US Treasury official: Facebook Libra and other cryptocurrencies have to satisfy US regulation standards
Addressing a group of reporters at the U.S. embassy in Switzerland, Sigal Mandelker, the Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence for the U.S. Treasury Department, reaffirmed the U.S. Government's stance that Facebook's Libra and cryptocurrencies must comply with U.S. regulations.
“Whether it’s bitcoin, Ethereum, Libra, our message is the same to all of these companies: anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism has to be built into your design from the get-go,” Mandelker said.
Mandelker warned that while the cryptocurrency industry has invested time into developing technologies, it has not paid enough attention to ensure terrorists and bad actors won't use the technology to hide and move money. Mandelker also added that because Switzerland "has promoted itself as a hub for fintech and for innovation" it should "take these particular concerns at the highest level in(to) the utmost regard."
Madelker's comments come weeks after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called concerns surrounding crypto a “national security issue” and saying that the "number one issue" of the administration is to keep bad actors from using cryptocurrencies for nefarious activities.
