There’s been some interesting development in relations between the cryptocurrency community and legislators who may have an impact on U.S. crypto regulations.
At Coindesk, Andrew Thurman writes this morning about a recent Q&A event with U.S. House Representative Ted Budd (R – N.C.) who reportedly was invited by a MakerDAO delegate called PaperImperium to talk about the future of crypto.
“The sit-down was cordial and surprisingly lighthearted, given that just a day before Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) now-famously decried crypto’s “shadowy super coders,” Thurman writes of the July 28, 2021 session.
Thurman writes about what came out of the event, including a growing awareness of the importance of these kinds of connections.
As for PaperImperium, a “Meet the Delegate” video posted on YouTube shows that his name is Chris Cameron, and he commands 3% of MKR voting power.
PaperImperium claims to have connections with both House and Senate members, and says Federal Reserve officials have appeared at some of his events.
In general, PaperImperium supports the idea that cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and community members should be having deeper connections with regulators.
Crypto should “integrate better with the real world,” he said in the introductory video.
He also promotes developing strong messaging and interacting with regulators.
PaperImperium’s approach represents one of two opposing paths for crypto in the years ahead. One path involves collaborating with central banks – the other path, one that provokes all sorts of paranoid response by fiat currency officials – is to compete with them.
For instance, some observers are drumming up tension by suggesting that central bank digital coins (CBDCs) will be issued to head off other attempts at decentralized finance.
That’s sort of the opposite of what you might see coming out of ongoing discussions between delegates like PaperImperium and representatives of legislative and regulatory agency and bodies. Stay tuned!