Matt Levine’s Money Stuff: You Need Regulators to Deregulate

CFPB

I wrote the other day that, in the Trump administration, “the legal status of crypto is still kind of uncertain, but the enforcement status is ‘go ahead, do whatever.’” This is not just a crypto thing; it’s a more general approach. Traditionally the way regulation works is that there are rules, and you are supposed to follow them, and if you do not follow them you get in trouble with the government. Companies organize themselves around this basic reality. A big bank will have a compliance officer, and the compliance officer will say to the bankers “hey guys don’t pay ...