chaintimes.com
The exponential growth of bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency sector has caught global regulators’ attention, noted Kraken CEO, Jesse Powell. Speaking to CNBC, the executive warned of potential crackdowns, especially after the US government’s threats. Regulators around the world have shown increased interest in regulating the crypto industry this year. The cryptocurrency industry has been on a roll since mid-2020. Bitcoin has more than doubled since the starting of the year.
The market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has expanded by 600%.
The cumulative market capitalization of all digital assets has expanded by 600% to well over $2 trillion. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed what seemed as rushed new rules, which were postponed due to lack of time and clarity, while the Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, has frequently breached concerns on lack of proper legislation. Kraken CEO believes “there could be some crackdown” and was especially worried about FinCEN’s proposal suggesting that people holding crypto assets in private digital wallets need to verify their identities if they make transactions worth $3,000 or more.
Kraken CEO calls the regulatory approach “shortsighted.”
Though Kraken CEO Jesse Powell didn’t provide specifics on what adequate regulations should be, he indicated that the US is somewhat “shortsighted” when it comes to the crypto industry. Additionally, he believes that the world’s largest country by nominal GDP can take a page out of other nation’s playbooks. He said, “I hope that the US and international regulators don’t take too much of a narrow view on this. Some other countries, China especially, are taking crypto very seriously and taking a very long-term view.” However, he dismissed the potential ban of cryptocurrencies as “it might be too late.” “Maybe the genie’s out of the bottle and just trying to ban it at this point would make it more attractive,” he added.