Hyperlink—Continued Backlash Against Warren's Bill, Privacy Coins
Hyperlink—Continued Backlash Against Warren's Bill, Privacy Coins
March 28th, 2022
More Industry Reaction to Warren’s Bill
Russia can't evade sanctions with crypto: Warren's proposal only harms the US [Jake Chervinsky, The Hill]
Warren’s Bill, the “Digital Asset Sanctions Compliance Enhancement Act of 2022”: https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SIL22473.pdf
What’s happening: As mentioned earlier this week, Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill to, from her standpoint, make it more difficult for Russia to evade US/NATO sanctions using crypto. Many in the crypto industry immediately came out against the bill, saying that it is extremely unlikely that Russia would use crypto to evade sanctions—if it was even able to do so, given the relatively small size of major crypto markets.
Why it matters: Many have alluded to the fact that Warren is using the specter of sanction-evasion as cover to enact regulation that would slow the growth and innovation of the crypto space.
The crypto industry does need some amount of regulation, but getting the specifics right is critical.
Privacy Coins Are on the Rise
Privacy coins are surging. Will regulatory pressure stall their stellar run? [Coin Telegraph]
What’s happening: Many privacy-focused coins have seen steep run-ups in price over the last month. Zcash (ZEC), a privacy coin that focused on confidentiality and low fees, has nearly doubled in price over the last month. It ended February with a price as low as $99.82, and ended March with a high of $212.17.
Why it matters: Many believe that privacy and the right to anonymity is core to the crypto movement. Proponents of privacy coins say that they are trying to guard, and in some cases reclaim, the original promise of Bitcoin and crypto as a whole.
“At the outset of the cryptocurrency movement, anonymity was one of the core promises of Bitcoin and crypto at large. But, alongside industry maturing and gradually merging with the traditional financial markets, digital currencies have faced a demand from both institutional investors and regulatory bodies everywhere to comply with the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards. This strips users of anonymity, at least at the point of withdrawal/exchange operations on compliant platforms.” [Coin Telegraph]