Some US Congress Members Oppose The New FinCEN Rules

Some US Congress members opposed the new FinCEN rules propositions claiming that they have no sense as we can see more in the latest crypto news.

One of the bigger stories for the end of 2020 was the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network branch of the US Treasury was working on new crypto rules that were supposed to crack down on the self-hosted wallets in the crypto space. The document outlined that the proposing rule suggests exchanges and other virtual asset service provides will have to verify the names and addresses of all those that attempt to make withdrawals of over $3000. While this is being done to prevent crypto crimes, some US Congress members think that the rules don’t make any sense. Kathryn Haun wrote:

 “Late yesterday, instead of following that process,  @stevenmnuchin1 slashed the ordinary comment period to just 15 days, on a Friday before the holidays no less, for crypto regulations that to us @a16z and others in the crypto space don’t make much sense.”

The others that outlined that this is a redundant rules proposition, are just a way to prevent the users from controlling their own funds and most regulated exchanges have to take the names, addresses, and other details of the traders that use fiat. This rule goes further than traditional financial institutions have to go for cash transactions. The Rule also caused a huge stir at the congress with a few members coming out against it with a letter. In the letter that was sent to the US Treasury, 9 congressmen explained their concerns over the proposed rules by the FinCEN:

 “We write to express our concerns regarding the process to respond to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) related to “Requirements for Certain Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual Currency or Digital Assets. We share your goals of protecting national security and supporting law enforcement in their efforts to combat criminals who seek to engage in money laundering, illicit financing, and other criminal activity. However, we are concerned that the Treasury Department’s approach to establishing complex new rules for the recordkeeping and reporting of convertible virtual currency and legal tender digital asset transactions do not afford the American public a reasonable opportunity to respond.”

The group seems to be opposed to the lack of time given for the American people and for the others to respond to the ruling. The group that sent the letter includes Tulsi Gabbard, Warren Davidson, Tom Cotton, Tom emmer, and a few other members of Congress.