Bithumb Economic Research Institute: "US Government to Foster Digital Asset Industry as Future Growth Engine"

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] An analysis has emerged that the U.S. government aims to develop the digital asset industry as a future growth engine.

Bithumb Economic Research Institute, affiliated with the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, published a report on the 27th titled "Reading the U.S. Government’s Thoughts through Departmental Reports Following the Executive Order," analyzing that the U.S. government is drawing a blueprint to leverage the potential opportunities of digital assets to foster national growth engines. At the same time, it is expected to prepare a comprehensive government-wide regulatory framework to minimize growth risks.

In March, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies, including the Treasury Department, to analyze the opportunities and risks of digital assets. Subsequently, nine departments submitted related reports to the White House. The White House compiled these and on the 16th announced a fact sheet (A Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets), presenting a mid- to long-term roadmap for the U.S. to embrace the digital economy era, according to the institute.

Through analysis of the fact sheet released by the White House, Bithumb Economic Research Institute pointed out that the U.S. government identifies three opportunity factors for digital assets: ▲utilizing them as a means to maintain dollar hegemony ▲expanding financial accessibility for citizens ▲fostering related industries. The three risk factors hindering innovation are ▲stablecoins ▲investor harm due to illegal activities ▲environmental issues, for which solutions are being developed.

The institute evaluated that the U.S. has a strong determination to continuously maintain dollar hegemony by utilizing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the future, countering foreign CBDCs and private digital assets. It also explained that the U.S. views this as an opportunity to increase accessibility for groups marginalized from the traditional financial system. In particular, the U.S. recognizes the potential of digital assets as a wealth creation opportunity and actively invests in research on digital assets and related technologies to promote private sector innovation.

Conversely, the U.S. indicated strong regulation on stablecoins, which pose a threat to dollar hegemony, and plans to strengthen investor protection measures to correct fraudulent activities occurring in the market. Additionally, it announced that carbon neutrality policies will be applied to the digital industry, accelerating the shift from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) mining methods, the institute forecasted.

Oh Yuri, head of the policy research team at Bithumb Economic Research Institute, stated, "The recent digital asset policy guidelines announced by the White House do not simply aim to strengthen regulations but reveal a determination to nurture digital assets in line with national wealth, making them a future growth engine and maintaining U.S. dollar hegemony in the digital economy era." She added, "The U.S.’s flexible and proactive digital asset policy formulation process is worth referencing for South Korea as well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.