Over 65,000 Comments Have Been Filed as More Pundits Oppose FinCEN’s New Crypto Rule

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)’s new proposed regulation has been the talk of the town since its first announcement last December. It didn’t take long for FinCEN to receive clamors of disapproval from crypto companies and pundits. And to date, over 6,500 comments have been filed concerning the rule.

Over 65,000 Comments Regarding the Regulation

According to this new rule, all crypto exchanges in the country would not only be required to keep records of all transactions but also to report some of them. The agency had requested public input on this regulation.

As seen on Regulations.gov, the website containing the public comments, over 65,000 comments have been registered on the site, as pointed out by Jake Chervinsky of Compound Lab.

https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1347181947215368196

As of two days ago, the comments were only a paltry sum of 6,537, which means that the number has increased tenfold in such a short timeframe.

FinCEN had earlier given a deadline for the public comments, which is slated for the 4th of January. However, that proposed date was extended up to today, which is still a far cry from the normal 60-day period requested, thanks to pressure exerted by members of the US Congress. 

Public Comments Show Prove that the Public Is Against Rule

Despite the fact that the extension is less than a week, the general public had maximized the opportunity to give their opinion on the subject. The website presently only allows around 5,000 comments to be viewed. 

While the comments are of varying lengths, they mostly have one thing in accord, they are critical of the regulation. Some of the comments have highlighted that the rule would be a big blow against financial privacy while others go as far as saying that the regulation was unconstitutional.

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, who had earlier spoken about the rule when it was merely a rumor had also been critical of the regulation. According to him, the rule would leave a terrible and negative impact on the United States. Later on, Armstrong’s crypto exchange firm Coinbase, along with other large companies, have made their stance against the regulation public.

In addition, advocacy groups like Coin Center, Fight for the Future, Blockchain Association, and Electronic Frontier Foundation encouraged the public to resist the proposed rule, in a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session.

Considering the uproar it has caused, it appears clear as day that the broader crypto industry is against FinCEN’s new regulation.