Bait-and-Switch, False Promises, Influence Peddling and a Growing Threat to our Financial System and Main Street

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Better Markets has released a new fact sheet entitled “Crypto 101: Bait-and-Switch, False Promises, Influence Peddling and a Growing Threat to our Financial System and Main Street.”

After spending almost $200 million on campaign ads, the crypto industry was quick to declare victory overall in last week’s elections. Despite this funding, it is important to remember that Congress does not have a crypto mandate. While the crypto industry spent big on ads attacking skeptical lawmakers who stand up for consumers and the public interest, they never actually mentioned crypto.

Crypto’s top goal is to get its special interest legislation passed to give the industry an aura of legitimacy. This legislation debated in Congress would allow the industry to pick the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as its regulator because it is smaller and less funded than the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which actually has the expertise and track record of protecting consumers and retail investors.

In the fact sheet, Better Markets reviews the fundamental issues surrounding crypto and how policymakers and regulators may address them, including:

• More than 15 years since the creation of Bitcoin, and after the creation of thousands of cryptocurrencies, there is no substantive use case for crypto.
• Crypto proponents continue to assert that decades-old compliance standards and financial regulations do not apply to them.
• Crypto is primarily a tool for criminals and terrorists to carry out tax evasaion, money laundering, and other schemes to rip off investors.
• The fraud, volatility and abuse in the crypto markets end up harming low- and moderate-income communities the worst, if not outright targeting them.
• The short history of stablecoins—which should be called “unstablecoins”—has been characterized by instability, bank-like runs, and the evaporation of tens of billions of dollars in investor losses.

The Fact Sheet is available here.

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.