Here’s what happened in crypto today
Today in crypto, Utah’s senate has passed a Bitcoin bill without the Bitcoin reserve provision, CZ asks Elon Musk to ban automated bots on X, and disappointment over the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve announcement signals unrealistic investor expectations, according to regulatory experts.
Utah’s Senate passes Bitcoin bill — but scraps key provision
Utah’s Bitcoin (BTC) bill has passed the state Senate, but without a cornerstone clause that would have made it the first US state with its own Bitcoin reserve.
The HB230 “Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments” bill now only provides Utah citizens with basic custody protections, the right to mine Bitcoin, run a node and participate in staking, among other things.
The bill is now headed to Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s desk to be signed into law.
Utah Senator Kirk A. Cullimore confirmed HB230’s amendment to scrap the reserve clause. Source: Utah State Legislature
The reserve clause would have authorized Utah’s treasurer to invest up to 5% of digital assets with a market cap above $500 billion over the last calendar year in five state accounts. It was scrapped in the third and final reading.
“There was a lot of concern with those provisions and the early adoption of these types of policies,” one of the bill’s sponsors, Senator Kirk A. Cullimore, said in Utah’s March 7 floor session.
“All of that has been stripped out of the bill.”
CZ asks Elon Musk to get rid of automated bots on X
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) asked Elon Musk to ban automated bots on X — a problem that the crypto community has grappled with for years now.
“I think X should ban all bots. I only want to interact with humans here — not ‘automated,'” CZ wrote in a March 9 X post.
Automated bots amplify messages by liking or retweeting posts and can even comment on posts, which is often done in a coordinated fashion by an individual or teams running bot farms.
Source: CZ
These automated bots often pose as crypto influencers or executives from the digital asset industry to peddle fake tokens, fraudulent airdrop scams, and promote phishing links designed to steal funds from unsuspecting users.
A 2023 study from the Network Contagion Research Institute also found that coordinated bot attacks were used to manipulate crypto prices.
Bitcoin reserve backlash signals unrealistic industry expectations
The widespread disappointment surrounding the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — hailed as a historic step for Bitcoin adoption — suggests unrealistic investor expectations, according to regulatory experts.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 7, which will utilize Bitcoin (BTC) seized in government criminal cases rather than purchasing the asset directly from the market. The announcement triggered a more than 6% drop in Bitcoin’s price, falling from $90,400 to $84,979, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro data.
The reaction signals unrealistic industry expectations, according to Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of Fideum, a regulatory and blockchain infrastructure firm focused on institutions.
BTC/USD, 1-month chart. Source: Cointelegraph
“It was very clear that the US government could utilize the existing BTC in their possession, aka seized funds,” she told Cointelegraph, adding:
“It is bizarre to see such a big public disappointment coming from some industry players. […] Not that long ago, even the idea of BTC Reserve held and supported by a federal government was a revolutionary idea, and now we see a very solid implementation.”
The Bitcoin reserve is a “cautious” approach with taxpayer funds, which “make this decision well aligned with the messaging from this administration,” added the regulatory expert.
