Op-Ed: How America’s mistrust of institutions birthed the false promises of the crypto craze
LA TimesDuring the 2008 financial crisis, with banks collapsing, life savings disappearing and the government swooping in to bail out those responsible, Americans lost faith in the institutions we relied on for our future. With wider recognition of Facebook’s role in spreading misinformation, Google’s research ethics scandals, Amazon’s abysmal warehouse conditions and multiple data breaches across platforms, people have lost faith in tech companies they interact with daily. Many crypto companies — well-funded by $30 billion in investment last year alone — are smartly capitalizing on anti-institutional sentiment by using language of empowerment and collective action to pitch cryptocurrency as a panacea. The alleged scammers were finally arrested this month, but they weren’t caught until they attempted to turn their crypto back into dollars, suggesting that regulated financial institutions still protect money better than the blockchain. Federal agencies need to continue to force daylight onto crypto and bring its customers under regulatory protection — staying firm even as the industry pours more money into lobbying.
History of this topic
Bitcoin price hits new all-time high above $100,000 on optimism over Donald Trump’s crypto plans
Live Mint
Bitcoin price resurgence revives ‘digital gold’ comparisons
The Independent
‘Betrayed’: FTX meltdown signals end to crypto’s ‘Wild West’ days
Al Jazeera
Who Will Pay the Price for Big Tech’s Hubris?
Wired
FTX collapse: Are more crypto powerhouses about to fall?
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