news Beware: a major cryptocurrency crackdown may be just around the corner

[kyoukage01 3181]

Spoiler

CEO of a top bitcoin exchange warns a crackdown on cryptocurrencies may be coming

Ryan Browne

 

Governments around the world may start to clamp down on the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the CEO of a top crypto exchange has warned.

A number of officials — from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde — have sounded the alarm about the use of bitcoin for money laundering, terrorist financing and other illegal activities.

 

“I think there could be some crackdown,” Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, told CNBC in an interview. Cryptocurrencies have surged in value lately, with bitcoin hitting a record high price of more than $61,000 last month. The world’s most valuable digital coin was last trading Monday at around $60,105.

 

Kraken is the world’s fourth-largest digital currency exchange in terms of trading volume. The firm is considering going public through a direct listing — similar to Coinbase — next year after achieving record trading volumes in the first quarter, CNBC reported last week.

 

Coinbase is set to go public on Wednesday, and could be valued at as much as $100 billion — more than major trading venue operators like Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange. Crypto investors are hailing the company’s stock market debut as a major milestone for the industry after years of skepticism from Wall Street and regulators.

 

Still, Kraken’s chief thinks regulatory uncertainty around crypto isn’t going away anytime soon. A recent anti-money laundering rule proposed by the U.S. government would require people who hold their crypto in a private digital wallet to undergo identity checks if they make transactions of $3,000 or more.

 

“Something like that could really hurt crypto and kind of kill the original use case, which was to just make financial services accessible to everyone,” Powell said.

 

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have often been associated with illicit activities due to the fact that people transacting with it are pseudonymous — you can see where funds are being sent but not who sent or received them.

 

There are signs that the use of crypto for nefarious purposes may be falling. Illicit activity accounted for just 0.34% of all crypto transaction volume last year, according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. That was down from roughly 2% a year earlier.

 

“I hope that the U.S. and international regulators don’t take too much of a narrow view on this,” Powell said. “Some other countries, China especially, are taking crypto very seriously and taking a very long-term view.”

 

Kraken’s CEO said he feels the U.S. is more “shortsighted” than other nations and “susceptible” to the pressures of incumbent legacy businesses — in other words, the banks — that “stand to lose from crypto becoming a big deal.”

 

“I also think it might be too late,” Powell added. “Maybe the genie’s out of the bottle and just trying to ban it at this point would make it more attractive. It would certainly send a message that the government sees this as a superior alternative to their own currency.“

The U.S. isn’t the only country considering strict new rules on crypto. In India, for example, the government is considering a law that would ban cryptocurrencies and penalize anyone holding or trading them.

source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/12/bitcoin-kraken-ceo-jesse-powell-warns-of-cryptocurrency-crackdown.html

 

With the fast rise of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in particular, one would wonder what happened to the government's regulatory behavior (the US in this case, as highlighted in the article). Now, according to a CEO of a major crypto exchange, that strict regulation/s may be coming soon to pour cold water on the rising cryptocurrency market.

 

The CEO of Kraken, Jesse Powell, has warned that the US and other countries might start to act on the warnings of a few high-profile individuals who has professed disdain for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. IMO, a new regulatory proposal may have already been prepared as of this moment and will be announced in the near future.

 

This could affect one other major news: the public launch of Coinbase on the stock exchange. Wary potential stock holders should closely monitor the news regarding the US government's current stance on the cryptocurrency issue and act accordingly.

 

Recent US investors who took advantage of the stimulus checks provided to them should also be wary. They should properly secure any crypto holdings they have and take caution when dealing with US-based exchanges.

 

As for other crypto enthusiasts outside of US jurisdiction, be aware of how your own government will react to the US moves. If they plan to imitate the US, your crypto holdings may get affected as well.

 

[Whited35 15285]

On 4/13/2021 at 9:16 AM, kyoukage01 said:

As for other crypto enthusiasts outside of US jurisdiction, be aware of how your own government will react to the US moves. If they plan to imitate the US, your crypto holdings may get affected as well.

Excessive regulatory oversights against cryptocurrencies can be possible from the U.S. government but I do not think ,all governments from the different nations of this world will follow the same track. At least, our government does not follow the exact track that the U.S. government has taken against cryptocurrencies but here is growing discussion to impose some restrictions against the crypto traders or the investors while using local cryptocurrency exchange sites. I have  not stored much amounts on the U.S. based exchange platforms.

[kyoukage01 3181]

13 hours ago, Whited35 said:

Excessive regulatory oversights against cryptocurrencies can be possible from the U.S. government but I do not think ,all governments from the different nations of this world will follow the same track. At least, our government does not follow the exact track that the U.S. government has taken against cryptocurrencies but here is growing discussion to impose some restrictions against the crypto traders or the investors while using local cryptocurrency exchange sites.

I am actually hoping that the US government won't make any rash moves that will adversely affect their citizens who have already invested in cryptocurrencies. Quite a lot of ordinary US citizens and companies have already invested in crypto at this point (recent stimulus checks and involvement of companies like Tesla and JPMorgan) and like what the article has pointed out, strict regulations or even outright banning of crypto isn't going to help as this will only make crypto more attractive to people.

 

Some countries have a more positive outlook on crypto compared to the US, but that may not mean they do not take the US measures on crypto seriously. Political pressure from the US might force some countries to change their thinking. On the other hand, the US may not want to be left out on the development of digital currency technology (crypto included) as the other countries can even opt to take the lead and leave the US behind.

 

[Whited35 15285]

2 minutes ago, kyoukage01 said:

I am actually hoping that the US government won't make any rash moves that will adversely affect their citizens who have already invested in cryptocurrencies. Quite a lot of ordinary US citizens and companies have already invested in crypto at this point (recent stimulus checks and involvement of companies like Tesla and JPMorgan) and like what the article has pointed out, strict regulations or even outright banning of crypto isn't going to help as this will only make crypto more attractive to people.

If the ban or restrictions are applied to the major U.S. based companies, a huge impacts in the crypto world can be seen just like the influence of U.S. stock exchange i.e. when there is a huge sell-off, price of crypto currency also starts to drop massively. I do not think U.S. government will take the sudden steps against crypto just to preserve the USD. 

As you are already familiar with it, so many exchange platforms and other blockchain based projects have already restricted the U.S. based users due to the policies of USA itself and I think the U.S. government might restrict its citizens even more strongly while using platforms which are not based in USA. 

[kyoukage01 3181]

On 4/14/2021 at 10:30 PM, Whited35 said:

all governments from the different nations of this world will follow the same track.

I don't know if the US has anything to do with this, but following Nigeria and India's previous restrictions on cryptocurrencies (implemented or otherwise), Turkey just now becomes the newest country to go official with hating on crypto.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-crypto-currency/turkey-bans-use-of-cryptocurrencies-to-purchase-goods-and-services-idUSKBN2C30HS?feedType=mktg&feedName=technologyNews&WT.mc_id=Partner-Google

 

On 4/15/2021 at 12:09 PM, Whited35 said:

I do not think U.S. government will take the sudden steps against crypto just to preserve the USD.

A few years ago would have been easier. Now they will have to pass through major companies who have already invested in crypto to do things like that. I think the best way for the US government to bail out of this situation while satisfying both the conservatives and the crypto enthusiasts is to create and offer their own version of digital currency closely tied to the dollar like what China has been trying to do with their own.

 

Edited April 16, 2021 by kyoukage01

[james653 981]

There are a lot of countries that seek to fight cryptocurrencies because they pose a threat to the current financial system.  We are moving steadily towards the world of digital currencies and the demise of fiat currencies.  This pandemic has proven the harm of securities to human health because it transmits harmful viruses to health through touch, which led to the increase in the popularity of cryptocurrencies.  Bitcoin is the greatest investment in human history so it is difficult to vanish.

[Mella 3680]

Lately there are many warnings for the market. I do not want to create any confusion or fud and anything like that, but it seems the Usa is trying to increase taxing, and this can become a problem for crypto. 

Charles Hoskinson from Cardano has also gave a warning about this:

https://dailyhodl.com/2021/04/24/cardano-creator-says-biden-tax-plan-could-be-seriously-bearish-for-crypto-markets/

But, I don't know if this is the end for this year. It can be some bear news that we have lately and I still read the charts that started looking a little worrying but have not given proof of the market going negative.

A crackdown happens with the unregulated exchanges, for the USA, binance is not allowed to have americans and the same with other exchanges. The news are coming from Korea again, maybe this crackdown we read about is fud. I don't understand why shut down a market that is booming and giving taxes to governments.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Mella

[selfmade 7]

Maybe this news whether true or false is the reason for the fall of cryptocurrencies recently, some says it is a correction, but we did not expect a correction yet.

[AboQusai 155]

These rumors and negative news that appear to affect Bitcoin in particular and to a drop in prices have occurred more than once and often followed by another big rise, since the beginning of this year they have been warning of cryptocurrencies while cryptocurrencies are rising and rising.

[kyoukage01 3181]

UPDATE: There is now an ongoing US bill that seeks to regulate digital currencies (crypto in particular) and crypto users aren't liking it.

 

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/06/crypto-biden-amendment-infrastructure-bill-proof-of-work/

 

Highlighting the issues being tackled in the bill, we have the ambiguous definition of crypto brokers (who can be subjected to legal requirements such as tax reporting), and the bias of favoring POS over POW.

 

Should the bill be passed into law at its current state, there will be dire consequences for the US crypto users and the crypto community as a whole. Therefore, amendments are still ongoing to fix some of the ambiguity and loopholes of the bill. But whatever the resulting final draft it will be, there will be some changes in the crypto market once this bill gets passed into law. Be prepared.

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by kyoukage01

[minoooo5 76]

Some countries such as the United States of America and China are trying to control and regulate the cryptocurrency market and control it in order to maintain their economy because the cryptocurrency market is a turbulent market. Thus, government intervention in controlling and regulating the cryptocurrency market may lose the latter's most important features, which is the decentralization of cryptocurrencies and the imposition of control over transfers, and this leads to curbing the growth of the cryptocurrency market and at times to its decline.
But my personal opinion is that cryptocurrencies and investing in them may tempt many investors and major international companies, and therefore the demand will increase rapidly, which will result in a significant growth in the cryptocurrency market in the near future, thus overcoming the problem of state control.

[Jenny Lavelle 526]

And if the United States of America banned cryptocurrency trading, this doesn't mean the collapse of the global stock exchange hahaha.
The rest of the countries continue to adopt encrypted currencies, and they don't find any problem in the presence of these encrypted currencies, so I think if that happens, there will be a big commotion before it happens, and one should be careful.

[Brushless4500KV 4214]

It seems that this news is mostly related to US. However, it may affect other countries to take some measures against cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is probably powerful enough to survive any crackdown attempt but weak and low-volume coins may be in danger of disappearance. If such news causes a big bearish run, it is just another opportunity for future investors!

Edited October 4, 2021 by Brushless4500KV