Last week U.S politicians introduced a Bill that would see government officials Banned from holding stocks Cryptocurrencies and other assets due to All the insider trading that’s been Occurring of late this bill is quite Timely given that we appear to be on the Brink of a global recession it’s also a Bit hypocritical because the politician Who apparently tabled it is Infamous for Insider trading allegedly So today I’m going to give you a bit of Background about this bill explain what It says in simple terms assess where the Loopholes are and tell you what it could Mean for the markets if it’s passed It should really come as no surprise That the people in power are taking Advantage of inside information to Enrich themselves this practice probably Dates back to the dawn of time but it Has become more endemic in recent Decades as financial markets have Evolved The issue of insider trading has been Especially acute in the United States This is partly because it’s home to the World’s largest financial markets and Partly because the decisions made there Have a huge impact on both the domestic And international economies The scrutiny of insider trading by U.S Politicians arguably began back during The 2008 financial crisis as you might
Have guessed many politicians got word Of what was going on in the markets long Before the average American and it’s Believed that many of them cashed out Before the crash this eventually led to The passing of the stop trading on Congressional knowledge or stock act in 2012. as always kudos to whoever came up With that acronym The stock act requires U.S politicians And other public servants to disclose Any trades or Investments over one Thousand dollars within 30 days of the Trade or investment What’s hilarious is that the punishment For failing to report on significant Trades or Investments is a mere two Hundred dollar fine it’s not exactly a Deterrent is it An investigation by The Insider Newspaper found that information about These fines is not public so nobody Knows how often these fines are being Issued and whether they’re being paid To my knowledge not a single U.S Politician has been fined for violating The stock act or arrested for making Millions from insider trading in recent Decades For reference the maximum prison Sentence for insider trading in the United States is 20 years that is what You and I would get for doing the same Now if you’re wondering why there have
Been lots of headlines about insider Trading over the last couple of years That is because of the pandemic many U.S Politicians sold everything when they Heard about what was coming some of them Up to two months before the pandemic was Officially declared This insider trading was so significant That there’s even a Wikipedia page about It dozens of U.S politicians sold before The news broke bought back their stocks When they got word of the fed’s Emergency measures and loaded up on Pharmaceutical stocks when Solutions Entered the picture While another investigation by The Insider newspaper found that 72 U.S Politicians have violated the stock act Over the last few years it’s not known How many are guilty of actual insider Trading The poster girl or rather poster Grandmother has been Nancy Pelosi but She is just the tip of the iceberg many U.S politicians have net worths that are Completely out of proportion with their Standard six-figure incomes although Some of these U.S politicians come from Long lines of wealth or own lucrative Businesses for most there’s only one Other explanation insider trading or Bribery maybe a bit of both Now it’s not just U.S politicians either If you watched our video about the
Federal Reserve Scandal you’ll know that Fed officials have been caught buying And selling stocks before and after Important monetary policy announcements You know I can’t recall there being any Punishments there either Now in what was likely an attempt to Appease American voters who were Understandably upset multiple U.S Politicians tabled various bills that Would ban public officials from Trading Or holding assets of any kind naturally None of these bills made it past the First stage of deliberation The bill I’ll be discussing today is not All that different as it was only Introduced last week the only difference Is that this bill was reportedly Expected to pass with bipartisan support That was until the current majority Party decided to postpone voting on the Bill until after the midterm elections Regardless though I reckon this bill is Worth examining as it’s likely to Eventually pass in some shape or form as You’ll see it also pertains to Cryptocurrency So the bill is titled quote combating Financial conflicts of interest in Government Act and I will leave a link To the full text in the description if You’re interested Now the very beginning of the bill Specifies that its purpose is quote to
Restrict trading and ownership of Covered Investments by senior government Officials This includes not just senior U.S Politicians but federal judges the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and Of course the president Next the bill goes through a handful of Amendments that should be made to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. this Act was passed in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal that engulfed former U.S president Richard Nixon and it’s Where political disclosures of Investments And Trades were first Proposed The amendments in the current bill Include stuff like clarifying language Around how trades and Investments should Be reported and the definitions of Various assets such as Securities and Commodities It is mostly tedious legalese but a few Things here caught my eye the first is That the bill clearly states that any U.S politician who tries to invest in Any asset using a trust I.E a third Party after the bill is passed must Divest AKA sell the asset no later than 18 months after the bill is passed this Is significant because investing through Third parties is probably how most U.S Politicians currently get away with Insider trading
The beginning of this bill therefore Suggests that this loophole will be Closed but as you’ll see this isn’t Entirely clear The second thing that caught my eye was That the bill notes cryptocurrency as One of the assets that cannot be held or Traded oddly enough the bill also notes That U.S politicians will still be Allowed to invest in popular ETFs like The S P 500 as well as various forms of Government debt This ties into the third thing that Caught my eye and that’s that U.S Politicians can still invest in other Assets via blind trusts for those who Don’t know blind trusts give total Control of a person’s assets to a third Party who’s supposed to be independent Totally not a loophole The fourth thing I spotted is that the Family members of U.S government Officials in question are also not Allowed to hold or trade the Assets in Question this is important because the Spouses and children of many U.S Politicians have likewise gotten Rich From insider trading Speaking of which if you’re wondering Who the richest people in crypto are and How they got there check out the link in The description Now the bill goes on to detail exactly What U.S government officials will have
To do with their assets if and when the Bill becomes law this is where things Get a bit confusing because the authors Note that U.S government officials have 60 days to buy or trade forbidden assets After the bill becomes law However the very next sentence reads That quote a covered person shall divest Of any covered investment within 180 Days of the effective date in other Words you can buy for 60 days after the Bill becomes law but you have to sell Everything 180 days after the bill Becomes law hmm If that wasn’t peculiar enough U.S Government officials don’t necessarily Have to sell their assets after half a Year instead they can give those assets Away as a gift or make a quote Charitable donation Alternatively they can put everything Into a blind trust which I’m sure will Be very blind Now what’s promising is that the bill Explicitly states that any violation of These new laws will be publicly revealed Within 30 days of the violation recall That the information about stock act Violations and insider trading is not Currently public available What’s not so promising however is there Is a long list of exceptions to these Rules some of these exceptions make Sense but others not so much
For example quote Investments held in Trusts or other complex Financial Arrangements can be granted temporary Exemptions from scrutiny the authors do Note that these exemptions will be made Public within 30 days of their enactment Just like with violations of the Bill’s Rules they also note that these Exemptions can only last for a maximum Of 90 days Now this does make me wonder what this Bill could mean for all the US Government officials who are staking eth I know it sounds silly but as more Institutions start to offer youth Staking it’s more than likely that a few Officials will not be able to sell their Steak teeth I suppose that’s good news Depending on who you ask if you’re Wondering when it would be possible for People to sell their steak teeth you can Refer to our recent ethereum update Using the link in the description I Digress Now regarding the specific penalties for Violating the rules set forth in the Bill the authors note that a small fine Of one thousand dollars will apply to Each violation at the discretion of the Supervisory committee Obviously this amounts to a slap on the Wrist for the millions upon Millions Being made from insider trading This is probably why the bill includes a
Provision which requires 10 percent of The value of the violating asset to be Handed over to the government this 10 Applies to the value of the violating Asset at the beginning of the 30-day Violation period which means it’s Probably still possible to come out with A profit As a cherry on top the bill allows for The supervisory committee to waive or Reduce these penalties in the event of Quote extraordinary circumstances for What it’s worth waving or reducing the Penalty will be made public The bill also leaves the door open to Civil penalties where appropriate which Is not that big of a deal since civil Cases tend to result in fines not jail Time Some would say that jail time is exactly What many of these politicians need But let’s not go there now the next part Of the bill pertains to the quote Accountability and public disclosure of Enforcement measures This section starts with a blurb about How anyone caught willfully violating The would-be laws in the bill will find Themselves face to face with the Attorney general scary Now what’s interesting is that any Reports by the attorney general and the Compliance office about violations will Be submitted to Congress on an annual
Basis this is interesting because it Means that any violations will likely be Disclosed to the public long after they Have occurred I.E when they are no Longer relevant After describing all the contents of Public disclosures the authors pivot to More amendments to the aforementioned Ethics in Government Act these include Adjusting the income reporting Requirements for U.S government Officials in a way I honestly don’t Quite understand Now the amendment that caught my eye was About the quote disclosure of Cryptocurrency and other digital assets Here the authors amend the Ethics in Government Act to include Cryptocurrencies as part of its scope This is pretty significant as it further Validates cryptocurrency as an asset Class what’s particularly eye-catching Is a paragraph wherein the authors seem To imply that cryptocurrencies are not Securities in the traditional sense This is because they specifically Reference quote other forms of Securities and cryptocurrency or other Digital assets Sounds like two separate categories to Me Another interesting set of Provisions Can be found a few paragraphs later These relate to the off-cited Ethics
Committee which will have the final say On how the rules in the bill are applied This is significant in the context of Cryptocurrency as the Ethics Committee Will decide which digital assets are Verboten What’s somewhat concerning is that this Ethics Committee will also have the Power to write new rules and regulations Related to trading and investment by U.S Government officials This reminds me of the powers in the Dodd-Frank Act put together by the Current Vice chair for supervision at The FED more about that guy in the Description now the last two pages of The bill are about quote new and Strengthened penalties for Non-compliance what are these new and Strengthened penalties you ask Well it involves increasing that 200 Slap on the wrist to a 500 slap on the Wrist this is again confusing because Earlier in the bill it said that the Punishment will increase to a terrifying One thousand dollar slap on the wrist Well at least the part about taking 10 Of the trade or investment is still Consistent And last but not least a public website Will be created that will contain all The information about violations of the Provisions in the bill this includes Information about the government
Officials who were granted temporary Exemptions from the rules and Regulations Funnily enough you can already kind of Check this information in real time There are multiple websites that track The stock trades of politicians and even A few Twitter accounts tracking the Trades of repeat offenders too bad these Twitter accounts keep getting banned for No apparent reason So this brings me to the big question And that’s what this bill will mean for The markets if it becomes law I’ll start By reiterating that this bill is not Guaranteed to pass even with bipartisan Support that’s simply because government Officials have benefited greatly from Their blatant insider trading who wants To put the brakes on their own gravy Trainer As I mentioned in the introduction this Fact makes the timing of this bill quite Suspicious I mean the only reason why Politicians would band together to Support a ban on investing in trading is Because they know there’s no more money To be made in the short to medium term It’s a red flag similar to Elon Musk Selling his Twitter stock near the top Or all the other CEOs and billionaires Bailing on their companies shortly Before the market started crashing In retrospect we should have taken their
Actions as a sign to do the same lessons For next time I suppose as I mentioned Earlier though it looks like this bill Won’t be voted on anytime soon and that Suggests there could still be a few more Big Bear Market rallies before the Midterm elections Some politicians are actually upset About the vote being postponed but who Knows who’s in their pockets Call me crazy but I think this so-called Stock trading ban is meant to not so Subtly Target cryptocurrency that’s Simply because U.S government officials Will still be allowed to invest in Traditional assets like stocks and Government debt albeit in a more limited Manner Cryptocurrencies on the other hand will Be severely restricted and the wording Of the bill suggests that even nfts will Not be allowed then again it appears That the Ethics Committee will have the Final say on which specific coins and Tokens government officials will be Allowed to hold If you’re wondering why cryptocurrencies Are being singled out it looks like it’s Because the people in power know that if Politicians hold crypto they will be More likely to pass pro-crypto Regulations this is why the U.S office Of government ethics banned policy Makers from holding crypto earlier this
Year now believe it or not but the Anti-crypto provisions in this bill Could actually backfire if it becomes Law That’s because it could put pressure on The SEC to pass a spot Bitcoin ETF as Then U.S government officials would be Allowed to invest at least according to My admittedly amateur understanding of The bill One thing is for sure though and that’s That government officials won’t be Getting away with insider trading for Too much longer people are starting to Wake up to what’s happening and the Increasing tensions between the Haves And have-nots means that such Politicians will be voted out it just Goes to show you that transparency and Accountability are key to running a Robust Society These are two things that crypto does Really well and with a bit of luck Crypto based Community governance Systems will replace the governments and All their corrupt officials more about The power of crypto governance using the Link in the description And that’s all for today’s video about The upcoming insider trading and Investing Bill if you found it Informative be sure to smash that like Button to help others find the same be Sure to subscribe to the channel so you
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