US Likely to Issue Executive Orders Around Crypto: Reports

Cryptocurrency sector is expanding at a rapid pace and has gathered the interest of several governments around the world that wish to regulate it. Under the leadership of US President Joe Biden, the White House may soon pass executive orders around the crypto sector, media reports quoting sources say. The orders are expected to come as part of Biden’s national security memorandum in the coming weeks, the exact timeline of which remains undisclosed as of now.

Government entities will be assigned the role of studying the crypto space and its elements like stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) among others, news publication Barron’s reported, citing an anonymous White House source as saying.

“This is designed to look holistically at digital assets and develop a set of policies that give coherency to what the government is trying to do in this space,” the source reportedly said.

While Washington, DC, is yet to officially address the subject, rumours around an executive order focussing on the crypto space has been making the rounds in the US for a while now.

Earlier this month, Forbes reported that the Biden government may soon bring in some significant changes to the currently decentralised crypto regime that is witnessing rapid adoption in the US.

Crypto payments have become a thing in the US with several brands beginning to accept cryptocurrencies for payments including Elon Musk-owned Tesla, Mark Cuban’s NBA team Dallas Mavericks, and movie hall chain AMC Theatres, among other brands.

Along with the US, other nations like India and Russia are also mulling ways to tax crypto incomes and regulate the crypto sector to curb its exploitation for illicit activities.

The high-power consuming nature of crypto mining along with the chances of cryptocurrencies disrupting the financial monopolies of central banks around the world are some other concerns associated with the sector so far.

Last year, the global crypto market capitalisation rose to $3 trillion (roughly Rs. 2,15,66,720 crore) in a new all-time high. The aforementioned concerns around the crypto space, however, has wiped off over $1 trillion (roughly 70,00,000 crore) from its total market cap in recent days.

As per CoinMarketCap, the current market valuation of the crypto sector is $1,682,697,374,753 (roughly Rs. 12,631,540 crore).