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After the departure of the last Acting Comptroller of the Currency, who was looking to aggressively coordinate regulators and crypto companies, US regulators appear to be at odds with crypto and distributed ledger approaches. In Russia, on the other hand, Sber is purportedly working with Russia's central bank to register its digital assets platform, "which would pave the way for the launch of the digital assets trading platform in Russia." If the US appears hostile to crypto and Russia appears accommodating, Russia may be in a much stronger position as a world financial player if crypto continues to emerge.

"I have seen one fool's gold rush from up close in the lead up to the 2008 financial crisis. It feels like we may be on the cusp of another with cryptocurrencies (crypto) and decentralized finance (DeFi). The 2008 crisis holds lessons that can help industry and regulators chart a better path and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past."

The new National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) that the Department of Justice is forming will focus on investigating and prosecuting criminal misuse of cryptocurrency, but DOJ's history of working with federal regulatory agencies on high-profile civil enforcement actions shows that crypto businesses willfully violating regulatory requirements should be wary of the NCET as well.

New York's attorney general ordered two unlicensed cryptocurrency lending platforms to cease operating in the state as authorities continue to clamp down on crypto firms over fraud concerns.

As crypto evolves into a mainstream consumer product, complaints to the CFPB about the sector have already exceeded 1,700 this year, compared with 982 all of last year and 488 in 2019. With the industry's growth have come calls for regulatory checks. Many in the regulatory community believe the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is gearing up to launch enforcement actions against cryptocurrency firms. But that could revive a debate about the limits of CFPB power.

Six crypto leaders appeared at a House Financial Services Committee hearing that "explored how the government should oversee and improve regulation of the industry." The "general sentiment of the hearing was positive towards the cryptocurrency industry, a dramatic shift from past years. This disposition surprised some, but it reflects an evolving view of the benefits of cryptocurrency technology and the fear that the US is falling behind other countries such as China that have made noticeable progress towards launching a sovereign digital currency." The piece notes that the Senate Banking "has a hearing on stablecoins next Tuesday and it will likely be more skeptical towards this emerging asset class." The witnesses include Alexis Goldstein, Director of Financial Policy, Open Markets Institute; and Professor Hilary J. Allen, American University Washington College of Law.

The Economist reports on the pipeline of former American regulatory officials becoming lobbyists or advisers to the cryptocurrency industry. Perhaps the most prominent is Jay Clayton, former head of the SEC, but others include Brian Brooks, who until January was the acting Comptroller of the Currency, and Chris Giancarlo, head of the CFTC between 2017 and 2019. In Britain, Philip Hammond, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, joined Copper, a crypto startup, in October. The Economist notes that, worldwide, "reams of regulations are now in play," and people who know the enforcement systems intimately are in high demand, and paid accordingly. The magazine adds, "The rewards for walking through the revolving doors are only going up.

As top federal officials like Janet Yellen, Jerome Powell and Gary Gensler debate how cryptocurrency and the companies involved in it should be regulated, and members of Congress consider 18 bills tied to digital assets, states are quietly enacting their own laws and issuing charters for crypto companies.

Regulators struggle to determine oversight approach and Crypto CEOs of course already lobbying on the side of less regulation.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu said the agency is working with a number of other financial regulators to coordinate digital asset regulation. Regarding cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance, Hsu "said it is necessary for regulators to 'ensure that crypto/DeFi activities that take place within the banking system or are facilitated by banks are trustworthy.'" However, since most DeFi activity "takes place outside of the regulated banking system, it is unclear whether Hsu's remarks can be interpreted as reflecting OCC's aspiration to extend its purview over DeFi platforms."

"It is not possible to, I think, destroy crypto, but it is possible for governments to slow down its advancement," Musk said at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California. Another indication of Musk starting to need government to go his way. What is the US government becomes anti- Musk or NASA pulls out or is de-funded?

After a crackdown on Binance and other cryptocurrency firms, regulators are now turning attention to the world of decentralized finance. Decentralized finance, or "DeFi," lets users take part in traditional financial activities like lending but with no middle men involved. Regulators are concerned about DeFi services marketing themselves as decentralized when that may not be the case.

A report on stablecoins, now circulating among top officials, will kick off a Biden administration bid to bring federal oversight to digital assets

U.S. cryptocurrency markets and related platforms will "not end well" if they stay outside the purview of regulators, according to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.

Britain, taking a cautious view of cryptoassets and wanting to ensure they are backed by sufficient capital, may establish rules prior to the Basel Committee's finalization of guidance

The price of the ETF won't be pegged to bitcoin There will be additional costs attached Any exposure to crypto is risky

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has listed a bill for the upcoming Parliament session that reportedly seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies with certain exceptions in India and to create a centrally controlled cryptocurrency under the control of the national bank.

"The move comes amid a global cryptocurrency crackdown as governments from Asia to the United States fret that privately operated highly volatile digital currencies could undermine their control of the financial and monetary systems, increase systemic risk, promote financial crime and hurt investors."

Just when you thought QE (qualitative easing) was getting out of hand, the Federal Reserve is now looking to create a digital Federal Reserve Note. The language of the proposed bill is monumental. > "The bill is called the "Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act" ("Digital Asset Bill"). And for the majority, it sets out future rules for crypto. However, hidden in this bill, changes to the foundation of the Dollar are proposed." > "...the Federal Reserve System is authorized to issue digital versions of Federal reserve notes in addition to current physical Federal reserve notes. Further, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, after consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, is authorized to use distributed ledger technology for the creation, distribution and recordation of all transactions involving digital Federal reserve notes." > BitDollars??

The Treasury Department is moving to rein in a new class of cryptocurrencies whose popularity as a payment method is skyrocketing, citing a need to head off potential risks to consumers and to the financial system. So-called stablecoins - payment tokens that differ from other cryptocurrencies because their value is often pegged to the U.S. dollar - are drawing scrutiny because they have already been used in trillions of dollars' worth of lightning-fast transactions and could transform the way Americans pay for things. Treasury and other regulators want to ensure that they're reliable, even during financial panics.