Sir Jon Cunliffe, the widely respected deputy governor of the Bank of England, once commented to me that, every several generations, society re-asks the question: “What is money?” He thinks this latest Internet wave is prompting society to ask that question once again.

urged the CFTC and other US market regulators to follow five principles when regulating digital markets: embrace innovation, protect intellectual property, repurpose old rules for an emerging digital age, unburden the economy for growth, and champion US markets.

There is a connection between singularly focused federal regulation and having the world's most competitive derivatives markets.

The CFTC operates under the statutory framework of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA),2 a law that was originally passed in 1936 but has been amended several times since.

Derivatives are tools that transfer risk among willing participants. They allow an individual or institution with risk they don't like or cannot bear to transfer that risk to someone who's capable of bearing it in return for some payment.

state surveillance, social credit systems, law subservient to the state, and centrally planned economic activity—will be embedded into the future of money, diminishing the vibrancy and health of the global economy, individual liberty, and human advancement.

We must harness this unstoppable wave of digital money—the Internet of Value—to advance greater economic inclusion, financial and economic freedom, and human aspiration for generations to come.

We need officials with courage, determination, foresight, and the willingness to take risk.

Derivatives: A Story of Financial and Environmental Innovation