The Unfinished War on Crypto
by Aaron Day at Brownstone Institute

The past two weeks have been nothing short of surreal. If you’ve been following my journey over the last two and a half years, you know I’ve devoted my entire life to warning about the impending threat of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and the government’s growing crackdown on cryptocurrency. So, when President Trump took three steps that seemed like a direct answer to everything I’ve been fighting for—pardoning Ross Ulbricht, banning any pursuit of a US CBDC, and rescinding Biden’s Executive Order (EO)14067—you’d think I’d be on top of the world.
Oddly enough, I wasn’t. Instead of joy, I felt numb.
I’ve been grappling with why I reacted that way. At first, I chalked it up to having fought (and lost) so many battles with the government that I might be in shock or dealing with a sort of PTSD. I’ve known dark times—divorce, years of lawfare—and I’ve learned that recovery often involves facing hard truths, forgiving the people who hurt you, and then, hardest of all, forgiving yourself. Eventually, you replace anger or sadness with acceptance, and the pain recedes, leaving you wiser.
However, this isn’t so simple or straightforward because while Trump’s move to rescind EO 14067 was a huge step, the brutal “lawfare” unleashed by that order continues. Dozens of companies and individuals in the crypto community are bleeding out over legal fees and business losses, and some even face life-altering prison sentences. It’s hard to celebrate when so many are still trapped under the very machinery we were all fighting.
I believe that if the public—and President Trump—truly understood the devastation this crackdown has caused, they’d demand real justice. Until that happens, I can’t fully let myself believe that “This time it’s different.” Real change means freeing the people still caught in the crosshairs of a war that should never have been waged in the first place.
Background
In 2009, I watched my second company—a thriving healthcare venture—collapse under the weight of federal policies like Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, and Attorney General Eric Holder’s prosecutorial overreach. I wasn’t singled out for destruction; I was just a speck of “collateral damage” in the government’s relentless expansion. For years, I’d been told, “The pendulum always swings,” but I never saw it swing back. Instead, the debt kept ballooning, the dollar kept losing value, and the perpetual wars continued. The biggest disappointment came from Republicans who not only refused to repeal Obamacare but actually expanded it through Medicaid on the state level.
Desperate to spark change, I became a political activist. I ran organizations that recruited liberty-minded candidates for state and federal races and even threw my own hat into the ring. By 2018, though, I’d lost all faith in traditional politics—it never seemed to slow the growth of government. So I turned my gaze to what I believed could actually tip the balance for individual freedom: cryptocurrency and blockchain. Since first hearing about Bitcoin in 2012, I’ve seen how decentralized money could undermine central bank tyranny and fuel economic liberty worldwide. The more I studied, the more I realized that this technology could weed out useless middlemen in everything from stock trades to supply chains to real estate titles.
After Covid hit, something even darker surfaced. I began noticing a concerted federal effort to target businesses and individuals precisely at the intersection of crypto and libertarianism. Many of these people were close friends from my days chairing the Free State Project or folks who attended events like Liberty Forum and Porcfest. Jeremy Kauffman built LBRY (also known as Odysee)—a censorship-resistant YouTube alternative—only to have the SEC hound him for five years, effectively destroying his business (though the tech still survives). Ian Freeman and the Crypto Six got ensnared in a sprawling government sting for operating Bitcoin ATMs, involving moles and entrapment by multiple agencies.
Alarmed, I started digging. I’m not blind to bad actors in crypto, but these were folks promoting free speech platforms and peaceful economic interactions—hardly criminal masterminds. Eventually, I discovered Biden’s Executive Order 14067, signed March 9, 2022. Its dual purpose was unmistakable: speed up a US CBDC and launch an all-out governmental assault on cryptocurrency. With the brutal crackdown in full swing—and other countries racing to introduce CBDCs—I knew I had to sound the alarm. I wrote a book, The Final Countdown: Crypto, Gold, Silver, and the People’s Last Stand Against CBDC Tyranny, laying it all out. I also entered the Republican Presidential primary hoping to be able to use the platform to inform the public and other candidates.
I first met Vivek Ramaswamy on the campaign trail in New Hampshire and handed him a copy of my book. To my astonishment, not only did he read it, but over the next few months, we delved into its contents in multiple, in-depth conversations. Because my sole mission in running for president was to spotlight the looming threat of CBDCs, and because Vivek seemed to “get it” better than anyone else, I proposed dropping out and endorsing him—on one condition: he had to sign my anti-CBDC pledge.
You have to understand that New Hampshire is special. Home to the Free State Project, it boasts a massive, tight-knit liberty community. In a previous statewide race, I’d earned nearly 18,000 votes. My support might carry at least a little weight in what was shaping up to be a razor-thin—and critically important—primary. Although Vivek ended his campaign before we could finalize the pledge and endorsement, he did urge Trump to denounce CBDCs right before the New Hampshire vote. That one move underlines just how strong the liberty movement’s influence is here in the Granite State. I am grateful to Vivek for this, as Trump explicitly credited Vivek for informing him on this important issue.



After I stepped away from the race, we embarked on a nationwide (and eventually global) tour to warn people about the looming dangers of CBDCs and to demonstrate how to thrive using alternative currencies like gold, silver, and privacy-based cryptos (Zano, Monero, etc.). I’ve personally gone without a bank account since 2019—a one-man act of resistance against the rising surveillance state. To me, the ultimate way to stop technocracy is to use private, non-state-controlled money.
We can’t afford to be complacent. What might look like a victory could be nothing but a semantic sleight of hand. That’s why I want to dive into the real impact of Biden’s now-rescinded Executive Order 14067, how it unleashed a wave of “lawfare” that’s still ruining lives, and why simply striking it from the books hasn’t made those repercussions disappear.
This battle for financial freedom has found an unexpected ally in President Trump, who understands firsthand the weaponization of government power.
Trump’s War against the Deep State’s Digital Control
The Deep State’s War on Financial Freedom
When Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht and rescinded Biden’s Executive Order 14067, it wasn’t just another policy decision—it was personal. Trump knows firsthand what it means to be targeted by weaponized federal agencies. Just as the DOJ, FBI, and state prosecutors have relentlessly pursued him with indictments and lawfare, these same agencies have waged war on crypto innovators and freedom advocates under Biden’s administration.
The parallels are striking. While Trump faced politically motivated prosecutions in New York, Georgia, and DC, crypto pioneers like Roger Ver face retroactive tax charges designed to silence them. While Trump’s lawyers get raided and privileged communications seized, the crypto community watches as their legal teams face similar intrusions. It’s the same playbook, deployed against different threats to establishment power.
Trump’s Stand Against Digital Tyranny
Trump recognizes that Biden’s crypto crackdown isn’t about protecting investors—it’s about control. Just as Trump’s enemies tried to silence him through social media bans and banking restrictions, Biden’s Executive Order 14067 aimed to eliminate financial freedom by:
- Weaponizing the SEC against innovative crypto projects
- Using the IRS to terrorize crypto advocates
- Deploying the DOJ to criminalize privacy tools
- Leveraging the FDIC to debank crypto businesses
The Target: American Innovation
Biden’s administration didn’t just attack crypto – they targeted America’s competitive edge. While China races ahead with its digital yuan, Biden’s crypto crackdown hamstrung US innovation. Trump understands that American leadership in the digital age requires embracing, not crushing, new technologies that enhance freedom.
The Path Forward
Trump’s actions signal a decisive break from the Deep State’s digital control agenda:
- Pardoning Ross Ulbricht: Acknowledging the politically motivated nature of crypto prosecutions
- Banning CBDCs: Protecting Americans from surveillance money
- Rescinding EO 14067: Ending the war on crypto innovation
But the fight isn’t over. Dozens of crypto pioneers still face politically motivated charges. Just as Trump fights to drain the swamp, these innovators need protection from weaponized agencies.
A Call to Action
Trump can cement his legacy as the champion of financial freedom by:
- Ordering immediate review of all crypto cases initiated under EO 14067
- Directing agencies to drop politically motivated prosecutions
- Establishing clear, pro-innovation crypto regulations
- Protecting privacy rights in digital finance
The stakes couldn’t be higher. As Trump said, “They’re not after me, they’re after you – I’m just in the way.” The same applies to crypto pioneers. The Deep State isn’t just attacking them – they’re attacking every American’s right to financial freedom.
To understand the full scope of this assault on financial freedom, we need to examine exactly how Biden’s Executive Order 14067 unleashed an unprecedented wave of coordinated enforcement.
EO 14067 Part I: Exploring a CBDC
I’d heard rumblings about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) for years—a digital dollar that might someday power Universal Basic Income or be tied to social credit scores. But I never realized just how fast these plans were advancing worldwide. In 2020, around 35 countries were researching CBDCs (with China alone piloting one). By 2022, over 100 countries had joined the race. And today? A staggering 134 nations, representing 98% of global GDP, have CBDC initiatives underway. Nearly half have moved beyond mere research, and at least 11 have already launched.
Over the past two years, I’ve immersed myself in this topic—digging through global projects and taking a hard look at what’s happening in the United States. That’s when I discovered the US has tested at least three CBDC pilots since 2019, and that our existing dollar is already highly digital, meaning it can be monitored, programmed, and censored. The more I uncovered, the more obvious it became: CBDCs are the on-ramp to digital tyranny.
This isn’t just the US versus China or the West versus BRICS. It’s a battle for free will. We’re staring down a long-running agenda for a single global digital currency (potentially energy-credit-based), paired with a social credit system reminiscent of the UN’s Agenda 2030. Give governments the power to track, program, and censor money, and it won’t be long before social credit scores and digital IDs follow. Once that happens, real freedom is gone.
Then another piece snapped into place: Biden’s Executive Order. Suddenly, it all made sense—
“The real aim behind Biden’s Executive Order was to crush any libertarian-leaning crypto projects, the ones that directly threaten a fully programmable, trackable, and censorable digital currency. After all, if people have no alternative, they’ll be forced to accept the full-on tyranny of a CBDC. Eliminate the competition, and you can roll out a digital currency with zero resistance.”
That’s precisely why liberty-focused people and organizations have been in the crosshairs. Nobody would willingly choose a federally-controlled digital currency if genuine alternatives existed, so the fastest route to mass adoption is to ensure that those alternatives never see the light of day.
EO 14067 Part 2: A Whole-of-Government Approach to Regulating Digital Assets
I can’t overemphasize just how ruthless the Biden administration’s assault on the crypto industry has been. This wasn’t a scattered cluster of enforcement actions—it was a coordinated, top-to-bottom strike. When I say “whole-of-government,” I mean nearly every federal arm came crashing down on crypto, all at once. Let me show you exactly how it played out from the top down.

Biden weaponized the federal government to crush the crypto industry. In the image above, I’ve highlighted just six of the agencies involved.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): Since the SEC began targeting crypto companies in 2013, it has initiated 173 enforcement actions against companies and individuals. Remarkably, 63% of those actions occurred in just the two years following Biden’s Executive Order. While the SEC claims its primary objectives are to protect investors from fraud and market manipulation and to promote orderly markets, its crypto-related actions have often stifled innovation, particularly among libertarian-oriented projects that challenge the push for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
A major issue is the SEC’s tendency to label many crypto tokens as illegal securities without providing a clear framework for these projects to become compliant. In reality, a large share of these tokens are “utility tokens,” not “investment tokens.”
Utility tokens function more like arcade tokens: you buy them to access or use a product or service. Their value derives from how useful they are within a given platform—think credits on a website or an in-game currency in a video game. By nature, they’re not designed to generate profit based on someone else’s efforts, which is usually the hallmark of a security.
Investment tokens, on the other hand, are purchased with the expectation of earning a profit if the underlying venture succeeds—similar to buying equity in a company or participating in its revenue.
Under traditional securities law, utility tokens wouldn’t normally be under the SEC’s purview. However, the Commission has stretched its definitions to include many of these projects in its enforcement umbrella, particularly targeting those with mature, functional technologies in the liberty/crypto space.
I would argue for legalizing investment tokens outright. They could revolutionize capital markets by giving small investors new avenues to fund startups and entrepreneurs new ways to access capital. Yet, after more than two decades of navigating fundraising, venture capital, and investment banking, I’m convinced that the SEC is more concerned with sustaining the status quo than truly safeguarding investors. That, however, is a discussion for another day.
- The DOJ: The Department of Justice (DOJ) has zeroed in on privacy-focused crypto tools, going after the developers who built them. In August 2023, Roman Storm—co-founder of Tornado Cash—was arrested for creating software that “mixes” transactions to keep them private, facing money laundering and “unlicensed money transmission” charges that could lead to 45 years in prison. Then, in April 2024, the founders of Samourai Wallet, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, were similarly charged with unlicensed money transmission for coding an app that shields users’ identities, facing up to 20 years. Another Tornado Cash developer, Alexey Pertsev, was arrested in the Netherlands in 2022 for similar reasons, also risking a 20-year sentence.
What all these developers have in common is that they wrote privacy software, not traditional financial services. Yet the DOJ is treating lines of code—intended to protect users’ anonymity—as if they’re outright criminal enterprises. This exposes a stark conflict: the push for financial privacy in crypto collides with a government drive for maximum surveillance. And with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) on the horizon—currencies designed for complete transaction transparency—the battle over whether privacy remains a right or becomes a crime is only intensifying.
- The IRS: Since 2022, the IRS has dramatically ramped up its crackdown on crypto, rolling out new rules that force digital asset brokers to file Form 1099-DA for transactions starting in 2025—essentially shining a spotlight on every move you make in the crypto space. The high-profile case of Roger Ver, dubbed “Bitcoin Jesus,” is a prime example. Ver stands accused of evading nearly $50 million in taxes—a serious and bogus charge we’ll explore in more detail later. By going after one of the most influential advocates for peer-to-peer cash, the IRS is not just aiming to take down a vocal opponent of future CBDCs; it’s also establishing a dangerous precedent that could reach back retroactively and forward indefinitely, expanding the agency’s grip on crypto users everywhere.
This push is backed by an $80 billion infusion into the IRS, which has added over 87,000 new agents—many now laser-focused on crypto—along with advanced AI tools working in tandem with major exchanges to track transactions. The result? A newly fortified, weaponized tax enforcement system that should set off alarm bells for anyone in the crypto world.
- The FDIC: Since 2022, the FDIC has been at the center of a growing storm many refer to as Operation Choke Point 2.0—a behind-the-scenes effort to debank crypto-related businesses. This push included forcing the closures of Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank, two major crypto-friendly institutions, which in turn smoothed the path for the Federal Reserve’s FedNow system by removing its primary competition. The FDIC also blocked Custodia Bank from obtaining a master account, effectively sidelining a pro-crypto model from mainstream banking.
In a recent interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Marc Andreessen revealed that tech CEOs working in crypto have been quietly debanked for years. The debanking epidemic, however, isn’t confined to crypto; President Trump recently singled out Bank of America for political targeting, and high-profile figures like Melania Trump, Barron Trump, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Kayne West, Eric Prince, and Catturd (from X/Twitter) have all faced account closures. This wave of enforcement has become another artifact of the government’s aggressive posture, highlighting a disturbing pattern of weaponizing financial institutions against both ideological and technological threats.
- The US Treasury: Since 2022, the US Treasury has unleashed a level of regulatory force on the crypto sector unlike anything we’ve seen before, culminating in a record-breaking $4.3 billion settlement with Binance for alleged anti-money laundering and sanctions violations. This unprecedented penalty—its largest ever—sends a loud and clear message: crypto is a direct challenge to traditional financial control, and the government is ready to dismantle it. By going after a heavyweight like Binance, the Treasury isn’t just punishing a rule-breaker; it’s paving the way for the US dollar to evolve into a full-fledged Central Bank Digital Currency. Under such a regime, notions of privacy, decentralization, and personal autonomy risk being swept aside under the banner of “security and regulation.” In other words, the Treasury has effectively weaponized its authority to usher in an era of sweeping financial surveillance and state control.
- The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): Since 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has dramatically increased its focus on the cryptocurrency space, with around 60% of its enforcement actions now targeting crypto. A significant portion of these actions is aimed at Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms. To understand DeFi, imagine a digital marketplace run by self-executing computer programs—called “smart contracts”—that facilitate lending, borrowing, and trading of assets without needing a traditional bank or financial intermediary to oversee the transaction.
This approach is a stark contrast to conventional finance, where large institutions or regulatory bodies serve as gatekeepers, and it directly challenges the idea of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Instead of having a central authority control the currency’s creation and flow, DeFi allows peer-to-peer financial activities governed by code. Because of this, the CFTC’s move against DeFi—seen in cases like Ooki DAO for running unregistered operations—appears designed to rein in this expanding sector by applying existing financial rules that assume a centralized authority. At the same time, by curtailing DeFi’s rise, regulators help clear the way for CBDCs, which rely on centralized oversight to manage currency policy and track financial activity.
The Human Cost of Biden’s Crypto Crackdown
Behind these agency actions are real people whose lives have been shattered by the government’s coordinated assault. While the SEC touts enforcement statistics and the Treasury celebrates record fines, families are being torn apart, life savings depleted, and decades of innovative work destroyed. Each case below represents not just an individual tragedy, but a warning shot to anyone daring to challenge state control of money. These aren’t just case files—they’re stories of Americans who followed the law, sought legal counsel, built legitimate businesses, and still found themselves caught in the government’s crosshairs.

- Roger Ver: “I immediately started raising awareness of Roger’s case the minute he was arrested in Spain last year. Why? Because based on Roger’s unprecedented success in spreading peer-to-peer digital cash as an alternative to central banks over the past 15 years, Roger is enemy #1 for those pushing CBDCs and the top target of Executive Order 14067.”
While Roger Ver’s case technically predated EO 14067, the ultimate decision to convene a grand jury and indict him did not occur until 2024—after the EO provided the framework to target those promoting alternatives to state-controlled money aggressively. This was never about taxes; it was about eliminating the single most effective advocate for decentralized digital cash.
Ver, known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” spent the last 15 years tirelessly advancing peer-to-peer digital money, investing in and promoting Bitcoin and later Bitcoin Cash to create a world where individuals—not governments—control their own financial destinies. His efforts weren’t just about crypto innovation; they were a direct challenge to a system that relies on monetary control to fund wars, enforce economic coercion, and maintain state power. From pioneering Bitcoin adoption in commerce to funding global initiatives that expanded financial freedom, Ver has been at the forefront of every major development in decentralized finance. It is precisely because of this impact that he became the prime target of EO 14067—a tool designed to clear the way for the US government’s rollout of a Central Bank Digital Currency by crushing any serious opposition.
But the attack on Ver is more than just an assault on crypto—it is lawfare at its most dangerous. The government didn’t just charge him with tax-related offenses; they obliterated one of the bedrock principles of justice by violating attorney-client privilege. Prosecutors raided Ver’s legal team, seized privileged communications, and twisted his meticulous efforts to comply with tax laws into a narrative of guilt. This move sets a terrifying precedent: that even when individuals follow legal counsel to the letter, they can still be prosecuted if they are deemed a political threat.
Even more dangerous is the IRS’s ability to retroactively rewrite financial history for political purposes. When Ver expatriated, Bitcoin was an unclassified asset with no clear tax guidelines. To ensure compliance, he hired some of the top tax attorneys, accountants, and former federal prosecutors. Yet, years later, the government arbitrarily reinterpreted tax policy, turning his once-lawful actions into a crime. This is selective prosecution at its most brazen—a warning to any innovator or entrepreneur that no amount of legal diligence will protect them if they oppose the state’s monetary agenda.
His indictment under post-EO 14067 policies signals a dangerous precedent: the use of the IRS as a political weapon to silence dissent and criminalize those who challenge the fiat system. By targeting Ver, the US government is sending a chilling message—adoption of new financial technologies outside state control will be met with severe retaliation. If this prosecution stands, it will solidify an era where compliance is no longer a matter of law but of political favor, and those who challenge monetary hegemony will face legal annihilation.This case is not just about Roger Ver—it is about the future of financial freedom. If they can do this to the man who pioneered peer-to-peer electronic cash, they can do it to anyone.
There’s now a powerful and short documentary exposing Roger’s ordeal. Drawing parallels to the fates of Julian Assange and John McAfee, it presents firsthand accounts, shocking overreach, and a stark warning for anyone who cherishes financial freedom.
You can read my expanded article on Why Roger Ver Deserves a Presidential Pardon and can stay up-to-date on Roger’s case and sign an open letter in support of Roger at freerogernow.org.
- Ian Freeman: Ian Freeman—the man who introduced Roger Ver to Bitcoin back in 2010—was arrested on March 16, 2021, months before Biden’s Executive Order 14067 was even a twinkle in Washington’s eye. Yet after the EO was issued, federal agencies seemed to double down on their mission to silence him, leading to an eight-year prison sentence on October 2, 2023. My wife and I were in the courtroom that day, and what we witnessed was a full-blown, politically charged effort to take down a key figure in both the crypto world and the broader liberty movement.
Ian and his business partner Mark Edge co-host of Free Talk Live, a nationally syndicated radio show that has been one of the most influential voices in promoting personal freedom. It’s estimated that up to 10% of Free State Project participants first learned about New Hampshire’s liberty community from this show; in fact, speaking directly with Ian and Mark played a major role in my own decision to relocate to the Granite State. Clearly, the federal government wasn’t just going after another crypto enthusiast—it was targeting an entire movement that has successfully sparked real-world change.
Jacob Hornberger’s investigative reporting exposes how the Department of Justice used an undercover IRS agent, posing as a car dealer, to lure Ian into a fabricated “drug deal” scenario—a scheme Ian ultimately refused. But the DOJ still spun this into criminal charges. At sentencing, prosecutors went a step further, parading romance-scam victims in front of the judge to imply Ian had defrauded them, despite no such charge or conviction. This narrative was so off-base that the probation office initially refused to designate these individuals as “victims” eligible for restitution.
It’s obvious that this case was never about fair justice; it was about shutting down a powerful advocate for decentralized money and liberty. Ian’s appeal is set for February 5, 2025, at the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. If you care about resisting federal overreach and defending the right to financial and personal freedom, please learn how to support Ian’s case at www.freeiannow.org.
- Joe Roets: Dragonchain—often referred to as “America’s blockchain”—was spun out of Disney and led by Joe Roets, positioning itself as a champion of individual liberty in a financial landscape gravitating toward centralization. By offering a fully operational blockchain powered by a utility token (DRGN), rather than a speculative coin, Dragonchain delivered a genuine alternative to looming Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Its transparent approach, focus on privacy, and patent-backed architecture posed a direct challenge to centralized control—leading many to believe the SEC’s recent lawsuit, claiming unregistered securities offerings, was fueled more by a desire to suppress a competing technology than by investor protection.
Because Dragonchain had real-world products and customers before introducing DRGN, it functioned more as a tool than a fundraising mechanism, further underscoring its legitimacy. Supporters argue that Dragonchain’s commitment to personal freedom and decentralization—key attributes that threaten a future CBDC regime—made it a prime target under Executive Order 14067. If you want to stand with Dragonchain, please consider signing this open letter of support.
- Steven Nerayoff: Long before Executive Order 14067 lit the fuse on what many see as a decisive push toward central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the federal government was already tightening its net around crypto and liberty advocates. In my interview last year with early Ethereum visionary and long-time blockchain proponent Steven Nerayoff, he shared his harrowing account of an FBI raid on his home, detailing a jarring scene more befitting a high-stakes thriller than a routine arrest. Nerayoff insists the resulting extortion case was entirely manufactured to coerce him into incriminating fellow liberty champions such as Roger Ver, Patrick Byrne, Bruce Fenton, and Naomi Brockwell.
In response, Nerayoff has filed a $9.6 billion lawsuit against the government, with renowned attorney Alan Dershowitz among those representing him. Nerayoff maintains that his ordeal was anything but an isolated incident, instead suggesting that it reflects a systemic escalation of “lawfare” pre-dating EO 14067—one that the government has exploited to accelerate control over digital assets and pave the way for CBDCs, tightening the grip on the very liberty ethos crypto was designed to protect.
And here’s the thing: I knew from the start that no single election outcome could neutralize the CBDC threat. While I’m relieved that Trump rescinded Biden’s EO and promised not to push for a federal digital currency, the Federal Reserve is still conducting pilot programs, and, as I’ve pointed out before in my article Fifty Shades of Central Bank Digital Tyranny, our money is already essentially a CBDC—it’s fully digital, programmable, and censorable. The next big danger is so-called “stablecoins:” if banking behemoths like JPMorgan Chase issue their own digital money, it’s just as surveillable and centrally controlled as any formal CBDC.
Trump Should End the Lawfare Immediately
From the standpoint of Roger, Ian, Joe, Steven, and thousands of others who have been affected by the enforcement, the EO might as well still be in effect.
I appreciate that Trump is busy and has many priorities; however, he, more than anyone, can understand the toll that lawfare takes on a person’s life. He has stated very clearly that he wants the United States to be the world leader in both AI and crypto. He has also stated that he wants to Make America Great Again and usher in a Golden Age. After issuing a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht and rescinding EO 14067, I know I should give him the benefit of the doubt. However, we cannot truly lead in crypto if the pioneers, on whose efforts the entire space was built, remain daily victims of Biden’s lawfare.
President Trump, in the spirit of your bold pardons for the J6 defendants, you should immediately order your appointees at the SEC, CFTC, and DOJ to drop all enforcement actions rooted in Biden’s Executive Order 14067. That includes, but isn’t limited to, the cases against Roger Ver (tax evasion), Ian Freeman (unlicensed bitcoin exchange), and Joe Roets of Dragonchain (unregistered securities). These actions were ramped up under an EO designed to promote a Central Bank Digital Currency—an agenda you have decisively rejected—and to eliminate decentralized, liberty-focused cryptocurrencies.
Of course, if genuine criminal activity is discovered, it can be refiled under a proper due process standard. Until then, a default presumption of innocence should replace the “guilty until proven otherwise” atmosphere that took hold under Biden’s hostile approach. Taking this step would quell the perception that America’s legal apparatus is being weaponized to pave the way for a surveillance-ready CBDC. It would also align with your broader vision of a thriving free market, where innovation and personal liberty—not government overreach—set the pace for America’s financial future.
Why I Still Can’t Celebrate
Put yourself in Roger Ver’s place for a moment. Each morning, he wakes up alone in a foreign country where he doesn’t speak the language. He hasn’t embraced his parents in over a decade. Every two days, he has to prove to a courtroom he hasn’t fled, and meanwhile, the world gushes about a new crypto golden age built partly on his pioneering shoulders—yet he can’t even lend his voice to it. He lives in constant dread that the police might burst in, cart him away, and send him back to the United States, where a near-certain life sentence awaits.
And why? He meticulously paid his taxes, hired professionals, and dotted every “i.” This isn’t about taxes; it’s a power play. Under the Biden administration’s crackdown, Roger became a symbol—someone who had to be neutralized so CBDCs could advance unopposed.
So how can we celebrate any so-called “victory” if people like Roger, and so many others, remain trapped in this legal nightmare? True closure—and genuine hope—will only come when he can walk free, and every politically motivated case against liberty-minded crypto innovators is finally dropped. Maybe then I can believe that this time, it really is different. Maybe then decades of broken promises, mounting government power, and the creeping sense of perpetual betrayal will finally, even if briefly, give way to something better.
The Unfinished War on Crypto
by Aaron Day at Brownstone Institute – Daily Economics, Policy, Public Health, Society
Disclaimer
Some of the posts we share are controversial and we do not necessarily agree with them in the whole extend. Sometimes we agree with the content or part of it but we do not agree with the narration or language. Nevertheless we find them somehow interesting, valuable and/or informative or we share them, because we strongly believe in freedom of speech, free press and journalism. We strongly encourage you to have a critical approach to all the content, do your own research and analysis to build your own opinion.
We would be glad to have your feedback.
Source: Brownstone Institute Read the original article here: https://brownstone.org/