Pierre Rochard

This afternoon I testified at the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce hearing in favor of SB 21, to establish a Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Thank you @DrSchwertner for introducing the bill, @LtGovTX for making it a legislative priority, and @DonnaCampbellTX for asking great questions about Bitcoin custody and security.

Cuba’s communist system is a cruel lie. While the people suffer from hunger, poverty and repression, the regime’s corrupt elites have funneled the country’s resources into a secret web of overseas bank accounts for their personal benefit. No more. For the first time, @SecRubio’s new sanctions on GAESA target those illicit funds—and foreign entities which harbor them—anywhere in the world. The regime must return these resources to the Cuban people. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

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@AlaskanNative95 Tldr “Pierre highlights a plausible *practical* shift”

PER GROK: Pierre is not fully correct The Clarity Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) DOES NOT create a broad “KYC/AML-free Bitcoin trading” regime or repeal the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). It actually expands BSA/AML obligations to more crypto intermediaries while providing clarity and protections for non-custodial/self-custodial activity What the Bill Actually Does on AML/KYC Expands regulated entities: Digital commodity brokers, dealers, and exchanges must register and are treated as “financial institutions” under the BSA. This requires AML programs, customer identification (CIP), due diligence, suspicious activity reporting (SARs), and sanctions compliance. It distinguishes true non-custodial/decentralized protocols from controlled intermediaries. Non-custodial software developers, wallets, validators, and pure protocols generally aren’t treated as money transmitters or intermediaries (with activity-based rules for certain front-ends). This builds on Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) elements, though some developer safe-harbor language was adjusted in negotiations. Stablecoins: Complements the prior GENIUS Act (which regulates permitted payment stablecoin issuers with BSA/AML). The Clarity Act includes rules on yield/rewards (limited to avoid bank-like deposits) and reporting on offshore stablecoins. Other AML tools: Risk-based exams, kiosk rules (with limits/warnings), special measures for high-risk transfers, temporary holds for suspicious txs, and studies on mixers/DeFi risks. Self-hosted wallets get some guidance limits (no blanket PII collection on non-customers). The bill aims for “clarity” by splitting SEC (securities/ancillary assets) vs. CFTC (digital commodities like mature Bitcoin/Ether) oversight, secondary market treatment for tokens, and customer protections—while cracking down on illicit finance per its fact sheets. Pierre’s Argument and Why It’s a Stretch Pierre highlights a plausible *practical* shift: Stablecoin issuers (under GENIUS) handle initial KYC/AML. Once stablecoins (e.g., USDT/USDC) circulate widely on-chain—especially with activity-based rewards/users earning yield—they act as the “dollar leg” for peer-to-peer or DEX swaps (BTC for stablecoins via atomic swaps, Lightning, etc.). Secondary on-chain trades between self-custodied users wouldn’t route through a new KYC gatekeeper each time (no bank/broker intermediary required for every swap). This could reduce reliance on traditional bank rails for trading, indirectly pressuring deposit banks (as transactional volume shifts). This is directionally right for permissionless on-chain activity, but not a “repeal” or new loophole: You still need an on-ramp/off-ramp (initial fiat-to-stablecoin or stable-to-fiat often involves KYC). - Intermediaries (CEXs, brokers) remain heavily regulated. Treasury/FinCEN can still pursue enforcement (travel rule analogs, sanctions on protocols if applicable, blockchain analytics). Tax reporting (capital gains) is unchanged—Pierre acknowledges this. Existing P2P/DEX/no-KYC options already exist (e.g., Bisq, certain DEXes, atomic swaps); the bill adds regulatory certainty but doesn’t legalize evasion. Critics (e.g., Sen. Warren) argue the bill’s AML provisions are too weak on DeFi; banks worry about deposit flight to stablecoins. Bottom Line: The Clarity Act (advanced 15-9 from committee; not yet law) is pro-innovation for self-custody, DeFi infrastructure, and on-chain stablecoin use, which could enable *more* practical KYC-light Bitcoin trading in secondary/permissionless markets. But it **strengthens** the regulated perimeter for intermediaries rather than dismantling BSA/AML. Pierre’s take is optimistic Bitcoin-maximalist framing of network effects, not a direct statutory enablement of “KYC-free” trading. Full passage (Senate floor + House reconciliation + signature) would still leave significant compliance for on/off-ramps and centralized actors.

Clarity Act will enable buying and selling bitcoin without KYC/AML, it’s a roundabout repeal of the BSA by way of stablecoin secondary markets, with deposit banks as collateral damage.

"We're continuing to ramp up U.S. natural gas exports," says @SecretaryWright in Louisiana. "It will be a record again this year. It was a record last year. We're up to about 20 Bcf/day of natural gas that we export, which is roughly double the 2nd and 3rd largest exporters."

The prior administration was using all available means to wage an *existential* fight against all aspects of the industry —software development, Bitcoin mining, and all forms of entrepreneurship. Yet Brendon chooses to ignore all that context and frame a landmark bipartisan legislative moment as “piracy” by an “insurgent” industry using “loopholes”? Which loopholes exactly? This is has been a bipartisan and public deliberative process spanning 4 years of work and education. The product has been debated and reviewed by both chambers and 4 separate committees at this point—with still more work to go. In fact, I believe Brendon has this exactly backwards. This process has been the most rigorous I have seen in years. Our Congress routinely passes 1000+ page Omnibus bills, strewn with *billions* of dollars in literal industry handouts, in the dead of night…before Christmas. This is the opposite—a style of governing that is almost dead—robust public debate and scrutiny at every step of the way. I’ve read @PunchbowlNews almost every day since I started working in the senate — but writing like this calls into question any chance of honest reporting and, frankly, the integrity of your publication as a whole.

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Strive is a structured finance company and institutional asset manager focused on disciplined capital allocation and long-term value creation. Proud to celebrate $ASST! #NasdaqListed

Elite humble team with a low time preference for accumulating more 🟠.

Strong day for the @Strive team. Congrats to @ColeMacro and @BenPhiat on becoming the first daily dividend company with $SATA and setting $ASST up for long term success. Merit, excellence, innovation and intelligence remain fundamental differentiators for the Strive team.

Surreal. From Reinsurance & basement podcasting To Ringing opening bell on the Nasdaq with a ~$1.2 Billion Bitcoin balance sheet. So incredibly proud of this team. The future is bright orange.

This is the most pro-Bitcoin Fed in history.

I can't believe I ever wasted months of my life trying to convince Quebec's communist government of the massive opportunity to attract data centers. What a stupid bunch of clowns. "If it moves, regulate it. If it keeps moving, tax it". @jhamel here we go again

Coinbase built their business around being a casino when they went down the altcoin path instead of the bitcoin bank path. Perhaps some day they will self actualize and openly call themselves a casino (which would be a lot more honest than what they’re doing today)

BREAKING: Strive $ASST CEO Matt Cole (@ColeMacro) rings the opening bell to kick off the trading day at Nasdaq today. The world's first daily dividend-paying #Bitcoin-backed credit issuer, starting June 16th 🔥🚀

@FPupusas @BillHughesDC @BitcoinErrorLog I see, so there’s a capital misallocation problem?

@BitcoinPierre @BillHughesDC @BitcoinErrorLog Pubky isn't Nostr, completely different models, and solve different problems Pubky is more akin to Holepunch , tryin to setup a P2P network Nostr uses the spoke and hub model with relays as the hubs, which is 100x better topology for a finnet

@FPupusas @BillHughesDC That is today’s internet. We do need more law enforcement to crackdown on criminals and put them in prison.

@BitcoinPierre @BillHughesDC I'm sure JP Morgan will be thrilled and super positive when you tell them their swaps are using the same relays where plebs are doing DMMs and swapping illicit material

@FPupusas @BillHughesDC Doesn’t Tether already do that with @BitcoinErrorLog ?

@BitcoinPierre @BillHughesDC Any of those interest payments headed to OSS developer's pockets? Until then, good luck getting the tooling, infrastructure and applications ready to support the network POCs are easy to build, but Nostr is nowhere close to production ready for a real fin network