The US Federal Government Is Closely Monitoring Cryptocurrency Activities

U.S. Treasury Secretary Announces That The Federal Government Is Closely Monitoring Crypto Activities

With the increasing usage of Bitcoins, crimes associated with the same are also on a rise. This has really been a cause of major concern for government bodies worldwide propelling some towards entirely banning the cryptocurrency dealings whereas others are trying to pull together a legislative rulebook for cryptocurrencies to adhere to.

Steven Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury secretary recently stated during an interview held with Yahoo Finance that:

“The first issue, and the most important issue, is to make sure that people can’t use bitcoin for illicit activities. So we want to make sure that you don’t have the dark web funded in bitcoins. And that’s something that is a concern of ours today.”

Mnuchin pointed out that he was holding regular discussions regarding illegal fund transfer which have been associated with Bitcoins and its sister currency forms since their very onset. Compared to fiat forms, international transfers become a cakewalk using digital currencies with minimum transfer fee and anonymous nature thus making it a safe haven for unscrupulous fraudsters. Certain states has already established regulations which crypto functioning is bound to follow but the federal government has till now refrained from acting upon the same.

Also Read: European Central Banks Does Not Considers Cryptocurrency As “Risky”

However given the recent turn of events, it surely won’t come off as a big surprise if US Federal body changes its stand regarding cryptocurrencies. Mnuchin shared that the government has already set up small working groups to examine the crypto activities in detail. He did not comment on any official timeline for the government to actually bring about crypto regulation. Mnuchin’s comments come just days after the Treasury announced its plan of reviewing the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) cryptocurrency practices. The department had stated that, “we plan to determine how FinCEN identifies, prioritizes, and addresses money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with virtual currencies.”

Michael Corbat, the CEO of Citigroup voiced similar concerns stating that, “at the point that it becomes difficult to manage, governments will have something meaningful to say.” The Citigroup CEO also said that various countries might launch their own state-backed cryptocurrencies in fear of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin had a bullish run in the current fiscal hiking in price by 600% since the beginning of 2017. Quick and easy returns have lured in an array of traders and institutional investors into the Bitcoin bandwagon. The underlying Blockchain Technology is also infiltrating a large number of industries starting from music to archaeology for easing out their operations. Bringing upon proper regulations could actually hike up the price of Bitcoin in days to come.

For example the announcement made by CME hinting at the launch of Bitcoin futures by year end have actually added positive stimulus towards rising up of the Bitcoin price as this would mean that people can engage in the same in a legalized manner.

Also Read: Analysts Predict Bitcoin Price To Touch $10,000 By Christmas

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