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Senators Are Hopping Mad and Demanding Answers for the Crypto Collapse:
Lawmakers from opposing parties disagreed over who and what was truly to blame for a devastating crypto crash that left customers collectively burnout out of billions in losses during a Wednesday Senate Banking Committee hearing. While Democratic lawmakers and crypto skeptics warned of the dangers presented by a lack of meaningful oversight measures, Republicans pushed back, with some blaming part of the recent tumultuous chaos on the Securities and Exchange Commission's alleged failure to use regulatory powers already at its disposal.
[...] The lawmakers questioned three expert witnesses who held widely divergent views on cryptocurrency. Linda Jeng, the chief global regulatory officer and general counsel for major crypto advocacy group Crypto Council for Innovation, largely went to bat for the industry, while Duke Financial Economics Center Policy Director Lee Reiners and Vanderbilt University Law School Professor Yesha Yadav have spoken more critically about crypto companies.
In her testimony, Jeng, who testified under her personal capacity as an academic and researcher, tried to separate the broader crypto space from specific bad actors like FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, and called for a light-handed, nuanced regulatory approach. Jeng said it was important for crypto firms to have clear rules of the road dictating what they can and can't do, but cautioned against overly aggressive restrictions. In addition to rules, Jeng said it was important for the U.S. to adopt a more coherent national strategy around crypto to avoid falling too far behind the E.U., U.K, and others.
"This is a key moment for our transition to a digital economy," Jeng said in her written testimony. "We are at a decision point where how we build our legal and regulatory foundation will determine our digital future for decades to come.
Reiners was far less measured. The professor said he believed crypto was "doing more harm than good to our society," and questioned some lawmakers' interest in embracing a technology, "that is undermining our sovereignty." Not mincing words, Reiners said regulators should do everything in their power to prevent crypto from seeping its way into the traditional banking sector.
"Crypto is just gambling," Reiners said, before comparing crypto to Powerball tickets.
Citing the recent FTX collapse as an example, Reiners said lawmakers and regulators should force platforms to separate customer and firm assets to prevent shady companies from investing customer funds in other areas.
Ignore, if you can, the partisan arguments. What do you think is the future of cyptocurrencies and what policies should we be adopting to help shape that future?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by krishnoid on Friday February 17, @08:14PM (7 children)
If the senators are hopping mad because
their friends and family and investment advisors and campaign donorscustomers lost lots of money, well, I guess the great bird of thegalaxyfree market is coming home to roost because a lot ofsenatorspeople didn't understand the historical impetus behind our delightfully tortuous financial regulatory system.And maybe why you can lose money investing in "financial instruments" rather than, say, a melon. I mean, isn't cryptocurrency basically lines on a cryptographically signed double-entry ledger? And if you want to go to crypto-Staples and buy another ledger and put a picture of a cute dog on it, you can? Doesn't even sell advertising space? "Value" that for me.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday February 17, @08:52PM (5 children)
I wouldn't exactly call it a double entry ledger, but I guess that's better than a "series of tubes..."
I believe the Crypto collapse is most easily explained as: "Vapor in, vapor out." Any temporary value assigned to these ephemeral concepts is solely at the discretion of the "collectors" of said items.
Vaguely related: "The Pez Outlaw" is a fun example of a guy with a fun story who wrote it up in a blog and sold it to Netflix for production as a Comed-umentary. In his story, he tapped into a market of "collectors" who were willing to pay $25 a pop, all day long, for "unique" Pez dispensers. I won't spoil it anymore than to say, it looked like a fun ride and: he got his bubble burst before he made too much money.
Crypto attracts bigger pools of fools, but (in 99.9%+ of what is sold as "investments" in crypto) it has even less underlying value than Pez dispensers.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18, @10:29AM (2 children)
BitCoin. Tulips.
Invest in yourself.
Anything else can and will be taken from you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18, @10:33AM
He who has the gun will soon have the gun and the gold.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday February 18, @09:20PM
>Invest in yourself.
For any who haven't read it yet: http://mangocats.com/ao/IslandLife.html [mangocats.com]
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday February 18, @09:06PM (1 child)
I guess that's better than a "series of tubes..."
It doesn't really matter, since you have the ignorant leading the unlearned.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday February 18, @09:23PM
Scary part is, it's no worse today than in the past, mostly better actually, but much more visible.
TIATA - transparency is always the answer.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday February 17, @10:05PM
If the senators are really really mad, it's because they themselves lost a bunch of money in it. Most of 'em are psychotic enough that they won't care all that much about the people around them getting burnt, but when it's their own portfolio that's an emergency.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.