The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that, to regulate cryptocurrencies, the same framework that was used for other electronic financial transactions today should be adopted.
This he made known in an interview with CNBC where he also talked about the ongoing trade war with China and the administration’s position on the issue.
Mike Pompeo’s position on cryptocurrency regulations came as a response to a question raised by the CNBC interviewer when he asked “so how do you regulate these things like Libra or a Bitcoin? What do you do? It’s – Bitcoin’s going to be tough to regulate. It’s already out of the bag, isn’t it?”
Answering, Mike submitted that “The same set of requirements that apply to things flowing through SWIFT or flowing though our financial institutions ought to apply to those transactions as well. I concede it will be difficult to do, but the theory, the regulatory theory, that we ought to apply is that one.”.
Responding to a question about cryptocurrency as a tool for financing terrorism and the fact that prior cryptocurrencies, nefarious activities had been sponsored with cash – dollar, Pompeo gave an affirmation that indeed crime has been perpetuated with the USD in time past, so it is not peculiar to cryptocurrencies only.
Mike believes a world where financial transactions are harder to trace would be less secure. The solution to this is the protection/preservation of a global financial system. He cited the lack of financial tracking capabilities as at 9/11 and 15years prior
Recall that US Secretary of Treasury, Steve Mnuchin had in a press conference held in the White House in July, expressed concerns over the Libra saying it could be used for money laundering or financing terrorism.
He said the US will not allow digital assets service providers to operate in the shadows and using cryptocurrencies for illicit activities will invite the full effort of the US Treasury and regulators. He maintained that the United States has been at the forefront of regulating entities that provide cryptocurrencies.
According to him, while the government welcomes innovation that may improve the efficiency of the financial system and expand access to financial services, Libra poses a threat to the financial stability and integrity of the US financial system since cryptocurrencies has been exploited by many players to facilitate illegal activities such as cybercrime, tax evasion illicit drugs, human trafficking etc.
