The Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a license to stablecoin wallet Rpay to operate in Venezuela.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) tweeted agreement with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s statement surrounding the staying power of crypto. Lummis stated, “I am glad Chairman Powell recognizes what China and Europe have been working overtime to capitalize on—crypto assets have real value and tremendous potential. America is at a critical crossroads, and we must create legal clarity for the crypto industry and consumers.” 

House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) tweeted at SEC Chair Gary Gensler in response to reports that SEC had said BlackRock and Fidelity’s ETF filings were inadequate. McHenry said that Gensler “has a lot of explaining to do,” and “The only reason for Chair Gensler to oppose is if he wants to kill crypto in the U.S. all together.”

The SEC said that BTC spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications by BlackRock and Fidelity Investments were inadequate. The agency told exchanges including Nasdaq and Cboe Global Markets, which filed the applications on behalf of BlackRock and Fidelity, that further information is needed before they can be reviewed for approval.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) tweeted praise for Wyoming’s crypto asset rules of the road, saying “It’s no surprise Wyoming ranks #1 in the nation and #7 in the world on Coindesk’s Crypto Hubs 2023 list.” She also posted a tweet in support of replicating Wyoming’s regulations at the federal level.

On June 29 Fidelity Digital Assets became the latest high-profile issuer to join the wave of spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings before the SEC. The initial filing by BlackRock initiated a wave of similar applications.

Crypto exchange Coinbase responded to SEC allegations that the company is an unregistered national securities exchange, arguing that the SEC did an “about-face” in going after a company whose initial public offering it recently condoned.

CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero announced that the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) will meet for the second time on July 18. At the meeting TAC will introduce three subcommittees approved by the CFTC, including a subcommittee on Digital Assets and Blockchain Technology.

Judge Lewis Kaplan, the federal judge overseeing FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, denied Bankman-Fried’s pretrial motions to dismiss criminal charges against him.