Coinbase Requests that FinCEN Apply Traditional 60-Day Notice-and-Comment Period for its Proposed Rulemaking for Crypto Transactions
On December 19, 2020, the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)published a 72-page notice of proposed or suggested rulemaking, titled
“Requirements for Certain Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual Currency or Digital Assets,” which could impose new and “onerous” reporting and recordkeeping requirements for virtual currency transactions,
Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer at
Coinbase, confirmed in a blog post on December 22, 2020.
FinCEN has requested that the public provide comments in only 15 days, a time period that will be spanning Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grewal pointed out that this will leave only a handful of actual business or working days to obtain comments.