Laws move slower than markets. But they hit harder. This is issue #76 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:

🇪🇺 ECB defends digital euro privacy
The ECB says its digital euro guarantees maximum privacy, while conceding distributing banks can still identify you online.

🏦 Whales trade keys for shares
BlackRock says over $5 billion of self-custodied bitcoin has moved into IBIT, with clients citing kidnappings and custody failures.

🇦🇫 Afghanistan's Bitcoin ban holds at four years
The Taliban's 2022 prohibition is still enforced, with the central bank treating exchange activity as illegal.

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Kathy Kraninger (President and CEO, Florida Bankers Association) said 39 state bankers associations are building a bank-owned network for stablecoins and tokenized deposits, with a 2027 launch target.

Piero Cipollone (Executive Board member, European Central Bank) claimed the digital euro will offer the maximum privacy current technology allows, arguing the Eurosystem cannot link individuals to transactions, though the banks distributing it still can.

Robbie Mitchnick (Head of Digital Assets, BlackRock) said kidnappings and custody failures are pushing large holders to swap self-custodied bitcoin for IBIT shares through in-kind conversions, transfers made without selling, now exceeding $5 billion.

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) identified 38 entities using fraudulent Forms ADV to falsely claim registration, including crypto-themed names such as CryptoOrbit, Pinnacle Crypto Exchange and Web3 University. Laura D’Allaird, chief of the SEC’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, announced the enforcement action.

Da Afghanistan Bank (central bank, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) continues to treat Bitcoin exchange activity as illegal under the nationwide prohibition issued in August 2022, which declared Bitcoin fraudulent and likened trading to gambling under Islamic law.

Roman Storm (co-founder, Tornado Cash) said prosecutors are pursuing him to set an example for the industry, noting his retrial moved to April 2027 while his acquittal motion remains undecided.

Lucy Rigby (City Minister, UK Treasury) said the Bank of England will receive a statutory secondary objective, a legal duty ranked below financial stability, to support innovation in payments, stablecoins and digital money.

Nicole McKee (Deputy Leader, ACT Party, New Zealand) unveiled a party campaign policy exempting qualifying personal digital asset holdings from tax after twelve months, with income tax still applying to shorter holds and professional trading, though ACT's 11 seats mean it would need coalition support to pass.

Conner Brown (Bitcoin Policy Institute) was named Executive Director of the think tank, replacing Grant McCarty, having previously served as Senator Cynthia Lummis's counsel on Bitcoin legislation.

Bilal Bin Saqib (Minister of State and Chairman, Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) said Pakistan built a licensing regime in under six months for roughly $200,000, about 8% of its approved budget, arguing governments should measure delivery over spending.

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📊 240 – Just 240 UK taxpayers reported over £1 million each in cryptocurrency gains. HM Revenue and Customs also sent 81,000 warning letters to suspected underpayers, up 25%. The Block

🔍 $457 billion – Chainalysis counted $457 billion of taxable cryptocurrency activity in 2025. International reporting rules reach only 14%; the rest moves through self-custody and peer-to-peer transfers. Chainalysis

⌚ €40,000 – Poland's Olympic committee president was arrested over an alleged €40,000 watch from collapsed exchange Zondacrypto. Its customers are out at least 350 million zlotys, roughly $94 million​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​. Euronews

⚖️ 620,000 BTC – A Seoul court ruled for Bithumb in two suits seeking proceeds from users who sold Bitcoin mistakenly credited to their accounts. Bithumb recovered 99.7% of the erroneous credits and is pursuing the remaining sale proceeds. Cointelegraph

⛓️ 20.21 BTC – UK police forfeited 20.21 BTC traced to darknet markets that closed years ago. The coins moved between 2016 and 2019 and were still followed a decade later. Journal du Coin

🇺🇸 August 31 — SEC comment deadline on novel exchange-traded products, File S7-2026-24 — Last day to tell the SEC how funds holding Bitcoin should be regulated. The custody, liquidity and valuation standards set here shape every future spot product.

🇺🇸 August 31 to September 1 — G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina — Watch the final closing statement for language on cross-border payments and related reporting. Treasury’s stated agenda calls for a “vibrant digital assets ecosystem,” rather than specifically naming Bitcoin.

🇹🇷 August 31 to September 2 — 10th Central Bank Payments Conference, Grand Hyatt Istanbul — Over 40 central banks meeting on retail CBDCs, tokenised settlement and cross-border rails.

🇰🇷 August 31 to September 2 — ORIGIN SEOUL 2026, Sky31 Convention, Lotte World Tower — Asia's Bitcoin-only conference, three days on mining, infrastructure and capital, with James Check and Stephan Livera speaking.

🇳🇱 August 31 to September 6 — Cypherpunk Week 2026, Amsterdam — A distributed week of meetups, workshops and hackathons on privacy and cryptography, no single organizer.

🇳🇬 September 3 — Nigeria SEC comment deadline on its proposed virtual asset rules — Published August 20. Exchanges and custodians face a ₦2 billion capital floor, and custodians must keep 80% of client assets in cold storage, meaning offline keys.

🇺🇸 September 4 to 5 — New York Blockchain Festival, Convene Brookfield Place, Manhattan — A paid trade conference on tokenization and payments, not Bitcoin-focused.

🇵🇰 September 5 — Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority filing deadline — Firms operating on or before March 5 must file a no-objection certificate application or shut down.

🇳🇬 September 7 to 12 — Lagos Blockchain Week 2026, Nigerian Law School Lagos Campus — Six days on adoption across Africa, opening days after Nigeria's comment window closes.

"Without anarchy, there would be chaos." — Jeffrey Tucker

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