The Big, Beautiful Shake-Up: How Trump’s Crypto-Friendly Bill May Reshape the Industry — For Better or Worse
Release Date: 07/19/2025
California Quietly Passed a Big Win for Crypto Transparency Last Week
BitAML Podcast
California updating its Political Reform Act (1974) to include crypto disclosures for public officials Last Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1029 into law. It didn’t make big headlines. Crypto Twitter was too busy reacting to presidential polls, stablecoin rumors, and some ETF filings. But this was a major win for transparency, accountability—and crypto legitimacy. If you blinked, you might’ve missed it. But BitAML didn’t. And neither did our Founder & President, Joe Ciccolo, who also serves as Executive Director of the California Blockchain Advocacy Coalition (CBAC)....
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White House Unveils Landmark Crypto Framework—A New Era for Digital Assets Begins
BitAML Podcast
What the July 2025 Crypto Policy Report Means for You The White House’s long-awaited crypto policy report has landed, and while it echoes much of what the industry has been expecting, it marks a pivotal moment. At 163 pages, the July 30 release isn’t just another policy paper—it’s a roa map for how the U.S. intends to regulate, support, and shape the digital asset economy. Stablecoin Oversight Gets Teeth The headline grabber is the GENIUS Act, signed into law July 18, which formalizes the country’s first comprehensive stablecoin framework. Mandates: 1:1 reserve backing, robust...
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The Two-Front War Using American TikTokers to Help North Korea Hack Wallets and Steal Paychecks
BitAML Podcast
At first glance, Christina Chapman was just another TikTok personality trying to make it in the gig economy. But beneath the surface of her Minnesota home lay a covert cybercrime operation linked to one of the world’s most sophisticated state-sponsored heists. Authorities say Chapman unknowingly became a crucial node in a massive North Korean scheme, operating a "laptop farm" that helped rogue IT workers land remote jobs with over 300 U.S. companies. Those jobs paid more than $17 million—and that was just the warm-up act. The Laptop Lady Becomes an Unwitting Accomplice Christina Chapman, a...
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The Big, Beautiful Shake-Up: How Trump’s Crypto-Friendly Bill May Reshape the Industry — For Better or Worse
BitAML Podcast
The Bill That Roared President Trump’s sweeping “Big, Beautiful Bill” has officially passed both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by the commander in chief on the 4th of July, bringing with it a mix of fanfare, frustration, and fiscal fireworks. Touted as a landmark win for economic freedom, the bill promises massive tax cuts, deregulation, and a new direction for America’s financial policy. But for the crypto industry, this isn’t just another tax reform package. It’s a fork in the road. Packed into nearly 400 pages are some of the most consequential shifts in how the...
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The Courier Workaround—How Scammers Outsmarted Bitcoin ATM Limits
BitAML Podcast
How Bitcoin ATM Limits Accidentally Sparked a New Crime Trend When California capped crypto ATM transactions at $1,000 a day, the goal was clear: stop scammers from draining victims' life savings overnight. Nebraska, Iowa, and other states quickly followed suit. The new regulations made headlines and were hailed as a win for consumer protection. But behind the scenes, something troubling started to unfold. Instead of giving up, scammers adapted. Now, we’re seeing a dramatic rise in courier-based fraud schemes. Victims, often seniors, are being manipulated into emptying their bank accounts,...
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The Hidden Remittance Tax: 3.5% Withholding on Funds Sent Abroad
BitAML Podcast
At the heart of the controversy is a 3.5% excise tax on all cross-border remittance transfers from non-U.S. citizens. That’s right—if you’re on an H-1B visa, a green card, or another non-citizen status, and you send money overseas (to family, to invest, whatever), this bill proposes your provider (e.g., crypto exchange, traditional remittance app) withhold 3.5% of that transfer as tax. Originally set at 5%, the rate was walked back after pushback from diaspora communities and advocacy groups. Still, 3.5% is significant. It comes on top of existing fees, which means money sent back home...
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Crypto Seizures and the Fight for Fairness—Protecting Victims Without Undermining Rights
BitAML Podcast
The Crypto Seizure Conundrum of Balancing Justice AND Property Rights Crypto scams are no longer fringe news—they’re a front-page reality. As criminals become more sophisticated, lawmakers are scrambling to respond. One emerging trend? A renewed push for the seizure of cryptocurrency assets before conviction. That’s right—under certain bills currently proposed, law enforcement may soon have broader authority to seize crypto assets linked to suspected fraud or exploitation. But with great power comes great risk. These proposed laws walk a tightrope between rightfully protecting victims...
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HODL the Pepperoni! How One Man Torched a Fortune to Prove Bitcoin Worked
BitAML Podcast
Bitcoin Pizza Day is a Slice of Crypto History That Still Has Lessons to Teach From Pizza to Protocols—Why May 22nd Still Matters in Crypto Every community has its origin story. For the crypto crowd, it comes with pepperoni and extra cheese. May 22nd, 2010 marks the day Laszlo Hanyecz, a Florida-based programmer and early Bitcoin contributor, made the first-ever real-world purchase using Bitcoin. The now-infamous trade? 10,000 BTC for two large pizzas. At the time, worth about $41. Today? That same amount of Bitcoin would fetch you over $680 million—and maybe your own private island (or...
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Bitcoin ATM Day 2025: The Machines That Changed Finance—and the Laws Catching Up
BitAML Podcast
Bitcoin ATMs are at a crossroads—celebrating innovation while navigating regulatory headwinds. And it all began one breezy Thursday afternoon at an unassuming coffee shop in Downtown Vancouver, where history was quietly made. That’s when the world’s first Bitcoin ATM quietly went live—on October 29, 2013. Installed inside Waves Coffee House, this single machine would kick off a decade-long journey that brought crypto kiosks into gas stations, grocery stores, and corner bodegas across the globe. Today, May 2nd, we celebrate Bitcoin ATM Day, not just to reflect on that moment of quiet...
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The Rise of RegTech in Crypto
BitAML Podcast
Compliance just got an upgrade you’ll want to pay attention to. In the wild early days of crypto, compliance often felt like an afterthought—something you dealt with after building your platform, launching your token, or getting that first round of funding. Today, the stakes are higher, the rules sharper, and regulators far more interested. If crypto is going mainstream, it’s not going to happen without help. Enter RegTech.
info_outlineThe Bill That Roared
President Trump’s sweeping “Big, Beautiful Bill” has officially passed both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by the commander in chief on the 4th of July, bringing with it a mix of fanfare, frustration, and fiscal fireworks. Touted as a landmark win for economic freedom, the bill promises massive tax cuts, deregulation, and a new direction for America’s financial policy.
But for the crypto industry, this isn’t just another tax reform package. It’s a fork in the road. Packed into nearly 400 pages are some of the most consequential shifts in how the U.S. defines, taxes, and interacts with digital assets.
Depending on your vantage point, it’s either a bold step forward for innovation—or the start of a compliance headache.