each state to buy Bitcoin.
The Minnesota Bitcoin Act, or HF 2946, was introduced to the state’s House by Republican Representative Bernie Perryman on April 1, following an identical bill introduced on March 17 by GOP state Senator Jeremy Miller.
Meanwhile, on the same day in Alabama, Republican state Senator Will Barfoot introduced Senate Bill 283, while a bi-partisan group of representatives led by Republican Mike Shaw filed the identical House Bill 482, which allows for the state to invest in crypto, but essentially limits it to Bitcoin (BTC).
Twin Alabama bills don’t explicitly name Bitcoin
Minnesota’s Bitcoin Act would allow the state’s investment board to invest state assets in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and permit state employees to add crypto to retirement accounts.
It would also exempt crypto gains from state income taxes and give residents the option to pay state taxes and fees with Bitcoin.
The twin Alabama bills don’t explicitly identify Bitcoin, but would limit the state’s crypto investment into assets that have a minimum market value of $750 billion, a criterion that only Bitcoin currently meets.
26 Bitcoin reserve bills now introduced in the US
Introducing identical bills is not uncommon in the US and is typically done to speed up the bicameral legislative process so laws can pass more quickly.
Bills to create a Bitcoin reserve have been introduced in 26 US states, with Arizona currently the closest to passing a law to make one, according to data from the bill tracking website Bitcoin Laws.
Arizona currently leads in the US state Bitcoin reserve race. Source: Bitcoin Laws
Pennsylvania was one of the first US states to introduce a Bitcoin reserve bill, in November 2024. However, the initiative was reportedly eventually rejected, with similar bills also killed in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wyoming are the five states thathave rejected Bitcoin reserve initiatives. Source: Bitcoin Laws
According to a March 3 report by Barron’s, “red states” like Montana have faced setbacks to the Bitcoin reserve initiatives amid political confrontations between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
Update (April 3, 5:43 am UTC): This article has been updated to add information on the STABLE Act and GENIUS Act.
The US House Financial Services Committee has passed a Republican-backed stablecoin framework bill, which will now head to the House floor for a full vote.
The Committee passed the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy, or STABLE Act, with a 32-17 vote on April 2, with six Democrats voting in favor.
The bill was introduced on Feb. 6 by committee Chair French Hill and the chair of its Digital Assets Subcommittee, Bryan Steil — reportedly drafted with the help of the world’s largest stablecoin issue, Tether.
The bill would provide rules around payment stablecoins, a crypto token tied to a currency such as the US dollar, and aims to ensure issuers give information about their business and how they back their tokens.
During an earlier markup session, the committee’s leading Democrat, Maxine Waters, who later voted against the bill, criticized her Republican peers for “setting an unacceptable and dangerous precedent” with the STABLE Act.
She said President Donald Trump could use the bill to allow his family’s stablecoin to be used in government payments, and argued the bill validates Trump “and his insiders’ efforts to write rules of the road that will enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.”
In late March, the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture launched a stablecoin, World Liberty Financial USD (USD1). Meanwhile, the US Housing Department, which oversees social housing, was reportedly looking to experiment with using stablecoins for some of its functions.
Stablecoin GENIUS Act also weaves through Congress
Other stablecoin-related bills are also working their way through Congress, including the Republican-led Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, which lays out oversight and reserve rules for issuers.
The US Senate Banking Committee voted through the GENIUS Act in an 18-6 vote on March 13, after Senator Bill Hagerty, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, updated it following consultation with the Committee’s Democrats.
Before the vote, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the updated GENIUS Act made “significant improvements to a number of important provisions” in areas such as consumer protections and authorized stablecoin issuers.
Both the STABLE Act and GENIUS Act will now wait until debate time on the floor of the House and Senate, respectively, before they head for a floor vote.
Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on X that two unnamed crypto lobbyists said there is likely to be “a coordinated push behind the scenes over the next few weeks to get the two bills to mirror each other, as there are still some differences between them.”
Doing so would “avoid having to set up a so-called conference committee which is formed so members from both chambers can negotiate to create a final version of the bill everyone agrees on,” she added.
Tulip Siddiq has told Sky News her “lawyers are ready” to handle any formal questions about allegations she is involved in corruption in Bangladesh.
Asked whether she regrets apparent links with the Bangladeshi Awami League political party, Ms Siddiq said “why don’t you look at my legal letter and see if I have any questions to answer… [the Bangladeshi authorities] have not once contacted me and I’m waiting to hear from them”.
Lawyers acting for Ms Siddiq wrote to the Bangladeshi Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) several weeks ago saying the allegations were “false and vexatious”.
The letter said the ACC must put questions to Ms Siddiq “by no later than 25 March 2025” or “we shall presume that there are no legitimate questions to answer”.
More on Bangladesh
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Staff from the NCA visited Bangladesh as part of initial work to support the interim government in the country.
In a post online today, the former minister said the deadline had expired and the authorities had not replied.
Sky News has approached the Bangladeshi government for comment.
The allegations against Ms Siddiq are focused on links to her aunt Sheikh Hasina – who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh for 20 years.
She is accused of becoming an autocrat, with politically-motivated arrests, extra-judicial killings and other abuses allegedly happening on her watch. Hasina claims it’s all a political witch hunt.
Ms Siddiq was found to have lived in several London properties that had links back to the Awami League political party that her aunt still leads.
She referred herself to the prime minister’s standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus who said he had “not identified evidence of improprieties” but added it was “regrettable” Ms Siddiq had not been more alert to the “potential reputational risks” of the ties to her aunt.
Ms Siddiq said continuing in her role would be “a distraction” for the government but insisted she had done nothing wrong.