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> Although, oddly, he's never done a crypto transaction. As Matt Levine wrote on his newsletter, saying that the SEC must have traded crypto to regulate it is
by e63f67dd-065b 4y ago
> Although, oddly, he's never done a crypto transaction.
As Matt Levine wrote on his newsletter, saying that the SEC must have traded crypto to regulate it is like saying the DEA should have used meth to regulate meth -- if you think the thing is bad, then obviously you should understand it, then ban it, without using it yourself.
Now, people can disagree whether the thing is bad, but it would be foolish to assume that the SEC doesn't know how cryptocurrency works. If you look at the career paths and previous work of most of the top bureaucrats at the SEC, you'll see that they were usually involved in a great deal of legislation or had prominent positions in industry doing real projects.
- indy 4y agoYou don't think it strange that the guy who taught a course on blockchains at MIT has never made a transaction on a blockchain?
- thisgoesnowhere 4y agoYou think it's strange that people who are researching cancer drugs have never taken them themselves?
- latchkey 4y agoThe analogy doesn't work. Everyone has money. Not everyone has cancer. Anyone who takes cancer drugs, is doing research. There is no "cure" for cancer (yet).
- indy 4y agoNo I don't think that's strange. A better analogy might be: would you think it strange that someone teaching a C programming class has never compiled a program?
- latchkey 4y agoexactly. would you think it is strange that someone who's teaching a C programming class that has never used a computer?
- thisgoesnowhere 3y agoThere is reason to believe that if he did own it directly that would be a conflict of interest. Here is a actual similar story without hyperbole since this actually happened. 'Imagine someone trying to bring a injunction against Liberty Reserve without owning any any stock in the company or having ever used their products'. 1 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Reserve https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Reserve
- CPLX 4y agoNo. I also think a botanist could understand how plants reproduce without ever having fucked a cabbage.
- jonnydubowsky 4y agoyou win the internet today.
- latchkey 4y agoThat's absolutely hilarious, but a bad analogy. Have you ever met a botanist who's never touched a plant?
- pcthrowaway 3y agoI'm sure there's a kinky botanist out there somewhere who would beg to differ
- im3w1l 3y agoIsn't the simplest explanation here that he has in fact done a transaction on a blockchain, but for whatever reason refuses to own up to it?
- indy 3y agoExactly! And now the question becomes: why would he make such a lie before the House Financial Services Committee?
- yellowapple 4y ago> like saying the DEA should have used meth to regulate meth I am being entirely serious when I say that I trust a meth addict more than I do the DEA to create or impose any sort of regulation.