Crypto and distributed ledger technology (blockchain) continue to evolve at breakneck speeds. Governments also are fostering this discussion as they investigate implementing their own Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). More than 80 countries around the world are researching or developing CBDCs, and are at various stages of the investigating process. On January 20, 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve issued a discussion whitepaper highlighting the features/benefits/risks of such a payment system and acknowledged they are actively investigating it. Some governments have already postponed or canceled projects, while many are still investigating the pros and cons, and others have already launched their own digital currencies.

Crypto went from obscurity to mainstream, encompassing traditional ones such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, to an expanded regulatory ecosystem of stablecoins, such as Tether and digital currencies, in which regulators globally are putting in place a regulatory structure—albeit not as fast, coherently, and innovation-friendly as some market participants would like. The much-entrenched crypto skepticism has yielded to crypto acceptance, whether from FOMO, greed, or YOLO; the reality is that cryptos—in one form (hopefully comprehensively regulated) or another—appear to be a growing asset class in the financial-investing ecosystem. That is the easy part; now begins the journey of navigating the thicket of regulations and regulatory actions that will surely follow from a variety of regulators.