The United States House of Representatives has voted to pass a bill overturning controversial Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidance preventing banks from owning crypto. 

The House voted to pass a bipartisan bill titled H.J. Res 109, overturning the SEC’s Special Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121) requiring banks to hold their customers’ crypto assets on their balance sheets, which is not the case for traditional assets such as securities.

Republican Party Representative Mike Flood — who introduced the resolution — said SAB 121 was unfair for banks looking to custody crypto, as custodial assets are “always considered off-balance sheet.”

However, before the vote, U.S. President Joe Biden’s office issued a statement informing lawmakers and the public that his administration plans to veto a joint resolution affecting crypto policy at the SEC if it comes to his desk.

The White House said it “strongly opposes” members of the House of Representatives seeking to pass a joint resolution it claims would disrupt the SEC’s efforts “to protect investors in crypto-asset markets and to safeguard the broader financial system.”

Australian Tax Office seeks data from 1.2 million crypto users

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) seeks personal data and transaction details from up to 1.2 million cryptocurrency exchange users for a potential crackdown on crypto tax obligations. The tax officials believe the data will help identify traders who may have failed to pay their taxes on their crypto trades. 

The ATO will seek personal data, including users’ date of birth, social media accounts, phone numbers, transaction-related details like wallet addresses, type of coin trades and bank account details.

For Australian regulators, cryptocurrencies are taxable assets, unlike other foreign currencies. This requires traders to pay a capital gains tax on the profit from selling crypto assets.

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South Korea’s ruling party will press for Bitcoin ETF trading

The Democratic Party of Korea will request that the Financial Services Commission (FSC) reconsider its interpretation of the legal status of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs). 

An unnamed official of the Democratic Party policy committee told the local paper that the party would make the request after the opening of the National Assembly in June. The opposition party was swept into power in the April elections in South Korea and holds 175 of 300 seats in the legislative body.

Previously, after the approval of spot BTC ETFs in the U.S., the FSC issued a statement saying Korean securities firms could violate the Capital Markets Act by listing foreign spot ETFs.

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Binance obtains approval to return to the Indian market

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has obtained approval to offer its services in India from an Indian financial regulator called the Financial Intelligence Unit.

The recent approval makes Binance the second off-shore crypto exchange to get a regulatory nod after KuCoin.

Binance and KuCoin were among nearly a dozen foreign crypto exchanges that received a notice of noncompliance in December 2023. Within 15 days of notice, the Indian Finance Ministry told its IT department to block URLs and mobile applications’ access to the banned crypto platforms in India in mid-January 2024.

Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global and Bitfinex also received the regulatory notice.

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