Author: Vickie Helm

“I’m allergic to free stuff.” These are the words I said every time I gave ethics training to White House staff when I was Deputy White House Counsel under President Barack Obama. It was a plain English expression of the core principles of public service. That is, people exist to serve the public, not for their own benefit, and even small gifts impair judgment and undermine public trust. It resonates this Presidents Day to realize that despite what our founders envisioned, the opposite has become the norm. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a $500 million transaction between the…

Bitcoin and various cryptocurrencies logos – Copyright AFP Giuseppe CACACE Cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, is the third dimension of finance. No one needed it, no one asked for it. The financial world was completely capable of transmitting itself and everyone else went bust without crypto. Even organized crime didn’t need cryptocurrencies. Deregulation and corruption have made it easier for illicit funds to move around without a fully independent crypto system or market. But of course being completely unnecessary has never been a big argument against anything horrible in human history. Nor did anyone “need” two world wars. Just recently, this system…

Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed herein belong solely to the authors and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news editorials. Over the past two years, the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem has seen a proliferation of “layer 2s” that claim to bring decentralized finance to the world’s oldest blockchain network. Although many Bitcoin enthusiasts had high hopes for these protocols, the results have been disastrously disappointing. summary Most “Bitcoin L2” is not L2 at all. It is a sidechain with a bridge, a new token, and a weak security model that does not inherit Bitcoin’s base layer guarantees. Token-first…

After months of bipartisan negotiations, Congress continues to debate the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act, but questions remain about whether the new federal framework for digital assets will include common-sense investor protections. These proposals address fundamental issues aimed at providing the clarity needed for digital asset markets, including government agency jurisdiction, and trust and confidence for mainstream adoption in modern markets. While negotiations have sometimes broken down over stablecoin yields, clauses on decentralized finance, developer liability, and the importance of investor protection measures have proven equally divisive. The GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest, recognizing that interest payments convert…

After months of bipartisan negotiations, Congress continues to debate the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act, but questions remain about whether the new federal framework for digital assets will include common-sense investor protections.These proposals address fundamental issues aimed at providing the clarity needed for digital asset markets, including government agency jurisdiction, and trust and confidence for mainstream adoption in modern markets. While negotiations have sometimes broken down over stablecoin yields, clauses on decentralized finance, developer liability, and the importance of investor protection measures have proven equally divisive.The GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest, recognizing that interest payments convert digital tokens…

In Washington, DC, lawmakers are grappling with the future of digital assets and how best to integrate emerging technologies into the financial system. Among these efforts is the GENIUS Act, which aims to define a rapidly evolving corner of finance by regulating stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to the US dollar. Stablecoin regulation is necessary, but the law has loopholes that threaten the financing that allows small towns and rural areas like Alabama and across the country to thrive: community bank deposits. The core of the GENIUS law is that it legitimately prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield on…

In the Divine Comedy, Dante reserved one of the most terrible punishments for the crime of forgery. In canto 30 of Inferno, the forger Adamo is sent to the 8th circle of hell, one level above Lucifer in the 9th circle. In Canto, Dante and Virgil, who guide him through the underworld, encounter two forgers. One of them is the unfortunate Adamo, a real-life forger who tried to disparage Florin of Florence during Dante’s youth. Adam lived in Brescia, a city competing with Florence, where he was persuaded by wealthy Brescian merchants to degrade Florin by replacing the three carats…

mike altshuler |Guest columnistLet’s take a look at what a crypto mine in Limestone, Tennessee looks like.Hear the story of the cryptocurrency mine in Limestone, Tennessee.Brianna Pacholka, Knoxville News ObserverWe’re all familiar with the concept of mining precious metals, but what is cryptocurrency mining? Crypto mining is how some cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, process transactions and generate new tokens. Cryptocurrency mining is similar in design to digital mining of gold.Cryptocurrency “mines” are specialized data centers where cryptocurrency miners compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles using specialized computer hardware and terrifying amounts of energy, equivalent to the electricity usage of many…

Karshi app placed on a smartphone in New York, USA on Monday, February 10, 2025. Gabby Jones Bloomberg | Getty ImagesWhen I was anchoring CNBC’s “Squawkbox Europe” on Thursdays, the producers put this in the summary for me to read. In fact, as good books often do, it made me think a little.“Bitcoin has fallen for the second day in a row, and as of this morning, the cryptocurrency is below the 71,000 level. Prediction markets expect the cryptocurrency to fall further, with Polymarket giving a more than 80 percent chance that Bitcoin will reach the 65,000 level this year.”On…

Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed herein belong solely to the authors and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news editorials. Over the past decade, neobanks have reinvented consumer finance with sleek interfaces, fee-free accounts, and instant payments. But behind the design revolution lies a troubling truth. 76% of neobanks are unprofitable, even though customer numbers have soared to hundreds of millions. summary Deja vu for neobanks, but worse, crypto wallets copying zero-fee card strategies are inheriting a model that has already failed in fiat, and stablecoins are compressing margins further towards zero. Payment is a trap, not…