Doomscroll with Joshua Citarella Doomscroll 39.5: Ro Khanna
Jan 26, 2026
Ro Khanna, U.S. Congressman focused on tech and economic policy. He debates crypto regulation, calls for limits on officials trading digital assets, and explores stablecoins as cross-border payment tools. The conversation links World of Warcraft and crypto libertarianism, examines forkable governance, and stresses marrying innovation with democratic accountability.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Ban Officials From Trading Crypto
- Do ban or restrict elected officials from trading or holding crypto to curb corruption and conflicts of interest.
- Enforce rules that prevent presidents, vice presidents, and members of Congress from enriching their families via cryptocurrency.
Use Cases Versus Concentrated Wealth
- Crypto has real use cases like cross-border payments and stablecoins for people without access to reliable banking.
- The same infrastructure that empowers those use cases also enabled a new billionaire class with radical ideologies.
Game Design Shaped Crypto Ideals
- A personal experience with Blizzard influenced Vitalik to distrust centralized control and imagine infinite forking of institutional decisions.
- That mindset helped catalyze a trillion-dollar industry aiming to make governance and services forkable.