It seems that the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is not yet done with crypto. In its latest brief, the agency made clear its intentions on introducing an amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act. This is in connection with the reporting of foreign financial accounts holding cryptocurrency.
The Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts regulations do not cut across the digital assets but it seems that FinCEN wants to change things. The new proposals require that US citizens declare offshore cryptocurrency holdings that are more than $10,000 in value. The new proposals by the state agency are yet to be published. But it is clear that there is a looming regulation for US citizens holding BTC (bitcoin) and other digital assets abroad.
FinCEN’s proposal comes after another proposal by the Treasury Department at the end of 2020 to regulate cryptocurrencies being transferred from U.S. exchanges to individual wallets. It is important to note that one of the reasons why the government is so keen on passing such laws is to increase its revenue collections.
The latest move by the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network comes barely three weeks before the looming change in command at the U.S. Treasury Department as the incoming President Joe Biden’s team takes over power at White House.
Are we going to see more of such regulation proposals in the future? It seems the government’s interests in BTC (bitcoin) and the entire cryptocurrency economy are far from over. As time goes so is the government agency pilling more pressure on crypto-related firms. Laws have their good and ugly side. What do you think about the new proposal by the FinCEN?
Well, if the recommendation by the agency passes the government through, FinCEN will have access to critical information on the crypto holdings sitting in offshore wallets. Depending on where you are seated, this action is both bad and good. But the truth of the matter is that the regulation by the Federal government or any other government is a setback to the main goal behind crypto and blockchain.
A number will argue that regulation is good for the cryptocurrency economy. But frankly speaking, some laws and proposals are after teaming and undermining the goal behind crypto. Less you forget the main goal behind the Blockchain and BTC (bitcoin), the pioneer digital asset, is decentralizing most of the human aspects. Decentralizing means freedom to most crypto enthusiasts but also means freedom from criminals. That is where the good side of regulations comes.
The latest proposal by FinCEN has attracted reaction in the crypto community. Most of the crypto enthusiasts and investors see the latest proposal as a parting shot against cryptocurrencies by the Fed. Hence, they are urging other community members to shut down the proposal by filing negative comments against the amendment of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Though there is still a long way before the recommendations become a law, it seems that the community feels threatened by the increasing interest from the government in matters of digital assets. Time will tell whether the proposal will seal through when it reaches the public opinion stage.
The good side of the proposal to amend the Bank Secrecy Act and incorporate digital assets is that the government will be able to trace criminals that hold crypto funds in offshore accounts. The main concern of the crypto community still lays in matters of privacy. Another concern is the government’s increasing appetite to raise revenue by taxing digital assets holding.
Expect to see more proposals of this nature as BTC (bitcoin) and the entire crypto thrives. It seems like the government is taking note of the gains made by the cryptocurrency and now wants to get a hold of whatever is happening in the wildland of digital assets.
