You’ve heard of Bitcoin and you might even actually understand how Bitcoin works but that doesn’t mean that it’s above scrutiny. The US Congress has launched an investigation into Bitcoin and the world virtual currencies to gain understanding of them and determine what, if any, regulations should be placed on them.

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) and ranking Republican committee member Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) sent a joint letter to several agencies asking for their policies on virtual currencies. These agencies are reported to include the Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve, Department of Treasury, the Securities and Exchanges Commission, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

The letter reads, “As with all emerging technologies, the federal government must make sure that potential threats and risks are dealt with swiftly. However, we must also ensure that rash or uninformed actions don’t stifle a potentially valuable technology.”

The letter should tick all the right boxes. The Committee wants to put some regulations on it so that people aren’t somehow ripped off while not interfering with the growth of virtual currencies. Like I said, the should tick all the right boxes but considering how well financial sector regulation has done for the American economy I won’t hold my breath on Congress getting this one right.

Sources: Washington Post, Politico (Limited Articles per Month Paywall)