Claire Williams

The U.S. government reached its limit on how much money it can borrow on Thursday, teeing up a high-stakes battle in Congress.

Financial services regulators should treat cryptocurrency trading for what it is — another form of wagering, some experts say. But banks seeking to provide custody and many other services tied to digital assets would face even tighter restrictions under that approach.

Incoming Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry has tapped Rep. French Hill, an Arkansas Republican and former banker, to lead a newly established subcommittee on digital assets, technology and inclusion.

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., a protege of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., would add a sharp progressive voice to financial policy debates in the Senate.

Failing to raise the debt ceiling could throw the Treasury market into disarray, and Republicans' message is undercut in Washington.

At the start of 2022, Biden administration officials were cautious about how to regulate the commingling of cryptocurrencies and traditional finance. By the end of the year, agencies had taken a tougher stance, and the downfall of FTX portended more of the same in 2023.

The White House now has just one key bank regulatory post unfilled, but it didn't get to this point easily.

The Senate voted to confirm Martin Gruenberg as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Travis Hill as its vice chairman and Jonathan McKernan to join the agency's board.

The National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate did not include a pot banking provision, but did include provisions on Fed master accounts and allowing banks to hire ex-cons.

The outgoing chair of the House Financial Services Committee and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey led a new letter to the Government Accountability Office.

Amid testimony from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra in front of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Pat Toomey proposed that the agency should be funded in the congressional appropriations process.

In a series of tense exchanges, Republicans accused Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra of making rules through press releases.

The bill would apply banklike money laundering laws and regulations to a wide range of cryptocurrency firms.

Acting Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Martin Gruenberg's nomination passed the panel in a 13-11 vote.

FTX's new chief executive, John J. Ray, described shoddy accounting processes and a core group of inexperienced leaders that contributed to the crypto exchange's collapse.

University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee previously served as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration.

FTX's previously unknown ties to the banking system have raised questions about crypto's reach in traditional finance.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. acting Chairman Martin Gruenberg suggested that could decrease in future quarters as market pressures push up the interest that banks need to pay for consumer deposits.

Acting Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg was described even by Republicans as well qualified and experienced, but took heat for a year-old drama that led to the departure of the agency's former chairman.

Early next year the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals is slated to consider whether certain loans are actually securities.