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Regulation

BoE governor continues to assert Bitcoin has little ‘intrinsic value’

Published

3 Monaten ago

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Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey’s position on crypto apparently hasn’t changed despite the economic fallout of the pandemic.

According to an Oct. 12 report from Reuters, Bailey spoke at a Bank of England, or BoE, question and answer session with members of the U.K. public on Monday. At that time, he stated that he was “very nervous” about people using Bitcoin (BTC) for payments. The governor said people should consider the asset’s volatility when it came time to invest.

“I have to be honest, it is hard to see that Bitcoin has what we tend to call intrinsic value,” said Bailey. “It may have extrinsic value in the sense that people want it.”

Bitcoin is currently trading at over 8,800 GBP on Coinbase Pro, up from around 5,200 GBP at the beginning of the year.

The BoE governor’s statement is a reaffirmation of his thoughts on the cryptocurrency. During his time as the head of the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority, Bailey told members of the Parliament at a Treasury Select Committee hearing in March that investors should “be prepared to lose all [their] money” as the crypto asset holds no intrinsic value. At a virtual conference in September, the BoE governor stressed that crypto assets are just “unsuited to the world of payments” and have “no connection at all to money.”

However, Bailey has treated fiat-backed digital currency differently, saying stablecoins could offer “useful benefits” including reducing friction in payments. In addition, the BoE governor announced in July that the bank is considering the issuance of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. 



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Regulation

File comments against new crypto FinCEN rule, Coin Center leader urges

Published

42 Minuten ago

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Dezember 29, 2020

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With the two-week commentary period winding down, Jerry Brito, executive director of non-profit crypto policy advocate group Coin Center, says comments could make a difference in the ultimate outcome of the self-custodied wallet ruling recently proposed by the U.S. Treasury. 

“Coin Center is working with folks in Congress to get some letters sent to Secretary Mnuchin requesting an extension to the rushed comment period,” Brito said in a Dec. 28 tweet, adding:

“Everyone in the cryptocurrency ecosystem should file a comment with FinCEN explaining how this rule would affect them and pointing out the unintended consequences. Filing a comment really does help.”

With his likely exit from office looming next month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dropped a regulatory proposal on the crypto space on Dec. 18. If passed, the new law would essentially mandate that U.S.-based crypto services must check users’ identities and their respective wallets whenever they withdraw over $3,000 to a self-custodied wallet, or if they move more than $10,000 to another platform.

Rather than the normal 60-day period, the regulatory body only left the crypto industry with a 15-day window for feedback on the proposal. Brito posited feedback from the crypto industry could help the situation by pushing back the deadline.

“Mnuchin wants to get this rule finalized before he leaves office on Jan 20,” Brito tweeted. “But FinCEN is required by law to consider every comment before finalizing the rule,” he added. “If there are a lot of substantive comments filed, they won’t be able to finalize the rule before Jan 20.”

Pushing the proposal’s decision date past Jan. 20 would leave the law undecided until after government leaders change seats. Delaying the proposal through that date would likely lead to a more thought-out legislation, according to Brito.

“Ideally you should write a unique, substantive letter that describes how the rule will affect you or your firm,” he added, pointing toward an example proposed on Twitter by Jake Chervinsky, general counsel for crypto project Compound. Comments need to be in to the Treasury by Jan. 4. Industry folks can also send in shorter remarks via a digital rights entity called Fight for the Future.

U.S. regulatory bodies have ramped up their engagement in the crypto space in 2020, evident in a number of headlines throughout the year.