In December, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) rushed out a consultation on new rules that will reduce the threshold for anti-money laundering (AML) recording to $3,000 for certain digital asset transactions, including a future central bank digital currency (CBDC). FinCEN announced the plans on 18 December, saying comments had to be received by 4 January.
However, the 72-page paper was only published on 23 December. Hence the Federal Regulations website states that feedback will be accepted until 8 January. Eight members of Congress complained about the rushed timescale over the holiday period. So far there have been more than 6,500 comments, including from Square, Andreessen Horowitz and crypto sleuth Ciphertrace.
The paper refers to cryptocurrencies as convertible virtual currency (CVC) but also adds digital assets with legal tender status (LTDA), which by implication includes a future CBDC. The rules apply if a user chooses to self host a wallet rather than keep the assets at an exchange or bank. Additionally, it applies to wallets hosted by financial institutions in certain foreign jurisdictions.
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