The writer is professor of law at the American University Washington College of Law

Following the spectacular failure of crypto exchange FTX International, there have been renewed calls for crypto legislation (including from the industry itself). But many of the proposals so far would be worse than the status quo — at least for the general public. Crypto firms such as FTX were involved in drafting many of the mooted US bills. The exchange’s implosion should not become a pretext for rushing these into law.

It is unfortunately true that many of FTX’s users have suffered mightily. The good news, though, is that the broader economy hasn’t suffered as a result of its failure (the economic fallout from crypto flops such as Terra/Luna and Celsius this year was similarly limited). Since crypto isn’t integrated with the traditional financial system, the pain has not spread to those who chose not to invest in crypto in the first place.