Free Markets and Innovation, Sort Of
Summer Mersinger analyzes proposed cryptocurrency legislation, arguing that it does not unfairly restrict innovation or stablecoin rewards. She clarifies that the bill targets centralized protocols and illicit finance while exempting decentralized software that lacks custodial control.
Why it matters
This analysis provides a regulatory perspective on how new legislation aims to balance consumer protection with the growth of the blockchain and digital asset sector.
Summer Mersinger is CEO of the Blockchain Association and a former commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Start with what the bill actually forbids. Payment for merely holding a stablecoin is prohibited. So is any program that ends up economically or functionally equivalent to interest on a bank deposit – and the text attaches penalties to the attempt. That test is the whole provision, and the editorial's warning about rewards paid to customers for holding stablecoins falls inside it.
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