A member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and three state-level regulators discussed blockchain technology at a panel today centered on the future of US FinTech policy.
Held at the Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technology Conference in New York City, the panel provided a window into the complicated series of exchanges – ranging from state-level interactions with citizens to potential top-level federal regulation – that are influencing this discussion.
FDIC associate counsel Adriana Rojas said that while her agency wants to take a leadership position, its interaction with state controllers and private institutions is still in early stages.
Rojas told the audience: "We need to be proactive. We need to come to these conferences. I think that’s how regulators can get in front of it. … We can’t regulate what we don’t know exists." Apart from providing the FDIC’s view on the industry, the day’s panel was rare in that the audience was also given a chance to hear what three specific state representatives had to share on the matter. Alabama
The sharp discrepancies in how states are treating bitcoin and blockchain firms was perhaps best on display during a talk by Joseph Borg, director of the Alabama Securities Commission, an independent agency that works with government regulators.
Borg said his state is currently receiving applications from industry businesses that "run the gamut" from refined business models, to amateur or even legally dubious proposals.
Though one or two inquiries have come from entrepreneurs using an alternative digital currency, "only bitcoin" companies have submitted actual applications, he said.
Borg continued: "The industry is fragmented as far as we’re concerned. Many people want to play in the sandbox but many of them aren’t designed to play in the sandbox." Borg has been with the Alabama commission for 21 years and says that partnerships have been crucial […]
