Law & Policy

So, the SEC is dropping its case against @coinbase . Overall this is being seen as a big win for crypto, which in many ways it is. But I think it more importantly again highlights some of the political problems surrounding the sector, particularly in the US...🧵

Regulation and policy analyst. Have a background in politics and competition economics. Decentralise, redistribute, rebel

https://paragraph.xyz/@technocrap

On the other though, this highlights the politically charged problem of something like crypto at the moment. While not a crypto-unique problem, this is a good example.

The Biden administration attacked Coinbase and much of the crypto world, largely I would argue because of its cosiness to the GOP. Both of these things are problematic...

Administrations should not play with crucial markets and industries to win political points. This is something that nearly all modern politics is guilty of – and many of Trump's actions on crypto will be for this reason also

And then on the cosiness of crypto to the Trump admin – the government is not a business and should not act like one. It should not legislate based on wealthy business interests. Trump will do this of course, but it is wrong

This is my fear for crypto regulation under this administration – the regulatory framework should be developed with safety at its core – the safety of the crypto industry and its users/investors. I worry that the Trump admin will push this framework to be too open and too unrestricted on big business

If this is how crypto is regulated, IT WILL NOT WORK HOW MOST OF THE COMMUNITY WANT IT TO. It is crucial that we continue to scrutinise legislative and regulatory developments in crypto to hold regulators and govt to account  forcing them to regulate it properly

Be grateful for the current opportunities of crypto, but beware the political demagogues who wish to manipulate it for their electoral and monetary gain.

If we are being honest, this case has been dropped because of the recent change of administration in the US. On the one hand, dropping this case and instead focusing on developing a robust, comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto, is a great thing.