Lisa Blunt Rochester is a senator from Delaware. Definitely call/write to these senators. Here's a website to facilitate contact: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/
Excellent post explaining in detail the problems of cryptocurrency. My first reaction is frustration because when the Ponzi scheme fails, I and millions of people who oppose this scheme will be forced against our will to bail out the people who profited from cryptocurrency. There is no way cryptocurrency should be integrated into our currency system.
I'm old enough to remember when we had 2 types of Banks in the US, commercial and investment. Chase, where I worked for a few years, was a commercial bank. Bankers Trust was an investment bank. The idea being that commercial banks would be restricted from engaging in too much (variously defined) speculative trading BECAUSE only those banks would be saved in the event of a financial crisis.
So much hardship has come from Clinton's decision to sign the Financial Services Modernization Act which repealed Glass–Steagall.
When the next crash comes fixing that issue, which gets rid of the TBTF problem, should be a priority.
While I don't understand the technology, recent advances in quantum computing suggest that in the next 5, 10, 20? years, quantum computers will easily be able to break the block chains used by crypto. What is anything worth then?
1/ Dan Davies & Henry Farrell argue stablecoins threaten systemic risk. False. Most stablecoins are overcollateralized, transparent, and operate outside FDICinsured banks. Risk is isolated, not systemic. GENIUS Act aims to regulate, not unleash chaos.
2/ “Crypto is uselessatbest and harmful at worst.” That’s ideology, not analysis. Crypto has powered crossborder payments, censorshipresistant finance, and decentralized innovation. Billions of users disagree.
3/ “No use unless you’re a criminal.” Bold lie. Millions use crypto to send remittances, hedge inflation, or participate in decentralized markets. The UN itself has used blockchain to deliver aid.
4/ “Blockchain is inefficient.” Compared to what? Centralized databases? Sure. But they don't provide trustless, decentralized consensus. That’s the whole point,and the tradeoff is justified where trust is broken.
5/ “Crypto doesn't identify counterparties.” Neither does cash. AML tools like Chainalysis now provide better tracking than legacy banking in many contexts. It’s why the FBI loves seizing illicit crypto.
6/ “Private blockchains recreate the old system.” No. They offer verifiable, immutable data layers with configurable transparency. It's not either/or,it's hybridization with new capabilities.
7/ “50 million times less efficient than databases.” So is your Gmail compared to pencil and paper. Innovation costs more at first. Efficiency grows. Ethereum's energy usage dropped >99% after moving to Proof of Stake.
8/ “Big tech doesn't use blockchain.” False. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Visa, and PayPal all use or invest in blockchain infrastructure. Just because it’s not on your checkout screen doesn’t mean it’s not under the hood.
9/ “Crypto fails in developing nations.” Not true. In Argentina, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Lebanon, stablecoins are thriving as lifelines against failed currencies. Zeke Faux’s anecdotes ≠ global data.
10/ “Crypto is for drug cartels.” So is HSBC, JPMorgan, and cash. \$140B in three years = \~0.24% of global crypto volume. Crypto is less used for crime than fiat by percentage.
11/ “Volatility makes crypto useless.” That’s why stablecoins exist. Tether, USDC, and others offer pricestable rails. Volatility is a feature for some, not a bug.
12/ “No fundamental value.” Bitcoin = immutable digital scarcity. Ethereum = programmable finance. Stablecoins = frictionless dollars. Fundamental value depends on what problem you’re solving.
13/ “People wouldn’t notice if crypto vanished.” Ask Afghan women using crypto after Taliban takeovers. Ask Ukrainians receiving aid in stablecoins. The privileged can afford ignorance. The vulnerable cannot.
14/ “Only criminals and gamblers benefit.” That erases millions building on Ethereum, Solana, and Layer 2s. DAOs, NFTs, DeFi, and new identity protocols aren’t casinos,they’re experimentation at scale.
15/ “Industry captured Trump.” Crypto donations are public. If campaign cash invalidates policy, where’s this logic when Wall Street spends billions? Selective outrage.
16/ “The GENIUS Act will cause a crisis.” It regulates stablecoins, adds oversight, and integrates them with traditional finance. That’s risk reduction,not expansion.
17/ “Stablecoins are worse than deposits.” They are not deposits. They’re tokenized dollars with realtime settlement. That’s an innovation, not a flaw. Nobody’s forced to use them.
18/ “No FDIC insurance = useless.” So is PayPal uninsured. And Venmo. And cash in your wallet. Stablecoins offer liquidity, not insurance. That’s understood by users and disclosed.
19/ “They earn no interest.” Many do,on DeFi, lending platforms, or interestbearing wrappers. Also: no one complains that their dollar bills don’t earn interest.
20/ “This is Ponzi finance.” Stablecoins are not debt instruments. They don’t promise returns. They are tokenized cash. Labeling every new instrument a Ponzi ignores the actual definition: unsustainable payout promises.
21/ “A timebomb for the working class.” You mean access to finance without banks, transfers without intermediaries, and assets beyond devaluation? That’s empowering the working class.
22/ In short, the oped is moral panic disguised as policy. Crypto has flaws,but it also has real use, growing adoption, and disruptive potential. Banning it helps no one. Regulation helps everyone.
23/ Let people choose. Don’t lock the future in a vault because some elites don’t understand the key. The internet looked like a toy too,until it ate the world.
Reveal yourself if you want to comment meaningfully. We all understand there are willing destructive forces ready to benefit by leaving the masses to die with zero resources. If you have a human body you would know the limits of your neatly crafted list and consider that we the people always get left holding the bag ( empty of course)so that irresponsible shitbags can experiment on us without oversight or regulation.
A long tedious list of unsubstantiated claims. To allow this smoke and mirrors flimflam into the legitimate financial system is nothing but a scheme by ne'er do well scammers to make big bucks on the backs of taxpayers.
Jared, this article is very necessary with Trump attempting to integrate crypto into the functioning and solid financial system. As a retired member of the FDIC I know how dangerous crypto can be, especially after dealing with the Great Recession of the 2008-2011 period.
To make it simple, crypto is an unnecessary alternative to the dollar whose only real value is to facilitate crime. There is no reason to allow it, much less back it by the full faith and credit of the United States. It’s a financial cancer that should be removed from the system and its backers treated like the Madoffs they are. Unfortunately, the backers have already captured so many politicians, making the political system even less legitimate than it already was. Nobody should be surprised if it’s ever discovered that politicians and Supreme Court justices have significant crypto holdings.
It was my understanding the US sovereign wealth fund would be used to buy XRP (the first crypto currency mentioned in Trump's announcement about the fund), which would allow the anonymous transfer to Russia of dollars outside of sanctions. The crypto experts were puzzled as to why Trump would prioritize XRP over other crypto products. Here's why: https://www.ainvest.com/news/crypto-community-abuzz-russia-central-bank-eyes-xrp-2504/
the world needs to go in the opposite direction cf CBDCs held in (non interest bearing) accounts at the CB with direct linkage to the payment systems. in one fell swoop you eliminate bank failure risk for anyone not looking to earn interest. you also eliminate the visa/ mastercard toll on the economy. The CBs can fund this via the increased seignorage.
Could we stop being stupid?
Call these Democratic senators who favors the bill and just say “No.”
Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Mark Warner (D-VA), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD)
Lisa Blunt Rochester is a senator from Delaware. Definitely call/write to these senators. Here's a website to facilitate contact: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/
Thanks for the names! ! !
Excellent post explaining in detail the problems of cryptocurrency. My first reaction is frustration because when the Ponzi scheme fails, I and millions of people who oppose this scheme will be forced against our will to bail out the people who profited from cryptocurrency. There is no way cryptocurrency should be integrated into our currency system.
My only complaint with this post is that too few people will see it. Could this be published to a much broader audience than Substack?
I'm old enough to remember when we had 2 types of Banks in the US, commercial and investment. Chase, where I worked for a few years, was a commercial bank. Bankers Trust was an investment bank. The idea being that commercial banks would be restricted from engaging in too much (variously defined) speculative trading BECAUSE only those banks would be saved in the event of a financial crisis.
So much hardship has come from Clinton's decision to sign the Financial Services Modernization Act which repealed Glass–Steagall.
When the next crash comes fixing that issue, which gets rid of the TBTF problem, should be a priority.
Thank you for that. It explains this crypto business perfectly and confirms what I’ve always felt about the subject.
While I don't understand the technology, recent advances in quantum computing suggest that in the next 5, 10, 20? years, quantum computers will easily be able to break the block chains used by crypto. What is anything worth then?
1/ Dan Davies & Henry Farrell argue stablecoins threaten systemic risk. False. Most stablecoins are overcollateralized, transparent, and operate outside FDICinsured banks. Risk is isolated, not systemic. GENIUS Act aims to regulate, not unleash chaos.
2/ “Crypto is uselessatbest and harmful at worst.” That’s ideology, not analysis. Crypto has powered crossborder payments, censorshipresistant finance, and decentralized innovation. Billions of users disagree.
3/ “No use unless you’re a criminal.” Bold lie. Millions use crypto to send remittances, hedge inflation, or participate in decentralized markets. The UN itself has used blockchain to deliver aid.
4/ “Blockchain is inefficient.” Compared to what? Centralized databases? Sure. But they don't provide trustless, decentralized consensus. That’s the whole point,and the tradeoff is justified where trust is broken.
5/ “Crypto doesn't identify counterparties.” Neither does cash. AML tools like Chainalysis now provide better tracking than legacy banking in many contexts. It’s why the FBI loves seizing illicit crypto.
6/ “Private blockchains recreate the old system.” No. They offer verifiable, immutable data layers with configurable transparency. It's not either/or,it's hybridization with new capabilities.
7/ “50 million times less efficient than databases.” So is your Gmail compared to pencil and paper. Innovation costs more at first. Efficiency grows. Ethereum's energy usage dropped >99% after moving to Proof of Stake.
8/ “Big tech doesn't use blockchain.” False. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Visa, and PayPal all use or invest in blockchain infrastructure. Just because it’s not on your checkout screen doesn’t mean it’s not under the hood.
9/ “Crypto fails in developing nations.” Not true. In Argentina, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Lebanon, stablecoins are thriving as lifelines against failed currencies. Zeke Faux’s anecdotes ≠ global data.
10/ “Crypto is for drug cartels.” So is HSBC, JPMorgan, and cash. \$140B in three years = \~0.24% of global crypto volume. Crypto is less used for crime than fiat by percentage.
11/ “Volatility makes crypto useless.” That’s why stablecoins exist. Tether, USDC, and others offer pricestable rails. Volatility is a feature for some, not a bug.
12/ “No fundamental value.” Bitcoin = immutable digital scarcity. Ethereum = programmable finance. Stablecoins = frictionless dollars. Fundamental value depends on what problem you’re solving.
13/ “People wouldn’t notice if crypto vanished.” Ask Afghan women using crypto after Taliban takeovers. Ask Ukrainians receiving aid in stablecoins. The privileged can afford ignorance. The vulnerable cannot.
14/ “Only criminals and gamblers benefit.” That erases millions building on Ethereum, Solana, and Layer 2s. DAOs, NFTs, DeFi, and new identity protocols aren’t casinos,they’re experimentation at scale.
15/ “Industry captured Trump.” Crypto donations are public. If campaign cash invalidates policy, where’s this logic when Wall Street spends billions? Selective outrage.
16/ “The GENIUS Act will cause a crisis.” It regulates stablecoins, adds oversight, and integrates them with traditional finance. That’s risk reduction,not expansion.
17/ “Stablecoins are worse than deposits.” They are not deposits. They’re tokenized dollars with realtime settlement. That’s an innovation, not a flaw. Nobody’s forced to use them.
18/ “No FDIC insurance = useless.” So is PayPal uninsured. And Venmo. And cash in your wallet. Stablecoins offer liquidity, not insurance. That’s understood by users and disclosed.
19/ “They earn no interest.” Many do,on DeFi, lending platforms, or interestbearing wrappers. Also: no one complains that their dollar bills don’t earn interest.
20/ “This is Ponzi finance.” Stablecoins are not debt instruments. They don’t promise returns. They are tokenized cash. Labeling every new instrument a Ponzi ignores the actual definition: unsustainable payout promises.
21/ “A timebomb for the working class.” You mean access to finance without banks, transfers without intermediaries, and assets beyond devaluation? That’s empowering the working class.
22/ In short, the oped is moral panic disguised as policy. Crypto has flaws,but it also has real use, growing adoption, and disruptive potential. Banning it helps no one. Regulation helps everyone.
23/ Let people choose. Don’t lock the future in a vault because some elites don’t understand the key. The internet looked like a toy too,until it ate the world.
#Crypto #Stablecoins #GENIUSAct #DigitalAssets
Reveal yourself if you want to comment meaningfully. We all understand there are willing destructive forces ready to benefit by leaving the masses to die with zero resources. If you have a human body you would know the limits of your neatly crafted list and consider that we the people always get left holding the bag ( empty of course)so that irresponsible shitbags can experiment on us without oversight or regulation.
A long tedious list of unsubstantiated claims. To allow this smoke and mirrors flimflam into the legitimate financial system is nothing but a scheme by ne'er do well scammers to make big bucks on the backs of taxpayers.
This deserves a million times the likes it has so far. Everyone needs to understand it.
Jared, this article is very necessary with Trump attempting to integrate crypto into the functioning and solid financial system. As a retired member of the FDIC I know how dangerous crypto can be, especially after dealing with the Great Recession of the 2008-2011 period.
I'm doing my part. I joined an anti-bitcoin campaign called XRP Army
To make it simple, crypto is an unnecessary alternative to the dollar whose only real value is to facilitate crime. There is no reason to allow it, much less back it by the full faith and credit of the United States. It’s a financial cancer that should be removed from the system and its backers treated like the Madoffs they are. Unfortunately, the backers have already captured so many politicians, making the political system even less legitimate than it already was. Nobody should be surprised if it’s ever discovered that politicians and Supreme Court justices have significant crypto holdings.
It was my understanding the US sovereign wealth fund would be used to buy XRP (the first crypto currency mentioned in Trump's announcement about the fund), which would allow the anonymous transfer to Russia of dollars outside of sanctions. The crypto experts were puzzled as to why Trump would prioritize XRP over other crypto products. Here's why: https://www.ainvest.com/news/crypto-community-abuzz-russia-central-bank-eyes-xrp-2504/
Thank you. This is an important read
Do any Economic Advisory groups recommend we cut the budget for military by 25% to reduce our deficit so U.S. bonds aren downgraded?
the world needs to go in the opposite direction cf CBDCs held in (non interest bearing) accounts at the CB with direct linkage to the payment systems. in one fell swoop you eliminate bank failure risk for anyone not looking to earn interest. you also eliminate the visa/ mastercard toll on the economy. The CBs can fund this via the increased seignorage.
The Democrats, always cleaning up the mess.