It seems that in the next couple of weeks the White House will issue an executive order regarding what the government will do with digital assets.
The plan is for the executive order to be issued in a national security memorandum that would assign a couple of government entities to study crypto, NFTs, and stablecoins in order to create a workable regulatory framework.
An anonymous source declared:
“This is designed to look holistically at digital assets and develop a set of policies that give coherency to what the government is trying to do in this space.”
Just a couple of days ago it was reported by Forbes that those government entities would probably issue reports on their findings by mid-2022 after checking “the systemic risks of cryptocurrencies and their illicit uses.”
The reason why the executive order falls under national security is that crypto represents a cross-border tool for shifting money.
What makes the crypto community worry is the fact that the House Democrats proposed a piece of legislation earlier this week, the America COMPETES Act, which has one provision that mentions the Treasury Secretary having the power to ban crypto exchanges from operating – without offering any prior notice.
Meanwhile, in Russia, President Vladimir Putin asked his government and central bank to come to an agreement regarding crypto regulation. He also highlighted Russia as a crypto mining destination.
The Central Bank of Russia is worried about the growing segment of crypto-related activities due to its risks such as volatility. The president stated that the bank does not oppose progress and is working on adapting the newest technologies in the field.
But around a week ago, the central bank proposed a blanket ban on many operations that involve digital coins, such as issuing them using them, investing, trading, and mining crypto such as Bitcoin. Members of the government and parliament opposed this ban.
Among them is Ivan Chebeskov, the head of the Financial Policy Department, who stated that the crypto industry shouldn’t be banned, but merely regulated.
Vladimir Putin declared:
“I would ask both the Government of Russia and the Central Bank to come to some kind of unanimous opinion during the discussion, and I would ask you to hold this discussion in the near future, and then report on the results that will be achieved.”
Putin also mentioned the “competitive advantages” Russia has for crypto mining, such as the surplus of electricity and qualified workers who are available for this.