There is a prevailing attitude among many in the fintech industry that heightened regulation will be the death of innovation. U.S.-based companies have rankled at the prospect of increased oversight from government bodies such as the House Financial Services Committee, which even now is working on legislation for expanded supervision of fintech products such as cryptocurrency and other digital assets.
For the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Stripe, Patrick Collison, however, the U.S. is moving in the right direction by beefing up its regulatory infrastructure. In fact, it may need to start moving even faster if it doesn’t want to get left behind, as Collison said in a speech delivered to DC Fintech Week alongside a top member of the Financial Services Committee.
“If you like really zoom out, and just kind of ask ‘which region has been a more successful hub for innovation?’ I think for technology overall, you would have to say the U.S.,” Collison said. “But for fintech in particular, I think Europe is every bit as strong, and at least arguably, has pulled ahead, and I largely attribute it to these ongoing structural differences” related to government regulation of open markets and technology.
