U.S.
Treasury May Push Burdensome Crypto Wallet Rules, Says Coinbase CEO
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong
has revealed the firm heard rumors that the U.S. Treasury Department plans on
tracking owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets with a set of
data-collection requirements.
If the rumors are to be
confirmed, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is preparing to clamp down on
individuals hosting their own cryptocurrency wallets. Armstrong wrote:
“This proposed regulation would, we think,
require financial institutions like Coinbase to verify the recipient/owner of
the self-hosted wallet, collecting identifying information on that party
before a withdrawal could be sent to that self-hosted wallet.”
Such regulations would require
corporations to know every counterparty to their users’ crypto transactions,
forcing them to keep logs and track movements even before transactions take
place. Per Armstrong, such regulation “would be a terrible legacy and have
long-standing negative impacts for the U.S.” He added it would “kill many of
the emerging use cases for crypto.”
