As part of the U.S. sanction against Venezuela, the President’s executive order prohibits any transactions involving the digital currency issued by the Government of Venezuela earlier this year. This was the latest addition to the list of financial sanctions that were already in place against Venezuela in an effort to combat the regime of the current President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and restrict its access to capital.
According to the executive order, which became effective at 12:15 P.O. EST on March 19, 2018, “all transactions related to, provision of financing for, and other dealings in, by a United States person or within the United States, any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token, that was issued by, for, or on behalf of the Government of Venezuela on or after January 9, 2018, are prohibited as of the effective date of this order.”
The Secretary of the Treasure together with the Secretary of State would be responsible for drafting rules and regulations, including penalties, for violation of this executive order.
Although this executive order relates more to the sanctions against the Venezuela Government rather than the restrictions on cryptocurrenies in general, none the less it shows how easy the U.S. Government can regulate transactions involving cryptocurrencies in the U.S.
March 19, 2018