The Crypto Industry’s Solution for Regulation: We’ll Handle It

The cryptocurrency industry suddenly found itself in the crosshairs of a host of U.S. state and federal regulators this fall, facing millions of dollars of fines, threats of lawsuits, and warnings of new rules to come. Crypto executives say the abrupt—and sometimes overlapping—spate of enforcement threatens to chill innovation, especially in areas where it’s not clear which laws apply. Their solution? Let the industry help regulate itself.

Major exchanges including Coinbase and Gemini and prominent investors like Andreessen Horowitz have floated the idea of a crypto self-regulatory organization (SRO), arguing it could be better suited to oversee the new and complex industry on ...