The U.S. Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin wants to ensure “bad people cannot use these currencies to do bad things”. He will put forth effort in working with the Group of 20 nations to prevent cryptos from becoming a digital “anonymous swiss bank account“. Under United States law, if you own a bitcoin wallet or any crypto wallet, the company has a right to know its customers. The U.S. can track those activities whereas the rest of the world can’t. Mnuchin stated that the Federal Reserve and other U.S. law enforcement groups are studying the pros and cons of issuing cryptos instead of hard cash. He also stated that he and the Fed don’t think there is any need for that.
This comes almost 2 weeks after The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission crypto warning that investors should “exercise caution” with cryptos such as bitcoin. State and federal regulators probably can’t recoup lost investments from illegal actors. As you may or may not know, many Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have not followed federal and state securities laws. Regulators are currently trying to crack down on the recent surge of the crypto market but issued this warning for now.
Read the full public statement that SEC Chairman Jay Clinton made regarding cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings.