Despite complaints and requests from cryptocurrency companies to extend the short time given by the Treasury Department to evaluate the new crypto law and submit reports and comments, the regulator has not extended the deadline, which is almost up.
El United States Department of the Treasury, through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), presented a new bill applicable to the industry of cryptocurrencies, and digital assets that focuses on regulating transactions with crypto assets that are carried out, from or to Wallets or self-hosted non-custodial wallets. Although the US regulator had been putting forward the idea of this regulation for some time, at the time of its official publication it only gave a 15-day period for its evaluation and for the issuance of comments by interested parties, which caused displeasure and rejection in the crypto community.
Cryptocurrency service companies such as Coinbase are pronounced In light of this, they asked the regulator to reconsider the evaluation period of the new law to extend it to the time that is usually allocated to evaluate the creation of new regulations, which is 60 days at the discretion of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). Coinbase cited that there was no emergency to rush the regulation. In addition, the time granted for the evaluation of the regulation coincided with the holidays and all the typical festive dates of this time, which left even less time available for a real and detailed evaluation of the proposed regulation that it contains. 72 pages.
However, despite the requests, the regulator ignored them and the 15-day deadline is about to expire. Interested parties only have until January 4 to send their comments to the regulator.
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A risky and hasty regulation
When the Treasury Department announced its intentions to regulate transactions in personal wallets, even several legislators sent a letter to the regulator requesting reconsideration of the proposal, pointing out that this is a way of attacking the privacy rights of citizens and jeopardizing the leadership of the United States as a nation favorable to innovation and technological development.
“Incorrect regulations will violate users’ financial privacy and send a message to the world that you should not start businesses or test new use cases for blockchain in the United States.”
Yet the Department is hell-bent on regulating this sector of the digital industry, citing national security as the state's top priority. What the country may achieve, however, is to destroy its future leadership and favor the position of other nations in the digital industry, such as China and Russia.
Regarding the rush that the department seems to have to approve the new bill proposal, Coinbase cited that it is possibly due to the change of administration in the entity, since the Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, must leave office on January 20. So, as Coinbase explains, it is not respecting the public consultation period established for this type of regulations, which is of great importance for the digital industry and which means a great change for it.
“There is no emergency here; there is just an outgoing administration attempting to bypass required consultation with the public to finalize a rushed rule before its time in office ends.”
“There is strength in unity”
Coinbase is joining the request to extend the public consultation period Coin Center, who also sent a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, making the same request: the extension of the evaluation and consultation period for the bill. Jerry Brito, CEO of Coin Center, notes that the comments sent by crypto companies to the Treasury will be of great importance in the final decision that the regulator makes regarding its proposal, so the community must unite and send their requests so that the Treasury will probably give in to the extension of its rushed consultation period.
Brito also explained that it is important for the entire ecosystem to explain to the department how these new regulations will affect them and the negative consequences they will have within the industry and the country in general.
The CEO of Coin Center invites everyone to join forces in the digital ecosystem and avoid the implementation of such a hasty and aggressive regulation for the digital industry as this one; to give time for the new administration to take office and be able to evaluate the regulation in a more objective and sensible way.
The weaknesses of the digital industry, and of the Department
In a article recently, the team defending Monero and basic rights and privacy in the new digital era, Fight for the Future, explains that the exchanges And crypto-to-fiat exchanges are the weak point of the cryptocurrency industry, as these companies are clear targets for regulators to police the industry and destroy the privacy of crypto users. Fight for the Future points out that this is precisely what FinCEN and the Treasury are aiming for with the “dangerous” regulation they intend to impose in a hasty manner.
As a key point, the team highlights the recent hack of which the Department was and is a victim, and which has been going on for months, exposing its own data and information without them realizing it. So, If the Treasury Department is unable to ensure the security of its own data, How do you expect to do so with the data and information you intend to collect through the new regulation?
Dayton Young, Chief Product Officer at Fight for the Future, notes that it simply cannot do so, so as citizens, we should not trust it with our sensitive data only to have it exposed online, revealing every purchase we have made with cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Young also calls on the crypto community to submit their comments and demand that the Treasury and FinCEN engage in a genuine debate with stakeholders, which includes crypto companies and Americans concerned about regulation.
Continue reading: Hackers inside the Treasury Department and other US agencies
