[ad_1]
US financial authorities are preparing to play a more active role in regulating the $ 1.5 million cryptocurrency market, amid growing concern that a lack of proper supervision risks hurting savers and investors.
The new efforts reflect a break with the Trump administration, which in some cases encouraged the use of cryptocurrencies in the financial system. But it could take time for it to bear fruit as U.S. regulators struggle to determine who has the legal authority to oversee the volatile market.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Michael Hsu, who installed himself this month as the currency’s auditor, said he expected U.S. officials to work together to establish a “regulatory perimeter” for cryptocurrencies.
“It’s really about coordinating all the agencies,” said Hsu, who heads the Treasury department office that oversees national banks. “Just by talking to some of my colleagues, there’s interest in coordinating a lot more of these things.”
Cryptocurrencies have been on the roller coaster this year. In February, the price of Bitcoin soared afterwards Elon Musk, founder of Tesla he said the company had tossed $ 1.5 billion into the cryptocurrency and reached a record high of more than $ 60,000 in April.
But the price dropped after Chinese regulators pointed to a crackdown on the use of digital currencies, while Musk reversed a measure to allow bitcoin payments from Tesla cars, citing environmental concerns. Other cryptocurrencies have experienced similar volatility.
A sign of the new US approach came this month with the first meeting of an inter-agency sprint cryptography team, with the participation of officials from the three main federal bank regulators: the Office of the Currency Controller. Hsu, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Federation. Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Hsu said the team’s goal was not to make policies, but to “put some ideas in front of the agencies to consider” as they try to catch up with the growth of cryptocurrencys.
“It’s small and it’s bigger,” Hsu said of the working group. “The idea is that time is of the essence and, if it’s too big, it gets harder.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have also discussed how to protect investors in the crypto market.
SEC President Gary Gensler told a House committee last week that there are “gaps in our current system,” noting the potential need for legislation to specify which regulator should oversee cryptographic exchanges.
Gensler said his goal was to provide “protections similar to the exchanges on which you trade cryptographic assets as you might expect on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq.”
Gensler said the Treasury department has focused on “fighting money laundering and protecting against illicit activities” in the crypto market. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said she fears bitcoin will be used “often for illicit financing.”
When installing Hsu in the OCC, Yellen also indicated a change in approach to cryptography. Hsu is, in his own words, “a career civil servant and a bank supervisor at my core.” Among his OCC predecessors in charge of Donald Trump was Brian Brooks, a former legal director of Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, which is now Binance’s chief executive. USA, a rival cryptographic exchange.
As one of Hsu’s first acts at the OCC, he asked staff to review the Trump-era decision to give national letters of trust to companies that provide cryptocurrency custody services.
While Hsu believes there is no going back on innovations such as blockchain technology used in cryptocurrencies, he said in a testimony at this month’s Congress that the current enthusiasm for banking innovation reminded him of the years before the crisis. financial.
The danger is that new and improved techniques will lead to “a large and less regulated shadow banking system.” Today, fintech technology and technology platforms are designing payment processing tools that “bring great promise,” he said, “but also risks.”
“For me, it’s hard not to feel any déjà vu,” Hsu told lawmakers.
[ad_2]
Source link
