Kevin Hurley, CTO at Lightspark, says Washington's stance toward crypto appears to be shifting, with regulators like the SEC taking a less combative approach — moving away from lawsuits and toward clearer capital markets rules. "Hopefully now we're actually going to have some clarity on what is and what isn't a security, what can actually be done," he said.
But even in a friendlier political climate, caution over government involvement remains a feature, not a bug, of the crypto community.
Joe Kelly, CEO of Unchained — a startup that helps clients store bitcoin securely by holding their own private keys — said it's smart to be careful what you wish for when it comes to the U.S. government owning a lot of bitcoin. "That can go other ways," he said.