WASHINGTON — Commercials featuring NBA legend LeBron James, comedy icon Larry David and movie star Matt Damon touting digital assets were prominent on this year’s telecast of the Super Bowl played at California’s SoFi Stadium, named for a financial technology service company.
But as the stars promote the digitalization of financial services, tossing phrases such as fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence, digital assets, Bitcoin and machine learning into popular culture, regulators and lawmakers are moving more slowly, worried about the downside of innovations that could transform daily life.
Among the fears are that the technology is too complicated for many consumers; poses security, privacy, consumer protection and discrimination risks; and consumes too much energy as politicians, companies and consumers increasingly worry about climate change. The decentralized character of some of the technology even raises questions about what entity can be regulated.
