The newly elected US president, Joe Biden, has halted all Federal regulatory processes during the first day of his term. The president’s office unveiled this news through a memorandum directed to the heads of executive departments and agencies on January 20. Reportedly, Biden initiated this freeze to ensure his appointees have ample time to review any new and pending regulations. Among the frozen rules were crypto KYC policies suggested by the US Treasury and the former Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin.
Ronald A. Klain, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, made this announcement, saying that the president had ordered the withdrawal of all unpublished rules, which had been sent to the Office of the Federal Registry (OFR) pending review and approval. The memorandum added that the executive heads should consider putting off the effective dates of the rules for a minimum of 60 days starting January 20.
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Strict regulatory suggestions from The Treasury
This news comes after the US Treasury Department proposed stern KYC regulations for the crypto sector in December last year. At the time, the US Treasury published a news release suggesting that US-based cryptocurrency exchanges should verify the identities of wallet owners that make transactions exceeding £2,180.
On top of this, the proposed rule required crypto exchanges to submit the personal information of individuals that complete transactions surpassing £7,300 to FinCEN. Per the agency, these measures would help bridge gaps in anti-money laundering regulations.
As expected, this news did not sit well with the crypto community, which significantly values privacy. For instance, Coinbase Exchange believed that these rushed regulations were the last kicks of a dying horse.
