FinCEN's proposed rules for regulating cryptocurrency transactions threaten innovation and privacy, Coin Center, an industry promotion and advocacy organization, said.
We are talking about FinCEN's plans to tighten rules to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The changes involve the collection of personal information about the parties to transactions and transactions of clients of cryptocurrency companies.
At the end of January, the department extended the period for discussing the initiative by 60 days. In a comment, Coin Center called the rules unacceptable:
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"If FinCEN insists on further expanding the gambit of unwarranted mass surveillance, then it should never do so in a way that harms new technologies and the companies and individuals who use them."
Earlier, Coin Center urged representatives of the cryptocurrency industry to submit comments on the rules, pointing out the undesirable consequences. The organization also condemned the reduction of the time for discussion from 60 to 15 days.
Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey called FinCEN's demands disastrous for the industry. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and bitcoin exchange Coinbase were criticized.