The geopolitics of Crypto Week

We already explored how Nvidia cleared $4T last week, but you know what else just hit that number? Crypto. It’s a big number compared to, say, Intrigue’s market cap (we’re working on it). But it’s still small compared to, say, the world's money supply (M2): ~$100T.

And that gets to the crux of what we're exploring today: is crypto an asset or a currency?

The world's power-capital just weighed in on that exact question during a congressional 'Crypto Week', producing a few bills with some big implications for the US and the world.

But first, a quick episode recap: Trump 1.0 was a crypto-sceptic, until the president had a road to Damascus Miami conversion during the interregnum, and crypto donors ended up comprising almost half of last year's corporate campaign finance as he vowed to make the US the crypto capital of the world. The president has since released his own coins, and has put crypto-friendly faces in key regulatory seats: yes, dear Intriguer, you can now cite your FartCoin portfolio for consideration when applying for your next (Miami) mortgage.

But it's not the PotCoin mortgages that pushed crypto beyond $4T. Rather, it's three bills.

First, President Trump just signed the GENIUS Act into law on Friday after clearing both houses of Congress. It regulates 'stablecoins', which are pegged to things like the USD.

Who needs that? They're like a bridge not only between your PepeCoin and MoonCoin, but between the crypto world and the broader traditional finance world most of us inhabit. And that 'bridge', like any bridge, enables folks to walk both ways: for example, anyone trading traditional things (oil, gold, currencies) might now 'tokenise' (digitise) them via stablecoin, enabling quicker, cheaper, and more secure 24/7 trading.

But of course, to regulate something you've first gotta define it, which is also what the GENIUS Act does, ending some of the uncertainty that’s curbed Wall St and Main St enthusiasm. There's now talk of JPMorgan and Citi issuing their own stablecoins.

Oh, and defining something also shapes how you regulate it, which takes us to...

Second, the House also passed the CLARITY bill, seeking to shift crypto regulation to a smaller (and lighter touch) commodities regulator. It’s now with the Senate, but there’s your draft answer, Intriguer: maybe crypto currencies are not just assets, but commodities.

In its current form, the bill helps the crypto world avoid the SEC’s tougher Wall St rules, with critics arguing it's just grifters wanting more space to grift, while backers say this looser leash is key for the sector to innovate. But not all innovation is welcome, because…

Third, the House also passed an 'Anti-Central Bank Digital Currency' bill, banning the Fed from doing something it's never really shown an interest in doing: issuing its own digital currency. Again, it's still with the Senate, but the bill’s proponents want to pre-empt the Fed getting any ideas from (say) the EU, where central bankers are already working on a digital euro, erring on the side of shaping crypto from the inside rather than risk FOMO.

So what’s the problem with that? Critics fear a digital Fed coin might entail government surveillance and thereby erode some of crypto’s benefits like privacy, liberty, and beyond.

Anyway, that’s partly why crypto hit $4T on Friday. It's gone from something you might associate with boofy-haired tropical nerds or fake-tanned Dubai influencers or TikToking money-launderers or Lambo-driving Miami teens, to something that now has the imprimatur of Congress and the president of the United States.