The White House presented this Friday, 16, its work program for digital assets, such as regulation and CBDCs. Signed by the director of the North American Economic Council (NEC), Brian Deese, and by the National Security Council (NSA), Jake Sullivan, the position brings three main guidelines to start regulating digital assets in the country:
- The launch of an inter-agency working group of the US government (FED, National Economics Council, National Security Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Department of the Treasury) to discuss how to address cryptocurrency issues, in particular National security;
- The US government will implement an action plan to reduce problems such as money laundering, tax evasion and the financing of terrorism with cryptocurrencies, something that will take place with rules already developed by the agencies, in addition to redoubling the use of sanctions;
- Create vital proposals to ensure the protection of the financial ecosystem, such as consumers, investors and merchants.
“Together we are creating the foundation layer for a constructive and understandable approach to reducing the risks of digital assets – where they are proven – and encouraging their benefits. We remain committed to working with allies, partners and the vast digital asset community to fine-tune the future of this ecosystem”, reads the note signed by Deese and Sullivan.
It is important to say that one of the possible rules proposed in the NEC and NSA document is to encourage the use of instant payments in the US. The Federal Reserve is currently working on developing the FEDNOW financial arrangement for the next year, and one of its examples is the Brazilian Pix.
Understand
The document presented by the NEC and NSA this Friday is the first step proposed by US President Joe Biden. Through an executive order signed on March 9 of this year, Biden proposed the regulation and exploitation of cryptocurrencies in the US.
At the time, the decision arose in the excitement of the Russia-Ukraine clash, with Russian troops rapidly advancing to the main Ukrainian cities. In the geopolitical scenario, this was one of the ways the current White House administration warned Russian oligarchs and the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin that it would not tolerate their free movement in the economic community as long as Ukraine continued to be invaded.
Note that the current document removes some of the geopolitical burden and focuses more on economic regulation. Even so, the national security adviser remains one of the main people in charge of regulating crypto-assets, at a time when the government of Vladimir Putin is losing strength and political capital after retreating part of its incursion in the northeast of Ukraine.
