The crypto landscape in the United States is increasingly seen as a complex matrix, riddled with ambiguity and confusion, or rather, as framed by Senator Bill Hagerty, a terrible environment. Many crypto companies now contemplate relocation due to a lack of regulatory clarity which compels them to seek friendlier shores with a more accommodative crypto regulatory environment.
Agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) play a pivotal role in defining this narrative with their continued enforcement actions. Back in June, the SEC took action against Binance and Coinbase, both renowned crypto exchanges, citing operations as unregistered exchanges and offering unregistered securities.
Hagerty, a Senator from Tennessee, emerges as a crypto supporter within the Senate and emphasizes the need for a comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation in the US. He believes that the current approach of ‘regulation by enforcement’ should be replaced by insightful oversight hearings involving the SEC Chair Gary Gensler. This stance, Hagerty argues, might lend clarity to Gensler’s harsh words for the crypto industry, considering his past credentials as a blockchain tutor at MIT.
Hagerty does not hold back his reservations about the potential mass-adoption of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). He cautions that an unrestricted adoption could ensnare the US in a surveillance web of economic behavior, akin to China. Hagerty refers to Saule Omarova, President Joe Biden’s nominee to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and her advocacy for a government-led digital currency in the wake of a banking crisis.
A growing wave of opinion, led by industry veterans like Antonio Juliano, is pressing crypto builders to first test their innovations in friendlier markets before retreating to the US. The unpredictable regulatory environment in the country prompts crypto companies to explore opportunities in the UK and Brazil, where regulations are clearer.
Companies like Coinbase, already broadening its reach to countries like Germany, Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands, could contemplate shifting to the UK or Dubai where the regulatory path seems smoother. Regardless of a ban levied by the UK regulator last year, Binance is also making strides to find footing in the UK.
The discourse is clear – an environment encouraging growth and expansion in the crypto industry is impossible without concise and well-defined regulations. Establishing such comprehensive legislative guidelines is crucial to unlock the future potential of the crypto world in the United States.
Source: Cryptonews
