This makes me very nervous about the Monero I own. It is understandable that the government would eventually use AML against Bitcoin mixing services. But how will the government go after cryptocurrencies that have mixing and transaction obfuscation built into their protocols?
I've heard the argument that it is impossible for the US Government to regulate decentralized cryptocurrencies. FinCEN cannot force a change in the Bitcoin or Monero protocols. However it is entirely within the government's authority to regulate the users of said currencies. So I imagine the government would add onerous reporting requirements for any citizen or corporation holding privacy based coins in order to circumvent their privacy features.
I've heard the argument that it is impossible for the US Government to regulate decentralized cryptocurrencies. FinCEN cannot force a change in the Bitcoin or Monero protocols. However it is entirely within the government's authority to regulate the users of said currencies. So I imagine the government would add onerous reporting requirements for any citizen or corporation holding privacy based coins in order to circumvent their privacy features.