Laws move slower than markets. But they hit harder. This is issue #67 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:

⚖️ SEC Eyes DeFi Vaults 
On July 22, SEC Commissioner Peirce said DeFi vaults and onchain lending may already be securities.

🛡️ NY AG Fights CLARITY Act 
NY AG James filed testimony July 27 to change the CLARITY Act, pushing tighter tracing and KYC.

⏳ CLARITY Act Hits Recess Clock 
Thune is teeing up the first Senate vote on the CLARITY Act, but it lacks 60 votes and hasn't passed.

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On July 22, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said "crypto vaults" and onchain lending — smart contracts that pool deposits and chase yield — may already be securities under federal law. It's her personal view, not a rule or enforcement action. Nothing has changed yet.

This isn't a Bitcoin story, and vaults aren't self-custody — they hand your coins to a manager's discretion. The signal that matters: Peirce's line is that a human exercising discretion over your assets triggers securities law. Holding your own keys keeps you outside that perimeter entirely. Verify you truly self-custody; "earning yield" usually means you don't.

The Block

On Monday, July 27, New York AG Letitia James filed written testimony urging the Senate to change the CLARITY Act — the market-structure bill that would hand the CFTC lead authority over most non-security tokens. She warns it would "preempt" (override) state fraud laws. The bill has not passed.

James wants tighter tracing rules, mandatory KYC, and limits on mixers — privacy-hostile provisions aimed at "illicit finance" that can sweep in ordinary self-custody. Her push and the industry's pull are both live in the same bill right now. Watch which privacy language survives the Senate before you assume CLARITY protects sovereign holders.

The Block

This week, Senate Majority Leader Thune is trying to tee up the first floor vote on the CLARITY Act by filing cloture (the motion that needs 60 votes to break a filibuster). Seven pro-Bitcoin Democrats say the latest text falls short.

On Monday the industry's Crypto Council for Innovation dropped a "Myth vs. Fact" paper calling passage essential to US leadership, and BlackRock, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, and Grayscale lined up behind the bill before recess. But industry support was never the problem, Senate votes are.

Crypto in America

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe's Sandbox
Zimbabwe's securities regulator (SECZ) admitted seven fintech firms into its supervised testing program on July 25, four of them building tokenization platforms. Successful testing doesn't guarantee a full license, firms must still meet registration rules before launching commercially.

🇧🇷 Brazil's $196M Freeze
Brazil's Federal Police launched Operation Commodity on July 23, arresting 13 people and freezing about $196M (R$1 billion). The ring shipped 6.5 tons of cocaine to Europe since 2021, laundering proceeds through shell companies, a luxury car dealership, and crypto.

🇷🇺 Russia Defends Its Caps
Bank of Russia's governor defended new limits capping retail Bitcoin buyers at ~$3,800 yearly, saying they protect investors. Coins sent abroad lose all Russian legal protection.

🇰🇵 North Korea Eats Its Own
South Korea's Daily NK reported North Korea arrested former state cyber operators around July 12 for hacking its central bank and Foreign Trade Bank, then laundering the funds through crypto wallets and Chinese brokers.

🇪🇺 Binance Pulled
Binance's Android app disappeared from Google Play in Spain and Latvia around July 27, though it stayed live in Poland. The move follows Binance's failure to secure a MiCA license after withdrawing its Greek application. Withdrawals still work.

🏦 BNY Joins MiCA
Europe's regulator ESMA added 15 licensed providers on July 24, bringing its MiCA register to 309. New entries include BNY SA/NV — the Belgian unit of BNY Mellon, the world's largest custodian bank — cleared for crypto custody and transfers.

🇹🇭 Bitkub Charged
Thailand's SEC filed a criminal complaint on July 23 against exchange Bitkub and two former directors, alleging they concealed a May 2021 hack that drained about $50M (1.7 billion baht). Bitkub replaced the stolen assets by October 2021.

🌍 MARA's Europe Lead Sues
MARA's former Europe chief François Garcin sued the Bitcoin miner in New York for ~€11.3M ($12M) in unpaid fees, after MARA terminated him weeks post its €148M Exaion takeover. MARA hasn't responded in court.

🇪🇺 Hackers Hit "Chat Control"
After the EU Council moved on July 23 to revive "Chat Control," which lets platforms scan private messages, a group called LunarisSec claimed it doxed 24 French MEPs and leaked ~111,528 Interior Ministry records assembled from prior breaches.

🇫🇷 France's Crypto Tax Bill
French MP Paul Midy filed bill n°3090, cosigned by 91 deputies, to tax airdrops at sale not receipt, allow 10-year loss carryforwards, and exempt crypto payments under €1,000 yearly. It's a proposal — not yet scheduled or voted.

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 happens to your self-custodied Bitcoin when you die?

Bitcoin is a bearer asset: whoever holds the keys owns the coins, and the network honors no death certificate, will, or court order. Die without leaving your heirs a way in, and your stack is gone forever, visible onchain, but unspendable.

1.     Write your instructions in a separate letter — never in your will. Anything in a will can become public record during probate. So keep your seed out of it. Instead, put your wallet type, where the seed is stored, and how to recover it in a sealed letter kept somewhere else. Tell your executor it exists and where to find it.

2.     Split the secret so no one can drain it while you're alive. Don't hand an heir all 12 or 24 words today — that invites theft. Use a passphrase (an extra word stored apart from the seed) or a Shamir backup, which splits your seed into pieces where several are needed to rebuild it. No single person holds enough to steal.

3.     Give your executor legal access in your estate documents. Most states (in the US) follow RUFADAA, a law that lets your named executor reach your accounts. It can force an exchange like Coinbase to release funds, but it can't touch a self-custodied seed. Still, grant that authority in your will or trust so any exchange-held sats aren't stranded.

4.     Leave plain-English steps, then test them. Assume your heir has never touched Bitcoin. Write down which app to download, how to enter the seed, how to combine the passphrase or shares. Then have someone dry-run it on a spare wallet holding a few sats. A plan you haven't tested is just a guess.

5.     Use the one tax break built in: the step-up in basis. Under current IRS rules, inherited Bitcoin's cost basis resets to its market value on your date of death. Every gain you built vanishes for tax purposes, so your heirs can sell soon after owing little or nothing. Record your death-date value to lock it in.

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

📊 Will the Senate vote on the CLARITY Act before the August recess? — 61% chance Kalshi

📊 Who will Trump pardon this year? Keonne Rodriguez — 18% Kalshi

📊 How many Senators will vote for the CLARITY Act? — 50 Kalshi

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