FACT SHEET: White House Releases First-Ever Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets
Hey remember when Biden issued that executive order to research crypto? Looks like we're about to find out what they learned. Woof, I haven't read it yet, but I saw some highlights on Twitter and wow... I'm actually mad I have to read this right now. Dreading it really.
Here we go.
Digital assets present potential opportunities to reinforce U.S. leadership in the global financial system and remain at the technological frontier.
Notice how even the introductory statements are framed.
Now that crypto can no longer be ignored and the propaganda that only criminals and terrorists use it no longer works, we see the pivot. Within the given context, crypto exists to bolster American imperialism and make US stronger than other countries. As we all know... that is basically the opposite of why crypto exists. No surprises there. Let's see where they are going with this.
But they also pose real risks as evidenced by recent events in crypto markets. The May crash of a so-called stablecoin and the subsequent wave of insolvencies wiped out over $600 billion of investor and consumer funds.
Ah yes: you need US.
The peasants need someone to lord over them, amirite? If left to their own devices, who knows what kind of chaos would ensue. The government needs you to know that we need them. We need their 'trusted' institutions to 'protect investors' and 'stop criminal activity'. Without the government, all would surely be lost.
I will say it is interesting that they have to adopt the language to even speak to crypto users. Like... I never thought I'd hear an official government agency say "stablecoin" (let alone reference a specific one). That's not something you heard back in 2018, or even in 2020. We can see a dynamic shift happening in the background in real time, and the frontend display of that shift is very subtle and odd.
Over the past six months, agencies across the government have worked together to develop frameworks and policy recommendations that advance the six key priorities identified in the EO:
- consumer and investor protection;
- promoting financial stability;
- countering illicit finance;
- U.S. leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness;
- financial inclusion;
- and responsible innovation.
We already know that the SEC does nothing to provide investor protection. All they do is hand out permissions in exchange for a fee. That's exactly what a license is. If you don't pay the fee then you become an "unregulated security". Then they just fine you in court and force you to pay the fee. What else have they done? Nothing.
"Promoting financial stability" has been the go-to buzzword to justify regulating stable coins. Again, look at how stable the financial system is right now. We trust them to do a good job? Obviously they don't have a good track record. It's not about creating stability it's about power and control.
Counterfeiting illicit finance... Hm, that's funny... you mean that thing that the banking sector does every day? Again, not about protections or storing value, but about their own power over the thing.
Again, framing crypto as something that was designed to give America a competitive advantage shows right off the bat that they don't understand the point of the tech. How can anyone trust them to research the tech if they already indirectly declare they don't understand it right at the start?
Financial inclusion is a funny one because open borderless systems are inclusive by design. This is probably the funniest bullet point to throw out there, because it's obvious that something like Bitcoin is totally inclusive because no one can be banned from the network. This is clearly doublespeak, as it's very obvious that regulators would love the power to ban people from the network. This is an obviously hypocritical point to throw out there, and likely stems from some kind of left-wing agenda that will be explained later (like a race/minority issue that has nothing to do with crypto and everything to do with the Dems political platform).
'Responsible innovation' is also super funny to me. What is 'responsible innovation'. I would like to ask the military industrial complex what 'responsible innovation' looks like. Are nuclear weapons responsible? Is quantum computing responsible? The only reason I've ever heard to develop quantum computers is to crack encryption. Is cracking encryption responsible innovation? Again, doublespeak nonsense.
I choose the pen.
The nine reports submitted to the President to date, consistent with the EO’s deadlines, reflect the input and expertise of diverse stakeholders across government, industry, academia, and civil society. Together, they articulate a clear framework for responsible digital asset development and pave the way for further action at home and abroad.
This message sets up the authority of the people who have done this work and come to these conclusions. Again, this taps into the 'diversity' keyword that Dems love to throw around so much to their own benefit (which is largely hypocritical in itself). (Don't worry, when republicans are in charge in 2024 I'm going to slay them even worse.)
You know who I can guarantee who is not part of this 'diverse' team? People who actually believe in the grassroots movement of crypto and how it would be used to decentralize money and power across the globe. So basically the one group that actually has the authority to speak has been effectively silenced and replaced by bootlickers. I love it.
At the same time, they call for measures to mitigate the downside risks, like increased enforcement of existing laws and the creation of commonsense efficiency standards for cryptocurrency mining.
Increased enforcement of existing laws that were created 100 years ago and make zero sense within the context of the Internet and decentralization? And again we see the subtle POW MINING WASTES ENERGY propaganda pop up a little bit here, which they are sure to go into great depth later. Isn't it fun how it's just "commonsense" to oppose POW mining? Wow this "diverse" group of "experts" really knows their shit.
Digital assets pose meaningful risks for consumers, investors, and businesses. Prices of these assets can be highly volatile: the current global market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is approximately one-third of its November 2021 peak.
Again... the volatility of crypto and random chance is used to prove a point. If we were in the middle of a bull run right now, they wouldn't be able to say shit like "crypto just recently lost 66% so therefore you should give us more power over it". Language like this really tries to capitalize on the current emotion of the situation, which again shows that it's complete illegitimate propaganda. To assume that giving the government more power is somehow someway going to make crypto less volatile is asinine at best and outright dangerous at worst.
Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration and independent regulators have worked to protect consumers and ensure fair play in digital assets markets by issuing guidance, increasing enforcement resources, and aggressively pursuing fraudulent actors.
In other words, there is nothing they can do to regulate crypto. What are they going to do? Stop people from dumping ETH for some shitcoin that rugpulls on a decentralized exchange? They have no power. They know they have no power, but they keep trying to make the argument that oh maybe if we had more power then we could have done something. They can't. These are mental gymnastics of the highest level.
The reports encourage regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), consistent with their mandates, to aggressively pursue investigations and enforcement actions against unlawful practices in the digital assets space.
Encourage the SEC and the CFTC to prosecute anon dev teams all you want. See what happens. Crickets.
The reports encourage Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as appropriate, to redouble their efforts to monitor consumer complaints and to enforce against unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.
Fine them and pocket the money for yourself while the investors take a loss because the spot price tanked from your own actions. The same people that claim to be protecting investors are indirectly taking investor money and pocketing it.
In addition, agencies are encouraged to share data on consumer complaints regarding digital assets—ensuring each agency’s activities are maximally effective.
Sounds fine, right? What could be the harm in agencies sharing data to catch the bad guy? Well a lot of that data is already an invasion of privacy so... encouraging it to be in more places just fits in with that pattern of constantly eroding rights and privacy itself (except for the upper class). Rules for thee not for me, silly peasants!
The Financial Literacy Education Commission (FLEC) will lead public-awareness efforts to help consumers understand the risks involved with digital assets, identify common fraudulent practices, and learn how to report misconduct.
Why is this noteworthy? Well it's the first comment they made that I can't really come up with a clever retort. Good on them. Teach people the risks. Fine. Good job. But the point is that 99% of this article should be like that, but instead we see the inverse.
The digital economy should work for all Americans. That means developing financial services that are secure, reliable, affordable, and accessible to all.
So basically... the definition of crypto?
Truly can't wait to see how they spin it.
The President will also consider agency recommendations to create a federal framework to regulate nonbank payment providers.
Imagine what happens when they find out that things like ThorChain exist. Talk about a 'nonbank payment provider'... I am curious about how they will react to such platforms and decentralized options gaining traction. Certainly nothing good can come of it but if anything we can prove that censorship resistance works.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) will back research in technical and socio-technical disciplines and behavioral economics to ensure that digital asset ecosystems are designed to be usable, inclusive, equitable, and accessible by all.
If I'm being honest, this quote is what started it all... I saw this on my Twitter feed today and I was all like, "NO FUCKING WAY... that can't be real." As real as a heart attack, and here we are siphoning through the rest of the bullshit.
Again, this taps into the whole diversity and inclusion narrative that is part of the current political platform in power. Buzzwords like 'equitable' and 'inclusion' being used within the context of crypto, as if crypto needs the help of the government to realize this vision. Crypto is already more equitable and inclusive than any government agency in the world is capable of achieving. It's such a great quote that displays just how clueless (or deceptive) they are. How glorious.
Fostering Financial Stability
Digital assets and the mainstream financial system are becoming increasingly intertwined, creating channels for turmoil to have spillover effects. Stablecoins, in particular, could create disruptive runs if not paired with appropriate regulation. The potential for instability was illustrated in May 2022 by the crash of the so-called stablecoin TerraUSD and the subsequent wave of insolvencies that erased nearly $600 billion in wealth.
Again they bring up UST as if it is a relevant thing to talk about. My biggest question to the government would be: if UST had been regulated properly, how would this have avoided the crash to zero? See, they never actually say what they would of done differently, which is how we know they are completely full of shit. As if a stable-coin pegged to dollars in a bank can't collapse to zero? What if the bank goes insolvent and the money disappears within the fractional reserve legacy system? Politicians will dance and dance and dance around the issue without ever giving real answers, because they don't have any. That is their job.
This puts HBD in the spotlight. Regulate this stablecoin, assholes. Who are they going to apply pressure to in order to regulate the algo stable coin that is Hive Backed Dollars? Even if they could succeed in forcing the top 20 witnesses to push some insane hardfork that puts the government in charge... meh. That's still not a total loss.
At least we would know that Hive had failed and we can move on (or rather move back, to Bitcoin). It's not like we are going to get stuck in a situation where the government is in control of this network. Either we are in control, or we leave. That's how opt-in governance works. I believe witnesses would sooner turn off their nodes than try to push a hardfork programmed by a government agency (if such a thing is even possible... Justin Sun's henchmen certainly didn't have the skill or experience to pull it off... they had to copy code we had already written).
The Treasury will work with financial institutions to bolster their capacity to identify and mitigate cyber vulnerabilities by sharing information and promoting a wide range of data sets and analytical tools.
Again we hear that key phrasing: SHARE INFORMATION. Create a massive tracking database that is a complete invasion of privacy and attempts to trace everything and everyone throughout the economy. Spin it as a necessary security implementation rather than the farce that it actually is. Citizens have already capitulated and shown that they care way more about convenience and 'safety' than privacy. Exploit that vector as always.
Advancing Responsible Innovation
The U.S. government has long played a critical role in priming responsible private-sector innovation. It sponsors cutting-edge research, helps firms compete globally, assists them with compliance, and works with them to mitigate harmful side-effects of technological advancement.
I'm just gonna let this one float out in the air without a lot of commentary because of how funny and hypocritical it is. No debunking necessary. History itself debunks this position.
...develop a Digital Assets Research and Development Agenda to kickstart fundamental research on topics such as next-generation cryptography, transaction programmability, cybersecurity and privacy protections, and ways to mitigate the environmental impacts of digital assets.
The "environmental impact" of digital assets is that they fix all the problems and dismantle the war machine that mercilessly pollutes the Earth. The military industrial complex is the biggest waster of energy and creator of pollution on the planet. If you ever get the opportunity to buy land dirt cheap that was previously owned by the government... don't do it. Look it up, this is a real thing.
And then also to throw "privacy protections" in there after they just talked about how they were going to violate all the privacy. Top notch. Classic doublespeak. Very nice.
The Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies will consider further tracking digital assets’ environmental impacts; developing performance standards as appropriate; and providing local authorities with the tools, resources, and expertise to mitigate environmental harms.
And again in the next breath after 'privacy protections' they are back to tracking everything and violating privacy. I guess I'll just repost the thing I saw on Twitter today in response to the energy-wasting propaganda.
Credit for this goes to @nic__carter on Twitter.
It's an even better breakdown of the situation than my post on the matter. It is so obvious to anyone that actually looks at the situation objectively that being able to turn energy into magic internet money isn't something we should be trying to avoid. It's math ninja unicorn status. It solves so many problems. What we are seeing here is that, given enough time to flourish, crypto indirectly solves the problem of corrupt government itself. Guess who doesn't like that? The corrupt government. Shocking. That's why they've beaten it down at every opportunity they possibly could. They will never embraced it. Assuming they will stop fighting a future in which they are not in charge is... foolish. They will lie, cheat, and steal to the very end. Guaranteed.
But the funny part is they will also accept our bribes and continue to profit as much as they can off of the space. Greed is the Trojan Horse of crypto. You let it in thinking it's a gift and it can be controlled. Oops! It can't be controlled and it's already too late to burn it down. The only factor left is time.
Opportunities exist to align the development of digital assets with transitioning to a net-zero emissions economy and improving environmental justice.
Again, make the military net zero emissions. Problem solved and then some.
Reinforcing Our Global Financial Leadership and Competitiveness
Similarly, the United States has a valuable opportunity to partner with countries still developing their digital assets ecosystems, helping to ensure that countries’ financial, legal, and technological infrastructures respect core values including data privacy, financial stability, and human rights.
Now we transition for the justification of imperialism and using crypto as a tool to assert dominance over others. We can see clear as day that once again: they don't get it. They're never going to get it. Crypto exists to do the opposite. Trying to make the claim that crypto is a technology that helps the USA maintain their world-police status is absurd on every level.
Agencies will promote standards, regulations, and frameworks that reflect values like data privacy, free and efficient markets, financial stability, consumer protection, robust law enforcement, and environmental sustainability.
Again just repeating the same debunked bullshit. Over and over again. Hammering it in for mass consumption. Spread the message: peasants.
While our efforts have strengthened the U.S. financial system, digital assets— some of which are pseudonymous and can be transferred without a financial intermediary —have been exploited by bad actors to launder illicit proceeds, to finance terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and to conduct a wide array of other crimes. For example, digital assets have facilitated the rise of ransomware cybercriminals; narcotics sales and money laundering for drug trafficking organizations; and the funding of activities of rogue regimes, as was the case in the recent thefts by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)- affiliated Lazarus Group.
Look at this argument closely:
- AH! Terrorist boogieman!
- WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!
- For example, digital assets have facilitated the rise of ransomware.
What the fuck?
The example given for terrorists and weapons of mass destruction are nerds in their basement hijacking my GPU with a website script to mine POW coins? Are they fucking serious? They are deathly serious. This logic makes perfect sense, right? Of course it needs to be framed as obvious propaganda for it to make sense. Perhaps that will be their new consensus algorithm that the government invents: POP (proof-of-propaganda). Has a nice ring to it. Pop it.
In addition, positions like the "drug-dealer" argument assume in advance that citizens shouldn't have access to certain drugs and that the government has the right to take away our freedom and perhaps even torture or kill us if we happen to be in possession of these things. Sorry, is that wild assumption not up for debate? We are just acting like this is how it should be? Hm, okay then.
A U.S. CBDC – a digital form of the U.S. dollar – has the potential to offer significant benefits. It could enable a payment system that is more efficient, provides a foundation for further technological innovation, facilitates faster cross-border transactions, and is environmentally sustainable.
None of these things are true. In fact, they mention FEDNOW a couple times in the article (but I didn't quote those parts). The FEDNOW system makes this argument completely irrelevant. So it's funny that they mention FEDNOW and CBDC but not how FEDNOW makes CBDC irrelevant. And of course they have to throw in the POW energy FUD one more time for kicks. Classic government.
Here's a video from Twitter that sums up the CBDC situation quite well.
Again, I like the idea of CBDC because it completely destroys the narrative of all the previously issued propaganda. I'm actually bullish on CBDC and hope they make a lot of them. Such a development can only help further the real crypto movement. If people have to learn how to use a CBDC before moving over to real crypto, so be it. That may be just the kind of thing that triggers mainstream adoption.
Conclusion
Holy hell, what a nightmare, we finally got through the whole thing. I feel better already. I mean I knew it was going to be terrible but god damn. We did it fam. We made it. 18-minute read... gross.
It's quite clear that this message from the government is a pretty well crafted propaganda piece. I can't wait to talk to random no-coiners who have no idea what they are talking about trying to tell me how it is, but that's exactly what propaganda is designed to do: empower the ignorant and spread the false message. The silver lining here is that at least we all know better. No one on Hive is going to get fooled by any of this stupid bullshit. Small miracles.
Now I have to go back and proofread this garbage for 20 minutes and correct all the errors.
Kill me know... now
Return from White House Down! to edicted's Web3 Blog
