Laws move slower than markets. But they hit harder. This is issue #73 of The Bitcoin Act — your Tuesday and Sunday briefing on the legal and regulatory moves that actually shape Bitcoin.

Now for today’s top stories:

🏛️ Treasury Maps the Stablecoin Rules
Treasury proposed GENIUS Act rules August 17. Comments close mid-October.

⚖️ Trump Hosts Executives Wednesday
Trump, Atkins and Selig meet exchange executives at the White House on Wednesday.

🚨 California Votes on Coin Seizures
SB 1208 hit the Assembly floor August 17. Prosecutors could seize and forfeit coins with no conviction.

What does your state require? How is a sale reported? What rules are changing?

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And this is only part of what’s inside…

Treasury proposed rules on August 17 to implement the GENIUS Act, last year's stablecoin law. They define when a dollar-pegged token counts as issued in America and sold to Americans. Not final law: 60 days of public comment first.

The draft asks dozens of open interpretive questions, and foreign issuers like Tether face the sharpest scrutiny. Comments close mid-October. Treasury already missed the July 18 deadline to finalize rules, yet the law takes effect January 18, 2027.

Treasury

Trump, SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig are expected at a White House meeting with exchange executives Wednesday. Nothing binding comes of it. The real date is September 15, when the Senate votes on the stalled CLARITY Act.

That bill would write your right to self-custody into federal law. September 15 is only a procedural vote to start debate, and it needs 60 senators. Republicans hold 53.

The Block

On August 17, California's Assembly ordered SB 1208 to a third reading. The bill lets prosecutors seize Bitcoin on probable cause alone, then permanently forfeit it through a criminal-nature special proceeding with no charge or conviction required. The Senate passed it 39-0.

Two mechanics matter. A police letter forces an exchange to freeze your account for ten days, no judge involved, and it owes you no notice. Recovering coins means filing a sworn claim within thirty days proving they are legitimately yours.

LegiScan

🇳🇴 Norway's Fund Now Holds 11,549 BTC
Norges Bank's $2.4 trillion pension fund hit record indirect Bitcoin exposure in H1 2026, per K33: 11,549 BTC, up 21.2% in six months.

🇦🇹 Austria Issues Its First Published MiCA Fine
Austria's FMA fined broker Bitpanda €70,000 on August 14, its first published binding MiCA penalty. Bitpanda filed a token disclosure document late and marketed the token before publishing it.

🌎 FATF Pressure Could Force Real Decentralization
Curve’s Michael Egorov said the FATF’s July control test might ironically strip protocols of admin keys, upgrade risks and any power to touch user funds, pushing them closer to true no-control code.

🇷🇺 Binance Gave Moscow the File That Jailed a Donor
Reuters reports Binance gave Russian investigators Yuri Belenkiy's passport, address, phone number and $700 of transfers to Ukrainian groups. Detained September 2025, he awaits trial for financing terrorism.

🇫🇷 France Blacklists bitkelttrade.com
France's AMF blacklisted bitkelttrade.com on August 17, meaning it is not authorised to offer financial services or investments in France. The AMF updates this list frequently but warns it can never be exhaustive.

🇰🇷 South Korea Kills Its Travel Rule Floor
South Korea's Cabinet scrapped the 1 million won (~$720) travel-rule minimum on August 11. From February 20, 2027, every transfer between registered exchanges must carry sender and recipient identity.

🇪🇺 ECB Flags Multi-Issuance Stablecoins as Risk
ECB and ESRB warn multi-issuance setups, where EU and foreign entities issue fungible tokens, could overwhelm EU reserves in a crisis. They urge treating them as unauthorized under MiCA; Commission consults, report due 2027.

🇸🇬 A Fake Interview Beat Two-Factor Authentication
Singapore police said a fake LinkedIn recruiter's coding test planted malware on an employee's work laptop, stealing a session token that bypassed two-factor login, reached the firm's code repository, and moved $11.8 million out.

🇬🇧 UK Gang Converted £2.2m of Dirty Cash Into Crypto
An eight-strong group fed criminal cash through 28 Post Office branches and two paying-in machines, converting it straight into crypto. Bristol Crown Court jailed the last two on August 14; ringleader Sangiovanni got six years eight months.

🌐 Fiji Deports Crypto Program Promoter
Edward Zimbardi, promoter of the alleged $165 million Crypto Program Ponzi, was deported from Fiji to the US last week. He faces wire fraud and money laundering charges after promising 25% monthly returns on crypto.

Every week I drop one concrete, actionable answer to a legal or political question that actually affects your life as a Bitcoiner, focused on a specific, real-world action you can take. No theory. No fluff. Just the move.

This week: Can governments blacklist Bitcoin addresses?

Yes, and they have since November 2018. Galaxy's Alex Thorn counted 518 Bitcoin addresses on OFAC's list, holding roughly 9,306 BTC as of April.

1. Search the list before accepting a large payment. OFAC's SDN Search is free at sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov. Listed wallets appear in a field reading "Digital Currency Address".

2. Intent is irrelevant. Sanctions violations are strict liability: penalties apply even with no reason to know. The chokepoint is your custodian.

3. No Bitcoin consensus rule enforces OFAC sanctions. Mining pools can nevertheless filter transactions when constructing their block templates.

4. If you are dusted, OFAC FAQ 1078 says the transaction is technically subject to its regulations, but OFAC will not prioritize enforcement against delayed blocking reports where the dusting has no other sanctions nexus. Recipients may also apply for a specific license.

Got a legal or regulatory question you want answered next Tuesday? Hit reply and send it.

📊 Will the CLARITY Act be signed into law before 2027? — 20% Polymarket

📊 Will Trump eliminate capital gains tax on Bitcoin by December 31, 2026? — 4% Polymarket

📊 Will Democrats win both the House and the Senate in the November 2026 midterms? — 48% Polymarket

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