FinCEN Proposes Requiring Anal Swabs For All Bitcoin Purchases

FinCEN, which stands for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, has expressed concern that people's digital identities are difficult to track and need to be verified with DNA, rather than previously accepted identification processes. The roll out of the proposed requirements would be for what FinCEN classifies as high risk financial activities such as purchasing cryptocurrency. If passed, the proposal would require individuals to submit to an anal swab before purchasing Bitcoin from regulated exchanges such as Cash App or Swan.

The proposal has sparked outrage on social media, as many are comparing it to Chinese Covid policies that subjected citizens to anal swabs in order to test for Covid. It is quite strange that this proposal comes out the same week Chinese Premiere, Xi Jinping was visiting the United States. Many have stated the obvious which is that there are other ways to collect DNA samples besides putting a stick up someone's butt.

The likely outcome of the new proposed regulation will be individuals opting out from using regulated exchanges, choosing instead to buy their Bitcoin off the black market. No black market Bitcoin dealer has ever forced their customer to submit to anal swab. It is likely that FinCEN knows this and is trying to push people towards the black market to prevent the industry from growing too much in the United States.