President Biden Takes the Reins with Halting Digital Assets’ Rule Making

Regulatory proposal regarding digital assets has been frozen by President Joe Biden. Biden took his presidential oath yesterday, January 20th, and one of the first steps in his office is to halt all the regulatory processes including the proposed rules by Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The regulatory proposals by FinCEN include the regulations regarding the self-hosted crypto wallet.

The verdict is not only limited to the crypto wallets but extends to general regulatory rulemaking. This will be effective for 60 days from the date of the memorandum. Crypto firms have lauded this action.  

With those harsh, proposed crypto wallet regulations now frozen for 60 days, will President Joe Biden’s administration go easier on the industry? https://t.co/NgdfiGdb8i

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) January 21, 2021

General Council Jake Chervinsky stated; “We fought hard & earned the right to take a breath & reset. Janet Yellen isn’t Steve Mnuchin. I’m optimistic.”

The proposal for self-hosted wallet was provided by FinCEN on 18th December. It was proposed by Mnuchin, the former US Treasury Secretary. If the proposal is passed, the banks will be obligated to keep records and verify the identity of all their customers of cryptocurrency wallets.

Jake Chervinsky said, “First, anyone is better than Secretary Mnuchin, who decided long ago that he hated everything about crypto. Second, although Dr Yellen may not be a fan now, I expect she’ll be open to learning & listening, & will follow regular order in deciding on new regulations. That’s good.”

The proposal was dismissed by the crypto industry and argued that the name and address should not be collected for cryptocurrency. Some even believed that it would be impossible to regulate with the compliances because names and address information is not contained in smart contracts. Biden has appointed Janet Yellen as Secretary of the US Treasury and she has already voiced her opinion regarding the cryptocurrency by declaring that it is used for illicit financing.