1/ As I learn about web3, I’m intrigued by the idea of creating new opportunities & networks that can benefit Ohioans. I'm getting more confident that we can—& should—build that future via blockchain. But I want to stop & address one of the concerns that’s come up: fraud & scams.
2/ I'm new to web3 but not to consumer protection. I was a Sr Advisor at the @cfpb. My portfolio included payday loans, credit reporting & fraud against elders & vets. If you're worried about fraud/scams, the priority shouldn’t be crypto it shld be on our current financial system
3/ The magnitude is shocking & I had a front row seat. In 2016 *alone* we took action against Wells Fargo, Corinthian College, Navy Federal Credit Union, & RushCard for defrauding ppl. We returned $12B to 28M ppl in 6yrs. Huge feat, but the most depressing thing? Nothing changed 
4/ For instance, Wells Fargo opened 2M fake accounts—and we caught them in 2016–and then 4 years later we caught Fifth Third Bank (based in Ohio) doing the exact same thing. You start to realize these are fundamentally broken incentive systems stemming from unchecked power
5/ And it's not just fraud. It's a financial model that constantly looks for ways to "take" (sometimes steal) from working families, and often those who can afford it the least. Last year, big banks made $12.5B charging customers in overdraft fees during the pandemic.
6/ In Ohio, US Bank issued unbanked, unemployed residents a Reliacard that held unemployment benefits. For years, it charged a $17 overdraft fee. There isn't business cost or logic to justify that fixed fee (the tx can just be denied). It's opportunistic behavior & it's cruel.
7/ As far as scams, don’t get me started. My mother’s bank account was emptied last yr by a caller pretending to send the authorities to her house if she didn’t buy $5K of Costco gift cards and then read the code on the back to the caller. In 2020, Seniors lost $1B to such scams
8/ Can web3 create a better financial system? A world w/o unnecessary overdraft fees & where identity is verified by something more reliable than Equifax or a bank? That's what I'm interested in
9/ If a lot of the predatory & illegal behavior conducted in the existing financial system is because of concentrated corporate power among large financial institutions, then a system that is decentralized & uses technology to create transparency has the potential to cut down on
10/ some of these abuses and increase alignment amongst customers, builders and capital providers.
11/ I have two points to make on this. First, we should absolutely, by all means encourage technology that can build a better world, where we make profit by creating value, not shaking down the most vulnerable consumers—the unemployed, the elderly, and veterans.
12 / Second, I'm hopeful we can address fraud & scams in the crypto world & that doing so will increase confidence in legit projects. But don't lose sight of scale. It's not these nascent competitors that are the biggest problem; it's the current system they're competing against.
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