Im oversimplifying this, perhaps, but only slightly. The ethos of the community is largely in line with some combination of Erik Voorhees Permissionless call to action and Bill Gurleys All-In Summit takedown of the regulatory state. You must take 30 minutes to watch both of these talks over the holidays if you havent already, as they get to the essence of many of the industrys early builders ethos.

Voorhees, one of the bona fide libertarian OGs of crypto, discussed the peaceful rebellion of building permissionless systems that replace the rule of law (ineffective and arbitrarily applied) with the rule of math (consistent and precise). Gurley, a legendary venture capitalist, discussed regulatory capture and explained how incumbent corporate interests influence policy and regulation to provably benefit themselves at the expense of citizens. He ends with a line that evoked a standing ovation: The reason Silicon Valley has been so successful is because its so f*cking far away from Washington DC. Theres just one problem: this presents a false choice.

Given the reputational setbacks we have suffered this past year, some degree of political [ring]kissing is necessary to survive and advance. We cant realistically walk away from all engagement in DC when many leaders are ready to legislate punitively on our industry. The choice to opt out entirely from these conversations with an aging, technically challenged gerontocracy at the helm of our nations institutions would be suicidal, even if participation in the discussions themselves is stultifying. We are not only up against the big, incumbent banks in our policy fights, but the incumbent regulatory state itself. And regulators f*cking LOVE intermediaries. Policymakers believe that banks, exchanges, and other centralized financial services providers help the state with tax compliance, suspicious transaction monitoring, consumer protection, etc. These entities can be held accountable to achieve specific public policy 94

Of course, the degree to which they are actually helpful, or to which such policy directives are cost-effective, does not change the faith that policymakers have in institutions as useful appendages of the state. Permissionless systems are a threat to the entire regulatory state because they are by definition intermediary-less. Regulators lose information, they lose control, and they arguably lose their need to exist if they cant identify the responsible parties that help maintain these systems.