Here in the closing days of the Biden administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a proposed rule, open for comment through March, which would treat virtual currency wallets as "accounts" — among other things.
Why it matters: One of the long-simmering topics in this space is whether or not banking regulations extend to digital assets completely in the control of individuals.
That was Satoshi's big idea, to give people a way to hold digital cash without leaning on a third party.
Friction point: Coin Center, which focuses on protecting people's rights to build decentralized financial applications, pointed out that the rule doesn't draw a distinction between wallets controlled by the owner and those that rely on a company.
Flashback: In the final days of the first Trump administration, Stephen Mnuchin's Treasury also attempted to weigh in on self-hosted wallets.
The bottom line: Sometimes history simply repeats itself.
