Several governments including the US, Singapore, China, and Japan are looking for ways to regulate and control the growth of digital currencies. China has already made it unlawful for companies to collect funds from people by issuing the virtual tokens. Some bitcoin enthusiasts and advocacy groups are pitching up in Washington DC lobbying for a push in 2018 to save the cryptocurrency industry from being regulated. Some people have expressed their fear that too much regulation and government involvement could stifle innovation and alter the privacy of cryptocurrencies.

The lobbying came about after bitcoin margins skyrocketed over $17,000 this year and were featured on the Wall Street as a lucrative business. However, many financial analysts have predicted that it’s a matter of time before regulators look deep into the digital currency business.

Lew Claasen, the executive director at Bitcoin Foundation has opposed the proposal for a regulation and according to him; the technological innovation should be allowed to evolve freely without material interference from the government especially during its initial stages of adoption – where cryptocurrency is at the moment.

The committee at Iowa Republican is currently considering the anti-money laundering legislation that would allow the deployment of essential tools to close all the loopholes that finance terrorism and other criminal activities. The bill will include a section to expand the definition of ‘financial institutions’ to cover an issuer, redeemer or cashier involved in digital currency and any other digital handlers in the industry.

Bitcoin Foundation is putting pressure on the committee to confiscate the section on the cryptocurrencies from the Senate bill or limit the language used to the digital currency exchanges. The proposed provisions to the issuers of the digital currency are considered misleading and the burden of compliance could be greater than the benefit it offers, according to the Bitcoin Foundation.

The crucial thing that lawmakers should do is to consult the cryptocurrency industry champions when drafting the legislation of regulation bills so as they can clearly understand the definitions and terms used in the industry, how the industry operates and the key forces that manipulate the industry.