| Bitcoin | $19,103 | 7 day: +13.4% | | Ethereum | $592 | 7 day: +16.8% | | All crypto | $564b | 7 day: +12.5% | | Bitcoin dominance | 62.6% | 7 day: -0.2% | Prices as of 3 p.m. EST
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Hey Insiders! Inside is thrilled to announce our brand new podcast talking all things business, tech, and venture capital. We're still in the early phases (the name of this podcast, for example, is TBD), but we will be launching in Q1 2021. This podcast will have a series of rotating hosts, with our founder and CEO Jason Calacanis hosting a number of episodes next year. A big shout out goes to our inaugural sponsor, Flatfile.io! A couple of slots are still available – if you're interested in advertising on this new podcast, please reach out to Kevin@inside.com. | |  Aaron |  |
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 U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib U.S. Representatives proposed a bill to make bank charters and regulatory approvals necessary for all stablecoin issuers. The passage of the law could have devastating impacts on tens of billions of dollars of stablecoins. - Among affected stablecoins would be Gemini Dollar (GUSD), USD Coin (USDC), Strong USD (SUSD), Binance USD (BUSD), Diem (f.k.a. Libra), JPM Coin (JPM), among others.
- Non-U.S. stablecoin issuers with ties to the U.S. could also be impacted, including the Bahamian Sand Dollar, Tether (USDT), Dai (DAI), and others, all of which are pegged to USD on a 1:1 basis.
- The Stablecoin Tethering and Bank Licensing Enforcement (STABLE) Act proposed on Dec. 2, 2020, aims to protect consumers from stablecoin-related financial threats.
- The legislation would require all stablecoin issuers to acquire a banking charter, approval from the federal government, FDIC approval, and appropriate banking agency approvals, before launching a product with a "ready-to-convert into USD" option for users.
- Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Jesús "Chuy" García, and Stephen Lynch introduced the bill.
- A summary page of the legislation calls out the Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)-led Libra stablecoin project directly, which recently rebranded as Diem, and noted that is not the only actor pursuing stablecoin issuance.
Coindesk 
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 Dan Schulman Dan Schulman, CEO and President of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), told 10,000 Web Summit attendees that "the time is now" for cryptocurrencies. - On Dec. 2, PayPal's Dan Schulman endorsed cryptocurrencies, saying that the global pandemic situation made people "abandon cash" and has accelerated digital currency's adoption by months.
- PayPal currently manages 360M digital wallets.
- Schulman also recently endorsed government-backed digital dollars, including a possible "Fed Dollar" or USD central bank digital currency (CBDC).
- Schulman spoke in detail about his thoughts on creating a financial system with high-end technology to bring people a fast, efficient, and inexpensive mode of payment.
- He reiterated through the presentation that he is "very bullish" on digital currencies.
- When asked whether the integration of cryptocurrencies was pre-planned for 2020, Schulman said the idea of incorporation was "partly" in PayPal's roadmap.
Coindesk
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The Bank of Russia has begun a series of formal consultations to decide whether to launch a digital ruble. - During online discussions, regulators interacted with representatives of financial institutions and banks on Nov. 30, 2020, most of whom expressed a desire for a digital ruble. Some opposed the issuance based on security-related concerns.
- The central bank of Russia also opened public comments from Russians via Zoom conferences.
- The issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pegged to the Russian ruble is a contentious issue within various Russian governmental departments. Sergei Shvetsov, the deputy chairman of the central bank, openly objected to the issuance of any stablecoins pegged to the Russian ruble, citing China's criminalization of stablecoins backed by the yuan.
- Shvetsov suggested that if a digital currency is required for smart contracts, it would only be a digital ruble.
- Herman Gref, the CEO of Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, also announced the possibility of launching a private bank coin, Sbercoin, in 2021. Sberbank has been discussing a possible Sbercoin in collaboration with JP Morgan, which released its own digital coin called JPM Coin in 2018.
Coindesk
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 MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor Coinbase exchange announced in a Dec. 1 blog that it facilitated MicroStrategy's (NASDAQ:MSTR) recent $425M investment in bitcoin (BTC). - Coinbase Prime executed $250M worth of the initial investment in August 2020.
- The San Francisco-based exchange boasted that Microstrategy, which reportedly possessed approximately $380M worth of bitcoin as of Sept. 30 this year, chose Coinbase as the primary execution partner to execute the bitcoin purchase "without moving the market."
- Coinbase also brokered a follow-up purchase by MicroStrategy on Sept. 15, 2020, purchasing 16,796 bitcoins valued at $175M at that time, according to a tweet by Michael Saylor, Founder & CEO of MicroStrategy.
- MicroStrategy adopted bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset on Aug. 11, 2020.
Coinbase
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- On CNBC's Power Lunch, Larry Fink, CEO of investment management company BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), noted bitcoin's effects on USD at the council on Foreign Relations on Dec. 1, 2020. Fink said that bitcoin could make the dollar less relevant to international investors of dollar-based assets.
- Libertarian and former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul indicated in his show that the government might soon ban bitcoin, comparing the situation to President Roosevelt's gold ban of 1933.
- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) 365 Defender Threat Intelligence Team published a piece on BISMUTH about a team of hackers who recently deployed an inconspicuous Monero (XMR) mining trojan which targets the private sector and government institutions in France and Vietnam.
- Binance announced that its ETH 2.0 staking service will go live on Dec. 2, 2020, which will reward stakers with "BETH," used to redeem ETH at a 1:1 ratio when Phase 1 of ETH 2.0 starts. The announcement came a day after Coinbase announced ETH 2.0 rewards.
- The Venezuelan army is mining cryptocurrencies. The 61st Agustín Codazzi Engineer Conditioning Brigade announced its new mining center via Instagram on Nov. 17, 2020. It received approval from Venezuela's Office of the National Superintendent of Cryptoassets and Related Activities (SUNACRIP) to generate a stable source of income for the staff, and bypass U.S. sanctions.
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