At Consensus 2023, executive leaders like Erik Voorhees and Caitlin Long discussed the many issues surrounding the crypto industry. They both began using cryptocurrency after feeling discontented with the present financial system and its faults. These misgivings instigated Long to create Custodia Bank, a bank which is compliant with US regulations because Long believes that an honest ledger is the key to guarding against theft and counterparty risk. Unfortunately, the United States is throwing out all reasonable regulation practices in favor of moving firms offshore and into the unregulated pitch-black markets. It seems as though the SEC is saying “Stay the f*** away” to the compliant companies.

ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees suggested open source software is the solution to the scammers since it is naturally transparent and Bitcoin is supposedly a simpler form of transparent finance. Although Voorhees has nothing for scammers, he does point out that bubbles spawn new innovations. The 2017 ICO bubble, for one, produced Ethereum, with a Return On Investment whereby all ICO investments were paid off about 10 times.

The panel “Remember Why We’re Here: Crypto’s True Purpose” did a great job of addressing the many problematic aspects of the crypto industry. It shone an immense light on the forgotten purpose of cryptocurrency, a hallmark of Bitcoin, what regulators are doing to ensure fair practices, and the potential to derive innovation out of bad investments.



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