According to Treasury officials, more knowledge and insight about crypto asset investing "would be helpful."
The US Treasury Department is starting a new campaign to increase awareness about the threats of investing in virtual assets.
According to a top Treasury official, the action emerges as the asset class moves from a specialized industry to a widespread investment, possibly attracting less skilled investors.
The Treasury Department's "Financial Literacy Education Commission" is focusing on educational methods to explain how crypto assets function and how they vary from traditional assets.
Nellie Liang, the Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, told Reuters that people with limited exposure to conventional financial services are the intended audience. She added:
“We’re hearing more and more about investors and households who are purchasing crypto assets, and we recognize the complexity of how some of these assets operate.”
Liang went on to say that increased knowledge and understanding in this area "would be helpful."
Improved financial learning and education are certainly beneficial to the public, as there has been concern that regulators' current focus on "protecting" consumers has resulted in the removal of deprived groups from crypto wealth-building prospects.
Cleve Mesidor, the creator of The National Policy Network of Women of Color in Blockchain, has stated:
“If they were more focused on financial literacy and skills training and workforce training, that would be acceptable, but they are mostly focused on consumer protectionism.”
The new education section includes 20 distinct agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission. The effort may alleviate authorities' worries about the risks involved with crypto investing, and also strengthen their continuous goal to safeguard investors from sector frauds.
The Treasury Department seems to be adopting an active stance on the issue, recognising that digital assets could provide further advantages for cross-border payment or financial integration. Liang continued:
“We’re just trying to raise awareness without trying to stamp out new technology and a new innovation.”
President Joe Biden of the United States is anticipated to release an executive order detailing the government's approach for managing the crypto assets this week. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accidentally disclosed details of the directive today, which also asks the Justice Department, Treasury, and other agencies to investigate the legal and economic implications of creating central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Governmental entities are not the only ones seeking educational objectives. LeBron James collaborated with Crypto.com in January to create an education effort to teach students in his homeland of Akron about crypto and blockchain technology.
In February, it was reported that the P2P network Paxful founded "La Casa Del Bitcoin," a new teaching and training institute in El Salvador that offers free learning experiences about crypto.
The education effort is mutual, as major crypto firms have intensified their influence on Capitol Hill in the last year. Companies like Ripple Labs and Coinbase have been stepping up their attempts to "educate" lawmakers about the industry and the technology that supports it.
