Report: Overbearing US regulations on crypto 'hampering innovation' and in need of change

A law professor at the University of Arkansas has published an article examining the impact of current US laws on crypto. Carol Goforth argues the US federal law does not take into account the diversity of digital tokens today by imposing a monolithic set of rules. Moreover, by allowing four separate agencies to regulate it - the FinCEN, IRS, CFTC and the SEC, crypto is viewed equally as money, property, commodities, and securities respectively.

However, Goforth argues this imposes a broad set of conflicting guidelines on assets that rarely satisfy all four factions. She suggests that this overbearing design is ill-fitting and requires a "more nuanced approach" that treats tokens on an individual depending on their 1) true functionality and 2) the designers' and users' motivation. Otherwise, she warns, the current regulatory stance will "hamper appropriate and desirable innovation in this space," creating excessive confusion and cost. (Source: Oxford Law blog)