This week, I entered my role as CEO of the Blockchain association in what can be the most consistent moment in the history of Crypto policies formulation. After years of regulatory uncertainty and application punishments, we have a generational opportunity to establish clear and friendly rules for innovation that will govern digital assets during the next decade and beyond.
The convergence of the factors that create this window is unusual. We have a Pro-Crypto Administration, a bipartisan impulse in Congress around the comprehensive legislation of stable and market structure, and the recent judicial victories, such as the end of the concessionaire rule, which validate the positions that this industry has occupied for years. Institutional adoption continues to grow, creating an urgent demand for regulatory clarity of inherited financial institutions.
But the windows of opportunity in Washington close as fast as they open. And if we take advantage of this moment or see it, it will depend largely on the capacity of the cryptographic ecosystem to speak with a clear voice.
Read more: CFTC Mersinger Commissioner to be CEO of the Blockchain Association
I have spent more than three years as a CFTC commissioner observing how policy is really implemented at the agency level. When regulators see a fractured industry that advances in competing agendas, they have no restrictive approaches that do not satisfy anyone. But when they find sophisticated and unified positions on complex issues, I discovered that those same regulators are involved constructively. The difference between these results is not only academic, it shapes markets, it determines which innovations survive and decides where global leadership resides in emerging technologies.
This dynamic explains why there is Blockchain Association and why our work has never been more critical. Consider what we have achieved when we have acted in concert. Our consensus market structure principles, developed through extensive members, provide a plan for legislation that protects innovation while guaranteeing consumer protection. And our unified opposition to the regulatory proposals of overreach, as with the regulation sagas of the concessionaire and corridor, has helped the courts to recognize when the agencies exceeded their authority.
These successes did not happen by accident. They left our will to prioritize collective progress over individual positioning and recognize that the regulatory challenges facing this industry are larger than any company or protocol.
Now we face our biggest test so far. As the impulse of politics increases and increases bets, the temptation of the fragment will intensify. Organizations will be tempted to obtain narrow advantages. The defenders of well -intentioned will push maximum positions that sound attractive but lack the pragmatic base necessary to become law.
We cannot afford that luxury. The opponents of the cryptographic industry have us to splinter as we approach the finish line. They know that a divided industry could lose the approach, it could dissolve in an endless debate. And they think they have seen this film before we approach the success of politics before everything collapses in a burning pile.
That is precisely the reason why my experience as a regulator is important for this role. I have seen how agencies respond to the clear and constructive commitment of the industry. I understand the difference between positions that sound good in conferences presentations and those that can really survive the legislative process. The most important thing, I know that the relationships and credibility necessary to achieve lasting policy victories are built through consistency, reliability and commitment demonstrated with public interest.
The opportunity we have at this time requires that we be ambitious about our objectives and disciplined about our approach. We need comprehensive legislation that provides regulatory clarity for digital assets; This has been obvious for years. We need agencies that understand the technology that are regulating and encouraging those regulators when they show progress. We need international coordination that guarantees that American innovation are not harmed by jurisdictional arbitration. And we need to maintain consumer protections and financial stability safeguards that make sustainable growth possible.
These are not competitive priorities. They are complementary elements of a coherent vision for US leadership in digital assets.
While I assume this responsibility, I am committed to ensuring that Blockchain Association recommends to its founding purpose. That means organizing the difficult conversations required to build a genuine consensus. It means raising our shared priorities over our individual preferences. And it means addressing our work with the seriousness and sophistication that this moment demands.
The cryptographic industry has graduated from its starting phase. We are no longer asking for permission to exist, we are negotiating the terms of regulation that will allow this technology to overcome its growth. That evolution requires not only technological maturity, but also political maturity. The next 18 months will prove if we have developed that maturity. The bets could not be higher, but neither could the opportunity.
Let’s take it, together.
