What would you do to get rid of a regulator you don't like? Was it worth it?
Our lives might be an experience of bubbles, but one day they will burst. What role did your own bubble have in the consequences?
It is Mother’s Day in the UK this weekend (or Mothering Sunday, to give it its real name). Because of that, there are a lot of perfume ads on TV. One, on constant rotation, stars Natalie Portman running around what looks like a Mediterranean island in designer dresses as she smoulders into the camera, asking, “What would you do for love?”
Well, I don’t know Natalie, but if the Dior perfume you’re shelling makes me feel like your stunt double jumping off a cliff into crystal clear waters, I’ll make sure I take a sniff next time I wander through duty-free.
However, it made me think deeper about the question, which I don’t feel is light and fluffy. What most people *do* for love is go out on dates, indulge in late-night chats, or introduce their new person to friends and family. But Dior's choice of Ms Portman as a spokesperson is telling. She is an actress who made her name, not in fluffy rom-coms, but in darker, edgier fare like Leon and Black Swan. As she looks into the camera, she isn’t asking what you do for love. She is asking what you are willing to do for what you desire. What values will you ignore, what danger will you court, and what crime will you commit?
And when you get what you desire, will you look back at the consequences and ramifications of your actions and think it was all worth it?
Since November 2024, gleeful commentary has been prevalent on social channels, opinion pieces, and event stages. It scares and angers me, so I’ve decided to call it out in print.
Let me back up a bit. Because of my job, I write a lot about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. I don’t feel particularly bullish on crypto, but I don’t feel particularly anti either. Crypto, blockchain, tokenisation, etc, is a growing and increasingly influential part of the global economy. I find parts of it fascinating. Should we leave the final word on trust and value in the digital age to aging central bodies? How can the technology underpinning these developments ease and simplify frictions and complications that have been plaguing financial services for decades?
However, while yes, crime in all its forms existed well before anyone thought of putting a cute picture of a dog on a coin, as an industry, it has managed to attract its fair share of high-profile, nefarious characters. Some aspects of the sector also promoted a get-rich-quick attitude that feels more at home in a room full of slot machines than a sensible investment portfolio. I once shared a stage at a blockchain event with a bikini-clad model, in six-inch heels, holding a comically large cheque like I was hosting a 1970s game show. (I’ll leave that image there.)
Global regulators are right to examine and understand this burgeoning industry. This will allow all those involved in crypto, digital ledger technology, tokenisation, and other related sectors to experience the benefits and protect wider society from unintended consequences or dodgy dealers.
Let me go further to say that I feel the past administration in the US, led by Securities and Exchange Commission head Gary Gensler, did not go about regulating and understanding crypto correctly. The regime was combative and dismissive, and it only served to unite those involved in this space around universal hatred for the former commissioner.
However…
In November of last year, the crypto industry received what it most desired: a change in administration that promised a more welcoming regulatory environment. The glee was palpable. I have written articles that quote people talking about this new dawn of US regulatory clarity. I’ve moderated panels, where speakers say global regulation is no longer a primary concern now that ‘crypto Mom’ and other pro-crypto people run the SEC. I’ve engaged in quick catch-ups at events with people who work in the industry, who iterate on all of the above.
However …
One criticism of the past few years is that we all live in a bubble. Increasingly sophisticated algorithms curate and filter out what news we see, what commentary we listen to, and even what entertainment we allow to occupy our Friday evenings.
I understand that not many people are concerned that there are 28 states in my home country that deny women health care, and the current administration wants it to be 50. I can see how, in our busy lives, you might not have heard about a US green card holder who was detained for weeks, strip-searched, denied medicine and access to his family because of an outdated marijuana charge that wouldn’t even be illegal in 2025. It is easy not to spend much mental energy thinking about dozens of men who were collected, without charge or trial, and shipped out to a foreign country to be held in jail.
Some may even think that there is nothing wrong with having a foreign-born, non-elected billionaire run roughshod over the government of a democratic nation, eliminating departments, entitlement programmes, and thousands of full-time staff, after taking almost $38 billion in government grants and funding for his businesses.
However …
Was it all worth it?
I spoke at Pay360 this week and quickly chatted with someone born in the same country as me.
“Are you afraid to go back?” he asked.
I tend to shy away from hysteria or conspiracy theories. But I had to answer “Yes”.
I’ve been privileged to live in two countries where freedom of speech is valued. I have never thought police would come to my house, or that I could be detained in an airport because I expressed my political views in public.
I do now. And I don’t think I am being hysterical.
Was it worth it?
When will the filter bubble burst?
Just this week, a group of men discussed US military plans to bomb a foreign country on a public group chat that included the editor in chief of a magazine.
Would you keep people like that on your payroll?
Where is the line? What will cause those in the crypto space to pause, and reflect before they speak with clear eyes and a passive face about how wonderful it is now that they won the US regulatory war?
What will it take to make that victory look Pyrrhic?
This morning, an article from The Atlantic popped up on my feed (those algos, huh?). It was about Alfred Hugenberg, who provided the electoral capital that made Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor possible in 1933. He did this in exchange for a political favour.
The article claims that a close associate had warned Hugenberg that this deal was one he would regret: “One night, you will find yourself running through the ministry gardens in your underwear trying to escape arrest.”
What would you do to eliminate a regulator you didn’t like?
Was it worth it?
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Since we’ve had a lot of imagery of running around outside in this post, I thought it would be a good time to bring back a little Taylor Swift, who often writes about what she would do and not do, for love.