Cryptocurrencies were born out of the libertarian dream of a financial system free from government regulation. Bitcoin’s promoters peddle its ability to let us make transactions without dealing with regulated banks, which, they say, we are not supposed to trust.
What crypto players since stripped of their “investments” saw were some operators getting amazingly rich sitting in their shorts and running numbers on their laptops. The less savvy may not have quite understood how this thing worked, but they could bask in the flattery of being called “brave,” per the Super Bowl ads.
The crypto markets crashed amid a sobering string of scandals, crimes and the growing evidence that much of this wealth was basically made-up money. Amid so much suffering, calls have been growing in Washington, D.C., to impose government oversight on the industry.
The idea is insane.
Nonetheless, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, wants to work with Congress to increase his agency’s oversight of what he has accurately calls the “Wild West” of crypto. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren is predictably working on a big digital currency bill that, Politico reports, would cover “consumer protections, anti-money laundering rules and climate safeguards for crypto mining.”
