The Emerging Payments Task Force Invites Regulators to Study Bitcoin

The Emerging Payments Task Force was created to study new payment systems, such as digital currencies, in order to research and examine the opportunities and risks they pose.

Emerging Payments Task Force

The task force is made up of nine state bank regulators, who will oversee the impacts digital currency have in the financial marketplace.

Tennessee’s top banking official, Greg Gonzales recently joined the Emerging Payments Task Force. Gonzales ststed:

“It’s important for us to look at what’s happening, to see how that impacts all these institutions we regulate. One of the practical things we want to accomplish is being able to provide advice to the public with respect to virtual currencies.”

The EPTF has already had two meetings, and a plan has been made to hold a public hearing in Chicago next month. The hearing will focus on the world of digital currency, as well as how new technologies can be implemented for existing money.

With the assistance of the EPTF, digital coins like bitcoin may be on their way to become more accepted and better understood by US government officials and banks.

However, some bitcoin enthusiasts prefer bitcoin to remain the way it is, while others want it to be recognized by top financial institutions. One bitcoiner in Nashville, TN had this to say:

“My main fear is if they do regulate bitcoin in the US, whether on a local level or a national level, that will continue to push innovation to other countries. This is a new technology that is moving at an incredibly fast pace, and it’s going to do that whether or not the U.S. is part of that.”

Gonzales believes that the task force will have to compare the risks of digital currencies with the safety of consumers in mind. Such risks associated with bitcoin are the burdens known as black market site Silk Road, and the chain of denial of service attacks to bitcoin exchanges and institutions. As digital coins gain popularity, many feel a ‘guidebook’ is necessary to prepare users in the event of another such catastrophe.

For now, Gonzales hopes to speak with the owners of the Nashville Bitcoin Meetup Group to see how the currency is currently used locally.

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