What?! Regulating Cryptos Is… a Good Idea?

Federal Chairman Jerome Powell brought up cryptos in his testimony before Congress today. He says Russia’s actions underscore the need for more regulation of decentralized digital money. Lawmakers also asked him about plans to turn the dollar into a cryptocurrency — a possibility we call the Fedcoin. Powell said the Fed is still looking into it but hasn’t made any decisions yet. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported last week that the Boston Federal Reserve Bank has hired at least five former employees of Circle — a company that oversees a digital coin backed by U.S. dollars. We’ve expressed some concern about world central banks issuing their own cryptocurrencies. But in this week’s Wiggin Session, James Altucher tells me “it’s actually an exciting thing.” For one thing, the government-backed cryptocurrencies will trade alongside other cryptos on the decentralized exchanges, giving them more legitimacy. “It’ll make some of them very huge,” he says…