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RE: Why U.S Restrictions on ICOs and Exchanges Is Likely
All the stuff they wanted to regulate is all positive in my opinion. ICO's and exchanges are nothing but problematic right now. They are by far the biggest sources of lost funds for customers due to hacks, scams, project failuers, etc.
The things I am more concerned about them bringing more heavy regulation on:
- Being able to use Bitcoin as a means of exchange and as a replacement currency.
- What businesses can accept Bitcoin and what extra procedures you need to follow to spend Bitcoin as cash.
- Banks refusing transactions to facilitate fiat transactions to and from cryptocurrency.
- General crypto trading including unregulated exchanges as well as regulated traditional exchanges through ETF's and futures derivatives.
- User privacy and tracking how much crypto everyone owns and who they transact with.
- Taxes
- Mining
Since I don't participate in ICO's and I already agree that we need heavier regulation on these exchanges the meeting didn't really give me a whole lot to go on. Until they start discussing those topics above I am not really that interested.
I agree that ICOs and centralized exchanges (ones with custody of your funds) require more regulations, but I also know how the market responds to regulation and it generally isn't positive. The meeting did touch on some of your concerns. If Bitcoin is viewed as a replacement for dollar and hence posed as a systemic risk, you can expect much harsher responses from the government if they take it seriously. One of the senators discussed the issues associated with taxing cryptocurrencies, especially if goods are bought with it and salaries are paid in it. And again, an important narrative from the meeting was the idea that blockchain, not Bitcoin, is the important innovation here.
Agree with most of your post. Regulations are not bad as they will legitimize the space. A couple of additional thoughts:
Everything will take time but I see the CFTC/SEC meeting as a huge positive.
Nice post,
I can see crypto like Monero being banned outright...based on its privacy ability.
Taxes...of course Governments all they care about is money they get out of it...(you know for roads)
Mining is a great point i forgot, THAT i see heavily regulated & taxed.
Like having a tax stamp on mining machines etc.
Lets enjoy our freedom here while we can.
Definitely could see Monero getting banned. This would happen if any U.S.-based exchange were forbidden to trade this currency.
Mining is already taxed. It falls under existing mining laws where anything mined is immediately taxable. Small-scale mining will still fly under the radar but slowly large-scale mining will be tracked via checking electricity use.
I don't think mining machines will ever be directly taxed with a "stamp tax." That'd be very British and very un-American.
The thing with banning a privacy coin like Monero is it is the hardest one to ban. You basically have to admit to them that you use it because they have no way of knowing otherwise. They can ban businesses from accepting it, and ban banks from converting it to fiat, but everyone is just going to use BTC for those things anyway.
@noremac13 Those are exactly the points I am waiting for, here in Canada we won’t be directly effected but as everything else we should look to the US as an example of what is to come.
Luckily so far Canada seems to be taking a crypto friendly approach, we also have several talks about mining corporations moving base of operation into Canada. I speculate our legislation is friendlier but I know for certain we have many sources of cheap renewable energy.
Privacy is going to be the biggest issue with a public ledger, I have always feared whom that bitcoin I bought was previously attached to and whether tracking would bring questions upon me!?! Personally I think we won’t see the privacy coins disappear, they may become illegal but that doesn’t effect the criminal use since the other side of the transaction is most likely outlawed goods/services. I know today illegal activity doesn’t make up that much of the overall use of crypto yet we do owe a great debt too said criminals for being early supporters.
I tend to think the same. One of the biggest points of issue for most of the exchanges (in america) is FDIC insurance, which is what clearly makes the few major exchanges that have them Gemini and Coinbase clear front runners now and into the future for as long as that remains a moat. International exchanges you'd like to see the same level of security, but who knows if they have them. Hacking / security / scamming clearly the biggest issue in I think everyone's mind.
They clearly have an interest in dealing with anti-money laundering efforts so user privacy is eventually going to be the real battleground in my eye. Probably not just in the US.
Taxes / mining / paying and being paid in crypto assets will be areas I am most interested in personally. I'm not surprised banks aren't interested in financing with credit cards, but from a financial risk standpoint, it is probably smart that banks are closing this off even though ISN'T THIS AMER'CA!!! (freedom)