



Speaking to CNBC, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell warned of possible repression following threats from the US government.
The spread of bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency space, does not go unnoticed by regulators worldwide. Especially since 2020, growth is rapid. Guided by the exponential growth of bitcoin, there was an explosion of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), the growth of DeFi and many others. In total, the capitalisation of all digital assets has expanded by 600% and has exceeded $2 trillion. This huge change in the economic environment is impossible not to provoke reactions. And the US is one of the first to react.
The Financial Crimes Network of the Ministry of Finance (FinCEN) therefore proposed new rules, the implementation of which was postponed due to lack of time and clarity. Finance Minister Janet Yellen continues to express her concerns every now and then about the lack of appropriate legislation.
Jesse Powell talked about this in a recent interview with CNBC. He believes that “there could be some repressive measures” and expressed concern, especially over the FinCEN proposal, demanding that individuals holding cryptocurrencies in private digital wallets be required to verify their identities if they were trading $3.000 or more.
“It could really create problems for cryptocurrencies and kill the original idea, which is nothing more than making financial services accessible to everyone.”
Although Powell did not provide details on what the appropriate regulations should be, he said the US has a short-sighted approach when it comes to the cryptocurrency industry. In addition, he says, he believes that the world’s largest country with the highest nominal GDP could take the example of how other countries approach the issue.
“I hope the US and international regulators do not take a narrow view on this. Some other countries, especially China, take cryptocurrencies very seriously and approach them with a very long-term view.”
However, he dismissed the idea of banning cryptocurrencies, saying “it is probably too late now.”
“Maybe the genie is out of the bottle and just trying to block it at this point would probably make it more attractive. Surely the message they would send would be that the government sees it as a better alternative to their currency.”
However, large companies are not left with their hands crossed. Intending to push for fair regulation, some of the “giants” in the field, such as Fidelity, Coinbase, Square, and Paradigm, set up a crypto-board a few days ago. We will probably see what they will achieve, soon.