David Yaffe-Bellany

Absolutely. Federal regulators in Washington were concerned that people would be exposed to the volatility of the crypto world, that their savings could disappear. There were wider concerns about how crypto companies were behaving financially. whether they were sort of revealing the right type of information to the public about these kind of risky financial assets that they were offering.

Absolutely. Federal regulators in Washington were concerned that people would be exposed to the volatility of the crypto world, that their savings could disappear. There were wider concerns about how crypto companies were behaving financially. whether they were sort of revealing the right type of information to the public about these kind of risky financial assets that they were offering.

And what the Feds wanted to do was kind of protect the wider economy from the craziness and volatility of this fringe boom and bust crypto world. And the person who was at the center of that effort to kind of protect the U.S. economy was a guy named Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

And what the Feds wanted to do was kind of protect the wider economy from the craziness and volatility of this fringe boom and bust crypto world. And the person who was at the center of that effort to kind of protect the U.S. economy was a guy named Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Gensler was essentially trying to kind of partition crypto away from the U.S. economy. And the way that he was doing that was insisting that crypto should be regulated like Wall Street.

Gensler was essentially trying to kind of partition crypto away from the U.S. economy. And the way that he was doing that was insisting that crypto should be regulated like Wall Street.

He said that, you know, crypto companies should have to reveal to their investors the sort of basic details of how these companies operate so that people would know what they were getting into, essentially, what they were putting their money into. And he did that through a campaign of enforcement. He was filing lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit against the biggest crypto companies.

He said that, you know, crypto companies should have to reveal to their investors the sort of basic details of how these companies operate so that people would know what they were getting into, essentially, what they were putting their money into. And he did that through a campaign of enforcement. He was filing lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit against the biggest crypto companies.

And he essentially became the sort of bait noir of the crypto industry. You know, every company was getting these notices saying the SEC is coming after you.

And he essentially became the sort of bait noir of the crypto industry. You know, every company was getting these notices saying the SEC is coming after you.

Absolutely. I you know, the FTX crypto exchange going under that was really bad for crypto investors, but it didn't have a particularly sizable effect on the rest of the economy. People who hadn't chosen to risk their money in the kind of crypto casino were more or less spared any of the harm of that. And Gensler and other U.S.

Absolutely. I you know, the FTX crypto exchange going under that was really bad for crypto investors, but it didn't have a particularly sizable effect on the rest of the economy. People who hadn't chosen to risk their money in the kind of crypto casino were more or less spared any of the harm of that. And Gensler and other U.S.

regulators wanted to ensure that that stays the case in future kind of crypto crises.

regulators wanted to ensure that that stays the case in future kind of crypto crises.

The crypto industry responded with just a torrent of anger. You had basically every crypto executive going on Twitter, saying things like, Gensler is the devil incarnate. You know, you can't really overstate the level of vitriol that was directed toward this regulator. Of course, for regular people, that was easy to ignore. It was just executives kind of sounding off on Twitter.

The crypto industry responded with just a torrent of anger. You had basically every crypto executive going on Twitter, saying things like, Gensler is the devil incarnate. You know, you can't really overstate the level of vitriol that was directed toward this regulator. Of course, for regular people, that was easy to ignore. It was just executives kind of sounding off on Twitter.

But behind the scenes, crypto was asserting itself in a much more aggressive and important way. Industry leaders were starting to get organized, organized in a way they'd never been before.

But behind the scenes, crypto was asserting itself in a much more aggressive and important way. Industry leaders were starting to get organized, organized in a way they'd never been before.

They were putting together a political spending machine, raising money in advance of the 2024 election campaign, where the industry would go on to spend huge amounts to support congressional candidates across the country who support crypto, who think that it's a valuable technology that could actually boost the U.S. economy in the long term.

They were putting together a political spending machine, raising money in advance of the 2024 election campaign, where the industry would go on to spend huge amounts to support congressional candidates across the country who support crypto, who think that it's a valuable technology that could actually boost the U.S. economy in the long term.