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Cryptocurrency to the Rescue

Members of Congress this week lashed Facebook over its plans to create a new cryptocurrency that ostensibly aims to serve low-income folks and fill a market need that Democrats created in 2010 with the Dodd-Frank Act. Here is a parable of regulatory unintended consequences!

Banks noted during their quarterly earnings reports this week that credit cards are driving profit growth amid a slump in trading revenues. At J.P. Morgan Chase, credit-card spending surged 11% while account balances rose 8%. “People like their credit cards,” CEO Jaime Dimon said. “They use their credit cards more than they use their debit cards.” Yet many low-income Americans don’t qualify for credit cards, and the “unbanked” typically rely on check cashers and payday lenders, who Democrats want to regulate out of business. Amazon last month floated a credit card that would require a security deposit for low-income Americans who want to rebuild their credit standing, but some Democrats want to ban that too.

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cryptocurrency