In recent regulatory news, the Shapeshift co-founder and chief operating officer, has given a damning appraisal of the current regulatory climate surrounding cryptocurrencies in the United States. The president of Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Felix Hufeld, has indicated that the principal concern of German regulators regarding cryptocurrency will be seeking to ensure financial stability, rather than concerns pertaining to individual investors. The U.K’s Financial Conduct Authority has published an open letter to the CEO’s of businesses offering “services related to cryptoassets” regarding financial crime risks associated with virtual currencies.
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Shapeshift Co-Founder Says U.S. Cryptocurrency Regulations are Worsening
Following the passing of Bill 5031 in Washington and New York, which demands that cryptocurrency exchanges provide regulators with customer information and trading data, Shapeshift has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the new, and the current direction in which U.S. cryptocurrency regulations are heading.
In a recent interview, Jon, Shapeshift’s co-founder and COO, stated “I would say in the US it’s actually gotten worse […] especially in the last 6 months. I think the explosion of value in 2017 brought a lot of these regulators into the space and made them more concerned. Most of them don’t understand what the heck it (cryptocurrency) is, but they want to control it.” Jon also accused regulators of failing to “give clarity,” stating “all these companies and lawyers and lobbyists are left to read the regulatory tea-leaves […] Nobody knows what the rules are and everyone’s just left to figure it out, that’s a dangerous place to be.”
Jon described decentralized exchanges as comprising a form of resistance to the current regulatory climate on the part of the cryptocurrency community. Of decentralized exchanges, the Shapeshift COO stated, “I think
