Regulatory Crypto-nite

Regulatory Crypto-nite Thomas Wade, Director of Financial Services Policy Why is fintech like teenage drinking? It's all everyone seems to talk about, everyone pretends they’re doing it, and yet so many get hazy when pressed on the details. As will surprise no long-time Eakinomics reader, nowhere is that lack of understanding more apparent than in Washington. In Washington’s defense, the fintech discussion covers a wide range of topics, from the frothiness and apparently still severe potential for volatility in the crypto markets, to a government-released, federally backed digital U.S. dollar, to the environmental implications of crypto mining. But Washington can only be forgiven to a point, and federal regulatory oversight of the market is so underdeveloped that it is far too generous to describe the landscape as one of regulatory gaps when it is nearly impossible to find stable ground at all. Instead we see only a patchwork of partial and inconsistent rulemakings emerging from the federal financial regulators. It is for this reason that AAF is now tracking significant regulatory, policy, and market developments in cryptocurrency and digital asset markets. Join us as we follow the development of crypto policy from Congress, the federal agencies, and internationally, as we chart trends in focus from stablecoins, central bank digital currencies, to cryptocurrency crime. The tracker also follows significant developments at the state level, as legislatures in California, Wyoming, and Arizona blaze a trail in the absence of Congress. Perhaps that’s the final similarity between fintech and teenage drinking – for now, your familiarity with the subject probably varies greatly depending on the state you’re in.