I had hoped by now, after more than two years of writing this blog, that we would have more regulatory certainty around this new asset class known as cryptoassets. Alas not, quite the reverse in fact. This excellent research piece by Circle (owned by Goldman Sachs) sets out (between the lines) the negative sentiment the US SEC has towards the evolving cryptoasset environment.
I rate Circle’s opinion on this very highly as many of their compliance team (who are constantly engaging with the SEC and other on this) come from traditional banking backgrounds, they know the rules and more importantly they know who to connect with in these regulatory agencies.
Readers may recall that Circle acquired exchange Poloniex in 2018. At that time my expectation was that Goldman Sachs (Circle) would bring in their compliance people and work their magic to obtain approvals and good understandings with the SEC and others about cryptoassets. I read this research as open and honest position statement by Circle that they have tried their best but so far their efforts have not resulted in any positive regulatory developments.
Still I am optimistic that eventually the dam will break on the US regulatory front. In the meantime the developers/entrepreneurs will do what they do, just keep building and the tech will get stronger day by day.