Crypto Chaos: How Biden Turned Bitcoin Into Bureaucratic Banana Peel

by

Opinion

Former Biden economic advisers Ryan Cummings and Jared Bernstein want you to believe that Bitcoin’s nosedive from its 2025 summit is some sort of cosmic thumbs-up for their policy brilliance. One might as well argue that a wet sock drying on a radiator proves the laws of thermodynamics. Their New York Times op-ed of February 26 is a triumph in selective amnesia: it conveniently forgets that the Biden-era crypto “framework” was less a framework and more like a blueprint drawn by a cat with an inkpot.

The duo praise the administration for “increasingly aggressive regulatory efforts to curb scams and fraud.” This is like applauding someone for bravely trying to stop a fire by throwing confetti at it. During this time, FTX ballooned to gargantuan proportions. Sam Bankman-Fried, political social butterfly and financial Houdini, waltzed through high-level meetings while orchestrating one of history’s most flamboyant frauds.

Rather than laying down clear rules, the administration opted for regulation-by-enforcement-a method that is approximately as effective as a screen door on a submarine. Legitimate businesses fled overseas, consumers got squashed like bugs under a bureaucrat’s boot, and innovation was treated to a polite but firm eviction notice. Meanwhile, crafty tricksters thrived, proving once and for all that chaos is the best fertilizer for bad actors.

Meanwhile, “Operation Choke Point 2.0” quietly nudged banks into a game of debanking that would make a game of musical chairs look fair. Law-abiding crypto businesses were unceremoniously cut off from the financial system, while ordinary folks and small enterprises-who’d turned to crypto because regular banks had ignored them-got caught in the crossfire. Democracy, it seems, was left in the lobby, politely waiting its turn.

The op-ed casually dismisses crypto as a “painfully slow and expensive database.” One might also dismiss a Swiss Army knife as “a confusing collection of tiny metal doodads” while missing the bit where it slices bread, opens wine, and potentially saves lives.

Consider remittances: global fees average 6.5%, siphoning billions from hardworking migrants. Blockchain-based stablecoins can move money in minutes for a fraction of the cost. Yet our trusty Biden economists apparently nodded off through this obvious human-interest angle. One wonders if they’d ever met anyone outside a climate-controlled meeting room.

Blockchain is not just for remittances. Giants like Fidelity, JPMorgan, BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Morgan Stanley, Visa, Mastercard, Meta, Stripe, Block Inc., and Franklin Templeton are all tinkering with it. Claiming otherwise is roughly as accurate as insisting unicorns never existed because you didn’t see one last Tuesday.

The op-ed’s main beef is Bitcoin’s price drop. Using short-term volatility to declare an entire asset class worthless is like burning a cookbook because the soufflé collapsed once. Volatility is the spice of early markets, not proof of inherent inadequacy.

Bitcoin may be “slow,” but it compensates with security-the kind regulators should crave. Transactions are irreversible by anyone with a sense of mischief, confiscation requires more than a frown, and tampering is firmly discouraged. In short: Bitcoin is like Fort Knox with a sense of humor. Other blockchains, meanwhile, manage breakneck speed for those in a hurry to spend virtual money on virtual cats.

The op-ed also fantasizes about taxpayer-funded bailouts for crypto-an idea so far from reality it could orbit Mars. The stablecoin rules they cite create instruments overcollateralized with the world’s most liquid government bonds, not a penny of taxpayer candy. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley Bank’s 2023 collapse saw the administration hand out guarantees like candy at a parade-selective moral hazard, anyone?

Political donations are waved about as if they prove corruption, ignoring the fact that asking for fair treatment through politics is basically the American Way. And yes, Bankman-Fried mostly gave to Democrats, which makes one wonder if someone should check their own guest list before pointing fingers.

In short, the U.S. could have been the global leader in digital asset regulation. Instead, it opted for a strategy reminiscent of sending a battalion of snails to storm a castle. The result: everyone loses-innovation, consumer protection, and America’s crypto ecosystem alike.

Cummings and Bernstein claim crypto’s boosters “have run out of excuses.” Actually, it’s the administration’s crypto skeptics who still owe the public a full report, a map, and perhaps a small parade.

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2026-04-07 18:07