Coinbase Custody, Bison Trails to Push for Clearer Staking Regulation
- Coinbase Custody and Bison Trails have both joined the Proof of Stake Alliance in its mission to promote legal and regulatory clarity around staking.
- The alliance already has more than 18 members, representing a wide range of Proof of Stake communities.
Sam McIngvale, Coinbase Custody CEO, speaking at the Invest:NYC 2019 CoinDesk conference. Zack Seward/CoinDesk
The Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), an advocacy group promoting staking-friendly regulation, has bolstered its ranks with the addition of Coinbase Custody and Bison Trails as members, the lobbying group said in a press release on 30 January.
According to the announcement, the addition of the two companies will help POSA in its mission to promote legal and regulatory clarity around staking. Even though both companies are members of the Libra Association, Coinbase Custody offers institutional crypto assets custodial services, while Bison Trails provides blockchain infrastructure tools.
Founded in 2019, POSA engages in regulatory and congressional discussions to promote staking-friendly regulation, and also organizes events and educational initiatives. The advocacy group has more than 18 members, representing a wide range of Proof of Stake (PoS) communities, such as Staking as a Service (STaaS) companies, exchanges and custodians, protocol networks, service providers and leading academics.
Sam McIngvale, CEO of Coinbase Custody, said in a statement:
“POSA is playing a critical role by engaging with lawmakers and regulators to educate them on emerging POS technology. It’s our hope that through the work of organizations like POSA, we’ll start to see meaningful conversations and, in time, clarity when it comes to POS and its applications.”
The organization believes that currently in the U.S. there is a lack of sufficient legal and regulatory clarity around staking, especially when it comes to taxation. In the U.S. both mining and staking rewards are taxed as direct income, which has higher rate, instead as capital gains, normally reserved for traditional assets. The organization also works on issues related to securities and money services regulation by engaging with regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
The announcement came shortly after Coinbase Custody announced the launch of its European entity, Coinbase Custody International Inc.. Based in Dublin, Ireland, the new regional base will offer the same services as Coinbase Custody, and will also take over all staking activity performed by Coinbase.
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