Crypto: What Is It and What Is the Fuss All About?

This article is part of the series, “Left Hook Economics: The Dollars & Sense Policy Forum.”

As Congress passes pro-crypto legislation and President Trump and his family make billions from the crypto industry, PERI’s Gerald Epstein breaks down what crypto finance is, what it isn’t, and what, if anything, it’s good for.

Epstein summarizes, “In short, this attempt to create an alternative currency that is decentralized and operates outside of the government and financial system is a ‘Rube Goldberg’ machine of enormous complexity that utilizes a huge amount of resources—specifically, human, machine, and climate resources.”