Debate: Should Congress Crack Down on Crypto?

Following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the arrest of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, many have called on Congress to take note and impose stricter regulations on cryptocurrency investments. Bankman-Fried has been charged with several different criminal offenses, including money laundering, securities fraud, wire fraud and scheming to defraud investors in FTX trading.

Before the company declared bankruptcy, about 1,500 people in the Bahamas were allowed to withdraw approximately $100 million from their accounts while other investors’ accounts were frozen. Members of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee are now conducting their own investigations and analysis.

We asked two professors and authors of ALM’s Tax Facts with opposing political viewpoints to share their opinions about whether Congress should act now to strengthen cryptocurrency reporting regulations in the wake of the FTX collapse.

Below is a summary of the debate that ensued between the two professors.

Their Votes:

Bloink

Byrnes

Their Reasons:

Bloink: Congress must absolutely act to impose more strict regulations on cryptocurrency investments, and in the wake of the FTX collapse, there’s no time like the present.

Cryptocurrency investments are even more risky than any traditional investment class, as we’ve seen from recent volatility. That justifies an even more stringent regulation regime, as we seek to protect ordinary Americans from sophisticated investments that they might not entirely understand.