US Presidential Hopeful Yang Calls for National Crypto Regulations

American presidential candidate and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang has reiterated his calls to developing a framework of cryptocurrency regulations ahead of the key Democratic Party caucuses in Iowa on February 3.

Yang told Bloomberg, in an interview with the news agency,

“Right now we’re stuck with this hodgepodge of state-by-state treatments and it’s bad for everybody. It’s bad for innovators who want to invest in this space. So that would be my priority, it’s just clear and transparent rules so that everyone knows where they can head in the future and that we can maintain competitiveness.”

Yang, who has previously voiced his support for cryptocurrency-related ventures on numerous occasions, added that he considered “the underlying technology of cryptocurrency” to be “very, very high potential,” and added that the United States “should be investing in” the cryptocurrency industry.

Yang also opined that crypto’s progress is now unavoidable, and stated that the industry could not now be stymied wit regulation even “if you tried”.

Yang has included a number of cryptocurrency-related election manifesto pledges as he continues his bid to run against President Donald Trump in November this year.

In his manifesto, Yang claimed that “states have come up with a patchwork of varying regulations that make it difficult for American cryptocurrency markets to compete with those in other jurisdictions, especially China and Europe.”

His team wrote,

“Different departments of the federal government consider digital assets as property, commodities or securities. Some states have onerous regulations in the space, such as New York’s BitLicense. Navigating this has had a chilling effect on the American digital asset market,”

Yang wants to implement “clear guidelines” that will help crypto ventures and investors “proceed with all relevant information.”