A good reminder from the “Crypto MOM”, there is hope

According to her speech, Crypto assets enthusiasts may have hope.

It is common to hear government officials worrying about crypto’s use by criminals, even though the numbers suggest that it is used for illicit purposes less often than cash is. Perhaps, government officials should pause to consider the flip side of crypto—its value in protecting people from illicit activity. Because of its ability to reach people without intermediaries and its ease of storage, transport, and access, crypto can be an important part of the survival story of people living under the threat of harm by their families, people in their communities, or repressive governments.

While regulators need to understand and scrutinize new asset classes and technologies, excessive conservatism can impede competition, distort the market, and harm investors. The SEC, for example, has hesitated to greenlight investment products that incorporate bitcoin—let alone other cryptocurrencies. This approach is inconsistent with our limited role as a disclosure regulator, rather than a more interventionist merit regulator. Although well-intentioned, our wariness with regard to crypto deprives investors of access to products and services that they want. Moreover, caution-motivated delay makes it more difficult for us to change course should we decide to do that. If we have said no to one product sponsor, how can we say yes to another seeking to offer a similar product? Meanwhile, the market engineers around our denials by creating substitutes that do not require SEC approval.

The SEC’s reluctance to permit traditional investment vehicles to hold bitcoin or bitcoin futures has contributed to investors seeking more expensive, less convenient, or less direct substitutes, but it also has heightened the stakes of any regulatory approval for a mainstream retail product we might one day grant. By waiting we also have magnified the first-approved advantage in the bitcoin ETP or registered fund space. Moreover, because we have comported ourselves like merit regulators, investors might view any approvals as an official blessing by the Commission about the quality of the products we approve. That would be the wrong inference to draw; investors, alone or with the help of an investment professional, need to think carefully about whether any particular security—crypto-based or not—is right for them.