'Congressional Attention' need of the hour for cryptocurrencies: US official

In yet another act to try and regulate the world of cryptocurrencies, the Congress' help has been sought by an official from the US Secret Service. The purpose was to evaluate prospective legislative actions on cryptocurrencies that boast of privacy-enhancing features.

Deputy assistant director Robert Novy from the Service’s Office of Investigations stated that “congressional attention” on the issue is the current need of the hour. He declared this statement while speaking before the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services.

According to a published testimony, Novy said, “Regulatory actions or additional legislative should also be considered to address potential challenges related to the following:Cryptocurrencies that are anonymity-enhanced, all services like cryptocurrency tumblers or mixers that are intended to obscure transactions on blockchains and cryptocurrency mining pools."

However, as per a report by Coindesk, there was no mention of any specific privacy-focused coins. Though some concerns have been raised by the US officials in the past.

Cryptocurrency monero was cited as one that has other officials concerned. The same was quoted by Joseph Battaglia, a special agent working at the FBI’s Cyber Division in New York City sometime in the month of January last year.

Chances are very rare that lawmakers would move toward any concrete steps anytime soon.  The main reason could be the slow pace of proceedings in the US national legislature. Even still, Novy asked that they keep the issue in mind moving ahead.

“As such, continued Congressional attention is warranted to ensure law enforcement agencies maintain lawful access to critical sources of evidence, regardless of where, or in what form, that information is stored,” he stated.