If ever there was an exciting time to have a crypto payment card, it is now. The time is rapidly approaching when a change in the US presidency will lead to some major shifts in how crypto is regarded and regulated in the corridors of power.
Much has been made of Donald Trump’s conversion from crypto skeptic to enthusiast, with a promise to build up a federal fund of Bitcoins and remove people who advocate more regulation of crypto from positions of importance, such as Gary Gensler, the head of the Security and Exchanges Commission (SECC).
Mr Gensler is now leaving and others will join him, with the outgoing SECC head using his final speech in his post to argue the case for more regulation. He contended that digital asset firms routinely provide too little in the way of disclosures and information to investors. Nonetheless, Mr Trump’s SECC nominee, Paul Atkins, is sure to be more hands-off.
Deregulation Prospect Creates A Bull Market
This upcoming change and others have created a bull market, with Bitcoin in particular seeing a boom that at one point saw it top the $100,000 mark. Although it then dipped, any fears of a major downturn have been blown away by a fresh upward surge, amid claims Mr Trump would issue several pro-crypto executive orders on his first day in the Oval Office.
With some claiming that the price of Bitcoin could eventually soar to a staggering $100 trillion, these are heady days indeed. But could XRP users get too giddy and take their eye off the ball?
Some may argue that crypto needs deregulation to thrive and that more regulation ends up killing the goose that lays the golden egg, a claim that is often made about various sectors of business. Others will argue that crypto, by its very nature, lacks oversight to a point where it can be misused and where assets (and, therefore, the fiat currency invested) are unsafe.
Either way, security to keep transactions safe may be more important than ever if a deregulated environment leaves too much slack in this area.
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Korea?
If ever a reminder was needed of the importance of good security, it has been provided by the land of Donald Trump’s “rocket man” friend, Kim Jong Un. Not content with sending troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine in exchange for oil, they have been stealing cryptocurrency too.
According to a joint statement issued by the US State Department and its counterparts in Japan and South Korea, these thefts amounted to $659 million. It detailed $308 million taken from Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin among the thefts. Such crime poses a “significant threat to the integrity and stability of the international financial system,” it added.
The statement went on to accuse North Korea of using cybercrime not just to steal these assets for the purposes of enrichment, but for funding the development of its “unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile program”. The thefts were carried out using impersonation and malware.
Such news may be quite alarming, indicating that any individual using such exchanges could be at risk.
This is one area where regulation might be tightened, even by the incoming regulation-skeptic US administration. After all, if there is one thing that could go a long way towards undermining crypto, it is doubts about the security of the assets people have invested in.
Whether there is more regulation, there will certainly be more cooperation, with the statement saying: “Deeper collaboration among the public and private sectors of the three countries is essential to proactively disrupt these malicious actors’ cybercrime operations, protect private business interests, and secure the international financial system.”
Will Some Countries Increase Regulation?
However, it may also be considered that these concerns are not necessarily different from the international financial markets concerning fiat money, which has plenty of regulation but is still stolen in cybercrime incidents a myriad of times every day all over the world.
These are certainly interesting times in crypto. It remains to be seen just what new developments may emerge from the US as the new administration hits the ground running, with tighter regulation certainly not among them.
At the same time, however, that does not mean that investors won’t face new regulations in other countries, including the UK. Some may even regard low levels of regulation in the US as creating the need for them to tighten up.
Either way, the ongoing actions of cybercriminals, either at the state level or otherwise, show that while there may be a debate about the appropriate level of regulation, there is none to be had over security. You may have more reason than ever to be glad you use XRP.