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| White House unveils plan to regulate cryptocurrency |
The White House announced in an executive order that President Biden has developed a comprehensive strategy for the federal government's management of cryptocurrency.
The White House described the executive order as the government's first comprehensive approach to addressing the potential risks and benefits of digital assets and its underlying technologies.
"The rise of digital assets creates an opportunity to advance US leadership in the global financial system," the White House said in a statement outlining the issue. But it also has significant implications for consumer protection, financial stability, national security, and climate risk.
Among other actions, the order directs the Commerce Department to develop a comprehensive framework to improve US competitiveness, leadership, and leveraging technology for digital assets.
The order also encourages the Federal Reserve to conduct ongoing investigations into a US-backed cryptocurrency, sometimes referred to as a digital dollar.
Over the past year at least, organizers have called for coordinated regulation, in part due to the involvement of many different agencies.
Consumer banking, investing, and enforcement of sanctions are handled by different parts of the federal government, all of which deal with cryptocurrencies in different ways.
This will not directly affect how cryptocurrency is regulated or how crypto companies operate, but it will start a slower regulatory process that could take years to bear fruit.
First Cryptocurrency Regulatory Program Across Multiple Federal Agencies
In particular, the regulation guides organizations in assessing the risks and opportunities associated with the use of cryptocurrencies. Including the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission. This decision may lead to the publication of future regulations through a process of notice and comment.
The industry's initial reaction to the issue was positive. The industry sees the new framework as an opportunity to avoid regulatory uncertainty.
“As regulators take the next step in examining the many facets of the cryptocurrency economy, we expect them to do so with a focus on providing regulatory clarity to the industry and the American public,” Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Freer Sherzad said via Twitter. . With appropriate legislation, digital assets have huge potential economic and social benefits.