White House could start scrutinising the crypto environment
The study on cryptos is included in the government’s 2022 budget plan
Analysing the crypto sector is something that was already in Biden administration’s plans, but the process could start with an executive order implementing the recent US National Security Memorandum on improving US cybersecurity.
The US government’s budget for the fiscal year 2022 was explicit on that, although no figure has yet been reported as to the exact budget that will be allocated to finance the examination of the crypto environment, neither for 2022 nor for the forthcoming years.
However, the budget heading was crystal clear – “Expand broker information reporting with respect to cryptocurrency assets” – suggesting that the US government will be exploring the crypto environment, and possibly its regulation, in 2022.
The Memorandum
Any such move is likely to take a security- and surveillance-based approach, as the White House recently issued a National Security Memorandum on improving US cybersecurity.
When the National Security Memorandum was released, the White House said that: “Cybersecurity is a national security and economic security imperative for the Biden Administration.”
The document then went on to say: “The Biden administration has rallied G7 countries to hold accountable nations who harbour ransomware criminals, updated NATO cyber policy for the first time in seven years, and brought together more than 30 allies and partners to accelerate our cooperation in combatting cybercrime, improve law enforcement collaboration, and stem the illicit use of cryptocurrency.”
An executive order to begin analysing the crypto environment could come in the next weeks, according to some rumours reported by the media, as an implementation of the National Security Memorandum.
