United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order which orders the Department of Justice to create a task force focusing on the integrity of the financial market. This executive order specifically mentions digital currency as an area to be investigated. The text from the executive order reads:
“Sec. 4. Functions. Consistent with the authorities assigned to the Attorney General by law, and other applicable law, the Task Force shall:
(a) provide guidance for the investigation and prosecution of cases involving fraud on the government, the financial markets, and consumers, including cyber-fraud and other fraud targeting the elderly, service members and veterans, and other members of the public; procurement and grant fraud; securities and commodities fraud, as well as other corporate fraud, with particular attention to fraud affecting the general public; digital currency fraud; money laundering, including the recovery of proceeds; health care fraud; tax fraud; and other financial crimes;”
This new task force replaces the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force that was created under the Obama administration.
Regulation continues to be a significant threat to this asset class. If this new task force finds any significant wrong-doing on the part of digital currency, the negative implications could be immense. On the contrary, if digital currency is not found to be a threat, the asset class could become further legitimized. Many people are on the sidelines waiting to hear an official stance on this matter from the United States, and it looks like a decision may not be too far away.
