Community fires back at anti-crypto letter sent to US lawmakers

The increase of crypto lobbyists recently sparked an effort from anti-crypto individuals in the tech space to urge regulators through a letter to resist the influence of blockchain advocates. In response, the crypto community criticized the move and laid out counterarguments against the contents of the letter. 

Signed by 26 tech personalities, the letter sent to United States lawmakers described crypto assets as “risky, flawed and unproven digital financial instruments.” It expressed disagreements about the potential of blockchain technology and has urged the regulators to create harsher regulations for cryptocurrencies.

The crypto community did not stay silent as many reacted and expressed their disagreements with the letter and its contents. Tech lawyer Preston Byrne also gave his take on the issue. In a blog post, Byrne dissected the letter and provided counterarguments to the claims made by its signatories.

According to the attorney, the crypto community does not want a “safe haven” but rather a regulatory certainty. The tech lawyer also blasted some of the signatories, calling them “unapologetic attention seekers.”

Apart from Byrne, Meltem Demirors, the chief strategy officer at CoinShares, also criticized the signatories, mentioning that they are known to be "anti-crypto" trolls.

what tech experts are these? last i checked it was 26 individuals who have been notable anti-crypto twitter trolls FT will really publish anything huh https://t.co/u2ySwMkJuB

Philosophy professor Bradley Rettler also gave his opinion on the letter. According to Rettler, writing an essay requires support and the letter failed to support its claims. In a Twitter thread, Rettler presented a detailed critique against the claims made by the “tech bros.”

In a tweet, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, said that activist and blogger Cory Doctorow being a signatory to the letter is “upsetting and confusing a lot of crypto advocates.” Buterin noted that many community members have looked up to Doctorow vision and related as “fellow travelers.”

Related: Congress tells SEC redefining long-standing concepts would be bad for digital ecosystem

Meanwhile, crypto lobbying efforts are on the rise. Back in February, data showed that crypto lobbying expenditure had an annual increase of 116%, making the five-year total expenses $9.5 million. The report showed that Ripple Labs has topped the chart of biggest spenders for lobbying in the United States.