There are several challenges they face when developing the regulations. First of all, there is no precedent or an example of another country to look at. Regulators have to come up with the appropriate framework from the scratch. Secondly, the cryptocurrencies involve a fairly advanced technology that is often obscure for people that don’t possess the understanding of programming very well. Regulators that were up to now concerned with financials might not be the best equipped to handle this issue. Because the technology is relatively new, there is a lack of professionals on the job market as well. Yet, we still see some advancements in cryptocurrency regulations around the world. This article gives a quick overview of the cryptocurrency regulation across the world in 2018.
Unites States is a little tricky when it comes to the regulations in general. Some of the decisions are made on the state level which means that certain activities might be legal in parts of the country while illegal in others. Concerning cryptocurrency, this is true for the exchanges. Some states allow virtual currency exchanges to operate while others prohibit them. Opinions on the matter differ even among different regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission has up to now been stern with the cryptocurrencies. It recognized these digital coins as securities which translated to extremely tough regulations for Initial Coin Offerings, that virtually made it impossible to raise funds for a project with digital token issues in the country. In addition, the regulator has warned investors about the dangers of investing in these assets multiple times even setting up a fake ICO website to trick users and display a warning message in the end.