Andrew Cronk

Daylight saving is not enough. You need to be daylight investing.

Press Release: Pioneering Blockchain Decentralization: NTT Digital and Figment Announce their Initiatives to Drive Web3 Innovation nttdigital.io/pdf/20250219_n…

In a significant push for crypto policy advancement, I headed to Washington D.C. this week with my colleagues Eme Housser, Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, and Josh Deems (@Josh_Deems), Head of Americas, for a series of meetings with key regulatory stakeholders. The two-day sprint included discussions with nine Congressional offices, Senate Banking Committee staff, House Ways and Means staff, and evening gatherings with representatives from industry groups, CFTC, SEC, and Congressional staff. At the heart of these discussions was that protocol staking deserves its place in Ethereum ETFs, and its current exclusion by the SEC raises concerns about both procedure and their commitment to investor protection. While US issuers and investors grapple with this restriction, other major capital markets including Germany, Canada, and Switzerland have already embraced staking in their ETP/ETFs. Special thanks to Alison Mangiero with the Proof of Stake Alliance (@TeamPOSA) and the Crypto Council for Innovation (@crypto_council) for helping to set up and coordinate these meetings and for championing this important issue with us. Unlike Bitcoin, stablecoins, and tokenized RWAs, protocol staking has lacked a dedicated champion in Washington and that is rapidly changing. Through collaboration with POSA and CCI, Figment is supporting efforts to build a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers committed to bringing clarity to staking. Key focus areas include protecting protocol staking from being incorrectly categorized alongside earn and yield products, the taxation of staking rewards, and inclusion of staking in US-listed ETPs. Additionally, with new SEC leadership rapidly approaching (Paul Atkins likely getting confirmed and taking office in Q2), optimism surrounding staking in ETPs is very high. Commissioner Peirce (@HesterPeirce) has previously indicated support for eventually including staking in ETFs and one lawmaker even called ETP staking “low hanging fruit,” which bodes well for seeing a shift in the early days of 2025. Perhaps most encouraging is the unprecedented level of crypto knowledge among Congressional staff and members, coupled with a refreshing willingness to treat crypto as an important bipartisan issue - arguably one of the most significant developments of the 2024 election cycle. Onwards!