In a bold move toward integrating cryptocurrency into national policy, Japanese Senator Satoshi Hamada has submitted a formal proposal urging the government to establish a strategic bitcoin (BTC) reserve. The request, officially registered in Japan's Upper House of Parliament, advocates for converting part of the nation's foreign exchange reserves into bitcoin and other virtual currencies.

Hamada's proposal, titled “Letter of Intent on the State of Understanding of the Bitcoin Reserve Movement Promoted by the United States and Other Countries,” underscores the growing global interest in bitcoin as a treasury asset. He highlighted bitcoin’s decentralized and neutral qualities, describing it as less influenced by specific nations or institutions, making it a resilient and reliable economic tool.

This call to action aligns with a broader trend, as nations and corporations worldwide explore bitcoin treasuries to diversify their reserves. The United States, for instance, has drawn attention for its discussions around adopting bitcoin as part of its economic strategy, spurred by promises from President-elect Donald Trump.

In Japan, the interest in bitcoin is also evident in the private sector. A prime example is Metaplanet Inc., a Japanese company that saw its stock value surge by 1,700% in a single year due to its investment in bitcoin. Hamada cited such cases to illustrate the potential benefits of incorporating bitcoin into national reserves.

The Japanese government is expected to issue a formal response to the proposal in the coming weeks, with the reply likely to be published on its official website. How Japan addresses Hamada's initiative could influence other nations, given Japan's reputation for technological innovation and its leadership in adopting financial technologies.

The Move Could Influence Other Nation's to Follow...

As the world watches, Japan's decision could set the tone for how advanced economies approach bitcoin in their fiscal policies, potentially ushering in a new era of cryptocurrency-backed reserves.

Japan has long been a pioneer in cryptocurrency adoption. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been legal in the country since 2017, though their use has largely been limited to speculative trading since 2019. Hamada’s proposal could signal a shift toward viewing bitcoin not just as an investment or trading tool but as a strategic national asset.

------- 
Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

When it comes to Trump’s stance on crypto, you’ll find polar opposite perspectives depending on who you talk to. Ask a Trump supporter in crypto, and they’ll tell you he’s the savior of the industry, the one who’ll pass pro-crypto laws that turn America into the global crypto capital. On the flip side, his critics are quick to claim that his pro-crypto talk was just a vote-getting tactic, and now that the election is over, they argue, we shouldn’t expect much action.

Today we’re focusing only on what Donald Trump himself has said about crypto-related policies.

While tech industry members and his campaign have discussed additional policies, and claimed they have Trump's support - we're excluding those here. 

The majority of these came from Trump's crypto-focused speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville (watch the full speech here). Trump shared a lineup of pro-crypto policies that sparked significant interest within the digital currency world. Here’s a breakdown of each proposal he laid out:

• Fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler: Trump pledged to remove Gary Gensler, the current chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), appointed by the Biden administration. Gensler has a reputation in the crypto community as a regulator with an aggressive stance toward digital assets. Many crypto advocates feel his policies have created more confusion than clarity, especially regarding whether certain tokens should be classified as securities. By replacing Gensler, Trump is signaling a potential shift to a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment, potentially making it easier for crypto companies to operate without fear of sudden legal challenges.

• Create a Government Stockpile of Bitcoin: Trump introduced the idea of establishing a “strategic national Bitcoin stockpile.” He suggested that his administration would hold onto all the Bitcoin the U.S. government currently possesses or acquires. This government-owned Bitcoin—much of which has been seized from criminal cases and is valued at more than $5 billion as of 2023—would supposedly act as a reserve. The concept is similar to traditional stockpiles of gold or oil, but Trump did not clarify how it would be used, whether it’s a practical move, or how the crypto industry at large views this initiative. This idea raises questions about the government’s long-term strategy for digital assets and what a Bitcoin reserve might mean for the stability of the currency.

• Launch a Crypto Advisory Council: Trump proposed forming a “Bitcoin and Crypto Presidential Advisory Council” composed of crypto-friendly experts and advocates. According to Trump, this council would “write the rules” for the industry rather than leaving it to those who don’t support it. This advisory body could provide direct input to the White House on crypto issues, helping to bridge the gap between government and industry and potentially crafting regulations that align more closely with the goals of crypto innovators.

• Block the Federal Reserve from Developing a Digital Currency: Trump reaffirmed his opposition to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which many countries are exploring as a digital alternative to traditional currencies. Trump’s stance aligns with a broader hesitance in the U.S. crypto community to adopt a government-controlled digital dollar, seen by some as a potential infringement on financial freedom. He referred to CBDCs as a “dangerous threat to freedom,” and vowed to prevent the Federal Reserve from developing one if elected. This position is supported by a recent bill passed in the House aiming to restrict the Fed from moving forward with a CBDC. By opposing a digital dollar, Trump positions himself as a defender of private digital currency in contrast to government-controlled alternatives.

What a Trump Presidency Could Mean for Crypto

There’s definitely a bullish wave in the crypto market right now, largely fueled by optimism around Trump’s policies. If he keeps his promises, we might finally get the regulatory clarity that’s been missing for years. Back in 2017, key industry voices were already pushing for clear rules, yet somehow, things have only gotten murkier.

Here’s the current situation: the U.S. government won’t clarify which existing laws apply to crypto. If you unknowingly cross an invisible line, you may find out only when the SEC files a lawsuit against you. Case in point: Coinbase was vetted by the SEC before going public, ensuring it was fully compliant with regulations. Then, a year later, without any changes to Coinbase’s operations, the SEC suddenly sued them for operating as an unlicensed securities exchange. The lack of consistency and transparency from SEC Chair Gary Gensler has frustrated many in the industry.

And while Gensler’s SEC targeted companies like Coinbase and Kraken, which have made genuine efforts to comply, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried was able to operate under the radar until his house of cards collapsed. In a functional regulatory environment, companies should be able to present their plans to regulators, who, in turn, would provide guidance on what’s legal—something that’s long overdue in the crypto sector.

This kind of regulatory clarity, especially the ability to operate without the looming threat of a government lawsuit, could be transformative for crypto businesses. Right now, no crypto-focused company in America can be sure it’ll survive another year without a sudden legal challenge.

Will He Follow Through?

As Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year, an organization called Ukraine DAO instantly surfaced as a charity ready to help those wanting to donate to Ukraine using crypto, promising 100% of donations would go to the cause.

UkraineDAO started off doing what they promised to do…

The organization’s first move was the auction of an NFT of the Ukrainian flag. Many in the crypto community shared this on social media, along with some high profile exposure from people like Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and Nadia Tolokonnikova of Russian Anti-Putin band Pussy Riot.

The NFT raised a total of $6.8 million worth of ETH at the time - and on-chain records show this being transferred to non-profit Ukrainian Military Support organization ‘Come Back Alive’ which helps supply equipment and training for Ukrainian soldiers.

Their verifiable donations include:

- 1550.5 ETH to Come Back Alive.

- 387.63 ETH to Ukraine Government.

- 190.49 ETH to OutRight Action International

- 4.43 ETH to Psychology for Human Rights

This totals approximately 2130 ETH verifiably donated. But the wallet data shows a total of 2468 ETH received.

So there’s a remaining 338 ETH with a current value approximately $640,300. Some of this sits unspent, some is accounted for, and some is accounted for but the way it was used is where conflict begins to arise.

Things got real nasty, real fast...

The first issue came to light when Nadia Tolokonnikova of Russian Anti-Putin band Pussy Riot, who initially endorsed the project, quit after learning that the promise of “100% of funds” going to help those effected by the war untrue and project leader Alona Shevchenko had been taking a $5,000/month salary.

Alona responded showing how previously Nadia had given interviews where she was asked about when she ‘started the charity, Nadia told the interviewer the she "along with a number of friends’ felt they had to do something when they learned the invasion had begun.  Alona seems to think Nadia was positioning herself in interviews to be seen as the main person behind it.

[This portion of the article has been updated] There are 5 leaders who all need to sign off anytime a transaction is made from the official wallet (multi-sig). We initially reported that Nadia was not one of those five people, therefore it appeared she was not among the original founders.

That was incorrect -  she no longer is one of the five required signatures, which is why we did not see her there when we looked. But at the beginning, she was.

John Caldwell was another one of the five, he currently runs another charitable DAO he co-founded with Nadia called Unicorn DAO. John provided evidence of earlier transactions showing Nadia's signature on them, and explained that once UkraineDAO distributed the majority of the funds, both he and Nadia moved on, explaining "on that list of transactions, on #44 Pussyriot.eth was removed, then 45 I removed myself" trusting that the remaining funds would continue to be distributed appropriately.

It's the management of those remaining funds that have some people concerned...

You can still see the promise made on their official Twitter account that “100% proceeds go to support Ukrainians suffering for the war” - no room for confusion there .

While Alona is from Ukraine, she has been living in the UK for years before the war even started. When taking a look at her LinkedIn employment history, we see that she’s been employed in London-based companies since 2017 - clearly she does not qualify as one of the “Ukrainians suffering for the war” yet she took $5000 per month from the donated funds for things like rent and personal expenses.

Ukraine DAO also repeatedly stated they were “supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine” making them “the first DAO to have been endorsed at the state level”. That claim would later be called ‘weird’ when after catching the attention of Ukrainian news outlet Kiev Post, who asked the Ukrainian government about these claims, they were told “The Ministry of Digital Transformation has not endorsed Ukraine DAO” .

However, I should mention that the Ukrainian government was not saying ‘we have no idea who you’re talking about’ - because there is some kind of relationship between the two organizations.

A profile on Alona Shevchenko which highlights her co-founding Ukraine DAO appears on an official Ukrainian government website. But when asked, Oleksandr Bornyakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of the program downplayed its importance only as 1 of nearly 300 pages for volunteers for a program to educate the public on crypto.

Ukrainian News Outlets Claimed "around $700k" - We've Located Approximately $400K Of It...

At today's ETH value it's somewhere closer to $640,300 ‘unaccounted’ for funds, some of which more accurately should be called ‘unexplained’ funds. Because we know where some of that is, we just don’t know why it’s there.

There’s what was sent to individuals - Alona’s $5000 monthly payments to herself is somewhere around $70,000 total now. There was another $34,013 sent to another co-founder of the charity, Matthew Bundy; we can’t imagine why unless donors are now paying his rent too.

Then we don’t know who this was intended for, but another transaction for approximately $155,000 was sent to a wallet controlled by Sam Bankman-Fried’s former exchange FTX shortly before everyone lost access to their funds, as far as we can tell it was still there when that happened.

Lastly, $156,461 still sits in the official wallet of the charity.

The situation is much better thann $700,000 missing, but there's still a total around $200,000 gone from the charity's wallet but not listed as being spent anywhere - which is still too much to go unanswered for.

So, Now What?

Thankfully this isn’t a situation where donations are still flowing into the charity, so even if the worst outcome is true and a large amount of funds were misused, that number isn’t growing, at least from Ukraine DAO.

However, the same group appears to be on to the next cause - launching Iran DAO whose Twitter profile states their goal of “providing resources for Iran’s women-led revolution.”

It began with a Tweet from UkraineDAO stating they are “working to set up IranianDAO.”

In Closing…

It’s important to note that we could only label some Ukrainian funds ‘unaccounted’ for - which is very different than labeling them ‘stolen’. However, I’d like every dollar from their previous charity to be accounted for before even considering supporting a new one.

Or should the funds that ended up in Alona’s hands for personal expenses be considered ‘stolen’? This is a grey area legally. If 100% of the funds were to go to ‘Ukrainians suffering from the war’, she is Ukrainian, and while she only experiences the war via online news and TV from her home in England, perhaps she found the images emotionally distressful, technically making her a ‘Ukrainian suffering from the war’.

Unfortunately I’m struggling to come up with a scenario that ends with these payments to herself turning out to be completely ethical. 

I’m confident that no one donated thinking any of their money was going to a Ukrainian, who hasn't lived in Ukraine for years, is one of the people trusted with access to the donated funds, finding a way to put some in her own pocket - technically legal or not. 

While the Ukrainian government’s resources are focused elsewhere, there is a group of citizens along with journalists from the Kiev Post who continue to demand full accounting of every donated dollar, as well as question the legality of some of the DAO’s controversial decisions.

They vow that when the war is over they will be pressuring the government to review any potential exploitation by those using their crisis for personal profit. 

The story may be far from over, but this is where things stand now.

UkraineDAO was contacted (via Twitter DM)  and invited to share any additional information on the topics mentioned here. If they choose to, we will include it with our reporting.

-----------
Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

This new feature means businesses can now accept USDC from customers across 150+ countries, a step forward announced by Jeff Weinstein, Stripe’s product lead, on X. With a celebratory tweet, he declared, “Crypto on Stripe is officially back!” and mentioned that the feature is launching immediately for hundreds of thousands of U.S.-based businesses.

And it’s not stopping there—Stripe has plans to bring this crypto payment option to more countries soon. Decrypt has also reached out to get further details on the international rollout timeline.

By bringing crypto back, Stripe joins rival PayPal, which first introduced its “Checkout With Crypto” feature in 2021. Following PayPal’s model, Stripe will make crypto payments easier by automatically converting stablecoin transactions into fiat currency and settling them directly into merchants’ Stripe accounts—making crypto transactions simpler and more accessible than ever.

-------
Author: Mark Pippen
London Newsroom
GlobalCryptoPress | Breaking Crypto News

Now, almost six years after launch, users continue to earn Pi tokens the same way. But there's a glaring problem—those coins aren’t tradeable, and no exchange supports them. Despite the hype, the only recent development is that Pi now has an actual token on a blockchain, though it remains non-tradeable. Oddly, to finally launch their token they're simply implementing tech that has existed from on day 1.

So, what took 5 years? Or, does Pi Network's true business model revolve around a user base believing the 'official launch' is right around the corner - while deliberately avoiding the launch as long as possible.

Years Waiting for What?

As Pi Network prepares for its much-anticipated mainnet launch, supposedly scheduled for December, more details have surfaced. It turns out that Pi will be using the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), a well-established blockchain technology created by the Stellar network.

While most users don’t understand the implications, it’s a significant revelation. Rather than developing their own proprietary technology, Pi is simply leveraging open-source code from the Stellar blockchain, which launched in 2014, five years before Pi.

This isn’t inherently wrong - Stellar is a legitimate blockchain and there's a lot of upsides to using their technology - but the issue lies in Pi’s portrayal of their work. They’ve led users to believe they were busy developing something new and revolutionary.

Basically - Pi users have waited 5 years for them to launch using someone else's 10 year old technology.

No, You Didn't Mine Anything...

Pi Network calls it mobile mining, and the "mine coins from your smartphone!" has been a major reason for people to sign up in the first place. 

But the fine print will tell you this has always been and always will be a 'simulation' - in other words, you're playing a video game. There is a way to really mine Pi tokens now, but it requires running their node software - and of course, you'll need a real computer if you want to run it.

If millions of phones were actively validating transactions (mining), this wouldn't be necessary.

Not Adding Up...

Pi Network claims a user base of over 60 million worldwide, but this doesn’t align with the reality of only 6 million active wallets. Even more striking is that only 0.16% of these wallets show any activity—a level of engagement that's unusually low for a supposedly active blockchain.

If the "60 million" figure is accurate, it likely refers to total signups over time rather than active users. This number may include accounts created years ago, opened once, and subsequently abandoned, leading to inflated statistics that don’t reflect the current state of user engagement.

Pi’s Future Value...

Pi fans searching for the token on CoinMarketCap often share their excitement to find a coin labeled “Pi” priced at $34.45. However, this is misleading. The listed coin appears to be a scam, a completely unrelated token using the Pi name and logo. The official Pi team has made it clear, their tokens cannot currently be transferred, and they have no listing on any exchange - so ignore this.

With no trading happening, all users can do is speculate, and the Pi Subreddit is full of this. Pi supporters engage in wildly optimistic price predictions. Most estimates fall somewhere in the range of $10 to $100, which is already insane.  Then there's the extremes, speculating as high as $1,000 per token guided by flawed reasoning like "if Pi becomes half as popular as Bitcoin...." These are guesses out of thin air, based on nothing. 

Pi should be looked at like any other coin that gave away large portion of it's supply to anyone willing to press a button, aka 'Tap To Earn'. If you look at what happens when these coins start to be traded, we see a huge number of holders simply unloading their supply as soon as possible, and the value immediately crashing.   Here's what happened with two recent launches of tap-to-earn tokens:

PIXELVERSE Token Chart

HMSTR Token Chart

Then, there's still so many free coins still in circulation, any time the coin begins to gain value, there's a long line of people still waiting to dump theirs, keeping the price down forever.

But really, just use your head. Ask yourself, if millions of people just got something for free, now they're saying you should want this thing too, except you will have to pay them real money for it - would you? There's nothing to motivate people who didn't get free coins, to spend their money to buy them from you.

So, What Are the Pi Owners Up to? 

While they haven't sold any Pi tokens, they may have found creative ways to monetize people wanting free ones.

With millions of people reportedly opening the Pi app each week to “mine” tokens by pressing a button, they’re also being served ads. This monetization model could be quite lucrative for Pi Network, especially if users are unaware they can disable the ads. On mobile apps, ad revenue can quickly add up when multiplied by millions of daily users.

But advertising may only scratch the surface of the Pi Network’s potential revenue streams. There’s a bigger concern: user data, which brings me to my next point...

Privacy Concerns...

When users sign up for Pi, they are agreeing to share a broad range of personal data. Pi Network collects browsing history, chat messages, comments, likes, location data (including GPS and Wi-Fi information), contact lists, device details, and more. This data can be shared with third parties, affiliates, professional advisors, service providers, and even governments.

With the introduction of Pi’s Know Your Customer (KYC) process, users are now required to submit government-issued IDs and selfies to verify their identity. This level of data collection makes Pi’s user database a goldmine for data brokers and facial recognition services.

Plus, KYC isn’t a legal requirement for projects that aren’t selling tokens via pre-sales, making Pi's decision to implement it a bit more questionable.

From a legal standpoint, it is no different from points earned in a video game — no one has traded them or purchased them, they have no known value - it's a strange situation to be requiring full ID verification for. 

The Bright Side?

To be fair - I can confidently give Pi Network the title of 'The Least-Evil Scam in Crypto". In fact, I don't think they've even broken any laws.

Unlike others, Pi Network has not asked users to invest any real money. While they may be exploiting anticipation for free crypto, collecting valuable data, and serving ads - they haven’t deceived people into losing funds.

Ultimately, while users may waste time pressing buttons, at least they haven’t been tricked into handing over their hard-earned money (but I guess they do waste the time spent earning it). 

While there are some privacy concerns, this unfortunately is so common, in most cases Pi is probably just one of several apps on users phones with privacy policies asking for way too much.

In my research for this story there was fairly large amount of people who have been pressing that button daily for years, accumulating thousands of free Pi tokens, and excited for the official launch where they believe they can sell them for $50 each.  So, the disappointment some will be feeling once the coins become tradeable seems to be the only real consequence.  

What's Next?

PayPal is taking another step forward in the cryptocurrency space, announcing on Wednesday that U.S. merchants can now buy, hold, and sell crypto directly through their business accounts.

This move reflects the growing mainstream acceptance of digital currencies, especially following the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this year. What was once considered a fringe asset class is now becoming more integrated into traditional finance.

"Business owners have increasingly expressed interest in having the same cryptocurrency options that consumers already enjoy," said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currencies.

PayPal's Decision to Enter Crypto has Paid Off, Big...

PayPal first entered the crypto scene in 2020, allowing customers to trade and hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies within its platform. Since then, they’ve been leading the charge for fintech companies embracing digital currencies. Most notably, in August 2023, PayPal launched its own dollar-backed stablecoin, marking a major milestone as the first major fintech to introduce a stablecoin for payments and transfers.

Stablecoins, unlike more volatile cryptocurrencies, are tied to stable assets, providing a level of price protection for users wary of the dramatic swings often seen in the market.

In addition to this, PayPal is also allowing U.S. merchants to transfer cryptocurrencies externally to third-party wallets, further expanding their crypto functionality. However, there’s one notable exception—these new crypto services won’t be available to businesses in New York at launch.

PayPal's move into the crypto sector has been paying off, and is credited as a primary reason for the the company's stock boost this year, where it's climbed nearly 26% so far.

-------
Author: Mark Pippen
London Newsroom
GlobalCryptoPress | Breaking Crypto News

The conversion is underway, and just 1 week in to the process, Polygon is reporting the majority of tokens already converted (Over 60%).

Polygon is migrating from MATIC tokens to a new coin called POL, which will serve as the primary token for gas fees and staking while introducing features like multi-chain staking. This upgrade is expected to bolster network security by enabling staking across multiple chains within the Polygon ecosystem. The rebranding to POL also aligns better with the Polygon name, addressing a longstanding discrepancy where the token for 'Polygon' was traded under the symbol 'MATIC.' While the exact origins of this naming are unclear to many, including traders, the change seems logical.

The migration from MATIC to POL began on September 4, 2024, as a key initiative in the Polygon 2.0 roadmap. Originally announced in mid-2023, this upgrade aims to enhance the network’s scalability, security, and overall functionality.

Will the new token's features increase investor appeal?

The general consensus is positive. POL’s enhanced features, like multi-chain staking, are expected to appeal to investors by allowing staking across various chains in the Polygon network, thereby increasing network security and providing new fee-earning opportunities.

Do you need to take any action?

If you hold MATIC on the Polygon blockchain, your tokens will be automatically converted to POL. However, if you hold MATIC tokens (ERC-20) on Ethereum’s blockchain, you will need to visit the POL Portal to convert your tokens. For those holding MATIC on a centralized exchange, it’s essential to check with the exchange regarding their plans for the migration, as you may still need to manage the conversion manually in some cases.

-----------
Author: Trevor Kingsley
Tech News CITY // New York Newsroom

Update - Yesterday (Sept 8th): The Harris campaign released an outline of what her administration's key issues would be, which included some of the nation's hot topics, and touched on many smaller niche issues as well. 

But even with such a wide range of topics, somehow, not one of them was Cryptocurrency, which managed to go completely unmentioned. 

The original article is below:

The Biden administration has often been criticized as 'anti-crypto' due to a consistent lack of understanding of the industry's fundamentals. However, one of Kamala Harris’s advisors suggests that the current Vice President and Presidential nominee might take a different approach, supporting more pro-crypto policies.

While this news is intriguing, it's wise to remain cautious. The source of this information is Brian Nelson, a key policy adviser for Harris, who recently indicated that she would back measures favorable to the crypto industry.

However, it's important to remember that this is coming from an advisor...

Not a spokesperson, or Kamala herself.  Harris has yet to publicly address her views on digital assets, and the Democratic Party's platform does not mention crypto.  An advisor’s role is to suggest policies, and until Harris publicly endorses these views, nothing is official. This also means that if the stance doesn't materialize, it wouldn't be seen as a broken campaign promise.

For the crypto community to take this seriously, Kamala Harris needs to make a clear statement on her stance regarding digital assets.

According to Bloomberg, Brian Nelson shared during a roundtable at the Democratic National Convention that Harris plans to support policies that would enable the growth of emerging technologies like crypto. This marks the first public insight into how Harris might approach digital assets as a Presidential candidate. Previously, Harris's campaign had engaged with crypto leaders who expressed concerns about the Biden-Harris administration’s perceived hostility toward the industry.

In contrast, former President Donald Trump has fully embraced crypto. In July, he delivered a prominent speech at Bitcoin Nashville, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.” 

---------------
Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News