Cryptocurrencies fall into a number of regulatory gaps, and federal regulatory oversight of the market is severely underdeveloped.  In a new insight, Director of Financial Services Policy Thomas Wade walks through five fundamental questions that Congress must seek to answer in considering how to appropriately regulate the cryptocurrency market.

Wade concludes:

Whether cryptocurrencies will have the staying power to make a significant long-term impact on U.S. or global economies is unclear. Even accounting for the volatility of cryptocurrencies, however, the cryptocurrency market is lurching from strength (to weakness) to strength. Congress has an opportunity to set broad industry guardrails, protect consumers and investors, and create a unified vision for the new market that best employs regulatory resources and fosters innovation in U.S. financial markets. That opportunity is swiftly disappearing.

Read the analysis