1/ There has been a tremendous amount of confusion over the past few days regarding what Treasury may or may not be doing re: crypto regulation and enforcement. Here are the facts + a theory over the source of confusion.
2/ First, come clarity on who does what: The Treasury Secretary is not involved in enforcement decisions - only regulatory policy decisions. Enforcement is handled by career professionals at Treasury, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and OFAC.
3/ Sec. Yellen has not created a “Task Force” that is looking at crypto regulation. To date, Yellen hasn’t been significantly involved in crypto policy or enforcement. This could change down the road, but right now she has bigger items on her plate.
4/ So what *IS* Treasury doing? Keep reading…
5/ Career professionals w/i Treasury are involved with a UN-style international org of illicit finance policymakers from global jurisdictions called the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). *Note - this is a 30yo global task force - not a newly created Treasury task force.*
6/ FATF periodically releases guidance w/ suggestions for how regulators shld implement policies to combat illicit finance. Last month, FATF released draft guidance that wld greatly expand the entities in the crypto ecosystem that wld need to comply w/ anti-money laundering regs.
7/ Right now, there’s an open comment period for this draft guidance. @BlockchainAssn is preparing a response and we will share this with the public before the comment deadline, which is tomorrow, 4/20.
8/ We have had an open dialogue with career professionals at Treasury & FinCEN with our preliminary thoughts and will continue to engage as regulators think about the regulation of decentralized crypto networks and the tokens that power them.
end/ Lesson is: beware the ALL CAPS tweets from suspect accounts. Instead, get to know the actual financial system bodies who can and do shape the regulatory game.
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