Coin Center: Cautiously optimistic about the prospects of US crypto policy, monitoring and taxation still face challenges

Crypto advocacy group Coin Center is cautiously optimistic about the future of cryptocurrency regulation in the United States after the recent election. While it expects progress in securities and banking regulation, it warns that there are persistent threats in the areas of surveillance and tax reporting. In his analysis, Peter Van Valkenburg, director of research, foresees clearer rules governing centralized markets and stablecoin issuers under an administration that is likely to be more crypto-friendly. “At the institutional level, there is reason to believe that controversial ongoing rulemaking will be frozen or even abandoned due to Trump’s overall pro-crypto stance,” he said. However, the organization remains concerned about aggressive regulation of decentralized tools and privacy-focused technologies. Valkenburg noted that challenges are related to IRS reporting requirements, sanctions on tools such as Tornado Cash, and prosecutions for unlicensed money transfers. It is understood that the IRS’s 6050I reporting requirements require the disclosure of transactions over $10,000, including the recipient’s personal information. Coin Center believes that these rules amount to warrantless surveillance and is currently challenging their constitutionality in court. The organization is also one of the groups that opposes sanctions on cryptocurrency mixing tools such as Tornado Cash. Coin Center believes that sanctions law should not be extended to immutable smart contracts. Finally, Valkenburgh pointed out that unauthorized fund transmission prosecutions, such as those involving Tornado Cash and Samurai Wallet developers, are troubling precedents. These cases being investigated by the Department of Justice blur the line between software development and financial services. (DL News)