Monday July 7, 2025
State-by-State AI Laws Could Derail US Leadership
The passage of the Big Beautiful Bill marks a turning point in US AI policy by lifting the federal moratorium on state-level regulation. This change allows each state to craft its own AI laws, a move that many over the weekend framed as a clash between big tech and state governments. But that framing misses the deeper question. What approach best serves the long-term interests of innovation, safety, and US leadership in AI?
Giving states authority to regulate AI may sound democratic in theory, but past experience suggests caution. BitDigest readers only need to recall how state-level crypto regulation played out. New York’s BitLicense was created to protect consumers, yet it ended up locking residents out of digital asset growth and pushed founders to friendlier jurisdictions. Innovation stalled while regulatory confusion took hold. We should not repeat this mistake with AI.
State oversight makes sense in narrow areas. For example, it is reasonable for states to regulate autonomous vehicles the way they set traffic laws or speed limits. But AI is broader and more complex. When it comes to generative models, chatbots, or model safety, piecemeal laws from dozens of state capitals could lead to inconsistency, overreach, or outright dysfunction. Are state legislators capable to rule on how a model retrieves data, applies reasoning, or sets alignment thresholds? Probably not.
AI is too critical to be governed by a patchwork of conflicting state rules. If the US wants to remain at the forefront of this technology, it needs a unified national strategy that fosters innovation and sets clear, consistent guardrails. Crypto is only now starting to benefit from this kind of coordinated approach after years of regulatory confusion. AI should not have to endure the same setbacks. Allowing states to move ahead without alignment risks slowing progress and weakening US leadership.
◾ Eight dormant Satoshi-era bitcoin wallets moved $8.6 billion in BTC over the weekend, though analysts believe the activity was tied to address upgrades. (X)
◾ The UAE dismissed claims it offered golden visas to investors staking Telegram’s TON token. (Wam.ae)
◾ Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced a bill to end double taxation on crypto mining and staking and create a $300 de minimis tax exemption for small transactions. (Senate.gov)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ BRICS leaders called for stronger protections against the unauthorized use of AI-generated data. (Reuters)
◾ House Financial Services Committee leadership expects the Clarity Act and Genius Act to reach the House floor within two weeks. (X)
◾ The UK and Singapore are working together to set AI standards for financial markets. (ArtificialIntelligence-news)
◾ The Treasury Inspector General is pushing for better oversight of seized digital assets. (Tigta.gov)
◾ The House Ways & Means Committee will hold a digital asset tax policy hearing on Wednesday. (House.gov)
◾ EU antitrust officials are investigating Google’s $GOOGL AI Overview for allegedly using publisher content without permission. (Reuters)
◾ Russia’s Energy Ministry launched a registry to identify electricity users engaged in crypto mining. (Ria.ru)
◾ Turkey’s financial regulator blocked access to unlicensed crypto platforms. (Spk.gov.tr)
◾ Hong Kong plans to issue its third tokenized government bond.. (X)
◾ The Bank of Canada’s new research supports OpenCBDC 2PC for fast, private, low-cost retail payments, though it noted gaps in auditing and resilience. (BankofCanada)
◾ Detroit is suing blockchain-based real estate investment platform Real Token and 165 affiliated firms over real estate nuisance violations. (Detroitmi.gov)
Financial Notices & Public Company Releases
◾ Riot Blockchain $RIOT June operations update:
Bitcoin produced: 450
Bitcoin sold: 397
Bitcoin holdings: 19,273
Operating hash rate: 29.8 EH/s
◾ Metaplanet $MTPLF added 2,205 bitcoin ($240 million). (Metaplanet)
◾ Nano Labs $NA purchased 74,315 Binance Coins ($50 million) expanding its holdings to $160 million BNB. (GlobeNewswire)
◾ DeFi Development $DFDV purchased 17,760 Solana tokens ($2.7 million) bringing its total holdings to 640,585 ($98.1 million). (GlobeNewswire)
◾ IREN $IREN acquired $130 million worth of Nvidia $NVDA Blackwell GPUs. (GlobeNewswire)
◾ Greenidge Generation $GREE announced early results of its tender and exchange offer for 8.5% Senior Notes due 2026, increasing the cash payment limit to $3.2 million and confirming notes were tendered as of July 2. (Greenidge)
Restructuring, Hacks, Losses & Legal News
◾ The FTX bankruptcy estate is seeking to halt creditor payments in restricted jurisdictions. (Cointelegraph)
◾ US law enforcement is probing whether a former negotiator colluded with hackers to receive kickbacks during ransomware negotiations. (Bloomberg)
◾ Two men in the UK were sentenced to a combined 12 years for running a £1.5 million ($2 million) crypto investment scam. (Fca.org.uk)
◾ Build A Rocket Boy issued redundancy warnings to staff following the release of MindsEye. (Ign)
AI Announcements
◾ The first AI-monitored satellite is scheduled to launch next year.(Thebrighetside.news)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ Block $XYZ CEO Jack Dorsey published a white paper and unveiled Bitchat, a decentralized peer-to-peer messaging services operating over Bluetooth. (GitHub)
◾ DeFi firm Ondo Finance is acquiring SEC-registered broker-dealer and transfer agent Oasis Pro. (X)
◾ Japan’s Minna Bank is partnering with Fireblocks to explore stablecoins and Web3 wallet infrastructure. (Fireblock)
◾ An insider at a Brazilian financial services firm sold login credentials for R$15,000 ($2,700), leading to a $140 million theft in crypto and fiat. (G1.globo)
◾ Mercado Bitcoin plans to tokenize over $200 million in real-world assets on the XRP blockchain (Ripple)
Metaverse & Gaming Briefings & Activations
◾ Swedish eSports team Fragbite raised $530,000 to begin building a bitcoin treasury. (AIvest)
Market Data
◾ JP Morgan $JPM predicted stablecoins will grow to $500 billion by 2028, calling trillion-dollar forecasts overly “optimistic.” (Reuters)
Thoughts on the Ecosystems
◾ The CEO of Ford Moto Company $F believes AI will eliminate half of white-collar jobs. (Fortune)
◾ Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, warned that US stablecoins could disrupt global capital flows and payment systems. (Reuters)
◾ Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, former Société Générale chair and ECB board member, urged European leaders to support stablecoins or risk falling behind. (FT)