Cryptocurrency regulations are taking a front-row in high-end governmental discussions. Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury of the US, noted that FinCEN is working on introducing several new requirements to counter possible illegal financial activities.
FinCEN To Apply New Requirements
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate held a hearing to cover the 2012 budget. While addressing many different financial issues, the discussion also touched on cryptocurrencies and their role in the U.S. market.
The New Hampshire Senator, Maggie Hassan, asked how would the Treasury’s proposed budged cope with suspicious cryptocurrency transactions. She also asked if there will be a way to prosecute criminal organizations using cryptocurrencies to finance their illicit activities.
Mnuchin responded that they are sharing Hassan’s concern and a new resolution is to come shortly:
“Specifically on cryptocurrencies, we are spending a lot of time on this, both on interagency bases and with the regulators. We are about to roll out some significant new requirements at FinCEN. We want to make sure that technology moves forward, but on the other hand, we want to make sure that cryptocurrencies are not used for the equivalent of old Swiss secret bank accounts.”
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) works directly under the Department of the Treasury. It fights domestic and international financial illicit activities by collecting and analyzing data regarding different sorts of financial transactions.
FinCEN On Stablecoins and CBDCs
Aside from covering regulations surrounding Bitcoin and other “pure cryptocurrencies,” Mnuchin also talked about digital payment systems, stablecoins, and CBDCs.
He believes that law enforcement needs to see where each transaction is heading and that it’s not used for money laundering.
Additionally, Mnuchin thinks that stablecoins transactions can benefit society due to lower costs:
“We do think technology can be used to reduce payment processing quite considerably. Particularly for small dollar payments cross-border.”
On the topic of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the U.S. does not need to consider such, according to Mnuchin. Moreover, he pointed out Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve, shares his opinion on the matter.
Featured image courtesy of Time
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