Powell says Fed has no plans to ban cryptocurrency

When Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he had no intention of banning cryptocurrency during a speech to Congress just days after China stepped up its crackdown by banning all linked transactions , many in the digital asset space were pleased, but not surprised.

"I find it hard to believe that US regulators would decide this is the best course of action given the role that cryptocurrencies play in the lives of so many citizens," Bobby Zagotta, CEO of Bitstamp, the US crypto exchange, told Insider. "I think it will be incredibly disruptive and really put the US and the economy in a quandary."

According to Charlie Silver, CEO of crypto-advertising company Permission.io, the ban would also push technological and financial innovation out of the US to other countries.

As the Thai ตลาดฟอเร็ก article points out, what cryptocurrency players are saying instead is that they want to see two things: stakeholder engagement and regulatory clarity.

"The US is the financial centre of the world - capital flows here," Silver told Insider. "I always thought the US would regulate cryptocurrency, but with ease."

Regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, are trying to control this space. SEC chief Gary Gensler has not been shy about criticising digital assets, saying this month that platforms have become too big , staplecoins are equivalent to poker chips , and cryptocurrency is not a viable long-term form of private money .

But none of these sentiments are policy directives, and his comments merely hint at the direction the agency could take in regulating cryptocurrency, leaving the market guessing as to what they might need to do to comply with future regulations.

When it comes to engagement, Zagotta said he hoped US regulators would take what he called a "constructive, partnership-oriented approach", where stakeholders come and discuss with regulators what policies to set, rather than "regulation by enforcement". one in which rules adopted decades ago are modernised to apply to current trends.

"We believe that in order for really widespread adoption to happen, there have to be certain rules," Zagotta told Insider. "There's a sort of anarchist tendency for some cryptocurrency players when they don't think any rules apply in any jurisdiction. That kind of stance will slow down adoption."

Some have already drawn the ire of the SEC. Coinbase has engaged in a public battle with the regulator over its Lend cryptocurrency lending programme, which would allow customers to earn 4% APR on their cryptocurrency holdings. The SEC said it would sue the cryptocurrency exchange if it launched the product. A few days later, Coinbase shelved Lend.

When it comes to clarity, many simply say they want guidance on what will be dealt with first. Possible areas of regulatory attention include accredited fundraising, insider trading and customer due diligence or customer knowledge (KYC) processes, Silver added.

"If the authorities really want to rein in the industry, they could focus initial efforts on more onerous tax provisions," ตลาดฟอเร็ก Dean Steinbeck, general counsel and chief operating officer of blockchain firm Horizen Labs. That would require closing a lucrative tax loophole and treating cryptocurrency like stocks. Congress is considering this now .
However, there is some doubt as to what regulators will eventually come up with.

"I don't expect the US to implement a thoughtful policy," Steinbeck told Insider. "Instead, I expect a haphazard set of incomprehensible laws to be passed that have no clear direction and are impossible to enforce."

Earlier this week, Gensler warned that cryptocurrency investors would "probably suffer" if the digital asset space did not have the same protection against fraud and manipulation as bank deposits and insurance.