U.S. Approaches to Regulating Digital Assets

Abstract

Approximately 50% of the world's largest financial technology companies were created and successfully operate in the United States, many of which conduct transactions with digital assets. Meanwhile, about 7 million Americans do not have a bank account, another 24 million rely on costly non-bank services, such as check cashing and money transfers. Those with traditional bank accounts face prohibitively slow and expensive financial transactions, especially for cross-border payments. The Executive Office, the Legislature, and the financial regulatory agencies in the United States all agree that the digital economy must work to the benefit of all Americans. In other words, it is necessary to develop financial services that are safe, secure, affordable and accessible to all, providing convenience for low-income consumers and minimizing the risks of predatory financial policies. Regulators are concerned about the volatility of prices for digital assets, the actions of sellers who mislead consumers about expected profits and do not comply with the law, the growing volume of thefts in digital asset markets, the characteristics of cryptocurrency exchanges, where there is no central governing body with which regulators can interact, instead there are pseudonymous nodes distributed throughout the world. At the same time, the relationship between traditional finance and digital assets is strengthening, along with the crisis transmission channels.