President Biden issued a highly anticipated executive order on crypto yesterday, and instead of the regulatory “cujo” many had expected, it was more like a golden retriever. Blockchain big-hitters, including the Winklevoss twins, applauded it online, saying the White House had finally recognized the legitimacy of crypto.
The gist of it: Biden called on government agencies to explore the pros, cons, and possibilities of digital assets, with some specific callouts.
- Consumer safety: Biden tasked the Treasury with drafting policies to protect consumers from scams, cyberattacks, and other illicit activities that run rampant in crypto.
- Environmental impacts: Crypto’s earned a bad rap for the high energy costs associated with mining digital currencies like bitcoin, and the US wants to mitigate those.
- Digitizing the dollar: Following in China’s footsteps, the US is looking into developing its own digital currency.
The order also emphasized that the US aims to establish itself as a global leader in the crypto space. Though the best time to plant that tree might’ve been five or so years ago, the second best time may be now—considering China effectively banned crypto last year.
READ: All About Digital Currencies
Bottom line: Biden’s order is “a watershed moment for crypto, digital assets, and Web 3, akin to the 1996/1997 whole of government wakeup to the commercial internet.
At the time of this article the writers were actively using Coinbase, FTX, Metamask, Trust Wallet, Crypto.com, Binance, Robinhood, Webull, KuCoin, Voyager and Hotbit. They also own currencies: BTC, ETH, USDC, SOL, AVAX, ALGO, MATIC, CRO, ENS, DOT, XLM, MANA, RARI, ENJ, XRP, FIL, SAND, HNT.
