Eventually, TIme Warner came around and . They didn’t want to provide a la carte options because they thought they would lose revenue from more profitable cable subscriptions. But when technology made it readily available to deliver the content the specific consumer demand, Time Warner had to adapt their decades-old distribution model to meet it.
After looking at the three above examples of how disruptive technologies were handled in the past, history shows us that government regulations and marketplace leaders can try to suppress the innovation from successfully entering the market. However, eventually, the consumer demand is so high it’s no longer artificially held back from entering the market. The technology then expands exponentially despite the early attempts to squash the growth.
What does this mean today for and the 5 different US government regulatory groups?
Right now there isn’t a consensus within the US government agencies evaluating . They don’t even know how to define what it is because nothing quite like it has existed in the market before.
Breakdown of the 5 US Regulatory agencies and how they view crypto:
1.) The Securities and Exchange Commission ()
The is an independent federal agency liable for protecting investors from fraudulent investments. This regulatory agency primarily oversees the US securities exchanges.
What is crypto? Security
2.) The Commodity Futures Commission (CFTC)
This independent federal agency protects derivative market participants from fraud. Regulating body of all future and options markets in the US.
What is crypto? Commodity
3.)The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
This a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury. This bureau analyzes financial transactions to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial based offenses.
What is crypto? Money
4.)The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
The infamous government agency that collects taxes and then enforces a variety of tax laws.
What is crypto? Property
5.) The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
This U.S. Treasury Department agency enforces penalties to violators of economic policy. This agency helps uphold U.S. foreign policy and national security.
What is crypto? Fiat currency or Money
What is the most important objective of each agency?
1.) The Securities and Exchange Commission ()
The is directly collaborating with the CFTC on developing regulations surrounding and ICOs. They want to allow growth to happen in both technologies and .
They want to help aid in the overall expansion of these financial system paradigms. They are both in agreement that they need to crack down on fraudulent ICOs. RIght now it’s estimated that 18% of ICOs are apparent scams.
2.) The Commodity Futures Commission (CFTC)
They are directly collaborating with to help develop reasonable regulations that will aid the growth of .
3.) The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
The FinCen has full authority for enforcing and matters and sees as a form of money. ICO sales are subject to the money transmitter rules under the ICOs are required to register with the government, collect information about their , and report any suspicious financial activities.
4.)The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) main priority is to collect taxes. The IRS thinks that are not currencies, but properties. If it’s a property, this means that if you sell your for a profit, you will be subject to a capital gains tax, but they won’t accept payment in it has to be in the fiat currency.
5.) The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
US citizens will have the same sanctions compliance obligations regardless of whether transactions involve fiat currencies or . Sanctions violations involving crypto are going to be treated similarly to those involving fiat currencies.
Future Outlook
Ultimately it appears that the US government regulatory bodies aren’t trying to hinder innovation in the US. They want to make sure investors aren’t being scammed, the government is getting tax revenue, and that it’s not being used to commit international crimes.
The three historical examples explored earlier in this article are a positive indication that disruptive technologies will not only survive but thrive despite early bottlenecks.
The current climate with the US agencies isn’t actively attempting to shut down or ICOs, so there is still hope that the and ICO innovations can thrive in the US. Hopefully, they will, and all legitimate crypto and ICO companies will be welcome in the US after the changing regulations are made official.
Published at Fri, 05 Apr 2019 17:19:58 +0000
