Reading time: ~2 m
The head of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, recalled that the need for regulation of cryptocurrencies is growing. He made such a statement during a speech by the Committee on Financial Services of the US House of Representatives.
The “special military operation” being conducted by Russia on the territory of Ukraine “highlighted the need for congressional action on digital financial assets, including cryptocurrencies.”
“We have this growing industry that consists of many sectors, and there is no regulatory framework that should be,” Powell replied to a question about how Russia can use cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions.
Despite the references to Russia, this is not the first time the Fed chairman has addressed the issue of regulating cryptocurrencies. Last July, Powell told Congress that while cryptocurrencies that are pegged to fiat currencies such as the US dollar (i.e., stablecoins) are viable, they need a well-designed regulatory framework to exist in the market. In order to facilitate the work with stablecoins, it is necessary to extend the rules for working with bank deposits and mutual funds to stablecoins,” the head of the Fed explained.
But the head of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, is not afraid that cryptocurrencies will be used by the Russians to circumvent the imposed economic sanctions. The marketplaces work in partnership with several banking partners, Garlinghouse said, who risk losing their licenses if a person on the sanctions list can access the funds.
It is to prevent such incidents that cryptocurrency exchanges now strictly follow know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols.
#hurry #regulation #cryptocurrencies #due #actions #Russia
