FinCEN Comments Due by Midnight Tonight, Crypto's Congressional Allies, and Blockchain in Government
HODLpac Newsletter - January 2021, Pt. 1
Hello HODLpac-ers,
Happy New Year! Let’s take a break from refreshing our portfolio balances and the CoinGecko Top 100 and talk about what you need to know about crypto-related policy and politics.
But first…
If you don’t already, please follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HODLpac
And join our Discord: https://discord.com/invite/fDxHZxJ
Have an idea about something you want featured in this newsletter? Reply here or tell us on Discord! A goal for this year is to turn this newsletter into a community-curated collection of crypto policy news and commentary.
Now, here is what is happening…
Final Hours to Comment on FinCEN
The first two editions of this newsletter have focused primarily on the recent hullabaloo about self-hosted wallets. Specifically, the Financial Crime Enforcement Network’s (very) recently proposed rule on “Requirements for Certain Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual Currency or Digital Assets.”
Besides the policy concerns about FinCEN’s proposed rule, the problem was that the Treasury Department only allowed for 15 days of comments. Usually, comment periods are 30, 60, or 90 days long!
Well, that hasn’t stopped the crypto community from springing into action. As of Monday morning January 4th, ~5,400 comments have been submitted.
This is great news because the incoming Biden administration recently announced that they will “issue a memo to halt or delay midnight regulations and actions taken by the Trump administration that will not have taken effect by Inauguration Day.”
Thus, more comments means more time it will take to review them (as the Treasury Department is required by law to do) and more of a chance that this “midnight regulation” will get caught up in the new administration’s regulatory freeze.
So, if you’re reading this newsletter before midnight on Monday, January 4th, and haven’t yet submitted a comment of your own, here is how to do it…
Step #1:
Read HODLpac board member Jake Chervinsky’s awesome Twitter thread on how to submit a comment:
Step #2
If you want to, write your own comment and submit it on Regulations.gov.
Or…
Step #3
Use Fight for the Future’s form…
Or Coin Center’s form…
to sign your name to a standardized message to Secretary Mnuchin and FinCEN.
If you need some inspiration, here are some sample responses from around the crypto world:
Finally, here is an awesome piece by Marta Belcher and Aaron Mackey published by the Electronic Frontier Foundation: “The U.S. Government Is Targeting Cryptocurrency to Expand the Reach of Its Financial Surveillance.”
(More content related to this topic is included in this week’s Extra Credit section below.)
Crypto’s Congressional Allies
HODLpac was formed to help support crypto’s current and future champions in Congress.
Our allies in Congress have been fighting alongside us against this last-minute, ill-advised rulemaking from FinCEN.
As we noted in our last newsletter, a group of House Republicans wrote to Secretary Mnuchin urging him to consult with Congress on self-hosted wallet regulation.
Last week, a bipartisan and bicameral group of members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary Mnuchin asking for more time on the comment period.
The comment period extension didn’t happen but it is worth acknowledging the members of Congress who joined our fight.
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota
Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio
Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois
Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona
Rep. Darren Soto of Florida
Rep. Suzan Delbene of Washington
Rep. Ted Budd of North Carolina
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas
We’re grateful for these representatives going to bat for crypto and they deserve our support.
If you feel so inclined, donate to HODLpac here, get your HODLvote tokens, and vote for them during our next Community Ballot.
Blockchain Bill Spotlight
In our last newsletter, we highlighted a crowdsourced piece of proposed legislation from crypto twitter - the HODL Act - which would enable the US government to hold bitcoins.
This week, we want to put the spotlight on another piece of legislation that was proposed by Rep. Darren Soto. Though it may not be right up HODLpac’s alley - i.e. it’s more about the government using “blockchain technology” than enabling public blockchains to thrive - we are still happy to see it.
What do you think? Let us know on Discord or Twitter
Extra Credit
“Why Is the Proposed FinCEN Rule for Unhosted Wallets Being Pushed So Quickly?,” Kristin Smith and Jeremy Allaire on Laura Shin’s Unchained Podcast
“Does the FinCEN's Rule Break DeFi?,” Jake Chervinsky on the Bankless Podcast
“Ethereum vs the STABLE Act,” Rohan Grey on the Bankless Podcast
Ameen Soleimani’s Twitter thread responding to Rohan Grey’s Bankless appearance.
“Tokens and accounts in the context of digital currencies,” Alexander Lee, Brendan Malone, and Paul Wong, Federal Reserve
“SEC Charges Ripple and Two Executives with Conducting $1.3 Billion Unregistered Securities Offering,” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Press Release
“Democracy Demands a Say in the Future of Money,” J. Christopher Giancarlo, CoinDesk
“President’s Working Group on Financial Markets Releases Statement on Key Regulatory and Supervisory Issues Relevant to Certain Stablecoins,” U.S. Treasury Department Press Release
Did we miss anything?
Join us on Discord or Twitter and let us know!
Finally, if you’ve donated to HODLpac or are a subscriber to this newsletter and you haven’t received HODLvote tokens, shoot us an email at tyler@hodlpac.org with your Metamask address and we’ll send them to you right away!