The first cryptocurrency regulations in the USA
The popularity of digital assets continues to grow despite the declines they recorded at the beginning of the year. Even more so, investors became interested in the possibility of buying cryptocurrencies at significantly reduced prices. With so much demand, governments are trying to protect their citizens against unfair practices and forge laws that will also block the actions of criminals. The legislative process is very long considering that you are working on an issue that has never happened before and not everyone understands it correctly.
In September, the US issued the first ever cryptocurrency regulation. This movement is important because the experiences and solutions used in these regulations will not only be a topic for debate, but also a template to be used by other countries. The framework published in the United States is intended to protect consumers, investors and companies, but also provide some financial stability, national security and environmental protection — in line with the Joe Biden regulation.
The published factsheet outlined six key priorities: protecting consumers and investors, promoting financial stability, fighting illegal financing, US leadership in the global financial system and gaining economic competitiveness, financial inclusion and responsible innovation. It also presents methods by which the cryptocurrency industry could change to counteract cybercrime and optimize transactions. For greater security, the changes to banking secrecy laws and also against unlicensed transfer of money were mentioned. Regulators would be more decisive in responding to threats in the cryptocurrency market. The idea is to step up investigations into fraud and increase cooperation between agencies.
In addition to increasing the transparency of stablecoins and maintaining a 100% reserve, other solutions are also proposed. It is believed that the tax system is holding the industry back from development, therefore a tax exemption for purchases of up to $ 200 is planned. It is also assumed that the largest companies in the cryptocurrency mining industry will switch to renewable energy sources. In July, the US government asked selected companies of this type to report energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, not all responded to this request. The three companies that reported gas emissions collectively emit 1.6 million tons of gas annually (that’s 360,000 cars).
The new regulations will probably be introduced only after the new year.
