It’s
silly
season
in
crypto
policy,
and
we’re
starting
to
see
hyperbolic
hot
takes
denouncing
crypto
in
two
of
the
major
newspapers
of
record
in
the
U.S.
First,
New
York
Times
columnist
Paul
Krugman,
a
long-time
contrarian
on
the
impact
of
technology
on
the
economy,
released
a
column
on
the
role
of
crypto
in
the
election
where
he
suggested
crypto
was
merely
“technobabble
and
libertarian
derp,
.
.
.
which
has
actually
been
reinforced
by
the
passage
of
time.”
He
also
says
he
does
not
believe
that
crypto
solves
any
problems
“that
can’t
be
handled
more
easily
and
cheaply
in
other
ways…
I’ve
been
in
many
meetings
over
the
years
in
which
skeptics
have
asked
crypto
advocates
that
question
and
have
never
heard
a
clear
answer.”
This
opinion
was
surpassed
in
its
misunderstanding
by
the
Washington
Post
editorial
board,
which
decided
to
write
a
poorly-evidenced
love
letter
to
SEC
Chair
Gary
Gensler.
According
to
the
Washington
Post’s
editorial,
“Cryptocurrency
is
a
volatile
asset
with
no
intrinsic
value.
It
is
used
almost
exclusively
to
speculate
or
to
engage
in
shady
businesses,
such
as
selling
drugs
or
collecting
ransom,
for
which
the
anonymous
nature
of
crypto
accounts
come
in
handy.”
And
today,
unsurprisingly,
another
opinion
piece
in
The
New
York
Times
warns
us
all,
“don’t
be
fooled.”
Given
the
high
stakes
of
this
election
for
crypto
and
America,
it
is
more
important
than
ever
that
misinformation
about
crypto
be
vigorously
corrected.
As
Sen.
Daniel
Patrick
Moynihan
famously
said
“You
are
entitled
to
your
opinion.
But
you
are
not
entitled
to
your
own
facts.”
Here
are
some
key
facts:
First,
and
most
critically,
only
a
small
fraction
of
crypto
is
used
for
illicit
activity,
far
less
than
we
see
in
traditional
finance,
which
according
to
the
United
Nations
could
be
up
to
5%
of
global
GDP.
Per
analytics
firm
Chainalysis,
money
laundering
accounts
for
less
than
0.5%
of
all
crypto
transaction
flows.
This
is
also
decreasing
steadily
over
time.
Even
as
crypto
usage
rose
in
2023,
the
amount
of
money
laundering
in
crypto
fell
from
$31.5
billion
in
2022
to
$22.2
billion
in
2023.
No
significant
amount
of
illicit
activity
is
acceptable,
but
to
single
out
crypto
as
the
villain
is
both
inaccurate
and
tired.
Additionally,
there
are
many
important
uses
of
crypto.
For
payments,
crypto
has
innovated
the
stablecoin,
a
product
fixed
to
the
dollar
with
a
total
market
capitalization
of
over
$160
billion.
Crypto
is
being
used
for
election
prediction
markets
like
Polymarket,
which
even
New
York
Times
reporters
monitor
for
insights.
It
is
also
being
used
to
find
better
systems
of
real-time
trading
via
decentralized
finance,
and
billions
of
dollars
of
remittances
just
between
the
U.S.
and
Mexico.
Claims
about
Chair
Gensler
being
some
ordinary
good-faith
regulator
focused
on
passing
regulations
on
crypto
are
similarly
inaccurate.
In
reality,
Chair
Gensler
has
aggressively
fought
efforts
to
pass
legislation
on
crypto,
reversing
his
stance
in
2021
that
he
needed
legislative
authority
to
regulate
crypto.
In
doing
so,
Chair
Gensler
has
engaged
in
political
warfare
against
Democrats
on
Capitol
Hill,
the
crypto
industry,
and
even
his
fellow
Biden
Administration
regulators.
By
falling
for
SEC
spin,
the
Washington
Post
editorial
board
has
fallen
for
a
confidence
game
by
a
politician
in
regulatory
clothing.
Even
the
SEC
now
agrees
that
neither
BTC
nor
ETH
are
securities,
and
judges
appointed
by
Democrats
have
also
disagreed
with
the
SEC
Chair’s
claim
that
the
law
is
clear.
Every
other
major
developed
country
and
trading
block,
from
Japan
and
the
United
Kingdom
to
the
European
Union,
has
responded
to
the
novel
questions
posed
by
crypto
by
providing
new
regulation
and
legislation.
In
the
U.S.,
however,
the
SEC
has
decided
to
do
the
governmental
equivalent
of
jamming
its
fingers
in
its
ears
and
screaming
at
companies
that
they
are
lawbreakers.
This
is
activity
that
is
not
befitting
any
regulator,
and
should
be
the
stuff
of
editorial
board
scorn
—
not
accolades.
The
reality
is
that
crypto
is
here
to
stay,
and
the
question
on
the
table
is
simply
whether
the
United
States
waves
goodbye
as
the
next
wave
of
innovation
flows
offshore.
The
crypto
industry
has
been
in
positive,
open
dialogue
about
reasonable
legislation,
and
has
engaged
in
good
faith
with
policymakers.
More
than
a
year
and
a
half
has
transpired
since
the
crypto
winter
of
2022.
Claims
that
crypto
will
disappear
within
six
months
have
been
made
so
frequently
and
so
baselessly
that
they
are
beginning
to
resemble
a
little
boy
crying
wolf.
It
is
long
past
time
that
the
U.S.
government
do
what
all
its
peer
nations
have
done
and
find
workable
bipartisan
legislation
and
regulations
for
crypto.
The
failure
to
do
so
has
harmed
American
competitiveness,
the
crypto
industry
and
ordinary
consumers.
Worse,
the
campaign
that
has
been
waged
by
the
SEC
Chair
largely
in
the
press
has
given
credence
to
the
arguments
of
Donald
Trump
that
all
politics
is
base
and
hypocritical,
thereby
damaging
Democrat
arguments
that
they
stand
for
fair
process
and
the
rule
of
law.
But
to
get
to
the
point
of
passing
legislation,
it
is
important
that
not
just
crypto
advocates
like
us
but
crypto
skeptics
actually
have
a
basic
understanding
of
what
crypto
actually
is
at
present.
Hopefully,
flagging
their
myriad
errors
will
make
the
Washington
Post
editorial
board
and
Prof.
Krugman
put
down
their
biases
and
actually
look
at
the
reality
of
crypto.
Because
without
a
doubt,
crypto
is
here
to
stay.
Note:
The
views
expressed
in
this
column
are
those
of
the
author
and
do
not
necessarily
reflect
those
of
CoinDesk,
Inc.
or
its
owners
and
affiliates.
