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US crypto regulation is likely 'in a holding pattern' until after the 2024 election: Paradigm Policy Director

The Scoop

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The Need for Clarity in Cryptocurrency Regulations

The head of securities regulators claims that the standard for regulating cryptocurrency already exists, but is this really true? Looking back at past laws and reports, it seems there may not be enough clarity. As a former SEC consultant, I understand the risks of being too quick to regulate, but after years of confusion and numerous companies struggling to understand the rules, it's reasonable to expect additional regulatory guidance. Some policymakers may fear that new rules for crypto will be weaker than existing ones, but I believe there is great potential for positive change. By addressing the challenges of regulating crypto, we can benefit the industry, consumers, investors, and even the regulators themselves. It's a mindset that needs to become more prevalent and deserves further discussion. Industry participants are seeking clarity, which is why companies like Paradigm hire experts like me to help navigate these questions.

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Speaker 2
When we ask for a standard, the sort of retort from the head of our securities regulators is that the standard exists. Do you think there's any, first off, is that oversimplification of his stance perhaps? But is it a fair response? If you look back to the laws on the book and to the Dow report that we got a few years ago, is there enough?
Speaker 1
Here's what I'd say, right? I was very sympathetic to this stance back five or six years ago because I did think it was, there's inherently a risk when you're a regulator of if you're too fast to respond to guidance in the nation industry, maybe you'll create loopholes. But personally then, I did consulting work. I was at the SEC and it's been now over 10 years since a lot of initial activity on crypto. CFTC held that Bitcoin was a commodity in 2015 in the coin flip case. The Dow report was 2016. At some point, when one company can't figure out the rules on the company, when 10 companies can't figure out the rules on the company, when nobody can figure out the rules and hundreds of companies say they can't figure out the rules, that's a point where it's reasonable for the regulator to say, okay, here's some additional regulatory guidance. I also just think though, part of the fear of a lot of policymakers, this is my personal opinion, is that they are afraid that any new rules they create for crypto will be weaker than existing rules. There's no upside for the people. There's no upset for regulators. They're just creating loopholes. It's the idea of we perfected securities regulation and commodities regulation. I just reject that. I think there's a lot of potential here, even if you're a regulator to like change here. We've never regulated spot commodities. A lot of the bills in place would actually do that for the first time in history. We've never had independent funding for the CFTC off of fees like the SEC partially gets. That was in some of the bills discussed before. There's ways in which attacking the questions of crypto leads to wins for the industry, for consumers, for investors, for the regulators as well. I think that is the mindset that I wish was more prevalent. It's a really interesting point
Speaker 2
that I don't think we've unpacked on the show. To what extent, you obviously have a number of industry participants that are asking for clarity. I'm sure that's a large part of why a paradigm hires someone like you. It's like, hey, all of our portfolio companies have these same questions.

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