New York implements Crypto Task Force: Impact on the rest of the World

New York is widely renowned as the American capital of Finance. Now, New York is trying to lead the country in terms of fintech regulations, specifically in cryptocurrencies. Recently, the state announced that it will be forming a task force to look into cryptocurrencies and the regulations surrounding it in an effort to open up the local economy to this new technology. The announcement came through a Facebook post of a New York assemblyman, Clyde Vanel, on January 2nd. Clyde Vanel is the chair of the subcommittee on Internet and New Technologies for New York. The state will be the first in the United States to set up a dedicated team to look into matters relating to crypto. This is New York’s first step to any meaningful regulatory framework. What New York decides will have a domino effect throughout the country, and across the World.

Long overdue

Back in 2018, on May 30th, the banks committee of the New York state legislature voted to create a task force called the “digital currency task force”. The decision to create a task force for the state of New York was made in June 2017 but things went slowly and finally, on January 2nd of this year, the task force was finally created. The task force will look into the potential effects of the use of cryptocurrencies in financial markets in the state of New York. During the process of preparing the report, the task force may reportedly consult with any government entity, organization or person. The bill will establish a group consisting of nine members which will be tasked with creating and submitting a report to the Governor, who is acting as the temporary President of the Senate, and the speaker of the assembly by December of 2019. The report would go into the impacts and effects that regulations have on the development of digital currencies and blockchain industries within New York, the use of cryptocurrencies and their potential effect on local tax collection, and the transparency of the digital currency marketplace.

Digital Currency Study Bill

With the signing of the law named ‘Digital Currency Study Bill’ (A8783B/S9013) by the New York state Governor, the task force will be granted the power to study the definition and use of crypto assets and also the regulations related with cryptocurrencies. One of the interesting aspects of this task force is to look into how regulations are hampering the growth and adoption of the digital currency market. Additionally, the task force will be required to provide assistance to a number of digital currencies and exchanges operating in the New York state, information about potential large investors interested and currently in the field and the necessary energy consumption for coin mining operations. The task force will also provide a detailed review of regulations and laws on cryptocurrencies used by other states, the federal government, foreign countries, and foreign political and economic unions in order to regulate the marketplace.

Gateway to the World

New York is the gateway to America and this could be the gateway of digital currencies to the United States. The US has been left behind in this space since most of the crypto related activities are happening abroad. There was a time when almost all of the world looked upon the USA to come up with new technologies and regulations, but this time, the US is playing catch up as the world has moved far ahead in terms of the regulation and innovation of cryptocurrencies. The stance of both the state and federal governments have been vague and how regulators dealt with crypto was also unclear. The task force and its report may finally bring some clarity. Even though the task force is at its initial stage, the regulations and suggestions they come up with will ultimately define the future of crypto in the United States of America, and ultimately, in the rest of the World.
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