Crypto Does Not Have an Illicit Finance Problem, Bad Actors Do

While Senators weigh the merits of Adeyemo’s important testimony, they should also weigh the consequences of more than five years of U.S. policy inaction in regulating the very wayward corners of the crypto industry that pose the greatest threats to consumers, markets and, indeed, national security. U.S. policymakers and regulators, from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (and Deputy Secretary Adeyemo), have all made calls for Congressional action. They focus particularly on dollar-denominated stablecoins, the crypto world’s digital thrift, much of which borrow the trust of the dollar, without being accountable to U.S. financial crime compliance laws.