Ikenomic Insights

  Despite Yogi Berra’s sage observation that it is difficult to make predictions, “ especially about the future ,” I’m quite comfortable predicting that 2025 will be regarded as a consequential inflection point in the maturation and mainstreaming of the cryptocurrency industry. Not only did the GENIUS Act become law earlier this year, providing a crucial and long-awaited regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, but the Securities and Exchange Commission shifted its posture toward industry participants from adversarial and prosecutorial to collaborative and constructive. This month, the SEC granted a waiver to Ripple Labs, citing good cause to  lift its injunction for past securities violations , which restricted the company from raising private capital from investors without complete SEC registration. The SEC also withdrew its appeal (lodged during the Biden administration) against a 2023 ruling by Judge Analisa Torres , who determined that sales of XRP on public...

  On Wednesday, the Working Group on Digital Asset Markets released its highly-anticipated  report , establishing a historic blueprint to facilitate blockchain and crypto innovation. The  160-page report stems from President Trump's January 23, 2025  Executive Order 14178 , Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,  and the Working Group consists of a broad swath of federal government officials—from the Treasury Secretary and the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman to the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Secretary of Homeland Security. Policymakers must create an environment that ensures U.S. leadership in the global blockchain revolution, and the legislative and regulatory recommendations in the report would do just that.    As I wrote in Forbes back in April, “[T]he perseverance of determined entrepreneurs, changes in U.S. political leadership, and a growing appreciation for the economic i...