Government leaders are issuing new guidelines for how the US will engage and cooperate with foreign countries when it comes to crypto assets.
According to a recent press release by the U.S. Department of Treasury, the heads of numerous government agencies created the new framework after President Joe Biden signed an executive order in March.
An interagency approach was outlined in the executive order to address the potential risks and benefits of crypto assets, as well as their underlying technologies, for the global economy.
The new framework aims to promote regulatory standards, mitigate national and financial risks associated with misuse of digital assets, reinforce US leadership in a global financial system, offer access to safe financial services, and support technological innovation for virtual assets.
The leaders found that international cooperation is necessary as uneven global regulations tend to entice bad actors to engage in shady business practices.
“Uneven regulation, supervision, and compliance across jurisdictions creates opportunities for arbitrage and raises risks to financial stability and the protection of consumers.”
The interagency guidelines also say that a lack of international regulations hinders the ability of the US to stifle illicit crypto activities, which contributes to the slowdown and high prices of remittances.
“Inadequate anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism… by other countries challenge the ability of the United States to investigate illicit digital asset transaction flows that frequently jump overseas, as is often the case in ransomware payments and other cybercrime-related money laundering.
Frictions lead cross-border payments and remittances to be slow and costly, particularly when sent to developing or emerging economies.“
The US plans to cooperate with entities such as G7 and G20 political forums, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Financial Stability Board.
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