I think the issue people are struggling with is that most currency–for example, the US dollar–are backed by “full faith and credit” of a government with the ability to tax, to print, to regulate.
Cryptocurrencies oftimes appear to be backed by “full faith and credit in Vaklov, the dude in an apartment in Budapest.”
It would be helpful if those calling for regulations could state what they mean by that, or demonstrate that they know the current state of play.
Menzo
2012
Nah, this is an internet forum that I’ve been a part of for well over 15 years. You don’t get to gatekeep what I post.
If you’re unhappy with what I or anyone else is posting, you can feel free to ignore me or them. But I will continue to voice my opinions about things without feeling the need to enroll in a course about regulations and cryptocurrency.
Yeah saying there’s non-trivial regulation on crypto currencies seems to be putting up blinders.
Exchanges have far less KYC and SAR (suspicious activity report) requirements than almost all other financial institutions in the US. Exchanges are only required to keep as much information as they need to report to the IRS for tax reporting purposes only.
You cannot go into a Western Union and send cash to IRAN due to export controls. You cannot go to any other financial services company and do a wire either. You have to bounce money around a lot in order to send money to other people, and anything that looks suspicious is supposed to be flagged by financial institutions for government review (how they catch a lot of people trying to send money to terrorist groups via round about means).
There’s no such restrictions on exchanges. I can sign up for coinbase, buy a bunch of USDT or USDC and send it to any address. I can even then send it to exchanges that allow for anonymous exchanges for Monero and fully hide my transactions from there (or use tumblers).
There’s zero restrictions on what I can use my USDT/USDC/BTC for.
There’s also zero regulation on me sending USDT/USDC/BTC to an unregulated exchange for hiding trades and gains from the IRS.
The SEC only gets involved in regulating how cryptocurrencies are issued. They take down ICOs because ICOs tend to try to market as ownership, which is not what a ETH or BTC gets you. Outside of that the SEC doesn’t get involved (which isn’t necessarily wrong, because they don’t involve themselves in currency dealings, only security dealings).
Thank you, that was useful.
Here’s my government foolishly steamrolling the seized graphics cards instead of selling back at MSRP to us local gamers.
Those are most likely special Bitcoin mining rigs using special chips just for mining and don’t have gamer ready GPUs at all.
rei
2018
Those not up to speed on the QuadrigaCX collapse in Canada should listen to the entertaining CBC podcast “A Death in Cryptoland”
How it started.
“Bitcoin is totally safe!”
How it’s going.
“EXHUME THE BODY!”
This sounds like some regulation.
But so far the industry hasn’t been able to persuade the SEC that bitcoin ETFs wouldn’t be susceptible to manipulation, fraud and illicit activities such as money laundering. Officials are unlikely to change their minds until the SEC can monitor trading activity on crypto exchanges the way it does in stocks, bonds and other assets, said David Grim, a Stradley Ronon attorney who previously worked in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management.
ShivaX
2021
For securities.
The only way Crypto is regulated is when it becomes something else that is already regulated.
I guess I don’t understand how ETFs work. My understanding was that the ETF would have to buy a bunch of assets (in this case, BTC), and you purchase ETF funds (just like you would buy stock) that represents a portion of those assets, while taking a fee for managing the underlying assets.
I don’t understand how that can be used for money laundering or can’t be monitored, as the ETF would be publicly traded on normal stock exchanges and the only company who has access to the underlying assets is the fund management company.
I guess the only concern is if the fund sells the crypto assets improperly but that can be done with stock based ETFs too.
antlers
2023
The concern isn’t really with what the ETF itself would do, it’s what other people coud do with the tokens the ETF might invest in. Most e-coins have tiny daily volumes, murky and super-concentrated ownership, and can be exchanged in unregulated markets. It’s a recipe for defrauding the retail investor that is the intended customer for ETF’s.
ShivaX
2025
I often lament that I came into my morality at this stage of my life.
I could be rich, fleecing these rubes.
But I might not go to hell, so really I win out on the equation.
Still, it would be nice to have a Bugatti.
It’s not too late. Let’s make ChristCoin and sell it to idiot evangelicals. We’ll even let them tithe it back to us to fund our “ministry”. Then sell them to other morons.
DarrenO
2027
Welcome to the new China.
