Cryptocurrency Doesn’t Amount to Much

The cryptocurrency lobby plans to spend tens of millions of dollars this year helping its largest holders convert their holdings into actual money. They are looking for a way to spin their crypto straw into gold. Lawmakers and regulators should ignore the hype.

Urging America to “lead in innovation,” crypto enthusiasts tout the innovation of the blockchain. And it’s true that blockchains achieve bookkeeping without a bookkeeper and allow individuals to make transactions anonymously and quickly. But the innovation pretty much...