Was Congress's letter to Libra undemocratic?

What constitutes government overreach? Some would say the letters U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Sherrod Brown recently sent to MasterCard, Visa and Stripe, threatening more scrutiny if the major payment companies remained partners in the planned "Libra" digital currency project. 

The senators’ comments appeared to make their mark, with Stripe, Visa, PayPal, MasterCard and others dropping out of the Facebook-led Libra Association soon after, reportedly citing that threat of additional scrutiny. But commentators have suggested the senators overstepped their mandate and are suppressing innovation, even amid a continuing global outcry over the Libra project. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was quick to dismiss the critics yesterday, speaking on CNBC’s SquawkBox. “I’ve met with the representatives of Libra multiple times,” he said. “We’ve been very clear with them—you can call that ‘threatening’—that if they don’t meet the highest [money laundering standards]...then we will take enforcement actions against them. And I think they realized they’re not up to par and some of the members dropped out until they meet those standards.”

Dr. Doom: Crypto is “a big, fake thing.”

Following a much-anticipated discussion between crypto advocate Roger Ver and economics professor/crypto hater Nouriel Roubini, Ver told Decrypt that his adversary had “clearly lost the debate.”

Roubini would likely disagree, but he was practically heckled out of the room before we were able to get his take on the debate. “I have to catch a plane,” he said, and hustled off into a back room.

The two had squared off at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, in the Westminster neighborhood, a four-minute walk from the Houses of Parliament. Some 500 people were in attendance, and the crowd was restive, booing and shouting, especially at Roubini toward the end of the confrontation.

Here are the biggest stories in the cryptoverse:

• EY launches blockchain tool for public finance. 
• Deutsche Bank bond tokenized on EOS.
• Bermuda accepts tax payments in USDC stablecoin.
• UK e-tailer integrates crypto payment solution.

The world is built on a giant $256 trillion pile of assets. Everything from property to art, to stocks to oil. Blockchain wants to change all that. This collection explores the industries being disrupted, by whom, and what that means for both consumers and enterprises. We've delved deep into the tokenized world to uncover the people, the projects and the potential of this technology to change capital forever.

The crypto world’s bet on Trump’s impeachment

What you need to know

They predicted Brett Kavanuagh’s ascension to the Supreme Court. They predicted the Democratic victory in the 2018 midterms. And now the bettors on decentralization prediction market “Augur” think that President Donald Trump … might—or might not—be impeached. 

Why it's important

That’s right: they’re split down the middle! It’s a dead heat right now.

Augur is run by a collective of distributed “reporters,” who validate the outcomes of events in lieu of a centralized system. Bettors can gamble on anything without the restrictions levied on regulated markets, and governments supposedly can’t do anything because the whole thing is decentralized. 

Prime Target

A new threat report published last week by European law enforcement agency Europol found that cryptocurrencies continue to play a major role in cybercrime, and that criminals now “routinely target crypto-assets and enterprises.”

The report, called the “Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment” (IOCTA), found that crypto continues to pose problems for law enforcement, both in underground economies and through hacking attacks. 

Read more and watch the video here.