Still ‘credible’ for Rwanda deportation flights to take off in spring, home secretary says

Published

1 year ago

December 13, 2023

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The government is still hoping it will be able to start flying asylum seekers to Rwanda in the spring, according to the home secretary.

James Cleverly confirmed his aims to Sky News the morning after the government managed to keep its Safety of Rwanda bill alive despite a rebellion of more than 20 backbench MPs.

While the bill passed by 43 votes, if a substantial number of the 37 Tory MPs who abstained had voted against it the government would be in trouble; similarly, losing a proportion of supportive Conservative MPs could spell disaster.

Some of those who have voiced concerns about the legislation have said they wanted the bill to progress to the next stage so they can amend it.

Politics latest: Cleverly sends message in TV interview to right

For those on the right of the Conservative Party, this would mean making it more hardline – and there have been reports that One Nation centrist Tories may try and wreck the bill by watering it down.

This Rwanda bill seeks to unilaterally declare the African nation a safe country, and prevent last minute stopping orders on planes handed down from Europe from being actioned.

This is being done to address concerns raised by the Supreme Court earlier this year.

“We want to get flights off next year, ideally in the spring is a credible timescale,” Mr Cleverly said.

He added they will “go as soon as we can get them” – and that the government is “not waiting for some arbitrary point in time”.

“We are working as quickly as we can,” he said.

Rishi Sunak said last month that spring was still his deadline to get planes off the ground.

On amendments, Mr Cleverly said the government is “more than willing to listen to good faith amendments that are designed to make the bill better”.

But these would need to be “within the bounds of international law”, while keeping the bill “in a state that the Rwandans are happy to work with” and letting the legislation remain “effective”.

One area raised by Tory MPs unhappy with the Safety of Rwanda bill is the powers contained within it to allow judges to ignore European court orders.

Robert Jenrick, who resigned as immigration minister over the bill, called the government’s position “sophistry” – meaning a clever argument aiming to say that something false is true.

He claimed using the powers to ignore international court rulings would be “illegal to use” and therefore not realistic.

This – and the allowance for individuals to appeal their deportations – still seem to be the main bugbears for the constellation of right-wing Tory rebel groups.

But hardening this position and potentially putting the UK in breach of international commitments could lead to the Rwandan government pulling out of the treaty.

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And on the domestic side, One Nation Conservatives – like former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland – have said removing provisions like the grounds for individuals to appeal would “set up a fistfight” with the judiciary.

Further parliamentary debate on the bill – and the tabling of amendments – is expected in the new year.

Polling conducted on the 11 and 12 December – the day before and of the vote – showed Mr Sunak had fallen to his lowest ever net favourability rating with the public of -49.

Politics

US court pauses 18-state lawsuit against SEC after agency’s leadership change

Published

5 hours ago

April 17, 2025

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US court pauses 18-state lawsuit against SEC after agency’s leadership change

A US federal judge has agreed to pause a lawsuit filed by 18 state attorneys general and the crypto lobby group DeFi Education Fund against the Securities and Exchange Commission after all parties said new SEC leadership could make the action moot.

Kentucky District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ordered a 60-day stay on the case on April 16, noting a mid-March filing from the SEC that “this case could potentially be resolved” due to a leadership transition at the regulator.

He added that the parties must file a joint status report within 30 days.

Paul Atkins, a Wall Street adviser who has held board positions with crypto advocacy groups, was sworn in as the new SEC chair earlier this month, replacing acting chair Mark Uyeda and taking over from Gary Gensler.

The 18 attorneys general, all hailing from Republican states, filed the lawsuit with the DeFi Education Fund against the securities regulator in November, alleging that the SEC exceeded its authority when targeting crypto exchanges with lawsuits, accusing the regulator and then-chair Gensler of “gross government overreach.”

The plaintiffs included attorneys general from Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, Indiana, Oklahoma and Florida, among others.

“Without Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions,” the lawsuit stated.

DeFi groups drop case against IRS over killed broker rule

Meanwhile, the DeFi Education Fund, Blockchain Association, and Texas Blockchain Council dropped their lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on April 16.

“The parties hereby stipulate to voluntary dismissal of this action without prejudice because the case has become moot,” stated the filing.

The lawsuit, filed in December, argued that the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule went beyond the agency’s authority and was unconstitutional.

On April 11, President Donald Trump signed a bill to revoke the rule that would have required DeFi protocols to report transactions to the IRS.

It comes as the SEC has paused or dropped several high-profile lawsuits against crypto companies this year under its new leadership.

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Panama’s capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees

Published

13 hours ago

April 16, 2025

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<div>Panama's capital to accept crypto for taxes, municipal fees</div>

Panama’s capital city will accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes and municipal fees, including bus tickets and permits, Panama City mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced on April 15, joining a growing list of jurisdictions globally that have voted to accept such payments.

Panama City will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Circle’s USDC (USDC), and Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin for payment once the crypto-to-fiat payment rails are established, Mizrachi posted on the X platform.

Mizrachi said previous administrations attempted to push through similar legislation but failed to overcome stipulations requiring the local government to accept funds denominated in US dollars.

In a translated statement, the Panama City mayor said that the local government partnered with a bank that will immediately convert any digital assets received into US dollars, allowing the municipality to accept crypto without introducing new legislation.

Panama City joins a growing list of global jurisdictions on the municipal and state level accepting cryptocurrency payments for taxes, exploring Bitcoin strategic reserves to protect public treasuries from inflation and passing pro-crypto policies to attract investment.

Taxes, Panama, Bitcoin Adoption — *Source:* *Mayer Mizrachi*

Municipalities and states embrace digital assets

Several municipalities and territories around the globe already accept crypto for tax payments or are exploring various implementations of blockchain technology for government spending.

The US state of Colorado started accepting crypto payments for taxes in September 2022. Much like Panama City said it will do, Colorado immediately converts the crypto to fiat.

In December 2023, the city of Lugano, Switzerland, announced taxes and city fees could be paid in Bitcoin, which was one of the developments that earned it the reputation of being a globally recognized Bitcoin city.

The city council of Vancouver, Canada, passed a motion to become “Bitcoin-friendly city” in December 2024. As part of that motion, the Vancouver local government will explore integrating BTC into the financial system, including tax payments.

North Carolina lawmaker Neal Jackson introduced legislation titled “The North Carolina Digital Asset Freedom Act” on April 10. If passed, the bill will recognize cryptocurrencies as an official form of payment that can be used to pay taxes.

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Fed’s Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Published

15 hours ago

April 16, 2025

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<div>Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation</div>

As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, establishing a legal framework for stablecoins is a “good idea,” said US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

In an April 16 panel at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell commented on the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry, which has delivered a consumer use case that “could have wide appeal” following a difficult “wave of failures and frauds,” he said.

Fed's Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation

Powell delivers remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago. Source: Bloomberg Television

During crypto’s difficult years, which culminated in 2022 and 2023 with several high-profile business failures, the Fed “worked with Congress to try to get a […] legal framework for stablecoins, which would have been a nice place to start,” said Powell. “We were not successful.”

“I think that the climate is changing and you’re moving into more mainstreaming of that whole sector, so Congress is again looking […] at a legal framework for stablecoins,” he said.

“Depending on what’s in it, that’s a good idea. We need that. There isn’t one now,” said Powell.

This isn’t the first time Powell acknowledged the need for stablecoin legislation. In June 2023, the Fed boss told the House Financial Services Committee that stablecoins were “a form of money” that requires “robust” federal oversight.

Support for stablecoin legislation is growing

The election of US President Donald Trump has ushered in a new era of pro-crypto appointments and policy shifts that could make America a digital asset superpower.

Washington’s formal embrace of cryptocurrency began earlier this year when Trump established the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, with Bo Hines as the executive director.

Hines told a digital asset summit in New York last month that a comprehensive stablecoin bill was a top priority for the current administration. After the Senate Banking Committee passed the GENIUS Act, a final stablecoin bill could arrive at the president’s desk “in the next two months,” said Hines.

Bo Hines (right) speaks of “imminent” stablecoin legislation at the Digital Asset Summit on March 18. Source: Cointelegraph

Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are by far the most popular tokens used for remittances and cryptocurrency trading.

The combined value of all stablecoins is currently $227 billion, according to RWA.xyz. The dollar-pegged USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT) account for more than 88% of the total market.

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