Aptos Labs enters Japan through HashPalette acquisition

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. Screenshot from filing ordering pause of proceedings. Source: CourtListenerDeFi groups drop case against IRS over killed broker ruleMeanwhile, 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.Related: NY attorney general urges Congress to keep pensions crypto-free — ‘No intrinsic value’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.Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express

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.Source: Mayer MizrachiRelated: New York bill proposes legalizing Bitcoin, crypto for state paymentsMunicipalities and states embrace digital assetsSeveral 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.Magazine: Crypto City: The ultimate guide to Miami

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced industry insiders from Kraken, Exodus, Anchorage Digital, and others would be participating in its crypto task force’s roundtable discussion on custody.In an April 16 notice, the SEC said commissioners Hester Peirce and Caroline Crenshaw, acting chair Mark Uyeda and crypto task force Chief of Staff Richard Gabbert will sit down with Mark Greenberg, crypto exchange Kraken’s vice president of consumer business and product, Anchorage Digital Bank’s Chief Risk Officer Rachel Anderika and Exodus Chief Legal Officer Veronica McGregor. Other representatives will include those from WisdomTree, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, and Fireblocks.“It is important for the SEC to grapple with custody issues, which are some of the most challenging as we seek to integrate crypto assets into our regulatory structure,” said Peirce, who heads the SEC task force.Notably, Uyeda was listed as acting chair of the commission at the April 25 event, despite the US Senate confirming that Paul Atkins would head the regulatory body on April 9. It’s unclear when Atkins will be sworn in as SEC chair, but at the time of publication, the regulator had not listed him as a current commissioner.Related: US gov’t actions give clue about upcoming crypto regulationAmong the topics listed on the roundtable’s agenda are discussions on broker-dealers and custody at investment firms. Demand for digital asset custody in the US has grown in the last few years, especially following the approval of crypto exchange-traded funds in January 2024. The trend has also drawn in traditional financial institutions, including long-standing firms such as BNY Mellon.Since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January and the departure of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the agency has seemingly moved in a direction more favorable to the crypto industry by abandoning certain enforcement actions and dismissing efforts in court to expand or maintain its authority over digital assets.The first of the crypto task force’s roundtable events on March 21 dealt with the status of many tokens as securities. Another on April 11 included discussions on “tailoring regulation for crypto trading.”Is DOGE infiltrating the SEC?The roundtable discussions come as reports suggested the “government efficiency” team launched by Tesla CEO and presidential adviser Elon Musk had been given access to the SEC’s systems and data. Acting chair Uyeda has reportedly pushed back on requests by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE – which is not an official US government department — to access SEC data.DOGE faces criticism and some lawsuits over attempts to fire staff at US government agencies. It’s unclear whether Musk intends to “streamline” the SEC in the same way the group went after the US Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple and industry with no crypto legal precedent set