National regulation of cryptocurrencies was not a major priority for the White House up to now. The 37-page detailed indictment against Russian individuals and companies for meddling in US elections released today seems certain to suck up huge amounts of time for the President and his top staff, making it more likely that crypto issue falls further down the list of “must do” projects for the Trump administration.
From CCN, Feb 16, 2018 The US government won’t be passing Bitcoin regulations anytime soon, at least according to one White House official. Rob Joyce, special assistant to the president and White House cybersecurity coordinator, stated during an interview with CNBC that although the government is concerned about Bitcoin and other public cryptocurrencies, officials are still a long way from developing an official regulatory framework. “I think we’re still absolutely studying and understanding what the good ideas and bad ideas in that space are,” he said of cryptocurrency regulation. “So, I don’t think it’s close.” Joyce, who spent 27 years at the National Security Agency (NSA), said that the White House is most concerned about the ability of criminals to use cryptocurrency to subvert anti-money laundering policies in place at traditional financial institutions. “We are worried. There are benefits to the bitcoin concept — digital cash, digital currencies,” Joyce said. “But at the same time, if you look at the way bitcoin works after there is a criminal act that takes place, you can’t rewind the clock and take back that currency,” he said. “With the current instantiation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, we haven’t figured that out yet. So it’s a problem.” Joyce’s comments echo those of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has said that he desires to see cryptocurrency wallet providers regulated under the same AML/KYC guidelines as banks and other financial services firms. […] https://www.ccn.com/us-government-not- ... oon-white-house-official/
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