US Treasury to ensure cryptos don’t become ‘Swiss-numbered bank accounts,’ says Mnuchin

Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has said that “very, very strong” regulations are needed to ensure bitcoin and cryptocurrencies don’t become like anonymous Swiss bank accounts.

“We’re going to make sure that bitcoin doesn’t become the equivalent of Swiss-numbered bank accounts, which were obviously a risk to the financial system,” Mnuchin told CNBC in an interview on Thursday.

The secretary further said that “billions of dollars of transactions” in cryptocurrencies are taking place for illegal purposes and he wants to ensure that it stops.

Earlier this week, Mnuchin shared similar concerns at a press briefing on cryptocurrencies. He said: “Our number one issue is that: one, we don’t want bad actors using cryptocurrency [...] We’ll make sure that the general public and investors understand what they’re investing in and whether it’s the SEC or other regulators, there’s proper disclosures.”

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.