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Cryptocurrency is having a moment in Washington D.C. The Senate voted last week to overturn an SEC rule, Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB-121), that had imposed onerous accounting standards on cryptocurrency assets held by financial institutions. The Senate vote followed House approval of the same pro-crypto measure.

This week, the House will consider Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), a bill that would establish a long-awaited U.S. regulatory regime for the crypto industry. And as of Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to be leaning towards approval of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the spot market for a type of cryptocurrency known as Ethereum. If approved, it would be the second type of crypto ETFs authorized by the SEC. The tide is shifting.

President Biden has said hell veto the Congressional action reversing SAB-121. We hope he listens to lawmakers in his own party, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Corey Booker of New Jersey, who were among those who voted 60-38 to repeal the SEC rule.

At the same time, spot ether ETF approval would be another giant step forward for the crypto industry on its inevitable road to broad-based mainstream adoption. In January, SEC-approved ETFs pegged to the spot market in Bitcoin began trading.

Crypto got a bad name with the spectacular implosion of Sam Bankman-Frieds fraudulent FTX empire, followed by the incarceration of Changpeng CZ Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, the largest global cryptocurrency exchange.

That stigma masked all the potential positive benefits of the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrency. More than 50 million Americans now hold cryptocurrencies. And the variety of exchange-traded funds pegged to Bitcoin that have sprung up this year have attracted $12 billion in inflows as of Mayone of the most successful ETF launches in history. No wonder Congress has taken notice.

The Congressional repeal effort was aimed at the SECs Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB-121), adopted in 2022. The rule required financial institutions that hold crypto accounts to treat them as liabilities, which made the safekeeping of digital assets simply uneconomical. A recent analysis by the bipartisan Congressional Research Service had observed that rules represents a shift from traditional custodial practices, could limit involvement of certain institutions, and may introduce new costs or risks.

At its heart, blockchain technology is here to stay, remains bipartisan, and its building momentum on a path to mainstream adoption as the country focuses on the November elections.

While agencies could have reduced ambiguity by working together to clearly and precisely define the boundaries of their respective jurisdictions, they have refused to do so. Instead, they have gone on campaigns of regulation by enforcement to assert their authority over the asset class and to suppress its adoption and growth.

This approach has been costly and expensive for those on the receiving end, although recent court rulings are giving the crypto industry some of the clarity it has been seeking. While this is not the preferred policy path, checks and balances are working, and this is unlocking pent-up demand for clearly regulated crypto products.

With the November U.S. elections looming, a sharply divided electorate has found common ground in their support of blockchain technology. For progressives, blockchain-powered finance eliminates gatekeepers. It makes finance more accessible and inclusive at a time when the crackdown on crypto alienates communities of color, who have embraced the asset class. Among conservatives, agency overreach violates fundamental principles of free markets and more limited government.

Regardless, leadership in innovation and technology remains a shared American value. In fact, 20% of voters in key battleground states identified crypto as a major issue in the 2024 election season according to a recent survey by Digital Currency Group. As seen by the success of pro-crypto candidates in recent primaries, candidates who choose to fight crypto do so at their own peril.

In a final act of desperation, anti-crypto crusaders have sought to garner bipartisan support by suggesting that crypto harms national security. But crypto is no bigger threat to national security than the internet itself. In fact, the transparency of blockchain has emerged as a key forensic tool to better track illicit finance.

The greater threat to national security could be the economic fallout of policies that thwart innovation and send entrepreneurs overseas. For example, it would be difficult to design a greater innovation for the U.S. dollar than stablecoins pegged one-to-one to the dollar. Stablecoins are already the 16th largest holder of Treasury bonds, represent 99% of internet money, and are set to preserve the dollar as the global reserve currency for decades to come.

The Senate and House votes to overturn SAB-121 are a milestone in bipartisan support for the cryptocurrency industry and show that Congress understands that blockchain technology is the future of the internet.

One reason the SEC has been able to attempt to apply antiquated thinking to the regulation of the new internet is that, so far, Congress has not passed nuanced legislation that defines regulatory parameters and encourages U.S. innovation. As a result, regulators have been left to rely upon decades-old dilapidating financial rules that do not reconcile with the realities of the new digital asset class.

Today, the House will consider the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), a bill that would establish a long-awaited U.S. regulatory regime for the crypto industry. The bill has the support of the cryptocurrency industry because it will deliver customer protections and long-sought-after regulatory clarity.

We hope that Congresss bipartisan support for the crypto industry will continue to prevail. And we hope the President takes heed of the public sentiment.

As House lawmakers prepare for a floor vote on FIT21, the electorate will be watching. History will be watching, too.

Chris Perkins is the president of CoinFund, an asset management firm that champions the leaders of the new internet.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs ofFortune.

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Bipartisan support of cryptocurrency is resurging in Congress. Here's why - Fortune

The message explained that Incognito was now essentially blackmailing its former users: It had stored their messages and transaction records, it said, and added that it would be creating a whitelist portal where users could pay a feewhich for some dealers would later be set as high as $20,000 dollarsto remove their data before all the incriminating information was leaked online at the end of this month. YES THIS IS AN EXTORTION!!! the message added.

In retrospect, Ormsby says that the site's apparent user-friendliness and its security features were perhaps a multiyear con laying the groundwork for its endgame, a kind of user extortion never seen before in dark-web drug markets. Maybe the whole thing was set up to create a false sense of security, Ormsby says. The extorting thing is completely new to me. But if you've lulled people into a sense of security, I guess it's easier to extort them.

In total, Incognito Market promised to leak more than half a million drug transaction records if buyers and sellers didn't pay to remove them from the data dump. It's still not clear whether the market's administratorLin, according to prosecutors, whom they accuse of personally carrying out the extortion campaignplanned to follow through on the threat: He appears to have been arrested before the deadline set for the victims of the Incognito blackmail.

At the same time the FBI says Lin was laying the groundwork for this double-cross, he also appears to have briefly tried engineering an entirely different scheme. In the summer of 2021, during Incognito Market's relatively quiet first year, Lin's alleged alter ego, Pharoah, launched a service called Antinalysis, a website designed to analyze blockchains and let users checkfor a feewhether their cryptocurrency could be connected to criminal transactions.

In a post to the dark-web market forum Dread, Pharoah made clear that Antinalysis was designed not to help anti-money-laundering investigators, but rather those who sought to evade thempresumably including his own dark-web market's users. Our goals do not lie in aiding the surveillance autocracy of state-sponsored agencies, Pharoah's post read. This service is dedicated to individuals that have the need to possess complete privacy on the blockchain, offering a perspective from the opponent's point of view in order for the user to comprehend the possibility of his/her funds getting flagged down under autocratic illegal charges.

After independent cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs wrote about the Antinalysis service in August of 2021, describing it as an anti anti-money laundering service for crooks, Pharoah posted another message complaining that Antinalysis had lost access to its blockchain data source, which Krebs had identified as the anti-money laundering tool AMLBot, and that it would be going offline. Stay posted and fuck LE," Pharoah wrote, using the abbreviation LE to mean law enforcement. Antinalysis eventually returned, however, and pivoted last year to acting instead as a service for swapping Bitcoin for Monero and vice versa.

Meanwhile, Lin appears to have maintained his obsession with cryptocurrency tracing and blockchain analysis: His final LinkedIn post last week before his arrest in New York announced that he had become a certified user of Reactor, the crypto tracing tool sold by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. I'm excited to share that I've completed Chainalysis's new qualification: Chainalysis Reactor Certification (CRC)! Lin wrote in Mandarin. His last X post shows a Chainalysis diagram of money flows between dark-web markets and cryptocurrency exchanges.

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He Trained Cops to Fight Crypto Crimeand Allegedly Ran a $100M Dark-Web Drug Market - WIRED

After a significant rally yesterday, the cryptocurrency market seems to be cooling off once again. Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen to the $69,000 mark, while the global market cap has dropped to $2.72 trillion. The rally was fuelled by positive movements in the spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) debate. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) asked exchanges interested in the ETF to update their 19b-4 filings. However, the move did not mean an outright approval, leading to a market correction.

Despite the slight correction, we may witness a few assets explode over the next few weeks.

Pepe (PEPE):

Pepe is among the best-performing crypto assets over the last year. The frog-themed memecoin hit an all-time high of $0.00001441 on Thursday, May 23, 2024. However, analysts anticipate the memecoin to continue its bullish trajectory for the next few weeks at least.

Also Read: Top 3 Cryptocurrencies That May Hit All-Time Highs In June 2024

According to CoinCodex, PEPE could surge to $0.00004858 on June 20, 2024. Reaching $0.00004858 from current levels would translate to a growth of about 242.3%.

Changelly also predicts that PEPE will continue its rally in June. The platform anticipates the cryptocurrency to hit a new all-time high of $0.00003749 on June 18, 2024.

dogwifhat (WIF):

WIF is another cryptocurrency that has displayed stellar growth over the last few months. The Solana-based memecoin reached an all-time high of $4.83 on Mar. 31, 2024. However, CoinCodex predicts WIF to surpass the $10 mark next month. The platform anticipates WIF to hit $10.03 on June 19, 2024. Reaching $10.03 from current levels would translate to a growth of about 235.45%.

Shiba Inu (SHIB):

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the market. The dog-themed crypto witnessed a massive price spike in March, following BTCs climb to a new all-time high. However, SHIBs price has struggled to gain momentum over the last few weeks.

Also Read: Shiba Inu: Top 3 Things That Can Take SHIB To $0.001

According to CoinCodex, SHIB could surge to a new all-time high of $0.00008625 on June 20, 2024. Reaching $0.00008625 from current levels would translate to a growth of about 239.1%.

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Cryptocurrency: Top 3 Memecoins Predicted to Explode in June - Watcher Guru

Franklin Templeton's Digital Asset team recently shed light on some of the most common misconceptions about cryptocurrencies, underscoring the need for investors to have a nuanced, informed perspective on the asset class as it matures. The insights were shared in a recent article published on the company's website.

According to the Franklin Templeton Digital Asset team, the world of cryptocurrencies extends far beyond the myths that often surround them. These misconceptions can create a distorted view of the asset class, preventing investors from fully understanding its potential.

While the details of the debunked myths were not specified in the news source, the need for accurate information and understanding about cryptocurrencies is clear. As the digital asset market continues to grow and evolve, it is crucial for investors to move beyond these myths and evaluate cryptocurrencies from an informed perspective.

Investing in cryptocurrencies can be a lucrative venture, but it is not without its risks. It requires a deep understanding of the market and the ability to navigate its volatility. The Franklin Templeton Digital Asset team emphasizes that a nuanced perspective is key to successful investing in this burgeoning asset class.

Data from other sources indicates that the global cryptocurrency market size was valued at 1.49 billion USD in 2020, and it is projected to reach 4.94 billion USD by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2021 to 2030. This growth underscores the increasing acceptance and adoption of digital currencies worldwide.

As cryptocurrencies continue to gain traction in the financial world, it is increasingly important for investors to have a clear understanding of the asset class. By debunking common myths and misconceptions, Franklin Templeton's Digital Asset team aims to provide investors with the insights they need to make informed decisions in the cryptocurrency market.

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Debunking Cryptocurrency Misconceptions: Insights from Franklin Templeton - Blockchain News

Dutch cybersecurity specialists have linked a major cryptocurrency theft to the infamous Ebury botnet, responsible for compromising over 400,000 servers over a 15-year period.

According to a report from Slovakian cybersecurity firm ESET, the incident was initially uncovered during a 2021 investigation by the Dutch National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU). During this investigation, operatives found the Ebury botnet on a server linked to crypto theft.

After this revelation, the Dutch crime unit collaborated with ESET, led by researcher Marc-Etienne Lveill, who had been studying Ebury for over a decade.

Ebury operators allegedly used a sophisticated attack dubbed adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) to steal the crypto funds. The attack transpires with the botnet intercepting network traffic and capturing login credentials and session information.

Cryptocurrency theft was not something that wed ever seen them do before, Lveill noted.

The botnet redirects this traffic to servers controlled by the cybercriminals, allowing them to access and steal cryptocurrency from the wallets of the victims. In its report, ESET revealed that over 100,000 remained infected as of 2023.

Ebury specifically targets Bitcoin and Ethereum nodes, making off with wallets and other valuable credentials. The botnet would steal the funds once the unsuspecting victims entered their credentials on the infected server.

Further, once a victims system was compromised, Ebury would exfiltrate credentials and use them to infiltrate related systems. The report identified a wide array of victims ranging from universities, enterprises, internet service providers, and cryptocurrency traders.

The attackers also employ stolen identities to rent servers and deploy their attacks. As such, it is very difficult for law enforcement agencies to track down the identities of those behind this cybercrime racket.

Theyre really good at blurring the attribution, Lveill added.

One Ebury operator, Maxim Senakh, was arrested at the Finland-Russia border in 2015 and was extradited to the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice charged Senakh with computer fraud, to which he pleaded guilty in 2017. He was sentenced to four years behind bars.

While the masterminds behind Ebury remain at large, the NHTCU has revealed that several leads are being pursued.

Crypto thefts have become increasingly complicated over the years. Earlier this month, North Korean hackers employed a new malware variant dubbed Durian to targeted attacks on at least two cryptocurrency firms.

Prior to that, a January report from cybersecurity firm Kaspersky revealed that a malware was targetting cryptocurrency wallets on MacOS.

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ESET and Dutch police expose Ebury botnet's cryptocurrency theft operations - crypto.news