The CoinGeek Pulse Episode 68: Kleiman v Wright verdict, Block head Jack Dorsey quits Twitter, global regulatory updates

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The much-anticipated Bitcoin trial of the century—Kleiman v Wright—continues with no verdict in sight.

After more than a week of deliberations, the federal jury has still not reached a verdict. Judge Beth Bloom issued an Allen charge to the jury Wednesday in the hopes of securing a verdict, after the group has told the court that they are struggling to agree on a decision.

On Thursday, the jury had asked for another day of deliberations albeit shorter. This was granted by the court. However, there is still no indication whether a verdict will be made by the end of the week.

CoinGeek is monitoring the updates so be sure to subscribe to get the latest from the Satoshi trial in Miami.

In other news, here’s a rundown of the latest industry regulatory updates from around the world.

In the United States, federal bank regulatory agencies the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have issued a joint statement on Crypto-Asset Policy Initiative and their next steps. The guide is expected to contain greater clarity for banks on how to handle stablecoins and the custody of digital assets. It will be released next year.

Meanwhile in India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said early this week that the government does not plan to recognize Bitcoin as a currency. The Reserve Bank of India, however, is reportedly planning to pilot test a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2022.

In the U.K., digital currency exchanges will now have to pay 2% digital services tax. This comes after an update to the regulations for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The group has said digital currencies do not qualify as commodities or money and are not exempt from the digital services tax.

Speaking of tax, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will be taxed starting in 2022. The commission has also issued a report laying down proposed procedures for token issuers and punishments for non-compliance.

In the social media sphere, Jack Dorsey tweets goodbye as he steps down from his role as the CEO of Twitter. A strong BTC proponent, Dorsey has one word in his Twitter bio: #bitcoin. Will Twitter improve its treatment of the BSV industry now that Dorsey left as the head of the company?

Square Crypto, Dorsey’s Square subsidiary is a founding member of Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA). The group launched a lawsuit against Dr. Craig Wright challenging his copyright claim to the 2008 Bitcoin white paper. Square also announced it’s changing the company name to Block and their Square Crypt division to Spiral.

Block head Dorsey co-founded Twitter in 2006. Parag Agrawal, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, will step up as CEO of the social media giant.

CoinGeek Conversations host Charles Miller recently sat down with Brandon Bryant of Handcash to talk about virtual currency Duro and how the Duro ecosystem will evolve and open access to a range of games.

Watch the full episode on the CoinGeek YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on Spotify.