The feds have a clear message for cryptocurrency users: A crackdown is coming.
Federal Reserve vice chair of supervision Randal Quarles told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that the agency is in a “sprint” alongside other US financial regulators to tighten supervision of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, according to Reuters.
“We along with the OCC and the FDIC are engaged right now in what we are calling a sprint in seeking to pull together views on exactly that,” Quarles said.
While the vice chair did not provide details on the Fed’s plan, he said the matter was “high priority.”
The comments come just days after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers that cryptocurrencies, which have fluctuated wildly in value in recent months, pose risks to the stability of the global financial system.
Fed Chairman Jerome PowellREUTERS
Bitcoin has traded below $32,000 this month after reaching a high of more than $60,000 in April. It was trading for around $39,000 Wednesday morning. Other cryptocurrencies like DogeCoin and SafeMoon have experienced even greater price swings.
In addition to crypto’s volatility posing risk to individual investors, cryptocurrency critics say the assets’ decentralized and hard-to-trace nature can help groups like terrorists and
