The US CFPB seeks public input on proposed rules to enhance consumer protections against crypto transaction fraud. The rules aim to apply the 1978 Electronic Fund Transfer Act to modern digital payment mechanisms like stablecoin
People can give the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau their thoughts on suggested rules that will make crypto transactions safer for consumers.
The body in charge of keeping an eye on consumer financial markets came up with a “interpretive rule” for how the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and other rules should be applied to new “digital payment mechanisms” like stablecoins.
That Act is a federal law that was passed in 1978 and is meant to protect people who use electronic fund transfers, like ATMs back in the day.
“When people pay for their family expenses using new forms of digital payments, they must be confident that their transactions are not tainted by harmful surveillance or errors,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement.
It’s not clear what will happen with CFPB rules now that the agency is said to have angered the new Trump administration. As an example, Elon Musk, the wealthy co-leader of the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency (named after Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, DOGE), said on X in November that he would “delete CFPB.”
That idea for the CFPB came from Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2007. It has focused on a number of crypto use cases and asked U.S. officials to make rules and apply current laws to the sector. “Consumer use of stablecoins will likely increase in the coming years,” the agency said in a statement on Friday.
On Friday, some people in the crypto business didn’t like the CFPB’s proposed rules. Coin Center’s executive director, Peter Van Valkenburgh, said it’s not clear if the suggested rules would cover self-hosted (i.e., not-custodial) wallet service providers. “Cryptocurrency services provided by trusted intermediaries” and software tools are the same to the agency, he wrote.