Regulatory Compliance & Growth in the U.S.A & Abroad
DARA
Digital Asset Regulatory Authority
A Self Regulated Organization
Presented By:
DARA U.S & DARA International
Blockchain Legal Institute Foundation
Special Guest from Arizona
Dylan Jones
Assistant Attorney General
Civil Litigation Division/Consumer Protection and Advocacy Section
Digital Asset & Tech News From Around The USA
- Follow DARA on LinkedIn for News Posts
- Federal Updates
- State Updates
- Tech Tool Updates
- Special Guest Speaker: Arizona AG Office
- Next Steps
New Notes
Senate Market Structure
The Senate Banking Committee is seeking responses to its Request for Information on how to improve its market structure discussion draft by next Tuesday, August 5th. Recall, Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Bernie Moreno (R-OH) introduced a discussion draft last week focusing on a narrow set of issues subject to the committee’s jurisdiction.
Crypto Mortgage Bill
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the 21st Century Mortgage Act of 2025. The bill would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to treat digital assets held in a qualified custodial arrangement as eligible reserves when evaluating the risk of a single-family mortgage loan.
Bipartisan AI Innovation Labs
News Updates
White House
Crypto Report: On Wednesday, the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets published a report outlining detailed recommendations for Congress and regulators to execute the White House’s goal of making the U.S. the global leader in crypto. Recommendations cover market structure, self-custody, DeFi, banking, stablecoins, countering illicit finance, and tax policy. A handy summary table of specific recommendations is included starting on page 141 of the report (PDF pg. 145).
The report also acknowledges the White House’s Executive Order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, noting that Treasury has submitted recommendations and is coordinating with other agencies to operationalize both initiatives.
SEC
Project Crypto: In remarks delivered yesterday, SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced the launch of Project Crypto, an agency-wide initiative to accelerate implementation of the White House’s crypto policy agenda. Chair Atkins outlined directives for SEC staff to bring crypto activity and investment onshore by modernizing rules for trading, capital raising, custody, licensing, DeFi, tokenization, and more.
In Kind ETPs: The SEC voted to permit in-kind creations and redemptions for bitcoin and ether ETPs.
- SEC Press Release.
- X thread from Multicoin Capital General Counsel, Greg Xethalis, breaking down the significance.
Staking ETPs: Jito is urging the SEC to allow liquid staking tokens as a mechanism for staking within crypto ETPs.
Courts
Samourai Wallet: The developers of the Samourai Wallet pleaded guilty to unlicensed money transmission. They now face a maximum of 5 years in prison and will pay criminal fines. A full conviction on all charges could have carried up to 25 years.
Tornado Cash: Roman Storm’s case is in the jury’s hands now. The jury deliberated yesterday, but did not reach a verdict before breaking until Monday.
Resource Reference Links
SEC Creates Task Force to Tap Artificial Intelligence for Enhanced Innovation and Efficiency Across the Agency
Valerie Szczepanik will lead the agency wide effort.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the launch of a task force on artificial intelligence (AI) that will spearhead the agency’s efforts to enhance innovation and efficiency in its operations through the responsible use of AI. Valerie Szczepanik, who has been named the SEC’s Chief AI Officer, is leading the task force.
Recognizing the transformative potential of AI, the SEC’s AI Task Force will accelerate AI integration to bolster the SEC’s mission. It will centralize the agency’s efforts and enable internal cross-agency and cross-disciplinary collaboration to navigate the AI lifecycle, remove barriers to progress, focus on AI applications that maximize benefits, and maintain governance. The task force will support innovation from the SEC’s divisions and offices and facilitate responsible AI integration across the agency.
Artificial Intelligence Update
10 bills have been sent to Governors in the following states and are awaiting executive action: DE, IL (4), ME, NY (4).
On July 15, New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte (R) signed SB 300, which criminalizes the creation of child intimate visual representations. The bill stipulates that no person shall knowingly create, produce, manufacture, or direct an intimate visual representation of a child for prurient purposes when that child is identifiable from the intimate visual representation itself or information displayed in connection with the intimate visual representation. “Intimate visual representation” means any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, digital image, synthetic image, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, in which a child’s intimate parts are depicted. Offenses are classified as a class B felony, punishable by a fine and up to 7 years imprisonment. The bill is effective January 1, 2026.
On July 23, the White House released “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan”, in accordance with President Trump’s January executive order on Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI. The White House cites wide acclaim, calling it a “groundbreaking blueprint” that “establishes core tenets to accelerate innovation, fortify essential infrastructure, and assert U.S. leadership in diplomacy and security — cementing our position as the global AI powerhouse”.
The Plan identifies over 90 Federal policy actions across three pillars – Accelerating Innovation, Building American AI Infrastructure, and Leading in International Diplomacy and Security – that the Trump Administration will take in the coming weeks and months.
Passage Updates
The GENIUS Act, which codifies rules to issue digital dollars in the US, passed 308-122 with more than 100 Democrats joining in, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joining Republicans.
President Donald Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act) into law on July 18, 2025
The CLARITY Act, which provides a regulatory framework for digital assets, passed the House 294-134, with 78 Democrats joining the majority. That bill garnered much more support than pundits expected and even topped the vote tally from its market reform predecessor FIT21 last year, which cleared the House with 71 Democrats.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (the CLARITY Act) was passed by the House of Representatives on July 17, 2025, but is still awaiting a vote in the Senate
State AI Update
Virginia Governor Glenn Younkin (R) issued Executive Order 51 launching a first-of-its-kind agentic artificial intelligence (AI) regulatory reduction pilot to ensure that the Commonwealth captures the benefits of the latest artificial intelligence technology in reducing regulatory burdens and keeping regulations and guidance documents streamlined and up to date. The initiative will also help the handful of state agencies that are struggling to hit the state’s 25 percent regulatory reduction goal contained in ED 1 (2022) and ED 19 (2022).
U.S. Senator David McCormick (R-PA) hosted an AI summit on July 14, featuring President Trump, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D), and a host of cabinet level officials. The inaugural Energy and Innovation Summit was held at Carnegie Mellon University and included an announcement of $90 billion in private investment in energy and AI-related projects. Winning the AI race, education, energy and workforce were featured topics.
Special Guest Speaker from Arizona
Dylan Jones
Assistant Attorney General
Civil Litigation Division/Consumer Protection and Advocacy Section
Sandboxes - Arizona
Welcome To Arizona’s Regulatory Sandbox
WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
Under Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) §§ 41-5601 to 41-5612, a Regulatory Sandbox (“Sandbox”) for innovative products and services is now available in Arizona. The Sandbox enables a participant to obtain limited access to Arizona’s market to test innovative financial products or services or other innovations without first obtaining full state licensure or other authorization that otherwise may be required. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is responsible for the admission process into and oversight of the Sandbox.
Submit feedback or questions to sandbox@azag.gov.
Sandboxes - Other States
- Hawaii
- Kentucky
- Catawba Indian Nation
- Nevada
- Utah
- North Carolina
- Texas
- Wyoming
- Utah
- West Virgina
- Florida
Update from Larry Cameron
What does “enterprise-grade” mean?
It’s a phrase you hear a lot. But here’s the reality: You can’t claim to serve enterprises without reflecting the challenges that enterprise finance teams face – like subsidiary entities.
If a crypto subledger can’t support inter-company flows across jurisdictions, or model an organization with 8 entities, 6 currencies, and dozens of wallets – is it truly built for enterprise customers?
Different companies offer solutions and make warranties. Would their warranties be considered breach of contracts if a hack occurs? Let’s discuss what is expected regarding greater functionality to support complex accounting, tax, and compliance workflows.
Additional Resources
Visit BLI.TOOLS.
www.marylandblockchainassociation.org
Visit MARYLANDBLOCKCHAINASSOCIATION.ORG.