Experts react to White House report on crypto: 'astonishing such a document exists'

The crypto community is surprised at how badly Biden’s administration is missing the point in terms of what the sector offers. Indeed, several experts have expressed their reservations regarding what the White House published in its Economic Report for the President 2023.

What did the White House say about crypto in its report?

Basically, the White House’s report states that cryptocurrencies have zero utility, a perspective crypto experts say is “a demonstrably false position.” It’s “astonishing that such a document exists,” said another. The economic report essentially says that crypto has “no fundamental value” and that crypto does not offer any of the benefits its proponents say it does.

For instance, the White House claims that cryptocurrencies have not improved the payment systems, increased financial inclusion, or enabled efficient transfer of financial value.

According to the report’s authors, crypto innovation has largely been about “creating artificial scarcity in order to support crypto assets’ prices.” The 30-page rant against crypto also looked to glorify the place of fiat – in this case the US dollar.

Experts astonished at White House’s view of crypto

While the US government’s outlook in this report does not sum up the fate of crypto as it is, its content and timing might inform the trajectory regulators take as the ecosystem battles for legislative clarity. The reaction from across crypto very much highlights this thinking, with experts noting the report is almost completely off the track.

Christian Catalini, the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Lightspark, says the United States risks “squandering its technological leadership in the crypto domain.”

He noted that the report shows how inefficient the White House has researched the crypto topic.

1/ The US risks squandering its technological leadership in the crypto domain. The @WhiteHouse's economic report exemplifies the insufficient research conducted to offer a balanced perspective on its underlying economics: https://t.co/nploH2MOu6

— Christian Catalini (@ccatalini) March 22, 2023

Omid Malekan, author of several books including on crypto and blockchain topics, says he finds “it astonishing [that] such a document exists.” He shared his comments via LinkedIn, noting:

“This is an industry that’s won over tens of millions of Americans. It has pulled in some of the finest minds in tech, finance, economics, law and cryptography. It has attracted billions in capital.”

He pointed to crypto’s growing application and use across multiple fields and adoption by some of the biggest brands in the world, wondering whether the US thinks all these people are wrong on crypto. Does it also mean that the United Kingdom, European Union, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, countries that are all “leaning” crypto are wrong?

It’s “a demonstrably false position”

A “former” lawyer going by the pseudonym @exlawyernft on Twitter, said the economic reports had taken “a demonstrably false position.” In his view, this is largely due to the US adminstration’s “position that crypto is only used for illegal purposes and money laundering.”

In the crypto expert’s view, cryptocurrency’s rise and adoption has gathered pace as more people lose trust in world governments and banks, particularly with global economic systems seemingly only benefiting the rich.

The post-COVID money printing era has only helped fuel the inflation that has ordinary people struggling for basic necessities. The Twitter user added:

“Ordinary people see governments and central banks as the cause of their pain. And they’re right. So, while the Biden White House, lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and regulators like Gary Gensler claim crypto is nothing but a fraud, ordinary people see it as an answer to failed monetary and economic policies.”

The opinion of most experts is that while the US remains the world leader in tech and finance, it risks losing on both fronts if the direction suggested in the White House report is what the country takes.

It is also notable that the White House’s report comes out as the US regulatory landscape takes on an “unfriendly outlook” for the crypto industry. The SEC and other agencies have increased their enforcement actions against crypto companies, this happening even as the government seemingly scrambled to bail out struggling banks in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.