• Rep. Maxine Waters has criticized PayPal’s stablecoin and called for regulation on par with financial institutions.
• The SEC vs. Ripple Labs jury trial is set for Q2 2024, while Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 chain Base is now live to the public.
• Federal Reserve will require state banks to get written ‘non-objection’ from central bank before engaging with stablecoins, and Bitstamp will halt US trading of seven tokens identified as securities by SEC in Coinbase, Binance cases.

Rep. Maxine Waters Criticizes PayPal’s Stablecoin

Rep. Maxine Waters has criticized PayPal’s stablecoin and called for regulations that would put it on par with traditional financial institutions. This comes after the social payments giant announced plans to launch its own cryptocurrency service in 2021.

SEC v Ripple Labs Jury Trial Set For Q2 2024

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs are headed to a jury trial in Q2 2024, as per an order issued by Judge Sarah Netburn of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on August 14th. The two parties have been locked in a legal battle since December 2020, when the SEC filed charges against Ripple alleging that its XRP token was an unregistered security offering.

Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer-Two Chain Base Live To Public

Coinbase recently launched its Ethereum layer-two scaling solution, Base , which is now live to the public after months of testing on Rinkeby testnet . The protocol aims to reduce transaction fees significantly while increasing throughput capacity and supporting more complex smart contracts than those currently available on Ethereum mainnet alone.

Federal Reserve Requires State Banks Get Non-Objection Before Engaging With Stablecoins

The Federal Reserve has announced that it will require state banks to get written ‘non-objection’ from central bank before engaging with stablecoins such as Facebook’s Libra or JPMorgan Chase’s JPM Coin . This move is part of a broader effort by regulators around the world to increase oversight over digital currencies and ensure they comply with existing laws regarding money laundering and other criminal activities.

Bitstamp Halts US Trading Of Seven Tokens Identified As Securities By SEC In Coinbase & Binance Cases

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp will halt U.S.-based trading of seven tokens identified as securities by the SEC in their cases against Coinbase Inc., Binance Inc., and others . These tokens include BAT , REP , KNC , LEND , SNX , COMP , ENJ . This decision came shortly after a federal judge ruled that Bitcoin (BTC) falls under securities law in July this year, making these tokens subject to greater scrutiny from regulators going forward.