Laws move slower than markets. But they hit harder. This is issue #94 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:

🔓 Teng: A Laptop, Not Keys
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng blamed an engineer’s compromised laptop, not a leaked key, for the $6.3 billion hack.

🏛️ Alsobrooks: CLARITY Not a Priority
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks said a Democratic Congress would “absolutely not” prioritize the CLARITY Act.

🧊 Lummis Pitches CLARITY Freeze Powers
Sen. Cynthia Lummis argued the CLARITY Act would have let firms like Binance freeze suspicious transactions the moment police ask.

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Cody Carbone (CEO, The Digital Chamber) urged Congress to give the CFTC authority over exchanges and keep customer funds separate from company funds in bankruptcy, after Binance’s $6.3 billion hack.

Richard Teng (co-CEO, Binance) said an engineer’s compromised laptop, not a leaked private key, enabled the $6.3 billion hack, and pledged Binance would cover every customer loss.

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) said a Democratic Congress would “absolutely not” prioritize the CLARITY Act, though it could pass in the lame duck, the weeks before newly elected lawmakers take office.

Jonathan Levin (CEO, Chainalysis) warned the Binance hackers already use thousands of addresses and expects tens of thousands within weeks, as the stolen funds overwhelm their usual laundering channels and spread further.

Steve Smart (enforcement chief, UK Financial Conduct Authority) warned that an overseas base does not put firms beyond UK law, as HTX agreed to stop targeting British consumers without admitting wrongdoing.

Scott Bessent (U.S. Treasury Secretary) said after the CLARITY Act’s failure, Treasury can work with the SEC and CFTC on agency rules, including guardrails against debanking (banks cutting off clients).

Bitcoin Policy UK (British policy group) discussed on its podcast the group’s response to Bank of England and FCA plans to co-regulate systemic stablecoin issuers, those posing financial stability risks.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) argued the CLARITY Act would have given firms like Binance legal cover, meaning protection from lawsuits, to freeze suspicious transactions the moment law enforcement asks.

Amanda Fischer (policy director, Better Markets) pushed back on claims the CLARITY Act enables instant freezes, saying it requires stablecoin issuers to freeze under a court order, a judge’s binding instruction.

Binance (exchange) stated all withdrawals will now come from newly generated wallets added to its Proof of Reserves list, the public addresses evidencing customer holdings, as withdrawals resume in phases.

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💸 $6.3 billion – Hackers tied to North Korea stole $6.3 billion from Binance’s hot wallets, the exchange wallets kept online, in the largest hack on record. TD Cowen analysts said it was a breach at a centralized middleman. The Block

⚖️ 15 years – Texas brothers Raymond and Isiah Garcia got 15 years and 15.5 years in prison for holding a Minnesota family at gunpoint for nine hours over $8 million. The Block

🚪 3 exchanges – KuCoin became the third exchange this month, after MEXC and Bitget, to cut off all customers in Russia and Belarus, citing legal requirements. Users will be given deadlines to withdraw their funds. CoinDesk

🇹🇭 2.48 BTC – Thailand’s Supreme Court ruled that 2.48 BTC forced out of a victim in a 2022 Koh Samui robbery counts as property, rejecting the defense claim that Bitcoin had no value. Thaiger

📑 Third quarter 2026 – The Bitcoin Policy Institute published its third quarter 2026 report, covering its Freedom Tech DC summit with Jack Dorsey and Michael Saylor. BPI on X

🗳️ Tuesday, November 3 – US federal midterm elections – Polls start closing at midnight UTC, and close races may take days to call. The result decides who chairs the committees holding the stalled CLARITY Act.

🤠 Tuesday, November 3 – Wyoming Senate race for Cynthia Lummis’s seat – Wyoming picks a successor to Lummis, who retires after one term. She wrote the BITCOIN Act, which proposed a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve buying 1,000,000 BTC.

🇫🇷 Tuesday, November 3 (expected) – French National Assembly budget vote on amendment I-3898 – It would end tax deferral, the right to postpone tax, when swapping Bitcoin or other coins into single-currency stablecoins from 2027. The date may shift. 

🇰🇪 Wednesday, November 4 – Kenya licensing deadline – The grace period for existing virtual asset businesses, such as exchanges and wallet providers, ends. Operating without a license becomes a criminal offence.

🇳🇱 November 5–6 – Bitcoin Amsterdam, Sugar Factory, Halfweg – Bitcoin-only conference just outside Amsterdam, with sessions on European rules hitting Bitcoin, privacy and digital rights, and corporate Bitcoin treasuries. 

🇧🇷 Friday, November 6 – Brazil cuts banks off from unauthorized providers – Banks and payment firms licensed by the Banco Central do Brasil can no longer process virtual asset operations with providers lacking its authorization. 

🇰🇷 November 7–8 – Bitcoin Korea Conference, Seoul – Korea’s Bitcoin-only conference. Speakers include Adam Gibson, creator of JoinMarket, and Payjoin Foundation founder Dan Gould.

🇫🇷 November 7–9 – B-Only 2026, Annecy, France – Fourth edition of the French-language Bitcoin-only conference in the Alps. Three days of talks, hands-on workshops and community evenings.

“Liberty should be understood as freedom from the government, specifically, freedom from the initiation of physical force by the government.” ― George Reisman

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