Joe Biden’s plan to regulate digital assets

In mid-September 2022, the White House unveiled its framework on digital asset trading. It follows the executive order in March 2022 in which Joe Biden asked federal agencies to assess the risks and benefits of these assets. Its goal is to make the United States a « leader in governance of the digital assets ecosystem ».

The bill includes a large section dedicated to fighting fraud and illicit finance. This is sorely needed since, according to the FTC, fraud resulted in the loss of more than a billion dollars of digital assets in 2021. The White House is looking to change certain federal laws to allow the US Justice Department to prosecute crimes related to digital assets in any jurisdiction where a victim can be found.

Furthermore, according to the framework’s press release, « the President will…consider urging Congress to raise the penalties of unlicensed money transmitting ».

The text also contains several measures to facilitate financial transactions in digital assets, including the possibility of creating a digital twin to the US dollar, one that is regulated, placed under a central authority and enjoys the support of the US Federal Reserve.