This week, amid a months-long policy debate about crypto regulation in IL, State Sen. Mark Walker cc: @MarkWalker4IL suggested the "crypto-bros" put on their "big boy pants." The tired and outdated stereotype reflects a lack of knowledge about the industry, which is filled with intelligent, powerful women who are building protocols, running DAOs, leading legal innovation, and setting policy agendas across the world. It's one of many signs that Sen. Walker doesn't understand the nuances of the digital assets industry. As written, his bill—SB 1797—will devastate #blockchain innovation in IL, drive talented entrepreneurs out of the state, and eventually cause global crypto companies to geoblock IL residents. The crypto industry wants sensible regulation & this bill doesn't offer that. Read my open letter cosigned by many other women of #crypto 👇

hi @MarkWalker4IL IL resident here who's been working in the crypto space since 2021. im also a board member of the Illinois Blockchain Association. wanted to briefly respond to your opinion piece. i don't expect a response but maybe you'll surprise me. i'll keep this simple: the bill as it stands today ignores concerns voiced by many industry professionals. these are folks who have taken the time to intimately understand how blockchains work and thus how it could be effectively regulated. not zero regulation, but smart regulation. we see enormous potential for positive impact in our communities by reducing/removing predatory middlemen and dangerous centralized points of trust. all while creating a more efficient, transparent, and secure foundation for our community to coordinate around. we have endured years of folks telling us this technology is "rat poison" and worthless. yet we persisted due to our deep understanding of the technology outweighing uninformed criticism. while the "crypto bro" trope is common and popular for outsiders, i can assure you it couldn't be further from the truth for the folks heads down in this space. i see people focused on creating a better world, even in the face of considerable adversity and hate from those who couldn't tell you the difference between BTC and ETH. i see @SirDigitalDan building more equitable money movements, i see @getty_hill building a more equitable exchange, i see @carnegie_felon building a more equitable ebay. the list goes on. we've had enough of the condescending tone from those who've doubted us and the transformative technology we build on. it's time to educate yourselves in Springfield and open your mind to the possibility the crypto-natives may not be the ones without their big boy pants on. this technology will change the world for the better one way or another. if Illinois wants to be a leader here you must engage and truly listen to those who understand it.

As a board member of the Illinois Blockchain Association, I’ve been actively opposing HB0742, which threatens #innovation and #decentralization in our state. Despite our efforts, this bill, is expected to pass both chambers as early as this week! Illinois deserves better! #blockchain #web3 #HB742 Please reach out on how to get involved and help us stop this bill! ilga.gov/legislation/104/HB/… @NelsonMRosario @kkirkbos Mike Frisch

Chicago has prowess in finance & tech and is filled with the kindest, most hard-working folks. That's why our team started the vision of creating Chicago's first ever blockchain conference & hackathon - #ETHChicago. We're so pumped for the inaugural event! ethchicago.xyz

The ambitions in #chicago revolve around the excellence of the work itself. This is a city of substance over hype. The @nytimes provides some additional perspective on the ambitious, yet without pretense, work ethic.

👀 ETHChicago ✨

Find out how Columbus-based VC firm Drive Capital plans to help out 'overlooked' startup founders that aren't found on the coasts. bizjournals.com/chicago/inno…

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My inner Chicagoan absolutely loves this 🥹🥰

This was not a failure of crypto or defi. This was a failure of opaque and centralized tradfi. Web3 and blockchains literally prevent situations like this. The whole idea behind decentralized finance is that there's nobody like FTX in between that can misplace/misuse funds.

Gary Gensler and the SEC are going to use this Binance vs FTX war to come after the crypto industry harder than ever before. Everybody looks like a bunch of fu*king clowns 🤡

Read why @NFX decided to invest in Carapace. DeFi will play a key role in transforming finance. And Carapace is going to participate by re-imagining how we manage credit. > Sign-up for our waitlist: carapace.finance/ > Join us on Discord: discord.gg/GPQYUSKd

To build #responsibleinnovation is to set clear north stars and guardrails for our actions. When policy makers and regulators evaluate and then enforce on violations, we can learn and refine those guardrails.

Timmy Knudsen appointed new 43rd ward alderman | Crain's Chicago Business — Way to go my friend! chicagobusiness.com/politics…

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to share an update on my Venture Analyst Intern experience @decasonic. I couldn't be more grateful with my mentors @rokopn, @paulhsu , @AleBallest and @camidarling for such a career-defining experience. Read more here: mirror.xyz/andrguardia.eth/3…

NOW is the time to be excited about crypto law! Just a few minor things getting remade, probably nothing: - financial system - venture funding - entity formation / governance - litigation tactics In a decade of practicing law, never been this thrilled to have my skillset.

Introducing: Blockchain for the Billions S1E0 A podcast co-hosted by @AleBallest and @camidarling presented by @decasonic 🎙️⏩ Listen in bi-weekly as we sit down with top tier founders in web3, and share their inspiring stories Stay tuned to find out who our first guest is👂