After the explosive crash of FTX, there has been a call for stricter regulations in the cryptocurrency and digital assets industry. Former United States presidential candidate Andrew Yang commented that American regulation isn’t set for innovation in the blockchain space if regulatory structures aren’t put in place to promote blockchain.
Talking at a blockchain conference earlier this week, Yang stated that FTX’s crash and the exchange filing for bankruptcy will likely have made the cryptocurrency regulation harder to pass in the immediate future. He noted:
“I’ve always been in the camp that some intelligent regulation is a good thing. I think it would help the industry mature and make it more mainstream. But, unfortunately, we missed a beat — like a major beat. Because of FTX and the problems and the headlines and the real people that got hurt, there’s going to be an appetite for regulation that, in my mind, might not hit the mark. Because you want to be able to balance the very real concerns with the need to keep America the home of innovation and development of these tools.”
Yang also commented that the political environment in the United States, especially the two-party system, will make it even more difficult for the government to put legislation in place. He noted that the FTX saga will likely push critics of the industry to try and clamp down on the opportunities blockchain can offer. Working with the Bipartisan Policy Center, Yang noted:
“[W]e e work with the Bipartisan Policy Center to liaise with members of Congress or their offices or their policy teams and just educate them about what these tools are and what they can do and the problems they can solve and why their constituents actually care and value them. We work with the American Conference of Mayors to have various mayors stand up and say, look, the blockchain is a good thing.”