United States financial regulators will likely have stronger guidance for banks regarding cryptocurrencies once those agencies have a better handle on the risks.
That’s according to Martin Gruenberg, acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), who spoke Thursday (Oct. 20) during an event at the Brookings Institution.
“We must understand and assess the risks associated with these activities the same way that we would assess the risks related to any other new activity,” Gruenberg said, according to a Reuters report.
He added, per the report, that a potential, stablecoin-based payments system should complement the Federal Reserve’s yet-to-be-unveiled FedNow service, as well as a U.S. central bank digital currency (CDBC), assuming the country creates one.
Gruenberg made his comments days after the European Union’s financial services boss told U.S. lawmakers that it’s important for the U.S. to finalize its cryptocurrency oversight rules.
Read more: EU Financial Services Boss Pushes US for Crypto Regulations
EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness met with legislators during a trip to Washington, D.C. and New York last week to talk about how to regulate the cryptocurrency and digital assets industry.
While the EU recently passed some of the most comprehensive frameworks surrounding crypto, the U.S. is still deciding which agency will have oversight. While the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been aggressive in monitoring and legislating crypto exchanges, coins have little supervision.
The U.S. is also still trying to determine whether cryptocurrencies should qualify as securities regulated by the SEC or commodities that fall under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
“In the EU we look forward to working with the U.S. on ways to make digital finance safer, greener, and more transparent,” McGuinness said in a LinkedIn post last week.
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