By
Bena Ilyas
April 25th, 2024
Michele Korver noted that crypto assets have developed over time just like any other financial technology.
In an interview with Law360 on July 29, first-ever Chief Digital Currency Advisor at the Department of the Treasury/Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Michele Korver, said that crypto assets are just an evolution of the payment industry. According to Korver, cryptocurrencies are just another means of transferring value from one party to another.
Michele Korver noted that crypto assets have developed over time just like any other financial technology. Alongside financial technology innovations and evolution, she noted that criminal use of the technologies will always exist.
However, Korver said that these emerging technologies are innovative and worth embracing.
“I’ve worked in this space for a long time, and I think these emerging technologies are cool and interesting,” she noted.
Her comments come amid looming United States crypto regulatory calls by different lawmakers including Sen Elizabeth Warren. The crypto market led by the stablecoin industry has been viewed as a strong disruption to the traditional banking system. Additionally, the United States seeks to regulate the industry to help protect consumers against market manipulations.
FinCEN has been vocal about the crypto industry since the onset of the coronavirus crisis. Despite the general adoption of blockchain technology, FinCEN has moved swiftly to regulate the crypto industry with respect to financial institutions.
“Treasury is particularly concerned about cyber-enabled financial crime, ransomware attacks, and the misuse of virtual assets that exploits and undermines their innovative potential, including through laundering of illicit proceeds,” FinCEN said in a statement.
FinCEN Advisor Michele Korver and the Crypto Industry
The crypto industry has grown to a trillion-dollar market with Bitcoin now accepted as a legal tender in a sovereign country El Salvador. Other countries including Germany, Canada have regulated the industry to allow institutional investors to tap on the industry safely.
The United States has, however, been accused by different players including Ripple of dragging behind on crypto regulations. However, the debate has been heating up as the crypto industry led by Bitcoin shows signs of rebounding and aiming at a new ATH.
At the beginning of the year, FinCEN proposed a new crypto law in regard to financial institutions. According to the law, “it would require banks and money service businesses (MSBs) to submit reports, keep records, and verify the identity of customers in relation to transactions involving convertible virtual currency (CVC) or digital assets with legal tender status (LTDA) held in unhosted wallets, or held in wallets hosted in a jurisdiction identified by FinCEN.”