News Block: Bitcoin Price Surges on Surprise Treasury Move, Washington's Big Crypto Week, and Tether's First-Ever Audit

— Bitcoin jumped 7% to near $70,000 after the U.S. Treasury announced surprise bond buybacks to control rising long-term borrowing costs, erasing over $1 billion in short positions.

— The SEC proposed its first formal crypto rulemaking allowing token projects to raise up to $75 million annually without full securities registration and a potential path to exit securities laws.

— Japan's MetaPlanet, the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, is expanding into the U.S. via a NASDAQ-listed SuperPlanet subsidiary seeded with 2,100 Bitcoin ($132 million).

— Tether received a clean audit from KPMG showing $6.8 billion in excess reserves, including $141 billion in U.S. Treasuries, after a decade without a major audit.

— A Trezor shipping partner was hacked, exposing names, emails, and home addresses of nearly 14,000 hardware wallet owners; France has become a hotspot for wrench attacks targeting crypto holders.

— Bitcoin volatility hit its lowest level in 98.5% of its trading history, with volume at 2019 lows, creating potential for sharp moves when conditions normalize.

— Monitor the Senate's September 15th vote on the Clarity Act; Trump is personally chairing a White House meeting with major crypto CEOs to push passage, which could significantly shift U.S. crypto regulation and infrastructure.

— Use privacy protections (PO Box shipping, avoiding data exposure) as seriously as key management; the Trezor hack and French tax authority breach show hardware wallet ownership tied to home addresses creates violent robbery risk.

— Consider BlackRock's lowered $1 million threshold for tax-efficient in-kind Bitcoin swaps to iBit if you hold that amount and want exchange exposure without triggering capital gains.