July 17, 2023
America Is Missing a Big Opportunity on Blockchain
Over the past year, with high-profile cases of fraud plaguing cryptocurrency ventures such asFTX and Terra Luna, financial regulators around the world have aggressively looked to rein in bad actors in the crypto-asset marketplace. But some policymakers also seem to have dismissed blockchain—the decentralized digital ledgers that serve as the foundation for cryptocurrencies. The White House has followed suit. In March, the Economic Report of the President devoted 30 pages to arguing against any positive use of cryptocurrencies and the technologies behind them. Some of Washington, it seems, has a one-dimensional strategy for blockchain: Stay away from it.
China and Russia, in their quest to combat U.S. economic power, are developing and implementing blockchain-based digital ecosystems.
Yet it’s myopic for the Biden administration to dismiss blockchain outright. Fundamentally, blockchain is a technology that enables data to be verified and transmitted dynamically across networks rather than through single, linear points of transmission. That technology cannot be ignored at a time when data—and how it is maintained and leveraged—has become critical for technological advancement and strategic global competition.
Read the full article from Foreign Policy.
More from CNAS
-
Tariffs and Tech: An Uncertain Recipe
Commentary
Higher tariffs could prompt American cloud companies to shift more of their capital investments abroad....
By Pablo Chavez
-
How Do You Tariff a Movie and Liza Tobin on the Trade War with China
Podcast
China expert Liza Tobin, managing director at Garnaut Global and new CNAS adjunct senior fellow, joins Emily Kilcrease and Geoffrey Gertz to discuss the ins and outs of the US...
By Emily Kilcrease, Geoffrey Gertz & Liza Tobin
-
Friendshore First, Trade War Second
Podcast
Edward Fishman is the author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. Fishman is an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS...
By Edward Fishman
-
Trump's First 100 Days in Trade Policy
Podcast
Emily and Geoff look back on the first 100 days of Trump’s trade policy, with a focus on how different parts of the U.S. political and economic system are reacting. They get i...
By Emily Kilcrease & Geoffrey Gertz
