The news articles continue to pour in and it seems we are getting closer and closer to the US government “protecting” us. I am just going to pull some quotes from some recent articles and add my thoughts in after.
From the Financial Times “US financial authorities are preparing to take a more active role in regulating the $1.5tn cryptocurrency market as concern grows that a lack of proper oversight risks harming 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 they could take time to bear fruit as US regulators struggle to determine who has the legal authority to oversee the volatile market.” The government is looking to protect people from themselves, even though it is these people that added 1.5 trillion dollars in value. They don’t even know who should be regulating, much less what the regulations should be.
Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, told a House committee last week that there are “gaps in our current system”, pointing to a potential need for legislation to specify which regulator should oversee crypto exchanges. Gensler said his aim was to bring “similar protections to the exchanges where you trade crypto assets as you might expect at the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq”. So, like the protections hedge funds got when #wallstreetbets got one past them? I don’t see any crypto investors, even the ones who lost big asking for Uncle Sam’s help.
Michael Hsu, who was appointed this month as acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, "it is hard not to feel some déjà vu" to the years preceding the 2008 financial crisis.” Not to dig too deep into the housing crisis, but, I am not sure how the government creating a problem and then trying to fix it applies to crypto, a completely decentralized product.
Janet Yellen, the Treasury secretary, has said she fears bitcoin is used “often for illicit finance”. This one gets to me the most. The idea that the government needs to step in because of crimes committed using crypto. You know what is involved in 100 percent of all crimes? People. Please feel free to go after people committing crimes, but, don’t use it as a crutch to take over crypto.
I will leave the link to the Financial Times article below. I know no one ever goes and reads the links, but if you want some insight into how institutional investors think, visit this article and read some of the comments. Get ready to face palm a lot, if you do. Here are just a couple:
• Finally. Only took ten years, well better late than never.
• The regulators just need to drive down the perceived value of these proof-of-waste crypto assets to zero, then there will be nothing to tax.
• This is a very positive step
Thanks for reading.
https://www.ft.com/content/a2c13ce0-6e66-4751-aa65-6c668d303101
https://news.yahoo.com/u-plans-cryptocurrency-crackdown-151803743.html