Bill Foster, United States Representative and co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, has proposed a legislative framework that would allow third parties to reverse illegal or unethical transactions.
Many in the cryptocurrency sector have consistently urged Congress to give regulatory clarity on how it will tax and regulate digital assets. However, when influential individuals in Washington finally step in, crypto aficionados are unlikely to be pleased.
In an interview with Axios, Foster stated that absolute anonymity would be difficult to maintain until the industry could deal with crypto-ransomware threats. Foster argues that new legislation and norms might create a sort of pseudo-anonymity in which only judicial authorities have access to specific information.
Foster said that such rules are required to safeguard the government, American businesses, and citizens from ransomware assaults like the one used to extort millions of dollars from Colonial Pipeline last month, which caused major fuel shortages.
The pipeline, which provides almost half of the East Coast’s gasoline, was shut down for several days, resulting in gas panic buying, shortages, and price increases in several regions. It seems to be the greatest cyberattack on American energy infrastructure in history, as well as yet another illustration of cybersecurity flaws.
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Foster is concerned about the use of cryptocurrencies to aid illegal conduct, and he stated in an April 5 media release that a lack of regulation is facilitating unlawful activities.
One of the border patrol agents told me that most of the payments made for human trafficking are now being made with Bitcoin, simply because it was not legally traceable.
Foster appears to only want the power to be used in exceptional cases. Speaking about China’s regulatory approach to cryptocurrency, which has been to essentially ban the entire sector, Foster notes that the U.S. needs to find a common ground and more balanced approach, in which anonymity is respected 99.9% of the time under normal circumstances.
The Congressional Blockchain Caucus was founded in the 114th Congress who believes in the future of blockchain technology and understands that Congress has a role to play in its development.
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