SAYING NO TO REGULATIONS

_{This post is s reaction to Brian Armstrong's comment during the All-in podcast about regulating the crypto space. You can listen to the podcast for more in-depth insight into his views on crypto regulations and adoption.}

Today I was able to help my friend send money to a loved one in Nigeria. She currently lives in Germany and it would have cost her more in time and fiat what it took me barely 30minutes to complete. This is one of the benefits of crypto we often overlook in our pursuit of gains.

Crypto has solved a fundamental problem by eliminating the middleman and giving people more financial autonomy. This is what the government and financial institutions across the globe are fighting against and they are not fighting fair. So I find the clamour for regulation a bit strange because when push comes to shove; when the going gets tough we quickly forget what these institutions stand for.

The government has never and will never be for the people. This might sound outlandish but I hold this opinion to be true. I live in a country where almost nothing works; there are repeated cases of corruption and embezzlement of public funds. So it would be hypocritical to say that the government works in my best interest or anyone outside their space, the contrary is the case. So no, I do not want the government to regulate the crypto space.

The government is simply just a group of elites who are obvious to the plight of the common men but still determine their future by way of creating and enforcing policies. These policies most often do not reflect the reality of the common man. Yesterday I was reading a post about crypto policies in India and how it is running the industry in the country. On one hand, the government wants a 30% task on crypto earnings and on the other hand crypto exchanges are not allowed to deal with the banks. These are the types of polarising policies in most countries that are stalling the growth of the crypto industry.

The answer to crypto fraud and hacks isn’t regulation, but development, better governance and people just doing their due diligence. We cannot keep running back to the institutions we want to disrupt. Emphasis should be placed on creating solutions to curb the dubious acts of scammers.

Also, I do not have a problem with governments going after miscreants in this industry who defraud people for their money. However, I am totally against the government defining players and what can or cannot be done in this industry. It creates the same unfair environment that led may to decentralised finance/cryptocurrency.

If you do want regulation; if you do want government intervention, then exploring decentralized finance should not be an option for you. There are tons of opportunities in the traditional financial system. The decentralized space is for people who want autonomy; people who want to take control of their finances rather than delegating it to the middlemen–banks and the likes.

Decentralized and centralized finance can co-exist. As much as I would like for the traditional finance system to collapse, I think it is still relevant for those who want to operate in this space. The same can be said about decentralized finance. I would rather put my trust in a couple of lines of codes and a community of like-minded people, than in a government I know doesn’t have my interest. I do not want them taking decisions on my behalf. It is not too much to ask for some level of autonomy/agency.

Regulation cannot be a solution for some of the problems bedevilling the crypto space, however, innovation can and will be the answer. The bigger this industry gets, the better it will get at solving some of its problems.

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