Then it all came crashing down.
Now imagine if the US government responded by making it illegal to invest in tech, claiming they we doing it for our own good.
Google, Apple, Facebook (or some equivalent) would have still happened, just not here.
That's exactly what the US government has done with crypto after any company with a token took a similar path to the .com's of the 90s - they went up fast, and crashed even faster.
But just like if lawmakers responded with bans back then, the industry still moved forward - because the tech was real even if everyone claiming a new way to use it wasn't.
We scared them out of Silicon Valley, so they built Crypto Valley...
Switzerland saw where we screwed up and made sure the blockchain and crypto industry knew - their leaders have made an effort to understand what blockchain technology is, and how cryptocurrency works - so there won't be any irrational laws written by ignorant politicians coming anytime soon.
That's the pitch they made while US politicians like Brad Sherman ranted about crypto only being useful to criminals and terrorists (while taking political donations from credit card companies that would later be charged for funding black market gambling, but that's another story... one I wrote here).
Now Switzerland hosts over 800 blockchain and crypto companies - valued at over $4 billion dollars.
Not a single one accused of being a scam. Not a single American is safer because these companies are over there instead of here.
Upsides? None.
In many cases, I mean 'scared out of Silicon Valley' literally...
The best example would be Facebook's crypto project "Libra". Obviously, Facebook started here, so did the majority of the 20+ companies that are still partners.
Grasp how insane this is - other countries lobby hard to get these multi-billion dollar tech and financial companies to set up shop in their homeland.
But for the US, these companies were ALREADY here - we didn't have to convince them to come, we just had to not scare them away.
In the case of Libra, Switzerland even passed new regulations around stablecoins in preparation for their arrival.
When those of us in the US hear the word 'regulations' in regard to crypto, we assume it's bad news. But no, Switzerland passed regulations that would actually help Libra operate in their country.
The red flags that should have caused US leaders to say 'wait a second, something doesn't seem right here' should have been obvious when we saw another wealthy first-world nation doing everything they could to convince companies we were scaring away into moving to theirs.
Obviously, Switzerland wasn't working this hard just to get a bunch of awful companies to come there and launch projects doomed to fail.
But not a single US leader suggested that we pause, and attempt to understand what was happening.
All because of irrational fear, and unfounded paranoia...
And I can prove it.
It wasn't long ago I read the headline "Uber’s First Earnings Report After IPO: $1 Billion Loss".
Remind me again - which blockchain company lost a billion dollars? (The answer is none of them).
Yet, somehow not a single US politician or government official has mentioned the idea of banning citizens from investing in ride sharing companies.
Actually - the opposite. Uber going public so everyone can lose money with them was actually celebrated, and the SEC hasn't second guessed their decision to allow it, at least not openly.
...odd, isn't it?
We used to be a country that ran towards the unknown...
It's how we put a man on the moon, it's why Silicon Valley is located here.
Unfortunately, if i'm going to remain honest here, the paranoia didn't come from nowhere.
We were told we were safe, then 9/11 happened. We were told if we wanted that safety back we needed to go to war, then we invaded the wrong country. We were told the stock market was doing great, and when it came crashing down learned the biggest and 'most trusted' financial institutions worked together on what was basically the biggest scam in the history of the world.
Maybe it isn't so surprising that now when we hear of the 'next big thing' we immediately prepare ourselves to find out it's another lie.
But in the case of blockchain, it wasn't a lie.
For the first time in a long time, the US is a spectator instead of the star when it comes to this 'next big thing'.
Closing thoughts...
While the initial mistake may be somewhat understandable - not correcting it would be unforgivable.
Thankfully, there are a few lawmakers who get it, and the bill that would put us on the right path is floating around Washington DC right now.
But it's been awhile since we've gotten an update, as elections seem to consume our leaders when they're still 2 years away. It feels like a long time since the news focused on something other than arguments about who should be in power, instead of how any of them are using the power they currently have for the good of the country.
Ironically, one of the few things sponsored by politicians from both parties is the above mentioned cryptocurrency bill.
It's hard to imagine me thinking politicians are more useless than I already do, but if they screw this one up - crypto valley here I come, and i'm not kidding.
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Author: Ross Davis
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM
San Francisco News Desk
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