Stop Coddling Worthless Crypto, WSJ Analysts Argue

Even among the crypto faithful, confidence in stablecoins has been shaken, and calls for regulation have intensified, Steve H. Hanke and Matt Sekerke wrote in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal.

Photo Insert: Crypto has been denounced not only by the US Treasury Department but also by Indian central bank officials, and even Chinese bureaucrats.

Volatility among stablecoins has stirred calls for industry rules but proposed legislation is unlikely to end the turmoil. Already, Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) has proposed legislation.

Still, the real question is why the government continues to sidestep existing laws and protections to coddle a stagnant, wasteful technology in search of a compelling legal-use case.

A stablecoin is the crypto-world’s preferred medium of exchange: A token pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar. Maintaining the advertised fixed exchange rate, however, has been difficult for stablecoin issuers.

The failure of TerraUSD this month was followed by Tether “breaking the buck.”

Crypto has been denounced not only by the US Treasury Department but also by Indian central bank officials, as well as Chinese bureaucrats who rightly argue that those tokens have no intrinsic value, no assets to back them up and no monetary authority is compelled to swap them for banknotes.

Poker chips are more significant than them, one wag insists.

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