A group of 26 leading computer experts urge US lawmakers to resist crypto lobbying efforts, calling crypto financial instruments “risky, flawed, and unproven”
Computer scientists and academics target US lawmakers in effort to counter well-financed lobbying efforts Source: concerned.tech .
Earlier industry and financial-sector appeals for clearer rules framed the debate around innovation and market access; concerned.tech shifts attention toward whether crypto financial products have earned regulatory accommodation at all.
First-order effects
US lawmakers considering crypto policy now face a coordinated objection from computer scientists and academics, rather than only competing industry and investor arguments.
Crypto advocates must defend their financial-instrument claims against a public assessment that labels them risky, flawed, and unproven.
Second-order effects
The industry’s Washington campaign becomes less able to treat regulation as solely an innovation-versus-restriction debate, as technical credibility becomes a distinct point of contention.
Financial firms seeking crypto-linked products face a policy debate in which support from market participants is offset by organized expert skepticism.
Third-order effects
If expert groups continue to organize against crypto lobbying, US crypto policy is likely to be shaped by a legitimacy contest over product safety and usefulness, not just by demands for regulatory clarity.
That contest favors regulatory approaches that require crypto advocates to establish the case for financial products before receiving the treatment sought by industry lobbyists.
The trend: Crypto’s policy debate is evolving from a push for clearer rules into a broader contest over whether its financial products merit institutional legitimacy.
Our call to action is simple. If you are a computer scientist or developer concerned about this issue, we're opening the letter to the wider tech community to sign and tell our policymakers that enough is enough, the status quo has to change. Sign at https://concerned.tech/
A group of technologists have signed a letter panning cryptocurrency. And while many of their criticisms are sound (there are too many scams), from a technical perspective this letter is pretty messy. https://concerned.tech/
Crypto promoters: 'why don't you educate yourself about the technology?' Serious software engineers: “The claims that the blockchain advocates make are not true. It's not secure, it's not decentralised” https://www.ft.com/...
Big gap between urging congress to take “critical, skeptical approach” towards blockchains (which I agree with) and saying blockchains “will remain forever unsuitable as a foundation for large-scale economic activity” (requires more clairvoyance than I can muster on a Wednesday).…
“Crypto-assets have been the vehicle for unsound and highly volatile speculative investment schemes that are being actively promoted to retail investors who may be unable to understand their nature and risk” https://www.ft.com/...
Today the global community of technologists sent a letter to Congress urging them to resist the crypto industry's lobbying influence. The letter was signed by some of the most respected scholars and technologists in our field. And now we need your help. 🧵 https://www.ft.com/...
Blockchains can't have transaction reversal methods. This is nonsense. As an example: many popular stablecoins have “freeze” mechanisms built into their smart contracts. https://twitter.com/...
Shipped a thing. Please take the time to read the thread below and the letter that was sent to Congress. https://concerned.tech/ https://twitter.com/...
26 independent expert technologists just wrote an open letter to Congress ridiculing blockchain and exposing Web3 as a bogus marketing tool and high-tech swindle. Mark this day on your calendar as the beginning of the end of Web3 and the Big Crypto Cartel. https://concerned.tech/
Tech nerds are taking no prisoners! “The computational power is equivalent to what you could do in a centralised way with a $100 computer, We're wasting millions of dollars' worth of equipment because we've decided that we don't trust the banking system” https://www.ft.com/...
A group of leading tech experts is urging Congress to crack down on the crypto industry. This is an important story b/c the crypto lobby in the US and globally has become much bigger, organised and well financed in recent months. https://www.ft.com/... @ScottChipolina
Common sense, but when did that ever account for anything in politics? Tech experts urge Washington to resist crypto industry's influence https://www.ft.com/...
🚨 It's much worse than just “influence,” we are talking about capture, and in the context of global hybrid war. The best thing we can do is drive policies that crush the Ponzis that enable the capture. Can't happen soon enough! https://twitter.com/...
Tech experts (including Bruce Schneier) urge Washington DC to resist cryptocurrency industry's influence and ‘claim that crypto and blockchain tech serve no real purpose.’ https://www.ft.com/...
I am a proud signatory of this open letter directed at (for now) the US Senate. Technologists need to speak up, we need to make our voices heard to get policymakers to put a stop to the blockchain scam engine. https://twitter.com/...
Experts counterlobby: “The claims that the blockchain advocates make are not true,” said @schneierblog “It's not secure, it's not decentralised. Any system where you forget your password and you lose your life savings is not a safe system,” ↘️ https://giftarticle.ft.com/...