Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Elon Musk’s xAI and X Corp. said they have settled their antitrust lawsuit against Apple, which had accused the iPhone maker of favoring OpenAI’s ChatGPT over rival chatbot developers. The suit against Apple was voluntarily dismissed, while the case against OpenAI continues. Musk’s companies allege OpenAI maintains an illegal monopoly in the chatbot market and had sought billions of dollars in damages over Apple’s integration of OpenAI into the iPhone operating system.

TREE NEWS update: President Trump said he is the only ‘guardrails’ AI needs, dismissing calls for tighter controls on the technology. He also attacked AI developer Anthropic and defended data centers, as industry leaders push to slow development and address safety failures. The remarks set the White House against safety-focused AI firms amid the debate over how far development should proceed.

TREE NEWS reports: Coin Center said the latest revised BRCA text removes explicit criminal liability protection for developers who do not control user funds under 18 U.S.C. § 1960. The revised text still shields non-custodial developers from being treated as money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN rules, but it does not block prosecutors from arguing developers knowingly transmitted funds from criminal activity — the theory central to cases against Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet developers. Coin Center called the compromise substantive regulatory progress, though DOJ money-transmission theories remain.

TREE NEWS update: Coin Center said the latest revised BRCA text removes explicit criminal-liability protection for developers who do not control user funds under 18 U.S.C. § 1960. The revised text still shields non-custodial developers from being treated as money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN rules, making prosecution for lacking a money transmitter license harder. But it does not block prosecutors from arguing developers knowingly transmitted criminal proceeds — the theory central to the Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet cases.

TREE NEWS reports: Coin Center said the latest revised BRCA text removes explicit criminal liability protection for developers who do not control user funds under 18 U.S.C. § 1960. The revised text still shields such developers from being treated as money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN rules, raising the bar for prosecuting them over unlicensed money transmission. But it does not block prosecutors from arguing developers knowingly transmitted criminal proceeds — the theory central to the Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet cases.

TREE NEWS reports: Coin Center said the revised BRCA text removes explicit criminal liability protection for developers who do not control user funds under 18 U.S.C. 1960. The revised text still shields such developers from being treated as money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN rules, making prosecution for operating without a money transmitter license harder. But it does not block prosecutors from arguing developers knowingly transmitted crime-derived funds, the theory central to the Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet cases.

TREE NEWS update: Coin Center said the revised BRCA text removes explicit criminal liability protection for developers who do not control user funds under 18 U.S.C. § 1960, though it still shields them from being treated as money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN rules. The change does not block prosecutors from arguing developers knowingly transmitted criminal proceeds — the theory central to the Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet cases. Coin Center called the compromise substantive progress, but warned broader DOJ money-transmitting theories remain.

TREE NEWS update: US House Republican Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota said he is deeply concerned about the Senate’s plans to modify cryptocurrency legislation. The remarks from the House GOP leadership figure signal potential friction between the two chambers over the shape of pending digital-asset rules.

TREE NEWS update: US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats will prioritize AI regulation legislation if they win back the House majority. The remarks set out the party’s intended legislative focus on artificial intelligence oversight should control of the chamber change hands.

TREE NEWS update: US House Speaker Mike Johnson said he will meet with AI company executives this weekend or early next week. The speaker did not name the companies or executives involved, nor specify the agenda for the talks. The meetings are set to take place within days.

TREE NEWS update: The US House Financial Services Committee is set to consider H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, moving the bill to a committee vote. Introduced by Representative Nick Begich, with Jared Golden as the sole Democratic co-sponsor, the bill would create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve at the Treasury and a separate digital asset reserve for non-bitcoin assets. Forfeited bitcoin would enter the reserve.

TREE NEWS update: The US House Financial Services Committee will mark up H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET. Introduced by Representative Nick Begich with Jared Golden as the sole Democratic co-sponsor, the bill would create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve at the US Treasury plus a separate digital asset reserve for non-Bitcoin assets. Forfeited Bitcoin would enter the reserve, and proceeds from selling non-Bitcoin assets could fund further Bitcoin purchases or debt repayment.

TREE NEWS update: The US House Financial Services Committee will mark up H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, sending the bill to a committee vote. Introduced by Representative Nick Begich with Jared Golden as the sole Democratic co-sponsor, the bill would create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve at the Treasury and a separate digital asset reserve for non-Bitcoin assets. Forfeited compliant Bitcoin would enter the reserve, and proceeds from selling non-Bitcoin assets could fund further Bitcoin purchases or debt repayment.

TREE NEWS update: The US House Financial Services Committee will mark up H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, beginning at 10:00 ET. Introduced by Rep. Nick Begich with Rep. Jared Golden as the sole Democratic co-sponsor, the bill would create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve at the Treasury and a separate digital asset reserve for non-bitcoin assets.

TREE NEWS update: Eighteen state attorneys general have come out against the revised CLARITY Act, saying the crypto bill would weaken state oversight, ahead of a key Senate vote. The opposition follows an ethics concession by President Trump that addressed one hurdle for the legislation. The bill’s path through the Senate remains contested.

TREE NEWS update: Coinbase called on its users to urge their senators to vote in favor of Clarity, the exchange said in a post on X. The appeal asks account holders to contact their senators directly and push for support of the measure. No further details on the bill’s status or timing were given.

TREE NEWS reports: Bernstein analysts said the crypto market has “definitely not priced in” a surprise on the Clarity Act, as ethics and banking concessions have improved the bill’s prospects. Democratic support for the crypto bill remains uncertain, the analysts said.

TREE NEWS reports: US senators are debating whether to compel major artificial intelligence companies to commit to safeguards against catastrophic risks. The talks center on binding commitments from leading AI developers, with the scope and mechanism of any obligation still under discussion. No legislative text or timeline was disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: US House Republican Whip Tom Emmer said he is concerned that amendments to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act would remove a safe harbor from criminal liability, speaking to Kristin Smith at the Solana Institute summit. “I don’t like the fact that you’ve essentially given up the criminal liability safe harbor,” Emmer said, adding he worries local district attorneys would weaponize it more. Emmer, the BRCA’s original sponsor, first introduced the bill in the House in 2018.

TREE NEWS update: US House Republican Whip Tom Emmer said at the Solana Institute summit that he is concerned about amendments to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, telling Kristin Smith he dislikes that the changes effectively abandon the criminal liability safe harbor. Emmer, the bill’s original sponsor who first introduced it in the House in 2018, said he worries local prosecutors would increasingly weaponize the issue.