Today in crypto, US Senate Democrats unveil a rival framework for digital asset market structure, Gemini adds Nasdaq as an investor in its upcoming IPO, and Sky enters the race to build Hyperliquid’s stablecoin.
Today in crypto, US Senate Democrats unveil a rival framework for digital asset market structure, Gemini adds Nasdaq as an investor in its upcoming IPO, and Sky enters the race to build Hyperliquid’s stablecoin.
US Senate Democrats offer competing framework for crypto market structure
A group of Democratic US senators has released its own version of guidelines to influence legislation to establish a crypto market structure, focusing on taking time toward a “strong, bipartisan outcome.”
In a Tuesday notice, 12 Democratic senators, several of whom are on the banking committee, unveiled a framework for market structure legislation in response to Republicans’ plans.
Like the Republicans’ latest draft released on Sept. 5, the Democrats’ framework includes provisions for regulatory clarity and laying out rules by which the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) could handle digital assets.
“We owe it to the millions of Americans who participate in this market to create clear rules of the road that protect consumers and safeguard our markets,” the senators wrote. “We also must ensure that digital assets are not used to finance illicit activities or to line the pockets of politicians and their families.”
With Democrats in the minority in the Senate, it’s unclear whether Republicans will consider the framework recommendations as part of their plans to pass the bill out of the banking committee by October, out of the agriculture committee by November and into law by 2026.
Republican Senator Tim Scott, who chairs the banking committee, said in August that he expected “between 12 to 18” Democrats to back the majority’s version of the bill, titled the Responsible Financial Innovation Act.
“Achieving a strong, bipartisan outcome will require time and cannot be rushed,” wrote the 12 Democrats. “We look forward to working on this with our Republican colleagues.”
Nasdaq seeks access to Gemini’s crypto services via investment: Report
US stock exchange giant Nasdaq has reportedly formed a strategic partnership with Winklevoss-founded crypto exchange Gemini to gain access to its custody and staking services.
Gemini has secured Nasdaq as a strategic investor as the company moves forward with its initial public offering (IPO) debut on the stock exchange, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The crypto exchange expects to raise up to $317 million through the IPO and has arranged for Nasdaq to purchase $50 million in shares via a private placement concurrent with the offering, the sources said.
The investment is part of a strategic partnership that would enable Nasdaq to integrate Gemini’s custody and staking, while Gemini’s institutional clients would have access to Nasdaq’s Calypso platform to manage and track trading collateral.
The strategic partnership plans are subject to market conditions and possible changes, as mentioned by the sources.
The report came shortly after Nasdaq announced a major move into tokenized securities, or blockchain-based versions of traditional stocks, on Monday.
Sky joins bidding war to launch Hyperliquid’s USDH stablecoin
Crypto protocol Sky, formerly Maker, became the fifth major crypto project on Monday to bid on helping the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid launch and issue a stablecoin called USDH, for which it first solicited bids on Friday.
Sky co-founder Rune Christensen made a wide-ranging proposal promising a 4.85% return on all USDH, that it would be “natively multichain” via LayerZero, and that the community could customize it so it could comply with US laws banning stablecoin issuers from offering yield, among other things.
Sky’s proposal is the fifth similar bid for the stablecoin from a major crypto project after Hyperliquid posted to its Discord on Friday that it wanted pitches from “teams interested in deploying a Hyperliquid-first, native stablecoin with the ticker USDH.”
Other bidders have included stablecoin protocol Frax, stablecoin issuer Paxos, crypto infrastructure firm Agora and Native Markets, a new venture set up by Hyperliquid advocate Max Fiege with the sole goal of winning the project.
