IT Blog

President Biden released his long-awaited executive order (EO) on cryptocurrency on March 9. The crypto community reacted with relief. The price of Bitcoin went up 8.4% that day and crypto leaders from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse to Coinbase’s policy chief Faryar Shirzad publicly praised the order. Biden’s order certainly could have been worse. But it may not be the panacea the community thinks it is, either.

Let’s start with the good news.

There’s a lot in this executive order to either like or at least not mind. It states a clear desire to protect consumers and investors. Any mainstream crypto supporter wants consumer protection too. No legitimate crypto business wants to see people scammed by fraudulent ICOs or anything else.  

The order also seeks to “mitigate the illicit finance and national security risks posed by the illicit use of digital assets.” This makes a lot of sense. There are threats to national security by the multiple illicit items that can be…