Following President Trump on March 6 Executive decree The establishment of a strategic bitcoin reserve and a stock of American digital stocks, federal agencies and market players can begin to face the operational and compliance implications of the foray proposed by the federal government in the possession of cryptography and management. Although many details of the program remain under development, the initiative raises questions related to governance, custody, disclosure and alignment of existing laws on financial and national security.
While the United States is starting to treat digital assets not only as speculative instruments, but as components of the sovereign infrastructure, various compliance obligations – certain existing, others emerging – come into play.
Classification and monitoring of assets
The federal agencies responsible for monitoring cryptographic markets – notably the SEC, the CFTC, the Fincen and the IRS – will probably have to coordinate with the presidential working group on the digital asset markets (previously discussed here), what the decree refers as a key platform to develop operational standards for the reserve. This could include initiatives such that (i) develop internship protocols for the classification and treatment of different digital assets, and (ii) the question of whether sovereign property triggers obligations under titles, transmission products or money transmission laws to generate assets to generate a yield.
Custody, security and risk control
Federal assets of crypto are currently held under a patchwork of custody provisions, often involving third-party guards preserved by the Marshals department of Doj and the United States (discussed previously here). The strategic reserve initiative can cause more formalization and regulation of public sector cryptography custody, in particular:
- Implementation of multi-signating wallets and layer access controls;
- Separate storage of assets between agencies or centralized consolidation under a single federal goalkeeper;
- Audit process to confirm the provenance and safety of the material components of the network used to contain and transfer the reserve of digital assets; And
- Internal controls and periodic audit of portfolio activity, management of private keys and access newspapers.
Anti-white frames, sanctions and categories
While the federal government extends its assets into digital active ingredients, it must maintain robust anti-money laundering (LMA) and compliance sanctions for seized and strategically acquired assets. This could include:
- Assets and screening counterparts for exposure to jurisdictions or wallet addresses sanctioned by the OFAC;
- Establish documentation procedures for the custody chain in the acquisition or liquidation of assets; And
- Determine whether the assets acquired by strategic purchases (rather than crises in relation to illicit activities) require new reporting or risk management practices under the Bank Secrecy Act and the Patriot Act.
In addition, since digital asset stocks include tokens used in DEFI protocols or cross-border regulations, other questions arise on the question of whether the government has to comply with the evolution of international LBCs and counter-terrorist financing standards.
Put it into practice
The creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve and a stock of digital assets marks a spectacular reversal in the way the federal government engages with cryptographic assets – not only as a regulator, but now as a market participant, guardian and price manufacturer. As this strategy takes place, the agencies and entrepreneurs involved in its implementation must create solid compliance infrastructures informed by existing financial laws, agency protocols and national security objectives.
