Editorial Board
Regulators Need to Look Hard at Bitcoin
Cryptocurrencies and the speculative mania surrounding them pose a financial risk.
"Buyer beware" is not enough.
Photographer: Rick Findler/PA Images via Getty ImagesNot a moment too soon, America's biggest banks have moved to ban their customers from using credit cards to buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Banks and regulators have been slow to guard against the dangers of the Bitcoin phenomenon -- and central banks, in particular, need to move more forcefully.
The problem, to be clear, is not the ingenious technology of cryptocurrency itself. Correctly applied, that's a valuable and far-reaching innovation. Nor is there a problem with the vision of dispensing altogether with physical cash. That's a goal well worth pursuing, so long as its digital successors have the government backing they need to function correctly as money.