In the United States, the Bitcoiner community has intensified its efforts to protect the right to cryptoactive self -system, a fundamental principle in the Bitcoin ecosystem, since it allows users to maintain total control of the funds without depending on third parties, such as banks or centralized platforms.
From Save Our Wallets, a project led by Bitcoin Design, an open source community, a campaign has been launched to oppose legal interpretations that could restrict access to the best autocustody and limit innovation in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
In December 2020, the Financial Crimes Execution Network (FINCEN), US Treasury Agency. classified as “monetary services businesses” (MSB) to the auxiliary services that support the autocustodyia wallets.
These services include tools such as mixers (Mixers), nodes of the Network Network (LN) network, sequencers of ROLLUPS (used in scaling solutions Ethereum), Decentralized Applications Interfaces (DEFI), and others, used in applications that improve the privacy, scalability or operation of those wallets.
The mobilization against that classificationbacked for example by Bitcoiner developer Matt Corallo, seeks to support the “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act”(In Spanish regulatory certainty law for blockchain), a Legislative proposal of 2023 that aims to clarify the regulatory framework for technologies linked to cryptocurrencies, including those that facilitate self -ustody.
The warning of a Bitcoin Core developer
Corallo, a renowned Bitcoin Core developer (the most used software customer to operate nodes in the Bitcoin network) said in a publication in June 3 his concern about the implications of current policies.
According to him, “we have only one chance to correct the law, or Americans simply will not have access to the best available wallets and US developers will be excluded from offering the best user experience.”
That expression De Carallo refers to the need to approve the proposal “Blockchain regulatory certainty act”. According to your vision, this amendment would provide a “safe port” for developers and suppliers of self -systemal services, exempting them from being classified as “monetary services business” under state and federal laws, provided they do not control user funds.
What does it mean that a Wallet is considered a “monetary services business” (MSB)?
In the regulatory context of the United States, a “monetary services business” (MSB) is a category established by the Financial Crime Execution Network (FINCEN), which covers entities dedicated to activities such as the transmission of money, currency change or fund management.
Those entities, among which were, for example, cryptocurrency exchanges, are regulated under the Bank Secret Law (BSAfor its acronym in English) to prevent money laundering, which It implies strict requirements such as the registration before Finn, the implementation of anti -ilavado (AML) and KYC (identity verification) programs, detailed financial reports and, in many cases, state licenses.
When they are eased classified In December 2020 to applications or platforms Related to Wallets of Self -Custody as MSB, these were subject to complying with the same regulations as banks or exchange houses, although they do not directly control user funds.
How does users affect that interpretation?
Corallo said that, during the administration of President Joe Biden, the Department of Justice (DOJ), a federal government agency of the USA, also understood the services related to self -systemal wallets such as MSB.
The DOJ has led the legal actions that apply that interpretation, as in cases against Samurai Wallet (2024) and Tornado Cash (2022), where it argued that these applications, by facilitating cryptocurrency transactions, they operated as MSB without registrationviolating the Bank Secret Law (BSA).
This definition, said Bitcoin Core developer, not only affects services focused on privacy such as those mentioned in the previous paragraph, but also covers auxiliary technologies that provide these applications or platforms, essential for the scalability and usability of cryptocurrencies (LN nodes, defi applications, etc.).
Corallo warned that “practically all the technologies developed to improve scalability, privacy or cryptocurrency user experience require some type of auxiliary service,” which, which They could become illegal under the interpretation of the Finnn.
Given all the regulatory requirements that these services must meet, the negative impact for users includes: restriction of access to advanced tools, increased developer costs, loss of privacy, affectation to decentralization, risk of self -censorship, dependence on guarded wallets and long -term legal uncertainty.
In such a way, classify the auxiliary services of those platforms or applications such as MSB composes a regulatory framework so strict that, according to the coral analysis, They would discourage their development or make them unfeasible in the United States. This, consequently, could limit innovation and access to safe Wallets, compromising autonomy and privacy in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Although Donald Trump’s administration has partially softened this positionCorallo stressed that the risk persists and that a new administration could resume this hard line.
More voices in favor of self -ustody as Pilar de Bitcoin
Along the same lines, Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond, a company focused on Bitcoin -based financial products, also pronounced In X, highlighting the importance of self -ustody.
«Take the phone and call Congress; The right to self -ocustody is crucial for the continuous success of Bitcoin, ”Rochard wrote.
Save Our Wallets: An initiative to protect self -ocustody
The Campaign Save Our Wallets arises as a direct response to what they consider a significant regulatory threat. The initiative motivated by Bitcoin Design to support the bill Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Actseeks to mobilize users to support this legislative proposal.
According to its defenders, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act would grant legal clarity to exclude service providers of self -ustody of the MSB categoryprovided they do not have control over user funds.
This includes software developers, network nodes and other technical services that do not directly manage user assets. The law aims to align the regulations with the guidelines of the FINCEN.
In such a way, in the US Bitcoiner community. Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act is seen as a crucial step To protect innovation in the Bitcoin ecosystem and cryptocurrencies.
Without this regulation, developers could face legal sanctions or transfer their operations outside the United States, which would limit the access of American users to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
