Senate Bill Could Open Crypto to U.S. Sanctions

Hi NoRamp Community,

Daily News:

1) Senate Bill Could Open Crypto to U.S. Sanctions

2) The Fortune 500 Moving On-Chain

3) Privado ID Becomes Latest Project to Spin Out From Polygon Labs

4) Vertex Purchases AI Tax Capabilities From Ryan

5) Polish FinTech Wealthon Secures $12.3M From CVI For SME Support

Senate Bill Could Open Crypto to U.S. Sanctions:

• A provision in the Senate's intelligence committee spending package targets crypto ties to terrorism, catching the industry off-guard. It could require crypto businesses to identify users' identities, but insiders believe it may not survive the budget process due to industry pushback.

• The provision, borrowed from an earlier anti-terrorism bill, aims to sanction "foreign digital asset transaction facilitators" linked to terrorism. If passed, it would be the most significant U.S. crypto policy yet, but it wasn't publicly discussed or included in the bill's major provisions.

• The crypto industry is engaging with lawmakers, including Sen. Mark Warner's staff, to address concerns. The Digital Chamber, an industry lobbying group, believes the provision may be removed from the National Defense Authorization Act due to immediate pushback and the broader context of recent supportive crypto legislation in Congress.

The Fortune 500 Moving On-Chain:

• Research for Coinbase by The Block shows a 39% year-over-year increase in cryptocurrency, blockchain, or web3 initiatives by Fortune 100 companies, reaching a record high in Q1 2024. A survey of Fortune 500 executives reveals that 56% of companies are working on onchain projects, highlighting the urgency for clear crypto regulations to retain talent and promote US leadership in crypto.

• Significant developments include the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs with over $63 billion in assets, and the growing interest in tokenized US Treasury products, now valued at $1.29 billion. Companies like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are leading in this space, with expectations that the tokenized asset market could reach $16 trillion by 2030. Global payments giants like PayPal and Stripe are making stablecoins easier to use, contributing to the $10 trillion annual settlement volume of stablecoins in 2023.

• The US is losing its share of crypto developers, with only 26% based in the country, a 14-point drop over five years. Clear crypto regulations are essential to keep talent and maintain US leadership in technological innovation. F500 executives recognize crypto's potential to increase financial access for the underserved and see the need for US leadership in the space, with 79% willing to work on initiatives with US partners and 72% agreeing that a USD-backed digital currency is crucial for global competitiveness

  

  Source: The Block

Privado ID Becomes Latest Project to Spin Out From Polygon Labs:

• Polygon ID has rebranded to Privado ID, spinning out from Polygon Labs to address global demand for digital identity solutions that protect against identity theft, fraud, and AI-generated content. Privado ID uses cryptography and zero-knowledge proofs, allowing individuals to verify their information without sharing personal data, and supports both EVM-compatible and non-EVM blockchains.

• Privado ID’s team includes notable Polygon co-founders and advisors, such as David Schwartz and Antoni Martin (CEO and COO), Jordi Baylina (technical advisor), and Sandeep Nailwal (growth advisor). They emphasize the technology’s potential to revolutionize privacy, user control, and interoperability in connected spaces, enhancing blockchain interoperability and user experience.

• The project is actively forming partnerships and proof-of-concepts with multinational banking and financial service companies to develop compliant identity frameworks. Privado ID has integrated with the Verax attention registry on the Linea zkEVM chain by Consensys to enhance cross-chain identity and reduce the cost of managing trustworthy data. This move follows other Polygon spin-offs, such as Avail, which raised $43 million in Series A funding in March 2023.

Vertex Purchases AI Tax Capabilities From Ryan:

• Vertex has acquired AI tax capabilities from Ryan, LLC, a tax services and software company. This acquisition aims to enhance Vertex's AI innovation strategy to help global enterprises manage tax complexities more efficiently.

• The acquisition will integrate proprietary and private large language models (LLM) to provide generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) capabilities, improving tax compliance accuracy. These LLMs will allow tax teams to benefit from AI technologies while maintaining control over their data through "trusted AI," which ensures enhanced accuracy without sharing or mining customer data.

• Chirag Patel, chief strategy officer of Vertex, highlighted the partnership's significance, combining Ryan's extensive tax expertise with Vertex's technology platform. Vertex, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has been addressing global commerce and compliance complexities through tax automation for the past 40 years, with offices in North and South America and Europe.

Polish FinTech Wealthon Secures $12.3M From CVI For SME Support:

• Wealthon, a Polish FinTech firm, secured $12.3 million in debt financing from CVI Dom Maklerski-managed funds to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and expand innovative financial product offerings. The funds will scale up operations and develop new financial products, focusing on the growing e-commerce sector.

• Wealthon operates with a distinct business model, offering the Wealthon Poscash loan, which uses a proprietary scoring system to assess creditworthiness quickly and issue automatic decisions. The loan repayment is tailored to the daily turnover at payment terminals, making it adaptable to the financial flows of SMEs.

• Wealthon initiated a partnership with IdoSell in May to create specialised financing options for e-commerce stores, enhancing its reach and relevance in the FinTech landscape. CEO Aleksander Majchrzak stated that the new funds would enable Wealthon to pursue ambitious growth plans and continue innovating in support of e-commerce businesses and SMEs.

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