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U.S. stablecoin legislation took another major step on Wednesday as a House of Representatives committee joined Senate counterparts in advancing a bill to be considered by the overall House, bringing stablecoin regulations closer to reality.Eventual approvals in both the overall House and Senate would let lawmakers start melding the two versions into a unified piece of legislation that could get a final nod. Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump have aimed toward an August goal in getting the effort completed.Though the crypto industry and their most reliable Republican allies in Congress were happy to welcome many Democrats to the yes side on moving the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy (STABLE Act) out of the House Financial...

Crypto exchange Kraken has registered as a restricted dealer in Canada, allowing the exchange to continue offering crypto trading services to Canadian users under the country’s evolving regulatory framework.The registration, announced on Tuesday, comes after a multi-year process that required exchanges to meet higher standards for investor protection and governance. Kraken said it worked closely with Canadian regulators during this pre-registration phase, upgrading its compliance systems and internal controls to meet expectations set by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).To lead its Canadian expansion, Kraken named Cynthia Del Pozo as general manager for North America. Del Pozo, a fintech and operations veteran, will oversee strategy, regulatory engagement and business development across the region.“Canada is at a turning point for crypto adoption,”...

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I'm Ben Schiller.In this issue:Vana launches token standardHashgraph to debut private blockchainASICs will look more like serversAn interview with Gensyn’s Ben FieldingThis article is featured in the latest issue of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.Network NewsVANA’S DATA-BACKED TOKEN STANDARD: Crypto enthusiasts might have heard of the ERC-20 token standard, which provides guidelines to ensure that tokens created on the Ethereum smart contract blockchain are compatible and can interact with other tokens and applications within the network. A similar standard for data-backed tokens, called...

In a Rose Garden ceremony on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he intends to immediately sign an order for "reciprocal tariffs" to be levied against U.S. trading partners."Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years but it’s not going to happen anymore," said Trump, adding that the tariffs will begin at midnight.The first specific tariff announced at the ceremony was a 25% levy on all foreign-made autos.Among country-specific tariffs: China will see a rate of 34%, Vietnam 46%, Taiwan 32% South Korea 25%, Switzerland 31%.The price of bitcoin (BTC) initially rose in the ceremony's early stages, but began to give ground as the tariffs were detailed. The price has retreated to $86,000, down...

The HBAR Foundation has teamed up with the founder of internet subscription site OnlyFans, Tim Stokely, in a bid to acquire Chinese social media app TikTok.Stokely and the HBAR Foundation submitted a bid last week to the White House through the former’s new family-friendly crowdfunding company, Zoop."Our bid for TikTok isn't just about changing ownership, it's about creating a new paradigm where both creators and their communities benefit directly from the value they generate," Zoop co-founder RJ Phillips told Reuters.The HBAR Foundation is the entity behind Hedera (HBAR), a proof-of-stake smart contract platform that launched in 2018. With a market capitalization of $7.2 billion, HBAR is the 22nd-largest cryptocurrency in existence as of press time. The coin only reacted mildly...