Brian Armstrong: The Trump administration is readying a ‘farewell gift’ for the crypto industry.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shared his concerns about the Trump administration’s plans to tighten controls on cryptocurrency users.

Last week we heard rumors that the U.S. Treasury and Secretary Mnuchin were planning to rush out some new regulation regarding self-hosted crypto wallets before the end of his term. I’m concerned that this would have unintended side effects, and wanted to share those concerns.

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) November 25, 2020

“Last week we heard rumors that the Secretary of the Treasury [Steven] Mnuchin was planning to rush out some new rules for self-hosted crypto wallets before the end of his term,” Armstrong wrote.

In his view, the initiative would require Coinbase and other financial companies to verify owners of non-custodial wallets before withdrawals.

“At first glance this seems like a reasonable idea, but in practice it is not,” the head of Coinbase noted.

He pointed to the impracticality of collecting information about the recipient of a transaction in a number of cases: from transferring cryptocurrency to smart-contract addresses for use in DeFi apps not linked to a natural or legal person, to recipients’ unwillingness to share additional personal data.

As a result, users would refrain from withdrawing funds to their own wallets and would turn to unregulated platforms, Armstrong suggests. In his view, ultimately the situation threatens the United States’ status as a financial hub.

This would be bad for America because it would force U.S. consumers to use foreign unregulated crypto companies to get access to these services. And long term, I believe this would put America’s status as a financial hub at risk.

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) November 25, 2020

“If such regulation measures of the cryptocurrency industry are approved, it would be a terrifying legacy and would have a lasting negative impact on the United States,” Armstrong stressed.

Coinbase and other representatives of the crypto industry voiced their concerns about potential regulatory measures in a letter to the DOJ.

The community expressed concerns about identity controls on users prior to Armstrong’s remarks. 18 November, the Washington-based nonprofit Coin Center опубликовала article on the consequences of restrictions for anonymous wallets.

In November the Blockchain Association представила руководство для законодателей по этой теме.

Предположительно, пост главы Минфина США в новой администрации Джо Байдена займет экс-глава Федеральной резервной системы США Джанет Йеллен.

Ранее сооснователь Morgan Creek Digital Энтони Помплиано назвал эту новость хорошей для биткоина.

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