The United States of America won’t be bringing in cryptocurrency regulations anytime soon, according to comments by the White House Cybersecurity coordinator and special assistant to the president, Rob Joyce.
Image caption – Bitcoin regulation is still some while away, according to one White House Official.
In comments to CNBC, the official, a former NSA worker who completed 27 years at the National Security Agency (NSA), said that regulators looking at cryptocurrencies are still trying to understand the emerging field. Responding to a question on concerns over illicit activities being funded by Bitcoin, Joyce said the government was worried about the financial cyber crime., He added that while Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be used as digital money, however, financial crimes can be a real problem as transactions can’t be reversed.
Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had made similar statements at the World Economic Forum in Davos this January. Mnuchin then expressed concern about Bitcoin’s use in criminal activities and a desire to see Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) norms extended to cryptocurrency wallet providers.
While some countries and transnational jurisdictions such as the European Union are calling for regulation of cryptocurrencies and crypto-services to shutdown criminal activity, others like Switzerland and Japan have either brought in rules or passed legislation already to regulate the evolving space. Although crimes funded by cryptocurrencies are believed to make up a small fraction of the whole pie and crypto-enthusiasts fear the spectre of growing surveillance, it’s generally agreed that some form of regulation is needed to keep the ecosystem clean.
Bengaluru couple seeks Bitcoin as wedding gift