The global conversation around digital assets is shifting from speculative market cycles to deeper questions about blockchain surveillance, compliance and the future of privacy. As regulators intensify their focus on how cryptocurrency transactions are monitored, the stakes are rising for investors, builders and platforms that rely on decentralized technologies.
Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, General Counsel for Starkware, will participate in the Crypto Task Force Roundtable on Financial Surveillance and Privacy scheduled for December 15. In a recent conversation, she shared her perspective on how privacy expectations are evolving and what increased regulatory oversight means for the broader crypto ecosystem.
A Fundamental Shift In How Privacy Is Understood
The roundtable on Monday represents more than just another regulatory meeting. It signals a pivotal moment in how U.S. authorities are reconsidering the balance between financial privacy and surveillance. The discussion was catalyzed by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s August speech, “Peanut Butter and Watermelon: Financial Privacy in the Digital Age,” which argued that U.S. regulators have used a “sledgehammer versus a scalpel” approach to law enforcement and anti-money laundering requirements.
Peirce’s speech highlighted fundamental problems with the Bank Secrecy Act and antiquated know your customer requirements that fail to address modern challenges like endemic data breaches and the economic drivers behind tokenization. The speech raised broader questions about rethinking the current balance between protecting privacy and monitoring financial transactions.
The regulatory landscape is now grappling with a critical question: how can financial systems protect privacy while maintaining necessary oversight? This tension has real implications for how crypto regulation evolves in the United States and globally.
What Monday’s Roundtable Reveals
The panel’s structure itself offers clues about where the conversation is heading. The first half will feature builders demonstrating privacy technology, a departure from typical SEC roundtables that focus on discussion alone.
“The beauty of this roundtable is the first half of the roundtable is made up of builders, demonstrating their privacy technology,” …Full story available on Benzinga.com
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