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@ Yaka Stuff (RSS Feed)
2023-07-28 17:57:11The Weekend #151—The most successful story ever told
(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F044687aa-4d28-487c-8b01-5c91bef64b5a_1988x1508.jpeg)Sapiens author Yuval Harari was on the Lex Fridman podcast (https://youtu.be/Mde2q7GFCrw) the other week, where he reasserted his claim about money (https://youtu.be/Ezne9sG3pZc):
“Money is the most successful story ever told. Much more successful than any religious mythology. Not everybody believes in God or in the same God, but almost everybody believes in money even though it’s just a figment of our imagination. You take these green pieces of paper, dollars, they have no value. You can’t eat them. You can’t drink them. And today, most dollars aren’t even pieces of paper. They are just electronic information passing between computers.”
Of course, in the context of the U.S. dollar, having the world’s largest economy and most powerful military certainly helps with telling a more convincing story.
And things like debt and inflation are part of that story.
It’s a story that enables global cooperation but also global competition.
Its story, poorly told, can result in societal ruin. Properly told and there’s the potential for economic prosperity.
For the weekend, here’s the story of money in just ten minutes (via Greg Kidd):
The asterisk here is that, today, the story of money is in flux. Amid the rise of crypto and stablecoins, governments around the world are investigating ways to digitize that story.
When stories evolve, new rules are sometimes necessary.
Here in the U.S., a bill outlining a regulatory framework for crypto achieved a new milestone (https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-crypto-ffb85024-3435-401f-b1c1-fcb67a3ceb3b.html)—an actual vote in Congress. (It passed 35-15.)
But crypto is sort of money adjacent. A stablecoin bill looks to be delayed—perhaps because it hits a bit closer to home. Some are blaming the White House (https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/07/27/white-house-derailed-negotiation-on-us-house-stablecoin-bill-mchenry/). Others, banks (https://www.theblock.co/post/241585/financial-services-chair-pushes-back-on-bank-criticism-of-stablecoin-bill). Mapping out a new story can be contentious.
Then you have Sam Altman, the same guy who brought us ChatGPT. He wants to give you his version of money for free. As long as you scan your iris (https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/what-is-worldcoin/) to prove you’re a unique human. While the Worldcoin story is more about authentication, today’s story of money is often linked with identity.
Whatever the case may be, we are in the midst of writing a new chapter for the most successful story ever told.
Elsewhere in the story of money, here’s Calvin Burrows:
What happened with the stablecoin bill?
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Bipartisan support for the bill broke down in Thursday’s session between House lawmakers on the Financial Services Committee, with Democrats requesting to postpone voting until they have a chance to amend the bill.
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From Coindesk: (https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/07/27/white-house-derailed-negotiation-on-us-house-stablecoin-bill-mchenry/) “During the debate, Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) suggested voting be postponed to September, saying Democrats hadn’t had sufficient chance to pitch their ideas. Maxine Waters backed up that request, asking McHenry to consider working on it through the August recess of Congress and coming back to finish it after the break.”
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Rep. Patrick McHenry, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, blamed the White House for the stalemate without specifying which specific provisions were points of disagreement. From Decrypt: (https://decrypt.co/150339/stablecoin-bill-stymied-house-financial-services-chair-blames-white-house) “A bipartisan deal was within reach," said McHenry. "It was the White House’s unwillingness to compromise that has once again brought negotiations to a halt."
Why did banks object to the bill?
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The bill also received push back from a consortium of banks and credit unions who sent two separate letters to the House Financial Services Committee last week. Their primary concern was that the legislation would allow state financial regulators to approve the issuance of new stablecoins.
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The American Bankers Association (https://www.aba.com/) (ABA) and state bankers associations wrote (https://www.aba.com/-/media/documents/letters-to-congress-and-regulators/072123-joint-aba-state-association-stablecoin-letter.pdf?rev=0d4c86ba7a8c47c8b7fe7ad8e171a4c8), “We urge the Committee to apply the same level of Federal oversight to state-licensed stablecoin issuers as is currently applied to state-chartered banks in order to limit the risk of charter arbitrage.”
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The ABA, Consumer Bankers Association (https://www.consumerbankers.com/) and Credit Union National Association (https://www.cuna.org/) said in a separate letter (https://www.aba.com/-/media/documents/letters-to-congress-and-regulators/07192023-joint-trade-stablecoin-letter.pdf?rev=f7b2a0cf71ca4e9798281983c0570b7c), “Stablecoin issuers effectively create a new form of private money, which has clear monetary policy implications and should be subject to federal oversight that ensures financial stability and consumer protection.”
https://hardyaka.substack.com/p/the-weekend-151the-most-successful
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