By Bill Tai. May 4, 2021. (Morning Consult).
In the mid-1970s, a cutting-edge group of hackers founded the Homebrew Computer Club in Silicon Valley. Their specialty was developing tools to break into the telephone systems of major corporations, and they went on to create innovative technologies that changed the world, generating millions of dollars in value along the way. One of those hackers was Steve Jobs.
It was in the days of an innovation economy that fostered risk and was free from crushing regulations that I found my start and built a career in technology, as did the founders of companies like Apple, Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco. The disruption of incumbents, however uncomfortable, placed Silicon Valley on the map and put the United States at the forefront of an economic revolution that forever changed the way we live.
As we near the end of the coronavirus pandemic and step into a new chapter of our nation’s economy, one that’s more digitally connected than ever before, we should create policies to foster this same sense of innovation within today’s tech sector. Under the new leadership of the Biden administration, America has an opportunity to take a fresh look at one such disruptive technology: blockchain and cryptocurrencies.