BITCOIN AND A CRYPTO REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ARE RELEASED BY THE WHITE HOUSE

Following US President Biden’s executive order, the White House released a framework for CBDC development and strict ecosystem regulation.

According to an official press release, the White House has published a legal framework for engaging with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the United States, following a “whole of government” executive order (E.O.) from President Joe Biden earlier this year.

The E.O. “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets” urged government agencies to conduct various types of research on consumer privacy and protection, energy usage, and the benefits and risks of central bank digital currency (CBDC).

According to the research, the White House intends to give the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) authority to “aggressively pursue investigations” in the digital asset space.

Furthermore, Biden’s administration will encourage the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to “redouble their efforts to monitor” the ecosystem for “unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.”

However, it is unclear what enables these agencies to decide whether or not to begin monitoring for the aforementioned malicious behavior.

After that, the framework tells agencies to start accepting “instant payment systems” like Fed Now and to think about regulating payment providers that aren’t banks.

In addition, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will study “technical and socio-technical disciplines, as well as behavioral economics” to better understand digital asset ecosystems.

The Department of Energy (DoE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been tasked with “tracking digital assets’ environmental impacts; developing performance standards as appropriate; and providing local authorities with the tools, resources, and expertise to mitigate environmental harm,” according to a recent report from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Also, the Bank Secrecy Act will be changed to include digital assets. This will make it more expensive to send money without permission and make it harder to do business as a digital asset service provider.

Also, the US Treasury Department will do a risk assessment for decentralized finance (De-Fi).

Finally, Biden’s administration has created “Policies for a US CBDC System,” which outlines the government’s priorities in relation to the creation of a digital dollar. The release does, however, state that “further research is required.”

The Federal Reserve, the National Economic Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Treasury Department were picked to lead the ongoing working group for CBDC research and development.