a16z Venture Capital Firm Pushed Again FinCEN’s Crypto Rules

Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z venture capital firm is the latest to join the fight against FinCEN’s latest crypto rules as we can see more in today’s crypto news.

According to a blog post by the a16z Venture capital firm and the general partner Kathryn Haun, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a “rushed, non-vetted rule under the cloak of the holidays that violates the government’s own established rulemaking procedures.” FinCEN which goes under the purview of Steven Mnuchin’s Department of the Treasury introduced a proposed regulation in December that will restrict money services business as well as the US crypto exchanges from transacting with the so-called “self-hosted” wallets.

The new regulation is expected to require various “crypto entities to collect and to report detailed personally identifiable information of their customers’ counterparties.” Haun also noted that this standard is applied to no other sector of the financial industries today. While the problem is not solved nor this rule aims to do so, Haun says that this rule also violates the fourth amendment of the US constitution by expanding the competencies of the Bank Secrecy Act. Furthermore, in the company’s official response to the FinCEN, the company’s counsel noted that the regulator has allowed six business days for a feedback and comment on the proposed law rather than the 60 days that are regularly given.

Some in the crypto community characterized the move by the FinCen as a failed attempt by Trump’s administration to prohibit cryptocurrencies. Haun said:

“FinCEN has proposed at the eleventh hour of an outgoing administration a rule that has all the hallmarks of an arbitrary and capricious agency action.”

Brian Armstrong who is the CEO of Coinbase echoed the same sentiment on Twitter. Since FinCEN’s rules were proposed, the crypto industry leaders have been pushing back.
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Armstrong said that Coinbase is willing to take regulators to court alongside other companies if legal action is necessary. Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey also wrote a letter to the FinCN in which he stated that the rule is hamstring law enforcement capabilities but also limits innovation by hindering the ability to create a competitive service that allows customers to transfer and transact crypto in the way that this technology is designed.