The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published its finalized policy recommendations for crypto and digital asset markets. The recommendations cover six key areas: 1) conflicts of interest arising from vertical integration of activities and functions, 2) market manipulation, insider trading, and fraud, 3) custody and client asset protection, 4) cross-border risks and regulatory cooperation, 5) operational and technological risk, and 6) retail distribution.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy released a crypto plan at the North American Blockchain Summit in Texas. Ramaswamy vows to rescind most federal crypto regulations and drastically reduce the SEC’s workforce. His "Three Freedoms of Crypto" surround freedom to code, freedom to financial self-reliance, and freedom from regulatory overreach. He is the only GOP presidential candidate who has released a crypto plan thus far.

State securities regulators in Texas, California, Alabama, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of British Columbia unveiled cease-and-desist orders against GSB Gold Standard Bank Ltd. over an allegedly fraudulent crypto scheme using multilevel marketing tactics to sell a variety of digital assets as unregistered securities. GSB Gold Standard Bank Ltd. did business under the name GS Partners, and was affiliated with other businesses from the Germany-based GSB Group.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that three men, Zhong Shi Gao, Fei Jiang, and Naifeng Xu, have been arrested and charged with a $10 million fraud and crypto laundering scheme. They are all facing charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith explained that the men allegedly stole and laundered more than $10 million by scamming multiple financial institutions and using foreign crypto exchanges.

CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero spoke at the Consumer Federation of America’s Financial Services Conference, discussing financial stability and consumer protection. Romero highlighted conflicts of interest and affiliate risk in the crypto industry, and advocated for regulations that protect consumers without creating increased risk.

The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to conduct oversight of prudential regulators– the Federal Reserve, FDIC, National Credit Union Administration, and OCC. While crypto was not the primary focus, Rep. French Hill (R-AR) discussed the OCC’s capabilities surrounding stablecoins, and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) asked about the Federal Reserve’s CBDC efforts.

At a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) highlighted the dangers of crypto scams for seniors, and advocated for her Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act. She noted that crypto scams stole a record $1 billion from seniors last year, and legislation is needed to give financial regulators the necessary tools to track suspicious crypto activity and shut down scammers.

House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) led a bipartisan letter to the prudential regulators, urging them to clarify that SEC Staff Accounting Bullet (SAB) 121 is not enforceable, given the GAO’s finding that it constitutes a rule. SAB 121 focuses on the risks and uncertainties associated with safeguarding crypto assets. Other letter signatories include Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Reps. French Hill (R-AR), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Mike Flood (R-NE), and Wiley Nickel (D-NC0).

A coalition of digital asset industry companies, led by the Blockchain Association, wrote a letter to members of the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee to “clarify misperceptions about illicit finance and money laundering.” The companies also stressed that the US must develop regulations that would keep the digital asset industry in the US, arguing that current legislative proposals in Congress "would push the vast majority of the digital asset industry overseas, providing increased liquidity for unregulated offshore exchanges."