Why Jack Dorsey And Square Are Opposing FinCEN's Proposed Cryptocurrency Rules

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twiter Inc TWTR and financial services company Square Inc SQ, on Monday, raised concerns over proposed regulations for certain digital asset transactions in a comment letter addressed to the Policy Division of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

What Happened: Under the proposed guidelines, financial intermediaries are tasked with gathering personal data like names and physical addresses of parties involved in large digital asset transactions.

Dorsey states that the proposed regulations "would require cryptocurrency service providers like Square to keep records of and report certain cryptocurrency transaction information far beyond what is required for cash transactions today."

The entrepreneur, a long-term backer of Bitcoin (BTC), also believes that the rule could lead to the collection of unreliable data from non-customers.

Why Does It Matter: The entrepreneur believes that FinCEN’s latest proposal can cause uncertainty, which could drive cryptocurrency enthusiasts to use unregulated third-party wallets, including ones hosted outside the U.S.

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The new rules would "drive cryptocurrency activity away from regulated entities, and push cryptocurrency transactions to offshore and other unregulated channels that are much more (if not entirely) opaque to FinCEN and law enforcement," as per Dorsey.

Additionally, the cumbersome data collection process would not only stifle innovation but also add an additional burden on the service provider.

With a surge in Bitcoin prices, the cryptocurrency domain is witnessing heightened investor interest. From approximately $7,300 at the start of January 2020, Bitcoin has surged above $31,880 to date to record a 337% surge.

Apart from Square, PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL and MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR were some of the other mainstream companies that drove interest in cryptocurrency in 2020.

Price Action: SQ stock closed at $221.16 with a 1.62% gain.

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