Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, a New York lawmaker has introduced legislation that would allow state agencies to accept cryptocurrency payments, US President Donald Trump signed a repeal of the Internal Revenue Service’s DeFi broker rule, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its suit against the Helium network.

New York bill proposes legalizing Bitcoin, crypto for state payments

Assembly Bill A7788, introduced by Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, seeks to amend state financial law to allow New York state agencies to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.

It would permit state agencies to accept payments in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), according to the bill’s text.

According to the bill, state offices could authorize crypto payments for “fines, civil penalties, rent, rates, taxes, fees, charges, revenue, financial obligations or other amounts,” as well as penalties, special assessments and interest.

Cryptocurrency legislation is becoming a focal point in New York, with Bill A7788 marking the state’s second crypto-focused legislation in a little over a month.

In March, New York introduced Bill A06515, aiming to establish criminal penalties to prevent cryptocurrency fraud and protect investors from rug pulls.

Crypto-focused legislation has gathered momentum since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, with Trump signaling during his campaign that his administration intends to make crypto policy a national priority, as well as making the US a global hub for blockchain innovation.

Trump signs resolution killing IRS DeFi broker rule

US President Donald Trump signed a joint congressional resolution on April 10 that overturned a Biden-era rule requiring decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report transactions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

The so-called IRS DeFi broker rule was set to take effect in 2027 and twould have expanded the tax authority’s existing reporting requirements to include DeFi platforms, requiring them to disclose gross proceeds from crypto sales, including information regarding taxpayers involved in the transactions.

Representative Mike Carey, who backed the resolution, said it was the the first time a president has signed a crypto bill into law.

Critics of the rule claimed it would lump decentralized platforms with too onerous rules, hampering crypto innovation, while supporters said killing the rule would create a loophole for wealthy tax cheats.

Trump was widely expected to sign the bill, as White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said in March that the president supported killing the measure.

SEC drops suit against Helium for alleged securities violations

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dismissed a lawsuit against Nova Labs, developer of decentralized wireless network Helium, for allegedly issuing unregistered securities, Helium stated in an April 10 blog post. 

Filed in January 2025, the lawsuit was among the SEC’s final enforcement actions against a cryptocurrency developer under former Chair Gary Gensler, who stepped down from his post on Jan. 20 after US President Donald Trump took office. 

The dismissal with prejudice means the blockchain developer cannot be charged with similar violations again for issuing in 2019 its native token Helium (HNT), the company said.

“[W]e can now definitively say that all compatible Helium Hotspots and the distribution of HNT, IOT, and MOBILE tokens through the Helium Network are not securities,” Helium said.

“[T]he outcome establishes that selling hardware and distributing tokens for network growth does not automatically make them securities in the eyes of the SEC [and] that the SEC cannot bring these charges against Helium again,” it added.