OCC’s Chief Assures the US Isn’t Going to Ban Bitcoin

Brian Brooks, the acting Comptroller of the Currency at OCC, has brought clarity to the recent rumor that the present United States government is preparing to introduce regulation that will implement know-you-customer (KYC) measures for self-hosted digital currency wallets. According to him, the government won’t ban Bitcoin in the country. Instead, they are making an effort not to destroy the digital currency. 

US Will Champion Bitcoin

The founder of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, recently informed crypto Twitter that the Trump Administration was planning to introduce regulation for self-hosted crypto wallets, according to the rumor. The said regulation was viewed as a threat to the cryptocurrency industry, especially in the US, as users must have to validate their information before even making a transaction. However, Brooks cleared the rumor while speaking at the CNBC Squawk Box today, saying that such a thing isn’t going to happen.

The OCC chief operating officer added:

“We’re very focused on getting this right. We are very focused on not killing this, and it is equally important that we develop the networks behind bitcoin and other cryptos as it is we prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.”

Brooks further noted that there would be lots of good news for the cryptocurrency industry by the end of Trump’s administration. “There are gonna be very positive messages coming up,” he said. This is unarguably one good development to wrap the week. It sparked positivity among many Bitcoiners and popular industry participants.

Bitcoin Still on the Rise

The leading cryptocurrency has grown tremendously in price since September, making a new all-time high at over US$19,000. The current price of Bitcoin is slightly below the ATH at US$19,004 on Coinmarkecap. Many Bitcoiners are hoping for a US$20,000-priced Bitcoin as several activities on the crypto have been increasing, including the searches on Google. A glance at Google Trends shows that Bitcoin searches surged to a 32-month high globally.