US President Joe Biden has rejected a resolution that sought to overturn the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121. In his official response to Congress, Biden stated that overturning the crypto accounting guidelines would undermine the SEC’s authority in accounting practices. The guidelines, which require institutions holding crypto assets to record them as liabilities, faced backlash from the crypto community and lawmakers. The House of Representatives voted to repeal the SEC’s guidance, and the Senate also voted in favor of repealing SAB-121. Senator Cynthia Lummis criticized Biden for going against the will of the American people by intervening in the matter.
Israel has launched an experiment to develop its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital shekel. The Bank of Israel (BoI) plans to collaborate with various service providers to create an advanced digital payments ecosystem centered around the digital shekel. The project, called Rosalind, is a joint effort between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Bank of England. It aims to develop prototypes for an application programming interface (API). Participants in the experiment will compete to build real-time CBDC payment systems for the public.
Paraguay continues its crackdown on crypto mining, with the seizure of property containing 2,738 crypto mining units in Salto del Guairá. The National Electricity Administration (ANDE) discovered an illegal power connection in the area and estimated the electricity theft to be worth $146,000 per month. A bill to ban crypto mining and other crypto-related activities is currently before the country’s senate. This seizure follows similar actions against illegal crypto farms in Paraguay earlier this year.
Hong Kong has ordered all unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges to cease operations immediately. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued an ultimatum to these exchanges, giving them until February 29 to apply for a license or shut down within three months. Over 22 cryptocurrency exchanges applied for licenses during this period, but many withdrew their applications just before the deadline. Hong Kong-based exchange Gate.HK cited the need for a major overhaul of its trading platform to comply with regulatory requirements as the reason for withdrawal.