US Treasury Secretary Doesn’t Think Bitcoin Will Be As Big Five Years From Now

The United States Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin believes that cryptocurrency transactions could have a few certain risks for the financial system as they could potentially be used to fund illegal activities like money laundering and drug trafficking. Recent comments by Mnuchin’s indicate that the leading cryptocurrency might not be a major financial asset class in just a few years time.

Speaking on CNBC’s popular Sqwauk Box show, the US treasury secretary said:

“I can assure you I will personally not be loaded up on bitcoin in 10 years. I would bet even in five to six years I won’t even be talking about bitcoin as Treasury Secretary.”

Regulatory Regulation 

So in order to prevent financial crimes, Mnuchin questioned the Financial Action Task and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to carefully monitor the use of digital currencies. Both agencies have also been told to prepare guidelines that may regulate crypto transactions.

Talking about how American authorities will work together to draft rules and policies for individuals and companies dealing in digital assets, Mnuchin said:

“We’re going to make sure we have a unified approach and my guess is that there are going to be more regulations that come out from all these agencies.”

Fiat laundering

In regards to cash fiat currency, Mnuchin argues that it has never really been used to finance illegal activities. Furthermore, he claims that billions of dollars were being laundered through transactions involving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Elsewhere, the chief scientist and co-founder of Elliptic Tom Robinson published an opinion article recently where he highlighted less 0.5 percent of bitcoin transaction ae used to finance unlawful activities.

As reported by Ethereum World News, an analysis from Robinson’s blockchain intelligence firm found, “$829 million in Bitcoin has been spent on illegal purchases via the dark web. In comparison, more than $2.2 trillion of illicit fiat currency transactions are conducted each year.”