Minnesota | Crypto

Two Texas brothers admitted to holding a Minnesota family at gunpoint and forcing the transfer of $8 million in cryptocurrency. Two brothers accused of kidnapping a Minnesota family at gunpoint last year to steal $8 million in cryptocurrency pleaded guilty in connection with the armed robbery. Isiah Angelo Garcia and Raymond Christian Garcia, on Thursday, entered guilty pleas for Interference with Commerce by Robbery, facing a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, according to the US Attorney’s Office of the District of Minnesota. “The guilty pleas entered today reflect our commitment to holding the defendants accountable for the choices they made,” US Attorney Daniel Rosen said. Read more

A deepfake campaign attack ad in the US state of Minnesota has raised questions around the ethics of using AI in political ads and the regulations surround AI use. The election season is ramping up in the United States, meaning that airwaves and social media are flooded with campaign ads. Candidates, in addition to the political action committees (PACs) supporting and opposing them, are projected to spend a record-breaking $10 billion in ads this cycle. Some of that is going into AI deepfakes.  At least 15 AI-generated campaign ads have run since November, according to NBC News. Some have used deepfakes to portray a candidate doing or saying things that compromise their campaign’s image. Read more

The Governor of Minnesota signed into law a measure that, starting Aug. 1, makes it a crime to advertise and operate prediction market platforms across the state.

Kalshi sued Minnesota while the CFTC filed against Rhode Island as legal wrangling with state-level authorities seems likely headed to the US Supreme Court. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and companies behind prediction market platforms are continuing legal fights against state-level authorities, with the latest battlegrounds centered in Rhode Island and Minnesota. Last week, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a bill into law amending statutes to prohibit advertising, creating, operating or otherwise facilitating prediction market platforms. The move prompted CFTC Chair Michael Selig to file in federal court less than 24 hours later, alleging Minnesota and its officials had enacted the “first outright ban” on prediction markets. Source: PACER Read more

Minnesota-based banking institutions and credit unions will be authorized to provide digital asset custody services in a nonfiduciary capacity as of Aug. 1. Minnesota-based banking institutions and credit unions are set to offer some crypto custody services beginning in August. On Friday, Governor Tim Walz signed House File (HF) 3709 into law, permitting “certain virtual-currency custody services to be offered and performed” by financial institutions in the US state. One of the original sponsors in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Bernie Perryman, said in March that the bill was intended to ensure that “Minnesota-based financial institutions are allowed to evolve alongside their customers and members rather than forcing Minnesotans to rely on unregulated, out-of-state or offshore providers for services.” Read more

Representative Erin Koegel proposed a total ban on crypto ATMs in Minnesota, building on a 2024 state law that imposed restrictions on kiosk operators. A Minnesota lawmaker has introduced a bill that could ban virtual currency kiosks across the state after reports of incidents involving crypto-related scams. In a Thursday session of the Minnesota House of Representatives Commerce Finance and Policy Committee, Representative Erin Koegel said the bill, House File 3642, would address the “novel” and “minimally regulated” technology of crypto kiosks. Koegel said she had heard from state law enforcement agencies that many scammers used the kiosks to trick residents into sending crypto, while legitimate traders tended to use centralized exchanges. Read more