How does the United States build a cryptocurrency capital? a16z 11 consecutive articles to explain
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Reprinted from panewslab
02/07/2025·16DOriginal title: Making the US the crypto capital: What it would take
Original source: a16z
Original translation: Tom, MarsBit
The United States seems to be turning its confrontational stance on blockchain and [cryptocurrencies](https://www.bitpush.news/articles/tag/%e5%8a%a0%e5%af%86%e8%b4%a7%e5%b8%81 "View all articles in cryptocurrency") into a more supportive posture, providing clear guidance and rules to help builders follow these rules. While this shift is still in its early stages, the government has taken some encouraging steps toward this goal. New leadership, new rules, new working groups – all of which provide the crypto industry with something it much needed: a viable path forward.
Despite challenges such as litigation, territorial disputes among [regulators](https://www.bitpush.news/articles/tag/%e7%9b%91%e7%ae%a1 "View all articles in regulation") , angry letters from lawmakers, [debanking](https://www.bitpush.news/articles/tag/%e9%93%b6%e8%a1%8c "View all articles in the bank") incidents and regulation through law enforcement, the past few weeks have shown more optimism and pro-tech attitude. From the White House to regulators, we have seen initiatives to appoint AI and cryptocurrency specialists and issue executive orders to support blockchain development. The Securities and Exchange Commission ( [SEC](https://www.bitpush.news/articles/tag/sec "View all articles in SEC") ) has formed a new cryptocurrency working group and repealed the Employee Accounting Announcement 121 rules that once hindered the development of cryptocurrencies. In both houses of Congress, important legislators have also expressed their willingness to pass legislation to clearly stipulate the rules of the industry.
To promote dialogue between government officials and blockchain experts, we have gathered opinions from 11 industry experts on issues ranging from taxation, [pledge](https://www.bitpush.news/articles/tag/%e8%b4%a8%e6%8a%bc "View all articles in the pledge") freedom to broader ranges such as encouraging decentralization and reform of the U.S. regulatory system. These views provide important thinking for policy makers to better think about cryptocurrency regulation and ensure that the United States leads this critical moment in its transformation to the next generation of the Internet.
1. Why decentralization is so important and why motivation is needed
——Miles Jennings
Decentralization is crucial. It drives new governance structures, organizational forms and a strong economic system – which means more choices, more voices and more competition. But in reality, the implementation of decentralization has been difficult because before large-scale coordinated technology emerged (or was not open to everyone), it often had no advantages over the efficiency and stability of centralized systems— Until now.
Over the past decade and with the continuous development of technology, we have reached a stage where decentralization can truly operate and can be applied to many areas of digital life. But now we face a new challenge: how to inspire decentralization. Despite many obstacles, many builders have successfully achieved decentralization on a large scale. In order to attract more builders to participate, we only need a clearer path forward and a level playing field.
"Like gravity, centralization is a force that is hard to resist. In contrast, decentralization—transferring control and power to distributed groups—is inefficient. It requires tremendous energy, effort and Engineering technology to overcome the order of nature.
Miles Jennings is general counsel for a16z crypto , who advises companies and their portfolio companies on decentralization, DAO, governance, NFT, and state and federal securities laws. Prior to that, he was a partner at Latham & Watkins and co-led the company’s global blockchain and cryptocurrency working group.
2. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) welcomes the (digital)
era
——Scott Walker and Bill Hinman
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can make six adjustments immediately, creating applicable regulatory rules – without sacrificing innovation or critical investor protection.
“Through these adjustments, the SEC can resume its mission and reposition itself as a forward-looking regulator, ensuring that the U.S. market can protect the public while remaining competitive.”
Scott Walker is the Chief Compliance Officer for Andreessen Horowitz. Prior to this, he served as a senior expert in digital assets and blockchain technology in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory department, and served as vice president and legal counsel at BlackRock, focusing on derivatives and main brokerage businesses. Transactions with securities financing.
Bill Hinman is currently a consulting partner at a16z crypto and is a senior consultant to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, a global law firm. From 2017 to 2020, Bill served as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission's corporate finance division.
3. Let pledge flourish in the United States
——Ji Kim and Alison Mangiero
Staking – allowing users to participate in maintaining and safeguarding specific blockchain networks – has revolutionary potential. Here are five steps the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can take to ensure the pledge industry thrives.
"The United States should lead innovation and focus on how to make these "financial" infrastructure more efficient, secure and accessible. "
Ji Kim is the president and interim CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation. Previously, he served as the group's chief legal and policy officer and has 15 years of experience in technology companies' legal counsel and policy enforcement.
Alison Mangiero is the Executive Director of Proof Of Stake Alliance, a project affiliated with the Innovation Cryptocurrency Committee, committed to advocating clear and forward-looking public policies that promote innovation in the staking industry. Previously, she founded Tocqueville Group, an entity that creates open source software and other public products for the blockchain network Tezos .
4. End the era of large-scale financial monitoring
——Grant Rabenn
The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 created a vast database of financial records—the FinCEN database—to put our sensitive personal data at risk. Blockchain technology provides a better way forward.
"The Bank Secrecy Act has spawned a massive regulatory-industry complex that requires U.S. financial institutions to monitor their customers on a daily basis."
Grant Rabenn is the head of Coinbase’s international legal compliance division (Asia Pacific and America). Prior to joining Coinbase, Grant served as a prosecutor in the federal government for a decade, specializing in money laundering and cybercrime cases and led early government investigations into cryptocurrencies.
5. Anyone can be debanked. Decentralized Finance (
[DeFi](https://www.bitpush.news/articles/tag/defi "View all articles in DeFi") ) is a key security network
——Katherine Minarik
What happens when you lose control of your home’s main bank account – no explanation or avenue of complaints? Self-custodial crypto assets can provide a lifeline when traditional finance fails.
"That bank has frozen all our accounts indefinitely. Our bank staff can't tell us anything more. We can't even tell us if, how or when we can get our funds back... It makes people feel like Extremely fearful."
Katherine Minarik is the chief legal officer of Uniswap Labs. Prior to this, she served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Coinbase , responsible for global litigation affairs.
6. It's time to put assets on the chain
——Jenny Cieplak
" [Tokenization](https://www.bitpush.news/articles/tag/%e4%bb%a3%e5%b8%81%e5%8c%96 "View all articles in Tokenization") " is a method of digital asset recording, usually done on blockchains - a practice that has the potential to greatly modernize financial infrastructure. If the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stops arbitrarily prohibiting these assets from being chained, traditional financial institutions can benefit from it.
"In theory, this should open the door to the latest and most advanced technologies - including blockchain and distributed ledger technology."
Jenny Cieplak is a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, specializing in consulting on the development and deployment of new technologies for fintech and financial services clients. Her work practices blend the intersection of industry regulation, cutting-edge technology and financial services.
7. Why the Justice Department's Action on DeFi is a Disaster
——Miller Whitehouse-Levine and Amanda Tuminelli
All other policy and legal issues must start from one core issue: Who is in control? Some prosecutions against DeFi protocols are based on false assumptions about the identity of the controller and its level of control, causing unnecessary harm to the development of blockchain.
"It is obviously unreasonable to blame the automaker for improper driving behavior on its vehicle users, and the same principle applies to imposing responsibility for automobile manufacturing on drivers."
Miller Whitehouse-Levine is CEO of the DeFi Education Fund. Prior to this, he led the policy operations of the Blockchain Association and worked at Goldstein Policy Solutions on several public policy issues such as cryptocurrencies.
Amanda Tuminelli is the chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund, leading influence litigation and policy efforts. Previously, she worked as a lawyer at Kobre & Kim, defending clients, handling criminal and regulatory investigations, government enforcement actions, and large-scale litigation, especially in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.
8. Why do we need decentralized stablecoins
——Luca Prosperi
Centralized stablecoins have become the backbone of DeFi, but they rely on traditional financial intermediaries. Decentralized stablecoins can act as a reliable, efficient, trustless system, reducing dependence on custodial financial intermediaries.
"This world of so-called decentralized stablecoins has the potential to not only completely change the way we create currencies, but also actually revolutionize the entire financial intermediary system."
Luca Prosperi is the co-founder and CEO of M^0, a project dedicated to the construction of decentralized stablecoin infrastructure. Previously, he was responsible for lending supervision at the DeFi project MakerDAO and published research on Dirt Roads.
9. Rethinking the SEC’s rulemaking: Why cryptocurrencies need their own
rules
——Scott Walker
It is not always reasonable to apply the rules set for traditional securities markets to cryptocurrencies, but the SEC does it. Now, the SEC has the opportunity to adopt a tailored rulemaking approach that will help the thriving blockchain technology while protecting investors and consumers.
"SEC is often criticized for its "enforcement regulation" in cryptocurrency-related matters, but fewer people are paying attention to its "extension of rules" - the rules that will be formulated for other markets or products are directly applied to emerging ones Technical field - also counterproductive. "
Scott Walker is the Chief Compliance Officer for Andreessen Horowitz. Prior to this, he served as a senior expert in digital assets and blockchain technology in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory department, and served as vice president and legal counsel at BlackRock , focusing on derivatives and main brokerage businesses. Transactions with securities financing.
10. How the United States benefits from effective cryptocurrency tax
policies
——David Kerr
Given the complexity of tax laws and the innovative organizational structure required by decentralized systems, policy makers have encountered considerable difficulties in effectively formulating digital asset reporting requirements and tax handling rules. However, this legislative session offers a historic opportunity for the United States to regain leadership as cryptocurrencies are reshaping the global financial system and affecting the future of the Internet.
"Is the United States the person who wrote down the rules of the 21st century Internet, or can only watch others gain results through watching?"
David Kerr is the head of Cowrie LLC. He has 10 years of experience in tax strategy, financial accounting and risk consulting. He has provided risk aversion strategies to clients in industries such as gaming, telecom and technology-driven online sales platforms, focusing on Web3 issues. Development.
11. Should the United States implement its strategic reserves of
Bitcoin?
——Christian Catalini
The recently proposed strategic Bitcoin reserve is a good start – but it is just a start. There is also an opportunity: leverage Bitcoin to connect conflicting parts of the global financial system while maintaining the dominance of the United States.
"But the real opportunity is not simply a reserve of Bitcoin; it is a way of integrating it into the global financial system that strengthens the U.S. economic leadership, not weakens it."
Christian Catalini is the co-founder of Lightspark and the founder of the MIT Crypto Economics Lab.