Why We Joined the Blockchain Association
We’re excited to share that we are newly minted members of the Blockchain Association, a group that advocates for crypto in Washington. In sharing this news, we also wanted to take the opportunity to talk a little bit about why we think regulation is important–both for Krypton and the future of crypto.
Why We Like the BA
One thing that brings me a lot of joy about Krypton is that it is both internally regulating and offers a better deal for consumers. We think this is a really great example of what crypto (and DeFi) can offer the world.
So with that in mind, we are a company that welcomes sound, reasonable regulation of our industry. But that in turn requires sound, reasonable conversation about the things that make crypto (and Krypton!) novel relative to what’s come before. It requires clear definitions about what things are and a common understanding of how things work, what distinguishes DeFi from CeFi, and so on.
But effectively sharing all this requires education and intelligent communication–particularly with the lawmakers who can have so much influence on our industry.
The BA spends a lot of time and resources talking to policy makers and helping to drive a productive conversation for our industry. The organization itself is stacked with talent, but it is also really cool how many people are participating in the conversations that the BA is facilitating.
When we were in DC for the BA Policy Summit in November there were dozens of protocols, Layer 1s, VCs, and policy makers in one room talking about where we’re going as an industry and what can be done to help support sustainable growth of crypto in the US.
Of course there are still a ton of unanswered questions and different points of view. We’re in a nascent industry that is still, in many ways, defining itself. We’re really excited to get to participate in those conversations and are eager to contribute to them.
Why Should You Care About This?
We know that regulatory talk isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But whatever your thoughts about crypto and regulation, there are two pretty practical reasons to welcome it.
The first is language. Regulation gives us a set of shared definitions and basic principles. At its most simplistic, regulation helps everyone understand what stuff is and what that means.
Just by way of example, here’s an important one: Is a token a security or an asset (or both)? Does it depend on context? Can the same token be two different things? (is there a Shrodinger’s token??? (I’m sorry))
Those kinds of questions might not interest everyone reading this, but for a business in our space it’s very useful to have clarity on these issues. Well-defined answers to questions like these impact our community rewards, our own economic incentives, our employee compensation, and of course our legal bills 🙂
The second is legitimacy. While it’s still up to every individual business or protocol to act in a legitimate way, being regulated helps to confer legitimacy on the industry as a whole. It makes crypto something that is a) more broadly understood, and b) more easily welcomed. That, in turn, makes crypto more accessible to more people.
Again, that might not interest everyone. But if you truly believe that what you’re doing has value for a lot of people, then it’s worth asking what a lot of people want. And in our view, when it comes to finance, legitimacy really helps in fostering adoption. (Ask Anna about the history of private equity if you want to talk more about this)
Of course, as noted previously, it’s still up to individual businesses to act in a legitimate way. And regulation isn’t a panacea by any means. Sometimes regulation is irrelevant, or even counterproductive.
But in our view, the best way to get good regulation is to participate in the conversation from the outset–and to hear from people who have different points of view and who know more than you about policy and law. So as you can imagine, for us, applying to join a group like the BA was a total no-brainer.
Where Krypton Fits In
At Krypton we’re looking at the long term. We are trying to build something that can be a critical part of financial infrastructure for a very long time.
We want to give ourselves every opportunity to succeed in a way that’s good not just for our business, but for any business that uses Krypton as part of their own infrastructure and for any individual who wants to do the best they can with their resources.
In short, we want to be a great example of the good that is possible in DeFi. And we think we can do that, especially if we can contribute to and learn from the people at the BA. It’s an awesome organization and we’re really thrilled to be part of it.
Krypton is dedicated to the idea that functional markets are fair markets, where you can get the trade you want at a cost that makes sense. Our academic roots are the foundation of our novel approach to solving the challenges of building a decentralized financial system, and we’re proud to offer a truly novel approach to exchange architecture with the Krypton DEX.
