A Chronological Overview of The Ongoing US Government's Crypto Crackdown

To give the recent events a chronological context, so we all see how well structured and directed these actions against the crypto are, I created a list of the most important events I have memory of, that one way or another paved the path to where we are now:

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1. May 2021. the Treasury Department announced that it would require any transfer worth $10,000 or more of cryptocurrency to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as part of a broader plan to crack down on tax evasion and close the tax gap. The Treasury said that cryptocurrency posed a significant detection problem for tax authorities and that reporting rules would help improve transparency and compliance.
2. November 2021: the White House released a comprehensive framework for responsible development of digital assets, which outlined six key priorities and nine reports with recommendations to address the risks and benefits of digital assets. The framework called for increased enforcement of existing laws, consumer and investor protection, financial stability, countering illicit finance, U.S. leadership and competitiveness, financial inclusion, and responsible innovation.
3. November 2021: the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected a proposal by VanEck to launch a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), citing concerns about fraud, manipulation and investor protection in the bitcoin market. The SEC also delayed decisions on several other bitcoin ETF applications, signaling its reluctance to approve such products without more regulation and oversight of the crypto industry.
4. September 2022: Treasury officials called for a crypto crackdown, recommending that agencies continue to rigorously pursue their enforcement efforts focused on the crypto assets sector. The Treasury Department and other federal agencies released a series of reports that — among other things — encourage the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to “aggressively pursue” investigations and enforcement actions against "crypto scams, frauds, and other illegal activity in the digital assets space".
5. November 2022: the Federal Reserve announced that it would launch a public consultation on the potential design and policy issues of a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC), also known as a digital dollar. The Fed said it would publish a discussion paper in mid-2023 and seek feedback from stakeholders and the public on various aspects of a CBDC, such as benefits, risks, legal frameworks and operational considerations.
6. October, 2022: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reported to have brought 82 enforcement actions in the fiscal year 2022 – a whopping 22% of which were filed against crypto-related entities.
7. December 2022: the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a policy statement on deposit insurance for stablecoins, a type of digital asset that is pegged to a fiat currency or other asset. The statement clarified that stablecoins are not eligible for deposit insurance unless they meet certain criteria, such as being backed by actual deposits at an insured bank and being redeemable at par value on demand. This confirmed their posture released on May 20, of the previous year.
8. January 2023: the U.S. Justice Department announced a major international cryptocurrency enforcement action, involving multiple agencies and foreign partners. The details of the action were not disclosed, but it was expected to target illicit actors using digital assets for money laundering, terrorism financing, ransomware and other crimes.
9. January 2023: the New York Attorney General’s office ordered BlockFi, a crypto lending platform, to stop offering interest-bearing accounts to New York residents, saying that the products violated state securities laws. The order was part of a broader investigation into BlockFi’s operations and compliance with consumer protection and anti-money laundering rules.
10. February 2023: the SEC fined several public figures for crypto promoting, as well as TRON network CEO for releasing "unregistered securities". This development happened a couple of months after the mentioned network released Stablecoins pegged to foreign currencies (GBP, EUR, and CNH/Chinesse Yuan in Dec, 2022).
11. February 2023: the SEC charged Coinbase, a leading crypto exchange, with misleading investors about its revenue and profitability projections ahead of its public listing in April 2022. The SEC alleged that Coinbase made false and misleading statements in its registration statement and prospectus, inflating its expected revenue growth and concealing its exposure to market volatility and regulatory risks
12. March 2023: President Biden signed an executive order on ensuring responsible development of digital assets, which outlined the first whole-of-government strategy to address the risks and benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology. The order laid out six key priorities and called for measures to protect consumers, investors, businesses, financial stability, national security, and the environment.
13. March 2023: after the collapse of the SVB Bank (one of the leading banks serving crypto-related businesses) following the raise of the interest rate by the Fed. Reserve; First National Bank bought all SVB's assets, excluding the crypto branch, a move that many experts pointed out as forced by anti-crypto regulators' pressure.
14. March 2023: the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil enforcement action against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, accusing it of illegally offering derivatives products linked to cryptocurrencies to U.S. customers without registering with the agency. The CFTC also alleged that Binance failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering and customer identification procedures.
15. March 2023: a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill to ban TikTok, a popular social media app owned by a Chinese company, from all federal devices and networks. The bill, called the “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT)” Act, also gave the president and the secretary of commerce the authority to regulate or ban any communications technology products and services linked to foreign accounts. If passed, it could have far-reaching consequences for the US crypto industry, since the bill could be used to ban or restrict access to crypto applications or web portals hosted or developed by foreign adversaries or their affiliates, limiting the choices and opportunities for crypto users and developers in the US market. Additionally, imposing harsh penalties for using communications technology products and services with applications or web portals associated with foreign adversaries, which could create a chilling effect on the freedom and privacy of crypto users and developers who use VPNs or other tools to circumvent geo-restrictions or censorship. Moreover, the bill's broad and vague powers could undermine the innovation and competitiveness of the US crypto industry by creating uncertainty and fear among crypto companies, investors, and customers, thus creating a hostile and unpredictable environment for the industry.

As you may notice, the events are escalating in both number and boldness; the encirclement is advancing at an accelerating rate, and is followed by a lot of mainstream FUD against the industry and its main players.

We are not yet threatened directly by them, but the way is being paved for it. And we do nothing, the big boots will arrive at each of our doorsteps.

If the RESTRICT act is passed in congress, we might be also seeing the seed of a development similar to the "War on Drugs", where the US forced the whole world to completely ban and make all kinds of drugs -illegal, basically forbidding any research on very useful compounds, and ruining the lives of millions across the world. Just this time crypto and privacy might be the next target.

Ps. If I got any date or fact wrong, missed something, or whatever, please point it out so I can correct it! This is by no means a definitive list, and it's probably quite flawed and incomplete :).