What could possibly go wrong?

bipartisan, one dem, one GOP

It's a valid issue, how should cryptocurrencies be regulated, if at all?
As securities?

And, perhaps most notably, under the bill’s definition, a digital token “is not a representation of a financial interest in a company, including an ownership or debt interest or revenue share.”

As commodiites?
As currencies?
As collectibles?

It seems to me there's a lot of overlap with casinos and gaming, esp online gaming.

So, maybe regulate the exchanges as you would online gaming. For example: Nevada online gaming regs  There is the known issue of running a money transfer business, which is the current licensing model, and that brings in FinCEN, perhaps banking regulators, and anti-money-laundering rules. Well, I suppose casinos have to deal with all that too, so again the casino framework seems to apply.  

Finally, the crypto coins themselves are like the casino tokens, and apparently these have to be approved:  Chip and Token report. Of course, you can't stop somebody from inventing a new crypto-currency (nor would you want to), but you could force a licensed exchange to get approval to trade it. 

 

Happy 10th Birthday Bitcoin. We're all still around (well, maybe not Satoshi). Here is the famous Genesis block with Satoshi's proof-of-date message seen decoded below the 'Coinbase'. The message source (The Times Jan 3, 2009) is apparently now quite a collectible:

In terms of anniversaries, I hope the subject matter of the Times' headline doesn't prove to be prophetic.

Happy 10th Birthday Bitcoin. We're all still around (well, maybe not Satoshi). Here is the famous Genesis block with Satoshi's proof-of-date message seen decoded below the 'Coinbase'. The message source (The Times Jan 3, 2009) is apparently now quite a collectible:

I hope this time we will be jailing bankers, not giving them money.

$190 Million in Crypto Possibly Lost at Canada’s QuadrigaCX Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange

Troubled Bitcoin trader QuadrigaCX takes another bizarre turn

It is of course sad that the young man died, but the rest of the story verges on amusing. Including the quote: As many as 115,000 account holders are owed $250 million, which is locked up in “cold storage” only accessible to the recently deceased founder and CEO, Gerald Cotten.

It is of course sad that the young man died, but the rest of the story verges on amusing. Including the quote: As many as 115,000 account holders are owed $250 million, which is locked up in “cold storage” only accessible to the recently deceased founder and CEO, Gerald Cotten.

The plot thickens: WSJ: A Crypto-Mystery: Is $140 Million Stuck or Missing?

BTW, it looks like a very nice specialty occupation for advanced bitcoinistas is "bitcoin forensics".

CBC coverage even includes courtroom photos of Quadriga's bookkeeping on top of a stove, with a lit candle...

Too much people started to farm bitcoin, Too much alternative coins appeared. I don't think bitcoin is finished... but it certainly going into a slumber right now...

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-Prize winning economist, says cryptocurrencies should be shut down.

Nobel want to shut it down, likely a bullish signal?

The crypto-libertarian world view probably makes him nauseous given his positions on market inefficiences and cold words about Adam Smith's invisible hand. To be fair, at a fledgling stage there are quite a few inefficiences in that market structure..

His information asymmetry & adverse selection work is thought provoking, but he did endorse a Marxist to run the UK economy, so I'll go with yes, a good contra therefore bullish signal!

In modern days, "a Marxist" is just a code word for "a politician who could raise my taxes".