Don’t Let Regulators Kill Crypto

Americans are excited about crypto. Who can blame them? Digital currencies promise to eliminate the middleman in all manner of value transfers, starting with financial markets. But no good deed goes unpunished, and federal regulators are growing panicked that their control might be diminished.

The recently passed infrastructure bill in Congress, President Biden’s Working Group report on stablecoins, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “regulation by enforcement” policy, and the Federal Reserve’s flirtation with a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) all reveal Washington’s intent to scale back or even kill this blossoming industry.

Government crypto foes warn of systemic risks, insufficient consumer and investor protection, and inadequate reporting. Regulators can supposedly fix these maladies by forcing Americans to bypass wealth opportunities and surrender financial privacy. Instead of private digital currency, they’re eying central bank digital currencies, whereby a public ledger records and monitors all financial transactions. China is already implementing such a system. We’re assured a U.S. version would come with appropriate protections, but Tea Party activists and others who’ve had their taxes leaked over the past few years have cause to disagree.

Read the full article on National Review.