BitGo on Why the Travel Rule Should Not Apply to Digital Assets - Ep.266
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BitGo CEO Mike Belshe and COO Jeff Horowitz talk about one of the hottest topics facing the crypto industry today: regulation. They discuss...

• what BitGo does

• why Jeff left his successful TradFi career to go crypto

• how crypto compliance and custody differs from the traditional finance world

• the state of crypto education amongst regulators

• why Jeff and Mike think the infrastructure bill is a win for the crypto industry

• what FinCEN is doing to regulate crypto

• why they think the infrastructure bill’s goal of raising billions in crypto taxes could only bring in millions

• what FATF guidance regarding VASPs requires of crypto companies

• why the travel rule could lead to US customer data being shared overseas

• how digital assets change the implications of the travel rule

• how regulators are attempting to deal with DeFi

• what the FATF guidance means for FATF countries, like the US

• why DeFi is not ready for strict regulations

• Jeff’s views on Brian Brooks’s departure from BinanceUS

• the Galaxy Digital acquisition of BitGo

• what security issues a trillion-dollar wallet presents

• why BitGo refused to put a “freeze” function in its WBTC contract

• why Tesla and MicroStrategy purchased BTC and why other companies have been slow to follow suit

• whether BitGo will offer NFT solutions going forward

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Episode links

Mike Belshe -- CEO BitGo

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebelshe/) 

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikebelshe) 

• Previous Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/mike-belshe-on-what-bitgos-kingdom-trust-acquisition-means-for-crypto-and-how-security-will-develop-in-the-future/)

Jeff Horowitz -- CCO BitGo

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-horowitz-3381977)

BitGo

• Website: https://www.bitgo.com/)

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitGo)

• Blog: https://blog.bitgo.com/) 

• Galaxy Digital purchase: https://www.coindesk.com/galaxy-digital-to-buy-bitgo-for-about-1-2-billion-in-stock-cash) 

• FATF solution: https://www.coindesk.com/us-crypto-giants-build-first-version-of-fatf-compliant-travel-rule-tool)

• New York Trust Charter: https://decrypt.co/60110/bitgo-new-york-trust-charter-crypto-wall-street)

Infrastructure bill and its implications for crypto

- https://twitter.com/mikebelshe/status/1424163820726009861) 

• https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-fans-are-suddenly-a-political-force-11629115380)

• https://www.coindesk.com/infrastructure-bill-house-politics)

• https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/16/tax-foundation-infrastructure-bill-crypto-tax-provision-is-unworkable.html)

• https://decrypt.co/78198/senate-passes-infrastructure-bill-crypto-tax-house)

• https://www.taxnotes.com/featured-analysis/proposal-regulate-digital-asset-transactions-should-be-struck/2021/08/13/775gf#.YRfX9GEX2GI.twitter)

• https://twitter.com/vtg2/status/1426264859071627266)

https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn/status/1427276559052910599) 

• Unchained coverage: 

• https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-congress-might-pass-laws-bad-for-proof-of-stake-and-defi/)

• https://unchainedpodcast.com/crypto-got-screwed-what-happens-next-in-the-senate/)

• https://unchainedpodcast.com/this-bill-looks-very-bad-for-crypto/)

FATF and the travel rule

• https://sumsub.com/blog/what-is-the-fatf-travel-rule/)

• Unchained coverage:

• https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-the-travel-rule-is-one-of-the-most-significant-regulations-in-crypto/)

• https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-proposed-fatf-rules-could-be-a-shock-for-defi/)

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