Laws move slower than markets. But they hit harder. This is issue #57 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:

🏛️ Mining Tax Deferral Urged
Three groups urged Congress to pass H.R. 9175 unchanged. The bill defers taxes on Bitcoin mining rewards until sold.

👀 Senate Passes Four-Year Fed CBDC Ban
Senate passed housing bill June 22 by 85-5, banning Fed CBDC through 2030.

🇺🇸 Illinois Files Asset Tax Repeal
Rep. Cabello introduced HB5798 to repeal Illinois’ 0.20% Digital Asset Tax Act effective 2027.

Three groups urged Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith and Ranking Member Richard Neal on June 21 to pass H.R. 9175 unchanged. The bill defers tax on Bitcoin mining rewards until sold with election option and has not passed committee.

As a Bitcoin miner, deferral would mean no tax on newly mined sats until you sell. This cuts phantom income risk from current IRS rules and lets you hodl longer. Keep records of reward dates and fair market values for basis.

The Block

The Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on June 22 by an 85-5 vote. The bill bars the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency or similar digital asset through 2030. It still needs House approval and the president’s signature.

A self-custody Bitcoiner faces lower risk from a competing or surveilling digital dollar through 2030. Hold your own keys and monitor the House vote on the bill.

CoinDesk

Rep. John M. Cabello introduced HB5798 on June 22 to repeal Illinois’ Digital Asset Tax Act. The 0.20% tax on broker-handled digital asset exchanges, transfers and storage takes effect January 1, 2027.

Move your Bitcoin to a personal wallet before January 2027 and you owe nothing. Stay self-custodied and it can't reach you, though the treatment of software wallets and DeFi remains legally unresolved.

Bitcoin News

🇬🇧 Bank of England Sets Stablecoin Guardrail
The BoE has dropped its proposed individual holding caps for sterling stablecoins and introduced a £40 billion issuance guardrail per coin. The framework is set to be finalized by end-2026, ahead of its 2027 implementation.

🇰🇷 Bank of Korea Advances CBDC Testing
Bank of Korea moved its CBDC pilot to a second phase integrating deposit tokens into commercial banks’ core systems for real-world payments and settlements.

🇪🇺 EU Parliament Advances Digital Euro CBDC
ECON committee approved the digital euro bill today and opened trilogue talks. It adds privacy rules, holding caps and merchant acceptance requirements.

🇰🇷 South Korea Arrests 23 in USDT Laundering
Seoul police arrested 23 people for laundering $11.1 million in USDT linked to Cambodian phishing scams between February 2024 and April 2025 through domestic and overseas exchanges.

🇯🇵 Fake Token Scam Linked to Fentanyl Network in Japan
A Chinese fentanyl-linked network ran a fake “zksync.jp” token scam from Japan, causing over $1 million in losses while laundering funds via U.S.-sanctioned entities.

🇲🇹 Policy: Malta Eyes DeFi Under MiCA
Malta’s MFSA released a June 18 paper probing whether DeFi decentralization is a spectrum, not binary, targeting admin keys, governance, and upgrades. It seeks feedback by July 10 on audits and integration rules for regulated firms.

🇪🇺 EU Consults on MiCA Revisions
Industry leaders are pressing the European Commission for major refinements to MiCA on euro stablecoin reserves, rewards, and clearer rules for DeFi and prediction markets. Comments close August 31.

🇴🇲 Oman Mandates National Bitcoin Mining Pool
Oman introduced a mandatory national Bitcoin mining pool requiring all licensed miners to join Omanhash.com under direct state oversight.

🇳🇱 Netherlands and France Court Polymarket Licensing
Regulators in the Netherlands and France are seeking to attract Polymarket for licensing in their jurisdictions, viewing the prediction market platform as a strategic industry.

🇳🇬 Stablecoins Surge in Nigerian Cross-Border Payments
The IMF reports stablecoins drove $59 billion in cross-border inflows to Nigeria in one year, acting as a fast, cheap alternative to traditional payments. However, it is still a fiat currency with no real value.

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: What are the ways your bank can freeze your account?

Banks don't need a criminal conviction to freeze your money, they don't even need to tell you why. I spent time in a bank compliance department, and there are many legally distinct triggers that can lock your account.

1.     Document every large Bitcoin sale before the wire lands. When you sell and receive a large or unusual deposit, your bank's compliance system may flag it and freeze your account pending a "source of funds" review — they block first, ask questions later.

2.     Move your Bitcoin to self-custody — a compliance freeze can't reach your hardware wallet. When your bank or your exchange's bank triggers an AML (Anti-Money Laundering) review, wire transfers and account access get locked. Sats held in self-custody on a hardware wallet are outside that system entirely. A compliance freeze can't touch keys you control.

3.     Know which OFAC sanctions programs your counterparties touch. OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Treasury sanctions arm) maintains the SDN list — blocked individuals and entities — plus sectoral programs restricting entire industries in Russia, Iran, and North Korea. If any transaction triggers an OFAC screen, your bank must freeze it immediately with no prior notice to you.

4.     Understand the bank levy mechanism — and its limits. A judgment creditor can serve a bank levy (a court order requiring your bank to freeze and hand over funds), and bankruptcy trustees can similarly freeze bank accounts. Neither can automatically reach Bitcoin in self-custody — it's not a bank deposit. But you must disclose Bitcoin in bankruptcy proceedings.

5.     If your accounts are frozen by a prosecutor or judge, call a lawyer before touching anything. Federal prosecutors can obtain a pretrial restraining order before any conviction — sometimes before you're even charged. These are ex parte orders (granted without hearing your side). Violating one is contempt of court.

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

📊 CLARITY Act approved by Senate in 2026? 59,75% Predyx

📊 Donald Trump pardons Sam Bankman-Fried? 8,25% Predyx

📊 Next U.S. state to pass a data center moratorium? Michigan 18% Predyx

The first people to open and read this newsletter can claim 21 sats! Learn interesting things and earn sats while you’re at it! 👇

“Sound money was devised as an instrument for the protection of civil liberties against despotic inroads on the part of governments. Ideologically it belongs in the same class with political constitutions and bills of rights.” — Ludwig von Mises

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