Naked Emperors and Crypto Campaign Cash
Paul Krugman:
Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, was introduced
15 years ago and was promoted as a replacement for old-fashioned money. But it
has yet to find significant uses that don’t involve some sort of criminal
activity. The crypto industry itself has been racked by theft and scams.
But while crypto has thus far been largely unable to
find legitimate applications for its products, it has been spectacularly
successful at marketing its offerings. Cryptocurrencies, which are traded for
other crypto assets but otherwise mainly seem suited for things like money
laundering and extortion, are currently worth around $2 trillion.
And in this election cycle the crypto industry has
become a huge player in campaign finance.