Biden Slated to Implement New Crypto Regulation

Joe Biden is slated to sign an executive order on cryptocurrency sometime this week. The executive order will be directed towards the regulation and trading of digital currency.

Joe Biden Seeks Further Crypto Establishment

Given Biden’s history with crypto, traders should be a little worried about what’s to come. Remember last summer’s infrastructure bill? The document opened the doors to more than a trillion dollars in spending. With a name like infrastructure, one would think the money would go towards rebuilding schools, hospitals, and roads, but only nine percent of the money was truly designated towards infrastructure.

Instead, the bill contained sneaky verbiage aimed at crypto traders that would see the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) come down hard on them at tax time beginning in 2024. This was an item where crypto wasn’t even the primary focus. Now that he’s issuing an executive order directed specifically at the growing digital finance industry, one can only imagine the damage that may be done.

The order comes right as analysts are claiming that Russia will allegedly try to use crypto to move around sanctions that the U.S. and its allies have implemented. These sanctions have caused the ruble – Russia’s native currency – to crash and burn in recent weeks, and it appears several everyday residents of the country have turned to crypto as a means of keeping their wealth stable and steady.

Secretary Treasury Janet Yellen explained in an interview not too long ago:

We will continue to look at how the sanctions work and evaluate whether there are liquid leakages, and we have the possibility to address them. I often hear cryptocurrency mentioned and that is a channel to be watched.

It was recently announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was establishing a whole new division aimed at fighting crypto money laundering and other illicit behavior. Him Das – the division’s acting director – said the group’s main priority will be to make sure that Russia cannot evade sanctions:

Although we have not seen widespread evasion of our sanctions using methods such as cryptocurrency, prompt reporting of suspicious activity contributes to our national security and our efforts to support Ukraine and its people.

What Will the Order Do?

Anonymous individuals claiming to be familiar with the bill claim this was an order Biden sought to implement long before the conflict in eastern Europe began. As of late, it is believed that the bill will direct certain agencies – such as the DOJ – how to work with crypto and establish appropriate regulations and policies surrounding the space.

In addition, the order is slated to ensure that all crypto regulations in the United States match those with the nation’s allies and that illicit finance concerns are properly looked at. Lastly, the order is believed to contain verbiage discussing the possibility of a national digital currency for the U.S.