Cryptocurrency price President Joe Biden’s administration soared last week after announcing a presidential order calling on government agencies to investigate digital assets.
SEC Commissioner Hester PerthLovely dubbed by the web3 crowd, “CryptoMom” takes a more cautious view. “I was surprised to find it a very positive reaction from the crypto community,” she tells Axios Pro Fintech.
what’s happening: On the positive side, Perth shows that the order shows a real interest in investigating various aspects of cryptography and that the government is taking a more cautious approach to regulating the industry. ..
- “The main point is, yes, they realize that the crypto stays here,” she says.
Yes, but: The order focused on areas like central bank digital currencies and did not specifically dive into parts of the ecosystem that Perth believes could lead to further innovation in the United States.
- “We wanted more enthusiasm for the potential of innovation to transform the financial system and change the way we do it in society,” she said, pointing out areas like decentralized finance. She said, “There wasn’t much emphasis on the value of the personal freedom aspect of it.”
in the meantime, DeFi is currently in the gray area, even within cryptocurrencies. The SEC is definitely trying to regulate this sector. But the question is, in theory, how to monitor non-centrally authorized entities.
- Perth believes it should be a case-by-case question. Some so-called distributed protocols are, in fact, more centralized than they look.
- But for a truly decentralized company, a new legal framework needs to work, raising a whole new set of questions, Perth says. For example, do you need to have one designated person responsible when a regulatory agency calls you?
Her stance — That decision-making power should be in the hands of the individual rather than the government — even her opinion on the nickname “CryptoMom” drips.
- She finds the words of love interesting, but she warns against seeing the government, including herself, as a parent.
- “I know I’m taking it too seriously, but I think it’s very important for people in the United States to recognize the government as a servant of the people,” she says.
