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Proposed rules for marijuana banking and cryptocurrency regulation may be combined into a single bill.

The legislation has not been finalized, but there have been talks in the U.S. Congress about combining a cannabis bill, the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, and a stablecoin measure, Marijuana MomentreportedSunday (April 14).

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said that he aims to pass legislation to safeguard cannabis banking and achieve that in the weeks and months ahead, according to the report.

The SAFER Banking Bill has been awaiting action by the Senate since being passed by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in September 2023, Seeking AlphareportedMonday (April 15).

The bill could impact a number of multistate operators and cannabis exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to the report.

It was reported April 1 that while more than half of all Americans live in a state that has legalized marijuana, banks wont work withcannabis sellersbecause the drug is still illegal under federal law.

As a result, legitimate cannabis businesses still find themselves wondering what to do with all their cash, as it is nearly impossible for them to accept payments in anything other than cash.

While the U.S. House has passed a bipartisan bill that would make it easier for cannabis companies to find banking services, the Senate has never voted on its version. However, that vote could come this year.

Some saw a possible opening of the door to more cohesive payments systems in the sector in August 2023, when U.S. health officials recommended easingrestrictions on cannabisand reclassifying it as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

Currently, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I substance, which implies a high risk of abuse and no accepted medical use. If cannabis were to be reclassified as a Schedule III drug, it would be seen as less dangerous and could be obtained legally with a prescription.

As an indicator of the size of potential business payments, the business-to-business (B2B) cannabis platform LeafLinkreported that it passed the $1 billion transaction mark in September 2022 with its payment solutions and expected more growth.

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Marijuana Banking, Cryptocurrency Regulation May Be Combined Into Single Bill - PYMNTS.com

Key Takeaways

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) traded flat while spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which have been driving up bitcoin demand and consequently its price, experienced a rare week of net outflows as the markets geared up for the halving event later this week.

Uniswap Labs received a Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Monad Labs raised $225 million from Paradigm and others.

Last week, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs experienced net outflows, a rare occurrence that has only happened three times since these funds were introduced in January.

Between April 8 and April 12, the category, which comprises 11 funds, reported a loss of about $83 million in assets, according to data from BitMEX Research. This represents a significant swing from the previous week's net inflows of $485 million. Despite this setback, spot bitcoin ETFs have amassed $12.5 billion in net positive inflows since they were launched.

Notably, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) continued to post a decline, with $767 million exiting the fund last week alone. In contrast, other leading funds such as BlackRocks iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) brought in $487 million and $90 million, respectively, but these gains were insufficient to counterbalance the substantial outflows from GBTC.

Demand generated by spot bitcoin ETFs has been credited for the recent rally in bitcoin prices, and it is also considered a key differentiator for the upcoming bitcoin halving versus prior instances.

Decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap last week disclosed receiving a Wells notice from the SEC, indicating impending enforcement actions.

This led to a sharp drop in the price of Uniswap's native token, UNI, falling from above $11 before the news broke to under $8. Uniswap Labs CEO Hayden Adams shared his disappointment and readiness to contest the charges on X. Wells notices serve as preliminary alerts about potential regulatory charges and often precede formal enforcement actions.

The SEC's concerns centered on allegations of Uniswap operating as both an unregistered securities broker and exchange, Uniswap executives Mary-Catherine Lader and Marvin Ammori clarified at a press conference, according to CoinDesk. The specifics of whether UNI itself might be classified as a security weren't clear from the notice. Ammori referenced a favorable recent court decision for Coinbase, which he sees as a positive indicator for Uniswap's defense against similar charges.

Monad Labs has secured $225 million in a funding round led by Paradigm, enabling the company to expand its team and advance the development of its blockchain, which is designed to contend with Ethereum.

This financial backing aims to transition Monad's test version of its blockchain into a full production stage. Its Layer 1 blockchain maintains compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). According to Monad's announcement on Substack, the EVM processes more than 96% of all investments in decentralized finance (DeFi).

While Ethereum is currently limited to processing fewer than 20 transactions per second, Monad's newly operational testnet, launched in March, demonstrates a capacity to handle approximately 10,000 transactions per second. This significant increase in transaction throughput is part of a broader trend in the crypto community, which sees various entities, including both Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions, striving to enhance DeFi's efficiency. Monad's approach incorporates parallel execution to significantly boost performance across the protocol.

This round of funding also attracted investments from several notable firms, including Electric Capital, Castle Island Ventures, Animoca Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and CoinFund, underscoring broad industry support for Monad's technology.

All eyes are on the anticipated bitcoin halving this week, as the fourth iteration of the scheduled decrease in the cryptocurrency's issuance rate is expected to take place by the end of the month.

Halving, which occurs after every 210,000 blocks, or roughly every four years, cuts the pace of new bitcoin mined and halves miner incentives.

While previous halvings have led to bull runs for bitcoin in the past, multiple industry reports have indicated the spot bitcoin ETF market may have a bigger impact on the cryptocurrency's supply-and-demand dynamics at this point.

Despite the upcoming decline in bitcoin-denominated revenue for miners, it's possible miners could enjoy an increase in revenue in dollar terms due to the potential for a bitcoin price run-up combined with the developments of Ordinals and various Layer 2 networks.

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Cryptocurrency Market News: Spot Bitcoin ETFs Shift to Outflows Ahead of Halving - Investopedia

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Cryptocurrency prices fell Saturday evening after Iran launched a wave of drones at Israel, marking an early indication of the turmoil that could hit markets as investors start to price in the threat of a broader war in the Middle East.

Bitcoin was down 5% from its price on Friday, while Ether sank more than 7%, and XRP tumbled 13.5%, according to CoinMarketCap. Thats a sign risk assets will be under pressure.

A fuller picture of Wall Streets reaction to Irans first-ever, full-scale military assault on Israel will come on Sunday evening, when futures trading opens in the U.S. for stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies.

Trading on Friday offered somewhat of a preview on what to expect. Reports at the time said an Iranian attack on Israel was expected within two days, boosting U.S. benchmark oil prices as much as 3% to top $87 a barrel.

U.S. Treasury bonds also rallied sharply, sending the 10-year yield down as much as 10 basis points as investors looked for safety.

Similarly, the U.S. dollar advanced as geopolitical tensions caused investors to turn away from riskier emerging-market currencies.

Even the euro fell to a five-month low against the greenback, as markets also weighed the prospect of the European Central Bank cutting rates before the Federal Reserve does.

Meanwhile, prices for goldtraditionally seen as another safe-haven assetsurged to a fresh record high above $2,400 an ounce before later reversing those gains late Friday.

Stocks sold off on Friday, led by risk-on tech shares, as investors also digested bank earnings and fresh inflation data that further dampened hopes for imminent Fed rate cuts.

Mideast tensions have been ramping up since militants backed by Iran attacked Israel in October. Other Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen have also launched rockets at Israel.

More recently, Tehran blamed Israel foran April 1airstrike in Syriathat killed two Iranian generals, though Israel hasnt addressed it.

With Iran attacking Israel, the risk grows that the U.S.Israels most important military allycould be also be drawn into direct engagements with Iran. On Saturday, the White House vowed to support Israels defense, after moving more Navy ships toward the region in anticipation of an attack.

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Markets flash early signs of risk from wider Mideast war as crypto prices sink after Iran launches wave of drones at Israel - Fortune